In Progress

We'll be headed to Connecticut in a few weeks to celebrate my grandmother's 85th birthday.  I don't recall ever having a birthday party for Gram before, but everyone is excited that she's consented a celebration this year.  As I understand it, there will be a party with all of her friends and neighbors on Saturday afternoon and then our family will go to brunch on Sunday morning before making the long treks homeward.

I always have such a hard time deciding on gifts for Gram.  There is just so little she needs and I always end up going back to the standbys:  book, scarf, or journal.  We don't always agree on books, though, and how many scarves does one person need?*  As for journals, though I always thought she enjoyed writing down her thoughts, I recently learned that she finds them too intimidating. 

For Christmas this year, I decided I would try to do the retired home ec teacher proud and made her a robe.  She had made robes for all of her grandkids years ago, so I thought she'd enjoy one of her own.  Verdict's still out on that one, but I have a feeling she didn't like the fabric choice.

So, all this long-winded background is to say that I wanted to find a good gift for her birthday this year and I optimistically think I did it. 

Important background:  among the millions of other old things she has laying around her house, Gram has four framed silhouettes hanging in her dining room.  They look something like this:

photo from a site called antiquesandfinearts.com.  Those are not my ancestors.

The people in silhouette are ancestors of ours, a man and woman and their two daughters.  I think of of the daughters is a great, great, great grandmother.  Gram has always really liked these prints and often points them out.  I got to thinking about them and realized that she'd probably appreciate similar prints of her family.  I quickly realized that it would take a whole wall to have individual prints of all of her kids and grandkids; however, miniatures would work. 

So that's how I came up with this:

family silhouettes, a work in progress

Using Photoshop, I've been able to outline and fill pictures of family members in profile.  As you can see, I've got a ways to go and lots of tweaking necessary, but so far I'm pretty pleased.  Fingers crossed that I get pictures from everyone else and that it all comes together soon.  And that she'll like it!

*Classy lady that she is, though, she always wears them when I'm around.  See photos of my bridal shower for evidence.

Business Cards

It probably goes without saying that I hate to make decisions.  I've never been very good at it; mostly, I think it's because I spend too much time thinking about all the possibilities and trying to be objective.  It gets me nowhere.

found via weheartit.com

Molly's Quilt Completed

Molly's colorful quilt

This was a fun quilt to put together because all the fabrics are so soft and cuddly and it's pretty different from many of the other quilts I've made. I went with vibrant colors because Molly's nursery has a ladybug theme and I thought they would tie in nicely. I also added some leftover white seersucker fabric from my stash which I think adds some nice texture to the quilt. The back is a very soft flannel. It's about 40" x 40", which will hopefully be a good size for laying out on the floor and, later, a crib.

Molly's Quilt

I started a new project last night. Not for my overachieving, aggressive friend, but for a sweet new baby, born today. Baby Molly will be going home to a nursery with a ladybug theme. I couldn't find many fabric options with ladybugs, so I stuck with pretty primary colors. I hope she'll like it!

Frugal Style

First of all, you should know that  Mandi has an awesome apartment.  Andimay, we loved the neighborhood.  So cute and so walkable!  I would love to learn more about the area and some of the old buildings.  Probably a great history!  Also, I really am impressed by how much space you have for a city apartment and I think you've done a great job at finding furniture that's comfortable and "you."

So, yes, the walls are bare, but you'll find the perfect things soon enough.  Bare walls will always beat the hell out of soulless Target "art." As promised, I'm posting a few pictures of some of our decorations that we've done for super cheap.  By super cheap, I mean big coupons at Michael's for the frames.  The fabrics are ones that I had laying around.  You are welcome to my fabric stash, but you can also get your own for less than $8 per yard.

So, let's have a quick little tour, shall we?

You've probably seen this fabric before.  

This hangs above our bed.  We hung it there in the old apartment because there was so much wall space above the bed and we couldn't afford any big paintings or prints.  In our new apartment we still have a lot of wall space above the bed, but here we have the added headache of a cable jack positioned about two feet above our headboard.  My "art" solves that dilemma too.  I sewed together 5 in squares of various fabrics into rows and sewed those rows together.  Iron and then you're set.  Pretty simple. 

Our newest wall hangings are in the living room, where we've been completely stymied on decorating.  

I'm not sure if these will stick around forever, but at least they add some color to the wall.  Again, cheap frames made cheaper by a coupon at Michaels.  The fabrics are the same ones I used to make the pillow cases.

As for the Steelers decorations, well, they were cheap too, but they won't be sticking around too long.

Wholesome Oat Muffins

Ok, I want to play along!
Kyle and I are constantly searching for breakfasts and lunches that are easy and healthy and keep us from giving all of our money to various coffee shops. For a long time I was making these muffins every Sunday but then I got out of the habit. This weekend I'm reviving the tradition and sharing the recipe here.



Wholesome Oat Muffins (adapted from The South Beach Diet book)
1 cup milk (I always use skim)
1 tbs lemon juice
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking power
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 heaping cup fruit (blueberries, strawberries, etc. Fresh or frozen)

Combine milk and lemon juice. Set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in oats and let sit for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper baking cups.
In large bowl, beat egg. Add brown sugar, oil, and vanilla extract and stir. Gently stir in remaining ingredients. Don't overmix of the muffins will be tough.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Enjoy!!

Rainy Saturday Morning

It's dreary and rainy here today and so I'm allowing myself to have an old school Saturday, complete with cheesy movies.

image stolen from Amazon.com

Of course this made me think of you girls.  I think it's time that I admit that my heart must have grown three sizes or so in the last five years since we graduated, because I'm finally ready to admit that it actually is a great movie and I may or may not have gotten a little teary at the end.  Sorry it only took me a few years to figure it out.

Filling Up (Other) Walls

I have found a few things for my office.  Love this new painting I bought from a fellow G'burger!

While the view is nice, it's just so gross and gray this time of year.  Please feel free to send some of your massive snow piles here.

PS:  I should definitely work on the photography skills...

Filling Up the Walls

Tom and I have collected tons of photos and prints and inexpensive art over the years.  Six months ago, we were living in an apartment that had completely run out of wall space because of this collection, and my office was also filled.  Six months later, we're living in a new apartment and I have a new office.  Somehow, the walls are practically bare in both places.

I've gotten really sick of looking at blank walls, especially in my office.  One wall is almost entirely windows and the view is terrific, but the other three walls are very, very beige.  It's awful.  I've started trying to find new decorations for the office.  Somehow, I stumbled on this poster, which I really like:

Created by Ork Posters (they also have a Boston version!)

It arrived a few days ago, and I think it's perfect.  Unfortunately (for my office), it was snatched up for apartment use before it even made it to the office.  Oh well, I'll find something else for that blank wall.

Lunch Stand-By

I'm a very exciting girl.  I eat the same thing pretty much every day for lunch.  Fortunately, it's pretty healthy...and a hell of a lot cheaper than going out every day!

I'm also a generous girl, so I thought I'd share my recipe ;)

[Lacking a Cute Name] Granola

(adapted from a NY Times recipe, which I stole from Ryan)

What I really like about this granola is that it's made with olive oil, which gives it good flavor and better nutritional standing than most other recipes I've seen. 

Inspire Me

I know you ladies probably think this is cheesy and I know that I very well may be the first person to stop posting, but I think it'd be very fun to read about what you ladies are up to.  Molly, reading that you were sharing recipes with Andrea is what inspired this, actually.  I'd love to see your recipes!  Erica, we will totally start our own quilting bee, but maybe we can also drag these guys in with us?  Mandi, I'm always interested in your book recommendations.  Plus, with a new apartment to decorate, I would love to see your choices!

Bedford, Stop Being Illiterate!

I am ashamed to say that I haven't been doing much reading lately.  Unfortunately, there's just not a lot of time for me to curl up with a book.  When I am home in the evenings and rare weekends, I'm much more likely to be curled up on the couch in front of the stupid TV or in front of my sewing machine.  I do listen to audio books when I can find good ones for free (most recently Tom and I listened to a biography of Einstein, and before that I listened to Freedom, which I have very complicated feelings about and may have to write more on later).

Using Up Some Scraps

I'm really trying to use up some of my old scrap fabric (this is an open invitation for requests!). Unlike many quilters I see online, I try to avoid stock pilin fabric. We just don't have the room. However, even if I'm being careful to only buy fabric I need, there's always some left over. It's not the worst problem in the world. I like looking at the pretty colors and remembering what I used them for, but if I'm not careful, it will get out of hand. Plus, I always want to get some new stuff.

Gram Would Be Proud

I was so happy when I finally finished this project a few months ago. This rocking chair belonged to my Grandma Swanson. She bought the chair when she moved into a new apartment after my grandfather had died (I guess around 1993) and she was so proud of it. I think it was pretty symbolic for her. It definitely wasn't something Grandpa would have chosen; it wasn't a Lazy Boy and the original mauve cushions were certainly not his style. But it was perfect for Gram and her new apartment that was filled with shades of old lady mauve.

Pittsburgh's Going to the Superbowl!

At our apartment, we're getting very excited for this weekend.  Not only are we going to see Andimay on Saturday (yay!), but also the Steelers are playing in the Superbowl on Sunday.

Mostly, I'm excited about the food.  When the Steelers won the championship game two weeks ago, we had some fellow Pittsburgh fans over to watch the game.  This was an excellent excuse to make yummy crappy food and use wedding present serving dishes.