The Good and the Bad

On Monday, I got into a car accident. I've never been in a bad accident before. The girls were in the car with me, which made it even more frightening. I was hit from behind on I-95 and subsequently crashed into the pick-up truck that was in front of me. I was hit by a work van, and when I saw him coming, there was nothing I could do. I just covered my eyes. The driver felt terrible and was very apologetic. I just thank God that none of us, especially the girls, were hurt. My car has front and back-end damage. Hopefully we'll find out today whether it can be repaired or not. I am counting my blessings that we are all safe.




Here is something that cheered me up on that awful Monday. I was given a gift on Freecycle of a box of vintage fabrics and sewing patterns. The woman who gave it to me couldn't understand why I was so excited. She said, "it's just fabric scraps." But to me, it was a treasure box. Here are some of the highlights:

Vintage fabrics...some groovy...

Some floral...

And some patriotic...

Vintage patterns and a vintage sewing book...

A very nice gift indeed. I am grateful for the little things, too.

Plenty of Fish

My sweet friend Marian is engaged to a wonderful man named Rob. I have the honor of hosting their engagement party! When Marian and Rob stopped by the other day, they brought along some cocktail and dinner napkins for the party. (Sorry for the crease in the napkin photo--I had the napkin in my purse for a while.)

With inspiration from the napkin, I created collaged invitations for the party. Rob and Marian's theme is the ocean...they are getting married in September on Star Island in New Hampshire. And...they met on a site called Plenty of Fish.

For their honeymoon, Rob and Marian are going to Italy! So...I think I'll have to come up with an Italian menu for the party. I'm so happy for my friend Marian!

First Summer Dinner

Yesterday, I went to my favorite farm store at Sherwood Farm in Easton. (I have my friend Heather L. to thank for telling me about it!) I am so happy that the farm store is open for the season. I checked to see if it was open back April and May, but it was a bit too early. I finally made it back there yesterday, and I was so excited! I bought broccoli, bok choy, salad mix, baby squash, and strawberries--the tiny, sweet kind.

Everytime I go to the farm store, I get inspired to cook. So...Brendon and I cooked this fabulous meal together tonight. I didn't think about taking photos until we were mostly done eating.

Broccoli ricotta pizza...so good...sauteed the broccoli with garlic before putting it on the pizza.


Bok choy...sauteed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then drizzled with ginger soy sauce and Trader Joe's "Soyaki." Um.


These are yellow and green zucchini-type squash, except they weren't long and thin, they were small and round, like little balls. So cute! So perfect just tossed in a little Italian dressing and grilled in the grill pan on the stove. (We can't really have a barbecue grill where we live...well we could, but the whole cooking process would be difficult.)


Last, but not least, we roasted some fingerling potatoes in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper. The potatoes didn't come from the farm, but they were delish nonetheless.


I am so grateful for all the wonderful food we get to eat. We are so lucky. I am especially grateful for fresh veggies grown just a few miles away and for summer!

Vintage Fabrics from Marian

Today was my lucky day. My friend Marian and her fiancee Rob stopped by for tea. They brought me these beautiful vintage fabrics that they found on their travels to Cape May, NJ.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet.


There are several pieces of the "scenic" fabric below--I think they were cafe curtains.

And, I love gingham in any and all formats! Thank you Marian and Rob.

Goodies

Just thought I'd share some thrift shop goodies with you today...

You must be thinking, wow, her house must be really cluttered! But, really, it's not. Brendon and I are good at purging things ongoingly. We bring things to Goodwill, and we Freecycle all the time.

If you don't know about Freecycle, check it out. Once you start Freecycling, you won't want to stop. People can offer things to others (free--the taker just has to come and pick the item(s) up) and people can post for things they need. Then, if someone has the item, he or she gets in touch for a pick up. It's so great and keeps many useful things from getting dumped into a landfill. You can find a home for almost anything. I Freecycled 31 shoeboxes to an art therapist who will use them for projects!

It makes me so happy when I give someone something that they want or need! And, people have helped me out as well.

This green bowl is one of my favorite finds. I believe it's Christenholm from Norway. (I'm over the moon for anything Scandinavian these days!)

Just plain cool.

Someday I'll find the tea and coffee canisters that go with these. LOL

Have a great day!

Veggie Towels

I embellished these little towels as a housewarming gift for my sister. Another quick, easy project that I can handle timewise.




I went to Savers for the first time with my friend Marian the other night. It was incredible! Really great thrift store--bright, neat, and organized. And tons of stuff. I was overstimulated when I left! Anyway, I found some more dish towels there, and I plan on hunting them down in every thrift shop I manage to visit.

Strawberry Girls

I went to Joann Fabrics with the girls this past Monday. All the Simplicity patterns were on sale for a dollar, so I decided to get one to make little sundresses. Then, I saw the fabric that's already smocked at the top and sold by the inch. Ellie picked out the strawberry design. All I had to do was sew a seam up the back and hem. (Wow it's hard to measure and pin hems on wiggly little girls!) I made straps from the extra fabric and put in my own little twist by making them halter-style rather than over the shoulders. I also added a couple of buttons on the front (from my fabulous jar of buttons). So cute, so easy, so fast. Anyone can do this. Perfect for a busy mom.