a giveaway (for reals!) & easy diy gift

last week was m's last day of school (well, until summer school in july), and i haven't even had a chance to write about it. it was bittersweet- so proud of my big girl, so grateful for this last year & her amazing teachers and therapist and school community. simultaneously grieving the loss of some dear schoolmates (and let's face it, getting to see their mommies three days a week), and the loss of just three days of school a week.

i made a little something for a few of the moms i am friends with (although a couple weren't there, so they'll just have to collect their goodness later.) it was a relatively simple project that you could tweak for teachers, grandparents, friends, or colleagues.

(you can get all of these supplies at any basic art store, michaels or online. that said, dick blick is my fave-they have great selection.)

i started out with a couple of colors of gouache (you could also use watercolor- it would actually work better.) you don't need a million colors- i used a pink, green, teal and yellow. (don't be intimidated-my "palette" (aka an ikea kids plate) just looks like that because i use it for all sorts of projects)

 i also used some colored pencils and a mechanical pencil

 basically i just dolloped a bit of paint on a page of watercolor paper, loaded my brush up with water and then diluted the color so it looked all dreamy but still colorful and bright. you don't need to be a painter-just channel your inner preschooler.

 i painted two sheets of paper and cut each piece into three pieces, to fit the 5 x 7 frames i'd bought.

i'd chosen the words lovely & amazing to write on each piece- because, well, my friends at school are lovely and amazing in so many ways. it says so much in so few words. i played with the lettering; you could also print up a cool font and trace it onto your page if you'd prefer something more uniform. i did the lettering in mechanical pencil and then added little circles, doo-dads and lines with the colored pencil.

i liked that each one was different, and the colors and lettering seemed to fit each person.

i used ribba frames by ikea and decided to use the matting. i think this project would also work great with the ribba square frame (the square one is so modern & elegant-a standby that i use to frame m's artwork for our house and as gifts)

viola!

perfect for a little gift or as a reminder to yourself!

i happen to have one extra lovely & amazing framed piece left.

in honor of my friend amy (who is lovely & amazing herself) who is in labor right now 

& will hopefully give birth today, 

i'd like to give away the last one i have!

all you have to do is leave a comment, 

telling me who in your life is lovely & amazing and why they are,

 and i will send one along to our winner to gift to that person!

(of course i'll throw in a little treat for you too)

please leave your email info in the comment so that i can contact you

if you win

i'll choose a winner on monday, so hurry up!

enter until sunday june 19th at midnight!

the one in which i give you tonight's gripping play-by-play

i have all of these half written posts queuing up, unpublished. i feel like the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. tonight matt went to an a's game, and i was planning on blogging a bit. but one thing led to another and i was duct taping my children into bed instead of posting.

bedtime around these parts has been very drawn out and dramatic, so suffice it to say, after many stall techniques, meltdowns, and cryfests, both of my daughters finally fell asleep at 9:30. i started bedtime at 7:30. two. hours. of. drama. in the midst of all of their antics they were alternately quite sweet, so i vacillated between wanting to sign up to star in an episode of supernanny and wanting to soak up little hugs and giggles, not to mention their comical attempts to stay up later. (m is an expert- sadly i think she got those genes from me, because i still remember some of the lines i used on my parents to stay up later.) anyhoo, they sort of sucked all of the remaining energy out of me and i have been laying on the couch watching the first episode of the glee project & drinking ginger ale. (wild & crazy, i know)

{i should note that i am not a bedtime pushover... really! but lately, these girls give me a run for my money. as it got later and later i finally resorted to putting one of m's implants back on for a stern talking to. minimal signing, facial expressions and body language can go only so far when m's implants are off. she knows what i am saying; it is a simple message: "get in bed. stay in bed. go to sleep." plus some combination of "leave your sister alone. no, you don't need water, potty, another hug, or another book." she can read lips, but she takes advantage of her implants being off to look away and ignore my mouth or what i'm trying to sign. that and she is incredibly loud when she throws a fit sans-implants (which happens to most often be at bedtime), invariably riling ruby up. point being, after my chat with m, she crawled into bed and stayed, and i rocked ruby for a long time to calm her down (her screams had been escalating with every stall technique and bed-escape that m pulled.)}

somehow two hours had vanished.
and so here we are, pushing 10:30 and my queu of partial blog posts remains.

yesterday i dropped off the last in a group of five big deadlines (with lots of bits and pieces) i've had for papyrus. the final artwork looked something like this:

today i didn't have to crank out work every spare second (although i have two new deadlines to pitch new halloween and christmas material on the horizon!), so i took advantage of the day and tackled one of my least favorite household jobs: sorting and rotating my kids clothes. i hate this job. it takes forever (especially with two little humans who merrily tromp through my carefully organized stacks of clothes every 5 minutes or who beg to try on shoes that fit a year ago) and is just so tedious.

that said, after many hours i successfully swapped too small for just right clothes all around, sorted through to get rid of a bunch for goodwill and to pass along extras. i know, i know, such a glamorous life i lead, really. i'm sure you are by now dripping with envy at my day, and so at that, i think it's time for me to crash.

out of curiosity, what household or just general life task is one of those necessary but super-annoying ones for you? (for instance, i love folding laundry but i hate putting it away. stopping for gas? i drive until my car is on the e-train because it's on my list of least-fave activities.)

ok, really. now. close computer. turn off lights. brush teeth. crash.

i'm a man & other issues

this is a crazy week in our house: 

u2 concert madness, 

our friend is getting married & we are heavily involved 

(as in, matt is officiating, i'm singing 2 songs, and m is a flowergirl), 

and it's m's last week of school.

meanwhile 

my throat is raw and i'm all stuffed up thanks to a cold and singing my heart out at u2 

(i kind of held back and didn't get quite as into it as usual.)

result?

very inconveniently, i sound like a man.

my voice is so low-

i have no idea how i'll sing these songs in front of hundreds of people

when i sound like my brother.

not to mention that this morning i am a fountain of tears:

i'm at m's school this morning writing thank you cards to m's therapist and teachers 

and all i can do is cry

at the gift that is my daughter speaking, listening & singing.

so much is due to these amazing women who have poured their expertise and love into my daughter.

as today is m's last day of class i think about how much i love 

this school, this place, these people, these families 

who walk the road of deafness with me and who have opened up the world to my daughter.

quite a week.

oh goodness

i am so very tired, 

after a very eventful day yesterday waiting in line for the u2 concert.

i have lots to say,

but for now 

i will say

that 

the spectacle

&

the claw

is not really what it is about for me.

but 

my fussy baby

is nap striking 

and 

so 

this blog entry is not really happening.

meanwhile,

i am a walking zombie.

what are you up to today?

that's right, the day is finally here

remember this love letter i got from afar?

well, my friends, the time has come to do this all over again, except this time closer to home.

i debated this time around, i mean...

i have two kids,

including a baby who still nurses multiple times a day,

but in the end,

after a couple of pep talks and glances in the fun mirror,

and the reminder that i would regret not going...

i decided to just do it already.

i mean, when i was 16 i slept in line overnight (yep-sleeping bag & all) to get my tickets from the wherehouse music store (remember those?) at 10 am on a sunday morning, so to have a view from outside of my front door of the actual venue and not be there at the concert would be pretty tragic.

so what if that was over half a lifetime ago?

so almost a year after i was supposed to get to use them, 

(although seriously, the logistics of that were ridiculous and totally impossible, 

since ruby was 3 weeks old-what was i thinking??)

i'm putting these to use:

i will be sitting in a very long line all day-feel free to bring me treats & good wishes.

{also, late breaking update-

not just 1, 2 or 3 ruff siblings will be going to this concert, but all 4.}

call me the crazy grandma carrying the mini umbrella

it's been a rainy saturday. 

and when i say rainy, i mean bucketloads of rain & dreary.

this morning i got SOAKED running from my car into a store & back again.

serves me right: 

i had m's hot pink ruffled kid sized umbrella in the back seat, 

but i felt stupid carrying that without any children, 

so instead i became a human sponge.

awesome.

also, it's june.

just saying-cold & pouring rain in june?!

so, we are playing inside:

i asked m to smile and she sighed, "mommy, i have no smiles today."

meanwhile,

i'm sure the rest of this post will be a gripping update on the state of my hair.

read on.

i've tried to embrace my greys.

i got my first one at 25, and now i have countless greys throughout my hair.

save your "but i don't even see them!" because you do. 

and even if you don't, i do, and that's all that matters.

i really hate them. 

but the last few months i have held out on putting more color in my hair 

to see if i could rock the grey look. 

some days i was ok with it, 

but

wednesday night i decided i couldn't handle them anymore.

so i washed that grey right outta my hair.

(if only i could wash away my wrinkles.)

self portraits with newly brown hair:

it makes me happy.

hopefully someday i will come to terms with my early-grey-hair genes 

(as in, when other regular people also have as many greys as i do) 

i won't be that crazy 89 year old woman rocking purple hair or really dark hair with bright white roots.

also unable to come to terms with the following genes: 

slow metabolism, dark undereye circles & pregnancy belly stretchmarks.

but what can i say? 

i have no choice in the matter,

and i have some good genes scattered in there too.

what genes do you wish you could've left behind in gene mixing pot of your mom's womb?

the best ever.

it is a dreary friday here in oakland, and a big rainstorm is expected this weekend (in june?!)

we were supposed to go camping with m's school this weekend, 

but the rain is forcing us to change plans.

rainy weather is stay-inside-and-cozy-up weather,

and often that includes eating comfort food.

this, my friends, is the perfect rainy weather meal,

and the best mac n' cheese you'll ever eat.

(i promise)

this recipe hails from our dear friend nicola, 

one of my very favorite people in the world 

(and don't even get me started on her two daughters, 

who are also glorious) 

who now unfortunately lives *way* too far away in england. 

(every time i make this recipe i pretend she's still here and sitting at the table eating with us.)

nicola likes cheese, so feel free to adjust the amount in this recipe. 

what i inevitably end up doing is using the same amount of cheese but using a whole pound of pasta.

• 1/2 lb. rigatoni or macaroni
• 1/2-3/4 lb. sharp cheddar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper (or lots more if you are me)
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 3 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1 small tomato (optional-i don't add this unless they are in season)

directions:

• boil water for macaroni. preheat oven to 375.
• grate cheese; crush and mince garlic
• boil pasta. when finished, drain and set aside
• add olive oil to large frying pan over medium heat. add garlic; saute for about 1 minute. turn off heat.
• stir in flour until it isa thick, pasty consistency.
• add 1/2 cup milk into paste, mix until smooth. add 1/2 cup additional milk; mix until smooth again. add another milk. stir over medium heat. add salt & pepper (important to stir continuously and add milk slowly to prevent lumps.) add remainder of milk and keep stirring until thick.
• turn off heat. add cheese; stir until melted (reserving some to sprinkle over top)
• add macaroni. put mixture in casserole or oven-safe pan. slice tomato & place over mixture. sprinkle with cheese. bake in preheated 375 oven for 15 minutes. for 2-3 minutes, cook on broil to ensure a crispy top.

(i've thought about adding panko or bread crumbs to the top, but haven't tried it yet.)

happy eating & happy friday!

{oh, here is when my heart swells}

this makes me so happy.

slowly but surely...

remember how we've been converting our garage into a painting studio for me?

we've had some setbacks-in particular a leak that we couldn't pinpoint,

but we are making some progress in my studio-and by we i mean matt & other people helping him.

 m oversees the project

 yay for windows and insulation

 and new electrical

 our friend keith knocking out the insulation

my brother aaron helped all day long

(this door situation was his special project)

 snuggly friends hanging out inside while daddies work on the studio

i can't wait for this to be my studio...!

rain, rain, go away!

this equation is not working for me: 

june 1st and raining buckets outside.

so,

in order to remind my fellow soaked bay area friends that the sun will come out again,

today's post is sponsored by our recent trip strawberry picking, 

where there was not a drop of rain in sight.

our friend daphne, toting along her son ishmael, was visiting from way too far away michigan, 

and so we went on a family adventure!

perhaps you remember when m discovered strawberries?

it was almost exactly two years ago!

it was ruby's turn!

it reminded me of the book blueberries for sal, 

since ruby was gobbling up the strawberries almost as fast as i was picking them!

 hard at work picking strawberries

 and sampling them along the way

 m was a very good little picker (and sampler)

sometimes you have to really hunt for the ripe ones!

 ruby had her fair share!

 picking strawberries really makes me appreciate the people who work in the fields all day long harvesting fruit, and the luxury it is to just do it for fun!

 the evidence of m's crazy sample fest!

 heavy laden with ripe, delicious berries we went to another farm to pick a few cherries

 ishmael, up from his nap and ready for cherries

 m's haul

 ruby grabbed her own bucket

 nothing like more samples!

lots of hard work=naptime all the way home

come out, come out, wherever you are, sunshine!