ithaca forever?

I'VE MOVED!

2011-05-01T00:38:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been so calm around here. But let me assure you: I used the break well enough - let me tell you what I did in the past couple of months (does that sound like a lame excuse? Well maybe it is one...):

1. I enjoyed this lovely invention called "Elternzeit" (literally: "Parents' time") that Germany offers to mothers and fathers and that allows you to spend up to 14 months at home with your kid(s) with 66% of your net pay, sponsored by the government. So since the weather is finally getting nicer and nicer, we went for walks, sat down in the garden, had many small and big friends over for homemade cake and bbqs, got to know the birds and bugs of our garden, studied the moves and sounds of our cats, looked at toys and books and identified all the things that makes us laugh out loud.

2. I made up my mind what else, beside the lovely things mentioned above, I want to do with my time while I don't have to go back to work. As anticipated, I really love being a mom and spending time with Javi, my hands started itching and my head started thinking of new things to make and sew. So I came up with this new project, called mes poulettes. It’s about having ideas, using your hands, making life a little bit sweeter, using pretty and good quality materials, making new out of old and loving what you do. Plus a little bit of French attitude which can never be bad.

So, my friends: I would be more than pleased if you followed me into this new adventure. I hope you like it and I hope to meet you over at my new website/blog.

scissors, ink, stamp... and chickens.

2011-04-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

Last night while Javi was asleep I sat in the living room and while watching random tv shows, I prepared some more things for my new project. Here's a little sneak peek:

We're experiencing some technical issues. Hope they will be solved soon, can't wait to share.

please stay tuned...

2011-04-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

Excusez-moi mes amis, I know, I know... loooooooong break. I have a good excuse, though! Please stay tuned, I'll share the news in a couple of days.

my new belated me

2011-01-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

Happy new year, ya'all. And I know I'm late.

The funny thing is: I've never been late before, I'm just not the being-late-type of person. I guess this is what they mean when they say that children change everything: Right now, I'm late all the time.

It's a bit challenging for me to accept that life has changed so much and that Javi now is the center of it - any minute, any second, day and night. Which means I start struggling when I:

try to finish something I started right away as I used to
bake all-lovely-from-scratch-homemade-especially spiced-organic samosas for a get together instead of just buying some croissants at the bakery (...as J told me to. I know I could have and nobody would have minded and it wouldn't have taken me all day - but I'm just happier that way.)
try not to forget birthday wishes and thank you notes
keep taking pictures, organize them, upload them to flickr and this blog, and print out some of them for my tactile memory
try to stay up-tp-date with the latest political and cultural events
be social with all of my friends
try to not wear the same each day.

These are things I used to be able to manage Pre-Javi, and now he's here and doesn't care a fig (which I love him for).

But this shows me once again: We're not perfect, we can't be. Instead, we should work on getting our priorities in order to be able to work on things, but also to let things go.

So would you please excuse me in case you won't see me around this space as often as before for some time.

P.s. I've had this light chain for 6 years and it died right after I took this picture. I took it as a good sign :)

happy two months, javi

2010-12-23T03:07:00.001-08:00

2 days and counting

2010-12-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

Javi's not in a good mood today. Basically, he's either asleep, or drinking, or crying - no other options seem possible.

Maybe he's just excited for Christmas. I am.

3 days and counting

2010-12-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

When I found out I was pregnant in spring this year, one of the first things that came to my mind was 'Geez, there will be a little baby with us at Christmas'. It felt so far away I never would have thought we would finally reach this point. Now it's only 3 days away... Sorry for that slightly melancholic interlude, I'll stop now.

Let's get to one of my favourite parts about Christmas: Presents. I love getting handmade presents, and I also love giving them. This year I thought I wouldn't be able at all to find time to make something - turns out, I was.

I made this tiny pillows for my friend's tiny people.

This bath salt contains sea salt, jojoba oil and a combination of rose, vanilla, sandalwood and tangerine, which is my favourite combo at the moment. We also made a couple of glasses of onion chutney and framed pictures of Javi for the family - I consider that 'handmade', as well.

So all in all, I'm pretty happy with my schedule this year, just need to wrap the pressies and I'm set.

What about you?

writings on the wall

2010-12-19T02:45:00.000-08:00

I have that thing for handwritten, stiched, cut, forged letters, writings and the like. There's a certain kind of magic to it.

{giac1061}

{Three Red Apples}

{emilyonasunday}

{stealinghearts}

{un arc en ciel dans le lavabo}

Later today, I'm meeting some of my oldest girl friends who are in town for christmas. Every year, we're meeting for a long walk, this year a) in deep snow and b) with 2 new babies. Yay for snow and babies.

Do yo have any similar traditions?

Ps. We got the prettiest belated birth present for Javi yesterday - I'll share pictures soon...

kids stuff

2010-12-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

{found here}

I adore this room, it's so calm and cozy. Although it's quite dark I really like the colour palette. And hello, little owl.

{Dora iz Londona}

The cutest little Princess And The Pea.

{cluckclucksew}

I love the colours of this room. There's something magical to it.

{Kasaa}

This is the loveliest baby pullover I've ever seen. Plus, it's handknitted. Chapeau.

{- Haust -}

Simple yet so beautiful. I really like white.

{Larimar Shop}

I think I need to get this little hat. So sweet.

words of good cheer

2010-12-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

♥

Christmas.

{JerusalemTheArtsyMomma}

{Köttbullekvist}

{nestdecorating}

vote for me. please.

2010-12-08T05:23:00.000-08:00

I'm usually not a big fan of competitions, but I really do like this one. The host is BurdaStyle in cooperation with ModCloth, which is one of my favourite places to buy dresses. The winner will get a $100,- voucher.

The task: Sew/crochet/knit a fashion accessiore, inspired by a ModCloth item. I made a bag and a brooch. Come on and join the competition! Oh, and please vote for me here and here.

Thanks! :)

st. nikolaus

2010-12-06T03:51:00.001-08:00

Happy St. Nikolaus everyone!

When I was a child he scared the hell out of me. We've been told he puts chocolate into your boot - but only if you've been good. In case you had been cheeky throughout the year he'd come with a birch instead - ouch! I've been lucky and always found sweets and little presents...

Since then it's a tradition that my family gets together for a big bowl of French onion soup and a glass of champagne and we're giving each other little presents. This year, I bought a little plant, made gingerbread houses and filled hand-sewn stockings with chocolate.

So, as you can see, nowadays I can be a bit more relaxed about things... Plus, it's snowing big time today. Lucky me.

happy adventing.

2010-12-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

I was planning on posting these pictures yesterday, but then a calm day turned into a busy day so I had to postpone it. SO: Here's the 2010 version of the advent calendar:

I just talked to a friend on the phone who made a similar one - except she has two kids. So she made 48 little bags. Oh. my. god.

Also, I gave my chandelier a festive outfit:

Here's our kitchen view into the garden (I was gonna get a better picture but then it was way to cold to leave the house again):

These wintery days have actually been the first couple of days I managed to sew again. I made three pairs of pants for me, they are so comfortable and easy to sew that I'd like to get one of these really soft thick nice fabrics and make some for Javi, too. Similar to these from momolorelei, which I find absolutely adorable:

Ps. I'm invited to a Stich'n'Bitch on Friday - have you ever done anything similar?

winter time - bunting time!

2010-11-29T04:45:00.001-08:00

Well, actually this is just an excuse to produce and put up even *more* buntings and garlands than usual.
It started snowing this morning and it hasn't stopped since then. Lovely!

Ps. Advent calendar is up! I'll share a picture soon.

mei tai - and not the cocktail...

2010-11-24T05:33:00.000-08:00

So far, the only thing I would associate with "Mei Tai" was the drink. Now, I am a mother and am being introduced to a whole new world of things, expressions, and knowledge. It's like a parallel world I knew of but didn't think it would be so big. Those of you who have/are expecting babies probably know what I am talking about!

To cut a long story short: I sewed a Mei Tai. I had never heard about this before, but as I entered the world of baby carrying and did some research on the internet, I quickly stumbled upon it. First, I wanted a wrap to carry Javi, but as I am not patient at all I figured it would be too complicated for me. The Mei Tai instead (got the pattern here) is a lot easier to use (plus you can chose the fabric to match your outfit;)).

Et voilà, here it is:

(Sorry for the crappy picture, priorities are getting shifted)

And - surprise, surprise, he really quite likes it which I didn't expect since it's really quite tight in there ;)

Now I just need to train my back to be able to carry him longer that 45 minutes. Oh, and I need to practice eating and drinking while carrying him - today, I spilled a bit of couscous and apple juice on his little head.

12 months project

2010-11-23T07:17:00.001-08:00

As Javi is one month old today, I took his very first picture for the 12 months project. I read about this idea at cakies and found it fabulous. I think it's such a sweet thing to look at and to follow the little one's development.

I'm still busy with sewing advent calendar cones, I'm confident they'll be finished by the end of the month. Also, I started putting up some christmas decorations - have you?

Ps. This is what my crafting space looks like at the moment - so chaotic. But as much as I'm opposed to physical chaos in the rest of my life, I don't mind it too much - sometimes, I even think oit helps with being creative. What about you, what kind of crafter are you? Well organized or super chaotic?

kleinformat

2010-11-14T11:44:00.001-08:00

It seems like the perfect coincidence that this lovely magazine was launched just as I am having a baby. I am quite disgusted by most of the existing magazines for parents, I don't know who they are made for but it feels definitely not for me.

So I'm extra thankful to Dolores who has come up with kleinformat, a magazine for creative parents. It has fabulous artwork, photos, and ideas. It presents many amazingly talented and creative people. I'm super excited about the third issue which will be a christmas one, and I just had to get a subscritpion.

So anyone who is annoyed by all these boring magazines for parents out there (and has a fair knowledge of German) - go get it! Please help to keep this wonderful project alive.

Have a cosy Sunday night!

Ps. Thanks Dolores for letting me use your pictures!

Pps. You see the lovely little romper suit to the very right in the picture above? I just got it for Javi, plus another Bobo Choses one with Leica cameras on it... Super cute.

la nursery.

2010-11-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

Finally I managed to share some pics of the nursery. The curtains are still missing, but since we live in an old building with high ceiling we would need one of these super long ladders to put them up. Which we don't have. Yes, we could borrow one - that's been our plan for the past 4 months. To be honest, I don't think these curtains will ever be up.

I love this piece - it has been in J's family for a very long time.

I got this lovely wooden postcard when we were in Berlin this summer.

This was the first piece we bought for Javi. It is really tiny and doesn't really fit anymore. He just wore it once: On our way from the hospital home, which makes it even more special to me.

Have a lovely Friday!

advent preparations

2010-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Last year, I made this advent calendar for just J and me. We just had 8 cones - one for each advent Sunday for each of us. This year, I'm thinking of an upgrade: I want to prepare a total of 24 bags - 8 for J, 8 for me and 8 for Javi (who won't really be able to unwrap the presents, teehee, but still I kind of want this lovely tradition to be in his life from the very beginning). I'm excited to make new little bags - I especially like about this whole project that you don't really need "christmasy" fabrics to make it look festive!

What about your advent preparations, have you already started? Do you have advent calendars, hand-crafted or bought?

he's here.

2010-11-04T02:48:00.001-07:00

Finally. Welcome, Javi.

Ps. Sorry for having been absent for such a long time - now you know why ;) I hope you're doing just as well as we are and enjoying fall just as much as we are. I'll have a different view on the beauty of turning and falling leaves from now on...

flea market finds

2010-10-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Aaah how I love flea markets!

I got these pretty clothes hangers for the nursery.

Plus these Japanese bowls, perfect for a hot, spicy miso soup on a chilly autumn night.

We ended up chatting about babies and baby supplies with the couple we bought these from. In the end, they also gave us these for free:

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Ps. Today we got the balcony ready for minus temperatures at night... It's quite exciting, I think. It looks so totally different now, the cats were a bit confused at the beginning and seemed to miss the many flower pots the could hide inbetween... Now that the sun has been shining and they were outside all day the seem to be a bit soothed.

Pps. My eBay addiciton has returned and I'm buying many wonderful fabrics to be turned into more quilts... let's see how many pre-baby quilts I'll be able to finish!

finally - the apron

2010-10-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

So here's me and my apron from lovely Venus. It's so pretty I don't even dare wearing it :) But I will, eventually.

The girls' night last night was fabulous, we had a great time chatting and eating and adoring the super tiny baby socks.

There's a big flea market coming up this weekend, it starts tonight but we plan on going tomorrow in the early morning. Keep your fingers crossed for some good flea market finds!

Have a wonderful Friday.

500 days of summer

2010-10-07T02:36:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been absent for a couple of days - there wasn't really that much to do but it seemed like it because with the growing bump things are getting more difficult to be done and it takes a lot longer.

I was just about to take a picture of my beautiful new apron as promised, but then the camera ran out of batteries.

So for now, no new pictures, but a movie recommendation:

500 days of summer

It has one of my favourite actresses plus many many of my favourite musical pieces. It's so nice to watch a movie which doesn't follow the typical love movie patterns.

Plans for today: Tonight I'll have some girl friends over and I'm planning on making a pea-courgette-mint-tortilla plus potato wedges with aioli. We'll see how it turns out!

roasted hokkaido pumkin soup & chocolate banana brownies with peanut butter streusel

2010-09-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long title, I just couldn't leave any of these wonderful words out.

This sounds like real it's-cold-and-wet-and-autumn-outside comfort food - and it is. I really enjoy eating things like that at the moment... I think the colour of the pumpkins is just perfect and makes you happy.

I apologize for not presenting a picture of the finished soup - I just had to eat it and couldn't be bothered taking pictures and running the risk of the soup cooling...

Anyway, it's really easy to make and you should try it. Put the sliced pumpkin together with some onions, garlic and thyme in a saucer. Drizzle generously olive oil and honey and add salt and pepper. Put it into the oven until it looks roasted - for me, this took about 45 mins. After that, you just need to blend everything and add as much cream as you prefer. Honey, garlic and roasting add a wonderful taste to this soup!

Have a yummy day!

w is for weekend

2010-09-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

I know it's not quite the time yet, but there are so many pumkins on the markets, plus, I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing on halloween this year, since the due date is 1st November.
So I decided it's the time for pumpkin carving right now.

The weather felt so much like autumn, too! We had these beautiful skies that you only get in late summer or early fall.

On the weekend, we:

bought pumpkins on a farmer's market and carved them
ate two 200g bars of chocolate
got fabric for a baby blanket
crashed the kitchen table and built it up again
went for a huge walk in the woods
made progress in the nursery
had roasted salmon, fresh ricotta & spinach ravioli and mushrooms for dinner

Weekends are so nice!

elephants & cubes

2010-09-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I spent pretty much all sunny warm day outside with a friend and her baby in the parc. Today, it's raining and I don't plan on leaving the house whatsoever. Which means: Lots of crafting time. The elephants above make a crackling noise as they're touched - somebody told me babies liked that. We'll see.
I've seen cubes similar to these here, except they were knitted (and quite expensive). I didn't want to spend more money on baby's stuff than I already did in the past few weeks. And I can't knit, so I decided to chose the sewing alternative. They're super soft and I really like touching and playing with them - so we're safe in case the baby won't like it.

Ps. I received my fabulous apron from lovely Venus - I'll take some pics on the weekend to share with you. Have a wonderful Friday!

that thing for foxes.

2010-09-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

With the weather getting more and more autumny, I have developed a thing for foxes. I don't really know why, we could just blame it on the pregnancy (like everything else). I just think they make the best motif for all different kinds of things right now.

Here are some of the loveliest little foxes I found on Etsy:

foureyedgirldesigns

sleepyking

minitoes

MarMarz

and the winner is...

2010-09-22T01:10:00.001-07:00

ithaca forever?

I'VE MOVED!

scissors, ink, stamp... and chickens.

please stay tuned...

my new belated me

happy two months, javi

2 days and counting

3 days and counting

writings on the wall

kids stuff

words of good cheer

vote for me. please.

st. nikolaus

happy adventing.

winter time - bunting time!

mei tai - and not the cocktail...

12 months project

kleinformat

la nursery.

advent preparations

he's here.

flea market finds

finally - the apron

500 days of summer

roasted hokkaido pumkin soup & chocolate banana brownies with peanut butter streusel

w is for weekend

elephants & cubes

that thing for foxes.

and the winner is...

who ate all the cupcakes?

black forest & vintage dresses

off to the black forest

pouching along

how could I possibly...

etsy favourites of the day

food is the best.

creative chaos

giveaway day

pouch, poucher, pouchest

disapproval day.

no better way to start a day...

french acorns & autumny feelings

veggie's delight

big bumps & nice food

2 days left...

giving is gaining

olives & cupcakes

goal #3: check

let's stay home

goal #4, pt. I: check

goal #2: check

4 simple goals

wedding presents!

new

washi tape

another wedding!

amsti

garlanding on a rainy afternoon

happiest weekend.

mobile - finished. and baby pile growing

fresh from garden & studio

even the cats sweat...

thrifting...

i love packages

back.

pre-spring breakfast

home instead of berlin...

letters & writing

my zurich

bartering en petit

zurich & chopsticks

the postman always rings twice

silver and gold

will it ever stop?

if i was a rich girl...

i heart monsters

decluttering galore, or: one girl's trash is another one's treasure

how do you keep track?

rain, rain...

relax.