Notes of a Middle Child

Orla Loot!

My husband was in London for business last week and I asked if he could pretty please make a stop at Orla Kiely and pick up this stem print mug I'd been coveting.  It's the only thing there I can afford and I couldn't bring myself to actually pay to have it shipped from the UK.  Now, my husband is very sweet and in the beginning of our dating life was even a bit of a romantic, but, as with most couples, we've sort of settled into our less romantic, but satisfying life together.  So it's especially a thrill when he does make an unexpected romantic gesture.  Apparently the mug I wanted was not for sale in their store as that print/color combo was "out of season."  Undeterred, my husband picked out a different beautiful mug for me and asked if they had anything else in the print I liked.  Why yes, they did - a lovely wallet!  It just so happens that the $8 street fair wallet I've had for the past few years has recently come unsewn and I've been dropping change on the floors of every store in Manhattan and Brooklyn I've set foot in.  I don't want to know how much this Orla wallet costs - I'm just going to appreciate it and the gesture!  (And the cute fabric bag the mug came in).

In other, less consumer news, we'll know in about a week whether we're having a baby girl, boy or a llama.  Fingers crossed for the llama! 

A little Latin geekiness

I know - finally a bit of sewing!  My college friend, Josh, has a 10-month old baby boy and the idea for this appliqued hoodie had been rattling around in my brain for pretty much 10 months.  Josh and I bonded over Latin in college and joke about starting up a Brooklyn Latin Club.  "Puer" is Latin for boy, but I snicker at the double meaning of "one who poohs." 

Despite my earlier complaints, I am starting to feel more energetic now that I'm firmly in the 2nd trimester.  And I've even been sleeping better lately.  There are still tons of things that have fallen by the wayside (the Christmas cards I bought and never sent for example), but I guess that's just how it's going to be for a little while.

I even interrupted my usual weekend couch time to spend most of it outdoors.  Saturday at an aborted ice skating birthday party (Teach for America held an event and rented ALL the skates - thanks, guys) which turned into a trip to a Harlem bakery and a walk in and around Central Park with the birthday girl and her friends.  On Sunday my husband and I decided to go on a long walk for some exercise.  We headed to Prospect Park and then, in a fit of spontaneity, headed over to the Prospect Park Zoo.  I hadn't been there in years and was bummed that it was only open for 45 more minutes by the time we arrived.  But it's a small zoo and you can see most of it in 45 minutes if you try.  My favorite animals had to be the grey kangaroos.  One of them even had a little Joey peeking out.  The sea lion feeding was also a highlight and worth the $6 admission alone.  An early bird Mexican dinner in the Slope hit the spot before heading home to put up our feet for the rest of the night. 

The husband's gone all next week on a business trip to London and I'm already envisioning how productive I'll be.  For some reason, I spring into action when I'm alone in the apartment and turn into a cleaning, straightening, cooking machine.  Maybe it has something to do with feeling free to blast cheesy music while I work. 

My imaginary child - update

Does anyone remember my post about buying clothes for my imaginary children back in February?  I'm happy to share with you that I no longer have to use my imagination!  I can just look down at my expanding belly for a reminder that this child is real.  (And so is the chub!).  I'm in the 15th week which puts our due date in the third week of June.  It's been an extremely easy pregnancy so far which, of course, I feel lucky about, but it also makes the whole thing seem a bit surreal.  But also thrilling.

I hit a milestone last week by breaking down and buying my first official maternity garment - a comfy pair of Liz Lange cords from Target which made the 6 hour car ride home for the holidays much more comfortable.  I'm in that in-between stage of not really showing, but having gained enough weight that most of my clothes are snug.  At least now that we've begun telling people I can feel less self-conscious about the weight and my baggier wardrobe. 

As I said, I've had very few symptoms of prenancy (zero morning sickness - hooray!) with the exception of being tired - a lot.  It's like I have narcolepsy.  I hit a certain point in the day and I just absolutely need a nap.  Which, working a full-time job, isn't always possible!  I keep hearing that I'm going to feel more energetic now that I'm in the 2nd trimester, but show me the money!!

As you may have noticed from my radio silence, I haven't been at the sewing machine in months (with the sole exception of making two draft dodgers for a friend that I forgot to photograph).  But I'm hoping this will change as I have all kinds of plans for making baby clothes and blankets and whatever else strikes my fancy.  Stay tuned...! 

Nana Besig's Russian Tea

I gave up coffee last November (sniff...), but had allowed myself "special occasion" coffee which I loosely defined as:

a) after an expensive meal in a restaurant
b)  on major holidays
c) costing more than $4 in a shop. 

However, in the past few months I'd started slipping down that slippery coffee slope and having a half cup most mornings.  I have nothing against coffee except I didn't like that I'd become somewhat addicted.  I didn't need it to get going in the morning the way my groggy husband does, but I enjoyed the morning ritual of making it and, of course, loved the taste and aroma.  But I found that if I skipped it I would get a terrible headache around 3-4 pm.  This bothered me.  So I figured I could either make sure I NEVER missed my morning cuppa or I could give it up altogether.  Since I plan on getting pregnant one of these days I figured I may as well just forgo it in anticipation of wanting to ease up on caffeine during my "baby years." 

As far as I know, Grandma "Nana" Besig wasn't Russian, but she made Russian tea every winter for my mom and my mom, in turn, made it for my sisters and I.  I have found that it perfectly satisfies my usual craving for coffee.  I did some Google searches for other recipes, but they all seemed to involve instant tea mixed with Tang and/or lemonade crystals.  That sounds pretty good too, but I think it's worth sharing the real version.  At least dearly departed Nana Besig's version.

Nana Besig's Russian Tea

Make 1/2 gallon of very strong black tea (8 cups water w/4 tea bags steeped at least 5 min.)

Boil the following for 10 minutes:

2 cups sugar (or less)
2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
grated rind of 2 oranges & 2 lemons

After about 10 minutes, remove the cloves and add the above to your tea along with the juice from your oranges & lemons as well as a 6 oz. can of frozen orange juice.  Heat until tea is warm - about 5 minutes, longer if you like yours very hot.  Will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

The above is the traditional recipe, but I do make a few of my own tweaks which you may or may not wish to follow. 

- I use less sugar, closer to 1.5 cups.  You could even try a cup to start and then add a little more to taste.
- Instead of ground cinnamon I use one cinnamon stick which I remove with the cloves. 
- I use less zest - from 1 orange and 1 lemon.  It sinks to the bottom and you end up with a big mouthful of zest at the end which I'm not a fan of.  You could also use all the zest while cooking and then strain it out for drinking.

Enjoy!!

Finally Fall

Greetings from a lackadaisical blogger!  It's been a few weeks since I checked in, but I assure you it's just been a busy, busy time, but all is good.  I'll fill you in on a few of my adventures.

In mid-October my husband, sister and I headed out of the city to the Finger Lakes region of New York State, near where I grew up.  I try to get back every fall and usually miss the peak foliage, but this year we were a bit early as most of the leaves were still green.  Since I usually bring my husband home only for the holidays when there are lots of structured events and obligations (whoops, I mean traditions), we decided to make this a low-key weekend without any real plans.   Above is the view of Keuka Lake from the winery of Dr. Konstantin Frank where we met a few friends for a wine tasting.  "Dr. Frank" is known for Rieslings which are one of my favorite wines to drink.  After our tasting we headed into the small town of Hammondsport and were lucky to run into a fall festival with a cool little bluegrass band.  It's a cute town with a little square and all the businesses on the square competed in a scarecrow decorating contest.  Here's my favorite:

The rest of the short weekend was spent with my mom and walking around town.  One night after dinner we took a little amble around the neighborhood and were literally stopped in our tracks by the sight of an 8 foot bear - stuffed - in the front window of one of the grander homes in town.  We knew the house had changed hands recently, but can't believe gossip of the bear hadn't reached us.   The bear was lit up and in a sort of menacing pose and I could see a bunch of other game hanging on the walls.  I so wish I had a better photo to show you so you could appreciate the...ridiculousness, I guess...of this bear.  In one sense it was rather beautiful and looked like a panorama from the Museum of Natural History, but, come on (!) who puts a bear in their window??

That's it for now.  Who knows, maybe I'll be back with some sewing projects soon.  Dare to dream!

Oh, to live on Happy Street!

Happy Street, where flowers bloom, doggies romp, and every day is your birthday.  Oh wait, today IS my birthday! 

The big 3-4 which is actually feeling pretty old right now.  I can no longer claim "early 30s" and have to adopt the "mid-30s" moniker.  I don't know about you, but most of the time I feel about 14.  My favorite thing about birthdays is not answering your phone.  Then, at the end of the night, listening to all your well-wishing messages.  I especially like that a lot of people sing you Happy Birthday 0 sometimes well (like my musician brother-in-law and sister), sometimes not so well (everyone else). 

I used to try to plan a big birthday outing with all my friends - bowling or a bar - but found that organizing it stressed me out.  So now I try to do nothing for my birthday except get taken out to dinner by my husband.  And I pamper myself a little.  Today I'm going to walk a few extra blocks to get my favorite chai beverage before work.  And I'll probably spend at least 20 minutes this morning debating the merits of my favorite takeaway lunch spots before treating myself to a nice lunch.  Of course it wouldn't be a birthday with presents, so I also picked up some on-sale Superbuzzy fabrics as a gift to myself.  I am the best gift giver ever!

 

Etsy softies

As long as Sophie doesn't do her business on my small stump, she can stay.

I've been fulfilling my love of sewing and crafting vicariously through some Etsy buys.  Sophie is the sweet creation of Mirkah.  The Ciancosi family down the street from my childhood home had a Dachshund and, between you and me, I never liked her.  To my knowledge she never bit anyone, but you always felt like she might.  Or she at least wanted to.  But Sophie has been perfectly behaved since her arrival. 

My small stump (made by, who else, Small Stump) reminds me of a stump that was halfway between my childhood home and that of my best friend, Margie.  No matter which direction we were headed, we always met at the stump at the appointed time - after ensuring the clocks on our microwaves were in sync of course (it was, after all, 1.5 blocks away).

And I'm one day late wishing you a Happy October!  It's always been my favorite month - the month of my birth, but also the month of sweaters, pumkins, falling leaves, and cider.  Have a happy one!

Alone in the Kitchen with Pickles

Oh, wait, that would be my book.  On my bedstand at the moment is Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  It's a compilation of essays about cooking and eating by yourself.  The title comes from a Laurie Colwin essay which also kicks off the book.  She's one of my favorite feel-good authors and I was also happy to see that Eggplant concludes with an essay by her daughter, Rosa Jurjevics.  It's the perfect book to read before bed because you can flip randomly to an essay rather than read them in order - shorter ones on nights when you can barely keep your eyes open.  Jeremy Jackson (a college classmate of mine) writes of his love for the simple black bean; Colin Harrison details his quest to replace his familiar lunchtime spot after it closes; editor Jenni Ferrari-Adler describes her meals for one and as she attempts to elude loneliness after a move to Michigan for grad school. 

Some days I miss cooking for just myself.  When I moved in with my now-husband, meals became more of an event with a protein, a starch and a vegetable whereas single me thought cheese and crackers and a sliced apple was a perfectly lovely dinner.  I revert to my old ways when my husband is out of town and either cobble together a meal from whatever's around or be sure to make things he doesn't like - pesto, for example (who doesn't like pesto I ask!).

Confess, what weird thing do you make for yourself when you're all alone (with or without an eggplant)?

Another week without sewing (sigh...)

   

Just because I didn't sew anything this week is no reason not to post, right?  It was a busy week including a day trip to DC for a meeting at the Pentagon which was kind of wild.  In case you're curious, there is a McDonalds and a CVS drug store (among many other interesting things) inside the Pentagon.  And I don't even mean in some ground floor public area.  They're deep into the building on the 2nd or 3rd floor.  It's a whole other world in there. 

I came across these Denyse Schmidt scrap bags here and wanted to share - what a cool idea!  These would be great for patchwork or little projects or just to use as reference before investing in some yardage.

Another super-cool find this week:  Charley Harper Cross Stitch! (via Fancy Schmancy)

 

You can see lots more here.  "Carrie," you say "I didn't know you cross stitched?"  Details, details...  Maybe I'll learn!  I've always thought cross stitch patterns were so, excuse me, country crafty if you know what I mean, so was thrilled to find these modern designs.  Am I missing out?  Are there other cool cross stitch patterns I should know about? 

Moda Blossom Fabric

 

I'm a sucker for anything "bird" so I was excited to see the new Moda Blossom fabrics.

See more at Z&S (who is having a store-wide 10% off sale ending tonight!).