mmmm...

awww. taylor swift just won entertainer of the year. cute :)

ps: i have no idea why we're watching the cma's as neither of us really listen to much country music, but really who doesn't love a darling gal who sings about wearing sneakers & tshirts?!

anyway, this is a multipurpose post here. i still don't have good pics of my latest projects, but i did snap one (terrible) picture of a new project from today. this week i'm trying to focus on finishing hudson's quilt, but i needed a little diversion/break today & i found a new project, so i went for it & came up with this...


a cozy flannel receiving blanket - in pink, of course! it's folded here, but it's really about 35x35 & i'm hoping will be perfect for swaddling.
here's a close up so you can see the cute elephants...



i got this fabric @ joann's (or "joy-ann's" according to hudson) because it was on sale & i just wanted to try this pattern out. and yes! that's a "mitered corner". are you impressed??! haha! i was nervous, but it wasn't so bad.

so that's a little peek into my day today! sewing & ironing & trying to keep hudson entertained while i finished up. he did well coloring, playing guitar, & cutting up random papers - i recently got him his own pair of kiddo scissors & he loves them.

and for the "mmm" part of this post, i was making dinner & thought i should share this recipe with you! it's pretty easy & yum & healthy (according to my standards, anyway!). i wish i had remembered to take my own pictures (wow, am i bad @ that lately), but i did adapt the recipe from THIS one from martha, so it does look kinda like this -

it's a broccoli spinach pasta

1 T evoo
3 bnlss/sknlss chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 T allpurpose flour
2 1/2 c 1% milk
salt & pepper (sea salt really does make a different & so does freshly ground pepper)
3 oz cream cheese (reduced fat works, too)
8 oz spinach spaghetti (really whatever pasta type works)
1 head of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 pkg frozen green peas (because who the heck knows how to shell fresh peas?)
1/3-1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

In a saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add chicken, and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost cooked through (and i like it browned). Add garlic; cook, stirring often, until fragrant & chicken is cooked through. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute.

Stir in milk, and season with salt and pepper (feel fancy because this is kinda like making a "roux"!). you'll need to add a good amount of s&p. cream/milk sauces are really bland & usually need lots of seasoning. Cook, stirring often, until mixture is slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in cream cheese; cook until melted, about 1 minute.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions, adding broccoli & peas during final 4 minutes (you may have to let it go a little longer - check often). Drain & return pasta/broccoli/peas to pot. Add cream-cheese sauce and parmesan, and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

throw a quick salad together (my fav lately is spring herb salad mix + blueberries + raspberries + toasted pecans + some fresh feta + brianna's lemon dressing) & call yourself martha!

i'm always looking for quick, yum, somewhat healthy recipes, so i thought you'd appreciate one, too. and if you have links to your fav recipes, please pass them along - i'm making my grocery run on friday... :)

more of asheville

goodness gracious, i need to blog, but all i seem to want to do is sit here & collect about half a million new crafty ideas from a million crafty blogs!! haha! like i need another project, but oh it's so fun to look.


anyway, here i am full of chuy's (yes we have them here in houston, thank goodness!) & feeling exceptionally, largely pregnant. this week has been my first week to really feel big (week 25). i think i got lost in feeling SO GOOD during the second trimester (and all that crafty nesting!) & i forgot about how you start feelings kinda of "walrus-esque" @ the end! i'm just trying to remind myself that there's a season for everything & i'll just need to slow down a bit, but oh dear do i have so much i want to do! :)


anyway, so i wanted to share some fun asheville pictures with you & so i can remember our wonderful week.
***these pictures are all taken by clint (or he got the camera all focused & ready for me so i could take a pic of him!) with his old 1960s pentax spotmatic. i love how into photography he's gotten. i really appreciate good pictures, but have NO patience for it myself!! :)







we went to asheville for a little r&r, to relax our minds & listen to the heart, to reconnect with what's really real, to be inspired, to cool off (haha!). clint lived in asheville from 3 yrs old to 11 but had never been back. we had always wanted to go as we'd heard how amazing it was & we finally got the chance.

those are views from clint's hike around where we stayed @ sourwood inn (i was busy knitting, reading, & resting in our room by the fire!). it was beyond perfect to stay there. everything you'd imagine - quaint, quiet, incredible views, amazing food, fascinating innkeepers, crackling fireplaces. i'd really like to just move in!



this is me @ breakfast. i believe this was oatmeal pancake morning. yeah, it was amazing. of course it could have been blueberry french toast morning... you'll have to excuse me if i gained 10 lbs. last week.



asheville reminded me so much of austin, only mountain-y & a lot cooler temps, which we all know was exactly what i was dying for! you definitely get the same artsy vibe. lots of handmade everything & much appreciation for food - especially locally grown.



this is me @ the grove park gallery @ the grove park inn. first, i love the tree. i think i decided the yellows are my favorite. second, it's so cool to see how the community really supports artists. the grove park galleries are part museam, part workshop, & part gallery. artists rent out the spaces & create their works (from painting to metal work, sculpture, instrument making, furniture...) right there for you to watch. then their creations are sold in the gallery. fyi - the grove park inn is where dirty dancing was filmed, so i definitely felt the spirit of swayze there:)

so on to the eating part. we ate ALOT.


here i am stuffing my face with a YUMMILICIOUS salad. well, & trying to be the "model" for clint's photography. nobody ever tells you how hard it is to be a model, by the way. it's so hard for me to smile naturally when someone's taking a picture!! i either look goofy, or too posed. you should see the out-takes! haha! either way, though, this salad was just right & worth posing for :) FRESH greens, a plethora of crunchy nuts (pumpkin, sesame, almonds & such) & dried fruit, & local feta, fabulous gingery dressing. mmmm. i'd almost give up meat for salads like this! (i know, johnna - write that down!) clint went meatless too with some kind of fried green tomato something. mmm again. and all of this yumminess was brought to us by early girl eatery on wall street. another plus? the darling rickrack on the bottom of the curtains. it's the little things!



and these trees were on wall street too...


gorg is what i'd like to say about that.



and here's that cute guy i married 8 yrs ago.
what fun to spend 4 whole days together.
i don't think we had any idea how much we needed that until we were there!

and well, wall street made quite the impression on us because after enjoying all the fun shops of downtown, we were back to eat @ cuchina 24, where i had the funkiest pasta dish - some kind of butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter sauce & amaretti cookies crumbled over the top. delish!!

and after that we made a beeline for french broad chocolate lounge. oh my word. please go there & please have the liquid truffle. you might die.

and as for our favorite downtown places (it's totally the kind of place you just want to wander around)

woolworth walk art gallery - an old woolworths converted into all kinds of fun art booths + a fun, old fashioned soda fountain. not that we were exactly able to enjoy that soda fountain, as we had discovered chocolate fetish & tried several truffles. yes, that means we had two major doses of chocolate in one day. please don't judge. & if you really must know, i recommend the raspberry.
i also must recommend darling children's store heaven rains. we did a little early christmas shopping & got the cutest christmas pj's for hud there & also a little harmonica (supposed to be a christmas gift too, but some dads around here are softies! haha!). and i'm so proud to say i'm working with the super fun & laid-back-cool owner, rosiland to get some alacritydesigns in her store in the spring! yip yip!

we also visited biltmore village (yuuummmmy corner kitchen! get the portabello sandwich with the goat cheese, recommended by clint) which was also fun shopping, inspiring art, & lots of history.

on our last day we hemmed & hawed as to whether we should sell our right arms for tickets to the biltmore house. i must say, i thought the ticket should come with your own sit-down interview with anderson cooper @ those prices, but i must say it really ended up being worth the money.


the house is unreal. lots of history & spectacular views. it's unreal that people actually lived here.
and actually the food there is good, too! (i told you we like to eat!)
i did look around for gloria to ask her about her jeans, but alas she was no where to be found. (in case you're not getting any of these jokes, the biltmore house was one of the vanderbilt family's homes.). it's pretty crazy to see something so extravagant & gi-normous (name that movie) that looks like it came straight from europe.

and in case you were wondering what my baby bump is looking like these days...

and just a cool shot...


well, i guess that about concludes our asheville tour. i did NOT get any pics of our mega travel day that lasted almost all of friday. that's the one bummer of asheville - it's not that easy to get to, on a budget anyway, so it involved a lot of driving & a couple of flights & we finally ended up back @ the old casa.

no matter the heat & humidity, i must say it's always good to come home to this...

asheville

instead of blogging yesterday, i was sitting in front of this

reading & knitting & resting under a handmade quilt! we're in asheville, nc this week, enjoying some cool mountain air. & wow is it ever cool & refreshing. ahhhhh. even just breathing is nice here :)

& talk about inspiring! between the air, the blue skies, fall leaves, mountain scapes (the autocorrect on my iphone wants me to type "mountain scalpes" right here - that's a whole other thing!), and the abundance of incredible handmade everthings, clint & i are wide eyed & feeling refreshed @ every turn.

More pics & thoughts to come later. right now we're out to walk off our yummilicious lunch and probably find something sweet to walk off as well :)

**this week brought to us in part by one Mimi who has graciously given up her week to run after the little guy @ home. Not sure who's having more fun - us or them!

-- Posted from my iPhone

oops

remember that time i promised pictures of my newest crafty creations?

yeah, well instead of photographing them, i spent the weekend catching up with all the things i didn't do while feverishly creating these past several weeks. haha!

well, and there were all those halloween festivities (oh so fun with a two year old!).

so here i am about to fall over i'm so tired, so please forgive me this once, okay? :)

and in lieu of pics, i'll leave you with a link to what i REALLY would love to start creating this very second (which would be about my 231st project, if i'm counting correctly!) if i weren't so darn tired! maybe tomorrow...

back for a sec

hi friends - i've missed you! i've been in the middle of this super crafty whirlwind that has had me spending about 95% of my time in the studio sewing & the other 5% thinking about ideas for sewing!

it's been this crazy sewing frenzy. i'm not sure if it's a nesting thing or what, but i cannot seem to stop! some things are for hudson (like his quilt!), some things are for baby girl, some for christmas gifts & some are for alacrity designs, while basically nothing is finished!!! haha - so me! the ideas just keep rolling out & i just have to go with it :)

speaking of, i just had an idea for a bib for baby girl, so i must go, but i'll be back with pictures soon, i promise!

*oh & in case you're wondering about the weather down here, it'll be back up to 81 tomorrow :( ick.
focus on the positive, focus on the positive... :)

fall weather

it's a beautiful day out. gorgeous, really, & i believe i speak for the entire city of houston when i say "thank you, god!". it's so nice & semi cool out - the kind of weather that makes you so happy, you don't even mind when your kid pukes all over the cart @ the grocery store. you just smile, you keep your head down & race to the cart wipes outside & hope that you don't gross too many other people out. the cooler weather clears your head & makes you even giggle a little as you wipe the juicy banana bits off your toddler & off every surface of the cart. something about weather being less than 127% humidity helps you to breathe & be thankful that he's just throwing up because of his awesome gag reflex & oh yeah, the fact that he stuffed basically the ENTIRE banana in his mouth at once without you realizing it. you smile as you watch the little guy enjoy that nice weather as you walk him to the car in just a diaper & shoes.
THEN you put a new set of clothes on him & march him right back to the ol' HEB because no puking toddler is going to make you have to go grocery shopping twice in one day!

happy cooler temps!

woman of the week

why i'm putting my bid in for woman of the week (or at least the day) today...

exhibiting patience in the face of rudeness: i had about 4.2 minutes before i needed to pick up hudson, when like a gift from the gods, i spotted an open checkout lane @ target! i put my little basket on the belt & started to get out my wallet when i was confronted with one solemn look & an unhappy voice saying, "ma'am, you MUST take all of your items out of the handbasket before i can check them." what??? what i wanted to say was "REALLY???? what difference does it make if you pick them up out of the little basket to scan versus picking them up off of the counter???" BUT i didn't :) i took each item out of the basket & set it on the darn conveyor while she watched me! **of course the guy behind me might deserve "man of the week" for simply ignoring her when she started telling his 2 yr old to be quiet! seriously!

preparedness: somehow (another gift from god??!) in my dash to get out the door to make that mad dash through target before picking up hudson, i just so happened to remember his rain jacket - as it was raining & it's hard to wield an umbrella while carrying my purse, his backpack, lunchbox, various artwork & anything else he decides to pick up along the way. i know, i know - you're totally impressed, right??!

overall having-it-togetherness: today was hudson's picture day & i managed to get my hair done (you know, NOT just in a clip or headband) as well as his before school! booyah! (please, don't be surprised if this doesn't happen again!)

fiscal responsiblity: i may not have remembered to pay hudson's tuition this month, but it's not the end of the month yet & i've only gotten one reminder!! this is progress, people!

and just because we all love pictures with a post, i'll include a few (terrible) pictures of h in his rain jacket...







**note: these may have to also double as his "school pictures" as his teacher told me he wouldn't smile for the real ones. nice.