Flirty Skirt Surprise....

When the call came out from a Tiara loving friend of mine that she wanted some skirts made for her for Summer...I came out for the challenge... am that kinda friend ya know ;) Though there was a catch of course....she was my guinea pig....lol...as I have never made an "adult" skirt before. Heck, I rarely use patterns, why change now...hehehe....so off I went into my dungeon/studio to find some fun fabrics that are not to childish but at the same time...well...are. I love fun bright fabrics that is for sure, cause when I look through my stash that is basically what you find...and boy oh boy did I find what I think is a great combination....and actually I ended up liking her's so much, I made one for me...and then another...heck, you just might find me in skirts all Summer because of this...There is way so much movement in these skirts....looks lovely going down some stairs, I go up and down just to see it move...hehehehe

I had Kyle take some pics of me in the skirts (hence the bit of blur, but he did great)....well because I needed to share the yumminess of them. Please excuse the wet hair...I just could not resist being clean and taking pictures....






OH and the shoes I wear with this...are divine. Miss PortabelloPixie had them on her blog about a year or so ago and I had everyone I know go on a search for them for me....I was so thrilled when one of my Gals came through and found them in Florida for me....Can never find anything cute here in Canada it seems...well at least not like these...




and here is one in my fav colours...I will probably end up buying a yellow tank for this, as apparently yellow is THEE it colour for the summer....who knew???....lol...





I had fun fun fun making these, and I definitely see more in my future.....



15 days and counting till the move day....woot....

Summer Reading and 3am baking

I think I mentioned a bit back that I had my Summer Reading list ready (and that I may have started one or two before Summer has officially started) and since I have kid #1 now home from a finished year of Grade 7 HS, I think I can start to actually plan a few of my Summer rituals...one of them being reading.

I can remember many many Summers that the only thing I knew that I was going to be doing was having a book in my hand. I used to work as a gas station attendant during one of my many Summer jobs....lol....loved the job, and loved the time it gave me to read. I would often sit myself up on top of the POP machine with my book and just waste the afternoon away up there...

While my taste in books have changed, my love of reading has not (even though I do not make as much time for it as I used to and I am glad to have reading back in my life)

This is my list for the Summer... some quick reads, some I have read before but I am re-reading, and a couple of new authors for me to read as well...




While I usually waste the last few mins of my day reading before I turn in to sleep with the dogs on all sides of me (really need a bigger bed than a Queen Sized, never realized how much room a 17 pound beagle takes up till now, not to mention the 65 pound Golden retriever and the 55 pound Chow Chow) I have been having a harder and harder time falling asleep again. Insomnia should be my middle name, not Catherine. But up I was/still am reading blogs and trying to plan out my day...and as it has been of late, I have the baking bug.....now mind you I also have the "I still have to lose 10 pounds" bug as well....and this does not go hand in hand...lol....but the boys needed something for their lunches as they have already eaten me out of house and home and I need to make our food supply last another week (I only go shopping once every two weeks)

So here are the 3 dzn cookies I baked at 3 this morning....a little brown around the edges, but not burnt. These are pretty cake like, and quite yummy and I was surprised I did not screw it up considering....



The easiest recipe ever....no really....

Heat Oven to 350, grease a couple of cookie sheets

Really all I did was throw ALL the ingredients into my mixer on med. for about 2 mins and voila...spoon onto cookie sheets...

oh, the ingredients...yup right here...

2 cups Flour
1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 Cup of Vanilla Yogurt (you can use a non-fat plain yogurt, this was in my fridge so I used it)
1 1/2 cups of Chocolate Chips
1 cup of Shredded Coconut
2 Tbsps Olive Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla ext.
1 egg

you do not have to use coconut, works well without :)

bake for about 12-15 mins...cool....and then place far away from the dogs...



Let's just say that the boys were really impressed with the cookies this morning and were wondering where I had hid them yesterday....hehehe



I am sure by dinner tonight they will be all gone though....which is fine, I am pretty sure I will be up till the wee hours of the morning again needing something to do...lol...

I love my chaotic yard

Okay so to be honest everything about my life is pretty chaotic (and heck who's isn't these days??) but I really do love my yard, it is big and messy and I see something new all the time. I am afraid that we will be moved and outta here before the peonies have a chance to bloom (they tend to bloom late here in Montreal) and I have a ton all around. I even have some that came from my Grandmothers Cottage that was passed on to me, and I just adore them...

My step-mother Angel and I planted these in the lot beside my house outside my kitchen window a couple of Summers ago....before we bought the land :) it is always nice to see the purple amoungst all that green



I am a sucker for viburnum, one of absolute fav bushes....my MIL hacked this back last year not knowing what it was and I am so so happy to see that it still has some life in it :)




My very messy rock garden...lol....loads of peonies, lilies, and hydrangea in there....I am soooo going to miss this...even the well worn dog path running into the forest.




I know it is pretty much because we have the house up for sale, but my front yard has never been so colourful....lol.....love it to to much...



Butterfly Garden....not in bloom yet :( heck it is still pretty much in the starting stages...





So many things that I am going to miss.....but so many things I can start anew :)

Why.....

I couldn't make him go to school today.....he was too scared









so now he is in his room crying because I was forcing him to wait at the bus stop with his brother....he ran home screaming and crying.....cause he thought I was going to force him to get on the bus. I probably was going to try to get him on though, so he was right to go home crying...


it was Carnival Day at school today, and I wanted him to have fun, and to try.....



Autism sucks.....

Let there be...well.......CAKE :)

Just to let you all know....I am a blog stalker, I love reading and trying the things that other people try. I know, how unoriginal....lol...but sometimes when you read about what other people are doing you realize how unproductive you are (I know, then get off the darn computer right...lol) and try to change that. One such blog that I read pretty religiously showed off such a scrumptious cake that I had to try (she has a link to the recipe as well)....and by gosh, it was chocolate, what other excuse do I need??...lol....

Well here is my attempt at her amazing cake, while I baked it yesterday, I iced it today (and it was not icing outta the betty crocker jar either....handmade stuff, yup...I go all out...lol) and it is still around to tell the tale with 3 boys in the house....and yes I threatened them with death if they touched it before dinner tonight.....hey it worked didn't it??




It was one of the easiest cakes in the world to mix up....cake is not hard to make, especially from scratch....and it is definitely satisfying to do...even better when seeing the looks of those three boys eyeing it....lol....



But what is the bestest.....lol.....is that they HAVE to eat their dinner before they can have dessert.....oh yes....I am evil....hehehehe.....




Oh yes, one more thing....my GODSAVEAQUEEN set is up and listed.....and those little dolls in the post below are included....whether hubby like them or not :)

Okale' ....so he says I can not do dolls....

So should I just give up??? I happen to think that they are tres cute....but hubby says I should quit while I am ahead....and well....I just maybe able to get rid of a few more scraps this way....lol....



But well I had fun making them....and we will see if I can keep going...heck I just might as well until I use up my stuffing....I do not want to move that if I do not have too :) sooo ummmm that is my story hubby and I am sticking to it...I will just make them until I get rid of the stuffing...and heck if nobody wants em, I will just have someone to talk to during the day that doesn't talk back....lol.....

The move is coming quicker and so is my anxiety....okay yes, so there, I admit it, I really really do get stressed. A lot, I just show it differently. By keeping the house a mess and not getting caught up on laundry....okay heck, that is all the time, but I at least have an excuse now :)

Kids are getting excited that school is almost done, and well I am excited that I can sleep in longer than 6 in the morning now....woot....well maybe not now, but pretty darn soon....double WOOT!

I have my summer reading list just about ready....10 novels that I am going to read that I will probably have finished in the first 2 weeks....I am also going to try knitting again. We'll see how well that goes...I am hoping to surpass the never ending scarf project, and maybe attempt a sweater....but I am pretty sure that involves counting and paying attention, both of which I am not terribly good at :) but we shall see....

any good beginner sweater patterns out there??

Things starting to get a little crazy around here....but

in a good way :)


Finally it looks like things are starting to look up....I am trying to be a positive girl here. Corporate housing has found us a place to live next month....woot woot....we are going to be living in Jersey City (New Jersey of course) for the summer months. In that time we (I) are going to have to look for a permanate place to live in and around the Manhattan area, something that does not take Stef 4 hours of commuting, but has decent schools as well...oh and also accepts dogs. Which has been our #1 problem with finding a place. Mom is going to take the cats so I am not having to worry about putting them down (I was so not feeling good about that at all), and it just maybe a Summer without computers...GASP.....well at least for the boys that is...so they just may have to that green stuff outdoors to occupy themselves with.

Me, I am not so sure about bringing/packing up and taking my sewing machine with me....again...GASP....lol....spending some well one on one time with the boys seems like a good idea. I might just sew up a bunch of OOAK's and bring them with me and ship while I am down there, but actual sewing may take a bit of a back burner??? we will see....

But in the mean time, I have listed a few things on Etsy....some great Totally Tunics, and a new Scrappy Dress....





Hopefully on Monday I will have my listing up for the "GodSaveAQueen" launch. I mean, I have had the darned thing nearly finished since the beginning of May....and as usual I putter around till the end....argh....stupid stupid girl for not getting it finished ahead of time.

So that is about that...the boys are good, counting down the days till school/exams are over and we get our "Move On". Saying my goodbyes to friends and sharing some last fun times....I will be going up to see an old friend at the end of the month before I ship off....but it is not for good....I kinda feel that.....pretty sure that we will be back :)