A Homemade Life

Last night I went to my local Library, and listened to Molly Wizenberg share her inspiration for this book!

I have to admit, I have never gone to listen to an author before, but have gone to two in the last month...it helps that they have been so close as my library...and have loved it!

I loved hearing Molly share about her Dad, her love of preparing and sharing food, and hearing others in the audience mention that they tried some of her recipes from the book and LOVED them (the chocolate cake was a BIG hit..and Molly even made them for her wedding cake!)

Molly lives here in Seattle and is author of the blog Orangette.  I also learned that she and her hubby Brandon opened Delancey, a NY style wood fired pizza place, in Ballard that I am anxious to try.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it!

Speaking of "homemade"...I shared THIS recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte last Fall, and it is so delicious.

However, it you are not wanting to buy the "jug" :) of Pumpkin Pie Sauce (if you share this with a friend it works out great!) or the sugar content....then Lori has shared a recipe for a  version using REAL pumpkin!!  I can't wait to give it a try!

AND...on another "homemade" note...I had seen this on another blog, I can't remember which one...but knew I needed to make this for Lucy and her Baby :)

a milk jug swing!! :)

Have a great day!

New Shoes for Lucy~

Shoe shopping for Lucy is fun, but it comes with it's challenges.

Lucy has mild hemiplegia on the left side of her body, this in turn has, due to less function, made her hand and foot smaller than her right side.

Lucy has a custom orthotic that she wears on her left foot, and a custom insole for her right foot...those tend to fit better into running type shoes, so when we buy those we buy them big enough for the orthotic to fit into.

However, we need other shoes.  Shoes for dresses, when we don't want to wear her orthotic.  If I buy her a pair to fit her right foot, the left shoe is MUCH too big (about a size and a half too big) for her left foot, and just causes her to trip, so I find myself buying her shoes that JUST fit her right to accommodate her left.

When we went school shopping, we went to Nordstrom to find her some cute dress shoes...as the girl fitted her, she mentioned the 2 DIFFERENT sizes that Lucy would need.  I asked if they would be fitting her to her larger foot, and the sweet girl looked at me and said, "No, we will fit each foot separately.  She needs two different sizes and that is what we will sell you".

I had "heard" of this from a friend whose teenage son needed two different sizes, but had really forgotten about it at the time.

I LOVE Nordy's anyway, but this policy is one more reason I will continue to buy Lucy's shoes there!

I have to share...I posted a "thank you" on Nordstrom's Facebook page about this policy, and a week later I received a phone call from them thanking ME for taking the time to let them know how pleased I was...now THAT is great customer service!!

Wordless Wednesday~

Fabulous Fall {and Pinterest}!

My most favorite time of year is here!

Not only is it my favorite for the colors, but for the fashion...I LOVE fall fashion

and, I LOVE Pinterest!  Have you started pinning??  You can see my boards here...it is fun and a great way to keep "inspiration" filed away!

These outfits have been pinned and repinned on so many boards, and for very good reason, they are so cute and so easy to duplicate!

I also found this cute idea on Pinterest too!

It is from HERE, and she has kindly provided the free printable

my family is SO doing this!

So, what about you??  Do you love Fall as much as I do??

Powell Weekending!!!

Friday night there was a knock at the door...Blake made Lucy go answer it with him....and there was POWELL!!

Blake, Bennett and Toby knew he was coming home for the weekend, but Lucy and I were SO surprised!  I had been really missing him this last week (well...every week!!), but I really just needed to hug him...so for almost 48 hours, I did just that!!  

Powell seemed "different"...he has always been mature, responsible, funny...but coming home this weekend he REALLY seemed so "grown up" , a kind, funny, smart, engaging, handsome MAN!!

ahhh...I "filled up" as much as I could, but it was hard to see him go :( , but I love that he is having the time of his life and doing great in school!

That's my Boy Guy!!!!

Lucy's Day! {part 2}

After our big day at the American Girl store...we headed home to prepare Lucy's birthday dinner.

Her requests this year, Homemade Mac and Cheese, Green salad, and fruit salad ...

and an ice cream cake!

We set the table together and decided to go with a hot pink and black theme.  We ran around the house and started pulling things in those colors and this is what we came up with!

Lucy's best friend Camryn came over to celebrate with the rest of the family :)

"Cheers" to good friends!

...and there couldn't have been a better surprise, than a birthday card from Powell straight from WSU!

Lucy is CRAZY for puzzles right now...she loves doing them over and over...she is up to 100 pieces!!

Now she can "represent" for Powell!!!

(Lucy hates the flash on the camera...that is why her eyes are half closed :) 

Grammy and Papa♥

Aunt Deanna♥

Daddy's Girl♥

The brothers♥

Mommy's Girl♥

Happy Birthday Lucy Joy!

May all your wishes come true!

xoxo

Lucy's Day! {part 1}

This year for Lucy's birthday, we did things a little different :)

She LOVES the American Girl catalog, and had been looking at it for quite a few months with MANY things circled :).  She decided that for her birthday she wanted to go to the AG store herself and choose her gifts, rather than me ordering them (I made sure she understood that she wouldn't have gifts to open in the morning, and that was fine with her!)

 So, on Saturday morning we greeted her with lots of "Happy Birthday's", a singing I-Carly card, and her gift from her YeYe and Frankie.

Lucy then ate her special request breakfast

"egg in a hole"

(bird in a nest, one eyed toast...so many names!)

Of course, after she was dressed and ready to go, we did a little

birthday photo shoot :)

....then a little "twirling"

It was then time to pick-up Grammy and drive to the American Girl store!

I have had the "little dream" :) of taking Lucy to get her first AG doll at either the Chicago or NYC store :) when she was 7 or 8, the perfect excuse since we didn't have a store here in Seattle.  Well, this summer they opened a store, BUT ....Lucy did not want a doll this year, she wanted accessories for her AG Bitty Baby she received for Christmas 3 years ago...SO, that still leaves the door wide open (in my opinion) for a little trip next year!!!!

I thought maybe once we got into the store, Lucy would decide she wanted a doll instead, but she did not waiver, she knew exactly what she wanted for her baby!

Lucy ended up with two outfits, a changing table, and a travel carrier for her baby.
Once we paid for her things, she was ready to go...

Our little American Girl!!