Hello August!

Wow, it's been a few weeks since I have blogged! One day seems to meld into another over here with routine and summer time laziness.  Since I last blogged, Caitlin and Cyrous moved to their really cute new place. On the Sunday before they got back, we built an Ikea TV stand for them, and got them a cute little patio table and chairs for their front porch. I think they were surprised with their house warming gifts! In my next post I'll put some pics of of their place, it's really charming.  It's nice to have them home after being away for a month.
A week or so we were suffering with a heat wave, as evidenced in the first photo. Not much gets done in this type of weather for me, which as you can see, there are no photos of anymore sewing projects! I did however complete one special order, and spent some time getting some inspiration for some fall projects on Pinterest. I went to my favorite fabric store in Berkeley last week and bought some really fun fabrics that inspired me to begin my fall/winter looks. I was going to work with a real bright color palate this fall, but changed my mind when I found this one particular print. I'll take some pics when I get some things cut out, which hopefully will be this week.

This past Saturday, we met Caitlin and Cyrous for breakfast and then checked out the vintage fair they were having downtown. I found a cool 1930's print to frame for my bathroom. Last year I found some really great vintage patterns, but this year I didn't see any vintage sewing supplies.  We stopped in at States Coffee for an ice tea and then headed home.

One of our summer guilty pleasures has been watching "Six Feet Under" on HBO.  This is the first time we have ever had HBO, so just now we are watching shows that everyone else already saw back in the early 2000's hahaha. The series began in 2001 and it's funny to see how that already looks dated. This started airing around the time we were getting ready to move to France.  I heard all about it when we moved back to the States, but like I said, no HBO until now. We are on the next to the last season right now and have really enjoyed the series.  Now we have to try and fit in the Olympics with our HBO viewing hahaha. Speaking of Olympics, as I type this I just saw the US win the mens swimming relay!! Michael Phelps really was incredible to watch. What are your favorite events to watch? We love swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball.

On Saturday we decided to go into Oakland for dinner, and while we were walking to the restaurant, we encountered this sweet little cat. It was just lying there minding its own business. As we walked by, it gravitated towards David like a magnate. It rubbed up against him in circles, then came over to me and did the same. I tried to pet it, but it just looked at me, like don't even.... then sauntered away. It still seemed that it wanted to pal out with David, as you can see how it is stalking him from behind. I miss having a cat.

The yard continues to bloom and bloom. The purple flowers on the tree are covered in bees and dragonflies. I really don't remember this tree all bloomed like it is now, last summer. I love seeing it out of my kitchen window. My miniature pomegranates are starting to form it's tiny fruit! We love sitting out in the yard on Sundays with our farmers market treats and coffee enjoying all the sights  smells of summer. Today we had a friend over to help us eat the farmer's market treats.

Oh I almost forgot.....Nicole got the coolest job opportunity that we are all super excited about! Unfortunately I can't say much about it, as I'm sworn to secrecy.... BOO! The minute I can tell more about it, I will be doing my proud mom moment. It's pretty cool :)

Off to do a bit more Olympic viewing before bed.....Catch up sooner than I did this time!

Christmas Sweet Christmas

Funny how when you are a kid it's all about Santa and presents. As you age it's more about the little things during the holidays that make you happy. For me it's cooking for loved ones, going to midnight mass, and just spending time with the family. We had such a nice and laid back Christmas eve and Christmas day. We cooked and baked a lot on Christmas eve, then had a simple dinner of Italian Wedding soup, before we jumped in the car on a frosty night to midnight mass. We were all so tired on Christmas morning, that we slept in till close to 10 am! It's funny to look at Instagram during the day, and  see other families that are far into the day's celebration, and we were just eating brunch and opening gifts! We always eat Christmas dinner much later too, so the day seems slower paced and goes later into the evening for us.
For dinner this year we had confit de canard, with French green beans and cast iron roasted potatoes. I loved making those potatoes! The pinterest recipe was a Martha one, and it had bacon. I left out the bacon because of the duck. I made a nice little salad with striped beets, arugula, fennel, and hazelnuts. I have made confit de canard before, but this year I opted to buy some that were already done, to make my life more easy. I got them from here.  For dessert, I strayed away from the Buche de Noel that I usually get from Whole Foods. It tends to be a bit too big for our family, and lingers around for too long. This year I made a gingerbread cake instead. We really liked it for its peppery, spicy flavors. It had half a cup of fresh minced ginger!  I topped it with fresh whipped cream.
Usually around this time, I get a bit sad that it's all over, but this year I didn't. It isn't because I wanted it all to end, but more so that it was a nice time and it felt complete. I'm looking forward to the new year.  Planning a wedding, and I just found out my niece is having her first baby, along with her sister welcoming her second in the spring. Lots of beautiful moments to look forward to.  
I've got some cleaning up to do, as we will have some friends coming over for New Year's Eve.
Hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas and a wonderful new year ahead!!!

Oh, forgot to mention, that in the second to the last picture, you can see the new picture ledges that we put up this past Sunday. That wall has been blank far too long! It feels so much more cozy in this room now. My little birdie Riki, isn't so sure he likes that clock above his cage though hahaha!

Our Thanksgiving

Phew, that was fun and and exhausting! We had such a lovely day shared with some friends, who are expats from Germany, and of course cutie pie Caitlin. Cyrous came by later, as he had spent the day with his family. I kinda went crazy making desserts and in between doing so, decided I would do a whole floral arrangement. I had a lot of fun making it though, but man was I wiped out by the end of Thanksgiving day!  We usually eat later than most, since I can't even bare to get up early in the morning and start messing with a raw turkey. It makes for a more relaxed and even paced day for me and most of the time we invite people who are use to eating much later than what most Americans do on Thanksgiving.
I sure did have a blast using my new food processor for the meal. I really could tell the difference in quality and performance and I feel like I really made a good choice with it. The best part was how super lightening speed it was to whip cream, and next time I will keep a better eye on it, since it was almost butter consistency hahaha.
Our guests, who I mentioned were German, had never had Thanksgiving food. They couldn't get enough of it, and had many helpings, and enjoyed all the flavors of the meal. They really loved the pumpkin pie, which also they had never eaten! I'm glad we were the first Thanksgiving gathering that they had.
Next day was spent cleaning up the huge mess in the kitchen, because you know how it is, no matter who organized you think you are, that last few minutes of getting all the food on the table is a nightmare and always leaves the the kitchen in a big disaster!
Saturday we met Cyrous' parents to look at a venue for the wedding. It was beautiful, and hopefully this will be the space, because it has everything that we all need in a venue. Exciting times ahead with the planning. Can't wait for Caitlin to start trying on dresses, I think that will be my favorite part I think, and flower selections next hahah. I would so love to do the flowers, but know how impossible that would be to fit in.
While putting up my feet after a long Thanksgiving day, I checked my Etsy shop and someone had bought my last cape! This made me so happy, and has given me a push to get some more made up for the holidays. I kind of needed a break making them after the Halloween rush, but now I'm anxious to get some more completed.
I sure hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, I know we sure did!!

Our Easter

It turned out to be a wonderful Easter dinner, but when I woke up yesterday, the weather was quite dim out and I wasn't quite in the mood for some reason. We went to church and it was a wonderful service and I felt renewed for the day. As we left church, it was pouring rain, and as we raced to our car to not get wet, I tripped and fell! Like a little girl, I had a skinned knew and a little tear on my face, but I tried to shake it off and not let it dampen the day. Once home my helpers kicked in to help pull off a really nice dinner and relaxed afternoon.
Our lamb was so good! It was a local grass fed lamb, and the flavor was so wonderful. With it we just had some of the regular spring veggies, and for dessert, this beautiful cake from here. At first I didn't want a big dessert hanging around the house, so I decided not to make a cheese cake, but when I set foot in this bakery, I could not resist this beautiful cake! The bakery is very European, which I like. The cake was not so sweet, just lots of lovely chocolate, and for the center a nice mousse filling.
Hope everyone had a nice Easter