the long rime reader of this blog may remember this post which featured a glimpse into chip's grueling work days. for your viewing pleasure, here is another:
what a champion. could a wife be any prouder?
baby shoes are probably the most adorable things of all time. i loved making them for a friend's anticipated (and now brand new!) baby girl this past weekend. the tedium of small handwork usually drives me crazy, but not with these; the entire time making them i just couldn't stop smiling and wishing i had my very own baby girls back so i could outfit their little feet in one of my favorite fabrics- railroad engineer's denim. add some polka dot lining, pewter buttons, bright orange velcro and i'm a really happy little cobbler.
inspiration struck late saturday night and the girls were outfitted in their easter best by the time church rolled around sunday morning. i didn't give myself time for the little easter coats as i had secretly hoped to make (oh the plans i make in my head with no time to actually execute them) but i'm hoping the next time around things will be different. because maybe at that point i'll miraculously become a different person who has the ability to manage her time and children effectively. . .
i was going for a little bit of sophistication and maybe a hint of "grandma in her glory days" to come through in the dresses and i think i got it. now these two are ready to go hang out with the italian ladies in brooklyn's carroll gardens, reminisce about the old neighborhood, hit the bakery for some pane dolce and then maybe make their way to marco polo ristorante for a nice lunch.
oh i love you sarah. i love thinking of you wearing roller skates in the house and trying to convince mom that it was ok because it helped you clean faster. i love remembering of the hours you spent reading "les miserables" and "of mice and men" to me for my high-school english classes. i love that you ditched school to cheer me on in my 8th grade talent show. i love remembering you smiling, running down the hallway and up the stairs with our furious, teeth-clenched mom hot on your tail. i am still amazed at your ability to get to me; bleating "oh, poor katie" like a goat for 15 minutes strait until i lost it, sitting down next to me on the couch and ever so slowly pushing me over and then completely off, obnoxiously killing me at risk or monopoly until i threw the board and screamed that i would never play with you again, only to do the very same thing the next sunday. i love the letters you would send to me at girl's camp- complete with drawings, "skate or die" and "i skate, therefore i am" scrawled on the back. i love that you can beat almost anyone at any game involving quick thinking, logic or strategy but have asked me more than once how to spell the word "of." i love remembering the day when i realized i could count on you to defend me against any outside attack. i love that you taught me how to write my name in cursive before i was in kindergarten and that with your help i got into the real choir without having to audition before ms. perpall. i am so entertained by your terrible memory but i love that almost all of my childhood memories are incomplete until i remember your reaction, your help, or your company.
yes, you once made me sit in the way way back of the toyota because you were mad at me. and sure, i once wrote a song for you with the title (and only real lyrics) of "you ruined my life the first time i laid eyes on you" but even then i knew the words were ridiculous. because, no matter what, you were always a constant to count on for kindness, help, friendship and protection when i really needed it. and you are still that constant; the person i can look to and call (everyday) for understanding, perspective or just to laugh with. i love you sarah. oh how i wish we lived closer so i could see you and laugh with you everyday, but even with 3000 miles between us i am so happy to know you are a part of my daily life, that you are my sister.
happy (substantially late) birthday.
for the last six years i've been dyeing my eggs with vegetables and spices. i continue to love the process and the results. aren't those colors amazing? totally worth the combined stink of boiled cabbage, turmeric and beets looming in my apartment for a day or so. . . and apparently filling the hallways of our building, based on the amount of air freshener that a neighbor sprayed outside my door yesterday. sorry neighbors. i'm just here to spread easter cheer.
there are two ways to dye your eggs. the first is boiling/simmering your eggs in the dye. this generally results in really saturated, even colors for 30 minutes. the second is "cold-dipping" them in strained very warm to room temperature dye, anywhere from 5 seconds to hours depending on the desired color. this results in more translucence and subtlety and also requires regular rotation of the eggs if you want even coloring.
the general ratio for making the dye is 1 cup of vegetable (chopped if necessary) to 1 cup of water. for turmeric, add 3Tbs to every quart of water. bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. add about 2tsp (i never measure) vinegar in the dye after about 20 minutes.
this is what can result- with a billion variations in between.
onion skins. (from left to right) first egg cold-dipped for about 30 minutes. second boiled in dye for 30 minutes. third rubbed with vinegar, wrapped in onion skins (while raw) then wrapped and tied in cheesecloth and boiled for 30 minutes. i love the marbling. the colors that come just from onion skins always surprise me.
red cabbage. first egg cold dipped in warm dye for 20 minutes. royal blue left in dye for an hour or so. marbly egg boiled with the cabbage leaves in the pot for 30 minutes.
turmeric. middle egg boiled for 30 minutes. other two left in warm/hot dye for about 15 minutes. i had some lovely and subtle yellow shades that i had just cold dipped, but ended up dipping them into other colors.
turmeric and cabbage. various combinations, various lengths. since these two dyes are the quickest and most obvious, i played a lot with them last night as i was teaching some ladies at church the glory of natural dyeing.
beets. first cold dipped for about two hours. second boiled in beet dye for about 40 minutes. third cold dipped for about an hour. beets are always a little disappointing, but i like having some sort of pink-ish in the mix.
coffee. first time using coffee and probably my last. i was hoping for a really dark brown but ended up with this after nearly an hour of simmering and another hour sitting in the dye. the lighter was about 40 minutes in the hot dye. perhaps the coffee i made was too weak? it looked really really dark to me but i have no idea what i'm doing with coffee. chip had to ask the editing studio he was working at that day for the stuff i used. . .
so now we have a lot of beautiful colors to look at, some dye i'm considering using for fabric and two dozen hard boiled eggs i'm hoping to find a use for.
the first official friend birthday party for eve. a big time fairy party. despite the lack of sleep the night before and the few things that i just didn't have enough time or hands to finish, it was great. we stuck to inviting four of eve's closest little girl friends- out of ease and apartment size- and i'm so glad we did; with parents and a couple little siblings, our place was packed.
forgive the photography, with both chip and i engaged in the partying, and the photographer (chip) feeling a bit under the weather, several shots that i would have loved to share just don't exist. so, some we'll do retroactively and others, you'll just have to read about.
we'll go chronologically.
invitations by chip. complete with a little cartoon of fairy eve.
decorations. i love the lens on my camera. except when i want to get a room shot; then i get frustrated at it's limitations. working with what we've got, here are some glimpses of what the place looked like. i made the pom poms using this martha stewart instructional. chip suspended the balloons (can you tell that the balloons with lace ribbons aren't floating on the ceiling, but mid-air? they are.) and together the effect was kind of magical. i almost want to keep the pom poms up. so fun and kind of strange just floating there.
girls enter. immediately (or as soon as i can get eve to stop repeating "it's my birthday!") they are given their very own magic fairy wand. painted and glittered wooden dowel and bead. ribbon hot glued to dowel, dowel slid (from bottom of dowel up) over the ribboned dowel and secured with some more hot glue. with some great classical dancing music playing, the girls danced and waved their ribbons around. flight of the bumblebees was the favorite song by far and at the end the girls ended up with all their ribbons tangled together in a giant knot and giggling like crazy.
snack time.
fairy skirts are handed out. eve freaks out because she wants one with a yellow ribbon because yellow matches her hair. plus, i made her take a green-ribboned wand so she was already a little miffed. negotiations took place and all were happily outfitted. watching little girls dress up is so fun. ruth has no time for the fairy skirt i made for her- she has commandeered eve's birthday gift from chip's parents- a fairy princess dress.
treasure hunt- hunting for the final thing needed to transform all the girls into fairies. put together and led by the fairy treasure master chip. with great clues like "without ribbons you're a fairy slouch. but don't worry; look on the couch!" the girls had a great time running from spot to spot and collecting all the items needed to make their very own fairy crowns.
crown making. finally putting to use the massive amount of beads i randomly bought at costco several years ago. and, i love pipe cleaner and ribbon.
lunch. lemonade with fresh strawberries, yogurt covered pretzels and raisins, popcorn, cubed mozzarella and cheddar, grapes (two colors as specifically requested by birthday fairy), strawberries, blueberries and apples served with three different dips: cream cheese mixed with marshmallow fluff, lime curd, and cream cheese mixed with brown sugar and almond flavoring. not surprisingly, all the girls wanted the marshmallow fluff dip on their plates- i had colored it a light pink which was apparently more appealing than the very pale green of the other two choices. peanut butter and jelly for the fairies and turkey tea sandwiches (raisin walnut bread, cream cheese mixed with scallions, turkey and fresh basil leaves-- amazing and again courtesy of barefoot contessa) for the adults.
cake/cupcakes. eve was not willing to accept just having cupcakes, so in addition to the coconut mini cupcakes i made a little 6" cake to stick the candles on. it seems there's some sort of adjustment that should be made when using cupcake batter for a full cake (more oil?) but i don't know it so the cake was hard to frost- so crumbly on the sides- but still delicious. as all the girls pointed out, there were a lot more than four candles on the cake, but knowing eve's fear of fire i was sure she'd be requiring the help of her friends to blow them out so i loaded it up. eve wouldn't go closer than 10" to the cake.
present opening. her little friends were sweet and generous and eve was appreciative. we've already put all the gifts to use several times over.
fairy jumps. i don't know who started this, but the girls were going nuts and we're okay with jumping on the couch as long as it is orderly and shoeless. plus it was a fairy party- they had to get some flying in somehow.
take home goods. all little fairies left with their magic ribbon wand, fairy tutus, crown and a few of these lollipops i made on friday. blueberry and green apple. i have a suspicion that i put too much citric acid in the green apple, so their flavor might be more accurately described as "grossly sour, with a hint of apple," but i'm going to call this first venture into candy making a success anyway, because i know for sure that the blueberry is yummy.
and i think i'll call our very official and very first friends birthday a success. especially since chip, after sleeping for several hours post-party, did all the dishes.
eve's favorite part? "finding lots of things and playing with her friends, her fairy friends."
two parties this past weekend and one coming up for none other than my little eve who is going to be FOUR. amazing and fun and a little bit sad all rolled into one.
past weekend review:
the girls' little cousin had a pizza party that was full of so much fun kid energy it was almost overwhelming. eve really wanted to give the birthday boy a chicken. no explanation. a rubber chicken is fairly entertaining on its own (why?) but when you squeeze this beauty an egg-like sak pops out of it. hysterical. especially if you are in the two to six years-old range. fighting over this chicken led to ruthie falling down an entire flight of metal stairs, slamming into a cement wall and face-skidding onto a cement floor. turning the corner (as i was chasing and trying to get her to stop running) to see her falling backward down the stairs and then witness the awful awful tumble was the most horrifying moment of motherhood to date. her first words, through the screaming/crying were; "i want the chicken." she cried for about 30 seconds, relaxed in my lap for about five minutes and then was back to partying. i didn't recover so quickly.
saturday brought with it a baby shower and the last minute making of this little shirt to go with a sweet little pair of eliza gran pants. i should really give myself more time to make gifts. those french seams take more time than they should. the fabric has been one of my untouched favorites for nearly two years. in the continued effort to avoid the fate of being an crippled old woman with hundreds of yards of fabric that have been untouched for fifty years, i went for it and am happy i did. there is always more fabric to buy and love.
and now we've got eve's party in the works. fairy princess party. invitations out (thank you chip), six little fairy skirts are almost complete, tissue pom poms done, treasure hunt forming in my head and fairy crown and wand supplies gathered. naturally a full, too-detailed report will be brought to you once all the fun is had. for now i'm going to try to enjoy the last few moments i have with three-year-old eve. and then as i fall asleep i'll let myself wallow in the happy misery of a mother who's little baby is growing far too big far too quickly.
i have a dent in my forehead. a long story involving a stubborn cyst and an overly zealous dermatologist. the other night i was was talking to chip about this pregnancy and my weight gain. as we were talking he pointed out that my dent has become more pronounced as i've grown and then said "huh! it's weird to say your forehead's getting fat, but there it is."
yes. there it is. everyone, attention please; i've got a fat forehead.
on a totally unrelated note. actually, probably a completely related note. . . i made another cake this past weekend. this time it was red velvet in honor of miriam's (chip's sister) birthday. if you're a fan of the red velvet cake then you should check out this recipe from "cake man raven" of brooklyn cake fame. although i'm still a little creeped out by how much red dye i dumped into the batter, it really was so moist and delicious, and with cream cheese frosting it's tough to go wrong.
Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 10:51AM