seattle: our anniversary in pics.

a couple weekends ago nathan and i went to seattle for the weekend for our anniversary. our anniversary is in february but nathan was in guam at the time, so here are some pics from our belated 12-year celebration.


a cherry blossom on alaskan way.


my husband banging his head on a tree because i ALREADY stopped to take a pic. and he's got a backpack on cause we hiked it this weekend with no car.


after dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we went about exploring Queen Anne. we've driven through it before, and seen the TV towers on top of it from the Space Needle, but i wanted to walk around and explore. i've got a back issue of "Sunset" that talked about the stair climb, and there are stair cases allll over Queen Anne to explore.


Queen Ann high school sits at the top of the hill and was built in 1908. it was converted into condos in 2007.


a really cool, ornate house in Queen Ann.


their front yard was gorgeous too.


TV tower at the top of Queen Ann.


we ended up hiking over to lake union, and followed that for awhile.


houseboats. we ended up at a little place right by the fremont bridge called the Nickerson Street Saloon, where we enjoyed a late lunch.


we hiked back to our hotel on the other side of Queen Ann, this is on an urban hiking trail in Kinnear Park.


we stopped back by our hotel to freshen up a little and then headed over to the underworld tour. it was a hoot and our tour guide (a girl named "Forrest") was a stitch. i'm glad i finally crossed this off of my bucket list after living here for 6 years.


the state hotel. you could rent a room here for 75¢ (per hour LOL) it was utilized by many of seattle's early "seamstresses". ahem.


after the tour we stopped for a midnight bite at local 360, who had THE most delish macaroni and cheese. it was YUM. (i snapped this shot the next day while walking around.) then we headed back to our hotel where we both COLLAPSED. i had worn my running watch around on friday just to see how far we went and we ended up putting in over 13 miles. good training, if nothing else.


the next morning after enjoying a yummy breakfast buffet at the hotel, we took a cab to nathan's favorite store, the REI flagship store. (i'd had enough hiking by this point.) here he is standing in the front of it. afterwards we went to the retail district and walked around Pacific Place and Westlake Center. we saw the movie "Paul" (okay, not quite as funny as i'd hoped for) and then just strolled around the streets of seattle for a bit, before going back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.


we had reservations at the Metropolitan Grill, which several people had recommended to us. it did not disappoint. the atmosphere was outstanding, and the food (however pricey) was fabulous. the best part? the ONION RINGS. they were HUGE.


sunday before heading home we stopped by Pike Place, where nathan got his "daily dozen" donuts and i got some gorgeous flowers.


one of the many flower stands in the market.


then we hopped back on the ferry and back into real life. though it was nice to get away for a bit, it's always nice to come home, too.

thanks for looking!

his and hers.

a friend of mine recently asked me if i would be able to duplicate some pillows that she found on etsy for her friend's wedding shower. after looking at them, i decided they looked simple enough to make.

pillows from etsy:

(from seller HAWThome, retail $65)

pillows that i made:




jen said that her friend's bedding was navy, so she asked if i could do navy pillows with white writing. i used a navy blue bottomweight for the pillowcase and some white wool felt for the letters. (if you have never used wool felt, you MUST try it. once you experience it's deliciousness, you will never go back to the cheap, polyester sheets.) i did an envelope style back, which is easy-peasy. i am very pleased with how they turned out.....i hope jen and her friend love them too! (and, i made them for about $55 less than what they would have cost!)

thanks for looking!

lucky number 7.

last month my middle babe turned 7. having a birthday so close to christmas (just over a month after) results in having a pretty hard time shopping for her sometimes. being a minimalist-at-heart, i hate having to buy "stuff" for the sake of giving SOMETHING. this post gave me an idea, that i suggested to katie: "how 'bout we ask your friends to bring donations for the animal shelter instead of presents to your party?" honestly, i fully expected for her to shoot down that idea, but instead she loved it. at first she was a little hesitant ("i REALLY want to....but i also like getting presents".....i reassured her that she would still be getting presents from mommy and daddy.) so we celebrated with a ton of her friends at Chuck E. Cheese and everyone brought donations in her honor for the Kitsap Humane Society.




waiting at the desk for her donation receipt.


saying hi to some of the residents.


visiting a kitty in their new "cattery".

she raised $115.13 in the end. quite an accomplishment for a 7-year-old!

thanks for looking!

an apron for em.

my friend beth's lil' gal emmalee just had a birthday, and as i was fishing for gift ideas she threw out the idea of an apron. so i found this adorable apron tutorial and decided it needed a matching oven mitt to go with it.




the adorable birthday girl modeling it for me.

i love how the apron has a velcro closure instead of ties so it's easy for a child to take on and off by themself. as it turns out, the mitt is sized for a smaller child, next time i will size it up a bit!

thanks for looking!

owl ipod cozy.

so i have this friend....who loves all things "owl" (oh, HI wendy!) and she has mentioned before that i should make her an ipod case. so when i saw these offered up on etsy....i had to attempt one! i think it turned out pretty cute, for my first attempt! i'm not really all that keen on hand stitching....and if you look really closely you'll see lots of flaws, but it adds CHARACTER i tell myself. i hope wendy thinks so too :)

*mine*


ones for sale on etsy (for $22, i might add!)


thanks for looking!

happy hearts outfit.

this was katie's V-day outfit. i found the fabric for the skirt at joann's and immediately fell in love with it--it's a pretty red/pink heart batik print. i used this tutorial for it and just eliminated the hem ruffle. the shirt was one she already had, i used samster mommy's tutorial for that and it literally took less than 5 minutes! i wish i had used a little more paint as the heart is a little faint at the top but oh well, live and learn.





thanks for looking!

DSi case

katie got a DSi for her birthday last week (TOTALLY nathan's idea. i would've just gotten her a barbie or something and she would've been happy.) she LOVES it though, especially the zhu zhu pets game she got with it...she's working on taking care of the little electronic critters so she can earn *new* pets :) anyhoos, it needed a case. and if any of you have ever looked for a case in the stores, you know how dire the selection is. so i decided to make my own! i looked at lots of tutorials before settling on this one i found on craftster.



i like the extra long straps that she can carry cross-body (less chance of her setting it down and losing it.) i used a fine wale gray corduroy for the outside and a *cute* puppy print fat quarter for the inside (that i've had sitting around forever, just waiting for the perfect project!)



here it is with the DSi peeking out :)



i loved rauni's design and followed it with only a few modifications: instead of using interfacing on the outside i used fusible fleece, for more padding. also, i didn't have any fun foam and was trying to only use what i had on hand so i used a piece of quilt batting inside the DSi pocket. and instead of the two snaps for the closure, i used velcro. NOTE: next time if i ever make another one i'll sew the velcro on BEFORE i sew the whole thing together. i couldn't fit the case with the tiny opening left on it over my sewing machine so i had to sew the velcro on by hand. tedious.

katie LOVES the case i made her, and hasn't taken it off since i gave it to her :)

thanks for looking!