Stay With Me!

I'm redesigning my blog and will be posting again after I close down the Cat in an Apron shopping site, tonight at midnight.

I'd love it if you would stay with me on my new adventures! Here is a little loveliness while you wait.  These sculptures are from Anna-Wili Highfield:

Each one is made of hand painted, archival cotton paper that she tears and sews together.  The are stunning.

Thank You for the Orders!

Thank you all so much for all of the orders!  It is a fantastic way to go, for sure.  HOWEVER, we are a bit bogged down, and running out of so much.  Please bear with us as we get through them!

BIGGER sale.

Tomorrow we'll start an even BIGGER sale.
60% off!!
I'm not joking.  I didn't slip.  I said 60% off.  This is the biggest sale we've ever done.  It is time to close the doors of Cat in an Apron, and I'd like to send our inventory out to all of you!
This will start at midnight tonight - July 10 - and last for one week only.

just enter:  thankyou60    at checkout.

Thank you for supporting Cat in an Apron.  It has been a fantastic ride.

The Big SALE!

Yippeee!  A sale!  I love sales.

I'm going to start with a 50% off sale.  As inventory gets lower, I'll add more incentives, but we are already running out of almost all of our blankets, so if you have your eye on something, order it now. 

When you check out, enter: endofdays  in the discount window, and you'll get 50% off your ENTIRE order. 

Now is a good time to get onesies for your baby or stock up for gifts! 

 And we have brand new Flipside Hats for older girls that have just been put on the site and THEY are 50% off, too. 
Everything is. 
Your whole order. 
50% off.

(Did I already say, "YIPPEEEEE"?)

A Sad Day...

I've come to a decision that has been bubbling for some time now.  I haven't been posting because I've been trying to figure out WHAT is going to happen with Cat in an Apron.  After many tears and lists and pacing, I've decided to close it down.  I'm working on new things, and I'm going to keep this blog open after all. I still have so many things I see every day that I would like to share.  I'd love it if you would stick around with me and see the new blog and the new direction.

I'm working on a giant sale to finish the rest of our inventory.  I'll have the details VERY soon.  And I'll share the new project I've been working on as well.

Cheers to you all, and thank you so much for supporting Cat in an Apron!

Proud Moment

My husband turned on the T.V. in another room this morning.  The announcer's voice was blamming on about what I thought was the superbowl (clearly I'm not into sports...).  He called to my daughter:  "Mae, come see what these girls are doing!!" 

I thought, "this is it! This is the moment where she is being told to watch the cheerleaders and not the MEN playing the sport".  My  heart sank, but I rationalized it with, "well, those professional cheerleaders ARE amazing athletes, and just because they are wearing short skirts doesn't make them any less of an athlete," along with the other litanies I had repeated to myself and anyone else who would listen when *whispering* I was a cheerleader. 

*Okay, I was never THAT kind of cheerleader!*

I told myself we weren't endangering her gender realities or her self image or feelings about the condition of her bellybutton for the rest of her life, because they are just cheerleaders!  and they ARE girls!!  And it is okay for girls to be cheerleaders!! But I was also planning a loooong lecture on her ability to play ANY sport, including cheerleading if that was her desire because girls aren't relegated to the sideline sports...  blah, blah, blah....

I turned the corner into the living room wiping my hands and preparing to start my amazing mother lecture series to see a ladies' moguls competition on that damn t.v.!!!  My husband hadn't called her in to see cheerleaders (not that there is anything WRONG with that) at ALL!!  He was showing her how those skiers were leaning forward and, "see how fast they turn??" and "YOU could ski like that, too, Mae!"

I'm a proud mama and a proud wife.  Those bumps skiers kicked ass.  And so does my husband.

Giant Plates and Cowboy Boots. Or: When I Grow Up.

I saw a woman interviewed on Tyra once (don't judge.) who had described a man's personality by what shoes he wears.  She wrote a whole book about it. 

I also saw a woman on a morning news show talking about being able to categorize a marriage and even its future by how two people sleep:  spooning all night = one is in charge and the other likes to be taken care of, a happy ending was surely in their future.  Back to back sleeping CLEARLY screamed the inability to look each other in the eye and most likely deep seeded hate.  These poor souls where on the freeway to divorce.

As I was unloading my dishwasher for the millionth time I was doing a little categorizing of my own.

After eight years of life as a stay at home mom with half of a normal salary to support the 5 of us, my shoes are in a very sorry state and don't even deserve to be photographed.  I'm pretty sure my husband and I sleep in the same bed, but if you asked me which directions, I'd be unable to answer - we are so happy to get ANY sleep at this point making it to the bed at all is an accomplishment. I do however, spend a LOT of time in my kitchen feeding these starving, chirping birdies who depend on me.

I've always known that we were a "top shelf" dishwasher kind of family; tons of bowls and glasses, not as many plates.  Today though, I realized my grown up size plates are sadly sitting untouched in  my cupboard.  Why don't we use the big plates?  

Does our lack of use of adult size plates mean my husband and I have thrown in the towel and eating on the "salad plates" and even on occasion flower or pirate ship shaped plates mean our romance is dead forever?  

Does it mean I'm horribly lacking complete meals?  I do feel VERY proud when I make a real dinner, and the definition of real to me is one that didn't come from a frozen cardboard box, so who on earth is making enough sides to fill up one of those gigantic plates?!  If I served a typical dinner I've prepared on such an enormous plate, the amount of white space would blind my family and then working on food presentation would be dashed forever.

Do the stacks and stacks of plastic Ikea cups and plates mean we have NO pizzaz?  That our love life is dull and scratched like the once gleaming plastic that caught my eye that day at Ikea? That we are on the road to paper plates covered with hamburger helper with a side of koolaid? 

Do the dusty boxes of my wedding china that languish in my closet mean that I'll never entertain again?!

I'm pretty sure it means we are into our 8th year of baby parenthood and that it will all come back to us and we'll grow up and use the good china some day.  I can't really think about it right now, though - the timer just started shrilling telling me my family's dinner from a frozen cardboard box is done.  I think I'll pick the pirate plate tonight.

You Should Go HERE for Valentine's Day!

 I seriously adore Pix patisserie.  They opened right after my first baby was born and I've sort of watched them grow up with him.  I went to a bridal shower while I was newly pregnant with my second baby and they had a dessert table by Pix.  Oh.  The love affair was cemented.  You know how everything tastes like manna from heaven when you are blissfully pregnant??  (Shhhh!  mamas out there!! I know sometimes things taste evil and will NEVER cross your lips again, but some girls don't know yet and there ARE some preggo GOOD times!)  I was in one of the "these bits of heaven have made my life better" preggo moments and we feasted on Framboise, Pâte de Fruits, The Pixie's, and of course their French Macarons.  It turns out, that the fact that my skirt was riding incredibly high over my new baby bump DID have to do with being preggo, but the sublime tastes didn't.  Everything is even better now. 

I could write volumes about their Macarons, but you must just go there and try them.  OR order them!!  The colors are perfect, the crisp outer shell and creamy insides, ugh.  They are perfection.  The colors are perfect to coordinate with any party color scheme, as well.  (That reminds me, I have to order some for my son's First Communion party.) 

If you are here in Portland, Pix is hosting a lovely Valentine's Tea.  Treat you and your sweetie, or your daughter, or your mama to heart shaped macarons, oysters on the half shell, plenty of chocolate and a bottle of A. Margaine, Brut Rose Premier Cru Grower Champagne.  "Enjoy a total of 16 sweet and savory bite sized treats per person and 2 pots of tea from Townshend’s Tea House. $100 per couple including Champagne ($60 without)"

OR, order the Take-Out…Make-Out! ~ A Chinese pagoda box perfect for 2! Includes 2 truffles, 2 heart-shaped French macarons, Cocoanuts, Champagne Bubbles and a demi of sparkling wine. $23 with wine, $13 without:

 OR, holy crap, they have HEART shaped macarons!!!  They come in Chocolate, Raspberry or Fleur de Sel Caramel.  I'm dying...

Pix is very local, and very, very, very good.  I can't make it to Paris any time soon, so I let their gorgeous French atmosphere swallow me up, sip some strong coffee and nibble these little pieces of heaven and dream.

Valentine Cards For the Classroom

The kids picked out some Silly Bands valentine packages the last time we were at target, but I just can't be happy with them!  They are cute and I know the kids will like them - once they get home since they are no longer allowed in their school! - but I've never been happy with JUST a package from target!  I loves me some Target, don't get me wrong, but I've been thinking about cutting and gluing and folding and punching paper to give them a more hand made feel.  Imagine my delight when I came across these adorable designs from Scenerie!!  They are lovely, adorable, and more than just a card!  These will be transformed into finger puppets when my daughter's kindergarten class gets home:

 And I can just hear my son's second grade class going crazy over these adorable optical illusion cards!!

All they have to do is sign their names and tie a little ribbon holding the cards to the Silly Bands, and we are done!

PERFECT Christmas Card

This is SO funny!

All I want for Christmas is you (If you're holding a bunch of presents that are also for me.)
Perfect.  Please check out Sycamore Street Press!  This is a great online shop with stunning letterpress everything.  Here is another awesome one:

I think these people would be my friends.

And the Winner Is....

And the winner is:  LIZ eemoody77!! 

  

Congratulations! Awesome that you stayed home and avoided the crowds - now you get to spend the money you saved.  AND it is free!!  Thanks so much for posting!

Giveaway II

Hello!  Thanks for posting and following and fanning and etc. etc.  My littlest boy broke his arm in two places yesterday afternoon - from a very minor fall off the couch - hmmm.  well, it was more of a "let's see if I can walk off of the couch onto the back of my little push motorcycle and ride it around the room."  So after the evening at the ER and lots of holding him, I didn't get to choose a winner.  Right now he looks a little like he's been beat up and is, "starving" so I'm going to take care of him some more and hopefully choose a random winner this afternoon.
Since I know you are all sitting around waiting and tapping your fingers, you should *totally* go over to Tip Junkies and print out these smiles and mustaches.  They will make you laugh.  Or at least it will look like you are laughing while you hold up your smile!

Free Stocking Pattern

I know I've gushed about her before, but I simply adore Denyse Schmidt.  I'm pretty sure we would be fast friends and share ideas with each other and stay up all night sewing together.  We'd paint each other's fingernails and braid each other's hair - wait - that is my dream of what it would be like to have a sister - forget that last part....  She has done it again, not only has she created the MOST beautiful handmade stockings, but she is giving away the pattern for FREE.

This is such a great pattern, because like all of her designs, it is really open to personalizing it just for you and your kiddos!

Love it.  Oh please let me know if you make them!  I really want to, but I'm already running out of time with what I have to get done before Christmas!

Russian Tea, or, Is it Raining Where You Are?

It has started raining her in Portland.  If all goes the same this year, this should continue until the 4th of July.  This means it is going to be cold and damp for SEVEN. MORE. MONTHS.  It is raining so hard outside right now I can hardly hear myself think.  The only thing that can help that "I'm-so-freaking-cold-not-even-FIRE-can-reach-this" kind of cold is my new favorite thing in the universe, Russian Tea!

*RUSSIAN TEA*

I am new to this lovely, citrusy, steamy concoction, but I think I'm the number one fan.  My friend made a little canister for me a couple of years ago for Christmas and I have been rationing it out ever since.  My parents said it was a staple in Alaska as I was growing up, but I apparently was left out - clearly everyone else loved it as much as I do and people protected their shares.  Today my friend Kattah brought me a NEW tub of it and I almost hugged her and then immediately made myself a cup.

I started this blog when it was POURING rain in Portland and today I sit in the country watching it snow and snow and snow outside.  Snow is infinitely better than rain, but amazingly Russian Tea is JUST as fitting today.  I didn't bring what little I have left so I tried a hack version with some black tea and some powdered Wassail.  Simply not the same thing.  I had to find the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients

• 2 cups orange-flavored drink mix (e.g. Tang)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup instant tea powder
• 3/4 cup lemon-flavored instant tea powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine orange drink mix, sugar, tea powder, cinnamon and cloves. Mix well and store in an airtight container.
2. To serve, put 3 teaspoons of mix in a mug. Stir in 1 cup boiling water. Adjust to taste. 

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com but it seems to be pretty universal; a little more sugar here, a little less there.  If you are feeling ambitious, here is a *real* version that you could entertain with, but seriously, it isn't necessary, the original is fantastic and lasts and lasts.  It is a GREAT gift, as well - your friends will be as impressed and thankful as I am to Kattah!

Giveaway!

HEY!  Just in time for the holidays I'm going to do a giveaway with CSN!  You can choose from any of their stores: from luggage to toys to entertaining essentials!  I'll send the winner $35 gift code.  You can use it as you choose.  You can order from any of their over 200 online stores, from leather messenger bags to modern entertaining to holiday gifts for your kids.
I'm waffling about the looming black Friday tomorrow.  There are great deals out there, but staying inside while the snow falls and I'm WARM is very hard to pass up.  Enter my contest and you can mark one of the things off of your list and maybe sleep in an extra hour!
You could get your son one of these FOR FREE:

or TWO of these for your daughter and your niece:

or get this for a fraction of the price:

Or choose this lovely serving tray for entertaining:

 

You know the drill.  Leave a comment here telling me your plans for Black Friday, or what you did on Black Friday and you get one entry.  Tweet about it and post it here and get another.  Share it on Facebook and let me know, and I'll give you another. Become a  fan of this Cats in Aprons blog and leave a comment to let me know, and you get ANOTHER entry! **I meant become a fan of Cat on Facebook for an entry and FOLLOW this blog here for another entry.  Oy, the terminology these days!!**

I'll choose one of the comments at random on Tuesday, November 30th and I'll let you know who wins.

If you do brave the crowds, good luck!  I'll *probably* be toasting you with my warm cup of coffee although I will be surrounded by crazy crowds - my own family!