pardon my dust. my template is running me through the ringer so it might look a bit different the next few times you swing by.

a few thoughts:
-i'm so over this blog template. it was a freebie that i found and liked because of the simplicity, but i'm pretty sure the creator has been tweaking with it and it's making me crazy! the comments have moved (to the tops of the posts) and the publishing date seems to have vanished. NOT HAPPY.
-there's supposed to be another big winter storm coming through this weekend. if you know me, you know i'm *thrilled* about this (::eyes roll::).
-tom and i went to the national prayer breakfast family dinner in washington DC last night. the NPB is actually a series of events, but we only went to the family dinner. it was SO WONDERFUL to see so many people from home! the speakers were really fascinating and inspiring and we met lots of new people (some from here and some not). we were painfully out of place with all those suits, but no one seemed to care. if i plan to go back to this event next year, it would be smart of me to obtain a pencil skirt or a black pants suit (haha!).
-i'm pretty sure we're going to homeschool in the fall. this is a form of torture, in my opinion (for both me and the girlies), but i'm just not ready to send stella off until 4pm every day. if i can eek out another year of having her around, i'd like to. plus, i'm a little afraid of being alone with ivy all day. i have visions of her and i retreating to separate corners of the house. fortunately, both of the girls think that homeschooling is the best idea since sunflower butter so maybe we'll be okay.
-i miss hazel so much i can't hardly stand it. i talked to robbie the other day and bazel-B was laughing and playing in the background. it was so fun to listen to and so painful at the same time.
-readers, i think you and i have a little problem. it seems as though you're all under the impression that east coast life is suiting us well. i regret to inform you that we're merely surviving. i'm sorry if i've sold you a lie with all of the rosey pictures of my studio and happy children. having a bigger house with room to craft is pretty wonderful and the girlies have so much space to play that it's not unusual for them to disappear for 2 hours at a time, but we all miss home in a bad way. the kinds of friendships that we have at home took years to cultivate and grow and now we're starting over. that's a hard place to be and there's an underlying tone of sadness and loneliness around here (for all 4 of us P's).
-i paid my first baltimore county library fine the other day- only $2 though so it was like a not-so generous donation. looks like my multnomah county library ways are catching up to me. hopefully i can avoid been blacklisted over here though.
-baltimore county has finally launched their mixed recycling program! i'm so insanely happy about this! my NW hippie roots are starting to show.
-i've seen 2 red foxes, 3 coyotes, 2 deer, a bunny and more-than-i-can-count kinds of birds... in my back yard. i'm still trying to decide how i feel about this. i'm used to the grocery cart pushing homeless guy in my yard- not wildlife. this is strange. and i'm going to go broke feeding this wildlife. the birds alone plow through a 50 lb sack of seed every two weeks! the homeless guy only ever wanted empty pop cans.
-i'm done. i have lots of posts milling around in my brain, but no energy to sort them out. guess you'll have to check back.

well, guess what?! it snowed. again. this is becoming so regular around here that it's also quickly becoming un-blog-worthy. we're anxious for it to warm up a bit because then it will be (so much) easier to run up to NYC for the day or head over to DC. for now, we're stuck at home and enjoying the quiet.

pop over to tom's blog for a little update on him and his adventures in art. i'm super stoked that he's painting again!

this was my kitchen around 7 this morning. i like how it's honey colored and warm- it makes it a little easier to get up in the morning. don't you love those counter tops?! the color and the stainless steel trim make me swoon. i think i'll replicate it when i get my dream house someday.


now, my studio... these little guys sit on the window sill behind my sewing machine. they're just a cheap goodwill find, but i think they're cute and they remind me of Auntie C, as anything to do with owls does (and i sew better with a little Auntie C in my studio- you would too if you knew her).


i can't remember where tom found this sugar container. it's silver and has the best script! it's just the right size to hold my seam rippers and sewing gauges. the silver container that holds the pin cushion (and the lid to the left that holds some stray pins) belonged to tom's grandma (i can't remember if it was grandma joyce or grandma peggy though- any P's have any idea?).


nuthin' fancy here. i just liked the way the light hit the tape measure. funny how normal, not-at-all fancy things become pretty depending on the light and the angle....


this, my friends, was my stroke of genius (and it used up all of my genius that was allotted to me for the next year). i found this stray crib rail in the 'as is' section at ikea. for $3, i brought it home and mounted it to my wall (i'm pretty sure tom thought i was crazy at this point). it works perfectly for storing my yardage and it's fun to look at too! one of these days, i'm going to get a wild hair and pull all the fabric off and paint the thing turquoise.


i'm going to try to do better at updating this sad little blog. it seems like i always go through a bit of a writing slump in january. it's ho-hum and post holiday. there's just not much going on around here, but there are always stories and pictures to post.

because what else would you do with 48 images that tell a little story?!

the setting: after dinner one night, tom decided to show the girls that he can make things disappear and reappear. this involved his "assistant" (me) running from room to room to gather small objects and put them back in their places and look like i was doing something productive so that the little observers wouldn't catch on.

after the show, tom tried to show stella how he did his little trick (which was really just moving things from one hand to the other) and she refused to believe that it wasn't magic.

...who likes pictures of the girlies and girlie stories.

i made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch a couple of weeks ago and had a conversation with stella that went something like this:

SJP: "why can't boys have cheese sandwiches?"
ME: "wha..? they can. they do!"
SJP: "no, mommmm! (insert too-old-for-her-five-years eye roll here) why can't boys have cheese sandwiches?"
ME: "honey, i don't think i understand your question. boys do eat grilled cheese sandwiches."
SJP: "but... how?! if they're girled cheese sandwiches, what are the boys supposed to eat?!"
ME: <-----::thinking, thinking::
ME: "OOOOH! no, hon. they aren't GIRL'D cheese. they're GRILLED cheese!"
SJP: "oh, so it's okay that dad likes them then."

how nice of her to be concerned about tom's masculinity... and his lunch.

in other news, i've become rather obsessed with edie beale. fascinating stuff....

i snuck this shot while the girlies were crafting last week. oh, that hair!

i walked into the kitchen to get something out of the pantry the other day and walked onto a carpet of hair... ivy hair. the floor was covered with her dirty blonde locks. she had fled the scene of the crime and was contentedly playing upstairs with stella. when tom got home we stood over the hair and laughed to each other.

i just don't see the point in getting upset about these things. it can't be reversed, there's no real lesson. it IS her hair, after all.

we decided to call her downstairs and talk to her anyway. i asked her if she wanted a haircut. i thought maybe that was why she did it. her response, "yes. i want my hair to be short... like stella's."

hmm....

we reminded her that if she wants her hair cut, she just needs to ask. hopefully this will be the last self-inflicted hair cut.

the damage is mostly on the right side of her head. she won't let me take a picture of that side of her profile so the damage isn't appropriately documented yet. she also took a nice sized chunk off the top of her head so now she has a little tuft that stands straight up back there.

oh the joys.

in other news...

i've been working in the studio lately. the room isn't at all settled, but i decided that i was tired of waiting for it to settle itself so i could sew. instead, i shoved it all to one side and haven't stopped sewing since. it's been so nice to hear the rev of my machine again! the serger hasn't seen much use yet, but i'm sure that's because it's barricaded by boxes and stacks of fabric.

my plan is to get some inventory built up so that i can open my etsy shop. it's been a long process, but i'm excited and motivated to get it going!

here's a few sneak peaks:





it snowed again last night. i've already lost track as far as how many times it's snowed since we've been here. fortunately it was only a smidge that arrived last night- the blades of grass were still poking through the snow.

of course the girls LOVE playing in the white stuff. they could play out there all day for all i care, but it's the constant in and out and dressing and undressing that makes me crazy! tom's also set the expectation of hot chocolate when they come inside from playing so i'm sure that's why they don't just stay out there. the more they run in and out, the more hot chocolate they get. i'm onto them though....

we're completely distracted with fantastic things like grandparents visiting (pat & patti), cookie baking, cooking, crafting, sleeping, snow-play and general christmas anticipation. it's very, very serious work.

i must say that it's hard to be on the right coast at this time of year. all i can think about is how i'm going to miss watching hazel bee open her christmas gifts and crawling through seas of paper. i'm going to miss my mom's cooking and the B's christmas eve party. i already missed solstice (since UT is too far away to remind me that it's coming). the trade-off is rough, but it's all softened with pat and patti's visit and the anticipation of my cousin, devlin, coming for the holiday. we're so lucky that we're still able to be with people we love even though we can't be at home (stumptown).

have a great christmas and hug those close to you! xoxo

as promised, pics of the guest room:

that bed... oh that bed. tom's mom and stepdad had it sent to us and i'm convinced that it's far superior to the bed that tom and i sleep on. it's the perfect mix of firm and sink-in, feel-good-cozy!

the quilt on top of the bed is one that i scored a couple of years ago while perusing yard sales with linda. the poor thing is torn to pieces, but i can't seem to let it go. someday, when i have tons of free time, i'm going to construct a quilt around it and use it as the filling. i think that's a nice way to honor it's "life" and give it new purpose.

the end tables are missing lamps. go figure, there's only one outlet for the whole room and it's clear on the opposite side of the room by the door. i shoved the bed over there to see if it worked and it didn't. there's something that just doesn't feel right when the door opens up right next to the bed. instead, i'm going to see if i can find some battery operated (solar, perhaps?) end table lamps.

the table and chair is on the opposite wall from the bed. we still need to score a dresser or an armoire since there isn't a closet in the room. i'd like to add a comfy chair with a reading lamp too, but we'll see.

there's a crawl space into the attic that's to the left of the table (pictured). i've stashed our old pack-n-play in there for the babies in our life. i figure that the more convenient we make our house, the more likely we'll have endless company.

so there ya have it! please come visit! the winter is going to slug along if we don't have house guests. and what's the point of having a guest room if it's not full of guests?!

you should see the *guest room! it's beautiful. you'll want to come stay and snug up in the bed and never get out. well, you'll want to get out when you discover my super, fabulous coffee maker. but then you'll take your perfect, frothy latte upstairs and back into the ridiculously simple, cozy guest room.

so that's what i worked on all day. after one last time of straightening the blankets and fluffing the curtains, i came down stairs to this....

*don't worry... pics to come. i'll do whatever it takes to entice visitors to this side of the country.

note 1: the 2 drill cases on the floor are properly put away now. i kept draining the batteries. at one point, i actually had 3 drills out. i think we might need some new batteries for those darn things.
note 2: there's a lot of art all over the living room because i can't seem to decide where to put it. we really thought we just needed a bigger house to display our collection, but now i don't think there's a house big enough. i might have to resort to putting it on rotation.
note 3: the lamp is put away too. grandmas can stop sweating now.

i know this is a bit random, but this was the view out our bathroom window when we first arrived. now it's nothing but naked branches, but even that's beautiful when the light is just right or when the fog is low.

the trees are on our neighbor's property. miss ruth is an 85 year old spitfire who owns 2 acres and still mows it herself. on wednesdays (her laundry day, i'm assuming), you can look out and see all of her unmentionables being whipped around by the wind on her laundry line. she's the kind of southern woman who just doesn't give a damn. these little things make me smile though. she's already carved a spot out of my heart and claimed it. she calls the girlies and me "babe" and "hon" and ends all of our phone calls with "talk atcha later, baby!" she also starts a lot of sentences with, "it's none of my business but..."

i know you didn't come here to read about my neighbors.

this is (was) the view out my kitchen window. it was also taken around 7.30am. the girls get up, want breakfast immediately and then to go play outside. obviously, i can't turn that down. i'm sure that a major draw to being outside is the neighbor girl across our driveway. her name is naija (na-jah) and anytime stella sees her, she erupts into nonsensical yelling and limb flailing. the two have become fast playmates and they even do a fantastic job of keeping ivy involved in their play. naija is 8 and in 3rd grade, but the age difference doesn't seem to hold these girls back. they can play contentedly for hours. for that, i love naija.

we went for a walk in downtown baltimore the other day and snapped some shots. it was fuh-reezing! we desperately needed to get out though so it was well worth the cold finger tips and noses. we're still stumbling across little corners of baltimore city. the east coast cities that i've experienced seem to sprawl and baltimore is no different. it's a far cry from my portland that sits perfectly nested between the west hills and the willamette river. obviously, i'm still adjusting.

tom's job is going really well. he likes the company and the people. he did a piece a few weeks ago that was immediately applied to coach's shirts for the maui invitational. it's crazy to see such fast turn around with under armour- when he was working for the swoosh, everything was 18 months out.

we've had bursts of company since we arrived here a month ago. ron and linda flew over with me and the girls. i don't think i could have survived that trip without them. as the plane was roaring down the runway to take off, i just stared out the window and cried. the girlies were occupied by ron and linda and had no idea that this 'adventure' was also saturated with sadness... which is just how it should be.

ron spent lots of time driving tom to and from work. our second car hadn't arrived yet so this was a HUGE help. i think that tom appreciated the alone time with his dad that the commute provided too. linda was a slave driver and wouldn't let me stop opening boxes and organizing. she made me push through my walls of frustration and she brainstormed with me. it was a lot of work, but we had fun!

my mom came next and stayed for a week. we found a reasonable balance of work and play- we took a trip to the zoo, ate out a LOT, yelled at the GPS unit together, found a resale shop, took multiple trips to target, and drove through the baltimore city correctional facility a few too many times (yes, we drove through it. it spans over blocks in the middle of the city and accommodates the thru-traffic by sky bridges wrapped in barbed wire, lit crosswalks and countless video cameras which are also meant to bring a certain level of comfort to the cars trying to escape those few blocks). we also rearranged furniture, hung photos and art and added all of the icing to this house that makes it a home.

we're in the process of settling into a routine that includes bread making, laundry, library runs (because baltimore county has NO idea of my history with multnomah county so they still let me in their libraries!) and hopefully some friend-making. this relocating stuff is keeping us busy.

...a little sister who will post what's been too difficult for me to post myself.

more to come. i'm gearing up for it...