Seeking Everyday Beauty & Velvet Strawberries

A Pic-i-nic

We spent Memorial Day at home, hanging out together in the backyard. We had a picnic, which I loved. I could seriously have a picnic everyday and be happy. It's fun to lay around on a blanket in the grass and relax and snack on yummy food, and just be together. Sam and Mario were having their own little conversation here. I'm not sure what they were saying to each other, but I think they understood. George snapped some candids and I love the way they turned out.

What is it about being outside that just makes people happy? It's a wonderful place to be. I'm savoring every day because before we know it, the 100-degree days will be here in Northern Virginia. Hot as H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.

Sam, can't you just stay small forever, my love?

Mr. Balloon Boy was entranced by the kids next door playing in their little kiddie pool.  But, he had his balloons, so it was ok. The whole world is ok as long as he has balloons.

I've never mentioned our balloon situation, have I? Here's the deal. There has not been one single day since October 14, 2005 that we have not had a balloon in our house. I'm not kidding or exaggerating at all. Mario is completely obsessed with them so we have always had at least one floating around ever since his 1st birthday party. "Balloon" was his very first word after "mama". It sounded more like "bawoun", but we knew what he was saying. When he sits on Santa's lap, the only thing he ever asks for are balloons. Every single year. It's crazy, but we're used to it by now!

We laugh and say that he's gearing up for a career in the circus, blowing up balloon animals. Not quite what we have in mind for him, but as long as he's happy.......

Hope you can take a few minutes and spend some time in the sunshine today. It really is better than therapy!

Art & Soul & Friends & Fun

Goodness, I didn't mean to be away from here for an entire week! It's been a week of playing catch-up from being gone last weekend at the Art & Soul Retreat. It's amazing how only 2 days away can set me back a whole week.

The retreat was awesome and Lisa and I got in some much needed time for ourselves. Time to chat and create and relax and have fun. We decided we need to do this more often and have already started thinking about another art retreat. We took Sally Jean's class, "The Girl's Got Gothic", and here we are proudly modeling the necklaces we made. Try to ignore the bags under our eyes.....we had been in class for over 8 hours by this point and were just so darn happy to have finished the project! After this, we headed to dinner and then wound up in the lounge where we met up with Dede, had some vino and relaxed!

It was fun to piece together random elements that I love into one necklace. I've been making new jewelry from old jewelry for years, but this was different. Adding the photo charms made it very personal and meaningful. 

I used pictures of Mario and Sam and a picture of George and I on our wedding day.

This rose cabochon necklace has been in my stash for a while, and I was happy to give it a home here. Pink and green, my old faithfuls. No matter what color trends come and go, those 2 colors remain my favorites.

Some bits of jewelry, worn out pearls, a Lucite button and some old lace were put to good use.

The main Gothic-shaped piece is a collage I made using my Little Andrea picture, some wallpaper scraps and a snippet of old ledger I found that says "Mrs. S". It's hard to see, but there is a tiny flocked flower under the glass too.

Then, I used a scrap of an old cloth measuring tape and some more bits of old jewelry.

And a little velvet strawberry to finish it off.

What a fun class this was! Sally is just delightful and seems to radiate positive energy and creativity. And, man, can she solder like no one I have ever seen. She makes it all look so effortless. It got me in the mood to solder again.....you know, in my spare time.

A fun time was had by all, and I can't wait to do it again!

Happy Weekend everyone!

 

Sam's New Trick

Just as I put the little spoonful of food in his mouth, he blows raspberries. His latest thing. He seems quite proud of this accomplishment.

Now, aren't you glad you checked my blog today?

{and, yes, he does have 2 ears. The other one is back there somewhere.}

A Week in Pictures

After a wonderful trip, we're finally settled back in our nest. It was one of the nicest trips "home" I've ever taken. My parents just moved into their brand new house, and we so enjoyed staying there and spending time with them.

It was COLD and snowy and fun. As you can see, Sam's winter hat photo shoot didn't last too long .......

Big brother Mario however, was more than happy to pose for the camera before his big sledding expedition with Papa and Grandpa.

I love this picture. He had so much fun!

Sam's Baptism was a special day. He wore the beautiful gown that George was baptized in in Italy back in 1967. It is all hand sewn and the laces and silk ribbons are just gorgeous. As I got him dressed I thought, This must be what it's like to dress a little girl. It's definitely the frilliest thing he'll ever wear!

Here is the jacket that goes over the gown.

The Baptism must have worn him out. Sleepy Sam and me.

And, now it's back to work for me. This week, I've been packing up the orders that were placed while I was gone. I plan to get it all done by the weekend. If you are waiting on an order, I thank you for your patience.....it's on the way!

I couldn't resist...

....showing you some pictures I took today.

Oh, I could just eat him up.

200 pictures later....

...and I finally got one where both boys are looking in the same general direction and Sam is not sliding off of Mario's back! Whew! That was exhausting.

Christmas cards are done! Now it's time to bake.

(the cards, by the way, are by Anna Griffin)

Elf Yourself

Here's a little Holiday humor for you. Click the link below to see the Singarella Elves! Then go ahead and Elf Yourself! (that sounds a little weird, but just watch the video and you'll see what I mean!)

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1282326535

The BIG Surprise

So, as I said before, George and baby Sam share the same birthday. This year was a big one for George...he turned 40! I knew that with the baby coming, the timing would be way off to celebrate on his actual birthday (boy, I was right about that!) So, I decided early on to throw him a surprise party a few weeks after his birthday. I certainly couldn't let this one go without a celebration!

Back in September, I made the (hilarious) invitations that featured his high school senior picture. Let's just say he had a whole lot of hair back in 1985! The messy shaggy hair thing was popular back then. Not a good thing, I must say. Then I ordered the cake with the same picture on it. You can see it a little bit in the photo below. I know how much he hates that picture, so of course I had to use it!

As it turns out, he was very surprised and had no idea that I had been planning this for months! His friends came from near and far to help us celebrate and stayed until all hours of the night. It was a lot of fun to watch him mingle and laugh that evening. I hope the memories of this birthday will stay with him for years to come. He's 40 now, but has such an incredibly youthful persona. In fact, his childlike spirit is one of the qualities I love most about him. He will always be young at heart. He lives each day with passion. That's something he teaches me everyday and probably doesn't even realize it. There is no day like today. Live it up. Take the chance. Give lots of hugs. Love. Love. Love.

Four Weeks Later

I just can't believe Sam is a month old already. I finally got all of his birth announcements made and mailed. I was planning to purchase them and then managed to convince myself at the last minute that I needed to make them. I always prefer something handmade, but just didn't know if I was up to it. I did them little by little, whenever I could squeeze in a little crafting time. It felt good to create something, and I'm so glad I did. These are pretty simple, but just perfect for the occasion! After all, I sent out 75 of these babies, so I was not looking for something complicated. My kitchen table has looked like this for 3 weeks. Glad to have it all cleaned up. I will not, however, be making my Christmas cards this year! Mark my words......

Proud Papa

Thank you all for the Baby Love. We enjoyed reading all of the comments and well wishes you left for our family and sweet Sam. He sure is snuggly and we pretty much hold him and kiss him non-stop! He doesn't seem to mind though. He'll be 2 weeks old tomorrow, and I wish I could stop the clock and keep him teeny tiny forever.

After I posted the previous post, "Introducing Baby Sam", I went back to read it again and realized that an entire section I had typed was not there. It was about my husband, George, and Sam. I'm not sure if I accidentally deleted it or what.....but I felt so bad that it was not there. And there wasn't a single picture of George in the entire post. So, I decided it was meant to be that the portion got deleted and that he deserved his own post anyway. So, here is what was supposed to be in the last post but wasn't.

Sam arrived 6 days early and is a special gift for all of us, but especially for George since he was born on George's birthday, October 30th!  We couldn't get over it! Of all the days in the year, he came on his papa's birthday. I think it's so sweet that they will share that special day every year. And this year will certainly be a memorable birthday for George.

He was such a wonderful support for me this entire pregnancy. I was in much more pain than I was with Mario throughout the pregnancy and also the labor. Toward the end, he did everything for me, and never once complained about a bit of it. I'm a lucky girl. I don't want to gush on and on about my husband, but I just wanted to make sure he got the acknowledgment that he so very much deserves. Thanks, honey, for everything.