Little Milestones

How was your weekend? Ours was lovely, productive, and had a few little milestones for us. The first one being the removal of two gates that were keeping Lovebug from the living room (it's sunken with concrete flooring). I HATED having them and really hated keeping her from a room in the house, but we had one incident when she first started walking that scared us pretty bad so they were necessary for awhile. But after 9 months of walking experience, she's got it down :) plus she does really well with steps so we thought she was ready...and so far, so good. She has recently become such a climber and was trying to climb the gates too, which further spurred on the gate removal. She was unbelievably happy when my Love took them down and I so wish I had a picture of her face :).

Afterwards, the house automatically felt bigger for whatever reason which I wasn't expecting. There was alot of rearranging and Lovebug-proofing that had to be done so that took awhile. But it was SO worth it! She loves going up and down the step and just LOVES being in there! There will probably at some point be a fall but we did put rugs down all along the step to hopefully help minimize any pain. Anyway, it's a wonderful little milestone...


Our other one of sorts was my Love and I celebrated 9 years of being together! 9 years ago this past weekend we went on our first date and we've been together ever since. :) We celebrated by going to a local Mexican restaurant which is what we did on our first date too. It was a simple but long dinner and we just chatted about our first date, the last 9 years, and all the MANY MANY ones ahead of us. It has been such a blast and only continues to gets more and more fun! I love you my Love.

Another milestone we tackled this last weekend was that we finally hung something up in the back of the house! We are still in the process of finishing the remodeling of the back, but it's mostly done (minus the bathrooms) and we just haven't hung anything, not wanting to put any nails in our white walls :). Well, for our upcoming 5th wedding anniversary we had this incredible artist paint a masterpiece for us. We just fell in love with her work and had our eye on one particular painting but it sold unfortunately, so instead she created a custom one just for us which worked out even better! Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE and ADORE Etsy?! I seriously do! Anyway, that's a peek of the painting up above...oh how I love it!

So it was indeed a good weekend. Here's to a wonderful rest of the (short) week!

Our Heart Day

Hope your Valentine's was as perfect as ours! Wasn't it so much fun that it fell on a Saturday? It was a slow day at home with the three of us just hanging out and enjoying each other. We ate some delicious food (and desserts:), crafted a bit, and caught up on some of our favorite shows online. I thought I'd share some hearts and such from our weekend...


Yummy whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes made for me by my sweet Love...


Lovely patch I made from recycled shirts, then embroidered and sewed onto one of my Love's undershirts as his little gift from me. He loves it as he has always wanted a tattoo of my name, so this was something in that direction :)...


Delicious and simple homemade pizza made by my Love for dinner...


Adorable new leg warmers on Lovebug as her little gift...


Precious little conversation people customized for us by these Etsy gals that inspired my Valentine's look this year...


Fun little banners and mobiles I made from newspaper, acrylic paint, and cotton yarn...


Hope the rest of your week is full of yummy, lovely, delicious, adorable, precious, and fun things! OH and thank you so much for all of the sweet comments on Lovebug's party, especially to Joslyn for putting it on Kirtsy. I felt so honored and am super glad I finally posted it! :)

The 1st Birthday Party

Right off, I'm forewarning you that this post is long, so if you don't want to hear LOTS of food and decor details from Lovebug's birthday party, DON'T read on! You could just scroll down through the pictures...It's ok, I promise I won't be offended :)!

Alright my friends, THIS is the long-awaited (and long) 1st birthday post...yes, it's been 2 months since the event took place but whatever. I have had this thing in my draft folder for forever and darn it, I'm posting it regardless of how long it has been!

The party was so lovely and turned out so well and our little birthday girl enjoyed herself immensely! I certainly feel for those with December birthdays (and their parents) now though as it truly is harder to put something together during the holidays. Sometimes it seems the children get the shorter end of the stick because of it, don't they? I want to ensure that never happens to Lovebug though, so I tried to make it as un-touched from the holidays as possible.


First off, Lovebug LOVES animals and always has. In fact, she has this beloved wooden puzzle that her grandparents gave her of farm animals when she was a tiny baby. SO we decided to go with a farm animal "theme" of sorts. We emailed Pingg invitations with this photo...


The next thing I tend to decide after the invitation is the ensemble to go with the theme/design of course! I searched for quite some time but finally found the right Eliza Gran dress. I loved the vintage-y almost farm-ish look to it, and the colors and adorable ric rac were perfect! I had the hardest time though tracking it down and never could find it in Lovebug's size despite many calls and emails. I ended up scoring it on sale, but the catch was that it was 1 size too big. It all worked out though because it fit her pretty well except in the shoulders, so just a few temporary stitches here and there and VOILA, Lovebug's party dress! It was a little long too but I thought it looked cute that way actually and it didn't seem to bother or hinder her.


I normally make Lovebug's hair clips but I sourced the felt cow out to Two Punky Peas who makes adorable ones. She had a great holiday deal going on and I had never attempted an animal clip before, so I left it to an expert. I made the satin ribbon headband and Gracious May made her cute shoes that we already had. I highly recommend both of those gals and their Etsy shops.


I really like to incorporate presents, if there are any, into the party decor, so one of Lovebug's birthday presents was the vintage Fisher Price farm we got at Antique Weekend this last fall. She won't be playing with it for awhile though since it is plastic, which in general, we don't allow. We will make exceptions however for well-made vintage toys, but only if it's something Lovebug won't be sucking on. Anyway, it became the centerpiece of the table...


The table was accented with some mini hay bales that I bought from this truly lovely Etsy seller. She makes them herself at their farm up in New York and they're very reasonably priced. They will work for future events or seasonal decor too which is great. Isn't Etsy the BEST? Nearly all of the decor came from wonderful Etsy sellers! The vintage white cloth napkins with red, blue, and yellow trim were all bought from different vintage Etsy sellers SO reasonably priced and will get lots of future use. I don't think you can ever have too many cloth napkins! The little vintage metal plates have cute farm animals in the center and were also an inexpensive Etsy find from Happy Day Vintage and Lovebug now loves to play with them :). You truly can find amazing stuff if you do a little searching.


I tried to incorporate mini red ric rac here and there to compliment her dress so I sewed some onto the table linens and made an entry banner outside with some. I made a little garland of it with a "1" in the middle made from cardboard, some Eco Glue, and some leftover raffia I've had lying around forever that I simply cut up to look like hay. Then I accented it with some felt farm animal puppets from Mahar that I know Lovebug will love to play with when she's a tad bit older.


The ric rac accents worked really well because I incorporated it into our Christmas decor too which I ended up loving! For the party though, I made a little "happy birthday" banner with it that hung over the table. I used mini clothespins, leftover red and white cardstock we had lying around, and vintage crossword letter cards from Boston Bag Lady. She went through all of her cards to fish out the exact letters for "Happy Birthday" and "Merry Christmas" because I turned around and switched the cards out for the holidays which worked out perfect! Again, isn't Etsy the best?


The birthday crown was inspired by Ruby Ellen's beautiful ones but we used Amanda's instructions in her book. My Love actually made it all himself which I think is super special. We kept it simple using white 100% wool felt with some red ric rac lightly sewn on in a few places and a mini cow button that we got from yet another Etsy seller (SHOCKER I know). Our plan is to add another little button or adornment that fits with the "theme" of each birthday party every year. You can take the elastic easily out if desired (we tried it) so hopefully she'll enjoy the special crown her Daddy made her for many birthdays to come!


Lovebug's other little present was this beautiful set of wooden farm animals...aren't they adorable? I searched and searched for the right ones and finally decided on these because I love their colors and modern design. In case you're interested, Cheekeyes is the brand and they have some other cool animal lines that I cannot wait to get in the future. Anyway, these went on the coffee table in the family room, so again the present became part of the decor...


Let's talk some food, because a party isn't much without it, is it? We kept it super simple since it was in the middle of the day between lunch and dinner. I made some of my "treehugger bark" and some mint chocolate chip cookies in lieu of cake.


My favorites were the popcorn balls and the below mini apple bites, which were both on a stick. They were super fun and the paper sticks got composted post-party so no worries about the waste. I got the general idea for the apple bites here, but we just did vegan chocolate chips and some chopped up almonds. They are really easy once you get the hang of the melon baller in the apple.


The popcorn ball recipe we got here but used coconut oil in lieu of vegetable and added sunflower seeds and raisins. Personally, I really appreciate when food is labeled so I always try to let people know what they're eating. For this party, we used a mini chalkboard we found at Antique Weekend a few years back and just had it simply sitting on the table with the menu listed on it.


For beverages, it was spiced apple cider, coffee, or water, and the drinks had labels of course which is a must at our nest parties seen here and here :). As also is customary around our nest, it was a waste-free event with cloth napkins, and real plates and glasses. In addition to the obvious green aspect of this, it just takes the party up a notch in my opinion.


I know most everyone goes to a first birthday party waiting to see the little ones either tear into their presents or dive into their cakes. Well, we did neither of these :). I searched forever for a vegan nut and wheat free cupcake or mini cake option that I could bake. We don't want Lovebug to have wheat, nuts, or grains for another year and had a couple failed attempts with coconut flour unfortunately. Thus, we decided to just go with something easy that she loves without the stress or worries - SO chopped up banana it was! It's one of her favorites already so we knew she would love it. We added some strawberries (which she didn't love) and for fun, we added some vegan coconut cream icing. This recipe is yummy and I highly recommend it! A much healthier option to powdered sugar icings and can be used on coffee cakes, bundt cakes, cupcakes, or whatever!


In lieu of any games, we had a little slideshow of Lovebug's 1st year that was constantly playing on our TV as the entertainment. It was nearly 40 minutes long :) so people got bits here and there but it's a great keepsake for her box and I think we'll do one every birthday now to re-cap the year for her in pictures. The children mostly played outside...poor Lovebug wanted to go out there with the older kids so badly.


I love coming up with ideas for party favors as I think it's a fun little tradition to send the guests home with something. However, especially with the holidays, we decided that in lieu of any favors, we would make a donation to Heifer International, which is one of our favorite causes we like to support. Plus, it went with the whole "theme" of farm animals :). Anyway, please check out Heifer's online catalog as they are a wonderful organization with such an incredible mission! We also requested that in lieu of any presents, guests make a donation to them as well because our nest is already super blessed.


Well thank you for reading the birthday post...yes yes yes, lots of details with heavy emphasis on the decor, but you must remember I am an event designer by trade so my little personal parties are my outlet! :) It was definitely a successful party in my eyes as I think the guests enjoyed themselves and, most importantly, Lovebug had tons of fun. Here she is rolling around in the leaves after we finally let her outside...she might have enjoyed this more than anything else from the party!


So THERE, it's DONE...I feel SO much better now that I have posted this and can finally scratch it off my list! :) Thank you to anyone that actually read the whole thing. I highly recommend you check out the above Etsy sellers when you have a chance. Happy Friday!!!

Today

We woke up to ice and snow...not anything crazy, but this is Texas, so we freak out over the littlest bit of it! As soon as the sun came up, it all started to quickly melt but I was able to get some shots first.


Today is CPSIA Blogging Day and I couldn't NOT post on it because it's an issue I feel very strongly about. To catch up any of you who aren't aware, as of February 10th (National Bankruptcy Day as it has been dubbed) any product that is meant to be used, worn, read, etc. by anyone under the age of 12 is going to have to go through strict third party testing. Here, here, and here are my other posts about it for easy reference.

So you're not a crafter or don't care about buying handmade and you think you're not going to be affected by this? You're wrong! If you ever plan on buying anything for someone under the age of 12, then you ARE going to be affected. The CPSIA does not just affect clothing and toys, but books, school supplies, furniture for kids, sport equipment, and on and on. Here is a really great list that shows how this affects everyone from environmentalists to secondhand shoppers to entrepreneurs. We should all care about this and do what we can!

There has been a really great three part series on it at Forbes for further reading. Here is part one, two, and three. At the core of CPSIA is something good as we all want to protect our children and keep them from harmful things. But not in this way...and not what the CPSIA is going to do. The crap made in China is scary and shouldn't be bought in the first place for MANY reasons, but it is OUR economy that is going to suffer DEEPLY from this if it continues as is and SO many small businesses are going to cease to exist.


Although I don't care too greatly about how this is going to affect the big-box stores that are going to suffer because 1.) it won't be much, 2.) we don't shop there, and 3.) it's the crap they sell that initiated this whole thing. However, I do deeply care about the environmental aspect of all of this in regards to what they are going to have to do after February 10th. Here is a quote from National Bankruptcy Day in relation to an economic impact study that was recently done between December 31, 2008 and January 10, 2009:

The cut to the chase summary shows over 70 million dollars worth of inventory must be destroyed on February 10, 2009 (National Bankruptcy Day) and of those enterprises that expect to survive the fall-out (61% will not), over 40 million dollars in lost product sales are anticipated.

Isn't that crazy? How is it going to be "destroyed"? Are they just going to inundate our landfills even more with all of it? How are the harmful ingredients/materials that the products are made of going to be contained or is all that lead (and goodness knows what else) just going to end up in our waterways??? Are they going to recycle what can be recycled? Lots of questions and not many answers.

Supposedly there is alot of misinformation going around regarding all of this, and there are MANY aspects that are very unclear and confusing. What also is unclear is how exactly the law is going to be enforced as the CPSC only has about 100 investigators...so we'll see. Supposedly, Congress has denied a second hearing on it and have no intention of changing the law. BUT we should still continue to do what we can! Here is a great "kit" at Etsy that lists out all of the different things you can do with links, petitions, addresses, and sample verbiage. Some of the same stuff is available at Handmade Toy Alliance as well.


Again, at the heart of CPSIA is something really good as we of course want our children protected and there should absolutely be restrictions placed on lead and phthalates and so on! It was just so poorly conceived and hurriedly put together, and although it's not surprising, it's very disheartening. I still cannot imagine our life without being able to buy secondhand things for Lovebug at thrift stores or organic handmade things from my beloved Etsy.

Well, stay warm my friends...

What's Cooking

Friends, this is my empty lunch bowl...It WAS Sweet Potato Lentil Chili and it was delicious! I have shared the recipe before, but it was long ago at the beginning of my blogging at which time many of you had not yet started to visit me here. SO I'm going to post it again in case you missed it! You know, I really need to start categorizing my posts...wouldn't that be nice? It's one of my 2009 goals for sure.

Anyhoo, the chili is one of our favorite dishes and my beautiful Love really outdid himself this time around by adding some additional spices and whatnot. But of course, it was just a little of this and a little of that with nothing written down :), but here is the basic recipe that we originally got from a VegNews issue I do believe.

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili (Serves 6)

(1) T - Olive Oil
(1 3/4) Cups - Onion, finely chopped
(1) Cup - Celery, finely chopped
(1) Pd - orange-fleshed Sweet Potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
(3) - large cloves of Garlic, minced
(1) tsp - Sea Salt (Celtic is very good for you!)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
(2) tsp - Chili Powder
(1) tsp - Paprika
(1/2) tsp - Nutmeg
(1/2) tsp - Cumin
(1/4) tsp - Cinnamon
(1/2) tsp - Red Chili Flakes
(1 1/4) cups - Red Lentils, rinsed (soaked is better for digestion)
(2 1/2) cups - Water
(1) - 28 oz. can crushed Tomatoes
(1) - 15 oz. can Black Beans, rinsed and drained (or dried equivalent, soaked and cooked)
(2) - Bay Leaves
(3) T - Lime Juice
Lime wedges (for serving) if so desired...

1.) In large pot over medium heat, add oil, onions, celery, sweet potatoes, garlic, s & p, chili powder, paprika, nutmeg, cumin, cinnamon, and red chili flakes. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 mins, stirring occasionally.

2.) Add lentils, tomatoes, water, beans and bay leaves. Stir and increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for 25 mins until sweet potatoes and lentils are soft (or longer if you want), stirring occasionally.

3.) If adding, stir in lime juice, and season to taste with s & p. Enjoy!

Hope everyone had a great weekend by the way! Thank you for everyone's comments on The Green Bible. It seemed like the overall consensus was that you thought it was a good thing as long as it was the same message, which it is, and which I wholly agree with!! More than anything I think, I'm just happy The Word is being printed on recycled paper now!

OH and a question that has come up a couple of times is about the hat Lovebug was wearing two posts ago...YES it's from an Etsyian (OF COURSE:) and to be precise, Comfed Out Kaiser . I love it too as the colors are beautiful and all the yarn was organic. Anyway, she was wonderful to buy from so check her out if you're looking for something similar. Happy Monday!

Crazy

Hope your weekend was enjoyable! Ours really was as we had incredible weather for much of it, and then a cold front came through and I'm staring at icicles in my trees right now. Crazy Texas weather. Glad we got out and enjoyed ourselves though while we could! Wow, our girl loves to be outside. She gets so excited and can't wait to get down and explore. It makes our hearts happy that she loves it as much as we do!


Today, I wanted to bring your attention back to CPSIA that I blogged about here and here before the holidays. I know pretty much everyone is aware of this by now, but just wanted to try to get the word out a bit more. It's devastating if it remains as is and we need to do ALL we can to save handmade things for our children to enjoy! I don't even want to think about the future of things if I cannot have my Etsy with all of its amazing handmade toys and clothes! Seriously, my life wouldn't be the same. Well, that's a little crazy...but seriously, it would be very upsetting to me. Here is ALOT of info with the different ways to get involved and act, and here is the Handmade Toy Alliance page again as well.


PLEASE do what you can to make the CPSIA less crazy!!!

The Future of Handmade Toys

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend...we sure did! The 10K went great and I was very pleased with my time...and Lovebug's birthday went perfectly! I'll share details, pics, and all of that later this week once I download and go through the ridiculous amount of photos that were taken :)...

I wanted to pop in today though and bring your attention to this in regard to handmade toys. Many of you probably already have heard about it, but it's called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It does ALOT of good like banning lead and phthalates, and requires certification and thirty-party testing on all toys. Which sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Except for all of the WAHMs, WAHDs, and artisans that lovingly handmake beautiful toys within their homes and sell on sites like Etsy...Their toys would be "illegal" unless they send out their toys for third-party testing which apparently costs quite alot per toy! It also affects textiles and clothing for children as well!!!!

Nearly all of the clothes, shoes, slings, toys, etc. etc. we buy for Lovebug are from artisans off of Etsy using natural, organic, and recycled materials...are these wonderful sellers no longer going to provide us with all of these beautiful handmade products??!!! I'm VERY concerned...

There is alot of info at the Handmade Toy Alliance, and then some posts here, here, here, and a page of links on the Etsy forum page...and then some good info at National Bankruptcy Day. This law goes in affect after February 9th and it's already passed and been signed...but people are calling their Congresspeople, calling and emailing CPSC officials found here, and signing petitions here, amongst other things to have the bill altered. This also is affecting brands like German-based Selecta (love them), whom says they are no longer going to be distributing toys to the U.S. because of the new high testing costs!

I love this paragraph from Z Recommends:

If the first major consumer legislation to pass Congress in decades pushes the safest toys out of the market, leaving only those companies that have cared the least about chemical safety and thus are in the most robust financial position to undertake new expenses, we will all be poorer for it.

and this one as far as what should be done:

We believe the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Congress should immediately issue more detailed and targeted guidelines and clarifications which protect reputable natural toy companies as well as offering intelligent ways for small, independent manufacturers to continue producing and selling their products.

Obviously, we want the toys and clothing we buy for Lovebug to be as safe as possible! However, we ALSO want to support small artisans/companies making natural/organic/recycled products before we support large ones! I am just so confused as far as what needs to be done. It really seems that small companies are going to suffer with all of this even though the biggest offenders are typically the large ones.

We just bought a set of these beautiful wooden keys for Lovebug's birthday and they are adorable!! The seller, Mamaroots, was so wonderful and customized them for Lovebug, used non-toxic watercolors, and then sealed them with beeswax. Have the keys been tested by a third party to ensure all of that?? No. There is a trust that is out there within the community of Etsy...which I know, isn't always justified, because I'm sure there are sellers NOT using safe materials and NOT being honest about the materials used in their products...BUT that is why you convo with the seller, you read their feedback, you research, and you make sure you're comfortable before ordering from someone.

I just don't know...I'm really at a loss here. I am going to sign a petition for sure...but as far as the answer to all of this, I just don't have one...

What are your thoughts?? Any new info anybody has or had you even heard of this before now? How much do you think this will actually affect you? I'd love to hear from everybody...

And she's off...

The OTHER really special part of the weekend was that Lovebug decided to start walking! We got home from Great-Gramma's on Thursday and she started doing it more, on Friday alot more, and then this weekend nearly everywhere. If you dear readers will remember, she started taking steps about a month ago and she's been working on it ever since. Now at 10 months, she's full-on walking - so YEA for Lovebug! We're so very proud of you baby girl.


It's so adorable to see someone this small walking everywhere, but she is doing such a great job. Sometimes she does what my Mom calls the "mummy walk" - with her hands almost straight out in front of her to catch herself if she falls (which she still does sometimes of course). She is just loving it though - her face just lights up and you can tell she's so proud of herself. Oh man, she is just getting more and more fun every single day. What a joy you are Lovebug!


It's been quite a challenge to get any good shots of her in the act though since she's so darn fast. Some Etsy shoes we've been eyeing for some time have been ordered and I cannot wait to see them on her once they arrive (isn't Etsy the BEST?!). So anyway, that was the news, and although it is extremely exciting, it also makes alot of things more challenging since she is much faster and getting into everything even more. However, on the other hand, it also opens up the door to new possibilities of things to enjoy doing with her now!! Gosh, is it really Wednesday? This week has flown, no?

Spring Day Highs and Lows

Yesterday was a wonderful spring Monday full of many highs but it had a couple lows too...


The rain and thunder were beautiful to listen to and watch, and the rays of sun that followed were gorgeous - High!...


But I realized that the bamboo floor was dirtier than usual (see above) because pollen from the tree's catkins was coming in through the open windows - Low!...


One of my favorite workout videos (yes a video!) got messed up in the vhs player - it was a sad sad day as I've been working out to it for 10 years :( - Low! - so it's off to Recycle for Breast Cancer for it!...


But then a new spring/summer hat I ordered off of Etsy (LOVE LOVE Etsy!!!!) arrived for Lovebug - it's adorable with beautiful colors and she looks so pretty in it - Big High!!...


We went on a wonderful family run last night enjoying the weather and my Love made delicious black bean burgers and sweet potato baked fries for dinner - Big BIG High!!...


It definitely had more highs than lows...and now I'm ready to see what today holds!