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What a whirlwind of a week. Last Tuesday, Chris’ Grandpa Rexford passed away. He turned 95 the day before and we all knew it was only a matter of days. I was so happy to hear when he finally did go. He was finally reunited with his wife who had died about 8 years earlier and was finally out of the body that, towards the end, didn’t allow him to do those things he wanted to. He cared for his wife for several years before she died. The constant bending over and leaning down to move his wife caused him to have problems with the back of his neck and from then on, his neck permanently caused him to walk with his eyes facing the ground (does that make sense?) Anyway, he was so funny about his situation. When he decided to open up his e-mail account, he decided it would be fitting to call himself "Bentneck@…..) Such a sense of humor that one. I remember him telling a story about a woman calling him "sexy rexy" and his wife getting so angry! I’ll miss hearing all those great stories.

Anyway, we drove the 6 hours north up near Sacramento on Friday night just in time for the funeral Saturday and drove home Sunday night. A certain someone has to go into work for a few hours today (I don’t think I’ve mentioned that Chris started back at Dancing with the Stars a few weeks ago). Anyway, even though it was a quick trip, it was a nice get away. Lot’s of singing songs in the car, and coloring in the only coloring book that Target had which was about twice the size of Henry:

It was so big, he had to rest it between the two front seats. I did get a chance to pop into the local quilt shop and pick up a few pieces of fabric and we made it to this great place called the "Antique Trove" which was this huge, huge store/warehouse that had about 100 vendors inside. It was very, very cool. I picked up 2 little Halloween guys that I am loving!

It’s September. I officially declare it kosher to talk about Halloween! Actually, it’s Fall that I love and wish we felt it a little more here in LA, but that’s okay.  I’ve slowly been collecting a pretty awesome stash of Halloween fabric that I’ll post later. Can’t wait to whip it up into lots of fun Halloween wares.

Happy Labor Day!

(and an extra special congrats to Kim & Jason who were supposed to be in ‘labor’ today, but gave birth last Thurs. instead.  Happy Birthday Colin Joseph (Chris keeps saying it in his best Irish accent)WE LOVE YOU, GUYS! xoxo)

My Aunt & Uncle just returned from a trip to Germany to visit family and do a little vacationing and brought back the most adorable Lederhosen and matching shirt for Henry. We. Love. It. Alot. And the back… the back is so cute too:


He’s just a little stringbean, so there is lots of room to grow. I’m hoping we can get some use out of these for a few years (they are adjustable, you know!)

The shirt has this great embroidery of flowers and what appears to be a little cabin going down the center:

Thanks so much, Ellen & Bodo! Henry loves it, too. He keeps running around saying "Lederhosen!" (as best as a 2 year old can).

I love this place, I really do. Sure it’s in Pasadena, which is a bit of a hike, and sure it’s hotter than h-e-double-hockey-sticks, but it’s soo soo worth it. I mean it really really is. We have an annual membership so we can go whenever our little hearts desire. One of my absolute favorite parts is the Children’s Garden.

Everything is miniature and child friendly.

Henry loves it there because he can run around in the fountains, climb the hills and run through the tunnels.

We were lucky the last time we went because there was hardly a soul there. This is one of our favorites, too. The Japanese Garden. It’s just so beautiful. They have the loveliest grounds. We usually spend most of our time here. Just laying on the grass, taking it all in.


They have these huge fish swimming in the little ponds.



All the fountains spread throughout the grounds are just amazing.


They had a pomegrante tree:

with this sign posted next to it:


I think I officially deserve a medal for the most photo’s in one post. The rest of the photo’s are in Flickr

Hope you have a great Thursday and get a chance to be outside and enjoy your surroundings. Go hug a tree.

xoxo

Mama: "Henry, I love you"
Henry: "…..I love you, Mama. I like Mickey Mouse, too."

It’s a step up from last weeks exchange:

Mama: "I love you, Henry."
To which he replied "I love cookies!"

I realize that the blog hasn’t been looking too crafty lately. Rest assured, there have been plenty of behind the scenes (and very late night ) crafting ’round these parts. And is it just me, or can anyone else feel Fall right around the corner? It’s  getting darker earlier and the nights seem to be a bit cooler. I can’t wait to whip out the candy corn. LOL!

School is just around the corner. I was watching (or rather listening) to "You’ve got mail" last night while I was sewing. I love that bit about a ‘bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.’  Makes me think of a new school year and new school supplies. Remember Trapper Keepers? Awesome.  Anyway, I thought it’d be a perfect time to whip up some lunch bags (and savor the fact that we still have 3 years before Mr. Von Cutemeister is ready for school. Sob.) You know where to find them.

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo

I think I may have mentioned on ye olde blog before that about once a week I go to Beverly Hills and work as a personal assistant for a few hours. I pay bills, return stuff to fancy schmancy stores like Saks, Bloomingdales & Neiman Marcus and do all sorts of other random tasks (sure I’ll give you a massage.)  It’s crazy up there. I usually pass paparazzi parked on the streets (the Beckhams just moved in, incase you hadn’t heard) and a few weeks ago Britney was there looking at buying Rod Stewart’s home. Hilarious. Who are these people??? I digress. One Saturday a few weeks ago, I pulled into ‘the community’ if you will, and saw 2 of the sweetest little deer gallivanting across the grass. Deer are great, aren’t they? One of my most favorite purchases ever has a sweet little deer on it, too.  
Enter: my diper bag. You know the old question, ‘what came first, the chicken or the egg?’ or in my case, ‘what came first, the baby or the diaper bag?’ It was the diaper bag. I fell in love with it the second I saw it. I ponied up the cash and  bought it (long gone are the days of 2 incomes and no kids.) And then well… I had the diaper bag. What am I supposed to do with a diaper bag? I tried passing it off as an ‘overnight bag’ to friends who just looked at me funny.

‘And the changing pad is for?????‘ 

‘Gee, Chris…. I do have the diaper bag after all. Don’t you think we should…ahem…um…you know….’  and we did.

Henry came along 10 months later. Good thing this diaper bag was there to welcome him home.  That was 3 years ago. And this poor bag, it’s lost 2 of it’s felt flowers (which I have yet to make a replacement) and dare I say that I actually backed over it with the Honda Pilot?? Cripes. Don’t worry this bag isn’t going anywhere, but when that second baby comes along I think we’ll need a new one. Something about black tire marks on the inside somehow seems unsanitary. Call me crazy. And no. I’m not pregnant. But what I’m saying is, I think if I bought a new diaper bag, then our chances of becoming pregnant would dramatically increase. Right, Chris? Chris….

You know those people who look for baby stuff but aren’t even pregnant? That’s me. And really, it’s just diaper bags. I haven’t found another diaper bag in 3 years (as I was casually looking, of course) that I have liked even remotely as close as I love this bag. Until… da da da da!!! I found another diaper bag, from the same store in England that I bought this bag from.  It’s so amazing. It’s another Oilily and I really only can justify the cost because they last so long. I’m saying this, like I’m buying it or something. See for yourself.  Sigh. It even has another deer. And a ‘shroom. I love it. I’m going to go and cry in my nachos now.

xoxo

they just know how to do everything right. They make the best bento boxes and the best fabric. It even has ‘shrooms. And you know how much I love ‘shrooms. My most favorite fabric store in the fashion district started carrying a lot more Japanese prints and I’m completely in love. I’ve got some idea’s for these cutie pies, and will throw them in the shop when they are ready.

One of Henry’s best gal-pals is in town (hooray for us!) and he’s pretty much been bouncing off the walls since she got here. Don’t they look like brother & sister? They both have such big brown eyes. We love having you here! xoxo

we all scream for Turtle Pie.  Let me introduce you (I’m saying that like you’ve never seen a turtle pie in your entire life) to the easiest dessert in the whole wide world. I’m telling you, it’s going to become a new staple in your home. There’s no actual baking/cooking required, just assembling ingredients and a swift wave of the arm. If you have no arms, you’ll need someone else to drizzle.

Buckle your seat belts and hook up your IV tubes…

Ingredients:
(1) pre-made graham cracker or Oreo cookie crust
(1) 1/2 gallon ice cream of your choice. We usually go with the moose tracks, a ‘velvety smooth light chocolate ice cream blazed with rich Peanut butter Cups and a chocolaty torrent of Moose Tracks Fudge*’
Jar of caramel sauce
1 jar of Magic Shell

*I’m trying to convince Chris to give up his dreams of becoming a screenwriter and just write for Ice Cream containers.

Start by pulling the ice-cream out of the freezer & letting it sit for about 3-5 minutes to soften. Scoop into the graham cracker crust:

I usually work from the outside in and then start layering the scoops on top. Lightly cover with aluminum foil and gently press down, filling in the empty spaces. It’s a good idea to wrap the aluminum foil tightly around the pie crust to prevent any "spooge-ing." It gets pretty cool on your hands, so I just put a hand towl on top of the foil and press down with that. Just press it so it makes a slight dome on the top. Throw it in the freezer for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Remove from the freezer & remove the foil from the top. Get your plates ready:

With the ole’ bend of the arm,  put some caramel on the plate. Slice up the pie (I sometimes find myself cutting through the alumnium pie pan as it’s easier to get the slices out) and place atop the caramel. Drizzle a little caramel on top & in an opposite direction, drizzle the magic shell. Put in the freezer for 10 seconds to get the magic shell to harden up. Done. Finito. You are a goddess in the kitchen. Your guests are going to love you.

This recipe is great because if you don’t like chocolate, just use a vanilla or any fruit flavored ice-cream or sherbet and drizzle with a simple syrup. Throw some berries on top and call it a day.

Chris just polished off the piece in the photo and I had some too, of course. But now my tummy is rumbling. It’s been going on for 5 minutes now. It just keeps getting louder & louder.  Chris keeps looking at me funny.

He  turns to me and says, "there is no Dana,  only Zeul."

Happy Turtle Pie making you ice-cream rock stars!

xoxo

…and it went exactly like this:

Mama: "Henry, we need to go to the shoe store to buy you some new shoes."
Henry: "No, Mama, no! No like new shoes!"
Mama: "But Henry you need new shoes."
Henry: (sobbing) "No, Mama, these shoes WORK!!!"
Mama: "No, they don’t work, Henry,  your toes are hanging over the edge…"
Henry: "Mama, these shoes WORK!"
(both parties begin getting frustrated)
Mama: "Henry…."
Henry: "Mor…GAN!!!!"

We get the new shoes, he won’t put them on, still sobbing that he "no like" the new red shoes (which are so completely similar to his old shoes.)

"Henry, if you put these shoes on, I’ll give you a treat"
"Okay, Mama"

And they lived happily ever after.

I first became familiar with DECOLE about 18 months ago when I started blogging. For those unfamiliar, DECOLE is basically Japanese housewares and such. There’s a great flickr group of their stuff  here so check it out. Be warned: this stuff is  irresistible and unfortunately not so easy to come by. In February I desperately sent an e-mail to the DECOLE headquarters in Japan asking where I could buy their goods or if they would sell direct. Long story short, I was out of luck.

All the way from England, enter the fabulous Velda who has a lovely blog and a little online shop full of lots of DECOLE. She told me that she was my DECOLE Fairy Godmother & she couldn’t have said it better. She & I started talking in about April or so and well, she’s made me a very happy gal. I am so in love with both my ‘teapots for one’ (first pic) that I don’t think I’ll ever actually use them because they are just simply the sweetest little works of art. I  also got this little Bento box for Henry, which he loves. He keeps asking for lemonade in his "special, special cup." I can’t wait to put snacks & sammys in his little box. I also snagged this lovely rolling mushroom stamp. So next time you get a box in the mail stamped "ROYAL MAIL" just know it’s gonna be something good! Thank you, Velda!

Things here have slowed down a little bit (Party for 500 last Saturday: check. phew.) I’m working on some wholesale orders & finishing up some custom banners so I’m keeping busy. Hope you are slowing down and drinking lots of lemonade in your "special, special cups!"

xoxo