We're wrapping up the year. Brian took me to the Chicago Symphony to hear Handel's Messiah and I got to wear my new long plaid skirt. That was nice. I finished up some homemade gifts – a pair of mice and a pair of socks. I went for my last Chicago Botanic Garden walk of…

I recently made a short dress and a long skirt. The short dress is the new Amarena Dress pattern from Liesl + Co. I found some heavily embroidered fabric on Etsy and the Amarena dress felt like the perfect pattern for it. I wanted to make something that could be a bit dressy but I…

Our weekend was filled with Christmas stuff from beginning to end. We started out with our annual Gingerbread party with friends on Friday. Saturday evening we had our Swiss Christmas celebration – complete with raclette cheese and presents. And then on Sunday we got to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden's light show. What a…

I've been taking a ballet class for a few months. I'm so happy to have found a great teacher and it just feels so good every time I go. My old shoes were ready to retire. 

Let me tell you about my most recent walk through the prairie at The Chicago Botanic Garden. The raindrops were like cold bulbs clinging to branches. The temperature was hovering right around freezing, and then a hazy sun came out, and it was like someone turned the lights on.  I've almost come to the end…

My sewing room is usually a disaster. I love it. Now and then the fabric piles get too big and I have to clean up. And by clean up – I mean start a project to use up all those precious fabric scraps. So I spent a bunch of hours over the weekend finishing this…