Weekending...

It's the weekend!  Tomorrow morning I'm meeting some girlfriends for brunch and then heading to Bucktown Center for the Arts for Handmade City sale.  This is a twice-yearly sale that I absolutely love.  I'm hoping to finish up my Christmas shopping with handmade, local, high-quality arts and crafts. The rest of the weekend should be pretty laid back.  Jake traveled for work this week (it was only one night but, my goodness, we missed him!), so I think we'll hunker down at home and read books, do some of our own crafting, and maybe work on our Christmas card.  The kids are excited because we begin the Advent calendar tomorrow.  It really is the little things.  I hope your weekend is wonderful!

Feeling Christmas-y!

It's not even December 1st, but we're already in the spirit!  We've watched ELF, made lists, and been drinking eggnog!  Somehow I have a feeling that these Christmases with our young children are the most magical, so I plan to fully live them.

As we take our journey through life we will at times encounter many obstacles and opportunities...We will learn to integrate our strengths, discipline, and humility. The journey is a short one, it seems as if it is only a flicker in time.

—Carl Jung (1976) 

Resolution Check-In...

Resolution #1: The Great American Apparel Fast

November posed my biggest challenge yet.  Here's what I mean:


Tesi: So what are you wearing for the Wine to Water party?

Me: Well, I have a maternity dress that I think I can alter....

She promptly brought me four dresses that she thought I should perhaps borrow.


Torrey:  Do you know what you're wearing yet?

Me: Oh there's this dress that I wore when I was preggo with Eli....

Torrey:  Is it too late to mail something from my closet?

(Several hours later the phone rings.  It's Torrey.) Why don't you wear the bridesmaid dress from my wedding?  I think you can make it work.


Mom: So, what are you wearing for the Wine to Water party?

Me:  Well, there's a dress I wore when I was pregnant with Eli.  I think I can make it work.

She promptly MAILED me a dress from her closet, just in case.


They were all rightly concerned.  I have to admit that there were moments this month that I got a little nervous about my ability to alter a maternity dress and that I wished that I had not been so very public about my clothing fast.  Because I have told you about it here, because I wrote about for a magazine, and because I appeared on local television talking about it, I simply could not buy something new.  You all are holding me accountable.

But I also had a vision.  I knew I had a pair of pink tights that I could wear.  I also knew that I could take my top-knot to new heights.  I have a great necklace and a nice pair of booties.  It was simply a matter of finding the right black dress.

Top-knot = New heights:

I pulled the maternity dress out of my closet and chopped about a foot of fabric off the bottom.  I (really, really poorly) hemmed the bottom and made a belt out of the excess fabric.  My craftsmanship was ridiculously bad, but I knew the party would be dark so I didn't really care.  I'm hoping to have my mother-in-law help me clean it up a bit for further wear.  I liked the dress because it the fabric is so fluid.  It's a swingy skirt, which felt fun.

So that's that!  I made it through a pretty big, visible event without purchasing anything new.  This year has taught me a lot.

The "nothing new for the home" was technically a fail.  We bought art at the Wine to Water auction.  I love it, it went to a great cause, it looks nice in our house.  I'm cutting myself some slack here.

ONE month to go....I can hardly believe it!

Resolution #2: Live and Let Live

Live and Let Live.  Darn it, this is hard.  I'm still working at it.  After 11 months of attempting to train my mind to respond in such a manner, it's not yet automatic.  Am I too sensitive?  Am I too critical?  I sometimes wish I were simply a bit more laid back when it comes to, you know, feelings.  I'll keep at it.

Catching up...

If you've come looking for photos, you've come to the right place!  I'm catching up here...

A few weekends ago we enjoyed a "bags" tournament at Hayes Elementary School.  The PTO at Hayes (Jake is the principal at Hayes, which explains our enthusiasm about this event) is exceptional and they put on this fundraiser to send kids to camp who might not otherwise have the opportunity.  It was a beautiful morning and we had a lot of fun.  The boys got into the action while Sintayehu ran around and played.  I must admit that at one point a woman, after scrutinizing my bag-throwing form, asked me if I were a dancer.  This should strike my extended family as hilarious considering that as a child they gave me the nickname "Runs Funny."  Apparently, I followed through with some flourish...

We recently celebrated my grandmother's 79th birthday at my parents' house.  My step-dad made an amazing meal, including a roasted duck!  My grandma was tickled.  Growing up, we nearly always had Sunday lunch (called "dinner" in Tipton) at my grandparents' farm.  It was great to mark Gram's birthday with such a lovely meal.

It was fun to see my cousin's kids hanging out with my own.  These two had an especially nice time.

The week before Thanksgiving, I got to go to Sintayehu's two-year-old preschool class performance.  There was a little "feast" followed by a musical number.  It was adorable.  And hilarious.  Sintayehu was all business walking up onto the stage, but shortly after got a little shy.  She was absolutely precious.  I mean, look at that turkey!  Such a fun mommy-daughter morning.  (It still kills me to write such a statement.  Mommy-daughter.  This will never get old!)

Radio Silence.

Please forgive my silence here on the blog.  I've been digging myself out after last weekend's Wine to Water party.  The event, my friends, was so much fun!  It looks like we'll have raised nearly $13,000 for The Adventure Project when all is said and done.  Not too shabby!  The whole experience was wonderful.  The party was great and the people were even better.  Here are just a few pictures until I can do it a bit more justice later....

By the way, we still have cocoa mix ($15 or 2 for $25), bottles of White Zinfandel with the Wine to Water label ($20), and lip balm ($5 each) for sale if anyone is interested! 

They came...they crafted: Craft Night 2012

I always forget how thrilling it can be to set up for a party with three young children in the house.  Eli's acrobats lasted up until the minute the party started.  Oy. 

Lovely ladies at the decorating station.

Baby Susannah oversaw the curried lentil soup station.  She was a tiny bit bored with it by the end of the night.  :-)

Beth and Jen bravely worked with hot wax to produce the lip balm and candles.

My sister-in-law Emily did not disappoint in her bartending skills.  Drinks and snacks were divine.

I love the soy candles.  We made them in vintage tea cups and they are beautiful!

I honestly think I might have to buy this one back at the Water party.

Monday night reminded me once again how blessed I am by the friends and family that I have here.  Amazing, amazing women.  I am so incredibly lucky!


ALL proceeds from the sales of these lovely crafts will go directly to The Adventure Project at the Wine to Water party.  On Saturday night there will be a table set up with lip balm, jars of curried lentil soup mix (just add water!), jars of hot cocoa mix (just add water!), jars of bath salts (just add water!), and lovely, all-natural candles. All materials were donated so that we could sell each item for pure donation!  It should be great!

* Don't forget that you can still bid on art! *

Eli establishes his voice on the page...a little sweet, a little quirky.

"I love you Oliver.  Especially Oliver.  I really love you Oliver.  I really love you.'

"Mom is a nice bat.  This is not a scary person.  It is mom."