We just celebrated Lily’s birthday. Like all parents, I can’t believe that she is already two years old. It seems like just yesterday that she was a newborn, sleeping in her carrier next to my desk in the Bramble Berry offices. It has been ridiculously fun to watch her personality emerge. She is the sweetest, most happy baby and makes Chris and I smile every day with her charming temperament.
To celebrate the occasion, I made butterscotch, butterscotch, butterscotch cupcakes. Butterscotch is a family favorite thanks to my dad (you can read about his love for butterscotch here). The cupcakes were a combination cake mix and homemade ingredients. They were easy to make (though were multiple steps), and most importantly, tasted amazing!
Sharing is Caring
“My siblings are my best friends.” – America Ferrera
On a Walk + Tips for Mitigating Risk
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” — Anne Frank
Happy Weekend! We’ve had a chance to get outdoors (yesterday) and even do a bit of gardening (bean bushes). Like last year, I went way overboard on the greens. I have enough kale to open up my own farm stand at this point. I still want to plant squash, zucchinis, cucumbers, garlic and corn later in the year.
Don’t Forget to Play
“Life is more fun if you play games.” ― Roald Dahl
Happy Easter Weekend =) We did an Easter Egg hunt with Jamisen. He was beyond euphoric about the whole concept of sugar. Trying to explain to him why Easter happens was a little tricky. The internet was no help either. I stumbled over an explanation to him but had vastly underestimated the need for an actual explanation. Jamisen didn’t ask one single question about why he was made to get dressed up, carry a pink basket and go find plastic eggs filled with candy. Ah, so sweet: childhood innocence.
Sun, Surf, Sand and Babies
“Laughter is an instant vacation.” – Milton Berle
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We recently took a family trip to Hawaii with Grandma and Grandpa Faiola. My Dad had a medical conference and invited us to tag along so I cashed in all of our air miles and we took off an adventure.It was our first time traveling with the kids so we were both a little nervous. The flights were just as bad as we expected (worse, actually) but once we got to Hawaii, memories of the bad flight quickly faded. It was Jamisen and Lily’s first time experiencing sand and they loved it! We had a good time exploring the waves, making sand castles, eating yummy food at the restaurants and laughing. Click to read more. [Read more…]
New Creative Outlets and Rivalries
One of the joys I have in life is creating; it’s how I got into soapmaking. I love crafts of all types (don’t believe me? My crafty boards on Pinterest have a veritable lifetime of awesome craft ideas for me to try). I knit. I have a flower press. I have newly started gardening. I adore cooking. I rubber stamp. I like to color. And, I now consider myself an expert play dough sculptor.
When I was tasked with developing a 2.5 day retreat for my Entrepreneur’s Organization group (that’s us at the Inn at Langley enjoying an amazing meal cooked by Matt Costello), I jumped at the chance to make our team building exercise creative.
Bundle Up
“While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best.” – Tom Allen
Kiss Kiss
“Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.” — Vietnamese Proverb
This week has been such a whirlwind. Chris and the kids got hit pretty hard last week (so, like 13 days ago) with horrific colds. Just when I thought everyone was on the mend, Chris got taken out, hard, by some sort of what I like to affectionately refer to as the ‘Whatcom County Creeping Crud‘ or WCCC. It’s sort of all the pain of the flu without the actual real-deal flu-ness. He stayed home a few days from work but thankfully, he’s on the mend now but we are all looking forward to having a very low key weekend before Thanksgiving happens in just a couple weeks (yes, we’re hosting!).
Honoring our Vets
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” -John F. Kennedy
Rocking Horses on Concrete
It is officially fall in the Pacific Northwest. And, while I’m extremely sad about this (summer is my favorite time of year), it does make some really gorgeous photos and fall activities, like hiking, apple orchards and park time. Ms. Lily is almost 5 months old and she is happier than ever (unless of course, you interrupt her afternoon nap in which case, she doesn’t forgive you for a few hours and shares her frustration by screaming loudly at you).
We went to Whatcom Falls Park this week and checked out the fish (happy, happy fish!) and had a breakthrough! Breakthrough! Jamisen has hated swings, of all types. He never liked being in the baby seat swings, big boy swings, sitting in our laps while trying to swing … nada. But this time, we got him to swing for at least 37 seconds and check out that grin. Whoah! Yeaah, little boy, lovin’ a traditional childhood past time. For all of 37 seconds. But hey, he has to start somewhere.
We also went to an apple orchard. Jamisen loved this terribly unsafe rocking horse thing. I say it’s terribly unsafe because the rocking horse is on concrete. I love that place but was somewhat terrified as Jamisen rocked his little body in an unstable manner over extremely unforgiving ground.
The reason Jamisen isn’t looking at me (and I have 15 photos just like this one) is because he’s staring at the donuts that are being made fresh, right in front of him. Apple Cider donuts, hold the sugar, because Chris is such a conscientious Daddy.
We picked apples in the apple orchard and Jamisen ate them directly from the tree. Go Jamisen! Also, look, it’s Lily! She was here for all of these festivities but when I’m holding the camera, you don’t see Lily because I’m also holding Lily. That’s also why these photos require massive editing and culling since most of them are shot sideways and out of focus.
Fall is a magical time of year.
And on that note, I can hear Lily crying because her afternoon nap really isn’t going the way she wanted it to (or for that matter, the way I wanted it to). I’ve got a busy week ahead with vendor visits, a quick business trip to Las Vegas and quite a few batches of soap to make to try out some new techniques. Happy weekend – and upcoming week – everyone!
Baby Sprinkle Series: Strawberry Tart Melt and Pour Soaps
First in our series of Bramble Girl Sprinkle tutorials – Strawberry Tart Melt and Pour Soaps. These adorable little guest-sized soaps make for a wonderful token of appreciation for guests. Paired with flower-shaped mini bath fizzies and packaged in a sweet ombre gift bag your guests should be excited about their next opportunity for a soak in the tub. Have you downloaded your free sprinkle PDFs yet? Attach one of the custom-designed tags to the favor bag to complete the look!
Bramble Girl’s Welcome Sprinkle
Sprinkle: not quite a baby shower, which is traditionally reserved for the arrival of the first child. Not one to turn down a fun couple of hours with girlfriends chatting about all things business, book club and yes, baby! The Sprinkle also doubled as a housewarming party after our recent move. And it wouldn’t have been a very Bramble Sprinkle without a few crafty details, and I’ve got big plans to share fun tutorials right here on the blog.
Feed the Birds
“Use those talents you have. You will make it. You will give joy to the world. Take this tip from nature: The woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except those who sang best.”
-Bernard Meltzer
Pink and Blue(berry) Shortbread Cookies Recipe
I love any excuse for my family to get together! After finding out the gender of our Bramble Bump, I was delighted to host another gender reveal party for the extended family to share the news. I also ran with the theme in the baked goods and decor department – you can check out the super fun layered ombre cake recipe I made here. These yummy little shortbread cookies where a hit with the fam, and Jamisen was delighted to be surrounded by so. much. sugar. =)
Recipe 1: Blue(berry) Shortbread
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
- 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fresh blueberries [Read more…]