what a nice surprise in the mail!

(this will be a lovely segue into my back-track through the last two weeks.)

i just got in from some errands and checked my mail, to find i had a package. i left my crocs (yes, i love crocs--i own more than one style, in fact) at my cousins', and my aunt had called for my address to mail them to me. little did i know i would get a whole package of goodies!



i love cards, and the photos were so nice, and my cousin catherine sent me a handmade potholder--and she must have ESP because it matches my stovetop perfectly! what a nice surprise, especially when a person was just about to make tea!


i can't believe it was only a little over a week ago that i flew back from san francisco. it really was, altogether, quite a vacation!

i posted just after my first day hanging out with cassie and ben, so i should fill everyone in from there. on my third day, and final day staying with the witten siblings, i had a real marathon of fun. ben and i met cassie for lunch at a potbelly's-esque sandwich shop, and then drove to napa!

i didn't realize napa was in such approachable distance, so it was quite a surprising jaunt. the driving scenery was awesome--the golden gate bridge (cassie made fun of me for calling it 'that big red bridge'), the miles of vines, the hills. very beautiful. it was rather grey out--which anyone who knows me knows i was glad about--and all the colors were really coming out. we stopped in so i could attempt sophistication with a wine tasting experience, and with the first glass, clearly not from any threat of intoxication, but only clumsiness, i toppled over some red wine. oh dear... can't take me anywhere, i guess. but it was delightful and very educational!

one of the vineyards had a lovely red barn...

that night, we all cooked dinner. and by that, i mean that cassie made (awesome) guacomole, i chopped up some sausage and some apples, and ben made risotto. so, you might say ben cooked dinner. :) it was delicious and cassie had a friend come by, and we spent the night discovering how terrible i am at blockus! i was already sad to leave--but my family had already been kind enough to extend cassie an invitation to the new baby's baptism, so that helped the goodbye feel less sad.

the next morning, bright and early, i was shuttled off to my cousin's school assembly for the chinese new year. they attend a chinese immersion school, and the assembly was very beautiful--with lovely dances and songs, and a very impressive lion dance! i wish i could have gotten a video of the large scale puppets. all three of my participating cousins did a lovely job.

i spent the rest of the weekend with the whole clan and my grandma, which was utterly lovely and relaxing. i was put in a good mood that will last a long time...it is always so nice to hang out with other big families, considering how much i love my own. and it's doubly nice when you're related, too! all of my cousins cracked me up and we had a great time playing the game i brought them--bananagrams (which i was tipped off about by the small object).

i got to eat my first dim sum (very delicious), went to my cousin patrick's indoor soccer game (cassie came, too! what a good fan!), and of course--got to see a baptism, which is always special. all in all, totally wonderful. and i got peet's coffee EVERY DAY! a big plus to being in california!

i could go on for ages, but i have a lot to do today if i want to check anything else off my list.

here's how i have done so far:

• clean bathtub done
  
• get throat blessed (feast of st. blaise) done
• buy rose water done
• mail comcast bill done
  
• buy binder with clear protectors done
• walk around outside for at least 20 minutes done
• buy a movie at blockbuster done (ok clearly this wasn't originally on the list... but see above)
• blog done
• put graphics work into said binder with short write ups
• start weekend anna's purse
• MoMA application essay
• vacuum bedroom
  
• cook delicious dinner

so there you have it... wish me luck.

tomorrow i will talk about last week--leigh's visit! and then maybe i will be up to date and normal again! just in time to start my internship...

-papermoon

i've been busy and i will soon be busier!

hi all!

i have been very MIA, my apologies. i have been a busy bee, preparing for a trip i am taking to san francisco-- leaving today. first time out there and i'm excited!

i will start the week with my lovely friend cassie (not to mention her brother, ben!), stealing as much of her day as she has left over between and after work hours. i am excited for the reunion-- for the last four and some years we have seen much more of eachother than her move out west has recently allowed. it will be great to catch up and see what her new chapter is like.

once the weekend hits, i am very excited to be getting in a visit-- and a baptism, no less!-- with my san francisco cousins! i have never visited with them in their home territory, and i can't wait. i get to meet my littlest cousin, and catch up with the rest of the troop, whose company i so completely enjoyed at the november wedding. it is nice to have some relatives with such a comparable experience of siblinghood (a parallel family of six kids!) to mine.

i have been sewing like a maniac so that i can bring presents, which is my way. i am very pleased:
for baby, a baseball bib:



the last two bags in the series i have been showing you:




for my grandma (who is visiting, too) a little travel jewelery case:



i didn't know what to whip up for the boys, but i found (alas, didn't make) some great gifts:

a reporter's notebook for my encyclopedia brown loving cousin, a nice compact moleskine set for the oldest of the family, and bananagrams for everyone, in the guise of a gift for my uncle.

hopefully none of them are reading my blog too much so the surprise won't be spoiled... but at this point i think they are probably too busy to check before i will see them, as my cousins emma and elizabeth are singing at the inauguration today!!! so totally exciting. i have been up all morning and sifted through the channels enough to hear them and to see that they caught elizabeth looking lovely in every song! nice job guys!

in any case, i am still in my flannels and glued to the tv. my stomach hurts terribly from the 5 cups of coffee i've had, and the two eggs and three pancakes i ate for the occasion. i am praying the snowflakes won't upend my flight patterns. i can't decide if i should be lazy, and take a cab, or cheap, and take the el...

later!

-papermoon

foiled!

woke up early with serious plans to get myself to the vogue fabrics in evanston, but my view was snow snow and more snow... and regardless of how severe it is, it's just too much for me if i'd be lugging a bunch of fabric/notions around in it.

luckily, i love snow, so it doesn't really put a damper on things. at all.

AND... i made scones. mmm. i love the joy of cooking. and heavy cream.

off to another bag! can't say i'm not looking forward to another day snuggled in front of my machine.

scones and yesterday's bag.

-papermoon

the most satisfying tutorial online.

hi there!

i wanted to share a lovely online tidbit--probably the best sewing tutorial and print out pattern i have ever used, to date. with a gorgeous outcome.

i don't actually include oh fransson! on my list of 40-blogs-i-read-every-day (because i am not a quilter), but it's a really great one. i wanted to make some purses for a few of my cousins as gifts and i decided to give this 'margaret bag' a try because hers looked so pretty. and WOW--she included a pattern, a step by step pdf with pictures, and a materials list. the ocd girl in me was positively giddy.

and... the results of my first one were awesome. it only took 4 hours! (!) the pleats are so pretty and the pockets are so cute inside.

i can't wait to make another one today.

-papermoon

tiny little books and a great board game

last night we played a great new board game that my father bought at my suggestion, as i saw it a year or so ago in the newberry library's store. it's called "it was a dark and stormy night". the question cards contain the first line of a book, and the object is to guess either the author or the title of the book. we played in teams and it was a nerdy load of fun.


the whole thing is simple and fun-- diverse sections, ample in the supply of "children's books" cards so that you can make your younger friends included, a mix of simple/approachable/hard, and a box for the cards disguised as a drawer from the card catalogue. the librarian in me swooned.

the one drawback of the game was the ugly little tokens you get when you receive a point--they were shaped like books (cute!) but made of all-black wood (boring). my sister and i rejuvenated them with some acrylic paint, however, and now our game is gorgeous.






all this...but none of the things on my to-do list today. *(writing two essays for internships and finishing work on my dad/brother's presents.) ho hum.

AND ONE MORE THING!!!!!! I HAVE A BRAND NEW COUSIN!
MATTHEW JOHN DOWD... I LOVE YOU ALREADY!

-papermoon

back, and soon to get back in the good habit

...the good habit of posting once a day, that is.

i had some good excuses lately, what with the election tensions and fretting, followed by the happy excuse of my lovely cousin's wedding this last weekend, in omaha. i have decided in the last year that i really like omaha a lot. and it goes without saying that i like my extended family a whole lot...and how great that my cousin's husband (crazy to say that word!) is now part of that group! hooray!


it was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful and very fun wedding. and i returned to a very cold chicago--which was a perfect end, considering the fact that i quite enjoy winter weather.

my brother has been in and out of chicago with me the last few days, which has been a nice little blip of family. we went to the hopleaf last night, since he had no early morning engagements, and that was as good as always--as in very good. and it's always nice to have a brother about.

today i woke up late, and only because my mother called me. i am thankful for that--i think i might have slept until 4 pm without it. now i am endeavoring to organize my life, contemplating unpacking my suitcase, and realizing that time really flies.

in twenty days it will be thanksgiving. i'm trying to focus on what i am thankful for, instead of what blessings-in-disguise are still disguised for me. life really is good, even if i have been coming to the realization that it's very hard to be an adult. a lot of my favorite blogs have been discussing good ways to lead up to a thankful thanksgiving, and i have decided to take on the task by listing one thing i am thankful for--whether deep or seemingly trivial, no matter-- on each day of november leading up to thanksgiving.

today, i will ten, as i have missed out on a few november days previous!

1. toast
2. having multiple coats
3. the chicago card i found in the middle of the crosswalk--with money on it
   
4. my mac
5. maggie
6. michael
7. james
8. katie
9. paul
10. my landline, otherwise known as the direct line to mom

that's all for now. off to bundle up and see my brother off at his hotel!

-papermoon