Warming the House

Raine is snoring softly in his crib and Dan is multi-tasking cooking dinner and writing thank you cards to our friends who came to our housewarming party two weeks ago. There is laundry to fold and projects to attend to, as well as so much dust accumulating in those little nooks in each room... But! I would really love to sit and write just now. (Bless Over the Rhine and the double album that arrived by post today, for it moves me to relax and reflect.)

We found a perfect wreath for our front door the morning of the party at the Yamhill Lavendar Festival.

I was a bit caught off guard by how little I felt I had accomplished at decorating or preparing our new home after having lived there two months. A few days before the party, I felt the urge to drastically decorate! But really. There is no time! Putting up fences, hanging art, hanging curtains and painting walls will come eventually. That is the joy I look forward to in living in our home...Making it ours slowly as the days go by. The overall fact is that we are in what I like to call the "two full-time-working partner domestic marathon" and there are diapers to change, work hours to log, a high maintenance dog and cat to attend to, peanut butter to wipe off what seems like every surface, and a million errands to run in between. ;-) I have to thank Char for all the cleaning she did while baby-sitting Raine. And I did my best to make things look presentable: hang some art that had been sitting on the floor, tidy up, and put out some fresh lavender for our guests.

We were thrilled to have quite a few guests despite the fact that we now live a little further west than the rest! Standard commute for folks was 45 minutes, and one couple drove all the way from Sandy, which is at least an hour and a half. One particular guest I will refer to as "the guest of honor" because it was Dan's mom, Char, all the way from Chicago. :) We asked guests to sign our guest book in the entry. While unpacking from the move, I found our wedding guest book from 2004 and the empty pages in the last half seemed to be asking for fresh signatures... We received some cards and gifts, two beautiful orchids, and more than a few beverages to fill our fridge and wine shelf. Everyone was so sweet and generous! I have to say the most clever gift was from Josh and Mary. They brought a crumble pie and the pie plate itself was for us to keep. Great idea! And speaking of a crumble pie...The food was the best part! Another friend, Melissa, also brought a dessert, fruit salsa with baked cinnamon chips, and we savored those leftovers for a few nights after the party! :) The theme of our "spread" we provided for our guests was "Carlton." I really wanted to show off all of the fantastic artisan food and beverage businesses in our little town. We had bread from the bakery, handmade chocolates, specialty jams and sausages, and of course, local beer and wine! ;-) I supplemented some chips, veggies, cheese, and other items from Trader Joe's because I am not perfect and did not have the time to shop various farms or make my own crackers from scratch with local grains, thank you very much. We don't actually have a TJ's near Carlton, so I had to drive to the one in Lake O after work Friday afternoon. It made for an hour drive home, but it was worth it to know we were serving items that were GMO free and generally free of extra additives/preservatives etc.

*Chocolates and bark from Honest Chocolates*

*Pesto and heirloom tomato bruschetta made form baguettes from Carlton Bakery*

*Carlton Farms sausages with dipping mustards*

My favorite part was offering a little jam tasting. I bought some crackers and cookies from T Joe's and the lovely ladies at Republic of Jam gave Char proper pairings for everyone to taste. (My favorite was the tomato & fennel, and not only was it outstanding on its own accord with the pita crackers or pretzel sticks, it was fabulous with the spicy sausage!) See a complete list of jams with pairings and recipes below. Of course, Dan and Char did all of the actual prepping and cooking, while I made sure my overall concept was executed perfectly and presentation was *lovely* down to the last detail ~ cute little note cards to describe each offering. LOL.

*Dan's figs & goat cheese wrapped in Carlton Farms bacon. You wouldn't know it but we also had options for our vegan friends. ;-)*

The Spread (*Vegan):

Figs & goat cheese wrapped in bacon (Carlton Farms)
Assorted quinoa/bean and sweet potato/corn chips with guacamole*
Greek salad bites with feta, tomato, and olives
Assorted chocolates and bark (Honest Chocolates)
Grilled sausages ("Smoked Bratwurst" and "Louisiana Red Hot") and dipping mustards (Carlton Farms)
Pine nut pesto and tomato bruschetta - without cheese (Carlton Bakery)*
Fruit salsa with baked cinnamon chips (Made by Melissa!)*
Assorted hummus and pretzel bites*
Sea salt pita crackers & smoked tomato fennel jam (ROJ)* (No link to that jam...Sold out! Next batch up in 1 week! ;-)
Rosemary raisin crackers & rhubarb rosemary jam (ROJ)*
Ginger cookies & apricot reisling jam (ROJ)* (Jam is currently sold out!)
Coconut cookies & pineapple vanilla clove jam (ROJ)*
Assorted brews from Fire Mountain Brew House*
Assorted wines from Cana's Feast Winery*

And you can see all photos from the party here.

Duds & Threads: 0-3 Months

Today I packed up clothing that Raine has grown out of. ALREADY. He is just about 3 months old and I had to accept the fact that there are certain duds & threads that do not fit him anymore. :( He is officially out of sizes Newborn, 1 month, and 0-3 months. Slow down buddy!!! I can't believe this time has passed already. I couldn't part with anything so I just packed all of the tiny clothes for another day when I feel less sentimental about keeping them all and can actually set aside most for donation. Some of my favorite items I can hardly imagine giving away. Maybe to Doug & Rita (if they have a boy) or to a friend. MAYBE Allyson if she is lucky. (No, Allyson is not pregnant. LOL. Just saying...Down the road!)

I am having SO much fun dressing this little guy, so I thought I would share a few of my favorite things...

Favorite Brand: H & M. Pants, sweaters, onesies, etc. Lots of organic cotton choices and super cheap. Many thanks to Hattie for giving us stuff from here because otherwise I would have never known H & M had baby stuff. When we found out we would be meeting Raine three weeks early, I made a mad dash for this store to get stuff that would fit my little 7 pounder. (Had we gone 40 weeks he probably would have been 10 pounds, so I had not bought anything smaller.)

 

H & M onesies were my favorite because they were side snap (no need to pull the fabric over his fragile newborn head) and they were super soft organic cotton for only $7. He had several of these...lime green gray, light blue, black/white stripe, and blue/white stripe. There were a lot of gimmicky ones, too, with names of rock bands, cartoons, or words/phrases. I couldn't resist the I <3 Dad. :)

 

The onesies had coordinating organic cotton pants that were skinny but stretchy with nice wide waist and ankle bands. 

 My other super favorite thing from H & M is their sweaters. I got two cardigan style sweaters for him ($8 each) in gray and brown and I got tons of use out of them because they were very convenient for layering. We are retiring the gray sweater but the brown one will still fit for another couple of weeks. The jeans in the right photo are also from H & M and have that same wide waistband as the cotton pants, making them super comfy across his tummy (and then I don't have to bother with a zip fly on such a tiny wiggling guy). He is almost out of those jeans but I bought another pair for the next size up because I knew they would be my go-to pants.

Speaking of having to find something for a 7 pounder...Raine's take-home outfit was too big (It was 0-3 months, sized 8-11 lbs., by Tea Collection and he is currently wearing it now) so after H & M, I stopped by the Gap to find something special. I love Gap Baby but it is definitely more pricey than H & M or Target, another place I frequently browse. I lucked out with their end of summer Forest collection, which was full of cute screen printed and embroidered forest animals that I knew Dan would love. I am also a sucker for anything in ivory, so it was perfect. I got a long sleeve onesie with an embroidered fox (he ended up going home in it), a bodysuit with animals, and brown knit pants. Gap now offers a new size, 0-7 lbs., so I knew that would be perfect but I couldn't believe how TINY they were! I remember holding up those little brown knit pants and asking my friend that worked at the Gap if my baby was actually going to be small enough for them (especially with a diaper.) She laughed and reassured me that he would. I didn't really believe it until later when I saw it for myself. ;-)

 

I should add that my strategy for getting duds & threads from the Gap is to wait (if I can stand it) until they are on sale or clearance and order them off the web site. $25-$30 items get marked down as low as under $10 and if I order off the web site, I usually get free shipping and avoid the hassle of combing through messy sale racks and bins in the store. I did this last winter anticipating size 3-6 months for Raine's winter clothing and stocked up on knits, corduroy, and velour. (And right now I'm going to get a few things that I've had my eye on that have been marked down, for both now and next fall...Like this and this! LOL.)

Another set of onesies that he wore a lot were by Petunia Pickle Bottom. They were also side-snap and soft organic cotton. They were sold in a gift set of 3 and he had ivory/blue, ivory/brown, and ivory/lime green with a matching gift set of each striped socks. I got these a few years ago when I worked at Henny Penny so they are no longer available but PPB still does layette gift sets including a "Social Set" that has some yoga-like pants that are super cute! Not only did I love the onesies, those socks were on his feet practically every day! They were super cute and fit well so they never fell off. I wish they came in bigger sizes. :( Anyway, it's a very nice little package if you are looking for a good baby shower gift.

The other socks we used a lot that stayed on his little feet well were a gift set by Trumpette, in a rainbow of colors (See below). Also pictured below is a basic lap tee by Gerber. Loved throwing those side-snap shirts on easily. I don't know if other babies are super warm but Raine is a little heat bomb at his core, like his daddy, so quite often we skipped pajamas or gowns for sleeping in just a tee and diaper. And speaking of diapers! I packed away all of his newborn G pants. Some other time I will have to share about our diaper adventure, but for now I can say that we started off using G Diapers. I look at those tiny G pants now and can't believe he was that small!

 

I got the Gerber tees at Target as well as these little pants, jackets, and pajamas...I can always find something there, and it is in walking distance from our home.

What a silly little cute model, huh? ;-)

Thoughts About the Kitchen

This cork board has rotated from room to room and finally landed here in the kitchen, where I try to keep us motivated and updated with foods and recipes:

• Top left corner page is from Edible Portland, listing 43 foods and 6 herbs currently in season and available locally. I wish we were better about exploring this list, but we tend to stick with what we know. Items for this season that I've never tried? Chervil, fenugreek, borage, chicories, rape, salsify, burdock, celeriac, and rutabagas. BTW, did you know that there are 13 different kinds of greens we could enjoy this season? The only green I usually have is spinach. And it's NOT in season!
• The EAT page is from a notepad we use to write down our 7 meals for the week. We shop for those meals on Sundays (together, when we can) and have them to pick from every night when we stare at each other and ask, "What do you want for dinner?" For example, meals for this week: Hummus and vegetable platter; thai style noodles with vegetables and tofu in peanut sauce; good old fashioned spaghetti; Italian grain meat sausages (made with eggplant, fennel, garlic, and red pepper) and potatoes au gratin; Israeli couscous with pine nuts, parsley, and assorted goodies; chile relleno casserole (featured in our last post).
• Our latest borrowed recipe - Vegetable Stroganoff from Jess, copied from Heaven's Banquet (both her's and our favorite new cookbook).
• The photo of the cow is from a magazine, and the text reads, "The average American meal travels about 1,500 miles to get from farm to plate." - The Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture.
• A list of vegetarian sources of protein. As you can see, the list is very long, with many options. Our most common daily sources of protein are whole grains, soy milk, beans, peanut butter, seeds, nuts, mushrooms, lentils, and tofu. 6.) A small index card that lists different types and information for whole grains...because I have no idea! (I have yet to try millet, amaranth, and spelt).

I have always had a hard time working with the bright blue color of our walls, but recently I have settled into using neutrals like ivory, grey, white, and brown (as opposed to lots of bright, primary colors like I had done before) and a splash of complimentary orange/coral/maroon. I like to think that I make it all work for such a tiny space, but I'm usually frustrated and uncertain when it comes to kitchen decor.

Because I am not the real cook of the kitchen, I focus my energy on decorating it. I simultaneously try to appease my inner-snob with well-designed if not designer pieces, and my inner-concsience by using found or used objects, natural woods and ceramics, or non-toxic cleaners. *God, if I could only rid the habit of using 1,000 paper towels every day.

And that's IT. That is our kitchen. There is another cabinet for food/spices, and a refridgerator. It is VERY SMALL. Also, the bright blue paint is off and on the bain of my existence, but I have to admit it photographs well.

Decorating: Zen Retreat & Pet Closet

This is a lovely parlor-turned-zen-retreat that I keep meaning to share. It's Lorri & Carmen's entry room to their home & Lorri just redecorated what was a formal dining space to a more casual spot for relaxation. I wish I had a picture of the before....It was beautiful with a clean, white, classic look--So the change was drastic! Isn't it great? My favorite aspects are the wall color (brave Lorri!), the Buddha fountain, plush rug, and trunk-like stool.

I've had the decorating bug myself, but we aren't in a position to carry out any major work that I would like to. So tonight? I redecorated the pet closet. Oh yes. Rocco, Hobbes, and I sat down and discussed color swatches, what they hoped the space would achieve for them, and how to make it a bit more Martha Stewart so I wouldn't mind cleaning the litter box everyday. The result?













A hand-knit catnip-filled fish dangles from the doorknob and inside, Hobbes' pink litter box (a gift from Auntie Gayle) with brand new litter--Feline Pine! (We're going for a more environmentally friendly litter. I hope it works because I'm tired of coughing and having a headache when I scoop that clay stuff in his box.)























Top shelf: Feline Pine, kitty bubbles by SmartyKat, Bitter Apple anti-chew spray. Middle shelf: Egg Press dog and lion illustrations, baskets with grooming tools and another hand-knit catnip-filled toy by George. Bottom shelf: Brown bags & a scooper, royal lion illustration by Sukie, box liners, Pure Ayre odor-eliminator spray, and the Dog Owner's Manual. (I also used craft paper to add color to the back of the wall.)

At Work

Wifey:

Hubby:

(Special occasion shmoozing)

Blankies for Future Baby

Only the best because I am blanky obsessed. (Seriously. If you know me, you know it's true. I've had a blanky since I was born. Currently I have 3. No, I don't even rotate them; I sleep with 3 every night.) Here are my choice picks (second only to homemade-with-love blankies):


[From: Aden + Anais, Kiwi Industries, David Fussenegger, and Under the Nile]

Gifts!

Spoiler Alert: Rachel do not scroll down if you do not want to know what is in your package!

We (okay, maybe just me) have been having fun shopping lately for future-babies. Last Sunday I went to a shower for Christie, and today I sent off a package to Tom & Rachel. Here's some of the goods that received approval from my snobby self (Ahem, I really have a very selective, designer taste when it comes to the construction, look, and feel of things. Poor Dan found us in the baby aisle at Target much longer than he probably anticipated, with me shaking my head at almost everything he picked out):

(For Darren and Christie's future-baby)


(For Tom and Rachel)

Our Organic Finds for Future-Baby

(Under the Nile - 100% organic cotton)


(Under the Nile - 100% organic cotton)

(Snail Says....! Oh! Angels Organics - 100% organic cotton)

(Red Cap Cards - 100% organic cotton)

(Pure Organics - 100% organic cotton)

(Sense Organics - 100% organic cotton)

(Kate Quinn Organics - 100% organic cotton)