40th Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated Craig's parents' 40th wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 11th.  Instead of our usual casual barbeque, I wanted to have a sit-down dinner on the deck with fresh flowers and white tablecloths.  Tables were borrowed from the neighbors, white tulle bows graced chair backs, and red roses in square glass vases provided a splash of color.  And baby's breath ... lots of baby's breath.  In little heart-shaped vases with organza ribbon bows.

I spent many evenings scouring the internet for decorating ideas.  Garden party produced the best results.  I did learn a few things:  1) Do not put floating candles in the water prior to lighting them.  The wicks get wet and don't light; 2) Do not put a chocolate fountain on a white tablecloth if children will be present at the event;  3) If you are going to have a chocolate fountain for dessert, hide the strawberries from said children and chocolate from adults until the time comes to prepare the dessert, then designate a guard to keep said children and said adults out of the preparation area; 4) Call Larry to insure that he will arrive early and provide kitchen support; 5) Don't attempt to make homemade ice cream in a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker in a 90 degree kitchen.  I guarantee it will not freeze.

Still, a very nice evening and people stayed late enough to make the white twinkle lights worth all of the effort to get each string to light in its entirety (think wire cutters and twisty connectors ... who knew Christmas lights were designed to fail when you need them the most?  Hint:  you cannot run to Target and find Christmas lights in August.)

San Diego Sunshine

My first trip to Coronado Island was over a decade ago, at The Del for one of the early Electronic Access Conferences.  Upon arrival, The Del insisted that I had cancelled my reservation and I insisted I hadn't.  I ended up in a very nice corner suite with a 180 degree view of the beach and San Diego proper.  That was a great trip and I still have very fond memories of that place, listening to the elevator attendant sing It's A Wonderful World Louie Armstrong style, early morning breakfasts in the courtyard with white linen tablecloths and propane heaters, Kay Jacks and Jeff Baker's back and forth banter.

This recent trip was planned to be short, but was made even shorter by a cracked airplane windshield and a seven hour flight delay.  The Sunday afternoon I had planned to spend exploring Loew's Coronado Bay Resort was instead spent at the Portland airport, which I know much too well already.  Arriving on Coronado Island around 9 pm, the only sights I saw were the lights of Mexico in the distance.  Meetings began at 8 am the next morning and I only escaped for a few minutes during an afternoon break for a quick walk around the property.  This was the first proper sunshine I had seen in a very long time and it was glorious.

Perhaps it was the sunshine ... or salt air ... or jostling in my briefcase ... or old age ... but the trusty Kodak decided to go all psychedelic on me.

Looks like I'll be hauling the Nikon with me on future trips.  Guess I need a bigger briefcase.

A Stroll Down Bourbon Street

In New Orleans for the first time but with very little time to explore, it was only appropriate to spend my few free minutes strolling down Bourbon Street.

My first glimpse after dinner on Wednesday night, jazz playing, beer flowing, lights twinkling, encouraged me to linger, but my colleagues were ready to return to the hotel.

 

 

With an hour to spare before the airport shuttle on Saturday morning, I found my favorite balcony ...

 and my favorite house.  I want to live in this yellow house with the blue shutters and the pink door.

First Birthday Dress

Ellie turned one in February and every girl needs a pink first birthday dress, right? Pattern sizing, as it turns out, does not exactly correspond with ready-made sizing. Ellie wears a 12 month size in store bought clothes, but this size one pattern was way too big. I'm not even sure it's going to fit by Easter ... maybe sometime this summer. Too big, however, is always preferable to too little when it comes to children's clothing.

Happy Birthday, sweet Ellie!

I'm Losing My Touch

I took lots of pictures when the boys were small. Lots and lots. Sometimes I'd take 50 to get that one Christmas-card-perfect picture. Thank goodness I saved all of them, because my favorites now are the ones I considered too silly then. My goal this Christmas Eve was to get all three girls in one picture. While it was difficult to get one good picture with two boys, it is impossible to get one good picture with three girls. For me. At least, in a limited time frame. In a confined space. With 20 other people milling around. Especially when the bounce-capable flash is left at home.

But I'll save all of the pictures taken on Christmas Eve. And in 15 years, I may be glad I saved them. Maybe.

Frosty Freezey

And Now There Are Three

I started to think about Christmas dresses for the three girls back in October, inspired once again to experiment with my two current sewing passions: the use of complementary fabrics and bias trim. I love clothes--especially children's clothes--that are constructed using an assortment of fabrics, but lack confidence in coordinating colors and patterns. I was confident, however, that I could talk Kathy into meeting me at Fabric Depot. After much pondering and rearranging of the Christmas fabric display, we selected three cotton prints for the dresses and a Blue Hill Fabrics plaid from the Victorian Christmas collection for a bias trim.

I've never been a fan of facings, either around the neck or armholes of a garment. I don't like the way they look if tacked down and I don't like the way they feel if not tacked down. Now that I have my handy-dandy cutting surface, rotary cutter, and a number of quilting rulers and cutting guides, I'm done with facings and have moved on to finishing neck and armhole edges with bias strips cut from fabric. To finish the neck edges of the two bigger dresses, I cut a 2 1/4" strip of fabric on the bias and folded one side in 5/8". Matching the cut edges (right sides together) of the neckline and bias strip, I sewed a 5/8" seam around the neckline, trimed the seam allowance down to 3/8", then folded the strip to the inside, leaving a 1/2" bias trim around the neckline. Instead of cuffs, I also finished the sleeves with the same bias trim.

The ruffles and sashes are also cut on the bias. In retrospect, I should have bought enough of the plaid fabric to make piping to go in the seam between the skirt of the dress and the border around the hem. After scouring fabric stores from Portland to McMinnville, I determined that the Blue Hill Fabrics Victorian collection was, in fact, no longer to be found. Lesson learned ... always fudge and buy a bit more fabric than you think you might need.