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Did you guys see the adorable tutorial Liz put up for the this cute mini peplum top? You will die and want to make a closet full, like I do! There are so many cute options for this top. Thanks Liz!!
This past weekend baby girl and I were showered
with so much love! I feel so blessed to have been able to get to know so many incredible, talented and generous women this past year. Two such lovely women are Melissa Esplin and Stephanie Ford who threw this gorgeous affair (at Stephanie's utterly beautiful home).
The event started off with a delectable spread of amazing food. Spicy and regular California rolls (a HUGE pregnancy craving of mine), incredible salads, chocolate donuts, out of this world chocolate hazelnut cupcakes (thanks to Alison! I think I need one right now...) and yummy vanilla Italian sodas.
And as if that wasn't incredible enough, throw in a group of magnificent, crazy talented and admirable women, and a perfect shower you have. So many dear friends that I've been able to make since we have moved here were able to attend. I have to confess, I can tend to be a hermit/homebody at times (OK, maybe most of the time) but I have seen the benefits of putting myself out there more and opening myself up more (something that is not always easy for me) for many more to get to know me. (It's one thing to open up on the blog...behind the computer...but it's an entirely different thing to let so many into to my real day to day life). It doesn't help that I'm so busy I feel like I never really have time for friends! But putting myself out there has been worth it and I've been so thankful to have met and made so many friends that have touched my life in some way or another. Many friends which you probably already know and love as much as I do, such as Sarah Jane, Meta, Amy, Alison, Meg, Michelle, Jen, Annie, Liz, Nicole, Sarah, Danielle, Heather, Amelia, Caroline...
...and of course the lovely ladies behind the event, the amazing Stephanie (Sycamore Street stationary designer) and Melissa.
They added so many touches that made this all so meaningful to me.
Such as this chalkboard drawing. Do you recognize the illustration from the Father's day plate I created with the boys? I just love that Stephanie drew this and then added the darling origami dress to the little girl on the way! So perfect! (and can we take a minute to think about the time that went into making all those little dresses for this garland! I love them so much, I've framed a few for the nursery).
And I think I'll have to do another post just on the incredible gifts these ladies shared with baby girl and I.
Can I just say that we have some serious vintage scouts here with quite the eye?! I need them to take me thrift shopping!
...and the hand made, thoughtful, creative and beautiful gifts were almost more than I could handle. (almost ;)).
We are some lucky ladies.
I can't think of a better way to welcome a little girl in the world than by sharing with her the
joy of womanhood through friendship. So thanks ladies! 
Oh yes, and I can't forget the gents too...Brett Merritt, Jon's acting friend, and husband to Amelia was so kind to stop by as well (and we discovered a theme of geeky glasses going on here). And Larry, Stephanie's husband was SO kind in watching my boys (and then some) throughout the duration of the shower, as Jon was in a performance.
Needless to say I feel so grateful and so much more ready to welcome a new life to this earth and to our family. And Oh my, is it true that I only have one more week to go?! Eeek! (Well...I guess I do look ready to pop... :)
*(many of the photos shown here were taken by Melissa).
Hello friends! Sorry it's been such a quiet week around here. I'm actually up to my neck in fun kids craft projects that I can't share with you quite yet (but can't wait until I can!). And of course I'm scrambling to get so many things completed before this little girl gets here - now scheduled to be arriving on Oct. 2 (if not before!). Things have been bustling around here and there is definitely an air of excitement and anticipation in our home. The boys are just over the moon about the prospect of getting to meet their little sister and so are Jon and I.
Our space in our home is very small so we have been trying to find the best way to incorporate this little girl into the room with her brothers. It's been a little restrictive but I'm always up for a design challenge (I'm finding the "less is more" aesthetic is definitely crucial for this space to work, which is hard as we need so much more...). Little by little we are adding small touches of "little girl" into our home and our lives. Just one of those touches is the the introduction to the doll in our home, such as this darling vintage doll, with a new hand sewn ensemble, gifted to baby girl by my sister Lorajean.
The boys are trying to take this all in, especially A who has always
been afraid of dolls (he insists that all dolls be removed from the
guest room when we stay at my in-laws...he claims that they are looking
at him and it makes him squeamish). That fear has now been translated
into silly play where one of the boys will grab this doll and chase the
other one around the house with it, giggling and threatening to scare
one another. Oh boy.
We've had a few chats about how we need to respect little sisters stuff
and how this might make her sad in the future, etc....but we'll see how
much it sticks (and I can't deny suppressing a few giggles and eye
rolls of familiarity when thinking about teasing older brothers, who
will torment and pester their sister one minute and then defend and
protect her in the next breathe...something I know a thing or two about - having
just such an older brother).
Well her brother's are going to need to get used to a few dolls around here because one thing I've been dying to delve into is the world of the doll. Well OK, I've sort of been into dolls for perhaps my entire life...and I just may or may not already have a small collection of them (that the boys have never seen). In fact, when we were found out we were expecting our third I told Jon that I was going to have to buy this blonde Blythe doll for the baby if it was a girl...and if it was a boy, well then the doll would just have to be for me :). (We didn't get the doll...yet....).
You see this affinity for dolls is really a part of my legacy. My mother was (and still is) a doll artisan of sorts. I grew up watching her make dolls and she has experimented with a wide variety of mediums from porcelain to cloth. I can remember watching her pour the porcelain into tiny hand molds and was mesmerized when I would watch her take tiny paint brushes and create little lips, eye brows and if it was a cloth doll, even eyes. She was also very picky about which dolls she would purchase for myself and my sisters. She would inspect them from top to bottom to see how they and their clothing were made before ever jumping into a sale. They had to have just the right look and design, or forget about it, we didn't get them (we never had Barbies - they didn't make the cut). She somehow ended up with five girls all with different hair colors and we all loved how our dolls would often match our hair color (I always got the lighter brunettes). I think my mother secretly loved having an excuse to purchase an entire line of dolls that she was really into. We each had a Fisher Price "My Friend Doll", a Hasbro's "My Beautiful Doll" (got to love those 80's clothes!), and I can still remember the Christmas when we all got our own Lady Lovely Locks Doll...yeah, that was a good year.
My sisters have also carried on the legacy of the doll in their own lives and in their own ways. Lorajean even makes her own darling doll sculptures. I've enjoyed creating a few dolls of my own and have quite a number of ideas for the future. Needless to say, I am excited to have an opportunity to carry on this legacy of the doll...in our our own way. And hey, if I every veer into "creepy doll lady" territory, I'm confident my boy's doll aversion will be sure to keep me in check ;).
What about you? Does your family have a craft/design/toy legacy that you want to pass on? I'd love to hear about it!
Have you guys seen Sarah Jane's new adorable fabric line, Out to Sea? If not you are in for a real treat!!
And as part of her incredibly fun blog tour, I'm offering up a doll pattern, based on my Mod Dolls, for you to create your own mod Milly the Mermaid doll!!
In celebration of the the Out to Sea tour, for a limited time, I'll be offering a FREE downloadable pattern and instructions for the basic Mod Doll itself. Tomorrow I'll be offering the pattern for the mermaid ensemble, complete with instructions and additional hair and skirt options, in my shop! And can I just say that I love that you can take her tail off and change up for another option at a whim?! She can be your real life little mermaid!
Purchase the full MILLY THE MERMAID pattern HERE
And you know that if you make one, I just have to see it! So please do share your darling mermaid creations when they are complete :)!!
and stay tuned for the limited release of the mermaid ensemble tomorrow!!
(and I've no doubt there will a number of many more outfits for our little Mod Doll in the future!)
*Update: The simple Mod Doll Pattern is no longer available for free download but you can purchase the entire pattern, complete with mermaid tail, top, skirt and two types of hair here.
Last month Jon and I celebrated our 11th year anniversary. Crazy. I sometimes feel like we are the same young rock-a-billy kids who fell for each other so many years ago. I mean just look at that pompadour on Jon. How could I resist this cutie? I'm not sure what was going on with my fashion, but I think I was trying to channel the "skater girl" look? Who knows really ...anyway...those were the days, right?
On one of our first "dates" in college we walked around my neighborhood for hours into the night. We just walked and talked about our dreams. How we wanted to travel, create art, perform, change the world, you know all that sort of mushy "you just might be the one" type of stuff. We definitely had the rosy colored "starving artist" glasses on and I'm pretty sure we were both hooked from that night on.
Being freelancers - myself an illustrator, creator, and kids craft
blogger, etc. -and Jon an actor, director, teacher etc., life
together has definitely been an adventure. It hasn't always been easy -
not having consistent income, stability, etc. - but I think it's the only
kind of life either of us can really live (otherwise, believe you me,
we'd change things up in a heartbeat! Security and comfort is so NOT overrated, especially with kids).
Throughout our journey together we've been able to travel and live in some pretty incredible places. We started our second year of marriage in NYC and loved it. I think we will always hold a special place in our hearts for NYC. So many things happened for us there and the friends and experiences we had there are unforgettable. We then switched gears and headed south to Knoxville, TN for Jon's graduate school. We bought our first home and that is where we had A (how has it been 6 years?!). Needless to say, this time of our lives, being first time parents, is very special to us.
Then Jon graduated and it was off to LA to dive right into Hollywood. We loved living in South Pasadena and we of course had Little O there. My boys loved Cali and still talk about their friends, the beach, the sun and of course the myriad of exciting amusement parks that were available there. Jon and I also made some wonderful friends who mean so much to us.
We have now moved on and Jon is living his dream as a college acting/theater professor. And let me tell you, he's a natural at it - students love him and he's most definitely in his element in the classroom. In addition to illustrating, I've loved where blogging has taken us and I'm so grateful for opportunities, friends and associations I've been able to make through Mer Mag. Baby number three is about to arrive and we are thrilled about what the next chapter in our life has in store for us (even if we are just a tad bit freaked out about it!).
So as you can see, we don't seem to stay still for very long. In fact, we sort of have a joke that we have a three year limit. When three years hits (right when we're feeling settled and at home) we start getting antsy and life calls for a change of scenery. With kids however, we do hope to find a spot we can call home for a longer period of time (especially for A who doesn't like change so much at all). But in the mean time I think the Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero's song, "Home is Wherever I'm With You" pretty much sums it up for us.
So as a gift to Jon, I created an original paper cut out based on this song (which we of course both love). I wanted it to be a companion piece to the I Lovely Love My Family paper cut out art that I gifted him a couple of years ago. (I think we have a thing for songs in our family...)
And just like the Lovely Love prints, I'm offering a selection of "Home is Wherever I'm With You" prints (in all the same Lovely Love colors!) in my shop for you to also place in
your homes (wherever they may be!). Skip on over to the shop to take a look!
And what about you? Any good stories about how home has come to mean more about who you are with than where it is you live? I'd love to hear them!
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