our weekend. brought to you by the letter "C"

Cucumbers. grown right on the science barge. i took a tour friday. such a smart idea and great tool for educating. if new york made use of its rooftops for hydroponic greenhouses and green-roof gardening, we would be able to grow enough food to feed the entire city, if not most of the metro area. incredible. complete space efficiency and no importing!

the barge and its components are constructed almost completely of re-used or recycled materials and operates on the power its solar array panels and wind turbines collect. no pesticides, no chemical treatments, just vitamins and minerals fed to the plants through the recirculating hydroponic system. the water they use is a combination of collected rainwater and water pumped strait up from the hudson, which they filter using a reverse osmosis system. the whole thing was amazing and exciting. the tour guide was british and used the word "reckon" which made me love that little barge even more. the tomatoes, butter lettuce and cucumbers grown right there on the barge (and graciously given to our little group) made a great salad with friday night's home-made pizza.

Cape. eve's good friend turned three on saturday, so i made him a reversible cape. one side is superman while the other is personalized for said friend, whose name happens to begin with a "C." i was inspired by the reversible superman/batman cape my mother-in-law gave eve on her third birthday, which is worn daily around here. this was a lot of fun to make. i love felt. i love cutting through it. i love sewing on it. and i love love love superheroes, especially when they're three years old.

eve was adorable during the process, "you working on my friend's superman cape, mom? you workin hard. ooh, i love dat cape mommy. so special!" she also loved trying it on and testing it out before it was wrapped up and given away.

Cheesecake. happy father's day chip. since you are one of the skinnier men i've ever known, let me try to fatten you up by making you this unbelievably good cheesesake that just happens to have 514 grams of fat packed into it's pretty little cakey body. 514!! FIVE bars of cream cheese, 1/4cup heavy cream, one PINT of sour cream, SEVEN eggs, some butter and some graham crackers and you've got 514 fat grams begging to be consumed and double the size of my love handles, while adding nothing to chip. but, it is really, really good, and i fool myself into thinking it isn't so bad for me if i have a few fresh raspberries with it.

no picture with this one. after all the revealing of its fat contents i'm too emabarassed (and horrified) to show how much we've eaten in just two days.

Console. oh, fine, it's a desk. we've been planning to have the desk stretch from wall to wall since we moved in a year and a half ago. this weekend it finally happened. one and a three-quarter solid-core doors painted and joined together. a chair for the computer and a chair for the sewing machine. now chip and i won't have to breathe down each other's necks asking "are you finished? are you almost done? so, how much longer are you going to be working here? . . ." every other minute when one of us is in the chair and the other wants to sit and work. it's no craft room (sigh) but it feels good. . . almost as good as when we got our couch and realized we could both lay down, fully stretched out without having to touch each other. now we just need to find a way to upgrade the double bed. . .

the weekend. there it is, or at least the "c" parts. you're missing out on the tantrums, the general destruction and the drawing everywhere with pen and marker, but i'm going to pretend that none of that ever happened.

saturday is a special day. . .

it's the day you get an air conditioner (if yours has been kind-of stolen) and then take off to governor's island for a wretchedly humid but happy day.

ferry ride to the island, just off the southern tip of manhattan.

when i told eve we were going on a boat to spend the day on an island, she went silent. eyes wide, she whispered "like pirates?" "yep, like pirates, eve." "well [pause] i need a pink pirate hat mom." if only. . .

fancy show from one of the harbor's fire boats.

old-timey music.

a quiet firetruck. "i like a fireman. help! i save you!"

randomly running into good friends from staten island and spending the rest of our island time having fun with the rasmussens.

hula hoops. nice form, chip.

craft time. eve and chip worked the front half while ruth and i handled the tail. the sequins for eyelashes! the red lips!

a lot of wandering for all, some napping for ruth, then back to brooklyn. back to summer cleaning, a little sewing, grocery shopping and sleeping in a freshly cooled apartment.

boston!

each memorial day weekend chip and i have a special tradition. we talk about going somewhere, doing something extra special only to end up sitting around for three days. but this year we went to boston with the beans. it took us awhile to finally commit to going (tradition and all. . .) but i am so, so glad we did. we fell in love with the city.

gorgeous. some of the most beautiful neighborhoods i have ever seen. brick sidewalks, overflowing flowerboxes, stately architecture and beauty. . . block after block after block. beacon hill and back bay were particulalry impressive with their gold-leaf "7 Eleven" signs and regal homes. south end, while not as posh, was also charming and lovely.

the coolest mormon church building we've seen. it is as great inside as it is out. no carpeted walls (the church is renting the space).

happy people. it almost made me uncomfortable. no creepiness involved, i'm just not used to strangers actually engaging in conversation, for several minutes.

"wicked cool." used by native bostonians in conversations mentioned above. loved it.

the size. the city is little, but full. perfect for walking.

the history. all those days sitting in elementary school and high school classes learning about the beginnings of america almost paid off. historical ignorance aside, it was great to take it all in.

old cemetaries. of the things i love, the haunting beauty of simple, faded gravestones is among the top five.

the charles river. wow. sunday evening we took a two hour stroll along the river. the sun was low, the perfect lighting for admiring the world. the sun skipped and danced on the water, sending soft golden light everywhere. a few sailboats were out, one rower and even a gondola, complete with accordian player/singer. perfect. the camera battery died before i could get a shot.

the subway. clean and user friendly.

swan boats. this is one of eve's favorite books, so the ride highly anticipated. the experience lived up to the hype (the hype we created to help out during some rough patches on the drive up) and was eve's favorite part of "botson."

sailing. if you live in boston and are between 10 and 18 years old there is a (government?) funded program that teaches you how to sail. during the summer you can go anytime during the week as often or as little as you like and learn how to sail. and it only costs $1.00 for the entire summer. $1.00! that alone makes us want to move there.

universities. amazing universities. the life and vibrance of college towns is exciting and so full of possibility, especially when the town is home to MIT and harvard.

great friends. they always make everything more fun.

i love spring

the weather has been amazing. we're in heaven. here's a little view of how we've spent our time the last few days:

making little shorts and pants for the girls to run around in.

sitting around. lying around.

*i love chip's spindly legs here. i could blame it on camera distortion, but that's exactly what the man's legs look like. the shot of ruth and i sitting (one of her favorite past-times) is included only so you can see how cute her little feet are, not to showcase the fact that i didn't brush my hair once this past monday.

loving the fountains and museum.

checking out new flowers and visiting favorite playgrounds.

smiling and jumping. a lot.

a good week so far.

memory

my brooklyn BFF, alysha, once told me i had an amazing memory. this was before the second child came and absorbed a large majority of what were my remaining brain cells (its very complicated and very scientific, i don't want to bore you with it). now my memory is just embarassing. i've always been slightly disnomic, but things have gotten so much worse. it's not only that i can't think of a word when i need it, i can't remember the answer to the question i just asked (and got an answer to) three minutes earlier. i can't even remember asking the question. why is this? are there some special exercises i can do? if possible, i'd like to avoid the shame that comes with acting senile at age 28.

in honor of my failing memory, i give you this, which i love, and which i can actually claim zero credit for finding. thank you, mim, for sending it my way.

also, in case i completely obliterate the memory of my birthday or mother's day 2007, here are the very fruitful fruits of the holidays:

if i were a songwriter i'd write a little diddy about saltwater sandals. i am the proud owner and wearer of four pair. nothing says warm weather and girly fun like a pair of saltwater sandals. i was filled with near-teary-eyed joy when i found they now make the yellow patent leather for adults.

three things to know about me:

1. i love shoes. always have (mom can back me up on this one).

2. i love yellow.

3. i love patent leather. couldn't be happier that the world is with me on this one for now.

very big thank you to papa and didi (mom and dad) for helping fund the purchase of these babies.

ebay. not as ideal as i'd hoped. but the full skirt is pretty cute. the girls shriek with delight when i twirl in it. of course, while they're shrieking i'm stopping, sitting down, holding my head and fighting off the nausea.

see #1 and #2 listed above.

very big thank you to gammy and gampy (bob and mary) for funding these purchases.

i love it. such an obnoxiously big ring but so cute. perfect with all the dresses i've got lined up for the summer. courtesy of chip.

mother's day goods:

1. delicious crepes (chip flipped one right in the pan without a spatula for the first time and now considers himself an expert. he has has been trying to instruct me on the proper technique ever since. never mind that i showed him how to do it and have been doing it myself for years. . .). eaten way too quickly to document.

2. flowers. tulips and lilacs. perfect.

3. a nap. with my favorite three-year-old.

4. a clean house that wasn't cleaned by me. mom, i finally understand why you always asked for that every birthday and mother's day. sorry i never gave it to you. i hope one of your better children did.

i'll save pictures of the apartment for another post.

thank you mom and dad, bob and mary, chip, and girls. i will never forget you.

p.s. i also send a heartfelt birthday thanks to alysha and mim for amping up my accessories arsenal. mim gave me great hair barretts and headband (way too lazy to try to do my hair for a picture). along with a delicious and child-free brunch, alysha gave me a great yellow ring that is in a "safe place" that i can't remember the location of. i'm serious.

time

of all the things i wish for (and i wish for a lot) i wish most of all that our little family had more time. time to just be together, time for the girls to hang out with dad and time for me just just sit back and enjoy.

my wish came true friday. chip miraculously walked in the door just after 6pm. after weeks of his earliest arrival home being after 10pm, and often after 1am, i mean it when i say it was a miracle.

so, we all headed outside to enjoy our urban home.



really great.

when i don't get time to lounge around brooklyn with chip and the girls, i'm usually spending my time pushing the double-wide stroller through it. but there are times when i'm just home with the girls and a sewing project.

here are a few of the completed projects from the last little bit (i love show and tell):

blue dress: many thanks to ms. wendy mullin and her built by wendy patterns.

easter skirt for eve (note the big yellow sash) and easter dress for ruthie (bright yellow buttons down the back- i really should get better pictures. . .): all me. nothing's easier than super simple gathered skirts and dresses for little girls!

yellow shirt worn at bobby's wedding and made on mary's dreamy bernina: more thanks to ms. mullin. same pattern as the blue dress

yellow/polka dot shirt: simplicity 4589 with a few adjustments. my wonky arms really finish the look. . .

blue dress: just so you could see it has pockets and a really cute shape. having trouble with the picture quality here. i'm close to unlocking the secrets of photoshop. close.

time to get eve to bed. chip is reading this and this to her right now. classics from our childhood. she's in heaven. so is chip. and really, so am i.

piles

my little apartment is overflowing with piles. piles of fabric that i keep collecting. piles of clothes that need to be folded. piles of toys to be put away. piles of coats to put in storage. piles of shoes to find a place for. piles of the nytimes that i haven't been able to read. piles of projects to start. piles of books. piles of lists that involve, in one way or another, the piles of things i need to do with my day, week, month and years. . . and there is no end. these piles are going to rule my life, for the rest of my life.

but, i signed up for it. i got married. i moved to new york. i had two children and then bought a 650square foot apartment to cram us and our lives into. i started making. and, i love it.

make no mistake, i hate the perpetual cleaning and organizing and trying to find space in our tiny spot. i hate dishes and ironing. but i love our little home in our sketchy neighborhood. i love the girls with their piles and the little hearts and bodies that create them. i love chip and the piles and piles of paper that have always trailed him. i love making and all the piles that build during the process. these piles are mine, my family's.

so, this blog is created (after a year of consideration) to show what i, katie, did (and do) with those piles and the little life they represent. i've got a lot to share.

welcome.