Happy New Year!

Tap tap - is this thing still on? So, it's been a minute since I've updated this blog of mine. A new year brings all sorts of new goals and resolutions and 2018 feels like the year to revive this space. Since it's been almost 5 years (wow!) since I last posted, I thought I'd give a very fast update on what has been going on:

• My oldest son is now 6 (!), in Kindergarten and just lost his first tooth. He is my mini-me through and through. He is a great kid, talks our ear off and wants to learn about everything.
• I had another son in fall of 2014 who is now 3. He just loves life and attacks it with vigor! He started preschool this September and loves school and his teachers.
 
My "babies" in mama-made shirts 
• My husband and I celebrated 12 years of marriage in September (17 years together) and still really like one another! Lol With the help of some very generous grandparents, we still get out to Vegas 2x a year for some couple time and it's a great way to still feel like adults while raising young children.
   
  Christmas 2017 (in me-made shirt/skirt)
  
• My sewing hobby took a backseat for a couple of years because having babies is not for the faint of heart, but I started sewing again with some purpose in summer 2016 and my sewing hobby completely exploded in 2017. More on that in a future post. ;)

So, I'm back!! I'm going to mostly keep this sewing related though I'm sure my family and other life stuff will bleed over from time to time, too. I'm geared up for an excellent 2018 and I hope you are, too!

Holiday Wrap-up

So yeah, I kinda took a bit of a blogging break there, huh? After a crazy Fall, I tried to keep December as stress-free as possible and that basically meant that sewing and blogging got to take a backseat to all of the other holiday activities. While I may not have been sewing, I was spending enough time in the kitchen to more than make up for it.

This year, I spent a full 3 day weekend baking and making sweet treats for co-workers and other friends and family. The goodies were packed into individual boxes and delivered over several days. I think I made somewhere around 600+ white chocolate pretzels snacks, 5 dozen gingerbread snowflakes, 20 dozen cakeballs, 5 dozen gingerbread cakes and a tray of brownies. Yeah, it was nuts. Pictures from the kitchen madness:

Two weeks later, we had my mom and brother over for a small Christmas Eve dinner before we opened gifts and generally made merry. I grabbed the ham from Honey Baked Ham shop so I could focus on the sides - slow cooker gratin potatoes, creamed spinach, roasted carrots with dill and roasted asparagus. For dessert, homemade pumpkin pie.

Add to that a ton of beer, wine and other spirits and we had a great night.

The next morning, Jim and I were up super early to head off to his parent's house for Christmas breakfast and more gift opening. The breakfast spread is always yummy and expansive including pancakes, breakfast casserole, fruit, muffins, bacon, eggs and a variety of beverages. That afternoon, we had the rest of the extended family (including my mom and brother) over for a full Christmas dinner. The average group is 40+ folks and I'm always amazed that we're able to get everyone seated in the house. See?

I had been asked to make a couple of appetizers, so I made mini caprese bites and a gigantor cheeseball (thanks again Winnie!).

The cheeseball was the hit of the pre-dinner hour. That sucker was gobbled up and only a few dregs were left by the end of the night. Guess I'll file that one in the "tried and true" favorites box. ;) Another rollicking good time was had by everyone, but I was pretty much exhausted by the end of the weekend. It had been a looong month.

We were the definition of boring for NYE, hanging out at the house with a homemade dinner, a bottle of wine and the countdown on television. Even though it wasn't terribly exciting, it was just what we needed. We managed to catch up on some sleep and get the house all put back together before returning to work that Monday, so I'm calling it a win.

And now, here we are in 2011. Crazy! I'm not one for resolutions, but this feels like it's going to be a good year. I figure if it's anywhere close to as awesome as 2010 was, then I will be more than thrilled. I'm back in the sewing room, which I missed terribly and am happy to be back to a normal schedule. Hope the holidays treated everyone well and that 2011 is starting off on the right foot for ya!

August Madness

I don't know about you, but I'm not sure where the first half of August went! It's been non-stop action around my house with hosting two summer parties, my birthday, my father-in-law's birthday and a last minute trip to Disneyland. Whew! So many fun things, but no time to blog it all. Things are starting to calm down a bit, but man oh man, things were crazy there for awhile. So, in my typical recap style, how 'bout some bullets:

* We celebrated my father-in-law's birthday at the Cicada Club in downtown Los Angeles. My inlaws have recently become enamored with ballroom dancing - they take lessons and love to practice every chance they get. The Cicada Club opens every Sunday night for dinner and dancing with most patrons dressing in vintage 20s and 40s dresses and suits, which fits the very Art Deco vibe of the place. It was a much cooler club than any of us realized and we had a great time just hanging out, having classic cocktails and soaking up the atmosphere. If you're into vintage stuff and you're ever in LA on Sunday night, it's worth a visit.

* Jim surprised me with a mini in-town vacation the night of my birthday. We stayed at the relatively new Ritz-Carlton in downtown LA and ate at Wolfgang Puck's new restaurant WP24. Neither of us had ever stayed at a Ritz before and it definitely lived up to its reputation. And dinner? Oh man, dinner was AMAZING! We started off with glasses of prosecco and because it was my birthday, mine was served with a shot of St. Germaine on the side. Can we say LOVE?! Fabulous service (formal, but not stuffy) and the food was really delicious. When we go out for fancy dinners, we don't typically do Asian food, so this was a nice change of pace for us. The package he reserved came with the tasting menu and it was so. much. food. Good grief, they practically had to roll me out of the dining room. Highly recommend the place. In fact, we are already planning a time to go back.

* And because my husband is amazing and treats me like a princess, I also got a Nook! I've been very skeptical of e-readers since they were first released a few years ago, but he seems to think that I need one seeing at how much I read and all. I still feel like it's cheating on real books, but I'm also pretty excited about my new toy. And it will make packing for Hawaii so much easier. (On our last Hawaii trip I read 6 books - heh.)

* Since Jim's co-coordinator wound up at home on bedrest for the last bit of the summer program, I was invited along as her proxy for their lunch at Club 33. Guys, it was so much fun! Jim's partner buddy treated us to dinner there during his summer at the firm, but we hadn't been back since. The food is really quite good (much better than anywhere else in the park) and the appetizer and dessert buffet are pretty awesome. Someone had tipped off one of the female summer associates that they should order a "tinkerbell" with their drinks so we all did just that. There we sat with our adult cocktails and cutesy light up toys perched on the rim. So cute, right?

The rest of the day we spent bumming around the parks and riding all of the big ticket attractions. One of the summers had never been to the park and we had fun showing him the ropes. I also really enjoyed getting to know the summers on a more one and one basis. I'm bummed that his co-coordiator couldn't make it, but really happy that I was able to take her place.

* As a last hurrah for the summer associates, we hosted a backyard bbq and pool party before they left to go back to school. I've said it before, but it's worth mentioning again - Jim had the best group of summer associates ever. They were such a sweet bunch of kids and it was really fun having them all over for one last casual party. They all managed to crowd together in the same tiny little space around one side of our pool, which was pretty darn adorable to view from the house. Jim misses them quite a bit and I know we're both looking forward to seeing the ones that accept offers again next fall.

* We had a ton of booze and soda left over after the work party, so we thought it was an excellent excuse to host a repeat bbq/pool party for all of our friends and family. And oh boy, when I say all, I mean ALL. We wound up with around 70 or so folks and while it was crowded, it was also pretty mellow. We went through 3 dozen burgers, 5 dozen hot dogs/bratwursts and a silly amount of potato salad, chips, salsa, fruit, brownies and ice cream. Even though there were folks everywhere, it was such a fun day. This party is kind of becoming a yearly tradition and it has grown every year since we bought the house. I hope that we're able to host it for many years to come.

With a few of the ladies at the party. Photo courtesy of Winnie.

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In other news, I've finally worked out a sewing plan for the goodies that I want to give Vino and Blondie for their babies. I don't do simple very well, so needless to say, the plan is ambitious. I've already completed one outfit and have several cut out, but there is still a lot to do. Unfortunately, you don't get many details because they read this blog, too and I don't want to ruin the surprise. The showers are tentatively scheduled for mid-October and early November respectively, so more details later this fall.

And I'm even working on some sewing for me, too! We have our trip to Hawaii at the beginning of September, so I'm trying to squeeze in a few more garments before then. Since our summer weather just got here, the summer sewing still makes sense and the garments will at least get used for more than just our vacation. However, I'm afraid that I'll be itching to make fall dresses next month and it'll still be in the 90s here. Hmph.