OMG.........She blogged!

It's about time I posted a blog already! It's two in the morning and I have to be up at 6:3o, so it's not fancy! Blogger is having some trouble loading photos so I just did a few. Market was great today! We found so many new patterns, gifts, fabrics and other various new ideas to bring back. I am so excited about some of our finds and I know you all will be too!

Here are the ladies from the Michael Miller booth dressed to the nines. The booth is absolutely gorgeous as always, I'll post more pics tomorrow. Kathy Miller (the Miller in Michael Miller) is in the black and white polka dots.

The Easy Peasy girls had this cute bedazzled walker in their booth. When my mom needs a walker, this is what she's getting!



After the show, we headed over to Minute Maid Park for the Moda Dinner. It was so cool to be at the park when it was empty! Such a different feel! The dinner was delicious. If you know me at all, you know it's all about the sauce for me. Particularly the Barbecue Sauce! A traditional southern Barbecue was served, with plenty o' sauce!

Here's my dear friend Marie. I moved into the house across the street from her more than a decade ago. (boy, that makes it sound so long ago. I swear it was yesterday) That was when I lived in Citrus heights. I'll never have a better neighbor, she was the best! Anyway, she owns the fabulous Runs With Scissors Quilt Shop in Citrus Heights, and I never get to see her enough, so it's been great to catch up while we're at market!

oops, more of the MM girls slipped in!

It was a fantabulous day! I am looking forward to tomorrow, when we will be buying about 3 months worth of fabric for the store. We have appointments with Moda, Westminster Fibers, Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman, Maywood, Studio E, Lakehouse, Blank and more that I can't remember. It will be hectic and crazy, but I have a carefully detailed list.

Party Favors!

Beka and I spent most of today getting ready for Mercedes birthday party tomorrow. Several years ago our friend Vicky who owns Obento Sushi told us about dessert sushi and how we could make it with rice krispy treats and candy. We thought it would be a fun party favor for everyone, so first thing this morning we were mixing up the ingredients for rice krispy treats and flattened them out into a cookie sheet.



Then we unrolled a fruit roll up and cut a square of the treats a little bit smaller than the fruit roll. We put some gummi worms and licorice in the centers and rolled them together.

After we had them all ready, we sliced them crosswise to make little pieces of dessert sushi. They are so cute, and they taste really good! The kids wouldn't leave us alone to finish making it, they kept begging us for pieces.

They hardly took any time to make, I thought it was going to be a big project, but it turned out to be quite fast. So then we started baking the cake for tomorrow. It will be a pagoda. Are you starting to see the theme? Tomorrow we will roll the sushi, California rolls, Chicken cutlet and spicy peanut sauce and salmon and cream cheese. Yummmmmm! I love sushi!

A Snow Day = A Sew Day!

I'm visiting my sister in Minnesota this week. It is far colder than I could have imagined and the snow is piled on thick. So today we are staying in where it is warm and working on a fun sewing project. My niece Mercedes is turning the big two soon and we are having a sushi party for her birthday this Friday night. So we decided to make her a fun Asian inspired outfit for the party.


The coat is a beautiful Fuchsia color that has little tiny blossoms on it.
Here are the makings of the pants, a gold print with Fuchsia accents.



The jacket has cute little ties that hold it shut.
Here is a really fun new pattern from Susan Fuquay of American Quilt Retailer. It's called Holy Snowballs and is super fun and really fast to make. This one is made out of Odyssea from Moda. It still needs it's borders, but I just had to share it because I am already in love with it!

My sis and I are having lots of fun, crafting, sewing, cooking and playing with our kids!

New Years Resolutions- You had to know this was coming right?

We rang in the new year at Oberon, in Eureka. My girls, Larissa, Elizabeth, Molly and me, Liz.

So it's a new year. 2010. A new decade. I am sitting at my new desk, which we just switched out last night before heading out to celebrate. It's a cute little desk. I didn't really have any plans to get a new one, but a few days ago, across the street from the quilt store, Eureka City Schools was having a surplus sale. It intrigued me, and after our sale quieted down enough to sneak over there, I did. There were tons of old wooden teacher's desks, and at the end was a cute little one with a button nosed end. I loved it instantly and had to have it. I was trying to figure out what I would do with it while I waited for my unknowing husband to come pick it up for me, when I realized that I had driven the truck to work that day. It was meant to be! So I handed over by 25 bucks and they loaded her up. Just had to share, because I am loving it!

And on to New Years resolutions. I have never made any. Not a single one ever. I am very much a realist and have always thought it seemed silly to make resolutions along with every one else when most of them seem made in haste, not true commitments. I don't like to say I'll do things and then not follow through. When I commit to something I like to see it to the end. But I suppose it's time to go out on a limb here and take a leap of faith. Challenge myself to try even if I'm not completely sure I will be able to complete said task. So here goes:

1. (This is the obvious one) I resolve to be a healthier person in 2010 than in previous years. I have been working on this one for a few months now, so I have a head start. Just like many others, working full time and being a mom and wife have left me a lot less "me time." One of the first things to go seems to be taking good care of my health. By the end of the year, I would like to have a committed workout routine in place that I enjoy.

2. In 2010, I resolve to be more professional, to learn everything I can to better serve my customers and to provide a positive, uplifting experience for everyone who walks through the doors. You all mean the world to me!

3. This new decade, I resolve to raise up a polite, kind daughter who knows right from wrong and knows fully how to love and be loved. (At the end of this decade, I will have a 14 year old) What the what?

4. I resolve to continue for this year and many more to come, to grow my marriage and grow a decade older with my wonderful husband. I am looking forward to it!

2010, bring it on! I'm ready for you!

It's one of the things I love about Christmas

We all have our own Christmas traditions. They are rituals born out of repetition, from the mere fact that we do them every year. Sometimes they change over the years, variations of previous traditions. As families grow and expand to include in-laws, and babes are born, traditions merge. A very wise woman told me my in my first year of marriage, "Steve has his family traditions, and you have yours. Now it's time to make some new ones together." I remember that every year as we have grown our little family and are sharing Christmas rituals and traditions with Sydney.

One of my favorite traditions is putting out this very special little house. I love it so much that I often want to leave it out all year long, but I don't think it would hold the same meaning if it were an everyday piece. It is not at all ordinary and really quite extraordinary to me. It was given to me by my Grandmother, Esta, my dad's Mom. She held onto it until her death 12 years ago, but she told me that I would have it after she passed away and I treasure it. Every Christmas my Grandma put it out, and I never tired of looking at it. It really fascinates me. I imagine the fictional family that lives inside that cozy little house. She has been putting it out since the 70's, when it was given to her by a friend, Elizabeth Vessels.

Elizabeth was born in the 1880's and was getting up in age when she gave it my Grandma, Esta. Elizabeth lived in a log cabin in the San Bernadino mountains that was built for her grandmother. I don't know much about Elizabeth other than she and my grandma were friends and my grandma had always admired the house, so when Elizabeth grew older and needed to downsize, she gave my grandma the house.

But the story of this little house didn't start with Elizabeth. It actually started with her Grandmother, who received this house as a gift when she was a little girl. I know even less about her, but I have many years to imagine who she was, and who made this beautiful little house for her. I believe she was born in the 1830's, but I don't know for sure. I don't really know where the items that are inside of the house came from. Sometimes I think about adding things or changing items, but in the end I always decide I just kind of like it the way it is. At some point, a light was added to the inside of the top roof, so it lights up nicely!

The little gnome came with the house, he is a wooden fella. I don't know when he joined the house, but he stays out all year. He sits on my piano when it's not Christmas. That's the little door that swings back and forth. You can see the house is in need of repair. It has seen a lot of years and I'm afraid to do anything to it. I think it is due for a major cleaning though, but I need some recommendations on how to clean it without damaging it. It's hard to get a camera inside to take any pictures, because of how small the opening is in the top. I love the little sofa. It is made with a silky fabric and there is a little bible that sits there.

There is a little rooster in this window box and a little picture of an American flag. A little chest sits there on the left as well. You can't see the four fancy little chairs that are in there, or the china hutch, but I'll leave it to your imagination.

The only thing that I have added to the house is the little Merry Christmas sign that sits on the roof ledge. I think that someday I will make a teency-weency miniature little quilt to throw over the sofa and that will be my contribution for my time with this house. I tell Sydney about my special little house when she'll listen, and as she gets older, I'll have her help me put it out every year as I tell her the story of her Great Grandmother Esta that she never met, Esta's friend Elizabeth and Elizabeth's Grandmother who was the original owner. This is my part in this very long tradition, that I hope someday Sydney will have and make her own tradition.

Thanks for letting me share my little house!

Who doesn't love a giveaway?

It's December and that means Christmas. And with that, comes the spirit of giving. So what's better than a holiday giveaway? Not much. Well, maybe a trip to Disneyland, but since that's not in the cards for the next couple of weeks, how about a book giveaway?

One of our favorite new finds at Quilt Market this year is the book, One Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker & Patricia Hoskins. Rebecca and Trish have carefully crafted 101 projects that can be made with just 1 yard of fabric each! The directions are clear and the spiral bound book includes an envelope inside to hold all of the pattern pieces!

To make this even more fun, these delightful authors have autographed a copy for the winner! We'll draw a winner on Jan. 1st, 2010!

To enter, click on the link below and leave a note on our Scottie Dog Quilts Facebook page that says "enter me". You can earn additional entries for each friend you refer when they add your name after "enter me".

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scottie-Dog-Quilts-Creative-Sewing-Center/70359672850

The Order Of Events

It's Thanksgiving Day. A day I typically mix with cooking, relaxing, eating and thinking about what I'm thankful for. In that order. Something seems different this year. Yesterday morning on the way to work, for no particular reason I was thinking about how blessed I am. I couldn't get it out of my head. All day long, I had a smile on my face and it's still here. Sydney and I ran a couple of errands in the afternoon and she asked me what Thanksgiving is. As I was describing how Thanksgiving came about and why we continue to celebrate this holiday, it really hit me how much I have to be thankful for. Here's my list:

1. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally and still makes my heart go pitter-pat. He does the little things that make me happy, and with a smile on his face. I am still madly in love with him!

2. We have a beautiful, healthy daughter who is joy in our lives. She is an easy kid and her smile melts our hearts. Watching her amazes me. Just a few years ago, she didn't talk and couldn't figure out what a toilet was for. Now, she can write her name and sing songs and process information.

3. I leave my house each day and make the one mile trip to my dream job. There I enjoy work that fulfills me and inspires me. Having an opportunity to dream, design and produce and then reap the rewards and learn from the failures feeds my soul.

4. I am thankful for a family that I couldn't ask for any more from. My sister is amazing, one of the strongest women I know. She is an inspiration and a confidante. There is no one in this world like my sister and I appreciate her so much. My parents are the kind of parents everyone should have. My dad has more patience for me than anyone in my life. He will listen to me endlessly and is always there for me. No matter what. My mom is about as good as it gets. Her dream has paved the way for me to create a job that I love. My entire life, she has put herself aside in favor of everyone else. She is, simply put, amazing.

5. I am so very thankful for an amazing Grandpa. There is no one in the world like my Grandpa. He is everything a Grandpa should be, loving, caring, compassionate, smart, hilariously funny! I have a million wonderful memories of my Grandpa and we continue to make more. He is incredibly special to me and I know how lucky I am to have him. He is one of a kind.

6. When you are a kid, you always have a million friends. As you grow up, some move on, sometimes we are the one who moves on. Some stay. My friend Larissa has been in my life since I was pretty small. I am so thankful for her friendship. She truly "gets" me. She knows when to poke fun, when to back off, when to support and when to just show up. I know she's got my back and I can always count on her. Watching our girls grow up together has been wonderful. It's like watching little "mini-me's" run around together. Having her by my side supporting me whether in person or in spirit is such a gift to me.

7. I am certainly thankful for a roof over my head and food to eat and heat when I'm cold. I definitely take these things for granted, and I have to really stop and remind myself to be thankful for these things.

I am often thinking about the future, and where I want to be at what age and at what point in my life. If I want to do X by the time I'm Y, then what should I be doing right now? Am I on track? Am I producing enough, working hard enough? But what about right now? I rarely stop to think about what I am doing right now and if I am happy and content with who I am and what I am doing right now.

I read a great article recently about slowing down and enjoying life. It was the same old article that has been written a million times, but maybe it takes a million times to really get the point across. Maybe I need to read someone else's version every once in awhile to remind me how rich with blessings I am. Maybe I'm writing my own version right now. Either way, we all know that we need to stop and smell the roses from time to time. Today, I am pausing to truly consider how richly blessed I am and just enjoy the day. Then I am going to cook the dinner, relax and eat a bountiful Thanksgiving feast in remembrance of those who paved the way. In that order.