enJOY it

around here.

October 10, 2013

Signing off early this week – my family of three is headed out bright and early tomorrow for a weekend adventure. It's a much anticipated vacation to celebrate a rad wedding. This is the first time most of my college girlfirends will be meeting Ellerie and it feels like so long ago and also yesterday that we all lived together in a sorority house. It's unreal how much has changed for the seven of us. (FIY…clicking that link sends you deep into the 2007 archives. You may need a climbing rope and a strong cocktail to work your way out.)

Some very new & exciting stuff is headed for the blog and the shop in the coming months. I can't wait to share soon. It feels like this fall is cranking itself right into high gear and that's a good thing. Also, Ellerie laughed long and loud for me yesterday and I melted. Melted right into a puddle on the floor then squeezed her tightly and remembered why I believe in magic. (Her laugh, btw, sounded just like an old man doing an impression of a donkey. It was awesome.)

Have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you Monday with hopefully a ton of photos from our family adventure. I'm determined to break out the big camera.

ps. this is Ellerie's stacking toy, these are my running shoes, this is our stroller & this is that notebook. More information on that love badge and calendar to come.
my little rope basket.

October 9, 2013

So I attempted project one of four from my autumn DIY list.

I followed the steps outlined here, and found that it was much easier to make progress if I used a big needle to pull and push the yarn around the coiled rope.

The hardest part for me was getting the shape to stay wide – you'll notice it sort of starts to close in towards the top? That subtle closing made it impossible for me to stick one of my 15,000 houseplants inside because their current vessels all flare out towards the top a bit. But no worries, because I, for sure, need another little basket to sit on my shelves and hold keys, headphones and winecorks.

It was fun to experiment with a 3D project like this though and realize how easy the weaving process really is. For this first try, I used rope, yarn and string that I had on hand, but I think this would be fun to try with thick cotton rope for the base and nylon cord for the woven part. I have the technique down now, this just needs finessing. And about 15 hours of netflix tv shows.

Next up is the wooden candle holder.
how I am learning to “balance” work & mamahood.

October 8, 2013
So, of course, this is just the beginning. I am about three and a half months into being a mom and only about ten weeks into trying to work from home and raise a kiddo. My job is always changing (more on this in a future post, I'm sure) but right now entails developing content for and maintaining this blog, freelance writing and design projects, new product, workshop and eCourse development and shop maintenance. What is currently working for my family probably will not be working for us in six months. It might not be working in six days. But I can stress out over what is to come or embrace what is happening now and it seems more productive to do the latter.

Here are a few things that I have found to be helpful so far:

Keep reasonable to-do lists and set realistic deadlines. I can't turn things around at the same pace that I could before Ellerie. That's a fact. For my own projects, I triple the amount of time that would have usually given myself. An example is the Quilt eCourse which popped into my head the last week of August. I set the goal to have it listed on my website by October 1. That gave me 30 days (or 30 naps so about 90 hours) of time which felt "realistic" to me. (Pre-baby it would have still taken me 90 hours, but I would have most likely packed those 90 hours into one or two weeks.) For projects that I am delivering for others, I am honest about the commitment that I can give and in the timeframe that I can give it. The goal is to have enough time that I can execute without sacrificing sleep or too much family time.

Know the difference between asleep tasks & awake tasks. While Ellerie is awake I can prep dinner, fold laundry, run errands, go for walks, tidy up, take photos and take a shower (she sits in her boppy near the bathroom and I actually enjoy slightly longer showers this way because I can see her and know she's doing well). I cannot write blog posts, do computer work, sew, read, enjoy a meal or start messy/involved projects. These items are bound to change as she grows, but right now I know what works and do not spend time while she's sleeping doing "awake tasks" or attempt "asleep tasks" while she's awake.

Don't do quick tasks slowly. Just because I can write blog posts or respond to emails on my phone doesn't mean I should. It's crazy to spend 10 minutes addressing an email with one hand while holding Ellerie when I could spend just two minutes doing the same task later while sitting at my computer keyboard. I'm better off using that "holding baby time" to actually enjoy holding the baby and/or letting my mind wander.

Make your workspace work. I am about to embark on a major office overhaul. Right now, the space that I work in everyday is a disaster zone. I set it up without much thought when we moved in, figuring that after I had the baby I'd have a better idea of what my job was going to look like. Now I know what my job looks like and where I want it to go and I need a space that is much more organized so when I am in my office I am not wasting time in the piles of clutter. Getting it reorganized over the next few months is a huge priority.

Ask for help. Three out of five weekdays I think to myself "I need help." The other two days I think to myself "No seriously, I need help." 😉 Without a doubt, my job is the "when something's gotta give, it gives" job. Paul can't just "show up late" when I need more time to work in the morning. He can't just "take a day off" when the baby needs extra attention. I can't pretend like this doesn't frustrate me, but I am working to swallow my passive-aggressive sighs and speak up when I need the help. Sometimes it means Paul takes Ellerie for three hours on a Sunday morning while I lock myself in the office and crank through it. Sometimes it's a random Thursday night where I know having just one uninterrupted hour would really make a difference. Sometimes it's about arranging Grandparent visits (which would be happening anyway) around when I have a big deadline. Ask for help. Specifically say what you need from your partner or parents or friends or sitter or boss or whatever. Put it out there, don't just stew in it.

Adjust the schedule. Pre-baby, I woke up on my own time frame between 7-8 and spent the morning enjoying my breakfast then plowed through my to-do list. I was usually done with my "have-tos" (emails, blog post writing, packing orders, etc) by early afternoon and was then free to do whatever I wanted around the house or work-wise. Post-baby, I wake up early to an alarm in order to still get in that "breakfast" time before Ellerie is up. This quiet alone time in the morning is essential for me and well worth the bit of lost sleep. Sometimes I am able to get to a few work "have-tos" but usually, Ellerie is ready to be up before I can sit at my computer. This means my prime working hours end up being in the early afternoon during her nap and I am often not able to clear my to-do list until late in the day. This was stressful for me early on but after recognizing the pattern I am working to adjust accordingly.

Respect the ebb and flow. Some days are not great: Ellerie is fussy and doesn't want to nap, my printer refuses to print during the one hour I have to work, the Internet is spotty and I legitimately fear that I might drown in a sea of spit up. Other days are phenomenal: Ellerie naps for four hours straight, she's content and adorable while awake, I cross items off my list quickly, I come up with a Great Idea and outline an action plan for getting it accomplished. Neither of these days are normal but both happen on occasion. I am learning to respect them for what they are. The hard day is going to pass; tomorrow will be better. And the amazing day is amazing, and needs to be appreciated, but it too will pass. I can't base any business OR motherhood decisions off what happens on the best or the worst days – they are outliers (if they weren't we would for sure have a live-in nanny and/or one million dollars by now).

(OH MAN, this is such a long post. I just read though it again and tried to edit it down and found myself adding MORE text and the hilarious thing is that I feel like I could still go on and on.)

What I have learned in three months is that with patience and organization and adjustments it's sort of possible (I have a feeling 2014 will be the year I finally need an assistant and/or part time help watching Ellerie). I am working hard these days but am feeling so fulfilled.

semi-related reading :
backyard dreaming.

October 7, 2013
I should really title this post backyard scheming because we've finally got a plan for the backyard.

When we first moved in, I shared photos of the space. You may remember that it's a lot of space. Which is awesome. But overwhelming.

We hemmed and hawed and hemmed some more and have decided that instead of just being overwhelmed by the big hill area for the next four years and never actually executing anything (it's way out of our budget to make major changes) we're going to focus on the portion in front of the chainlink fence.

Our small patch of grass did not survive the hot summer, which is sad, but also probably better for the environment and our water bill. So when Paul's family was here, Paul and his dad ripped up the very brown, very dead, grass and we started to make plans for how to fill this space effectively.

The goal is to create an outdoor seating area that's an extension of the indoor living space. We are going to turn the space into something that looks deliberate instead of sad.

Behold a crappy computer rendering on top of an awful photo taken at high noon. Yep, we're putting in a deck. And we're getting rid of some plants behind the low cement wall and adding some more drought-tolerant ground cover. Then we're going to close in the space with some wooden horizontal planks. Possibly using a bunch of these or perhaps something like this. The hope is that it will make the backyard feel more like a space to enjoy but we'll still have a decent view of the hill. The hill is bird and animal heaven (so far we've seen one million varieties of small birds plus rabbits, lizards, hawks and …skunks).

It's quite likely, if you follow me on pinterest, you've seen about 100 photos of various backyards that are a mixture of cement, succulents, fire pits, palm trees and horizontal wood planks. I am quite sure I have collected every single image of it's kind online. About once I a day, I scroll through my "long-term home dreams" board and try not to drool while shouting at Paul to, "look at this one, babe!" Obviously, I'm excited that the long-term has arrived.

I am so excited that I thought I would list out our to-dos Young House Love style:
- remove dead grass
- cap sprinkler heads
- dig up weeds
- remove random tree
- power-wash cement and brick
- level decking area
- lay deck
- plant more succulent ground-cover
- remove dead plants behind chainlink fence
- add wood panels to chainlink
- build firepit
- obtain more seating
- string strands of globe lights from house to fence a la this.
I cannot even fathom having those items all crossed off, but, once that's all done we'll move on to other side of the backyard…we'd love to get rid of the cement fountain and add some large planter boxes.

2014 is for sure going to be the year that we eat meals outside and I keep my vegetable plants alive.

Ready, set, go.
project life 2013 : week 39.

October 5, 2013

It's week thirty-nine and I love this project.

click the photo to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : September 23 – September 29.

What happened this week? We were home. Nothing special and not too many photos since I was working to get the eCourse out the door.

Anything special in the spread? Nothing! keeping it so minimal these past few weeks.

Techniques this week : I still love those 5 senses cards.

Overall thoughts : Just sticking with this album. Feeling good to get each week in there.

Ratio of iPhone photos to "real camera" photos : All real camera.

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : All Elise.

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Midnight core kit, Freckled Fawn wood chip arrow, Two Peas in a Bucket "hello" badge and wooden card, Kelly Purkey Project Life kit (making things happen card).

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project (including anything about the photos)? Check here.
around here.

October 4, 2013

We've had a wonderful string of gray mornings (before the heat of the afternoon hits) and I've been taking advantage of them and getting Ellerie out for walks in the stroller. She's not quite sure what to make of these walks yet, but she sits quiet and alert, taking it all in. I also get some quiet and alert time from them too which is nice. I can see these walks becoming a big part of our morning routine.

In other news, the autumn decorations are slowly filling corners and the stack of books on my nightstand is growing. I can thank the library for curing me of my Candy Crush addiction. (Hi, I'm Elise and it's been one week since I last opened the app.) I couldn't concentrate on reading towards the end of my pregnancy and then in my post-baby haze I had forgotten the magic of books. But I am so back on the reading train and it feels good. Book report coming towards the end of the month.

Thank you for your enthusiasm about the quilt eCourse. It feels great to have it out in the world. To make a fun promo for Instagram, I cut letters out of fabric scraps and then I had a few folks ask if I'd sell it as a print. I went for one better and make the high-res image a download. If you want to make a print for your wall or save as your desktop, you can click then right click to download and save the square .jpg here and rectangle .jpg here. Personal use only please.

It's just a half weekend for us because Paul's working tomorrow, but we're going to do our best to enjoy it anyways. I hope you have a good one.
pumpkin swirl bread.

October 2, 2013
One of my favorite things I have done on the blog is the 40 loaves project. Over a period of about 18 months, I tried and shared 40 different bread recipes. From the experience, I learned how to bake all sorts of bread and totally got over my "fear" of bread baking.

I am pretty sure that the first loaf of bread I ever made was Peter Reinhart's chocolate cinnamon babka from Artisian Breads Every Day (my absolute favorite cookbook). It's special to me because it's delicious, and it's the first time I remember pulling something out of the oven and thinking "wow."

This pumpkin bread uses a variation of the babka recipe. I had pie pumpkins from Trader Joe's and after some online searching didn't turn up a pumpkin bread that looked interesting, I decided to create my own. The recipe took some tweaking (this is version two) and I'm excited to share it here.

Pumpkin swirl bread, adapted from Peter Reinhart's Chocolate Cinnamon Babka

for the bread :
- 2 T instant yeast
- 3/4 C lukewarm milk
- 6 T unsalted butter, melted
- 4 T sugar
- 1 t vanilla
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 1/3 C white flour
- 1 C whole wheat flour
- 1 t salt
for the pumpkin filling :
- 1 pie pumpkin
- 1/4 brown sugar
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1 t nutmeg
- 3 T maple syrup
Whisk yeast and milk together until yeast dissolves. Set aside for about five minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar and melted butter. Use the paddle attachment and mix on medium for about 1-2 minutes until smooth.

In a small bowl, add vanilla to your egg yolks and break up the yolks with a fork.

Pour the egg and vanilla mixture into your sugar and butter and mix on medium-high until mixture is fluffy.

Stop the mixer and add in your flour and salt, then pour in the milk and yeast mixture. Resume mixing at a low speed until the dough is soft and tacky. Switch to a dough hook after a minute or two if needed.

Knead the dough with your hands for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface. Form it into a ball, place in a bowl (I just use the mixer bowl), cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise at room temperature for about 2.5 hours.

Prepare the filling with the dough is rising.

Wash your pie pumpkin and remove the stem. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds and strings. Place sides face down on a tin foil wrapped cookie sheet and cover with foil. Bake at 350* for 1.5 hours or until pumpkin is soft.

After baking, let you pumpkin cool then peel back skin of the pumpkin and put the soft cooked insides to a bowl.

Combine the baked pumpkin with all the other filling ingredients and mix well.

After your dough has had time to rise, roll it out as thin as you can. Spread the pumpkin filling over the top like you're adding sauce to pizza dough.

Roll the dough up tightly.

Use a butter knife to cut down the dough roll lengthwise. Open up your roll into two pieces.

Cross one piece over the other, then continue to criss-cross in the pieces in both directions until you've formed a twist.

Cover your twist with plastic wrap and allow to rise another hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 350*. Bake your bread for about 45 minutes or until top is dark brown.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

p.s. that autumn table runner in the bread photos? It's a project in my Get Quilty eCourse that launched late last night. Read about it in the post below and purchase here.
get quilty, the eCourse, is now live.

October 2, 2013

Hooray! Hooray!

I'm excited to introduce my newest eCourse, Get Quilty. It's all about quilting, but not just making quilts.

The eCourse is completely go at your own pace (there is no start date) and will be held on a private blog. Your access to the course will never expire (so you have as much time as you need to complete the projects and you can always refer back to lessons). Minutes after you complete your transaction you'll receive an email with instructions for how to log-in.

I created five new projects just for this course and love every one of them so much. The goal was to pack a ton of different sewing techniques in and I really wanted the home items (and a rad clutch) that felt modern and fun. All five of these projects would make fantastic gifts for the holidays (or fantastic things to keep for yourself). They are also all projects that have a ton of flexibility once you know the basic pattern. (Three cheers for getting more bang for your bucks.)

This class is for a beginner quilter (or advanced quilter who wants some new ideas), but you do need to know how to work your sewing machine. I would even go so far as to say you need to be comfortable with your sewing machine. If you have that covered, these projects are easy to follow and will be broken down step-by-step. You can see a list of additional tools recommended for completing the projects here.

In addition to the five project tutorials (photos of the completed projects are shown throughout this post), I wrote in-depth lessons that share my own quilting story, quilting basics, how to find and apply inspiration and suggestions for fabric pairing.

You can find full details and purchase the course for $32 USD here.

I so hope you enjoy! As always, thank you for reading.
october bold intentions.

October 1, 2013
I am pretty happy with how September shook out. We didn't get outside nearly as much as I would have liked (seriously, I am no good at handling a heat wave and a baby at the same time) but I did get my library card and dove back into reading. And I am thrilled to have more photos hung on our walls.

September was also insanely busy as I worked furiously on the Get Quilty eCourse. It's almost ready to launch and I'm at that point that occurs during any huge project where I can't for the life of me fligure out why I decided to do this, so I know I've poured my heart into it. Hoping to add some finishing touches and get that listed in the next day or so.

After wrapping up such a big work project, I always feel like I have oodles of free time. (It's a facade, but it feels that way.) I'm looking forward to some "just for fun" creativity and more exercise this month. My bold intentions for October celebrate that :
1. decorate the house for autumn.
2. spend 5-10 minutes a day stretching.
3. prepare for a 10k race.
The decorating will most likely involve buying pumpkins and stringing felt & paper garlands. Like a crazy person, I signed Paul and I up for a 10k on November 3rd. Partly because I'd love a race as motivation, but mostly because this one looks like a perfect one to run together (there's wine at the finish line). Paul has never ran in an organized race before! This will be my fourth total and second 10k. (Read more about my running adventures here.) And the stretching is because I feel like I spent the last month either hunched over my sewing machine/computer keyboard or holding Ellerie and my shoulders, neck and back are paying for it, big time.

October! I love you, already. Please bring some cooler weather.

p.s. these are my running shoes.
crushing on a few DIYs.

September 30, 2013

It's totally fall.

And by this, I don't mean that the cooler temps have hit or that the palm trees are shedding their leaves. What I mean is that I've got the itch to make. It always hits this season. Something clicks and I feel like getting crafty.

Below are a few DIY projects I'd like to attempt these next few months. All of the links send you to the original source so you can be just as inspired by these brilliant crafters. (And if you're bored this Monday morning…keep reading…those are rad blogs.)

one : woven rope basket at ceci bean. I'd love a basket in every room of our house for blankets and Ellerie toys.

two : woven rug by Rachel Denbow for A Beautiful Mess. I'm thinking about attempting this on a slightly smaller scale for our entryway.

three : fat quarter infinity scarf by luvinthemommyhood for Art Gallery Fabrics. I need a scarves like I need pancakes (so not at all, but I really love them).

four : candle centerpiece at a subtle revelry. I'm thinking this would make such a cool holiday centerpiece if those holes were a bit bigger and it was filled with small white taper candles instead of birthday candles…

ps. here are a few autumn craft projects I have shared over the years…scrap fabric wreath, felt leaves wreath & hanging paper pumpkin lanterns.

pps. I am guest posting on my friend Amy's blog today, sharing what I do when I need a boost of inspiration. (If the post is not up yet, it will be soon.)