Back in the spring, when it was supposed to be spring but it really still felt like winter, we went through some mass crafting phase.  We normally reserve such full blown crazyness for the months leading up to December 25th.. but alas we had gifts to give!  {Luckily our living room has since recovered from these activities and summer did come.}

And well, gifts have been given so I am not spoiling any surprises!

One day I was looking through B’s Martha Stewart Sewing book and I saw these adorable puppets that she/her staff had made out of washcloths.

This project makes the perfect gift for a new baby.  It is pretty easy and very inexpensive.

I went to TJMaxx for some towels.  One hand towel will give you one puppet, plus lots of scrap pieces to use on others.  I prewashed all towels after I got them home.  I needed black, white and brown for my project.

You can download the pattern here for the bodies.  I used my own shapes and sizes for the faces though.  

Two dogs for inspiration …

These are the furry siblings to a friend’s baby who will be joining the outside world very soon!  [all photos of actual dogs not made out of cloth via chicpeastudio}

I hand sewed the faces on with different thread colors over washcloth bits used for the muzzle, nose and eyes. 

After the faces were on B helped me sew the two bodies together , including sewing the ears between the front and back of each dog.

Then I played with them in my bestest dog voices.  : ) hehe.

Sometimes life is just plain crazy.

And lately not in a good way.

Our friends Heather and Alex have a little baby girl named Madeleine.  She is just 9 months old.  {we posted about her birth HERE and a present B gave her HERE and Heather’s baby shower HERE…}

And over the weekend she got diagnosed with cancer.  Totally not expected, one of those one day fine the next day there-is-something-wrong type situations.

We ask you, whomever you are out there that reads this, for your prayers for this family.   Prayer for a tumor that shrinks quickly and responds to her chemo, that the nerve damage to her lower body will be undone, for easy nights of sleep so this whole family can get some rest, knowledgable doctors….

I wasn’t going to write this post, but frankly, I believe that prayer is really well…powerful.

Plus Madeleine was like extra smiley yesterday morning as we visited with her through breakfast and it was fun to take pictures of her : ) ….

hey! what are you doing taking pictures of me eating my breakfast? I’m not going to smile at you with that black thing over your face, D….

hey doctor, this is really interesting and all, but when are you going to stop talking so that I can get back to my fan club that is sitting here waiting to make funny faces at me?

ooo, clapping!

And Madeleine’s favorite part of all… the Navy let her Uncle Erik come home for a few days to see her in the hospital.  YAY!  Ok let’s get a picture…

M: oh hey Uncle Erik!

B : Madeleine, over here! 

M: why would I look over there?  I like petting my Uncle Erik’s hair!

M: Why are you shaking my toy over there?  Oh, yeah, I know I’m the cutest, but thanks for telling me!

M: Uncle Erik –lets forget this picture taking business and play this new game called who-can-stick-out-their-tongue-farthest!

M: That’s it! Off with your tongue!

{hugs to m’s amazing parents and kisses to baby!}

[to read more about m's story... you can follow her mom's blog here.]

I (d) have not been doing much blogging lately.

I actually have been rather busy.  I know, I know, I think what else is new?  But no seriously it has been weeks of busy fun lately for me.  It started with a busy beginning to June with parties and outings.  It ended with three long (like 4 to 6 days…) weekends in a row. 

Yeah I was tired.  Yeah I did a lot of laundry and packed and repacked. I missed Seattle and my house and my friends here.

But I had a blast on each of my three trips.

You know how sometimes you feel pulled in a bunch of different directions?  Events here or there, hang outs, catch ups, more time with people who you don’t see enough.  I feel like life sometimes is segmented into different groups of people — all who I want to see/know/have fulfilling relationships with.  But, somehow I always fall short.  I think it’s because I have been blessed to know so many great people in life and there continues to be only one of me. 

So anyway, I’m back. 

And then the other day I downloaded my camera.  And behold, I am Behind on Blogging about these fun adventures.  Surprise surprise.  It was overwhelming to see hundreds and hundreds of pictures of me and my friends and family and youth group girls all loving summer.

So then I thought, …I should really blog about this all, one month later.  Ha.

ADVENTURE one was my friend Angie’s wedding to Chris.  You remember.. the one with the bridal shower in NJ this past March….

I flew to NJ a few days before the wedding to hang out on the beach with my parents.  {remember NJ last summer?  read more here and here..}   I pretty much spent days swimming in the ocean and window shopping around town…and nights drinking wine and eating noshes.  {thanks parents!}

And then I had the honor of being in Angie’s wedding, see?

In all fairness of this photo.. the photographer said, “do something silly!”

It may look like my bouquet is about to be fed to the ducks, but it is not.   But I think this picture is awesome.

Oh, and at the wedding’s reception they had a dessert bar.  There were like  four tables of different chocolatey/sweet wonders.  I may have attempted to try each of them.  : ) Massive amounts of dessert at a wedding = sheer genius.

But, it was seriously fun.  To spend time with friends from High School, most of which I had not seen in a while. To dance.  To laugh.  To fill up the party bus with the other bridesmaids.  To enjoy the party bus between pictures and the reception.  To see Angie and Chris really truly happy.

Congrats Angie and Chris!!

{I have some pictures to send you of the fun, by the way}

Thanks, for letting me be a part of your special day!

Event three was the second wedding of the summer.  

{are you mathematically confused?  Yes… I skipped event two.  Come back soon for that, I will write about it AND post some pictures.  I am just in wedding-post-writing-mood right about now.}

Both B and I went to architecture school with Blythe.  She now lives in Portland.. so we go to each others places often for weekends.  Just to see each other, eat, explore different Pacific Northwest cities…

oh, and go thrifting.

So we were pleased to drive on down for a wedding on the fourth of July.  {isn’t that cool, fireworks every year for your anniversary!} 

Plus, a bunch of other friends from college came it too… it was like a reunion …only not at Mardi Gras!  We all stayed at the Kennedy School in Portland, which I cannot recommend enough.   It’s a renovated school turned hotel with a soaking pool, a movie theater, and several bars/restaurants with great happy hours.

We made a weekend out of the part-ay, going out with blythe, trying new restaurants, driving to wineries, going to a famous Alvar Aalto building, getting our nails done with the bride.

The wedding was at Firehouse Restaurant {where the groom, Jason is a chef} and a featured delicious strawberry Rhubarb pie and firework gazing on the roof of the building.  Spectacular!

{me, blythe in her reception dancing outfit, and bri}….{oh, and biggest thanks goes to angie, for letting her bridemaids select their own dresses.  as you can see… it already got worn again!}

Congrats Blythe and Jason! 

{and no, I do not just go to weddings for dessert.  although, it’s dependably delicious.}

there is nothing I love more then sun with an icy sweet treat on a stick.

This weekend I had time on a Saturday afternoon to go rollerblading.  I have not found that type of time on a Saturday since probably before the house.  After my second loop around Greenlake, I decided I needed a little snack. {yum!}  A trip to the local produce shack left me with a giant tub of blueberries and one even larger filled with plump red strawberries. Yum!

As I ate in the yard… I realized just how much fruit I had… and just how much I wanted a popsicle.  I remembered Orangette’s homemade popsicles and how B and I had bought a popsicle mold at Ikea recently. {these are accurately named ‘Midsommar’}

Genius!

I motified her recipe a bit to my taste…

Mixed Berry Popsicle

1 cup washed berries ( i used blueberries and strawberries)

1/2 cup non fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt {most recipes will say ONLY use whole milk yogurt.  but really, that is too thick for my taste.  I enjoyed the combination}

2 packets of splenda {or 4 teaspoons of regular sugar}

3/4 cup orange juice {I used fresh squeezed, without pulp}

Blend all ingredients together in your blender for a minute.

Fill in your popsicle molds.

Freeze. {My first popsicles froze and were eaten around dusk time that night… so after about 3 hours in the freezer.}

Eat.

Enjoy summer!

my fav

fresh taco

on a tortilla place:

some grilled white fish, tomato, avocado, cabbage, a smidge of sour cream, with a lime juiced on top and a pinch of salt.

only enjoy in the backyard oasis, in the sun.  adirondack preffered.

good book optional.  first dahlia blooms of the season encouraged.