Getaways Across the Pond

We're heading to London this Saturday, yipee! We're not moving there just yet, but we'll be there for 6 weeks. I'm so excited! I can't concentrate on anything I really need to be doing. Oh well, I'll tackle the to-do list soon. Today I've been looking up some places that might be good for a weekend getaway. It will give me something to daydream about while I pay bills and run errands. We might make two or three weekend trips outside the city and we were thinking of The Cotswolds, pictured here, and after seeing Artemis' pictures of her weekend getaway, now also the Isle of Wight. Aren't her pictures beautiful? Where should we go? Can you recommend any good getaway places?

Top image from here and bottom from here.

10 Month Brithday

Today Lois celebrated her 10 month birthday! For this monthly birthday I put her in something extra special: a dress my mom made. It's baby pink and smocked at the top with a heart motif. It's really sweet, and I know my mom worked very hard on it. Thanks, mom! My mom had a smocking business when I was growing up and made a ton of dresses for me and my sister (matching dresses, of course). She gave them to a needy neighbor who had three or four little girls years ago, which was very nice, but I know she wishes she had kept some of them. Lois gives her good reason to start again, though. Unfortunately our little photo session was not very successful. It was so hard to get her to look up today! I don't know how photographers do it. I really needed Andrew or someone with me to help distract her into smiling and looking at the camera. When she would look up, by the time I could get her to smile or make a cute face, I missed the chance to take a picture. Plus she kept getting really mad in the dress because her knees were getting caught up in it and she had trouble crawling around in it. Ah, oh well. I will try to get some more pictures of her in the dress before she grows out of it. At least you can see what the detailing looks like in the picture below. Very pretty, don't you think?

After the exhausting attempt to have Lois produce a picture perfect smile, I thought she could use a break and a snack (me too). So after I changed her clothes, I put her in the high chair and gave her a teething biscuit. She looked so cute that I got the camera back out, and there you have it--not what I originally had in mind for this monthly birthday, but very cute nonetheless. Doesn't she look so grown up? She's acting very grown up, too. She says, "la, la, la" all the time now and loves to babble to herself. She also pulls up on furniture and walks around it while holding on. I think she'll be walking really soon. And lately she crawls around with toys in her mouth like a little puppy, and she loves to take things in and out of other things, like taking toys out of bins and clothes out of drawers. She's so cute.

Weekend Market

This morning we went to the farmer's market in our neighborhood on 24th Street. It's a small farmer's market, but we can usually find everything we're looking for. Everything's looking bright and delicious lately. We usually try to make a menu for each week so we don't waste too much food. We pick out certain meals to make, make a list, and buy for those meals and usually only get some random fruit outside of our list. It's a pretty structured cooking routine, but it works for us. Sometimes it's hard to stick to the list, though, when everything looks so pretty, especially when we go to the market hungry. Shopping hungry is never a good idea! We gobbled up a good bit of what we bought as soon as we got home. Lets see if we can get through the week without buying more.

Timeless Treasures

Happy Hour! That's what I spent yesterday morning at Timeless Treasures, one very happy hour. I could have spent one whole happy day there, but an hour will keep me daydreaming until my next visit, which I think will be as soon as later this week to get a gift for a friend. One of the first things you'll notice about Timeless Treasures is the prominence of letters, lots and lots of amazing, unique, colorful letters! Are you a "P" or maybe a "C"? No matter what your initial or word you might want to collect, Joan, the owner of this great shop, will help you find just the right letters from her extensive collection. In your hunt for letters, you're likely to stumble upon just the right accessory for your home--maybe a cute aqua painted side table, or a shabby white chandler; maybe a vintage book to add to your collection, or a sweet lamp for your dressing table; maybe a book on tea celebrations, or a great piece of jewelry for yourself. If you're feeling Frenchy, as I often am ("F" is for France!), Joan, an admitted Francophile, carries a number of French treasures: books on French decorating, beautiful handmade jewelry from France, antique French keys, and flea market finds from her trips to France (she'll be making another trip soon). And if you like to keep your support local, you'll be happy with her selection of handmade jewelry from a number of San Francisco designers. Enough talk. Lets go shopping . . .















Joan sent me on my way with some Timeless Treasures of my own--my first collection of "L"s. I'm so excited about them! Now I want to get more letters to spell my name. I might be starting a new collecting hobby soon. How about you? I bet you're game for some alphabet soup today to tide you over.

Timeless Treasures
2176 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 775-8366
Monday - Saturday 11 - 6

BYOB (and PP)

Today there was a cute sign at the farmer's market--it said, "BYOB, please. Bags .25¢." We normally bring our own bags, but today was a special day because I brought my very own bag that I made. My first ever tote bag, lined and with a pocket! I finished it this week along with Alicia's patchwork pillows that I started while we were at the beach. My bag is by no means perfect. If you looked closely, you'd be able to see lots of mistakes, including the handle that I sewed on twisted for the second time, which I still have to fix. But it's sort of like a first kiss to me--it doesn't matter if I didn't know what I was doing or if it ended up being a little sloppy--it's my first, and I'm so excited about it. Pillows are great, but a bag, it's extra special. You can, after all, carry stuff in it. It took me six hours (I know, that's a long time for a bag!), and I made lots of mistakes along the way, but the experience was so satisfying. Below are two pictures of my projects in the works while we were at the beach.


I love sewing lately. It's hard for me, though. For example, I've been trying to figure out how to make a french seam for dresses, and I thought my brain was going to turn inside out trying to figure it out. This video finally helped me understand it. Alicia has written a lot about sewing recently. If you have any interest in sewing at all, you should head over and read her posts here and here. If you want to learn to sew, those two posts will probably motivate you to get a machine asap. If you're an experienced sewer, you will relate and appreciate her experiences and insights.

My completed market tote bag! The pocket is dark blue denim, which looks really dark here, but it's actually blue.

And the patchwork pillows! This first one is for my sister. I decided to do pom pom trim instead of the cording just because I like pom poms.


This one is for Lois. It looks really cute in her room with little doll Lois, who I found at a flea (artwork by her cousin, Cash, and awesome ruffle pillow beside patchwork pillow by my aunt, Kay).



Next on the project list: more dresses, coming soon.