enJOY it

the 2017 daily goal tracker!

December 1, 2016

The past few years I have sold a daily goal tracker download. The purpose is to help you make progress on a daily habit in the coming year. This year I am offering the 2017 daily goal tracker as a free download for newsletter subscribers.

I send out a newsletter every two weeks or so. My goal is to keep you updated on shop and product launches but also to highlight fun items or articles I think you might enjoy (sort of like when I used to do weekend links posts on this blog!). If you’d like to sign up for the newsletter you can do so here. I update it every year!

Happy December! Happy goal-setting!
on film.

September 4, 2016

Some of you may remember when I was taking a roll of film of a month of Ellerie. You can see all of these posts here. And here is a fun comparison post from a year of film photos.

I took a roll in October 2015. And then Piper was born in early November. I took some photos of the girls and then my camera got dropped and my favorite lens broke.

Somehow, November 2015 turned into August 2016 (!) and I decided it was time to get back into it. I took 36 photos in three days and this weekend finally got all three rolls developed.

I opened up those envelopes and ahhhhhh, I'd forgotten. I'd forgotten the magic of film.

I shared a few of these photos on Instagram but I wanted to share more here as well as answer some of the common questions I get whenever I talk about film. This might be a long post. Grab some coffee or your favorite Netflix series.

October 2015

FIRST, OH MY GOSH TODDLER ELLERIE! BUT SECOND, WHY FILM?

I think I like film because it's the exact opposite of digital. Digital = endless options, capabilities and so much data. Film = you get what you get, it is what it is and no room for overwhelm. I take probably 50-100 photos a day on my iPhone (most are very similar) and that's insane. But I do very little with all of those photos. About 3% I post to Instagram. Maybe 1 or 2 will make it into a digital photo book at some point. With film, if I commit to a roll a month I'm averaging about a photo a day. Of that roll probably 25 are worth saving. And those go into an album. There is no overwhelm (for me) with film.

Plus: the light and grain of film just cannot be replicated. I try, for sure. Every time I hit a digital photo with a filter or action I'm trying to get a piece of a magic that is already baked into film prints. It's crazy! Sure, I could update my digital camera and learn how to use Photoshop better and probably have some good results. But then I'd be spending my time dealing with endless .jpg data instead of just snapping and calling it good.

October 2015

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR COMPOSITION WISE?

The best part about film is that I know if I have my camera settings where I want them (more on this below) I should get a "technically" decent photo (meaning the light and focus will be okay). So I get to then play with composition. And basically, I'm just looking for the same stuff I'm always looking for…personality and details. These film photos are so different than the photos that I usually take during the day and it took me awhile to figure out why…

I take these photos during the "off-moments." It's not like the girls are doing something hilarious and so I think, "oh! Better get my film camera!" Usually in those cases I pull out the iPhone. And it's not like I think I'll be sharing these images on social media so I'm less interested in the backdrop or straight lines or if this image is too similar to the last one I just posted.

So often, for these photos, the activity IS the photo. I usually take them right after Ellerie (and now Piper) just got up from a nap. The mid-afternoon light is good, the mood is good. We're re-grouping for the day and the camera is out and it's nice and calm. When things are hectic, I'm not like "I think the film camera will really help me get a handle on this situation."

I guess what I am saying is I get my camera out and then for five minutes or so, I'm looking for the magic. I spend a lot of time looking through the lens before I grab the shot. I never take more than 4-6 photos in a sitting and usually it's closer to 1 or 2.

November 2015

WHAT SETTINGS DO YOU USE?

I have a fairly standard SLR camera that I bought in the early 2000s when I was in high school. It's a Canon, like my DSLR, so I am able to share lenses between the two, which is great. It has automatic focus and winds the film for me and it let's me mess around with the shutter speed and aperture.

After some trial and error, I have learned what I prefer for my (indoor) photos. I shoot almost 100% in AV mode with the aperture set to 1.8. If I am using a different lens, I'll just open it as wide as it can go. Opening the lens up all the way lets the most possible light into the camera with the fastest shutter speed. The fast shutter speed is key… my photographs are usually indoor of active kiddos and I don't want them blurry. It also creates a really short depth of field which means only one part of the image is in focus at a time. Personally, I love this look. I like to see a really soft background and a really clear focus on the subject. (It's not for everyone though.)

Sometimes it works perfectly. The bottom two photos of the four above I love: the focus is on baby Piper's 2-day-old face. The second from the top though is a little blurry. The light was a little low and the shutter didn't snap quite fast enough. It's still an image I cherish, but it's not perfectly crisp. In general, I want to keep the shutter speed above or at 1/90 on my indoor shots to reduce blur. (It's REALLY hard to keep your hands steady if the shutter speed isn't fast enough.)

November 2015

WHAT KIND OF FILM DO YOU USE?

Right now, in my camera, and for every photo shown in this post, I'm using Kodak Portra 160. It was recommended to me by the folks at my camera store. I told them that 99% of my photos would be of my kids and they said you want this film for skin tones. Indeed. My number one issue with my digital photos and trying to process them a bit with filters or Photoshop is that the skin color goes super wonky. Usually it gets red looking, especially if I try to boost other colors in the image. For sure this problem is user-error and I could learn to do better, but with film I don't have to! Perfect (accurate!) color right out of the camera. I can't complain.

In the past I have also used Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400 (looks like this is discontinued?) and Kodak Portra 400. I buy a few rolls at once because it's usually cheaper.

WHERE DO YOU BUY YOUR FILM?

My local camera store or amazon. Amazon usually has what I need, but I want to support my local mom and pop shop as much as possible.

August 2016

WHERE DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR PHOTOS?

Remember the good old days where you could drop-off your film at any drugstore and walk out an hour later with a package of perfect prints? I am so sad that those days are gone forever. Many places have gotten rid of their machines OR they have stopped properly training folks how to use them and so that is very far from the case. It's tougher to find places that will develop and print film and even if you find somewhere, there is no guarantee that whoever is working the machine that day knows what they are doing.

I develop my film and print 4×6 photos through a local shop called Nelson's Photo Supplies. This shop also puts all the scans on a CD for me (which is how you are seeing the digital images in this post.) They were in Little Italy for years but just moved to the Point Loma area. They know what they are doing and I never have to worry about botched negatives or prints. That said…I am certain we will move someday and when that happens I'll google "film developing INSERT OUR NEW CITY HERE" or "camera store INSERT OUR NEW CITY HERE." I'll also check yelp for our area to see if there is a local camera shop that does the job. If I find one, I'll give them a test roll first (a.k.a, not Ellerie's wedding photos) and see how things turn out. If I can't find a local shop then I will send the film to be developed somewhere else. I personally haven't used them, but I've heard great things about Goodman Photo Lab.

All of this to say…don't let how to develop be the reason you are not taking film. There are many reasons to not shoot film. Not knowing where to process isn't one of them. 😉

August 2016

WHAT KIND OF CAMERA DO YOU USE?

I have this camera. But I bought it in 2000 when film cameras were not "rare" and it wasn't that expensive. You can most likely get a decent film camera body used (here are some) for a much better price. You can also play with a point and shoot film camera! Or borrow one from someone you know! I do not use the lens that came with my camera originally and instead shoot mostly with this 50mm or sometimes with this 35mm.

HOW DO YOU GET GOOD LIGHT?

We are beyond lucky that our house is well lit for a decent part of the day. Paul and I lived in a dark apartment our first couple years together and I remember saying that decent light was going to be deal-breaker for future homes. 😉 I never take for granted the light that we do have but I also know how to chase the good light. Maybe there is one window in your home that lets in good light from 5-6pm or 7-8am. Experiment! Find the good spot and go there often. You'll notice so many of these photos (especially if you look back) are in the girls' room in the afternoon. That's not chance, that's light. Use your digital camera to figure out where the light is good. It's the same concept, just less expensive to practice.

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE PHOTOS?

Once the photos are developed I tear open the package in the car and hold my breath. Usually the first pass through only one will jump out at me as "good" and I hate the rest. It's an odd habit I have. But after I look through them again and again and then watch Paul look through them, I'm enamored. I recycle all the ones that just didn't turn out (it happens! No big deal!) and the remaining 25 or so go into an album. I use and love these Hudson 2-ups by Kolo. Ellerie's years on film filled two of them. I just got two more in the yellow that will hold Ellerie and Piper. I also have a photo framing project planned that will hopefully turn out so I can have more on display. (I store all the negatives and CDs with the images in a box. If the house is ever on fire, I hope I remember to grab the box.)

August 2016

YEAH, BUT WHY FILM?

I've been working on this blog post on and off all day long. And I keep coming back to this question that no one actually asked but I do wonder. Why do I love this project? Why am I so excited to get back into it this fall? And the answer is that it's truly a project just for me. It's a hobby that will always be a hobby. I'm not trying to "get better" at this or make a business from this. I just want to do it. The girls are changing! So much every day! This is a fun way for me to capture their growth without the overwhelm that comes with many options. Instead of scrolling through thousands of photos from a month to pick a few upload to a book, I flip through 36 and stick my favorites in an album. This project will never replace or even slow-down how many photos I take with my phone but it's different enough to be enjoyable. It's also the exact opposite of the "instant-ness" that comes with social media sharing which is nice. I'm not worried that I "skipped" 10 months of this project. I'm just grateful that the enthusiasm to pick it back up has arrived.

WANT MORE FILM PHOTOS?

Tara Whitney's photos are my favorite. Makes me want to road-trip right this very second.
six months of one second every day.

July 1, 2016

cripe family : 1 second everyday JAN-JUN2016 from elise blaha on Vimeo.

I've been using the 1 second everyday app for six months! It's the easiest form of memory keeping I have found yet. If you want to see the past six months (and the girls growing up!!) in just three minutes, here it is.

Happy July!
do the work, feel better.

April 28, 2016

Popping in here today to share that the 2016-2017 Get To Work Book, my third round of this product(!) is now for sale and shipping. The new book features an amazing black bookboard cover and I am so happy with how it turned out.

Something that I didn't think about when I decided to go all in on a planner business is that I was really setting myself up for seasonal work. It's go-go-go for three months, relax a bit for three months. Go-go-go. Relax. It takes some time to gear up and sink in to BOTH seasons. But it's been so nice. At the risk of sounding like a McDonald's commercial…I'm lovin' it.

While I have not been posting here often, I am sharing tons on Instagram! I decided to join #the100dayproject challenge. The goal is to commit to doing something creative everyday for 100 days and share a photo of what you're working on via IG (or I suppose any social platform). Not wanting to physically make anything… we've got a lot going on in this house already, I've decided to share short little pep talks. (See them all so far here.) The flower photo above is from yesterday's (and if you want it as a phone wallpaper, you can download this image right here!).

It's my little gentle reminder that when it's starting to pile up (your to-do list, your email inbox, your packing list) the only way to feel better is to start cranking through that work. One to-do list item, one email, one box at a time.

If you're interested, you can learn more about the 2016-2017 books and shop other GTWB product – like that GET TO WORK washi tape – here! Through Monday 5/2, all book orders will ship with an exclusive sticker sheet.
30 favorite things.

March 4, 2016

Once a year, around my birthday, I do a round-up of the (corresponding to my age) things that made the year great. I try to think about the new stuff I discovered that I really loved. I try to think about the things that in five, ten, twenty years, I might still love or appreciate.

I'm two weeks late, but here's this year's list:

standing desk – Paul has been working at a standing desk for the past few years and always has good things to say about it. They are not cheap so it was a decent investment for our at home office but I'm a convert!

google photos app – I love this because my photos are saved to the cloud and easy to search/access, obviously, but more exciting than that, I can delete photos from my phone now and no longer get that dreaded "your memory is full" notice.

E&e photo book – my favorite paper project this past year for sure.

fitbit flex – I did not discover this last year, but I had to stick it on the list again because I'm convinced that it (and the steps I took because I was wearing it) are why I was gestational diabetes free this time around. I ended up getting this clip and wear it attached to my bra instead of around my wrist. You can read about my first year with the fitbit here.

All the Light We Cannot See – probably my favorite novel this past year.

"marble" tabletop – we've been making small changes to our house and one of them recently was adding a fake marble countertop to our entry console by wrapping a piece of wood in marble contact paper. It was an easy and inexpensive upgrade that finishes off that Ikea cabinet.

pilot G-2 pens – so great.

jigsaw puzzles – THE perfect "keep your hands and mind busy" project that does not involve scrolling.

the park! – this is the year I started to appreciate the park! We found so many great ones in our area.

Carry On, Warrior – right after Piper was born, a friend sent me this and I laughed my way through it.

Zoe Organics Everything Balm – this is a new to me brand that I really loved this year. The stick is great for chapped hands, lips and skin.

Daniel Wellington watch – I started wearing a watch again in November and LOVE that I can see the time without checking my phone as often.

Modern Love podcast – it's hard to listen to this without smiling. I'm so impressed by the stories, the actors they get to read them and the follow up with the original authors. Worth a listen for sure.

giant whiteboard – I bought a whiteboard at Lowe's (they call it "markerboard" and it's in the lumber section), screwed it to my office wall and never looked back. I plan to get about four of them for my new warehouse space.

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up – I've discussed this at length here, but serious game-changer this past year.

1 Second Every Day app – we are only two months into 2016 but I'm hooked on this documentation method. You can read more about it here.

orange front door – we painted our front door orange on a whim and I smile every time I see it.

Freakanomics podcast – another gem. I learn SO MUCH FROM THIS SHOW.

Pilcro Hyphen Chinos – just picked up a pair of these in Navy and love them.

rainbow quilt – my favorite fabric project this year for sure.

The Dirty Life – by far my favorite memoir of the year. I didn't want it to end.

Burning Love – this Bachelor spoof is hilarious. Probably the best TV I saw all year and I feel like I watched a lot of great TV.

engineer prints – not new by any means, but I recently wanted new photos for our dining room and these turned out so great for so cheap.

Get To Work Book – probably lame to add my own product to the list, but I've used it everyday since July 1st and I love it. I'd love it even if it wasn't my product.

Essentialism – another favorite book this year. I blogged a lot about this here.

#cripetinyreno – around Christmas, I made a big list of everything in our house that drove me crazy and we started making changes. Some were SO SIMPLE like getting silverware drawer organizers that actually fit our drawers and spending $26 on a laundry hamper that didn't collapse under the weight of clothes. Some were a bit more involved like adding legs to our media stand so we could open the doors without pulling up the rug. And some are pretty intense and we are hiring out, like fixing the granite countertop in our kitchen that's coming apart at the seams.

Oh Joy for Target OK vases – by far my favorite impulse purchase this year.

blanqi leggings – I LIVED in these for the first month after Piper was born.

custom packing tape – I cannot imagine the GTWB brand without it! Learn more about my packaging here.

I believe in fresh starts, big dreams and getting your goals down on paper – I changed almost every aspect of my job when I was thirty. Last fall, as I was trying to sum up what the new brand/business was going to look like, I thought of this quote and slapped it all over my new business cards. It seems like the perfect phrase to keep things rolling this decade.

ps: see 29 things, 28 things, 27 things, 26 things
30 favorite moments.

February 22, 2016

Today is my 31st birthday!

My 31st trip around the sun was the biggest year of my life. Hands down. I found out I was pregnant with Piper on Saturday, 2/21, the day before I turned 30. I launched GTWB on March 31 and hustled (and hustled) until 6am on January 27 when I sold out of the 2016 edition (and honestly, continue to hustle now). I would never, ever have "planned" to launch a business and grow a human in the same year. But now that I did it? There's no other way it could have been done. This year needed to unfold as it did. This year was a turning point in all the right ways. It was everything I worked towards for 10 years professionally for sure. And since we think this is it kid-wise for us, it was a pretty big deal to meet our fourth and final family member at the same time.

For the last few years, I have written posts around this time that share my favorite things and favorite moments from the past year. I've got the "things post" drafted but I'm starting with the moments. The moments killed it this year.

And here they are. The 30 best that I can recall…

Meeting Paul for breakfast on my birthday after he came off a night shift and confirming that yep, the second pregnancy test was positive.

Calling my parents on my birthday evening and telling them we were expecting number two.

Laying down $100 on black in Las Vegas and WINNING! It's my favorite party trick and 50% of the time it KILLS. (Though Paul and I are 3/3 on black.)

Meeting my friends from high school for dinner and THREE of us sharing we were pregnant. Finding out the other two were expecting was almost better than finding out I was.

That first ultrasound when the doctor confirmed, yes! heartbeat! and yes! just the one heartbeat. 😉

Every single time I walk out of the library with a stack of new books and think "I CANNOT BELIEVE THESE ARE FREE."

Traveling to Chicago to spend time with my college girlfriends and getting locked out of our AirBnB and then somehow, miraculously getting back in. And looking around the room and thinking "Damn. I wish we were still in college" one moment and then thinking "Damn. Look how far we've come" the next.

Lazy breakfasts in Maui with Paul and the NY Times Crossword.

Cutting into the gender reveal cake and seeing PINK. Honestly, I would have been equally as happy with blue. But pink felt then and feels now, exactly right.

Getting a text from Paul that I was gestational diabetes free this time around!

The 100 moments when I was listening to a killer podcast and I learned something new. I listen to the Big Mainstream Podcasts (This American Life, RadioLab, Freakanomics, Modern Love, Invisibilia, Mystery Show, StartUp) and those folks are so talented and well-edited and ON IT with their storytelling. I can't get over how much I learned this year thanks to podcasts. Paul can't get over how many times I started a conversation with "So, I was listening to this podcast and…"

Coming home from our short "babymoon" and Ellerie running toward us open arms and wondering why the hell I thought I needed a break from THIS.

Those moments where I thought for SURE I was in labor and even used an app to time contractions. That unknown (while it never amounted to anything) was so fun and exciting.

That moment when I realized the spinal block (at the scheduled c-section I decided to go with) had worked.

That moment when they pulled back the blue curtain in the OR and held up my baby girl and I knew. I knew RIGHT THEN AND THERE that this was going to be okay. I was not going to implode or explode or dissolve as a wife, human, woman or mother this time around. I was me. On the operating table. Again. Unable to move. Again. But I was rooted to the spot in the best way. Piper was here. We were all going to be just fine this time.

The whole hospital stay where I was completely high and kept asking Paul what sort of drugs they were giving me (nothing out of the ordinary). I was so present and THERE and HAPPY. OMG. I have never been so happy. It was 48 hours of complete bliss.

About two weeks later when I realized the second shoe wasn't going to drop. The bliss had leveled out. The high had mellowed. But the happy? The calm? That was going to stick around. What a relief.

When I was able to pick up Ellerie again post-surgery. Jeez. That was the best. Top five moment, easily.

Watching Ellerie be so sweet and kind to Piper. I can't believe I have a front row seat to watch their relationship saga unfold. It's like every season of the Bachelor and all the Shonda Rimes shows x 1000 as far as hype and excitement goes.

When we decided to start making tiny changes to our house so it can work better for us. "Finishing" our house last spring was the dumbest idea I've had yet. Restarting has been a breath of fresh air.

When I started the puzzles. Late December and early January was a touch insane between the newborn schedule and the GTWB shipping and I started to lose my mind a bit. Puzzles brought it back. I think I said "Puzzles are the BEST!" like 40 times the first week of January.

Waking up after 9 hours of straight sleep. Baby Piper isn't quite as great of a sleeper as Ellerie but she's still a pro.

Chatting on a podcast in January and being asked what I'm looking forward to and realizing…everything. My family is going to grow up together. That's all we have planned long-term. My girls are just going to learn more things. Paul is going to wrap up his residency and have a normal(ish) schedule for the first time ever (like since the day we started dating). My work is just going to keep trucking, but I love where it's headed. It was one of those moments that deserve a deep breath and a prayer of thanks.

Piper giggles. All of them. Every single one.

Ellerie giggles. All of them. Every single one.

Any time where I got to make Paul laugh.

Signing the lease on a new office space. I don't move in for a few more weeks but wow, it felt like a big step. I am entering my sophomore year of this new business and it feels good. .

Picking up Ellerie from daycare last week and the steady stream of chatter from the backseat. Example: "The car is stuck! How'd it get up there? See the rainbow? Up in the sky? Sun is bright! Sunglasses. Pink sunglasses, please! I go on the airplane? To see Coco? And Bella? Ice cream? No. Baby Piper is at home? She cries when we stop! Red light! Stop. Green light. Go. Red! Orange! Yellow! Green! Blue! I. Love. Purple! Mama love purple? Papa love purple? Piper love purple? Mama love orange! Right? Mama? Mama? Elise? ELISE!!!!"

Nursing Piper and staring at her lashes and her grin and her cheeks and her hair(!) and listening to her breath and coos and feeling her weight and thinking "THIS IS IT, BLAHA. THIS IS SERIOUSLY IT."

Writing this post. I've let the blog take a backseat these past few months and it's been the right decision in many ways. But this space? This text box? It's an old friend. And it's one I'm so glad to have on this roadtrip with me. Here's to that 32nd trip around the sun.

ps: 29 moments, 28 moments, 27 moments, 26 moments & 20 things I learned in my twenties
february : currently.

February 10, 2016

cheering on Ellerie and Piper and their new sleeping habits. Ellerie has successfully transitioned to her toddler bed and Piper is sleeping through the night most nights. I probably just jinxed myself by typing it out, but I don't even care. If we got there once, we'll get there again. Next step, getting them in the same room!

feeling all the feelings that baby Piper will be the last little one to sleep at the end of our bed in a bassinet. It's bitter and sweet…so basically, it's parenthood.

listening to the Modern Love podcast on my walks.

completing any and all puzzles, but this one was an instant favorite. It was almost painful to take it apart.

painting with Ellerie every day. Her patience for sitting and doing one thing has gone up and I'm loving every (hard-earned) second.

signing the lease on a new office/warehouse space (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Get To Work Book has officially out-grown my garage.

speaking of GTWB, check out the new (really fun!) product I launched this week.

reading this, with this and this on deck.

watching Master of None, X-Files and, ahem, the Bachelor.

enjoying the unseasonably (even for San Diego) warm weather.

chatting about pregnancy, birth and post-partum on the Pregnancy Perfect podcast this week.

marveling at how easy and enjoyable nursing is this time around. I can't get over it. Five years from now I'll probably still be talking about it. And by "five years", I really mean "seventy-five" because THAT WAS SO UNEXPECTED.

obsessing over the fact that you can now have multiple IG accounts logged in that the same time.

loving the groove my little family is settling into.

wishing you a great rest of the week.
one month of one second videos.

February 1, 2016
Happy February!

I wanted to share a bit about the app I am using and loving so far this year: 1 Second Everyday. If you follow me on Instagram you’ve heard me pledge my love to this about a million times already but I figured a blog post would give me a chance to share the full 31 seconds of January and go into a bit more depth about how I use and why I chose this documentation tool.

In December (or maybe November?) I was driving Ellerie to daycare and I thought recording a second a day would be a perfect idea for 2016. I knew I had seen it somewhere – I realized recently it was in the movie Chef – so I figured there had to be an app. I parked the car and immediately searched and ta-da! An app.

On January 1st, I started recording bits of our days. You can see the video below.

Capturing a second, it turns out is SUPER easy to do and SUPER easy to over-think. As the month progressed, I chilled out a bit about getting the “right” second and just thought about getting A second. I do not have “technical” app tips to share (you can find some here) but I do have some things that have worked for me as I approached this project.

Hold the camera horizontal. This creates a uniform landscape video which is not a requirement by any means, but I think makes the whole thing feel a bit more cohesive (plus it looks more like a real movie and less like a phone video). It took a bit for me to get into the habit (I take 95% of my photos portrait style on my phone) but now it’s second nature to turn the camera.

Let the subject move, not the camera. Because a second is such a short amount of time, I have found that by holding the camera still and letting the subject move I get a more interesting but less motion sickness inducing video. I sort of treat it like I’m taking a photo and frame things up first (using these basic rules) and then watch until I’ve gotten my second.

Think about the Big Picture, not the little one. Yes, a second a day is tiny! But 366 seconds for a year? That’s a decent amount of footage that is still COMPLETELY digestible. I think my favorite part of this is that I know at the end of the year I’ll have an already edited video that’s just over 6 minutes. More importantly, I know it’s realistic that at 6 minutes, the video will be watched (probably again and again). Plus, of course, I have tons of extra video footage now. At least 5-15 seconds a day which is WAY more than I would have had if I wasn’t working on this. If someday I get a wild itch to make a long movie of our family, I’ll be ready.

Save it for a rainy day. As with any new project, there is so much hype and excitement in the beginning. I found myself thinking “oh I should record this! And this! And also this!” But obviously I just want a second each day. So I made a list of all my “ideas” and when I inevitably plateau on this project, I’ll have that list to fall back on.

Export often. I am “mashing” the video snippets together weekly and saving them to the google photos app just in case something happens to my phone or the app. I also plan to save month-by-month in high-res. And a quick word on storage – once the second from the video is imported to the app, you can delete the full video off your phone.

So, why did I decide to go this route this year?

I think it’s three fold:
1. My girls are growing rapidly and NOTHING captures that growth quite like video.
2. For the current state of mind I’m in, I love not needing any extra space, storage or supplies to work on this project.
3. It’s so very quick to capture the video and add it to the app.
Basically: time and space are limited around here, but LOVE is not. This feels like the best way to capture the love.

Of course, there is never going to be the perfect documentation tool for everyone during every season of life. This is working great for me now just as other things have worked well in the past and undoubtedly something else will work great in the future. I keep thinking though, that I would have loved to have used this to document my extremely crafty years before the girls were born. Or how fun it would be to have a video of just your hands (painting, typing, writing, cooking, gardening, driving) over one year. Or even just a video of a child’s face everyday (they change so much!).

It makes me giddy to consider the possibilities.

PS. I recorded a podcast episode with Cesar Kuriyama, creator of this app, last week. You can listen to it here.
quilted hexagon potholders.

January 23, 2016
I’m currently on a mission to fix up all the little things in our house that drive me crazy. Some are so simple: Get Piper in more framed photos! (check!) Add legs to the media stand! (check!) And some are bigger projects: Fix the kitchen counters that are splitting at the seams! Add more countertop space to the bathroom! (we’re hiring help for those ones!)

But this little project is probably my favorite so far. It accomplished two things: helped me work through my fabric stash AND finally get rid of the rubber potholders Paul and I have had since we moved in together.

I am writing this tutorial based on what my mom taught me yesterday and my Aunt Ellen taught her a few months ago. I am sure another version of this tutorial exists out there but here’s how we do it.

To make ONE 9.5 inch potholder you will need:
- eight cotton fabrics about 11 inches square (7 will be seen, 1 will not)
- straight pins
- a sewing machine
- thread
- an iron
- scissors or a fabric cutting tool set (I use one like this one)
- a hexagon template (make your own or download and print this one)
Create your hexagon template out of paper and cut out eight hexagons, one from each piece of fabric.

Use your iron to press your six top patterns in half. Leave the under side fabric and “hidden” fabric open. (like shown above.)

Beginning layering. Start with the fabric you don’t want to show on the potholder.

On top of that, layer the fabric you want to be the bottom of the potholder with right patterned side up.

Now we’ll layer the folds. Above is the first one.

…then the second

…third

…fourth

…and the fifth actually gets layered over the fourth but tucked under the first (as shown).

Finally the six gets layered under the first AND second.

You should be left with what looks like a six piece pie. We use all the fabrics folded like this instead of just cutting triangles because it adds some heft to the potholder (and it’s so easy!).

Next, stick some straight pins as shown above to hold the pieces together.

Then use your sewing machine to stitch around all six sides.

Finally, remove the pins and pull the potholder right-side out by reaching through the center.

It takes a bit of effort to get each corner pushed into place but it turns out so cute! You can either stop here (this will stay just fine)…

…or you can add some extra detail stitching like I did to the right one above.

SO COOL, right? Let me know if you make your own.

Other posts you might enjoy:
around here.

January 5, 2016

around here I am still not exactly sure what my plan is for the blog. Right now, I plan to update on occasion when I have something to say or something to share. It's funny – I blogged near daily for almost ten years. And when I took a break? I didn't miss it. I love this space very much and I'd still like to write on occasion, but it's not my job anymore; it's a hobby again. I think that's a good thing.

around here I'm putting together puzzles! One of my goals for 2016 is to scroll less and puzzles are that perfect project to keep your hands busy while your mind rests. I was starting to lose my mind a few days ago and it turns out I need something else to bridge the gap between crazy work hours packing books and crazy mama hours. Puzzles are helping do that. 😉 This is a great one, if you're a fellow California fan.

around here my sweet Piper girl is TWO MONTHS OLD tomorrow. I would say "how did this happen?" But, of course, I know how. It happened slowly over the past 61 days and 61 nights. She's put in the work of growing and we've put in the work of raising. I feel like I've known her forever and yet, I can't wait to meet the new her tomorrow. They change so quickly at this (and let's be honest, every) age.

around here I am clearing out some MAKE29 products. Physical products are discounted on the site at least 40-80% as I make room in my office, brain and website for new plans. Be sure to check it out.

around here I am sharing my gratitude that you're checking in. It's been the most amazing 10 years – both on and off the blog. I have no idea what the next 10 years will bring but I look forward to finding out. Thank you for reading.