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!

Baby Jesus and Mr. O.

 

This is Baby Jesus.   He is my son's lovey.  None of my kids have ever had a 'blankie' or a specific lovey that they couldn't sleep without.  Until now.  Until Baby Jesus.  Our Mr. O. has always loved babies, and when his big sister took all of hers back, he was left with NONE.  That is until he found Baby Jesus.  Baby Jesus is just about two inches tall and came in the arms of his mother, Mary:

 

She was a gift from the kids' Fairy God parents.  Mary is safely tucked away in Miss Mae's room, but Mr. O. has taken Baby Jesus and will. not. let. go.  He can't sleep without him.  He sets a place for him at our table.  He buckles him into his stroller and pushes him around.  He calls him, "Baby Jesus."  He feeds him with a doll bottle that is two times his size.  Did I mention Baby Jesus is 2" tall?!  

It is very, very, sweet but DOES solicit quite a few giggles from all of us. "Don't throw Baby Jesus!"  and "Uh-oh, we lost Baby Jesus again!"  And every night before drifting off to sleep, O. says, "I love you Baby Jesus."

We all adore Baby Jesus but I was afraid he would lose him for good and would be devastated.  I also thought he needed a baby that would fill his arms - one he could really snuggle with all night.  We found this amazing woman on etsy.  She also writes a lovely blog that I would like to escape into for even just one day.  To be able to make the things she makes!!!  Find her at Driaa.  She was a dream to work with and makes personal dolls, too.  She'll make them perfect for your little person down to the embroidered shoes and hand knitted sweaters!  Look at Queen Elizabeth!!

(Mr. O. was asleep when he arrived in the mail and I ripped him out of bed to open the package.  He was a little groggy and grumpy...):

 

This is how our  new baby arrived, complete with a sweet sewn heart on a ribbon:

 

and he came with his own personal blanket!!

 The new baby is yet to be named, but he is clearly part of our family now.  Baby Jesus is still #1 in Mr. O.'s heart, but that is kind of how it should be!

West Elm Has Free Holiday Printables!

West Elm has free printables! So great!  This is the Botanical Suite for gifting:

 

 There are four suites:  Botanical, Animal, Snowflake, and Graphic, and all four come in the gifting option like I've shown, as well as an entertainment package with menu cards, labels and place cards.  Great idea!

Holiday Shopping

One of the many pitfalls along the path of losing one's mind is the annual holiday shopping.  I used to be able to keep exhaustive lists of each recipient in my head along with a running tally of about how much I'd spent on each.  I've never been so organized as to have a monetary cap that I tried to stay under, however.  This is a *fantastic* idea that hadn't occurred to me until now.  I've always just tried REALLY hard to keep costs down, make what I could manage (read: stay up all night sewing the day before the last day of ensured delivery at the P.O., or aforementioned recipients will be opening said gifts), and prayed for the best.  I have a round figure for what the big gift Santa leaves will cost and about how much a few smaller ones will cost for each kid.  Now that we are up to 3 kids, and my brain is slowly leaving the building, I need to get organized.  I've already ordered and received packages, hidden them, and CAN'T FIND THEM.  I received this in my in-box today.  It is a HOLIDAY. BUDGET.  It is from Google docs, so it is clunky and there are no totals or anything. I *do* know how to use the sum function, and I *could* put it in myself, but instead I opened my trusty Excel, scanned through the loaded templates and found this:

 

here it is bigger (NOT my numbers):

It is a COMPLETED spreadsheet!  We aren't going anywhere for Christmas, so there is actually MORE information than I need.  And doesn't everyone have BOXES of wrapping and lovely tags left over from over shopping the sales last year?  More zeros for my budget!!  I'm a little giddy.  And I haven't even put any of our info in yet!  You should *totally* check out YOUR Excel spreadsheets, or click here, and make holiday budgets.  I'm going to.  As soon as I can find that damn box of presents that is hidden somewhere in this house!!

Shop For Makenzie Day in Portland!

Next weekend Cat in an Apron will join 12 other awesome (I simply can't break that WORD - I quit using it for about 20 years and then my son started using it and it is BACK) retailers at Purple Moon on Northeast Broadway.  I'll finish up my Christmas shopping!
AND Cat in an Apron will have *giant* markdowns.  We are talking *huge*.

Shop For Makenzie Day!

Our shop for Makenzie day was a huge success!  Our list of incredible retailers are so generous to help out a fellow mama / mamapreneur / family in need.  Erin Shirey wrote the most beautiful letter of thanks.  They have allowed Makenzie to go home to strengthen herself for the surgeries ahead of her.  They are at the hospital every day, and now Erin is taking care of the normal things we do at home everyday AND is a 24 hour nurse to Miss Makenzie.  I know how harried I am by the end of my days!  And at the same time, how wonderful to be able to hold Miss M. in her arms and let her sleep in her own bed. 

I'm so proud to be part of this amazing group of people who have rallied around this awesome family.  I'll let you know how much we get to send her when all of the paperwork dust has settled.  And don't forget the "donate" button will stay on our Shop for Makenzie page - feel free to use it or send people to it.

AND don't forget Cat in an Apron and more incredible vendors will be at our Shop for Makenzie day here in Portland at Purple Moon!

The Halloween Birthday Party

AND here are some pics of the Halloween Birthday party.  Mr. H. turned 8, but there were kids from 2 to 9 years old with us.  Here are the "goody bags".  I gave them out throughout the party as they "won" things.  We filled as many glass jars as we could find with water and food coloring to make it look like an apothecary/scary lab.  I put cauliflower in green, twisty leaves in brownish orange....

The kids came in to our kitchen table and cut out masks from Brian Gubicza Illustration.  I had cut black ribbon in the pretty little crystal and silver dishes in the middle of the table.  The kids just cut out the masks, punched holes, threaded the ribbons, and voila!  Masks!  Everyone came in costume, but I always like to have a an activity part of the dressing up aspect of the party in case anyone feels left out with what they are wearing.

 Once everyone had arrived we played our first game, wrap a mummy!  I split the kids into 2 teams and they wrapped one of their team members in the entire roll.  First to the end of the roll wins!!  It was hysterical and got a lot of the wiggles out.

Next we had taped all of the pieces of a plastic skeleton around the house for the kids to find.  They did find them, in record time, and put Mr. Bones back together.
The rest of the party was spent noshing on yummy Halloween-y treats, freeze dance (if you've never watched 10 second graders dance their hearts out, I *totally* recommend it!!  TOO funny.  And adorable.), and an impromptu game of toilet paper limbo.  A grand afternoon, indeed.

 

 

 

Yes, that is a gummy worm coming out of a bear skull.  Good times, good times.