Happy Fourth of July Eve!

We are ready over here for some real 4th of July fun! I've been anticipating this holiday weekend since last year when I was ultra pregnant and didn't want to take part in anything. We watched the fireworks from the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Let me make that clear, we weren't actually at the fair but driving past it on the freeway and we just so happened to see the fireworks popping off at that exact moment. This year were heading out to newport beach and I'm wondering how Luca will take all the loud noises. Fingers crossed he is so amused by all the bright lights he doesn't even notice the blaring pops. Below is the outfit Luca will be sporting along with some traditional July 4th must haves such as sparklers and bomb pops. Also, don't forget the sunscreen!!! Babyganics makes a good one for kids and you can bet your bottom dollar Luca will be lathered in it all weekend long and I'll have some sort of bucket hat or fedora on him to protect that precious face!

Here's Luca's collection of pacifiers. Pacifiers are like socks, they go missing constantly and disappear into vast nothingness. I am ecstatic to say "Peace out pacis!" Although it seems to be just another reminder that my little boy is growing up faster than I would like :/ Today I played my last round of hide and go seek--me vs. the binksters, and I think I found them all. I looked through drawers, hampers, under Luca's crib, in the diaper bag, in the car, and countless other places, but I'm sure there are many more out there just waiting to show face once Luca has fully weaned. But today I'll say I won. Today is day 6 and were still going strong binky-free! I think it is safe to say that Luca is moving on, I'm not going to hold my breath though...If I've learned anything about motherhood it's that nothing is impossible--that and never use absolutes such as never or always. Almost always you will be proven wrong. Good ol' Murphy's Law.

Never (ya see! there we go again, the proof is in the pudding people) did I think sleeping in until 8 am would be a luxury. Now if I make it until 8 I hug and kiss Luca over and over saying "thank you, thank you, thank you!" He has no clue why I'm so happy but he laughs and shares kisses anyway. Many things are a luxury these days...showers are baptismal, naps are totally underrated, brushing my hair--are dreads coming back into style soon?, changing out of my pjs before 11 is all that and a bag of chips, peace & quiet is golden, unless Lu is awake, then it's suspicious..I could go on and on and on. 

Our breakfast routine usually consists of anything we can plop in the toaster. Other criteria include anything that can be eaten with your hands or more specifically, one hand. Anything that you can shovel down your throat while also fixing a bottle and heating up baby food gets the green light. And I'm seriously contemplating buying pop tarts the next time I'm at the grocery store only because you can eat them hot or cold, genius. There have been times where I almost sip Luca's bottle instead of my tea. Simply put, our mornings are a hot mess. We go through phases alternating between bagels or toast, cliff bars or strawberry greek yogurt, but either way I love eating breakfast on my toast plate. It makes me feel like I have my life together when I totally do not.

Other shenanigans happening in the Wood household include planning for Luca's first birthday party! As I have mentioned before, we have so much family and so many friends and therefore, there is so. much. to be done. Luca's first birthday will be woodland themed and so I got to work making his invitations completely hedgehog themed, and I am so happy with how cute & whimsical they came out!

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend! 

Enjoy the long weekend, Lord knows this house will need it.

Keep on rockin' in the free world!

XO

Chelsie

Hello July, and June Goodbye.

I am so happy for last week to be over. Never in my life did I think I'd say T.G.I. Monday, but yesterday I did. It all started heading downhill the past week when early on in the week our water heater's pressure release valve exploded and flooded out our garage. I'm talking puddles of water everywhere--hot & steamy water for that matter. I felt like I was in a musky swamp. Floods make for  such glorious alarm clocks. It's amazing how alert you become when you realize your favorite leather bag is submerged in water. Fortunately most of the water soaked things we were already planning on getting rid of, although a few boxes were sopped that we actually liked (R.I.P said handbag). 

Then, later on in the week I badly burnt my knee hemming our curtains. It blistered instantaneously and I had to yell something along the lines of "Mother Pucker," since Luca was present. I'm working on cleaning up my sailor mouth because the last thing I need is for Luca's first word to be something that would need to be bleeped out had it been on TV. I hear it takes 21 days for a person to break a habit, so I suppose now's as good enough time as ever to start. Speaking of breaking habits, Luca has been pacifier free for 5 nights and 4 days now! Hallelujah! I am so so proud of him. I've been replacing the binky with other comforting distractions and I'm not sure he even remembers the paci's gone. It was the perfect time to wean him. I prepared for the worst and it wasn't bad at all. I anticipated temper tantrums and chaos, but really there hasn't been any issues except for when I'm trying to get him down to sleep for the night. The paci's are now packed away out of sight, out of mind. So, I'm marking that one off my checklist; We had one successful crack at something during our week from hell. Praise the Lord.
A few other events from last week that made notable appearances include the time I had scraped the back of my ankle on a metal bin at Ikea taking off a good chunk of my skin and then walking around the never-ending showroom playing it "cool." I cried like a baby inside. I'm known to be pretty clumsy, but last week really topped the charts.The final straw that broke the camel's back was when my car was shat on by what I could only assume to be some sort of  pterodactyl considering the square footage this bird poop covered.  I'm talking a HUGE, GINORMOUS, DISGUSTING shit stain on my number. I know you probably shouldn't use words like "poop" or "shit stain" on your blog, but I'm pushing new boundaries here. There was just no way around it. If you are offended, excuse my french, and just so you know according to Taro Gomi "Everyone Poops."
 Anyhow, I'm assuming I'm paying karmic debt of some kind, but hopefully I've settled my dues, because I need to catch a break off a reese's cup or something.

Unrelated to last weeks scheme of events, today I woke up feeling under the weather and I think it's from spreading myself too thin. I'm mentally, physically, and in all other ways exhausted. Thankfully, today my only obligations entailed paying our bills and catching up on some zzzs. My granny came over to help me with Luca (can I get an Amen? AMEN!) and I tried to sleep off the awful clamminess only to wake up feeling more clammy and nauseous. Don't worry folks, I'm not pregnant. I know what all you nosies are thinking! I'd be thinking the same thing, but fortunately this story doesn't play out like one of those horrid "I didn't know I was pregnant until I pooped out my baby into my toilet." What is with all the poop gestures today??! Sorry Granny. Not that it would be the end of the world, but I'm trying to enjoy my Lu for a bit before I give him a sibling. And even more so, I'm horrified to experience the pregnancy I had with Luca all over again. Maybe one day I will get over it and brave it once more, for now we are content.

Well I'm signing off here, I hope you all have a splendid week and an even better 4 day weekend. I'm so excited for the fourth of July! Be safe, enjoy the fireworks, and keep it classy! Other than not feeling so hot today, July is already proving much better than June.  I'm excited to celebrate my mom, my dad, and my baby's birthdays throughout the month. I cannot believe I'm about to be the mother of a 1 year old!!!! ay ay ay. There are simply not enough hours in the day.
Don't Blink ;)

xx

8. 9. & 10. Month Roundup

Oh my, my, my. I cannot believe we have reached the 11 month mark. My baby boy is hardly a baby anymore...I sometimes catch myself telling stories about my "newborn," only to realize I'm no longer a new mom with a infant. Somehow things still feel new to me. Each chapter is new, and everyday is new. Today a woman at the department store wrapped a scented silk ribbon around my wrist and asked me, "What do you say yes to?" I responded instantaneously with the first thing that popped into my head and replied, "change." Now that one must have come from somewhere deep in my subconscious because I wouldn't say that I give the warmest of welcomes to alterations unless of course they entail taking in a beautiful Vince Camuto dress or hemming a brand new pair of blue jeans. I could have answered yes to anything--to traveling, to shopping, to happiness, to Luca always, to world peace, or to a free bottle of the amazing perfume this woman was the rep for (it had black currant in it. BLACK CURRANT PEOPLE.), but no, I responded with "change," and I have no idea  where "change" came from. I suppose I am more open to it than I thought, either that or the gypsy, my sagittarius husband, is really starting to rub off on me. We left my longtime home and up and put roots down further north, which I can't lie and say I was ecstatic about. It's as if one minute you are living where people vacation and the next you are staring at a photograph of the ocean as you sit in the AC because it is 100 degrees outside and you're starting to feel like a "Damn toucan." I swear I'm about to click clack my red glittered shoes together, close my eyes tightly, and chant "There's no place like home" over and over again until I open my eyes and I'm back at the beach. Not only is it hot, but relocating has brought with it the usual protocols such as having to make new friends, finding a new hot yoga studio, acclimating my skin to the high desert, figuring out a new routine, and re-familiarizing myself with my childhood home. It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, I'm just missing my cottage by the sea. Soon I will find my new normal, I'll readjust, and I'll do my best to find the good in every situation. So I'm saying yes to change. We are almost completely settled in our new digs and I cannot wait to sit down, put my feet up, and call it a day. But before I do that, here are our 8, 9, and 10 month favorites. Enjoy!

 1. Safari Walker \\  This walker is perfect for the transition between crawling and walking. Luca loved playing with all the buttons and listening to the tunes before he was able to stand up on his own. And now that he's furniture cruising and balancing on his own, this little tool is great for Luca to practice walking around.

 2. Umbrella stroller \\  This light-weight and compact stroller is essential for when you need to run in and out somewhere running errands. 

3.Baltic Amber teething necklace \\ We swear up and down by this necklace. This may just be the most useful item on this list. If you aren't familiar with baltic amber it works by rubbing with the heat of your skin and creating a natural analgesic. Luca sprouted three teeth in a week and barely made a peep. I can't say enough good things!

4. Calm Forte Tablets \\ These are chamomile tablets so even though the package says ages 2+, they are totally safe. We've had both sides of our family recommend these for when Luca is overly tired or fussy and just like the tea, they help!

5. Safety First Cabinet Locks \\ These are rad. I could leave it at that. They are a total bitch to install but totally worth it. You use a little magnet to open the locks and there's a switch for when baby is asleep so you don't have to fuss with a child proofed kitchen.

6. Teething bunny \\  You know the old phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it?" Well they make things simple for a reason. Luca likes this teether the most out of all his fancy-shmancy ones.

7.Mustela Lotion \\ I was recommended this lotion by a fellow mom and it is the best smelling baby product of all time. I feel like if you could bottle up the magical scent of a baby and sell it you'd place second because Mustela already did it. It's also really great for moisturizing Luca's eczema.
 8. Sippy \\ Luca loves water and is obsessed with straws, so sippy cups with straws are all the rage in this household.
9. High chair \\ This high chair doubles as a kids seat when your baby outgrows the highchair and Miles and I love products that are duel purposed. Plus it is so cute and doesn't look like most of the high chairs out there or how a hummer looks in a parking spot-- way too big.
 10. Ella's Puffits \\ These are Luca's favorite snack. We love all Ella's offers, but these are great because they are free of oats and sugar. They don't have all the added crap most of the other brands contain, just a couple simple ingredients and in this day and age that's hard to find!
11. Maxi Cosi Pria 70 Car seat \\ Lastly, but certainly not least...Luca is a beast for his age and so at 8 months the infant seat had to go. His feet were touching the back seat and he looked so uncomfortably squished. We read tons of reviews and decided on this plush seat. I love that it's comfortable and extremely safe. Worth every penny!

Well I'd better get swimming' or I'll sink like a bone, cause' the times they are a changin'

I wish you all a great rest of the week! 

Happy hump day!

24

I turned 24 a week ago and I can't tell you how greatful I am to have such an amazing batch of family & friends. I felt so special all day, receiving tons of well wishes and lots of love. So thank you to all who thought of me on my special day!

This was my first birthday with a baby and let me tell you, a birthday with a baby is pretty much the most awesome thing ever. As if the kid doesn't make me feel important and giddy enough on a daily basis, Luca gave me enough love to last me the rest of the year followed by his adorable applause after the grand "happy birthday" song was sung. I'm just happy I didn't have to sing the meatball birthday song like I used to at the restaurant I waited tables at once upon a time (trust me when I say that "the meatball song" is too embarrassing to explain). Uggghhh, why did I even bring it up? Now it's stuck in my head!

Moving on.

On my actual birthday my boys and I drove out to Costa Mesa and did a little shopping, I ate strawberry cream-filled crepes at noon because it was my birthday and who doesn't want crepes dusted with angel dust powdered sugar mid-afternoon? Crap, I'll eat crepes all day any day who needs a special occasion for crepes? That's right. No one. They were a small piece of Paris and a butt load of calories, luckily Luca wanted to be carried around for the remainder of our shopping excursion because nothing says calorie burning like one-arming a 27 pounder. My little bunch o' chunk is what I always prayed for. You know how little girls dream of ponies and dollhouses? Well I used to pray for a chunky baby with rubber band wrists (you know when the arm rolls are so apparent it looks like there's a rubber band tightly wrapped around their little wrists, right above those adorable dimpled hands? Yes. Those my friends are called rubber band wrists and I go nuts for them)

Here is Miles at dinner trying to desperately explain to the older generations at the table why eating organically is important. He was using big words such as 'Monsanto' and 'Genetic Modification.' God I love when he talks nerdy.

Anyway, I think it is safe to say that bringing up dietary matters in this day and age is just as taboo as talking about religion, money, politics and the movie "Black Fish." You just shouldn't go there. But they did and so while that conversation carried on my step-sister and I took selfies like this. Doesn't it look like we're in the jungle sans the crutch in the bushes?? Hakuna Matata, it means no worries.

Thus far, 24 has been great. I've got all a girl could ever need. I'm good.

Now here are 24 fun facts about me that you may or may not know:

1. I hate when people are grammatically incorrect. Yes, there is a difference between there, their, and they're--Its and it's--and sherbet is pronounced "sure-bay" not "sure-bert." I'm pushing my glasses up from falling off my nose with my index finger as I type this.

2. I wear contacts and glasses depending on my mood. I have a crazy bad astigmatism in both my eyes (thanks dad) and my eyes have two different prescriptions, but I'm way too scared to get laser surgery. I am now also having trouble reading too which pretty much means I'm S.O.L. Without my contacts or glasses I'm as blind as a bat.

3. My name is spelt Chel-sie rather than the traditional Chel-sea, and for some reason this really confuses folks. I'm told I was named Chelsie after my mom read an article about Chelsea Clinton and fell in love with the name. My grandmother tells me I am named after the daughter in the film "On Golden Pond." So who really knows. 

4. My mom was one of ten and my dad one of three, so I have a HUMONGOUS family and I love being a part of it. It is chaotic at times and sending out invites and thank yous can sometimes be a bitch, heck it could even give you carpal tunnel, but there is always someone there for you. Everyone has each other's backs and we all have mad love for one another. Most of us live in California too so the gatherings are endless, and the gossip plain outrageous. We'd make for a really good reality TV show.

5. I met my husband because he was my roommate. Unconventional, but cool story.

6. I always had a fear growing up that I wouldn't be able to have children, but clearly that wasn't the case. Luca was a total surprise and my little miracle baby. What did I know?

7. I don't drink coffee, although I love the way it smells. I am obsessed with tea.

8. My sister and I look like twins. We're the same height, clothing size, shoe size, have same hair and eye color and have similar facial structures, but we are three years apart.

9. I had the hardest pregnancy, but the easiest labor and delivery.

10. I love to travel, but get major anxiety over flying. It never stops me though.

11. I have been practicing yoga since I was 18, and it has changed my life. 

12. I love to cook and I love to bake, but I HATE doing the dishes. Dishes are my least favorite chore next to folding my laundry.

13.  My birthday is National Donut Day! Hollllaaaa!

14. I once sat next to Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter's sister) on a flight home from Kentucky. She was really nice. 

15. I binge watched the whole first season of Orange is the New Black on netflix and now that the second season is out, I am trying to restrain myself, or rather Luca is restraining me. Why would they throw the entire season at you at once?! It's as if they want you to stay in your pajamas, disregard showering and and lose days of your life completely enthralled by Piper Chapman and her prison drama. 

16. I make all of Luca's baby food from scratch.

17. I am highly less organized than my husband. I procrastinate like it's in style, but work well under pressure. I also have great long-term memory, but my short-term memory makes a goldfish look good.

18. I have my bachelor's degree in Literature & Writing and will start teaching as a substitute in the fall.

19. Crafting is my passion, and I am a perfectionist which can be both a bad and good thing.

20. I have all the dominant features, but my son looks just like his dad.

21. Going to the beach is one of my all time favorite things to do & I love what the ocean does to my skin and hair.

22. I once pulled all four of my molars out in one weekend because my dad jokingly said he'd give me a 100 bucks if I did it. Guess who got the last laugh?! I'm highly competitive by nature. 

23. I love playing the piano but I cannot and refuse to read music. I only memorize songs and my favorite song to play is "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin. 

24. I love my baby, my husband and our family and friends more than anything in the world and I would do anything for them. 

"We may not have it all together, but together we have it all"

Well, I hope you enjoyed, and bravo to you if you made it all the way to the bottom. I am slow-clapping it out for you! If you haven't yet you-tubed Jenna Marbles you should do yourself a favor and do so right now. 

Father's Day Weekend

We spent most of our weekend tying up loose ends on our house while Miles was away on a work trip up north. I wish I could say Luca and I were successful, but unpacking, organizing, cleaning, etc. with a 10 month old as your right hand man can be a bit of a challenge for lack of a better word but you catch my drift. He was helpful enough to allow me to hang the curtains (and THAT was huge) and I even partially mopped--big emphasis on the word partially. Slowly but surely we are getting there and that's what really counts. All in due time, one project at a time, one temper tantrum at a time and a couple from Lulu too. But I can't wait to share photos with you, especially if you saw the original piece we were working with here. Talk about how true the phrase "One man's junk is another man's treasure" rings. I'm so happy with the way it has evolved, and all the time it took to become complete was totally worth it.

On saturday night Luca, my sister, and I went to dinner with our dad for an early father's day dinner since my sister had to work sunday and it being Miles' first fathers day, we had planned a special day for him. So we had a beautiful dinner with our wonderful dad who has been there for us through thick and thin, who has struggled trying to play a double role at times since my mom has passed, and who has worked his heart out to give my sister and I the best life he could, and he truly did. He's such an awesome and loving man, an amazing grandpa and I feel so fortunate to have him in my life. I could tear up just typing this! Hormones, freaking hormones, they will get you every time!!! With that one year mark since Luca was born lingering around the corner I'm hoping they will soon be stable again, not to say I still won't tear up during the Sara McLaughlin dog commercials or anytime baby Lu melts my sappy heart, but at least I won't be a walking sprinkler. The ugly cry is just sooo ugly, it doesn't look good on anyone... Not even Kim Kardashian. Sorry Kim.

So then came sunday, Miles' very first Father's day! And Father's Day was so much fun! We started our morning by walking over to the donut shop around the corner from our house, and then coming home to open gifts. Here's what Miles' opened up on fathers day:

watering tin || go the f*** to sleep book || walnut phone case  || calvin klein micro modal boxer briefs

moscow mule copper mug || michael kore watch

Miles is a big time gardener which I have mentioned in previous posts so he needs a nice watering can to keep our garden alive and thriving! This one fits the bill and is so chic which is a bonus for me! I like that it's pretty to look at, so we both win on this one!

The book "Go the F**k to Sleep" is so hilarious I highly recommend it to any parent with young kids! You'll get a good laugh which you definitely need at times AND it was a New York Times best seller surprisingly (Disclaimer: probably don't need to say this, but we obviously do not nor intend to read it to Luca)

The Paper Source has some great phone cases and they are usually really reasonable. This one was fitting since our last name is Wood, and it looks so sleek on a black iPhone :)

Don't ask me why I introduced these briefs to Miles' awhile back but now he is totally obsessed. Luckily Nordstrom was having their men's sale and I swooped a killer deal on these. They are totally worth the money though--they're soft, silky, and super durable.

Miles' rarely drinks, but when he does his drink of choice is a moscow mule. So it was natural that I'd get him the proper cup to drink out of. My recipe goes something like this 2-3 oz of vodka & half a lime muddled and shook up in a tumbler with crushed ice, then pour into your copper mug and top it off with ginger beer and voila! 

Mile's big gift this year was a Michael Kors watch. He'd been needing one for quite some time, and after all the hard work he puts in it was well deserved. I'm so happy he loved it and I loved spoiling my husband. Luca and I are just so fortunate to have him in our lives. We couldn't ask for a better husband, father, and superman extraordinaire. He just lights up our world, and works so hard to give us a wonderful life. Happy Father's day babe! Keep on keeping on, the world needs your stories, your humor, your positivity and your energetic spirit. we love you more than words could ever describe and you are our hero! 

A very happy belated father's day to all the loving dads out there doing their very best and devoting themselves to their families, to all the single dads out there raising their children alone, and happy father's day to those fathers who are no longer with us who are missed so much, and also to all the mothers out there who are both mothers and fathers, my hats off to all of you! Dads are just the greatest aren't they?! I hope everyone had a blessed Father's day weekend!

DADS ARE RAD

Is it June already?!

Hey there! I've missed you blank white screen...I've missed you my beautiful readers, my friends...I'm sincerely sorry I've been away for so long, but I feel happy, excited, and mostly relieved to be back to share with you all the ventures I'm about to take on and all the endeavors I've conquered while I've been away. Where have I been? Well that right there is an extremely loaded question. Where do I begin? I can start back to when our house was completely tore up from the floor up (no exaggeration there) and our move in date kept getting pushed forward over and over again. I became part lunatic, just ask my husband, or don't because he may argue that the line between partial and full on psychotic was a lot thinner than I'm describing. And I won't even get into his teenage mutant ninja meltdowns. Cabin fever began to eat away at us like some blood hungry parasitic honey badger and times got tough for a minute or two. Not to say that I don't love my dad, I love my dad to pieces, but when you are married with a family, living with your dad isn't the most ideal of situations. Hmm what else have I been up to? Oh, did I mention I have a 10 month old? For all you mothers out there, I could stop right there and you understand. He's crawling, climbing, furniture cruising, giving me a run for my money, etc. then there's the part where we finally could move in and I had to try and "pack" and build furniture with my said 10 month old. That was interesting to say the least. All in all, we have finally moved, and the wait was completely worth it. I'm not saying everything's unpacked and organized but were making progress. One day at a time. One project at a time. One dirty diaper at a time. That's my new M.O. mostly because that's the only way I can do it. But I promise to get our 8, 9, and 10 month faves up soon, and I recieved a lot of requests asking me to show and tell how I home-make Luca's baby food, so that's in the works and will be up soon as well! I'd love to give you a virtual house tour once we are settled, aaand I have a few give-aways coming up too, so stay tuned folks and thank you for bearing with me! If there is anything else you'd like me to share or post, please don't be shy! You can always reach me at thestringandneedleco@gmail.com

xx

hope your Sunday is marvelous

Im headed out to attempt to take on this crazy life of mine so wish me luck! 

Lord knows I need it.

Signing off, Chelsie

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! We had a wonderful Easter Eve painting and decorating easter eggs, hanging with Luca's Auntie Em, meeting her puppy Charlie whom Luca felt both curious and totally terrified of, and eating a delicious homemade lunch and then indulging in snacks upon snacks upon snacks while we died the eggs (I'm still stuffed). We wandered around Emily's gorgeous yard, a botanical garden which feels as though it was ripped right out of a storybook. We stared in awe at a massive beehive that was nestled in a large palm tree and wondered how big the queen must be. I was more focused on how often the fellow bees fly down to linger as I am just about as terrified of bees as Luca was of Charlie. We both survived thankfully unscathed and unstung.

I regress. Luca is officially on the move. He hasn't quite mastered the full hands and knees crawl quite yet but he definitely has down what I like to call "the trench crawl" where he looks like he's crawling through swamp bushes or under barbed wire. And when I say mastered, I mean he's swift, he's got the turbo switch on, no hybrid here.

On a final note: Thank you mother earth for the beautiful weather we've been having! It makes being apart from Encinitas a little more bearable...Not to mention my patience level has rapidly been recovering [Heat=me aggro] and I know with my patience levels evened out the world is simply a better place, just ask my husband. Happy wife, Happy Life.

Luca didn't get to meet the Easter bunny, but Charlie could probably pass as one with all that luscious white fur--and I'm pretty sure had we taken Luca's photo with the easter bunny Luca's facial expression would have been exactly the same as in the photo below...

A joyous and Happy Easter from my family to yours.
 I wish you tons of happiness, candy, and cage-free hardboiled eggs to indulge in.
Who else is ready for day after easter egg salad sandwiches?!
raised hand waving in the air over here!
xx

Spring is in the air!

As much as I love the cooler weather autumn and winter bring, I can't help but exhale so softly the first day of spring and breath in so deeply the smells of dewey grass and orange blossoms (I'm fortunate I don't have seasonal allergies or this might not feel so good...Condolences go out to all my hypersensitive readers). Although...according to an environmental allergy panel I had done back in October, I am highly allergic to olive trees and cockroaches, yet I'm asymptomatic--unless of course an allergy to cockroaches entails a reaction of screaming and running for your life to jump onto anything that will get your feet off the ground asap, well in that scenario I am highly allergic to cockroaches. 

Wow, I am way off topic now, circling the airport here but coming in for landing. In more relevant news I'd like to share with you that this spring I will be bringing modern quilts for little ones and adults to my shop. I am both excited and terrified seeing as this is entirely new territory for me. My hands have been so busy at the cutting board and I'm hoping it will pay off. With that being said, I will be hosting a give-a-way when my spring line launches in the near future...so stay tuned as to how you can enter! Well, thank you for listening to my ramblings! I'm now off to puree some baby food and get lunch ready for my sweet Lu. Poor thing, I think he is teething for real this time, but we've had so many false alarms, I wouldn't hold your breath...

Ciao! xx