Still Here

Hi Everyone! I'm still alive and have managed to make it through this crazy, sometimes sad, sometimes happy summer...

Where to begin. Well, Grandma is looking down on us now, helping us to cope and get through life. It was a bittersweet parting, as we all knew she was suffering but we didn't want to see her go. I miss her everyday. She gave me alot of gifts during her time here (non material mostly) and I will treasure the memories. Grandpa was gracious enough to give me this

I had a hellish time capturing him yesterday. I am by no means a photographer unlike most of the bloggers out there. I have an outstanding camera, and completely lack the skills to use it properly, so I apologize for the blurry photo, but isn't he the cutest??? He sits on the ledge of my fireplace looking out at everyone. He is cast iron, and heavy heavy! He is a replica, but a photo of his prototype in the Home Companion Magazine, and I couldn't believe how close they were.

So much traveling was done these past couple of months. In addition to California, I also flew to Florida to visit with family and friends there for 10 days. It was great to see everyone, as I haven't been home since we moved here, about a year and a half. Ellie came away with a broken foot (triple fractured to be exact) and may require surgery. I still don't have a complete idea of how it happaned (I was still in Cali) but I know it involves the swimming pool and ledges that don't bend. Damn ledges. After we returned from FL, we all ventured on to NY...what a great time, although too short, we enjoyed it throughly!! We shopped, ate, shopped, shopped, ate, ate, hit a museum, central park....oh a we couldn't forget about this highlight....

Or these:

What a great time we had. On the second day, Patrick and I spent the day together (the kids were with the Grandparents who also came) and we had such a nice afternoon and evening. We shopped mostly in the east village, people watched, ate, walked around central park, it was great. OH!! and I got to go to the purl bee! It was really cool. Such a teeny shop with such beautiful fabric. Making choices there was painful and overwhelming. I actually got to meet Joelle, the shop co-owner who was so nice and helpful. I had a vision to replace the bottom of my dog shredded curtains with panels of coordinating fabric to salvage them. I settled on some blue and brown polka dots by Denyse Schmidt. I was really worried that I had finally had a chance you don't get often and I had failed and purchased the wrong fabric. Well...I you be the judge:

Again, TERRIBLE photo. Infact, I promise to replace this with a better photo that I can handle taking with my little point and shoot, but for now you get the idea. I'm pretty happy with the match. I have also moved out of my hubby's office and now occupy the spare bedroom closet. It's a small space but it accomodates a desk, sewing machine and all my scrapbooking supplies just fine. Pictures to come!Well....I guess that's it for now. Happy hump day!

xo Stephanie