domestic diva that i am...

i've finished my first ever, have never done one of these before, holy crap i can't believe i finished it quilt.

for those of you into this sort of thing, i didn't use any particular pattern for the quilt top (though i did use oh fransson's paintbox quilt as inspiration for the design). all of the fabrics were scraps i had laying around, except for the back and the binding (and i have no idea who the fabrics were made by, sorry!).

i followed the circle patterns on the backing fabric as my quilt pattern (just made sense, ya know?) and since i was hand quilting the entire thing, it took freakin' forever. 

six months, give or take.

but totally worth it, don't ya think?

and i chose to use this rainbow palette because it's gender neutral (for babies, anyway) so that my daughter  can pass it down to her children someday.

close up of stitches

i just love it.  and truth be told, i'm so damn glad it's done.

next up?  i'm trying my hand at hand tying quilts.  i'm using my husband's grandmother(who passed away last september)'s old clothes and housecoats to make memory quilts for all of her great-grandchildren.

knock knock!

who's there?

turtle.

turtle who?

no, really...

this guy (or gal, i'm not into sexing turtles so i have no idea how to tell) was trying to get into my house the other day.  some friends were leaving after a playdate, they opened the door and there he was, strong arming his way into my house. 

seriously. 

as soon as the door opened, he wedged himself between the door and the thing on the floor that keeps drafts out.

he wanted in.  bad.

and ya know why?  

cause it's effing hot out there. 

after i put him outside, he felt the white hot heat of the sun on my sidewalk and made his way to cooler grounds.

and then he burrowed under one of my plants, where he remained for several hours.

he finally left sometime after 4:30 in the afternoon.  i like to think he went pool hopping around the neighborhood and had himself some big fun. 

just not my pool.  cause ew.

oh and guess what?

turtle butt!

foodies, chefs, wannabes of either...

come check me out!  i've got a new blogging gig that i think you'll enjoy. 

starting this week, i'll be posting regularly over at The Junior League of Tampa's Cookbook Blog - i get to make recipes from the oodles of wonderful cookbooks produced by the JLT and post about how they turned out (or, in some cases, how they didn't turn out).

so if you're into cooking, or eating, or reading about other people cooking and eating, stop by.

or don't.  i'll never know.

oh and p.s. we got a new computer :)  no more updates from the iTouch!

i am so not a summer kind of girl

they say that insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

like going to busch gardens when it's 824 degrees outside, thinking "it won't be as bad as last time."

it must be january

right.  because going anywhere outside, away from the sweet, sweet joy of air conditioning in the middle of summer in central florida is a great idea. 

so great, in fact, that we've decided to do it again tomorrow.  this time?  it's sea world.

they're begging the dolphins to yank them over the edge

and into the cool, cool water, drowning be damned

ah but fear not curious onlookers!  i am going PRE. PARED. this time.  hand-held battery operated fans for everyone!  and my husband has been instructed that when peanut starts throwing her inevitable i-refuse-to-nap-in-this-god-forsaken-heat tantrum, i'm running for cover. 

air conditioned, daiquiri flavored cover.

if you don't hear from me for a few days, do a google search for "mom goes crazy in orlando theme park" and you'll likely have an accurate update on my whereabouts.

time out

computer issues...be back eventually!