You can make a big impression or go through life unseen

He drug the ratty old Buzz Lightyear costume out of the dressing up box this morning. His fat little fingers clutching it. Pleading with me: MaMa MaMa MaMA! I have been working with Finn on wearing "street clothes" a bit more nowadays bc he begins preschool next week. I am not stifling him, but the preschool does not allow Batman, Robin, Buzz, or knights. I am told there is a dress up center there, but one must arrive and depart in more traditional outfits.

It has been fine, but Blaise is now ready to experiment. The kid doesn't talk much, but he gets the world. The whole scheme of things. He ran right round the yard with arms stretched out like wings and I fell back into a lawn chair and laughed. And then maybe for just a second I cried just like one sliding tear. I am far too emotional when it comes to my children I think. How can everything be so paramount?

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Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty

one hot day here
garage sales and ice cream fuel us

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In the end only kindness matters

Auction Update: CLICK HERE For more details

We have the fabulous Emilee from the Nilsson Family blog top bidder at 40 for the teethers

We have the fabulous Mel from Beanpaste blog top bidder at 15 for the knit wear

We have the fabulous Karey from Mackink blog top bidder at 50 for the love letter

Yahoo! Come on folks- You have until Sunday at 10pm.



Why don't you get me delivered in yr mailbox everyday? I will make ya smile:

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do it with a heart wide open

My friend R had a fantastic Holiday Gift idea.
She is going to buy these small books
and bag them in these
along with bottles of white vinegar for green cleaning
and other small items like energy-efficient light bulbs
and microfiber towels
and give green
I love it! I must steal that idea for some family members!

and then I must share that I cannot no longer hide my true feelings for John Mayer. I didn't ever mean to love him like this. I even resisted him when he talked about my body being a wonderland. I would only allow my body to sway a bit back and forth in public. Just like a tiny shoulder nudge back and forth. Damn it though. I love you John. I love you and yr song is on repeat all damn day.

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To that place where you can't remember/ And you can't forget

I'm guest posting over at secret agent josephine today. Come on over and check out traditions.

also keep bidding!
teethers are at 40
vintage outfit at 15
love letter 50

kiss kiss

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Nie Nie Auction: love is all you need

Today is the day of the Nie Nie Auction. PLEASE check out all of the details here.

Each penny will go directly to the Stephanie Nielson Fund.
Leave the bids for which item you want and the email contact info in the comment section the auction will end on Sunday Night 8/31 at 10pm and each winner will be contacted and winner will pay through the SN paypal FUND. When winner sends me paid receipt I will ship items. Thanks and PLEASE BID WITH YR HEART...


My auction is as follows:

1. Three beautiful handmade maple teethers from my shop Little Alouette. These are gorgeous and would make awesome gifts to the wee one's in yr life. (retail over 50.00)

2. A girl's vintage Knitwear outfit. The tag is missing, but it is perfect condition. I am thinking it is a size 18months or 2? The waistband measures approx 8 inches and the bottom of the sweater measures approx 12 inches across. Here are the photos on flickr. Email me if you have questions. (vintage is worth it)


3. A love letter penned by me! I am serious. You all tell me that you like my writing or I have a way with words- Show me the money?! I remember who has told me nice things about my writings!!! :) I will write a love letter or poem to a person of yr choice. You will give me some details and I will go off and write my heart out. What is love worth to you? Huh? (priceless)

Not everyone can afford to give. But could you send a card?

For those of you Sending Cards, here's the address:
c/o stephanie and Christian Nielson
Mari Copa County Hospital
2601 East Roosevelt St.
Phoenix, AZ 85008

Please if you can afford to shop ( I know some of you can!!!!) PLEASE do! Here and all over the Internet today. I am sitting here amazed at the power of the blogosphere and women. If we could just harness this love...we could power the world.

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

What is rolling round my mind today:


Right off the bat I am so delighted that one of my favorite women is back to the blog. Mackink is back and I am delirious. I love her and imagine her my fancy cousin. We will sip something in Paris someday together. I just know it.


And then it is well known that I am a creative nonfiction junkie and I was so delighted to hear that Alice Bradley is included in this new book. This is a big deal. Huge. And although I don't know Alice very well I am even more in love with her than ever. Holy cow to be included in a Lee Gutkind book! It is one step closer to NPR baby. (my dream in life/ Amy Turn Sharp/ NPR essay contributor)



And then there is sweet Jos. I mean take a look at her gorgeous house over on Design Sponge. She has been in Cookie before with her stylish pad, and I just drool. Before I met her I thought she was perfect. And then I met her and she affirmed my suspicion. She has two little girls under four and a clean and stylish house...if I didn't love her I would have to hate her. She is my pick for design maven of the year.

And lordy there is Avesta's beans and rice. I grew up eating this as a side dish over at her home and all these years I thought there was some sort of clandestine Kurdish spice that her mother had smuggled into the country that made that simple dish taste so heavenly. Nope- she gave me the recipe and we feasted last night. I think the memory of the dish does not stand alone and that is the reason I held it so high. I think it blends with all of the amazing Kurdish food form her home and well anyway, I can make it now! and so can you . Here.


I have also come to the conclusion that Whipup.net works super hard and gives us great tutorials and round ups. My pals ask me how I am so creative and I always tell em- Kathreen!
Hat's off to you Kathreen! I need to tell you how much I love ya!


I can't not talk about how much I love Legs Bell. I mean Gwen Bell. I have been learning form this gorgeous young woman a lot about the internets :) and social media and passion lately. She doesn't know it bc I suck at telling folks enough at how inspiring they are- but she is. She is.


And then there is the whole big sad thing that hangs over everything nice. I keep reading about Stephanie from nieniedialogues and how her and her husband were involved in a terrible plane crash. They have four small children and are suffering in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. I feel the same way as Kate when I think about being burned on over 80% of yr body. I cannot put this in my mind, spin it, and make it ever seem right. I cannot. Design Mom is doing a terrific thing. Please participate. This blog world is powerful when it all works together.

On Thursday I will have a cool something up for auction too! Come back and check it out? Check it out and say a prayer today for them:

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with you I've found the key/to open any door

I can't stop creating lately. I am filled with ideas for the holidays already. Like these cool key hangers I am making. I used the old skeleton key from my first home's bedroom for the pattern. I am thinking some of them are going to be maple and finished with oils and some are going to be cool colors. It will have three small silver hooks down the key for hanging keys. It will hang beside the door. I love it!

The key looks like home to me. I remember when we toured that 100 year old house in the university district five years back. There was not much more than good bones to work with, but as I reached the top of the steep staircase I saw the shiny silver skeleton key sticking from the gorgeous vintage hardware. I knew I was home. It was our bedroom. The key never came out of the lock until the day we sold the home and moved out. It now lives on a cool vintage chain around my neck. It is a reminder of a time that will never again be able to be recreated. A time frozen in bliss where we created our first real home and a fat baby named Finnian brought Joseph and I closer together that we ever believed two souls could be. The key to somewhere like Brigadoon in my heart.

I wear it pretty often that key. I think I have decided it to be my signature piece. I remember in San Fran at Blogher that I wore it to the ultra chic Maggie Mason's party. Like Duh. The theme was keys. They had a key tree and everyone had them round their necks. I walked in and started noticing it immediately. I felt like the girl who practiced what she would look like kissing in the mirror or the one person who comes dressed completely head to toe in 80's regalia to a party marked as such but no one really bothered or something like that. Oh well. I still love my key even if it becomes very chic to tie one on. And I am still bummed that I never got a key from that party bc I didn't want peeps thinking I was greedy! :)
Now if this just helps me to keep track of my keys all will be good.

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Im looking for the tower of learning

I have a zit the size of Texas on my face, Joe and I quarreled last night, and things are just not working out for me in some big ways... Yet- then there are lovely little moments like this:
We are in the amazing Australian magazine LMNOP this month. !!!
It makes me so happy. I love LMNOP! It is an amazing publication. Go check it out!
And don't forget- I do not have a winner for the small magazine contest yet- please play HERE.




We also made lovely little toy this weekend.
The Maple Bowler Hat Man Weights and Balance Toy!
You can find the Bowler Man in the shop! :)

It's just another Sunday in a tired old street

So my very fashionable friend M told me I need to focus on some key Fall pieces. She explained how certain items were back and hot. These items did not make me hot in 1988 and I somehow doubt a long sweater over my big ass now will be any better. Or a very wee tight vest over a large shirt and poof I look pregnant again. I digress.

I think the tie front blouses are kinda cool though, they remind me of my mom and her career at Martha's Gift Shop in Nelsonville, Ohio in the 80's. She was career mom stylish and I loved going to the shop. It was a like a Hallmark on steroids with every single cranny filled with assorted gifts and greeting cards before greeting cards were cool. The whole shop was breakable if I recall, but the two things that stick out in my mind are my mom being so young and lovely with tie front blouses and her large hair. Oh and some tacky Precious Moments figurines too.

I remember in the mid 80's when my mom was so freaking pumped about the movie Mischief when it was filmed in Nelsonville. She met all the actors and had her camera with her daily.

We would hang out and catch glimpses of Kelly Preston and the cute boys from the film. The town was buzzing electric and I bet my mom adjusted her tie front blouse and looked perfect as she flipped the sign to lunch on Martha's door and headed down the street to eat her lunch where it was happening. I think I can recall her in some knitwear that was lovely. For me- not so much. I do however recall rocking a bright yellow and blue feather roach clip during my stint as annoying kid at Martha's Gift Shop after school. Wow. Those were the days.

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Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun

A night out for Michelle's birthday. Lots of chatting, drinking, and dancing. A great night. We went to a random kind of strip mall pub to see a band we all know and although it was not the type of bar I would have picked- it was fun.

The crowd was wicked diverse and unrattled from the heat of the summer evening. If anything, I think folks were loving the sweltering weather as the bare legs were in show and most people were drinking cold cold beers.

I danced without one care. I think sometimes even in the middle of like yr most favorite song, even when you might be so transported away- you realize that you are dancing in front of others and panic comes. The moment were you forget how to dance, much like if you think too hard about going down steps you might fall over from brain synapse screwball firings or something.

But that didn't happen last night.
I was a dancing queen.

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I can teach you/But I have to charge

I was flipping through some magazines last week and saw a bottle of Huy Fong Sriracha hot sauce on a list of favorite things and immediately had to buy some. My love! I forgot about you!
I used to eat this in college and loved it for it's sweet hot lover taste. I can remember when I discovered I loved the heat. I grew up in a bland little family who had nary a spicy spice in the house. When I tasted hot sauce I was hooked. I often would eat jalapenos from the jar just for the rush. I loved the sweat and the thrill. I still love eating hot sauce, that feeling of flush gets me every time. The heart rate, the breathing, the flow. Sounds kinda like a sexy time huh? Love it.
I am going out with the gals tonight to a Mexican joint. You know I'm gonna have some flushed cheeks. Lucky Joe.

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Throw your love around

I am smiling from ear to ear! Little Alouette is in Small Magazine!
Please check it out here!
Win a maple teether! DETAILS on the site! xoxoxo

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And when you find me there you'll search no more

Sometimes I only skim Gourmet magazine. I finger the shiny paper and lust a bit at the foods. I flip through it and then place it back on the giant pile of periodicals that live in my hallway. I do love the magazine but between a grocery budget that is more peasant than gourmet and little time I am often just saving recipes and passing the mags on to someone else. This month though is fabulous! I had time to read it from cover to cover while sitting in my parents big ass Lazy Boy chair. (Oh my god those chairs would turn me into a sloth!)

There was a simple picnic article about using layered meals in glass containers for yr picnic and I just loved it! How chic? How simple and portable? I am planning a little picnic this weekend for the boys and we are going to try and recreate Gourmet's gorgeous picnic!
One of the recipes I loved is here.


The magazine also had a terrific article on beekeeping that was beautifully written. Photo via Gourmet magazine...

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On the banks of the river on a well beaten path

We just got in from our little adventures. I have loads to share and a ton of photos.
I will just love ya and leave ya with this one.
Tractor girl.

Questions from pals in like 1989:

How are you such a good driver Amy?
How do you know how to use a stick shift so well?
Is there a secret to parallel parking?

Answer:

Yeah dude. Drive John Deere's and learn about gears before yr ten.

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Couldn't be much more from the heart

Whenever I go home I visit Josh's grave. Josh was a boy I dated in high school. He had a devilish grin and brilliant eyes.
He was killed on a motorcycle while we were in college. I was attached to him on many levels bc we kinda grew up together as he was my best friends step brother and through everything he was a friend in the "Stand By Me" kinda sense.

When he died a bit of me died too, a large part of my invincible skin rubbed right off that summer night. My mom tried to hold onto me as she gave me the news in person at my job as a camp counselor at Geneva Hills. I ran right away from her, completely unable to share my grief with anyone. Completely unable to announce to the world just how much that boy had marked my soul.
I loved him as much as a seventeen year old girl could.

I always feel the urge, the pull towards his grave when I am here. Finn has been with me before but the last time he was only three. This time he asked all kinds of questions in the car and I tried to answer as honestly as I could. I cringed as I told him about the accident and how people are buried or cremated. I looked out the window and actually had a bit of a shudder go through my body. It doesn't get any easier to retell the story of a person that showed you their heart and then died. I venture to say it never will.

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Many precede and many will follow

gran's kitty, originally uploaded by turnsharp.

Have been on a train and a tractor in last 24 hours.
The woods are good.
I am at the local library typing frantically.
It is so weird how this library seems so small and not the massive place it was long ago.
It is kinda like that freaky feeling yI got when I went back to visit my old elementary school while in College.
I felt like a giant roaming the small halls.
akward and stompy
God it has been a long time since I was here.
Sometimes I feel eyeballs on me here.
I can't wait to visit more places while I am here.
The town in my novel is this town really
and I have a lot to burn back onto my brain.

My review for The Dangerous Days of Daniel X right here!

I could go crazy on a night like tonight/When summers beginning to give up her fight

I am on a pilgrimage now.
Packing for the getaway and quite sad about leaving Joe.
I am going to hole up at my parents and write and unleash the kids to the wild hills of Appalachia.
I am going to drive my road and deal with dial-up. (gasp)
I will be around, just not as much. I will find a way to blog everyday though, because I am rock star like that even in the sticks.

I can't lie. I am a bit sad about the Bigfoot hoax.
I saw something Yeti like when I was a child on my parents land.
It can cause me to draw breath quickly even today when I think about it.
People have made fun of me always about it.
I don't research Bigfoot or keep up with anything that is not plastered in the media- I just silently believe.
I can't help it. You would believe in little green men too if you saw one at the bus stop all alone an Autumn morning you were eight.

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The summer's all in bloom /The summer is ending soon

Take old dear friends
add wine
easy conversations
and a lovely summer evening
love it
perfect
So how did I turn into a crotchety pirate in the morning?

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back to school/ ring the bell

Have you seen this book? Michelle Lamar is a doll (I met her!) and she has crafted up a cool gem of a book. I love her style. The book, not a bit about trailer parks is a guide for elementary aged kiddo parents. It is a primer on how to relax the insane standards attached to modern moms and just be. The book encourages to just enjoy this finite time that we have with our children and knock off the drama! She gently reminds us that the piano, soccer, and art lessons cannot compare to the time spent being with yr child.

Michelle reminds us on a hysterical ride through the school days that we should turn our backs on the unattainable mother superiority life and really live an authentic life with our family. She teaches us to cut corners (hysterical advice on smushing store bought brownies just right so they appear homemade) and not stress over the idea of perfection. She breaks it down in good detail about what to expect in the school system and how to navigate this place with out losing yr marbles. I am so excited to have this book a full year before kindergarten.

I loved this book. You should get this book. You should buy it for a friend. (especially the one who makes you feel guilty for not making organic blueberry sugar free buckle and enrolling yr kid in cello classes at age three)

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And her heart may be broken a hundred times

Get out yr black eyeliner and Doc Martins
Robert Smith is back.
I cut my edgy teeth on The Cure.
The Cure is the original soundtrack band to my rebellious youth.
I don't even mind that Robert hasn't reinvented himself. I will always swoon.

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I've been a miner for a heart of gold

It was a GOLD RUSH today.
We have been reading about the wild west and talking about the gold rush so we decided to have our own panning for gold experience in the backyard. I took small pieces of foam covered in gold glitter and hid them beneath sand in my trusty large wash tub. We used some old camping tins and water and panned for gold!
It was fun and kept their attention for quite a long time
I read some stories on the gold rush and California to them while they played and later we counted all the gold and since Finn had twenty pieces he could buy something out of the "general store".
There was even one shiny piece of gold left for me.
Guess what?
It was just enough to buy a cold Stella Artois from the "store" for mom.












For older kids- here is a good timeline to print out!

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