styled skirts

So I realize I totally posted these same exact skirts yesterday (duh Amanda, way to go). But I was so happy with the way the photos turned out that I wanted to post them all over again (and now they're up in the shop!). I hadn't thought of wearing a belt with these skirts until today, but I really like the way they look. Snazzy little watering can, eh? Ehhh? Which one is your favorite?

Be back soon with something new.

tomorrow? (fingers crossed)

Some other things:

* Thank you for your sweet comments about my new blog! All the design comes from the uber-talented Molly via the newly launched Life Made Lovely Designs. Molly and Heather are sweet, real, and amazingly talented. Jump on 'em!

* 70 degrees yesterday. Bare feet. Grass. Running. Sunshine. Bliss.

* These mustard flats are completely killing me. Somebody please buy them so I can't. Anybody seen any cheap shoes like this?

* Onion-parmesan sourdough. Yes.

* Love you guys. Thanks for being so sweet with this bloggy move. I was really nervous about it, so thanks for being so awesome + supportive. Let's do a giveaway or something soon, mkay?

cute easter kids

Mua ha ha ha! Just when you thought you'd seen the entire blogosphere's cute-kids-on-Easter pictures. I was hoping for a nice sisterly pic, but they were on a sugar high and I had to get to church early, so there went that. Oh well, these are waaaay more representative of L+M's personalities anyway.

I have to toot my own horn (toot! toot!) on Lizzy's dress. I made it using the Oliver+S Ice Cream Dress pattern. And boy howdy, everything you've heard about those patterns is true. Clear! Clean! Well designed! And the most beautifully tailored garment I think I've ever made. That Liesl makes you feel like a genius, she does.

uplifting download: good, better, best

Happy Tuesday, guys! I'm excited to post this fun little freebie. A while back, Dallin H. Oaks gave an address called Good, Better, Best that's all about priorities.

Because it isn't always a choice between doing something naughty or doing something good.

More often our choices are whether we'll do something good (read a novel?), something better (play with my kids?), or something best (serve my neighbor together with my kids?).

To sum it up simply:

"We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families."

That message has been on my mind a lot lately, so I made a little reminder -- stick it on your fridge, pin it in your laundry room, give it to a friend -- I hope you like it!

welcome!

You made it!

I'm so excited you're here.

And I'm so excited about this jazzy little space.

But more on all of that later.

For now -- see that pretty little subscribe button?

(over there. on the right.)

It's calling your name.

'Cause this is where all the action is now.

(hear that? caaaaaallllllliiiing...)

You can also become a follower if you want (below right),

but I promise not to get my panties in a bunch about it

(bwa ha).

See you soon!

smooch smooch,

xo/amanda

p.s. My mom took that awesome picture of Lizzy. She is such a hoot.

my life would suck without you

I came across this print on Etsy last week and totally freaked. This is exactly the kind of thing R and I would say to each other.

I put it above our bed (with a nail! and a hammer! see, I really can do it), which space has been in need of some TLC. Behind the print is just a super-starched piece of fabric. Easy peasy fast!

boho pretty

Happy Wednesday, friends! We have been super busy around here, but I wanted to pop in with some pretty pictures for today.

:: the loveliest little sitting space via an indian summer with thanks to shannel::

:: someday I will learn to arrange flowers as prettily as this, via once wed with thanks to oh hello friend ::

:: I want to eat this for lunch -- that ok with you, Anna? via noodlehead::

:: this phrase used to annoy me, but this sunny print might change my mind, via keep calm gallery ::

:: I'll take one brick wall, please? via jenny darling with thanks to candace::

:: so snuggly, so cheerful, so bright! via selmaoglinea ::

making laundry happy

Do you guys know about the Fly Lady? I sucked at and despised and dreaded cleaning my house until I started the Fly Lady's cleaning regimen three weeks back. And seriously, no irony here -- I'm finding now that I love cleaning -- look forward to it, even, which still weirds me out a little.

Anyway, one of the cleaning missions this past week was to put a family picture in the laundry room. When it came down to it, I couldn't pick just one picture but also didn't want to monkey around with frames and nails and stuff (shudder. totally man's work in this house. anybody else, or am I the only unempowered non hammer-wielding woman around here?).

So, with the view of making it a quick project without any fuss or hauling out the sewing machine or anything, I grabbed some bias tape scraps, knotted them together, and clipped on the pictures along with some of my Grammie's hankies. Ta-daa!

Laundry room = happy place. Except that the laundry room is also the one room in the house that we still haven't unpacked. All in good time, all in good time. Anybody else have a fun happy place decorating idea to share? I'm really happy that I don't suck at cleaning anymore, but not sucking at decorating... let's just say that won't be such an easy fix.

julia + courtney

Courtney had me make some skirts last year for her family. She was pregnant at the time, so for this year's family pictures, we dreamed up new skirts for her and her littlest girl. For her own skirt, she opted for a lightweight jersey waistband to match the skirt fabric -- so comfy!

new skirts for summer

The first batch of new skirts is now in the shop! I've drafted up a new pattern that's a little bit swingy-er for summertime. Each new listing is for a particular size, but can be custom made in any size you like.

Have a fun weekend, everyone! Kissy kissy!

we're juicy

We really really really love juice. A while back we splurged on a fancypants juicer -- one of those things where your husband asks a dozen times, "Yes, but will we use it?" I am happy to say we are still using it. And I've talked about this before, I know, but this had to be documented -- because no one, and I mean no one, loves juice in our house more than Miss Maren.

(She was sitting on my lap while editing this post and pointed at the screen, yelling, "Maren! JUICE!!")

She will chug her own juice as fast as she can, then go on a treasure hunt for Lizzy's cup, which is invariably dumped, half-finished, in some obscure corner of the house.

Our favorite formula: 1-2 apples + 1-2 oranges + 5-6 carrots + 1/3 fennel + tiny knob ginger = bliss. I'm keen to try some other combos, though -- you know, research for when we open that hippy juice bar in Utah.

snippets :: fabric + foot powder

:: have been cutting mountains of sheets for new skirts to put in the shop

:: little miss waiting patiently for her bath after a certain foot powder incident

:: {and} fah-REAK!! new fabric from AMH... I could kiss that lady on the mouth for being such a prolific designer

:: really -- on the mouth

big spring dreams

Greenness is returning to our corner of the earth -- and with it, delicious birdsong a la Bambi. Tomatoes, squash, dahlias, and herbs are sprouting inside, and we planted chard and baby greens in our back-porch planters (and uncovered some lovely volunteer mint!). Our garden will be small as far as gardens go, but my history with gardening is not exactly illustrious, so small is good.

Unrelated, but has anyone read Zeitoun? Was it worthwhile? I have mixed feelings about Mr. Eggers' work (though I did meet him once at a book signing and he was very interesting), but this one made me curious.

Massive shop update in the works. I'll quit inundating you with cute pictures of my kids soon, promise. Though they are pretty cute, aren't they?

(Yes. The right answer is yes.)

after the thaw

It feels so good to do some yard work while the girls play outside, as opposed to standing in knee-deep snow like a stranded penguin. Am I the only person finding weird stuff under all those leaves?

when gram + gramps came to town

and a good time was had by all

Lizzy and Maren asked to be swaddled and laid next to each other this morning. Guess they've got some recovering to do.

We had a smashing time with Grandma + Grandpa this week. I promise to subject you to lots of hot family pics + some other fun things next week. I think we're going to stay in our grubby clothes and watch the Care Bears today.

wonderland mini

I just finished a sweet order for a sweet mama with some sweet babies. She really liked the Wonderland skirt (made from the same fabric) and wanted some pretties for her babies to match. There was just exactly enough of that fabric left to make two cute bow ties. Love!

treasured

When you visit the Etsy front page, there's always a lovely curated collection of pretties to look at. These collections come from the Etsy Treasuries, which anyone can access or create. I feel super lucky to have been in a few really pretty ones lately!

And because I hate posting things without a picture...



New York is nice, but I'd rather be here. Wedgie and all.

how to cook beans, the easy way

This is for my dear sweet friend who confided in me the other day that she doesn't know how to cook beans. So here's what you do.



Slow cooker. Water (a lot). Beans (a handful makes a cup or so).



Set to high if you have 5 hours. Set to low if you have 12. Cover up n' walk away.



You'll never buy canned beans again.

guess who's coming?

(Oh yes. 1975, baby.)

My parents are visiting us this week! We are super excited to spend some time with them. I've got some fun little posts all pre-scheduled for the week, just so you don't, you know, go into Little Cumulus withdrawals or anything. 'Cause I'd hate to be responsible for something like that.



(He's aged so well. Don't you think?)

baby cheeks at 22 months

No one, and I mean no one, has ever said that Lizzy and I look alike. With Maren it's another story, except that R says I win the cheek contest.

general conference time!

Twice a year, my church has a worldwide general conference. You can watch it live right here today and tomorrow, or peruse audio/video/text from past conferences. Maybe you have some questions? Or feel in need of a little spiritual food. Guaranteed to nourish the soul -- good music, too!

sorry if you don't care about men wrestling in short shorts, but it's my blog and i'll brag if i want to

When I walked into the wrestling tournament today, nearly the first thing I saw was my man -- with blood smeared across his face.

Awesome.

Apparently we missed a totally rad match by a matter of seconds. He got beat 7-6, but all the guys were buzzing about how rockin' he was. We stuck around for a while, had a good time, and got to see him wrestle again. This time he pinned his opponent in a minute or two.



Getting amped up.



Ready to rock.



Thrown. That was R's favorite picture. And jeez, those leg muscles.



Yep. That's what you get for putting "whiskey kid" on your shirt.

The best part was when R detailed 2 of his soldiers to babysit so I could take pictures. I'm telling you. It's the good life.

Oh! and ETA: At the concessions table, I overheard a soldier say to his buddy, "Aaw man, Mr. T brownies! You gotta get one of those!" Mua ha ha.

manly treats for manly men

So, my man is in the super-macho Contest of Champions today. It's a wrestling tournament they're having at work.

At work.



(The Army is so weird.)

I am all pumped up to take the girls and elbow my way between crazy sweating yelling cursing men -- can't you see it? just like a USU vs. BYU hockey game -- "HIT HIM!!!" -- but I digress -- because just like my rad sister in-law, I've always had a secret desire to see my husband get in a fight.



Mostly because I know he'll win. Or at least come close.

(He was a super wrestling champ in high school. Prom king, too. But that is another story. Ahem.)

Anyway, what I am really wanting to tell you about are the treats I made for the bake sale they're having. And the labels I made for said treats. Because what kind of infantryman says no to a Mr. T brownie? or a Chuck Norris cookie?



The cookies are good -- it's true -- but the brownies are to freaking die for. I had half a piece and moaned pretty much the whole time. You can find the recipe here by clicking on "click to look inside" and going to page 103.



I am irrationally excited about these labels -- they are all yours! -- so get in the kitchen and spiffy 'em up with Chuck Norris and Mr. T (click on images to download).



Go get 'em, sweetie!