The girls and Brian took a quick trip to Paris. Not sure how we landed on Paris for our travel plans but when they got their hearts set on it I opted out. A four day weekend is just too short for me to jet off to Europe. But enough about my lameness – let's…

I'm catching up on two big stitching projects that I finished in September. And I noticed there's a great green and orangey red color theme in my photos this time of year. Love it. First up – this dress that I made for Claire. I'm so pleased that she wanted me to make a dress…

Well I guess Fall must be my favorite season. On Monday I went for the most refreshing walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  The gardens alway seem to be under construction lately. There was a big project to renovate the edging of the ponds and the area along their many greenhouses a while back. So…

I try to work on my windows as much as I can these days. Usually I have good luck if I get out to my work area early in the morning – it's when I have the most energy to get stuff done. I've been listening to books all summer while I work on windows.…

This past weekend we went back to Glacial Park Conservation area. It's a large park about and hour northwest of us. I've been thinking about this place since we first went in June. I was so excited to see all the late summer plants doing their thing. We ended up having a lovely time –…

We've ended up doing a few things in Chicago recently. First up – we went to the Museum of Ice Cream – another trendy spot that Claire discovered. It was very pink! They had lots of fun wallpaper. It was a hot and busy and beautiful day in Chicago. We stopped for hot dogs before…

September always surprises me – it surprises me how summer-like it is. Even though Fall is setting in there is still lots of life and lots of interesting stuff happening in my garden. So many plants seem to wait 'til the end of August and the beginning of September to put on their show. But…

Claire is invited to a friend's bat mitzvah next month so she needs a party dress. After shopping around, we decided to make one based on a dress that she tried on at J. Crew. She wanted a green dress so I ordered some beautiful Robert Kaufman lawn and I modified a Simplicity Cynthia Rowley pattern.…

I proposed a Vermont vacation so that Brian could ride his bike on some nice mountainous roads. By the end of our trip I think we all ended up getting to know and loving Vermont. I took lots of photos. Other than eating some yummy food and swimming a bit we mostly hiked. The Vermont…

We got home from our Vermont vacation yesterday evening. This morning I puttered around my garden and then sent the girls off to their first day of school. Claire to 7th Grade, Bea to 10th grade. Both my girls had their game faces on. I rode my bike part way to school with Bea. On…