insane insane (insane) i was INSANE!

umm, what was i thinking? this baby blessing dress is officially taking about 79 hours! her blessing is this sunday! how in the world am i going to get this all done???

i mean, it is exquisitely beautiful, even more beautiful than i thought it would be. it tickles my fancy to make something so pretty. but it also makes me happy to, you know, eat, sleep, and shower.

ok, pray for me...

i heart art nouveau

there is something about the art nouveau style that i just love love love... and it's not just because most of it is in french. i love collecting things in this style, and someday, i'll have a house full of it.

i love old things: old movies (totally on a gershwin musical kick right now), old music, old fashion (if i could get my hands on it...)

the best place to live...

so, we're planning to move to bellevue next summer, if you hadn't heard. a beautiful suburb of seattle, just across lake washington. i had no idea we had such good taste:

Business Week's Best Places to Raise Kids...Bellevue!

ouch! (a bad month for my left hand)

one of these days, i'm going to scientifically prove that babies suck brain cells out of their mothers when feeding.

case in point: recently, i steam-burned the back of my left hand, for no good reason except i wasn't paying attention. it hurt. and it peeled for two weeks. i was hoping this would be an isolated occurrence, but today i managed an iron burn on, yes, the same hand! just when i was finally healing up. you'd think i'd learn.

so, if you see me stumbling around, looking confused, or inventing new countries (this week's addition to the world: canadia. populated by the same people as norwegia), just remember that for every brain cell i lose, maddie's getting smarter (i hope!)

2 truths and a lie - london edition!

so, mandy tagged me to do this... i'm not including the rules, because honestly, if you don't know how to play this game, then you need to go to a couple girly parties. generally i stink at this, but we'll see how it goes:

1. i was stalked on the tube (london subway) by some weirdo guy one night, and had to lose him like they do in the movies

2. i was made, ummm, let's say very indecent proposals twice in one night by complete strangers!

3. somehow, the only italian guy in london managed to find me and steal a kiss while i was waiting for a bus. i'd heard about this, which was why i avoided italy! he seemed nice at first, suddenly got a little too flirtatious, and took off before i could slap him.

tag you're it (and make it good!):
aubrey
chicka
mandy lee
emma

my first foray into heirloom sewing

i love making beautiful things, especially when i get to put them on my baby. this is a photo of a dress i'm *trying* to copy, in a book by martha pullen. i'll be simplifying it and adding my own flare in places, mostly because the swiss embroidery edgings and insertions are so ridiculously expensive i couldn't purchase enough... so no "v" in the skirt, and a more simplified bodice, but otherwise pretty close.

it'll be in ivory imperial batiste, which i think will be so beautfiul! (unfortunately i learned too late that since imperial batiste is a blend, it won't hold pintucks as well... if you plan to do something like this, buy 100% cotton!)


the swiss embroidery insertions and edgings i bought, which cost $XXX.xxx ca*h he& roych (sorry, that's me choking, lost control of the keyboard for a moment).

stay tuned, i plan to post my exciting progress and the final product...

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ok, it's kind of amazing, the things you come up with while stuck in traffic for hours after a very long and tiring day, especially when you're dying of hunger. i tend to get a bit loopy, and strange things get very funny...

just for fun... baby announcement!

i had waaay too much fun designing this card... and if you weren't lucky enough to come to my baby shower and get one, i thought you might enjoy!

halloween

ok, you have to admit it: cutest baby smiles ever! i can't believe she's 9 weeks old today...

ummm... if you don't know who we are, you need to upgrade your pop-culture memory card! we were greeted by most people with open-mouthed stares and finger pointing...wonder why...

guess that firm... (we got a job offer!)

we officially have an offer - and not only that, it's the one we wanted. so, we're off to seattle next fall! we're a little excited, can you tell?

to figure out which firm it's for, you must decode a little big four slang below :)

seattle!!! (ok, and portland too...)

we're back and recovered from our fantastic trip to the northwest! fred had a great time at his 13 interviews (i'm not kidding, and that doesn't include a breakfast, 3 lunches, 2 dinners and a cocktail hour!), and i had a blast hanging out with maddie. we didn't get to see everything, but here are some highlights:

Seattle!!

so, seattle is where we really want to end up... i couldn't believe how courteous people were (shape up, utah! what's your problem??) we attended a ward in bellevue, and they were so uber-friendly! we hope to live in either bellevue or issaquah, just east of downtown seattle across lake washington.

downtown was fantastic, and thanks to fred's high-profile interviews, we got to stay 2 blocks from the heart of downtown in a beautiful boutique hotel. the shopping rocks, and the seattle center was walking distance! it's a truly amazing and beautiful city...

the space needle




the pacific science center

would you believe, i remember coming here 18 years ago with my family? the science center is one of my best memories of being a kid... so even though maddie's not old enough to care, i went for nostalgia's sake.

inside the butterfly garden - so full of butterflies you can get close enough to study them and watch how they fly.


pike place market

i love farmers markets, and this is apparently the oldest one in the country. found some very cool shops, and bought a children's book called "a giraffe and a half" by shel silverstein. check it out, it's as funny as it sounds!


ride the ducks!

tour downtown seattle and lake union on these WWII amphibious land/water vehicles! kinda strange when the vehicle you're in plows into the water and keeps going...


Portland

the international rose test garden

so beautiful - i love flowers, and i can't wait to live somewhere they grow so easily! i can't wait to try out my green thumb...






the japanese garden (most authentic in the world outside japan!)

we got to see it in the fall, which i think is one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen. the grounds are so well kept, and the changing leaves are enough to take your breath away...

from underneath one of my favorite trees - such a beautiful canopy! this one i might frame and hang on our wall.




hmmm... baths are a little different when you can't bring your own tub!

cute face, poop face

a few of my favorite faces:

stubborn "i'm asleep, leave me alone" face




i love my daddy face

smiley face

poop face - proceed with caution!

coveting? okay, maybe a little...

so i've been shopping for a fabulous wool coat... the one i have is quite old, and let's just say it doesn't quite house the old girls the way it needs to anymore. ah, the sacrifices we make for motherhood - shopping! darn.



why is it that my favorite favorite coat happens to cost about 5 times what we can afford? but i have to keep a picture just so i can remember how cute it is! i think i'd give my left arm for it (not my right, of course, that arm is too useful).

there is a debate going about whether i could even pull this style off, to which i say duh, of course i could. i guess i'll have to "settle" for the uber-cute red twill coat from vicki's.

a yugoogly for nessie

oh, dear nessie...

struck down in your silvery years, drug off unceremoniously to meet your doomiest doom in the junk yard! if only your enemy had not been on his teeny tiny cell phone, you might not have been smashed to tiny bits. but you were, and we were sad, so we went home to watch some espin, looking for a little light football, but only demolition derby was on...and it only made me sadderer!

how i miss your quality leather-plush interior...how i feel cut off from the rosy sun without a window to the stars! how music will never be the same without your premium sound system, even if the cd player had broked, nor will my body temperature without your climate control system and duel airbags.

you carried me from hither to thither without much further ado. but alas, i am left only with fred's dump, barely wobbling to and fro in its final throes.


oh for the daiye when again, i will meet you in our happy heaven above! i know you were a little bulimic, but at least reading minds can come in handy in a paradise full of strange people.

until we meet again!

baby's first... accident???

oh my!

so, we were on our way home from a party last weekend, late, a bit tired, baby rather cranky, and suddenly out of nowhere, shabam! ok, it was more like "clunk slide clunk bump squash" or something... apparently, some kid on his cell phone didn't notice fred slowing down, and managed to swerve just enough to side-swipe us all the way down the side of my car.

good news, we were all fine, and the baby was already crying, so i don't think she even noticed.

bad news, since my car was so old to begin with, it's totalled! unbelievable. an appropriate eulogy will be presented forthwith, and we'll be having a "nessie wake," details to follow.

good news, i made such a good deal when i bought the car some 5 years ago, they're actually giving us $400 more for the car than i paid for it to begin with (i'm such a good bargainer, just ask sergio). don't tell the ins. company.

bad news, i don't know if you've checked recently, but $4700 still doesn't get much of a car. so, we're probably stuck with having only one car, fred's very old, very beat-up, very smelly, very dirty, very difficult to drive chevy blazer. dang i hate that thing (sorry fred), but i guess we'll have to deal :(

good news, the ins. company had us replace her car seat, which only comes in a set, so we now have 2 strollers!

bad news, did i mention we only have one car now? and it's me who'll be stuck at home! BOO!

good news, we're coming down the home stretch with school, so by next fall we'll be able to afford a much nicer car, and i get dibs!

more good news, our rental is a buick enclave... can you say luxury SUV? we're taking a road trip to park city tomorrow just to bask in its glory.

ok, that was 2 more goods than bads, so i guess things will probably work out somehow... poor, poor nessie.

more cute baby

baby's first evil grin, in cahootz with pinky & the brain


waaay too cute for words...


first real bath... what is all this stuff??

with grandma johnson


with cousin chris jr., the first johnson grand-babies, due two days apart! (ok, but chris was born 3 weeks early and maddie a week late...)


baby cousins!


the johnson men (plus maddie...what is she doing there?)


the whole johnson clan together!

things i've learned from maddie...

how to eat a full meal in less than two minutes.

how to put my makeup on one-handed. heck, how to do just about everything one-handed, and sometimes with my feet.

why it is you're supposed to "clean behind your ears." never actually needed to do it before, but babies get guck in the strangest places :)

how to sleep sitting up.

how to sleep standing up.

how to fall asleep in less than 30 seconds, and feel rested in 5 minutes.

why oxiclean really is all that amazing.

how to change the sheets in no time flat.

how to hold it for several hours longer than anticipated... which is a far cry from going every 20 minutes!

never leave a bottom exposed for more than a second, or risk projectile baby poop all over everything in sight! (that is everything, and i mean everything, except maybe my socks)

jury duty? ex-ca-yuse me?

ha! can't believe the timing... i just received a jury duty letter, for october through december... hmmm... still healing from a giant hole in my stomach (still not supposed to even drive)... and sure, i'll come if i can bring my infant, don't mind the screaming, poopy smell, and periodic jury "flash" when i feed her :)

think i can get out of this one? oh, but i look so good with a serious face!

introducing madeleine frances

my beautiful baby girl, madeleine frances johnson was born Saturday, August 30th at 9:50 am... she was 8 lbs, 1 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.


at a doctor's appointment the day before, we were getting a little worried because she was still showing no signs of coming. after a non-stress test at the hospital, we figured out why - she was breech! oh no! so she came via c-section saturday morning. everything went well, and we're both doing much better.

it's likely my fluid level was too low for her to turn, and the poor girl was very squashed with her head jammed under my ribs and her feet squashed underneath her. but she's enjoying her ability to stretch out now!


she's SO adorable. and she's such a good baby :) she's very alert and was wide-eyed and interested from the moment she was born, and even hours later when i finally got to hold her for the first time. those baby blue-eyes are so beautiful!


she of course enjoys long naps :) and loves walks outside, and she makes the cutest baby squeaks you've ever heard!

here are all 5 generations of women - madeleine, me, my mother, my grandmother, and great-great-grandma frances eloise, from whom maddie gets her middle name.

i'm off to give some love to my new baby girl...but i'll post more adorable photos soon :)