Boppy Cover #2

I think this one looks a lot better - no zipper across the top. The zipper makes much more sense to me inside the inner "U". I'm going to try to remember how to sew a zipper from my zipper clinic at Bolt!!

Here's the LINK.
I'm not sure if there are other parts to this website? Would love for it to be a blog....

I'm headed to the fabric store to figure this little bugger out!

Boppy Cover

I just found these instructions for making a boppy cover - a great idea for me as I've had mine for years and years, and it has a really awful alphabet cover on it. I never nursed as well with the boppy as I did with pillows, but I used it for a million other things from sitting on it when I broke my tailbone in delivery to propping the kidlets up before they could completely sit up. There are actually quite nice covers out there these days, but I'm thinking I'll save some $$ and make my own. (this is how i approach everything - including the $300 window seat box cushion I made for our kitchen window. I'm sure I could have bought it for half the price, but I have a knack for making things take longer and cost twice as much by making them myself.... THIS time, it absolutely should be cheaper!!)

I'm having these nesting cravings that come and go, and I think this project is much more doable than the curtains which are currently a stack of fabric boring holes into the back of my head as I sit here.... I'll let you know how it goes.

Just looking at the pattern - it seems strange to me that the zipper is across the whole top of it like that? I'm going to try to make one just using my old boppy cover. I think that will be easier. I'll let you know how THAT goes.

Ready Made

Oh, how I love READYMADE!! They are so stinking hip and coooool and crafty and creative! I've yet to actually MAKE anything they suggest, but if i had an afternoon to make something totally cool out of my old milk cartons, theirs would be the first site I'd visit. So many great ideas.
Marcel DuChamp is looking down and smiling. Want to know more about him? Click here.

Brings me back to my early college years at Gonzaga when classes like speech 101 and drawing 101 and modern art 101 were how I spent my days. Aaaahhhh the simpler times. I loved those classes!! I looked forward to going to class!! Unfortunately that didn't last very long as I had to change schools and submerse myself in my major.

VODKA sauce!

I made the Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage I wrote about earlier - FANTASTIC!!! And it is pasta, sausage, and VODKA SAUCE!! Creamy, lovely, yumminess. The fontina cheese cost about $9 - a little spendy, but stretched out over 4-6 meals, not THAT bad. You could probably substitute mozzarella as a cheaper alternative, but it wouldn't have the amazing smoothness. The amount of sausage is perfect for the needed texture, and you can't even taste the spinach (I'm not a fan). I'm dying to read the book Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea Hell, I'm dying to drink VODKA again - this is cooked down, but I got to smell it as it did.

I doubled the recipe so I could stock our freezer a little, too. For some reason, I am ALWAYS using the wrong size pans. This time I used the biggest ones I had, and I was still overflowing. I ended up having to combine all of the ingredients in one giant bowl and the pasta pot in two sessions. The spinach has some trouble distributing, it kept clumping into big green balls, but cooking it in the pasta water is pretty genius, I think. I took one dish to my new parent friends, we had one for dinner, and I have 3 more in my freezer for non cooking nights!

My kids even gobbled it up. Well, Miss Mae gobbled it up, Henry wasn't quite as excited, but he did eat the noodles, and FINALLY tried a piece of sausage after which he screamed "that was a HOT DOG!!!! Why didn't you tell my they were HOT DOGS!?!?!?" I guess I didn't make the connection. Then he filled himself up with fruit and cheese....

A good crusty bread would go great with this one, too. A great dinner to take to someone would be a dish of this, a loaf of bread, and a salad.

So, my summation:

• Great dinner - yummy, creamy, goodness


• Kid friendly


• Good iron and roughage with spinach


• Can make with little effort


• Great freezing dish


• Used quite a few dishes, so cleanup wasn't GREAT (and what is it with washing melty cheese?? sheesh, it was EVERYWHERE in my sink)


• Lots of cheese if giving to a brand new mom - better for a "couple of weeks down the road" dish


• Most likely quite high in fat and calories with all of the cream, cheese, and sausage.

Mamapreneurs

I belong to a really great group of mom's who own their own businesses called Mamapreneurs, Inc. (formerly called Portland Mama's, Inc.). There are women who do everything from PR, to designers, to architects, to lawyers, to Midwives, etc. etc. I highly recommend joining if you own your own business or are thinking about it. The inspiration from these successful women is invaluable. We meet socially, for kid playdates, and for mama only business geared 'classes'. Some of the meetings I've attended are about securing business loans, some are showcasing successful companies in town and learning from their process and their goals. It is just a fantastic group of women, and I'm very honored to be a part of them.

I also blog on the site - check it out.

Another attempt at dinner for new parents

I'm sitting here downing glass after glass of water with lemon in it in preparation for my latest doc appt. After last week's "woooow, big jump this month!?" comment about my weight, I'm trying anything I can. I know it doesn't negate the giant box of Good and Plenty's I inhaled last night, but a girl can hope. I'm also going to change into the LIGHTEST clothes I own. It is sad. I know.

So I'm attempting another recipe for dear friends of ours who have just recently had a baby boy. This one has a bit of cheese in it, but he is almost a month old, so it should be okay for mom. The recipe says it is enough to make one, freeze one, so I'm going to double it and have it for dinner for us, and put a couple in the freezer as well. I'll bring it to them in a freezer container, so they can do the same or bake it now - whichever is more convenient.

I found this one on Martha, I still adore her. The recipe is for Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage and has spinach - healthy and impossible for me to eat if not completely incorporated into something else, sausage - makes Mr. friend happy, pasta - kids happy, and cream and cheese - ME happy.

I'm not going to post the whole recipe, but it is on Martha along with all of the great comments people write in. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

AAAHHHHH Puuurl...

I adore this website and this blog: purlsoho.com and purlbee.com ! I don't know how to do a THING with yarn, and I'm not exactly sure what I would do with a crocheted mushroom, but I adore looking at what they've done. And I love looking at all of the lovely colors of yarns! Maybe a little later life I'll be able to teach myself how to do some of their lovely crafts. Their sewing crafts are just beautiful, too. I'm so going to make some of them once we are done with this website!! This is one of their great projects/tutorials - so simple, and yet so fantastic.

They are an incredibly talented group of women in L.A. and New York. I dream about strolling into their store in New York and taking classes with them! The great thing, is they have such an amazing website, it is almost like I AM able to do that!

They have tutorials for SO many projects, it really is like you are taking classes from the best.

The fabrics for sale are also just the best of the best. You must check them out!