happy 4th!

Made some scallion pancakes earlier this week to go with some noodles for dinner. Not the healthiest thing, but oh so good!




And a new summer dress for the 4th of July! I've managed to find cute non-maternity wear that fits over my growing tummy, otherwise I'd be wearing yoga pants and long t-shirts all the time. I don't feel so bad knowing that I'll be able to wear these after the baby.




Have a happy 4th everyone! Oh, and here's the recipe I used for the mango cucumber salsa. (Unless you like spicy, I'd recommend going with just 1 jalapeno instead of 2!)

summer

Made some mango cucumber salsa today - perfect for a hot day like today.




I finally got around to taking pictures of the fabric I bought in Paris to share with you all. I was so excited to find the fabric used in the dress from the previous post.




And look what my sis-in-law, Janice, gave me! It turns out she learned how to sew recently and made these little drawstring pouches from a Japanese sewing book. I love it, and it's making me want to sew.




Thank you all so much for the congrats and well-wishes! It's hard to believe that I'm halfway through already. The pregnancy is going well, and we found out recently that it'll be a boy. Most of my fabrics are girly, so I'm going to need to start collecting some boy-ish or unisex prints!

changes ahead

While at an outdoor market in France I found this sweet little dress (and later found out that it's made from Liberty fabric!) and just had to buy it for my brother's newborn baby girl.




And speaking of babies.. I wanted to let you all know that I'm expecting! I'm about 17 weeks along and just recently got past the nausea, which has been the reason I've been so neglectful of the shop and blog. It's been incredibly satisfying to be productive once again.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the shop, and feel the need to make more time to nest and craft more for me, the baby, and our home. I have some ideas about changes I can make to the shop, but nothing concrete yet. I've been making most of the items as the orders come in, and I think at the very least I need to move towards making things in batches before listing them in the shop. I just hope I'll be able to make time for both the shop and personal crafting!

last of france

Oops, I guess I lost steam there with posting France photos! I have a few more, but I think I'll just end with these last 2 night shots. We actually didn't go inside the Louvre at all and went to d'Orsay instead because we wanted something a bit more manageable. But since this was my first time in Paris, I still wanted to at least see the outside of the Louvre. We ended up taking stroll on our last night in the area and it was so beautiful. The buildings were all lit up and it was nice and quiet. There were some musicians playing classical music off to the side and just a few other people walking around. A perfect way to end the trip.






Sorry for the sparse posts lately! I'll be back on Monday with some exciting news, so stay tuned..

paris

We spent out last three and a half days in France in Paris. I definitely wish we could've spend more time there so that I can take my time and really soak everything in and enjoy more of the non-touristy areas.




One thing I love about Paris is all the brasseries and cafes with outdoor seating. We found people sitting outside and enjoying a meal or a cup of coffee even when it was cold and rainy.






The buildings in Paris have such character, and I love the surprising jolts of color you find just walking around.

france part 2: brittany and the loire valley

We spent the next couple of nights in St. Malo, Brittany - a beautiful, walled medieval town on the water, and then one night in a chateau in the Loire valley.

A stop on the way to St. Malo.




We walked around most of the St. Malo city wall at night. I loved the old town feel.




View from the our window in the chateau.




On the outside wall of the chateau.




See more pictures here.

france part 1

We got back from France about a week and a half ago, but it's taken me awhile to get back into the swing of things. As expected, France was fabulous! I took quite a few pictures, and have just begun sorting through them. We stayed in the quaint little town of Bayeux, Normandy the first night, then drove to the coast to see the D-day beaches and the American cemetery.















More photos to come..