quilting related:

-keep quilting.  quilt more and more as time allows.
-push myself, and stretch myself when it comes to quilting.  strive to keep trying new things, developing new ideas, and follow through with those ideas and finish those projects.
-work toward finding and developing my own personal quilting style.
-improve my machine quilting skills.  move beyond straight lines.

art/photo related:

-take more pictures.  via the slr and via the phone (instagram, etc.).  i.e., more photos by any means necessary.  photos of anything and everything, myself, poppy, peter, anything around me.  just get back into it.
-paint more.  acrylics, gouache, watercolor, whatever.
-take a painting class.
-draw more too, damnit.
-use what I learn in my fabric silkscreenng class to make fabric for art, clothing and quilting.  don’t end the class and not continue on with what was learned.  perhaps use this fabric to as above in the quilting section, enhance my personal quilting or fashion design vision, as it develops and continues to develop.

fashion related:

-try a little harder.  been in too much of a rut the past couple years.   have fallen into wearing “uniforms”.  so, i want to strive to try harder to express myself every day.  maybe even document it again, but can’t promise anything.
-keep making more of my own clothes.  use hand printed fabrics and marimekko stash to make some new dresses.

personal:

-read even more books.
-do some traveling.  preferably out of the country, or at the very least, go somewhere in the states where i/we have never been.
-make new friends.
-spend more time doing art with my daughter.
-eat even healthier.  cut back on the sweets.
-take a dance or yoga class.
-walk more.

***

i’m well aware that the turn of a new year is an arbitrary date on which to set goals, as goals can be set and strived toward at any time or date throughout the year.  still, i like it…it’s a time to look back and reflect on the year gone past and formulate plans to make the year ahead as fruitful as possible.  never a bad thing.

this photo isn’t from NYE, but, close enough.  (it was from pete’s work Xmas party back on dec. 10th.)

i have been around, but busy.  i also got an iPad and that derailed my blogging big time…went into deep media digestion mode and created virtually nothing in a virtual sense.  pinterest and Flickr efforts excepted.

it was a crazy year, full of a tremendous amount of change.  good change (moving, poppy growing up and getting potty trained (!), and starting at a new preschool), and bad change (health problems, peter’s dad passing away, etc.).

but overall, the year ended on a good note, i would say.

-poppy’s new school is great.  very urban and forward-thinking, as well as kind of hip.  her head teacher has pink hair!  they even make a point to serve them healthy organic food and emphasize environmentalism, which is a nice touch.  she’s going 5 mornings a week and seems to love it.  yay!

-poppy’s school is about a mile away.  i usually walk back home after dropping her off, and walk back over to pick her up.  lately i’ve been taking the stroller with me to pick her up so i can walk us home too, so I get about a 3 mile walk in each school day.  hooray for exercise!  i need it, as it’s been a non stop sweets and candy fest around here since Halloween…(maybe you can relate???)

-while poppy is at school, i usually head home to sew.  i’ve been getting into quilting, big time.  i made my parents a large quilt for Xmas, and also finished one baby quilt (for my newest niece marabel, born mid-dec), as well as a full size red and white zig zag quilt, which now resides on our bed.  i’ve also finished multitudinous quilt tops in the past little while and have more ideas and quilts in the queue.

-on a quilt related note, i joined the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild in dec and met a fabulous group of ladies there…including one famous quilter, jacquie, who lives in my building.  she and i have even gotten together a couple times since at her place to chat and sew.  she’s amazing.  so happy to make a friend here, especially one as nice as jacquie, and especially one who sews/quilts!

-i signed up for a fabric silk screening class, it starts next week, and runs for ten weeks.  so excited!

i’m off to do some sewing RIGHT NOW.  a perfect way to start the new year.  while i sew i plan to ponder my goals for 2012.  still formulating plans.  *smile*

***

what have you been up to?  i’ve missed you.  :)

we’ve been in our new place here in chicago for two weeks, tomorrow.

my mom came a few days after moving in to help out and take care of p while i set to work putting things in their places. having her here was amazing…i was able to get a lot done. without her here, the same work would have taken me months to complete. because 3 year olds need to be cared for, fed and entertained, you see…

there’s still a lot of work to be done, but little corners of the house feel settled and for now, that’s enough.

every day i am surer of our decision to move to chicago. i have and always have had a lot on my mind, but my soul feels more at home and at rest here than i have anywhere in the last two to three years. i believe i’m allergic to suburbs.

i’m really loving how *close* our new place is to everything. how i can not bother using the car most days, and can just hop on a bus or train to get me where i want and need to go. or just use my feet. it just feels easy and right.

we’re here!

we arrived earlier this week, after a two and a half day road trip that took us through new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, ohio, indiana and illinois. sounds like a lot but it wasn’t bad at all, roughly a 13 hour drive (not attempted all at once, thank goodness!).

we started looking for a place on monday and found an amazing ultra modern apartment that same day, in the river west area, kind wedged between wicker park and the loop/river north. we move in late next week. it all happened faster than i had expected. i’m sure it will take a while to get settled. i’m used to it now. will possibly post some photos when that eventually happens.

my soul already feels lighter, being back in a big(ger) city. the bustle and movement and diversity are energizing for me.

living in suburbs was difficult; and greenwich, ct is a very tough suburb to get into, no matter which way you slice it. i don’t miss it one iota.

our gardens were really good to us this year.

poppy’s THIRD birthday was last friday (august 19th).

we can hardly believe it.

she is the awesomesauce.

favorite activities: reading, painting/drawing, digging in the sandbox, playing with duplos. avid collector of hello kitty stuffed toys. she’s basically a huge hello kitty fan all around. so cute.

it’s been a crazy summer.

bittersweet news:

we’re moving to chicago next month. pete’s office here is closing, and they are moving everyone back to the chicago office.

i’m a little sad to be leaving (the) new york (area), but happy to leave greenwich (not my scene) and i’m kind of looking forward to going back to chicago. it’s a bigger, urban, vibrant city (compared to greenwich!) and i kind of know it already (having lived there 5-6 months in late 2009-2010).

trying to think positive.

my father in law passed away a week ago today. lymphoma, that voracious, insidious bastard of a cancer, finally took him to the other side. he was a strong man, spiritually and physically. he was gregarious, humble, hilarious, and loving. he will be so missed by so many. he was very religious (a devout catholic), very active in service to his church, a member of many religious service organizations, and was a salesman for du pont for over 40 years. he was a graduate of duke, a former football player, runner, and a very avid fisherman. he had touched so many people’s lives in his 64 years, and made a friend of nearly every person he met. literally hundreds of people came to his vigil and funeral this past weekend. it was both overwhelming and breathtaking.

peter, poppy and i were in florida for vacation starting june 18th. the day we got here, we got a call from his mother saying dad was nearing the end, so we drove from orlando to jacksonville (where he and my mother in law have their home) to be with him in the hospital CCU in final hours before he died. i was only able to see him for a few minutes (i took care of poppy while peter and his siblings spent time with their dad), but i’ll never forget our last conversation:

“i’ve always thought of you as one of my daughters…”

and i held his hand and responded, “i know. i have always felt that.”
and it was true. he always did treat me like one of his daughters. he always went out of his way to make sure i was treated like one of the family.

rip, peter a. royal.
you were the best father in law in the world. i was lucky to have known you.
we love you, and miss you.

little p, of course. irreplaceable, she is.

and the fresh strawberries we picked yesterday, at a farm in shelton, ct. indescribable, they are.

i’m gardening again this year, in my patio container garden, and things are coming along great. this year we’ve implemented the SFG system and built a couple of narrow 6′ x 1′ boxes and have utilized the existent apartment boxes, our half barrel containers, and various smaller pots, and are growing:

6 bush tomato plants, one purple eggplant, one white “ghostbuster” eggplant, chard from seed, radishes from seed, basil, mint, lavender, dill, purple and white onions, cabbage, cauliflower, snow peas, bush beans, chives, kale, rosemary, oregano, lemon and german thyme, sweet pepper, and…i am sure i’m forgetting something! hopefully my onions will be done soon and i can get some cukes in.

we had red leaf lettuce and romaine but i just hacked it down last week and ate it. YUM.

just like last year, things are coming along great. no massive failures…yet! seems some caterpillars have taken a liking to the cabbages, but no big deal; they were a springtime experiment; i wanted to grow something a little different and i tried a few. probably won’t try them again. live, garden, learn.

as alluded to in previous posts, we also joined a community garden here in greenwich, the armstrong court community garden, which resides next to a small stream directly behind a public housing complex here in the city. we’ve been working on the garden most weekends for the past month and a half, and things are coming along great! in our plot at armstrong we’re growing tomatoes (various types, including some cherry varieties), sweet and hot peppers, a tomatillo, bush beans, chard, romaine lettuce, celery, and yellow straightneck squash.

pete and poppy come over and help me with the garden, and it’s really a family project! we’re having so much fun and it’s nice to get out and do something together and meet people. the other gardeners are so nice and helpful and everyone really pitches in and makes the garden look great, keeping it maintained and growing strong. and holy moly, the garden as a whole is kicking butt. we had several weeks of rain, followed by a couple weeks with some heat and everything is looking really happy! can’t wait to see what it all looks like once summer is in full swing.

our tummies are sure to be really really happy come july and august! i totally want to make buckets full of preserved tomatoes and tomato products (sauce, salsas, stewed tomatoes, and the like), and if our tomatoes are successful (at home and at the plot), we’re likely to be inundated with tomatoes and quite busy at the end of the season! hahaha. here’s hoping!

what are you growing this year?
what do you plan to do with your harvest?

we had a busy, busy weekend…

friday: i took that all-day free-motion quilting class i mentioned in a previous post, and man, it was a LOT of fun. my stitches don’t look that fabulous yet (still getting down the technique), but i have been practicing a little every single day and plan to continue practicing until i get the hang of it. i left the class feeling so inspired!!

saturday: had a seasonal dinner dinner party with our friends mike, yufei, and nicole and aaron (+ little miko). we get together at least once a season and make a big dinner at one of our houses for all to share. on the menu this time was a leg of lamb (coated with garlic and fresh rosemary & thyme from the garden), peas au gratin, grilled asparagus, a green salad that included some lettuce from the garden. yufei is a pastry chef; she brought the most gorgeously rich rice crispy thing topped with chocolate and peanut butter, and a killer peach pie. pete made his famous kumquat mojitos, we also had copious amounts of good quality cheese and wine. all in all a delicious and fun day! can’t wait to do it again! yesterday i made a curry (the first one i’ve ever made!) with some of the leftover lamb (see above).

sunday: spent some time in the community garden putting compost and mulch around our tomato, pepper, squash, lettuce, chard and celery plants. afterwards, we went to the city and walked around, visited purl, ate at a tapas place in greenwich village, and ended our day at kinokuniya. wonderful!