...and we are off!!!

..almost.
After chaos with lost ticket, expired passport and two trips to Seattle, it looks like we are ready to go!
We are really going!!
We will be gone for three weeks - and with my sporadic updates on this blog nobody might even notice, but hopefully I will manage to have some great pictures when we get back.

Everything is packed in three bags. Each bag is maybe large enough to fit a hippo, but we are keeping two of them a bit empty so we can fill it with candy for the way home. The third has ALL FOUR KIDS' clothes, shoes & coats! I'm an expert at this I think.
Feels great to be going - even though I'll be dreaming of the weather in WA while getting chilled in Sweden. I can't believe the fantastic weather we finally got here! 90 today and it went from what, 75 on Wednesday up to 85 on Sunday, glorious sunny skies with a slight breeze! All mothers got a great Mother's day!

Summer might be in full swing when we get back - but I have my doubts about June weather after the last few summers. Either way - I'm sure the weather is not what will be my biggest concern for the next three weeks. I'll be seeing family & so many friends for the first time in 5.5 years!!! Yahooo!!!

Hired an awesome gal to come clean my entire house today while I went to Seattle to pick up my new emergency passport (don't ask!). I'm impressed with myself - I caved in & asked for help!! Much to my sisters' glee, I'm sure! :) So we are leaving a sparkling clean house - getting last laundry done right now - and it feels fantastic. Maybe I'll even tell someone to come mow the lawn while we are gone.

Have a wonderful May everyone! ta-ta!!

Getting ready.

I'm trying to get ready for a trip. Like, a HUGE trip. Four-kids-and-two-poor-parents-travelling-to-Europe huge. And one ticket lost so far. Sigh. Deeeeep breath!
I want the laundry done, bags packed, snacks & toys ready, food gone through, bathrooms cleaned, floors mopped, clothes organized and toys picked up. Before we go. We have a whole 5 days to get it done. Totally do-able. If you don't have kids.
Today my fantastic babysitter is coming to rescue the kids from a frazzled mom, and letting said mom out of the house to go get the last-minute stuff.
But it's all good and fun. It's a trip I've looked forward to for about 5 years so, can't really complain.
But if you want to come mop my floor, by all means, go ahead!!

In the big stress and the big mess, the best way for me to relax, get priorities straight and manage to ignore the sticky floor yet another day, is this:

The floor can wait.

I got a baby to squish.

Retro Kitchen!

Hey I'm back in action!

In the Spoonflower community, that is. It's been a while since I entered a contest at SF - life has been much too busy. I was going through a severe bout of fatigue & have just been doing the bare minimums for the family & household to survive. Found out it's all due to a lack of vitamin D! Should have gone to California, guys!!

I got high dose Vitamin D now so I should be getting back on track.

Anyway - this contest coming up next week over at Spoonflower is themed "Retro Kitchen". It's a palette restricted contest, which means the design can only consist of the colors Spoonflower chose.

I know there are a thousand different ways to interpret "retro", but I had to think of a retro style that i like. I love tulip tables. I also love vintage lace, which can be retro or not. And I love retro style aprons (I think of polka dots). And throughout all ages, I love coffee. So it all went together in one big sunny design!

http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/1153837

Not much else is sunny here at the moment. "April showers brought May showers" said Pat Timm the weatherman. I noticed. Sigh.

Well in other news I am trying to find a Polly Pocket or Fisher Price lot for my kids (Craigslist). I am fooling myself that it really WILL be the new set that will keep them entertained during the rainy days.

Right now it's printed coloring pages from online - Hello Kitty & LEGO, thank you!!! 

Beautiful Portland! ...and what I've been up to lately.

Very spontaneous, as always.. My life is very random. You'd think being a housewife/stay-at-home-mom would pretty much be same thing day after day. And yes, it can be, but rarely is.

I was browsing Craigslist and (finally) came across this huge table that I knew would be perfect for my kitchen. After a quick text here & a phone call there, I ended up being off to Portland & babysitter took care of chaos at home!
That was not what I had planned for the day, but off I went. 

A huge table with two fold-down sides. Top painted cream (I'll repaint it white). It came with 7 chairs - and I paid a total of $120! Deal! I'll keep some of the chairs.. They were all painted different colors, which looked really cute, but too much for my color-busy kitchen to keep them all at this point.

Craft session started at new table already..

The table is made of a dark hardwood - not sure what. It matches the cherry colored flooring pretty good. 

Anyway - then as I was already down in Portland, I decided to head to 23rd & browse some stores & enjoy the scenery. If you've ever been to Portland's 23rd Ave, you know that by "scenery" I mean "houses". I am madly in love with the architecture you see here. A few examples..

Whew! Makes me want to go back & take more pics! And these were just phone pics. Sigh.

So when you've browsed the awesome stores on 23rd Ave, you've GOT to hit the best restaurant there is. Elephants Delicatessen, on NW 22nd Ave right by goodwill. It's such a treat! It's not your average restaurant, but rather a shop/deli/buffet style awesome place where you can get food to eat on location or to-go, browse gifts or enjoy a hot meal. The cold buffet is my favorite.

I had asian marinated pork, caprese salad & a spinach salad with mushrooms, bacon & cheese. 

Aaahhh I want it all over again!

And for dessert, you MUST try the vanilla creme brulee! The wonderful crack when you crack the caramelized sugar on top, the feeling of the cold, smooth pudding & the wonderful taste of the vanilla bean.
Fantastic.

     

Now what have I been up to lately?? Quite a bit of sewing & random, actually!

I made a couple dresses for my daughter... 

This one is a square with a hole cut in center for the top. Ruffle skirt underneath.

and this one is something I've been wanting to try for a long time. Crocheted top & really full skirt at bottom.

Then I ordered the Stockholm fabric in large scale for curtains for my sister in Finland!

I tacked the yards on the wall in my kitchen. Love how it printed!

And another project I did not so long ago is the big turquoise lamp you see in the photo above. It's a big IKEA lamp - though it was pretty red I wanted it turquoise & simply spray painted it before it was put together!

And today the craft project was about the greatest excitement of the year. 

We made a chain depicting the days left until our trip to Sweden & Finland! We taped up some airplanes for a real travel effect, and my son drew a hot air balloon & clouds to make it a real picture.

I know I've been MIA for a while, but this was a long post to make up for it!

Ta ta for now!

yaaawn..

Crocodile Stitch Legwarmers - Made to Order!

I got a great new addition to my store!

I made these legwarmers for our bazaar last fall, and they were a hit!

Thought I'd offer them in my etsy store too. You can pick what colors and what size.

The promotion code currently offered is, of course, also offered on these!

http://thingsbyannaleigh.etsy.com

Crocodile Stitch legwarmers... Made to order

Yarn colors offered right now:

So much fun!!!