squirrel momma

Things I Have Learned

I'm so sorry I took that unexpected--and unexplained--sabbatical!  I did, however, learn a few things while struggling to juggle my "Squirrel" and my "Momma".

1.  If there's an earthquake they IMMEDIATELY shut down the rides at Disneyland. Seeing people trapped at the top of Thunder Mountain has solidified my desire to never, ever ride a roller coaster again. (Yes, we went to L.A. for spring break. See item #2.)

2. I really wish someone would move the Pacific Ocean to Michigan. Sorry, but Lake Michigan is not the same.

 

3. On average, more 11 year olds limp off the field during a lacrosse game than during a football game. Way harder ball. Way less padding. It definitely helps to squint slightly as the ball whizzes towards your son. 

4. High school girls who run wear at least 14 changes of clothing per day. My laundry mountain would be much smaller if I only allowed my daughter to own 2 outfits. 

5. Some of my current projects would be simpler if I conquered my fear of my Bernina's walking foot.

6. All of my current projects would be simpler if I would just work on them for more than five minutes at a time.

7. I am going through a phase where no project looks complete unless I add fangs to it. Hmmm. Must mean something.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I actually finished a lot of things--a whole slew of monster purses to send to the Etsy Plush Team booth at Maker Faire in San Francisco and a flock of albino bats that flew off to Vancouver, among other things--but I was so frazzled meeting deadlines I forget to snap pics. Fortunately I still have my mysterious entomological experiment, and I'll try to get him to pose for a shot as soon as it stops raining around here.

Thanks for all the kind words--I missed you, too!

Silence. Or at least a little less noise.

For those of you worried about my hearing--and my sanity--I am happy to announce that we are now the proud owners of a set of drum mutes.

 

Basically they're just a set of rubber circles that lay on top of the drum head. But they've cut the noise waaaaay down--that, and the fact the drum set is now living in the basement.

We just got back from a short trip to Chicago.  So what is this?

 

This is yuuummmm! Xoco, in downtown Chicago, is Rick Bayless's (of Frontera Grill fame) new restaurant.  I love Rick--isn't he a cutie?

 

And I love Rick's food. The review I saw in the Chicago Reader referred to him as "The Chef Who Can Do No Wrong", and I'd have to agree with that. The menu at Xoco is very casual compared to Frontera, its big sister next door, with the menu made up of sandwiches and soups. But the most amazing sandwiches and soup you've ever had--the four of us each got something different, and it was all incredible, with plates being swapped back and forth and forks attacking other people's meals like crazy. And if the food wasn't enough to wow us, there were the hot chocolates.

  

Made from scratch--and from scratch, I mean they're grinding those cacao beans on site and blending in their own Aztec spices. We got two, with churros, for dessert, but I was severely disappointed I was too stuffed to order a chocolate latté for the road. Definitely going back for breakfast next time we're in Chicago and fueling up for the day on chocolate and pastries.

I wonder if they would consider moving Chicago a little closer to my house?

Saugatuck

Last weekend we drove to Saugatuck, an artists' community on the shores of Lake Michigan.  While we waited for a table at our favorite breakfast joint we wandered down the street to grab lattés at an art gallery/coffee shop.

Then we wandered back to read the paper outside the restaurant. The great thing about Ida Red's--besides the absolutely decadent all butter, thick bacon, real maple syrup breakfasts--is that you can wait in their garden.

Then afterwards we staggered down to the channel to watch the boats go by. Boats with wheels...

Boats with bands...

And even boats with dogs for lookouts...

It really was a beautiful last day of summer, with perfect weather, and best of all when we got home everyone was so stuffed from breakfast I got away with making popcorn for dinner (albeit popcorn with Asiago cheese and my secret spice mixture). Which left me time to work on this guy:

Wish I could repeat it all next weekend!

Potter Mania

We just got back from a quick trip to Chicago, prompted by the world premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry.

The exhibition is crammed full of props and costumes from the first six movies (yes, there are even a few from he-who-has-not-been-released).  The Museum of Science and Industry got the bid to premiere it because it was one of the few museums willing to build an entire wing to house all those goodies (actually in a ginormous tent attached to the main museum, but once inside you would never know it), and they really did a fantastic job recreating the feel of Hogwarts, including a Hagrid's hut you can actually go inside.

For someone who thinks she knows how to sew, it was quite humbling to see how much exquisite craftsmanship went into everything, even costumes that appear onscreen for only a few minutes at best. My absolute favorite was Professor Sprout's cape, with dyed and rouched velvet made to look like leaves, and her dragon skin gloves crafted from...um...dragon skin? (Darn it all--they wouldn't let us touch anything!)

Oh, and the Buckminster Fuller exhibit at the MCA? Couldn't compete with with HP, but very cool. Live taping of NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me in Millennium Park? Hilarious, and Carl Kasell is the coolest 75 year old I know. Dinner at Frontera Grill? Yup, still one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at. 

Whew! We crammed about a zillion other things into two and a half days, so the kids are sleeping in. But I can't stop thinking about Professor Sprout's cape, and my fingers are itching to sew...

I'm Back. Well, Sort of.

I know, I know, I said I would be back last week.  But it's taken me several days to get back in the swing of things, and now, finally, I think I'm ready to take a break from frantically scrambling to complete my last Plush You! show piece and talk about my trip.

In the immortal words of Mary Poppins:  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Where to start?  It was a pretty intense 15 days.  We spent the first 7 in San Francisco, with Alcatraz, Japantown, Muir Woods and the farmer's market at the Ferry Building being the big hits with everyone. Then we headed to Monterey for 3 days, where we went to the aquarium and the squirrelings got to go scuba diving in the tide pools.  Next it was on to Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, then finally Los Angeles for 5 days.  L.A. was a mix of shopping, the beaches, and, of course, the Getty Center. 

When we visited the Getty Center I was mesmerized by an exhibit of an artist I had never heard of, Maria Sibylla Merian.  An 18th century painter who made a living as a artist and naturalist, she had many amazing accomplishments for a woman (or anyone) of her time, including painting the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly years before anyone else wrote of it, and traveling from Europe to South America with her two daughters to collect specimens of exotic plants and insects.  She was definitely an inspiration to me!

And yes, I went shopping on the trip, but I was pretty restrained.  The most exciting thing was the Japanese dollar store in San Francisco.  When I stepped through the door I stood there for several moments, frozen.  Then I turned to my husband and said, "I don't think I can take this.  I'm going to start hyperventating."  Then I sprinted to the bento box section.

I've really wanted to get some cute bento boxes and supplies for awhile now.  I have a less than happy feeling about having to start packing school lunches once again in two weeks--after all these years it's getting pretty boring.  I think making bento boxes once a week will liven things up for everybody.  

Squirrel Girl picked out the one with the bunnies, and Nut Boy selected the dark blue one (I also got a plain one as a spare).  See the little sauce bottles shaped like fish?  I love those!  And I was able to find onigiri shapers that work great--I was making fish shaped rice balls with no trouble at all.  Best of all, everything except the bento boxes was $1!

My brain is still bouncing back and forth between all the things we saw and did, so I'll have to dribble the good stuff out to you in little bits over the next couple of days.  Bye for now!

I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Tomorrow morning bright and early we squirrels are leaving for a two week vacation in California.  All of us are nearly sleepless with excitement--this is going to be the biggest trip we've taken in years!

We're flying into San Francisco, where I'll be making a beeline for Kinokuniya in Japantown for a massive Japanese craft book fix.  I'm also hoping to hit some fabric stores, including Hart's Fabrics in Santa Cruz, but I'm already realizing that as we're only taking carryon luggage, I'm either going to have to restrain myself or ship a box home.  

What did I just say?  Restrain myself from going wild shopping on this kind of trip?  Hahahaha!

And yes, of course I'm looking forward to all the fun stuff to do with my family, much of which will be new to us. Giant redwoods, Alcatraz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Getty Center in L.A....it's going to be a very full trip!

See ya when I get back!

Chicago, Here We Come

Let's just suppose your children return from their respective camps, and finally, after a week, you get around to dragging their sleeping bags to the laundromat.  And let's also suppose you reach the laundromat and realize you don't have enough quarters to wash the blue sleeping bag AND the red sleeping bag AND the nine year old's pillow.  

So you figure, what the heck, I'll wash the pillow at home.  And then you attempt to wash said pillow at home, in your own washing machine, in your own basement with piles of everything stacked everywhere, and said pillow explodes in the washing machine.  And regurgitates its inner workings into the washing machine, chopped foam then flowing through the hose and into the laundry tub, thereby clogging the drain.

And then the tub overflows, sending water flowing across the basement floor in a wandering path that eventually reaches the floor drain at the other end of the basement, but en route manages to sidetrack to various piles of athletic gear in the process.

Imagine your surprise and delight when you reach the bottom of the basement steps and behold the sight before of you.  So you dig the foam out of the sink, the washer and from between your toes.  You sweep what water you can down the drain.  And you send a small prayer of thanks upwards that at least your spouse wasn't home, and rarely has time to read your blog.  Because otherwise you would never, ever hear the end of this.

...

And in other news, we, meaning 

(that's the Etsy Plush Team) are going to this

in

Renegade Craft Fair, here we come!  It's on September 13th and 14th, Saturday and Sunday, in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood.  We're going to have a group booth, with work from at least 40 of our Etsy Plush Team Members.  And yes, I'll be there, too!  I'm hoping to be working Sunday, from 12 till 4, so if you can, stop by and say "hi"!

(And here's the Official Plush Team Press Release)

"Plush Team is the Star of the Show in the Windy City!

The Plush Team (an Etsy Street Team comprised of over 50 plush designers from around the world) is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming 6th annual Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. Boasting over 200 vendors, the Renegade Craft Fair will highlight some of the most cutting edge crafters from the United States and all over the world. With annual fairs held in San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Chicago, this juried indy craft fair is a big deal!.
The event will be held September 13 + 14, from 12pm - 10pm, along Division St. between Damen & Hermitage in Wicker Park. Don't miss it! 
Over 500 vendors applied, and only 200 were accepted - it is an honor to be selected to participate! With around 40 plushing participants, the Plush Team tent will be overflowing with over 1000 unique plush pieces! 
We're delighted at this opportunity – and we would love to see all of you there! "

Day Camping

I'll admit it, I'm a wimp--I hate to camp. If I vacation, I want a real bed, a shower I don't have to wear flip flops in, and the luxury of not having to see my neighbor's underwire bra hung out to dry on the back of a lawn chair. I spent 10 years as a Girl Scout, 8 summers at Pioneer Girl camp, and another summer as a camp counselor. I've done my time.

But Squirrel Man (who never had to spend 8 weeks in the same stinky, sand encrusted sleeping bag) occasionally makes noises about getting out in nature and GOING CAMPING. So, to preserve domestic harmony, we have come up with a little invention we call Day Camping.

Day Camping means we drive to one of several state parks on the shores of Lake Michigan and score an overnight campsite. An overnight spot is very important, because they have the manly pit fires you burn manly logs in, not the wussy little iron grills you put charcoal briquettes in.

Then we get to be extra manly and cook over the open fire. Today's menu? Italian sausages on rolls with roasted peppers and onions, grilled potatoes with garlic olive oil and fresh rosemary, and fresh strawberries and pineapple. I'm not insane, really. Everything is prepped before we leave the house, so when we get there we just start a gigantic fire, throw the foil wrapped packages on the coals, and then toast the sausages til they snap, crackle and pop.

Today we went to P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, which has a stream running through it. The woods were still bare, with just the littlest buds appearing on bushes. There were no bugs to catch and we could only hear the woodpecker, not see him. So the stream was the most interesting thing near our campsite.

Nut Boy managed to go, oh, half an hour before dunking himself. This has happened before. I knew to bring along a spare pair of jeans.

After eating we hiked through the woods to the big lake (Lake Michigan). It had seemed pretty warm when we left home--65 degrees--but at the lake with the wind blasting at you it felt more like 40. We abandonned ship pretty quickly after that and went for soft serve ice cream. For me chocolate soft serve is the perfect ending to day camping. Or any day. Yummm.

Embroidered to Death

I have to admit I have a love/hate relationship with school holidays. I love having free time to fool around with my kids, cooking like crazy, doing projects and staying up as late as we want watching movies. I hate the fact that I can't seem to get much of my crafting done.

So despite my grand plans to finish some really fabuloso pieces for the Second Annual Softies Awards, the only new piece I've completed so far is Sigmund the Peacock, entered in the Embroidered to Death category. He kept me occupied in the car on our way to and from Mammoth Caves National Park.

Sigmund is currently seeing an analyst, trying to work out issues concerning his obsession with his own tail feathers.

And by the way, if you have never been to Mammoth Caves and end up anywhere near Kentucky I really recommend it. This is the second time we've gone, and it was even better with than the first. Now that the Squirrelings are 13 and 9, we opted for two of the longer tours. The first was the Violet City Lantern Tour, where you hike 3 miles through the caves using only Coleman lanterns for light (and no bathrooms for 3 hours, the reason we didn't try and do it with a six year old). On the second day we did the Grand Avenue Tour, 4 miles up and down hills over 4.5 hours, and lit with electric lights so that you can see all of the spectacular cave formations.

Mammoth Caves is just so amazing. The public has access to only a tiny portion of the hundreds of miles of caves that have been mapped, some of which have been used by man since prehistoric times. It really stirs up your imagination, thinking about what might be under your feet when you are back above ground. The Squirrelings are already begging to go back next year, when Nut Boy will be old enough for us to go on one of the tours that actually involve crawling through holes. I think they even let you wear those cool miner's hats with the lights on top!