Yep, I’m still here. And still pregnant. I had every intention of sharing progress updates on the nursery as we went along, but I just didn’t have it in me. And you’d probably rather just see it all done anyway, right?
So, TADA!
Since we have less than 10 weeks until Mini M&M is due to arrive, I knew I wanted to make something from her board for the winter 2013 Pinterest challenge. I’ve been feeling braver with the sewing machine lately, so this weekend I tackled a tag blanket — you know, one of those mini blankies for a baby that has ribbons all the way around it for little fingers to explore.
I made mine in the shape of a sunshine in yellows, oranges and hot pink to coordinate with her nursery colors. It’s not perfect, but it sure is a happy little toy that I have a feeling she’s going to like.
Matt and I have been slowly and steadily renovating our kitchen since August, and on Saturday morning, we finally declared it done! It’s nothing terribly fancy, but it feels that way to us, especially compared to what we were living with before.
Ugh! Right? I’m not sure how I tolerated those cream melamine cabinets and faux-butcher-block countertops with white appliances. And the floor was covered in burgundy-and-peach marbled linoleum. I don’t know how we thought painting the walls sage green would help. [shudder]
So here’s what we have now. When you first walk in, you notice our nickel ceiling light from Ikea, which replaced an old boob light, and my Julia Child quote art over to the left.
Ever since I first laid eyes on an Andy Warhol print back in middle school, I thought screen printing was pretty neat. I finally got to try it myself last Thursday when my creative director, Steve Hedberg, took the art department from Richmond magazine to a workshop at Studio Two Three, a local nonprofit print shop (thanks, Steve!). The space was cool, the staff was super nice, and the process was surprisingly easy.
One thing I’ve consistently craved throughout my pregnancy is macaroni and cheese. Early on, when I was too ill to cook much, I’d just buy it from Mama J’s, Q Barbeque or — don’t judge — Lee’s Chicken (which is dangerously located right across the street from my work). But now that I feel like a person again, I decided to try a no-boil mac and cheese technique that Bon Appetit tweeted about a few weeks ago.
To make it marginally healthier, I decided to leave off the panko topping and replace half the noodles with broccoli florets. The creamy broccoli-cheese-soup-meets-mac-and-cheese texture was thoroughly satisfying. I was mystified by how perfectly the noodles cooked in the covered casserole dish, and it sure was nice not having to clean a big pot at the end.
I published my very first post on this blog exactly a year ago today, and now, 26 recipes and projects later, I just wanted to say thanks for checkin’ it out!
Sometimes when I’m at work, out running errands, or generally being a grown-up, I find myself thinking, “I just want to go home and make things.” Maybe you do, too. So I designed us a background graphic that you can download below for your computer desktop, iPad or iPhone.
Enjoy! And may you have the opportunity to make many awesome things in 2013.
