Hold Me Accountable

I spent a whole evening cruising through this blog. I love the quilts - got me all excited about making quilts. But I came away with more than that. I realized that this woman is so passionate about quilting and does it all the time. I mean All. The. Time. She makes upwards of 30 or so a year (I think I have that right). She chronicles her failures and challenges, but she has gotten better because she practices. Constantly. And fabric is expensive. Well, more expensive than cake ingredients.

So I officially have no more excuses. I WILL make this cake this week. I have everything I need to make it. There's nothing stopping me (well, four kids, but they won't exactly stop me from making a cake). Aaron takes the LSAT on Saturday morning, so that's reason enough to celebrate.

Miette is my inspiration. Love this cake. Tartine makes one just like it, but without the ribbon. Now, the ribbon is just me. This will be a devil's food cake with chocolate ganache. It might not be perfect, but I'm practicing again. It will still taste awesome.

I *Heart* Halloween

Fall is here - okay, not officially, but as far as I'm concerned, once we switch to September, fall is here. There have already been football games (so glad my Huskies finally won something!), I've heard the marching band rehearsing, school has started for the kids, I've bought pencils and now I'm getting excited for Halloween.

We've got the costumes figured out - we still have to make them, but they are at least figured out. We're going to do these goody bags for Laurel's school party, but we'll fill them with fun little toys from Oriental Trading Co. instead of candy.
And then there are all the decorating ideas from Martha Stewart:

And the Halloween treats, most from Country Living - I can't decide which one I like the best!

We'll be super busy this year - we're doing Henry's blessing on November 1st, so Aaron's parents will be in town as well as mine. We'll also be celebrating "the birthdays" as they are coming to be known - Laurel, Will and James. And Mark, Aaron's stepfather too! This will be one crazy weekend come the end of October! Which is why I've got Halloween and birthdays on the brain already. Never too early to start thinking about.

Fearless Me

Things I'm afraid of:

• Failure - oh, most definitely!
• New ventures

Why am I admitting this? Because I'm daring myself to try something new, come January. I'd try sooner, but I'd like to adjust to all the other new things in my life before I move on to something else. Besides, I'm great at planning things! And I'll need to plan this.

The best way to achieve international stardom is to spend 10,000 hours honing your skills, says the new book by Malcolm Gladwell. The greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and scientists emerge only after spending at least three hours a day for a decade mastering their chosen field.

I don't necessarily want to achieve international stardom as a baker, but I do want to be exceptionally successful. Exceptional enough that I can have my little bakery and have loyal customers and love what I'm doing. So I need to start spending time with my cake pans and mixer. Three hours a day. That's a lot of baking. Well, I don't have to spend three hours every day baking, but three hours devoted to my field.

So, here's my little plan. I live in family housing. Lots of families. Which means lots of birthdays. I'd like to offer to bake cakes for anyone who wants them. Just for practice. I'd just print up a calendar and let people sign up for their cake day - and write in their favorite kind of cake. I want people to say that it's the best they've ever had. I'd stick with seasonal ingredients as best I can. I won't do character cakes for kids - that's not something I'm interested in doing in the future. I don't even do it for my own kids! I want to do cakes like Miette and Vanilla Bake Shop.

So, crazy idea? Good idea? I'll move on to other things, but for now, this is what I want to perfect. I can make decent cakes. I want to make spectacular cakes consistently, without thinking about it.

Isn't She Gorgeous?

My guardian angel/aunt sent me this absolutely, positively gorgeous slow cooker. It's my early Christmas present and I'm SO grateful. Made this hormonal pregnant girl tear up. With almost 4 children, anything to make dinner easier is a blessing. And this is SUCH a blessing. I'm so glad we live in Seattle with overcast weather even in August. Now I get to play with it and try out recipes. What is so spectacular about this one is that you can take out the cast aluminum insert and brown your meat on the stovetop before you add the liquid and other ingredients. Better flavor!

Aunt Annette, you are invited over for Boeuf Bourgignonne and fresh bread!

One Project Down, A Billion to Go!

Mel's apron is done and it's so cute! I wish I had a model - sorry, I'm so not volunteering my pregnant self to model it. Wouldn't look nearly as cute as on someone with less of a belly! I love the colors and the fabric and this is one of my favorite patterns. I'll be sending it to this site for their, oh, quarterly, I think, apron photo blog. The theme is plaid this time around and I love this green plaid!

So, more to do, but then, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a billion projects in the works. Probably just find more projects.

Can She Get It All Done?

I am a deadline person - I like knowing when things are supposed to happen. Unfortunately, with babies, you don't get to. So I'm trying to get things done, not knowing when I'll have to stop and have a baby!

I found this diaper/wipe case on etsy - here - and I'm making one to match my new diaper bag.

The new diaper bag, but it's only going to be in one fabric, not three.

And a matchy-matchy changing mat to go with it all - another Etsy purchase here if you want one. I have to say, I do like the PDF patterns I can find there. So nice to get them within 24 hours.

Also on the list - I've got Mel's apron cut out and I'm going to try to get it sewn today and tomorrow. And I've got three of the four pillowcases/shams for Laurel's new room cut out - I'll get started on those soon. I still have some notion purchases to make, and I'm waiting on the fabric for the outer borders, but it's coming along. Her room is going to be so cute when we're done with it! This is one of those times where I'm glad I just have one girl - I can spoil her much easier this way.

Happy crafting day!

One More Apron

Note: This is not my apron. This is the pattern - from the book A is for Apron - I have made this apron twice for myself and now I'm making another, but this time, for my midwife Mel. She was over for our home visit last week and was admiring my wall o' aprons. She loves wearing bright colors and I think I found the perfect fabrics for her.
This solid pink will be the waistband, ties and neck strap.

This plaid will be one side of the apron . . .

And the butterflies will be the other side!

I might end up loving it so much I'll have to make another one. Heaven help us - I'm going to need a new wall! This is getting WAY out of hand, but it's a rather harmless little vice, wouldn't you think?