andrew « GOODKNITS // a knitting & crochet blog

Thrifted in a new neighborhood

By Lisa Gutierrez on 06/29/2010

We moved about 40 minutes away from our old neighborhood. Where we used to live, there were at least 5 thrift stores we visited regularly. I’m sad that we no longer can drive 5 minutes to one of my favorites, but I’m also excited to make new favorites–to explore and discover new gems.

Last Friday, I spent a good hour on google maps, searching for thrift stores in the area. I found a few and was even able to split them up into groups based on location. The biggest had 5, but we had already visited 2 the weekend prior. We set out Saturday afternoon to the other three.

The first two were closed. As in, no longer in business! Big booooo! The last was set to close about 15 minutes after we got there. Luckily, there were still customers scouring the place, so we went in quickly and were pleasantly surprised!

I ended up buying this train case and quilt, along with an 11″x14″ photo frame, a lamp shade, a camera lens filter (it’s 49mm, though, so I can’t use it unless I get a step-down ring), an adorable tote that says “I choose reading,” a beer mug, and a cordless phone. Our grand total? $15. Yeaaah, we were glad the other stores were closed. It made this little thrift victory that much sweeter.

The weather man tells me we’re going to be getting a ton of rain in the Houston area, so I knew this would be the last day in a while for me to get photos. Nathan is spending the day with my mom, so Andrew and I went out back for a bit. I love love love having a backyard. LOVE IT.

I got the sheet & pillowcase seen in the photo below at SeAM, which we visited 2 weekends ago. It had been WEEKS since I thrifted, so I was SO happy to find these vintage linens early in the day.

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Slightly off-topic, if you have any tips on how to mend small tears in old quilts, I’d be most appreciative. There are a few 1-2″ tears in some of the squares of the quilt. They aren’t on the seams, so I’m wondering what would be the best method to fix ’em up. Thanks in advance!

Taste the rainbow [cupcake]

By Lisa Gutierrez on 05/20/2010

Today has been all sorts of awesome. Andrew actually slept in and so I got to putter around in the morning. After breakfast, he noticed my [naked] cupcakes on the table and promptly requested one. I couldn’t deny the birthday boy a cupcake, so I split it with him. He loved it. A little bit later, I frosted them and sent two on their way with my mom, who was picking up Nate at school, to give to his teachers.

While we were waiting for Nate & Grandma to return, my sister and I took Andrew outside for some birthday photos with the cupcakes.

I told you they were pretty! I didn’t get a chance to get a photo of the insides, but believe me when I say they are awesome! It was a beautiful little surprise when you split it. Everyone who had one loved it. Especially this little guy.

Nathan requested a giant rainbow cake for his birthday (2 weeks away)! I can’t wait! I used this recipe as a general guideline to making them. My only tip would be to put only 1t of each color batter in the [baking] cups, instead of 2. You wouldn’t have enough batter to do 2 and they’d be huge with 10t of batter. One was sufficient!

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#4 on my 25 before 26 list is to try a new cupcake recipe each month.

Happy birth & birthing day

By Lisa Gutierrez on 05/20/2010

Two years ago, today, we were rejoicing his birth on a sidewalk.

I made rainbow cupcakes for his birthday. He hasn’t seen them yet. I’m going to frost them right before we go to pick up his brother from school. I’ll try and get some photos and/or video while we sing that special song. It’s just us, tonight. No party. Just celebration and happiness.

Love, life, nature.

By Lisa Gutierrez on 05/19/2010

With our big move just over the horizon, I’m left thinking of things I may or may not miss about apartment-living.

I will NOT miss sharing a room with toys. My feet are tired of stepping on Matchbox cars. My eyes are tired of seeing little plastic cities all over the place. I want a grown-up room.

I will NOT miss the patio garden. It’s so crampy and I want to put my hands into more dirt than can be contained in a little pot. I want to plant things in the ground. I want some permanence.

I WILL miss the light from the third story window.

I really can’t wait to be out of here. I have tons more packing/sorting/purging to do. I haven’t even started going through toys or clothing. But that’s ok. I’ll suffer long nights of it, if I have to.

Tomorrow is my littlest boy’s birthday. Two. It’s such a nice, round, even number. I like it. I’ll be making my cupcake-of-the-month for him. I hope he loves

Baby no more

By Lisa Gutierrez on 05/10/2010

I should probably stop calling him my baby. He’s the youngest, though, so he might be stuck with the “baby” nickname for all eternity. Or until I’m brave enough to get pregnant again (oh, the VOMIT!).

He’s growing up fast! Because I knew he’d hate the long drive and then the long ceremony, I timidly suggested he stay with grandma while I went out of town. Afterall, daddy was going to take Nathan to his first baseball game and I knew Andy wouldn’t really like that.

It took a bit, but we solidified our plans and I kissed his sleeping face goodbye, early Saturday morning. Later that afternoon, he got dropped off at grandma’s.

And we never heard from him again.

I KID! To my complete and utter surprise, he did wonderfully! Nary a fuss! In fact, when we went over early Sunday afternoon, he was happily riding a bike in the driveway. I asked if he wanted to go and he kinda pulled back. As if to say, “no way, Jose. I’m at Grandma’s!” Alas, we had plans to go to Grandpa’s, so we had to head out pronto. With promises of a prompt return, I buckled him up and off we went for a few hours.

I’ll have you note, it was now over 24 hours since he last nursed! Pretty amazing. We spent a few hours at Jason’s dad’s, where I smelled a magnolia for the first time.