1. My awesome sister Susannah just launched her clothing line at www.pronkstyle.com. I know I mentioned this before, but just wanted to reiterate and give some new info. Basically, her clothing is ultra fine---the fabrics are imported from London and are pretty much exquisite to look at and touch. She was going to sell her first collection in little posh boutiques, but decided that in order to do that, her clothing would be very expensive, and well out of the range of most budgets. So she decided to market and sell the clothing on her own for about half the price of what the items would go for in boutiques. When her pattern maker and others from the industry have seen her clothing, they all tell her that it should be in the $200-$300 range per item. So, considering the hand embroidery, the fabulous design and fit of each item, and the amazing fabrics, their ~$100 price range is quite a steal. And it is really cool because she is using an amazing women-owned-and-run factory in Madagascar. It is definitely not a sweatshop.
2. Darlybird has a few new items. Not that that's a big deal. And I'll be adding some great stained glass necklaces and new vintage jewelry in the very near future. But, I am interested in expanding to include more items made by moms at home. This is kind of an intriguing genre for me---I see amazing handmade things made by women who have little kids---and they do it in every spare moment that they can muster. (That's how I have always been. A project or two or three on the back burner, and as soon as nap time comes around, I'm OFF to start my project.) So if you have something that you think fits into the Darlybird genre, send me an email at rachel@darlybird.com. I always love to see new things.
3. What do you do to keep track of your keys? Such a random question, yes, but I lose mine everyday and I'm about ready to cry, get my license revoked, or have them somehow surgically implanted . . . I NEED HELP!
8.31.2006
8.30.2006
Not that you care,
but the "Master of Light" aka "Painter of Light" isn't so light afterall . . . I've always deplored his work. And now I have an excuse to shout about it.
8.29.2006
I promised myself
that I would not do any canning (as in produce in glass jars) this summer/fall. Not because I don't like the process, not because I don't love the outcome, but because I've been super-duper busy and I didn't want to add another task to my list.
But today I happened to be near my favorite spot in the whole wide world, Pedrick Produce. Folks, this is no Eiffel Tower, no Cinque Terra---it's just a big un-cozy metal quanset hut (sp?) that holds some of the best fresh produce in the world. So I decided to stop in really quickly, just to get a little bag of nectarines and maybe a basket of strawberries---mushrooms, cilantro?
And I left with 50 lbs of peaches, 25 lbs of Roma tomatoes, and tons of assorted gems from earth's bounty. And a huge hope that Jon wouldn't recoil when I told him that he was going to be involved in my big Labor Day weekend project. I called him immediately on the way home---and HE'S IN!
But today I happened to be near my favorite spot in the whole wide world, Pedrick Produce. Folks, this is no Eiffel Tower, no Cinque Terra---it's just a big un-cozy metal quanset hut (sp?) that holds some of the best fresh produce in the world. So I decided to stop in really quickly, just to get a little bag of nectarines and maybe a basket of strawberries---mushrooms, cilantro?
And I left with 50 lbs of peaches, 25 lbs of Roma tomatoes, and tons of assorted gems from earth's bounty. And a huge hope that Jon wouldn't recoil when I told him that he was going to be involved in my big Labor Day weekend project. I called him immediately on the way home---and HE'S IN!
8.21.2006
Expert Beach Camper
If you ever have the chance to visit Lime Kiln State Park on the central Cali coast, please do it. We loved it. 
I love this kooky drama queen!
The faces she makes are worth millions! Check out this mock look of surprise!
She's my daughter, she's my darling!
I decided Giz's hair was getting a bit mangy. So I cut it in about 60 seconds flat while she was squirming in the bath. Results:
8.17.2006
* * * *
Going on vacation always makes me very introspective. Ideally, it's a time to get away from normal life just when normal life is starting to grind. Even more ideally, it's a time when I re-realize that I really do enjoy my normal life and I'm excited to get back to it.
Just returned from a week-long San Diego beach vacation with all 38 members of my family (parents, sibs, spouses, and all kids of sibs and spouses). We hadn't all been together for 4 years, since #8 (Joecinogen) left for "the mish," before my parents left for their 3 year "mish," and before 6 of the 20 grandkids were born. So it was pretty monumental.
Although many awesome things happened there, I think one of my very favorite had nothing to do with me or my family:
Wednesday morning, I walked to the beach with Blue, Giz, and niece "Kawenakolina." Where concrete met sand, I noticed a small family (mom, dad, son). The son (about 20 y.o.?) was in a wheelchair, his legs limp---his whole body limp. They were just standing/sitting there observing the ocean from afar. I briefly thought about how hard it would be to be a parent taking my child to the ocean in a wheelchair---and how it would be so hard that you couldn't enjoy the normal ocean hoopla---I was sad for them for a second, and then got distracted by Giz, who at this point was hightailing it across the sand and running straight for waves.
About 15 minutes later, while jumping waves with Blue and Giz, I looked to my right and saw an amazing scene: "Dad" was standing in a semi-kneeling position (leg jutted out in front, with stabilizing leg in back) while "son" was propped up on dad's knee, the waves swirling around his legs. There was no talking---just standing in the waves. I looked behind and saw his wheelchair ditched several feet back in the dry sand, with the mom looking on, letting father and son have their moment together. Goosebumps.
I also saw some not-so-touching things, like a woman rollerblading in a string bikini (for the love!), a "zebra"/burro in Tijuana with whom we had our pic snapped (do they wash the paint off the poor animals ever?), the distinct difference one inch makes when you go through an iron whirlygig at a border crossing, too many jumbo-tron boob jobs, enough lower-back tattoos for a lifetime, wealth beyond compare in LaJolla, poverty beyond compare in Tijuana, a few somewhat-interesting episodes of Project Runway, Giz trying to outwit every impending stair-doom blockade, and a million flies, 99 of which I killed in one afternoon. [Diversion: I actually got a little obsessive about fly-swatting. It began out of dire necessity and then it became a game. Yes, a game. I killed 4 in one blow! And 3 in one blow more than once. Yes, tis true. After an hour, I started calling myself the "Fly Whisperer" because twice I took a napkin to a healthy fly and merely pinched---no swatter involved. I caught two flies with just my stealthy hand and a napkin!]
Highlights of the trip included:
*Laughing my guts out on the roller coaster at Belmont Park. I thought it was going to be totally whimpy. I was so caught by surprise at the hardcore characteristics of this mousetrap. I couldn't do anything but laugh so loud. It was the best therapy I've ever had. Just ask Ben and Becca and Jon. Meanwhile, Big Ben had been smashed by the metal safety bar---said he thought he might pass out from the excruciating pain caused to his thigh. He said my laughter right behind his ears was the only thing that, and I quote, "kept me going" (meaning alive).
*My girls modeling their darling hand-embroidered Tijuana dresses. That was well worth the border trauma (I forgot my I.D. and me and blue and ben were separated from jon and giz who were separated from joe and julianne. and we only had one cell phone. being "lost" in tijuana without i.d. is not a comforting feeling.)
*Late night discussions with family members. Some very intense and rollicking. It's awesome that families can have hugely divergent opinions---even about important matters---and still be fabulous friends.
*Dad's delicious smoothies. He fine-tuned this skill in Madagascar. In fact, all of the food was divine. Which is why I'm still feeling bloated.
*Pete's professional water color lesson. You should see my mad color chart. It's fetchin' awes.
*Listening to the waves. Boogie boarding. Sand beneath toes. Italian ice on the boardwalk.
*Chilling with the fam, and some awesome girl outings with my s-i-l.
*Figuring my life out for the next 50 years, or 20 minutes, whichever the case may be.
Just returned from a week-long San Diego beach vacation with all 38 members of my family (parents, sibs, spouses, and all kids of sibs and spouses). We hadn't all been together for 4 years, since #8 (Joecinogen) left for "the mish," before my parents left for their 3 year "mish," and before 6 of the 20 grandkids were born. So it was pretty monumental.
Although many awesome things happened there, I think one of my very favorite had nothing to do with me or my family:
Wednesday morning, I walked to the beach with Blue, Giz, and niece "Kawenakolina." Where concrete met sand, I noticed a small family (mom, dad, son). The son (about 20 y.o.?) was in a wheelchair, his legs limp---his whole body limp. They were just standing/sitting there observing the ocean from afar. I briefly thought about how hard it would be to be a parent taking my child to the ocean in a wheelchair---and how it would be so hard that you couldn't enjoy the normal ocean hoopla---I was sad for them for a second, and then got distracted by Giz, who at this point was hightailing it across the sand and running straight for waves.
About 15 minutes later, while jumping waves with Blue and Giz, I looked to my right and saw an amazing scene: "Dad" was standing in a semi-kneeling position (leg jutted out in front, with stabilizing leg in back) while "son" was propped up on dad's knee, the waves swirling around his legs. There was no talking---just standing in the waves. I looked behind and saw his wheelchair ditched several feet back in the dry sand, with the mom looking on, letting father and son have their moment together. Goosebumps.
I also saw some not-so-touching things, like a woman rollerblading in a string bikini (for the love!), a "zebra"/burro in Tijuana with whom we had our pic snapped (do they wash the paint off the poor animals ever?), the distinct difference one inch makes when you go through an iron whirlygig at a border crossing, too many jumbo-tron boob jobs, enough lower-back tattoos for a lifetime, wealth beyond compare in LaJolla, poverty beyond compare in Tijuana, a few somewhat-interesting episodes of Project Runway, Giz trying to outwit every impending stair-doom blockade, and a million flies, 99 of which I killed in one afternoon. [Diversion: I actually got a little obsessive about fly-swatting. It began out of dire necessity and then it became a game. Yes, a game. I killed 4 in one blow! And 3 in one blow more than once. Yes, tis true. After an hour, I started calling myself the "Fly Whisperer" because twice I took a napkin to a healthy fly and merely pinched---no swatter involved. I caught two flies with just my stealthy hand and a napkin!]
Highlights of the trip included:
*Laughing my guts out on the roller coaster at Belmont Park. I thought it was going to be totally whimpy. I was so caught by surprise at the hardcore characteristics of this mousetrap. I couldn't do anything but laugh so loud. It was the best therapy I've ever had. Just ask Ben and Becca and Jon. Meanwhile, Big Ben had been smashed by the metal safety bar---said he thought he might pass out from the excruciating pain caused to his thigh. He said my laughter right behind his ears was the only thing that, and I quote, "kept me going" (meaning alive).
*My girls modeling their darling hand-embroidered Tijuana dresses. That was well worth the border trauma (I forgot my I.D. and me and blue and ben were separated from jon and giz who were separated from joe and julianne. and we only had one cell phone. being "lost" in tijuana without i.d. is not a comforting feeling.)
*Late night discussions with family members. Some very intense and rollicking. It's awesome that families can have hugely divergent opinions---even about important matters---and still be fabulous friends.
*Dad's delicious smoothies. He fine-tuned this skill in Madagascar. In fact, all of the food was divine. Which is why I'm still feeling bloated.
*Pete's professional water color lesson. You should see my mad color chart. It's fetchin' awes.
*Listening to the waves. Boogie boarding. Sand beneath toes. Italian ice on the boardwalk.
*Chilling with the fam, and some awesome girl outings with my s-i-l.
*Figuring my life out for the next 50 years, or 20 minutes, whichever the case may be.
8.15.2006
Darlybird Has Landed! Finally!
Hey----I've been super duper busy with lots of things, namely a large-scale family reunion in San Diego and the "launching" of my Darlybird enterprise and working at the Sacramento LDS Temple Open House (just got home from a 7-hour shift and the feet are throbbing!) So, Darlybird's up and running, so start shopping if you feel so inclined. And for the few of you who already have, your orders will be on their way tomorrow. You picked cute stuff, you!
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