Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday, friends! What are you up to this weekend? We have got a lot going on: prepping the kitchen for a mini-makeover, sewing, yard work, pizza and game night with a friend, and celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday. This is my first official Mother's Day and I am excited to share it with my own mom. She taught me what it is to be a mother and I have such new-found respect for her now that I'm seeing things from her perspective. I'm proud to be a new member of the mom club and looking forward to spending this day with her.

Here's a little of what's been going on with us:

1. M learned to clap! We both cried the first time we saw him do it and it hasn't gotten old. His little baby hands clapping is such a sweet little sound. I cannot get enough of it.
2. We are in the process of doing some improvements around the house. Tiring, but so worth it.
3. I have been sewing every night in order to finish all of M's special birthday surprises.
4. Spent some time this week catching up with my other mom friends. So glad I have those ladies in my life.
5. We have spent every evening for the past few weeks watching every episode of 30 Rock again. Now, that's some good comedy! It is without a doubt, one of my favorite shows. 

Have a good weekend, everyone! 

Selfish sewing:

I have loved Emerson Fry (see here, here, and here) and their caftan forever. Seriously, for years. It's always sold out though and when it's not, it's almost $300. As much as I love it, I can never pull the trigger on paying that much for one dress. 

 So, I did some digging around and found something similar to make myself.

I think I'm going to use this vintage pattern (view 2) to make my own Emerson Fry knock off.

Here are some of the fabric options I've found:

Still hunting the perfect fabric but can't wait to get to work on this! It's going to be the perfect lazy summer day outfit. And much cheaper than the long-lusted-after one from Emerson Fry!

New reads:

We have a tradition at our house, as I'm sure most of you do, of a bedtime story. We snuggle down after bath time and disappear into a great story. It's a tradition I'm hoping will continue as our family grows (you should see my list of books). Story time is one of my favorite parts of the day and I love sharing my love of reading with M.

Our local library is participating in 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and we are on board. It's a super simple concept: you read books to your child and keep track of what you read on paper. When you reach 1,000, you get free books. We're already close to 100 and we've only been keeping track of them since January so you'd be surprised by how fast it goes. I think it's a fantastic way to promote literacy and really great for those goal-oriented kids because they get to see their progress.

We've been checking out tons of new books from the library lately with plans to purchase our favorites for our home library. Here are some of the ones we've read lately:

1. Dream Animals -- Such a cute story about dreams. The illustrations are beautiful. Hands down, my favorite of the bunch.
2. Wolfie the Bunny -- Wolfie (a wolf) gets adopted by a family of bunnies. It's a great story about mixed and nontraditional families.
3. A Sick Day for Amos McGee -- Amos McGee, a zookeeper, gets sick and can't go to work so his animal friends come to him! Again, gorgeous illustrations and such a sweet story. We really liked this one.
4. Snoozefest -- A sloth goes to Snoozefest -- like a musical festival but for sleeping. Adults will appreciate the clever comparisons to real life. Or, at least I did. 

I fell out of the picture book circle sometime in early elementary school. Things have changed so much and I hadn't realized. The classics are still there but there are so many special stories out there. It's been a real joy discovering them all.

Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday! What are you doing this weekend? Anything fun? We have big plans to work on things around the house. Andrew has been tackling the mess we call a backyard and has been making such progress! It's starting to look like an actual yard now. And we finally landed on a cabinet color for phase one of the kitchen remodel so I'm anxious to get started on the painting. I have to do some sewing too because I have birthday projects in the works for baby M (only 28 days away!) and really need to get on it. We're going to be insanely busy! Can't wait!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

While you were sleeping:

One of my dearest friends has a  little girl who is about three weeks older than baby M. This past weekend we celebrated her first birthday. I took this opportunity to make a cute outfit for such a sweet little lady.

I had so much fun choosing the fabric for this project. As I'm sure you know, one of my favorite things to do is shop for fabric. After I made my fabric decisions, I made sure I pre-washed everything to reduce shrinking. Then I cut out all my pattern pieces and got to work.

Next, I pinned the pattern to the fabric and cut out all the pieces. This is the most time-consuming (and my least favorite) part.

It all went together easily, although I have some issues with the pattern and directions.

I had some issues with the button holes as well but I fixed it all. And I'm really happy with the final product. Can't wait to see that little girl in her new outfit soon!

I made this outfit as part of Kids Clothes Week (see more here and here). Can't wait to share the rest of my week's creations soon!

New reads:

This week, I'm reading (or rereading) Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I actually started this book over two years ago (yikes!) but never finished it. As part of my book club, we decided to read it in thirds and discuss it but I never made it through the first third. Then, after finally finishing The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder recently, I was inspired to give Wolf Hall another go. 

You can see my initial review of it here. I chose it as #26 on the "26 Books to Read in 2015" list: a book based on a true story.

Like I said before, it's a real piece of work. A beautifully written story but it can be hard to read sometimes. If you aren't familiar with Thomas Cromwell (most people aren't) and Henry VIII, I suggest a quick internet search before picking up this book. And I actually feel like reading (or watching) The Other Boleyn Girl might help you here. Don't feel too badly if you have to educate yourself before attempting Wolf Hall. I had to read an English history textbook before jumping in.

Happy weekend:

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Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? Anything fun? We are celebrating the first birthday of a dear friend's little girl. It's M's first birthday party experience so we are excited to see what he thinks of it all.

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately:

1. I've been under the weather this week and have felt like doing nothing but sleeping. Unfortunately my schedule won't allow it.
2. This week is Kids Clothes Week and I have enjoyed getting to sew up some fun things for the babies in my life. Look for more info on that next week.
3. M is standing. Standing! He went from crawling to standing in less than a week. Slow down, little boy!
4. Tillie has been acting strangely lately -- she tore up some of the baseboard by our back door and has been staring at it ever since. We suspect we may have a mouse under the house.
5. Andrew got some much-deserved recognition at work and got to take some time off to spend with little mister. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!