What I Wore Wednesday -- Grown Up Polka Dots, Copying Kate, and a Big Ol' Fail

When I started this blog, I mentioned that one of my goals was to hold myself accountable for getting our house in order.  Something I sure didn't anticipate was that participating in What I Wore Wednesday would not only shove me out of my yoga pant rut, but also inspire me to clean up (and out) my disaster area closet.  Huzzah for fringe benefits!

I'll show you the new & improved closet tomorrow, but suffice it to say for today that when you start off like this:

there's no place to go but up!

My first outfit this week is my attempt at grown-up polka dots.  I brushed against this dress at Target and it was so soft I had to give it a second look.  And for $24.99, I couldn't pass it up!

Dress:  Target

Black canvas wedges:  Payless

Did you watch the royal wedding?  With my Princess-obsessed AJ, it was a BIG DEAL at our house.  I fell in love with the simple silhouette of the jacket Kate Middleton wore the day after.

Source: None via celyna on Pinterest

So when I saw this jacket had the same neckline, I was intrigued.  And since dressing up is not my usual M.O., the fact that it's made of sweatshirt material and perfect to throw on over jeans = SOLD!

Jacket:  Target

gray t-shirt:  Ann Taylor Loft

Jeans:  Hudson, via Nordstrom

socks:  handknit by yours truly

shoes:  Danskos, via Zappos

Finally, today, inspired by my friend Grace , who has *awesome* style (she does a series where she picks clothes for her readers -- I don't think I've ever not liked something she's chosen and she could totally be one of those personal shoppers who charges hundreds of dollars per hour.  She's also wickedly smart, funny, and a great writer, and the one who finally convinced me to try skinny jeans.), I threw on a pair of black leggings and a t-shirt dress with a belt, and some ballet flats.  I've seen Grace rock this look more than once, so when I stepped in front of the camera (trying to figure out the self-timer), I thought I looked ok.  

Apparently the camera disagreed, (and frankly, I don't really blame it) because the resulting shots were blurry and downright terrible.  A big fat fashion FAIL.  The belt was too low, so I had a bit of 80's punk - revival going on, the dress is a bit too big (both from the unfortunate post-partum period where you can't wear your regular clothes, but can't bear to wear maternity for one more second), so I looked like I donned a purple potato sack.  Both are now in the donate pile, and I will spare you the sight.  You're welcome.

Linking to What I Wore Wednesday !

Mango Chutney-Glazed Short Ribs

I am always on the lookout for recipes that are easy, delicious (of course), and don't require a lot of babysitting, since my kids seem to regard meal prep time as their own competition time to see who can drive Mama round the bend the fastest.  This "witching hour" means that I pink sparkly puffy heart my crock pot, since I can just chuck everything in during nap time and forget about it for a couple of hours.

I adapted this recipe from one a friend passed on.  This night I served it with mashed potatoes and roasted cauliflower (I usually try for a more colourful meal, but was trying to use these up before they went bad), but they are also good with rice (for a more Indian meal) or polenta.  You can also double or triple it to have a seemingly fancy meal for a crowd.  They're so popular in our house that every time I see short ribs on sale I have to put this on the menu!

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
     2 pounds (about 8 pieces) beef short ribs
          (note:  you can also use beef chuck short ribs, but will need to increase the cooking time)
     1 small onion, sliced
     kosher salt and ground black pepper, about 1 tbsp. each
     1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
     1 jar mango chutney
     1 cup beef broth
     2 tbsp. tapioca

First, slice your onion thinly and place in the bottom of the crock pot.

This is the bed for your short ribs.  Next, rinse the ribs and pat dry, then sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and black pepper.  Put them bone-side down on top of the onions.

Spread the mango chutney over the short ribs.  Pour the Worcestershire sauce, broth and tapioca around (but not over -- don't wash off the chutney!) the ribs.

Cover and cook on low heat about 4 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bones.

Enjoy!
Linking up to:  Make Something Monday , Tasty Tuesday , Handmade Tuesdays and Show Me What You've Got !

On Change, and Uncertainty

I guess Blogger and our weather have been colluding lately, seems neither likes change!

Now that blogspot seems to have its hiccups ironed out, I can show you what our big weekend project was!
When we bought our house a few years ago it wasn't in perfect shape.  The previous owners had fancied themselves do-it-yourself-ers, and enclosed the previous back porch into a sun room.  Unfortunately, they picked crap windows to do so.

And did I mention that they didn't square them?  Or angle the outer sills downward to divert rain?

Or level the floor?  And used the crappiest, cheapest wood to try to trim?

In other words, they were in sorry shape.  They barely kept out wind and rain, we won't even talk about how we were bleeding money in utility bills from losing all our heat or air conditioning through the thin glass.  So (needless to say) it was high time they got replaced!

Our first step was to wreak absolute havoc on the entire house by clearing everything out of the sun room.  Dining table, chairs, my craft table, my computer armoire, the kids' easel, a ton of books, crafting supplies . . . . you get the picture.

  

We finished close to midnight, and expected the installers early the next morning.
Mother Nature, however, decided she wasn't quite through with winter yet.

That would be a mix of hail, sleet, and snow.  Not quite the weather you want when you're scheduled to have a gaping hole in your house.  So everything got pushed back a couple of days.  The kids loved having the big open room to run around in, they were most fascinated by how much more their voices echoed without the furniture and dubbed it "the echo room."

Finally, the weather cooperated and the big switch happened.  There were quite a few surprises lurking, including:
*rotten wood under all the old windows (because of the aforementioned lack of rain diversion)
*a large wasp's nest
*electrical conduit run between the window frame and the wood framing of the porch wall
*zero insulation in the entire room
and the piece de resistance, the fact that the previous owners had framed the back door in cedar batten board.  Like, what you'd line a closet with.  No joke.  Sigh.

So.  After all that, are you ready to see the new, properly installed, properly flashed, properly insulated, levelled, squared, energy efficient and (if I do say so myself) completely gorgeous new door and windows?

The french-styled sliding door:

The side where most of the issues were:

Isn't it gorgeous?
We are so pleased.
Of course, now that we have these pretty new windows, we're thinking a few more touch-ups may be in order -- a fresh coat of paint, building a couple of window seats, maybe a new rug . . . . .

Z. wants to be involved in the design process.  Though he's being awfully picky about which shade to choose!

I'm linking to Weekend Wrapup at Tatertots & Jello !

A New Take on Photo Gifts

Is there anything grandmas love more than pictures of grandkids?

For Mother's Day I usually give photo gifts to my mom and mother-in-law.  This year I decided to change it up a bit and give silhouettes.  I used the tutorial at Design Sponge and I love how they turned out!
Each of the girls also gave one of their own craft projects -- Ellie decorated the butterfly with glitter glue and AJ made a lily from construction paper and cardstock.

Linking up to Homemaker on a Dime's Creative Bloggers Party Hop , Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog , Made by You Monday at Skip to My Lou , Lil Luna Link Party ,  Blue Cricket Designs Show & Tell Wednesday , What I Made Wednesday at Sweetpeas & Bumblebees , Tatertots & Jello's Weekend Wrap Up!

Makes It All Worthwhile -- Mother's Day Musings

A belated very Happy Mother's Day!

I had the best of intentions of blogging yesterday, but Mr. Z had some other ideas -- namely, trying to deal with 4 molars coming through at the same time by being on me at all times and crying hysterically if he wasn't.  "Happy Mother's Day, mama, I'm celebrating by being absolutely miserable and making you lose your mind!"  Sigh.

As trying as these kind of days are, I also relished having lots of snuggle time with Z.  There's something about having a baby's heavy head resting on your shoulder and feeling them relax completely that makes it easier to get through the moments when they're screaming in pain and you're at wits' end trying to make it better.

So I spent much of yesterday blog-surfing, and discovered Kami from No Biggie doing a series of posts with other bloggers on 5 Things I Love About Being a Mom.  They inspired me to come up with my own list.

5 Things I Love About Being a Mom

1.  Falling in love with my husband all over again as I see what an amazing Daddy he is.

2.  Being able to fix anything, even if it's just with a hug and empathy.

3.  Seeing each of my children develop their own distinct personalities (and sometimes wondering where on Earth they got certain characteristics from).

4.  Having 3.  I was raised basically an only child, and I am so thankful that my kids have built-in playmates, role models, and partners in crime.  Watching their sibling relationships grow is often mystifying for me, but also hilarious ("make her stop looking at me!") and touching ("I don't want Zachy to be afraid of the dark, so I'm letting him use my nightlight").

5.  Seeing the world through new eyes as they learn & discover.

Breaking Out of the Yoga Pant Rut

Can I jump on the "I'm sick of wearing yoga pants all the time" train? 

Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy started "What I Wore Wednesdays" to catalogue her fashion adventures, and I'm excited to join in! 

First, going out to dinner with the family, otherwise known as "finally trying out the skinny jean trend":

sweater:  Anthropologie, via eBay

v-neck gray tee:  Old Navy

white nursing tank:  glamourmom

skinny jeans:  Target

flats:  ecco, via Nordstrom  (thanks for the birthday present, Mom!)

Next, what I wore today to attend Ellie's preschool class Mother's Day Program:

tunic:  Gap, I think five or so years ago.  One of my faves!

pink nursing tank:  glamourmom

skinny jeans:  Target

flats:  ecco, via Nordstrom (I pink sparkly puffy heart LOVE these shoes)

Linking up to What I Wore Wednesday !

Teacher Appreciation Gifts -- Fabric Flower Pen tutorial

This coming week is Teacher Appreciation Week at AJ and Ellie's school.  Every year, each kid gets a paper lunch sack with a letter on it, and the gifts for both teachers must start with that letter *and* fit in the bag.  Ellie's letter was "G" and AJ's was "Y."  Not wanting to go with yo-yo's, Yoo-Hoo, yak figures, gum, grapes, or gimp lanyards, I decided to harness my current passion for making fabric flowers and give something useful, too.  So AJ's teachers are getting yellow flower pens/pencils, while Ellie's have a garden of many colors.  (Stretching it?  A bit.  I think the cute makes up for it, though.)

Here's how I did it:

First, I cut 1/2" strips of green felt to wrap around the pen as the stem.  I left enough room at the bottom to grip the pen normally; for the pencils, I wrapped to halfway down to leave room to sharpen.  Attach with a bit of hot glue.  At the top/eraser, I glued down the felt over the top to give the fabric flower a better surface to grip to.

For the flowers, I used my rotary cutter to cut two strips for each bloom of various widths from fat quarters of quilting fabric -- up to 3/4" for the biggest flowers.  Tie the strips into a knot, fold the top ends into the knot and secure with hot glue.  I found that having a large center helped balance the flower on top of the pen, and helped in the next step of showing both sides of the fabric.

Now, twist the strips individually, then twist together and start wrapping the twisted strips around the center, hot gluing every so often to hold it together.

When you get to the end of the flower, glue the remaining "flap" down to the underside of your flower.

You can see how this method gives a very "shabby chic" sort of bloom, with lots of twists and texture.

Next, I cut leaves from green felt, leaving a bit of a "stem" at the bottom, and glued it to the top of the pen.

Finally, glue the flower onto the top!

I grouped two pens and one pencil together for each teacher, and then tied the bundle with yellow ribbon.  I printed out these adorable, edit-able tags that say "Thank You for Helping *Name* Bloom" from Skip to my Lou , glued them onto some scrapbook paper, and tied it on.

I'm really excited for the girls to give these "bouquets" to their teachers!

I'm linking up this post to Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways , Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap-Up , Whatcha Got Weekend at lollyjane boutique , Green Door Designs Saturday Spotlight , Think Pink Sunday at Flamingo Toes , the Monday link party at CraftOManiac , Made by You Monday at skiptomylou , Make Something Monday at Sarahndipities , Made with Love Mondays at SewChatty , Inspire Me Mondays at Homemaker in Heels , Show Me What You've Got at Not Just a Housewife , Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings , Creative Juice Thursday at Momnivore's Dilemma , Sugar & Spice at seven thirty three , Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks and Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog !