hello weekend

(image via Nag on the Lake. I couldn't resist posting another vintage Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade photo!)

First things first: happy birthday to my most wonderful husband, Matt! Our plans for the day are completely up to him so for starters we're having our furnace serviced. Just the sort of thing I like to do on my birthday. Not. Really, though, I'm looking forward to celebrating with him throughout the day. We're having one of our favorite meals for dinner - black bean & sweet potato tacos - hooray! Then tomorrow Matt is working on a Christmas film with some teens from our youth group, and afterwards we're meeting some friends for dinner. I'm bringing chocolate pretzel pie and I. can't. wait. to eat it. One thing I'm definitely not doing this weekend is going shopping! Are any of you braving the crowds?

And now, the link love.

- here's some good news for those of you shopping in Providence this weekend
- a thank you note in calligraphy is always pretty. plus, this one's free!
- love the idea of how Sharon started The Little Cafe
- download and print this cute (and free!) 2012 owl calendar
- these style tips gleaned from the J.Crew catalog are spot on 
(my favorite is number six - ha!)
- this Christmas tree in miniature (well, as miniature as you consider three feet tall to be) is on its way to our house!
- make this sweet and simple chocolatey gift to give to friends (or just keep it for yourself, I won't tell)
Hope your weekend is well spent as you recover from Thanksgiving and Black Friday!


P.S. I forgot to report back on last Friday's dinner and dessert - the roasted butternut baked penne was fabulous! I did make a few changes though - doubled the recipe, only used Pecorino Romano (my fave) because I didn't have Parmesan or mozzarella on hand, mixed the sauce in with the pasta instead of pouring it on top, and I fried the sage leaves in butter instead of using them fresh because when are sage leaves fried in butter a bad idea? Sadly, the brownies left something to be desired.

happy weekend

(imaga via Design by Kelli)

I am so looking forward to dinner tonight - I'm making penne with roasted butternut squash. I get chills just thinking about it. Then for dessert I'm going to make black bean brownies. Yes, I said black beans and brownies in the same sentence. I will admit I'm a little scared, but I'm optimistic and will let you know how it goes. If they are repulsive there's always these. As for weekend plans, it's birthday parties for us again (one on Saturday and one on Sunday), along with a bridal shower on Saturday morning. Which means I've had lots of fun wrapping gifts lately! My new found skills will come in handy as the Christmas season approaches.
As usual, here are some links I wanted to share with you...
- definitely want to have a pinterest party in the very near future... who's with me?!
- I'm thinking my father-in-law's fighting fish Saint Rocco could use a nice getaway to a fish hotel. I think I'll tell him to put it on his Christmas list.
- some thoughts on holiday shopping
- here's healthy change forty-six
- don't these look like the perfect weekend pants? hence the name, I suppose...
- visit London and you can pretend you're engaged to Prince William
Hope your weekend is spectacular!

a big quilt

Remember these fabric strips? Well, I finally have a finished product to show you. This here quilt is the biggest quilt I've ever made, and I must confess - it took me waaay longer to complete than I thought it would.

I went with a simple design of striped blocks that I alternated placing vertically and horizontally with solids mixed in, too. Now that I look at the photos, it's kind of like a maze. A really easy maze.

It's a queen size quilt, but it won't completely cover a queen size bed. It's meant to be folded at the foot and used on chilly nights for extra warmth. 

Simple straight line quilting different widths apart seemed like just the thing to both echo and complement the different stripes in the quilt.

And of course, my assistant was on hand for the photo shoot.

a monster bash

Now that the dust has settled, I'm so excited to finally share Ezra's birthday party. My friend Keri snapped lots of photos for us and I'm so thankful that I didn't have to worry about capturing all the little details.

The theme and decorations were all based on Ezra's Ugly Doll and the colors of Ezra's room. 

Upon entering the room (we used our church's fellowship hall), guests were greeted by Ezra's stuffed animal collection. 

I hung one photo from each of his month shoots on the wall... after looking at them all lined up I couldn't believe how much he changed from month to month!

This photo book was created on Shutterfly to use as a guest book.

Of course we had to have pom poms. Three hung over each table as a vague pom chandelier.

My mother-in-law, my mom, and I baked up lots of sweet treats for all our guests. We served coffee, tea, water, and Yacht Club soda.

{rice krispie treats} 

(made with fluff, the secret ingredient, instead of marshmallows!)

{vanilla cupcakes}

{fruit salad}

{double chocolate brownie bites}

{chocolate cake pops}

There was a 'sugar cookie decoration station' for the kids (inspired by this party), although I think a fair amount of adults got in on the frosting and sprinkle action. 

Ezra was much more impressed with his little cake when it was topped with a flaming candle than when he was allowed to dig in...

Rather than eat it himself, Ezra decided to share some with his Uncle Brendan and cousin Jacob.

I'll admit it was a little dry. He must have been parched.

Each place was set with an orange monster, er, a clementine with a googly eye - (idea from here)...

...the eyeballs seemed to migrate to human foreheads very quickly. 

I got the idea for the 'adopt a monster' favor from party perfect, and then a few months later found these great patterns for mini monsters. My mom and my aunt along with my cousin's daughters (ages 9 and 4!) worked overtime to help me get these finished in time.

Many thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Ezra's first year!

P.S. Check out the awesome gift that Keri made for Ezra!

happy weekend

(image via i heart new england)

This weekend is gloriously void of birthday parties that I have to host. That is the number one thing. We do get to go to a birthday party, though, for Ezra's buddy Sophie who is eight days younger than him. Then Matt is working on a video project with some of the teens from our church. I'm going to be working on my plans for a Christmas party (hooray for the holidays!) and still getting the house back together post-party. I know, I'm a procrastinator. What are you up to? 

Here are the links that I loved this week...

- this chalkboard globe combines two of my favorite things
- check out this interview with one of my favorite children's book authors, Mo Willems
- I can never get enough of brownies, especially gray sea salt chocolate ones
- these sweet illustrations would be perfect for a little girl's room
- these blogging tips are perfect
- learn how the ambitious can create their own carnival marquee letters
- if Ezra's room didn't look like this, I would want it to look like this
- adding this coin scratch map to my Christmas list
- this spotty bedding is probably as cheerful as bedding gets
- and in case you were missing these, here's healthy change no. 45
Happy weekend!

my baby quilt

Making so many baby quilts over the past couple of years made me nostalgic for my baby quilt, so I pulled it out of the hall closet and gave it a hug.

It was made for me by a coworker of my mom's who she's no longer in touch with. I wish I could tell her I loved it; that my quilt sat on my bed all the way through high school. You can tell it was well-loved - just look at the fraying binding and patchwork edges coming loose.

I tried to lure Ezra into my idyllic quilt-on-the-lawn-in-the-sunshine photoshoot with his Guess How Much I Love You book.

He plucked the the head off of a weed flower instead...

sat for about seven seconds... 

and then decided he was out of there, and off to explore the grill on the patio. So much for cozy mommy & baby story time.

happy weekend

{the only shot in-focus of our twelve month shoot. dang.}

Birthday party preparations for Ezra are in full swing over here. Tonight we'll be setting up tables and chairs and hanging all manner of bunting and garlands from ceilings, and tomorrow I'll be baking like I've never baked before. I'm tired already. For now I'm going to share some photos from our birthday celebration on Tuesday. We went to the playground in the morning and then we had an impromptu mini party at night. Ezra was completely overwhelmed by his gifts from his grandparents - a Schoenhut piano from Papa & Grandma and a drum set by Plan Toys from Grandpa & Gram. From the looks of things, we have a future Stevie Wonder on our hands. Before you scroll through the photos, don't forget to check out my favorite links from this week...
- this gumball machine costume is genius
- now that bumpers are officially not recommended for use, repurpose your baby's into something new (here's my favorite)
- making a magic quilt is on my quilting to do list
- isn't this installation amazing?
- a birth story told by a dad
- must make peanut butter and fleur de sel brownies a.s.a.p.
- quick! go download and print these pretty (and free!) gift tags
- is it weird if I want one of these rag dolls for me?
- this is my kind of terrarium. one for people with black thumbs.
- not sure why, but I want this crowned rabbit bust

 

One first birthday celebration down and one to go! 

And happy weekend to you!