A practical edition of the project report: I finally finished our shower curtain! I know it's a pretty boring thing to read about on a blog, but I have to admit I am pretty proud. First, I really never thought I would get around to it because, well, it's so boring. But seriously, if I can finish this one, the rest of that pile will be a cinch. Second, it was my first attempt at French seams and (if you can believe it) button holes. This is huge for me. I actually have a stack of things I've been wanting to make but I keep putting off because the button holes were too intimidating. My machine has an automatic setting for them and a special foot attachment, so really, they couldn't have been easier. So, whew. No more staring at the plastic Ikea eyesore we've had hanging there, and another project checked off the list.

I am feeling frazzled in my head space today and it is manifesting itself in a very frazzled work space. We are finally trying to cut out R's middle of the night feeding (why we haven't done it sooner, I don't know), and just as I feared it would, it's had her waking up at 5:00 every morning this week. That is way too early for me and it's really catching up with me today. I can't seem to focus on any one thing, but have a pretty long list I am trying to get through.
As a side note - one of my unexpected favorite things about having a little one in the house is the little toys I find hidden and dropped in the most random of places. They are always such nice surprises when I discover one. I found this baby snow globe under my desk this morning.

One of R's favorite pastimes at the moment is to put things inside of other things and then take them out again. This, paired with a surprising accumulation of small, random toys & playthings, inspired me to make a set of small fabric bags for r to carry around, put things in and then empty out again.

For the fabric, I used some old liberty scraps I had with a solid cotton lining. I used a heavy starch on both layers to stiffen up the fabrics a bit and give the bags a bit of shape. The two layers are just tucked one inside the other and then sewn together at the top with a single straight stitch. I trimmed the top with pinking shears and I love how this simple finish mimics the top edge of the classic paper lunch bag. I'm not sure R will appreciate the detail.

 Have you ever tried these Mochi sweets from Trader Joes? It's a small dollop of ice cream surrounded by flavored, sugary paste. They are amazing. They come in three flavors, but really, they could have stopped at Green Tea. I rarely get them because I seriously could eat a whole box in one sitting, but decided to give myself the treat on my last visit there. So far I've been able to limit myself to one a day - but there's not much that is going to make me miss that 3:00 snack.

 

Who knows where I thought I would find the time, but I was sure I would be able to post last week with updates on my family's visit. The reality of it was non-stop chaos. I never even had the time (or the free hands) to pull out my real camera, so my only mementos are these quick iPhone shots.
Despite the total and complete wildness of it all, we had a great time. The weather could not have been better - it felt like summer (please note the shorts and t-shirts!) and the kids were all on best behavior (most of the time). We explored all of the parks in the neighborhood, went to the Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn, and even got our act together for a trip uptown to the Natural History Museum. It was so fun to see all of the cousins together and they really seemed to enjoy each others' company despite their age differences. It's a relief to have our house back to normal now, but man do we miss those kids!

My mom, my sister and my sister's two kids are coming to visit next week (My mom gets in tomorrow!). Everyone is staying in our tiny apartment. It's going to be a serious adventure. I am really looking forward to it. We don't have much on the agenda, but I am looking forward to being a tourist in the city. It's always so fun when we have visitors in town and we can just let go and gawk at this beautiful place. 
Do you have any exciting weekend plans?

A few years ago E brought me back a handful of these knit finger puppets from a trip to Peru. I loved them then, r loves them now. Wherever we go, I am always sure to have a couple of them stuffed in my pocket for emergency cheer-up situations. I was really glad to find them available for sale here, we needed reinforcements. You buy them in bulk and never know what you're going to get. It's such a strange, colorful assortment. Part of the fun is guessing what kind of animal each of them is. It's not always easy. 

 

I've got my eye out for a new summer tote and am really loving these from Fabric and Handle. But, there's one problem, how do I decide which one to choose?

Another sunny, beautiful day here in NY. We are going to take a long walk this afternoon, up to the bookstore, through the neighborhood, maybe a stop in the park. But, for now, r is sleeping, I'm working on some embroidery. Taking it slow. 

The trees are all budding and blossoming here in Brooklyn. It's gorgeous. I can't stop gazing up. 

 A friend of ours got r this tiara for her birthday. It is by far the girliest thing she owns. She was pretty neutral about it at the party, but this afternoon she found it in her toy box, asked me to put it on her, and didn't want to take it off. She spent most of the time admiring herself in the mirror. I think I just saw my future. 

One of the main reasons for us to go to ps1 this weekend was to see this installation by Surasi Kusolwong. It's a room filled about 3 feet deep with big piles of cotton thread waste, just waiting to be rolled around in. Little r loves picking at thread pulls, fuzz, hair, and anything else stringy, so she was in little baby heaven crawling through the piles. I would recommend that everyone go and see it, but I just noticed that it closes today. I'm bummed that we didn't discover it sooner. We would have gone every weekend. 

 This weekend. Long Island City, PS1, and a new camera app on my iPhone. 

I've been working on a styling project which has me running around to shops all over the city - it's great to have the opportunity to shop in the name of work, but I always end up coming home with something new for me that I didn't plan on, or need. Today I went to the Marimekko store for the first time. Amazing. I didn't realize how much of a fan I was until I walked in the store. A lot of their prints are a little over the top for me, but going in, I learned that a lot of them aren't. I held back and just got myself this small cup, but I've put a lot of things on my mental wish list. I also picked up this little newsletter. It's mainly interviews with designers at the company, but there's also a couple of pages of full page prints. I am tempted to pull them out and frame them. I particularly like the Helsinki print on the front cover.