First thing is first, I want to talk about how Bams and I matched for Christmas this year.  I made these skirts.  I always thought (way before i had children) it was sooooo lame to match your kids.  Well, color me lame because I thought we were adorbs!!

We had such a special Christmas this year.  It makes me tear up just thinking about it.  I keep thinking back over the years of when I was a child, and then when I was a very young adult trying to find my way in life, and then when I met Stacey, and how every year has just gotten better and better.  Some years have been harder than others, but the clarity, and all the feels, have gotten so much better.  This year we enjoyed the morning as a small family at home.  We opened presents, took a million pictures, and drank our much needed parents-of-a-teething-toddler coffees and hung out, basking in the warmth (I am in So-Cal, ok?) of Christmas.  Later that day, we headed over to my parents' house for more presents, and Christmas dinner.  We had a great time.  The lights are starting to come on in Alabama's eyes and she is able to appreciate the world around her.  Watching that happen is such a gift.

So, (SPOILER ALERT:  TEARS)  my mom gave Alabama this "It's a Small World" musical jewelry box.  What is so sweet about this box is that it was a gift to me about 28 years ago.  My mom kept it all these years to gift to my daughter some day.










So, happy holidays from my family, to yours.

xoBree,
I remember meeting this particular friend I had in 7th grade.  I was super awkward and didn't make friends easily, and I remember being over the moon when she wanted to be my friend.  We palled around for a few years and then the unit dissolved, as many young friendships do.  The one thing I always think about when I feel nostalgia kick in are the pickles her mom used to make.  I had never heard of anyone making pickles before, and up until that point, I thought they grew out of the ground that way.

These pickles were special.  They had this very distinct flavor that stuck with me for years.  I vowed to learn how to make them myself one day, and almost 15 years later, I finally did.

I have had insomnia on and off for years.  I can't quite explain it.  Maybe I had too much caffeine throughout that day, maybe its some weird hidden ailment, who knows, but sometimes I just can't sleep.  I have learned to do things to occupy my time during those nights.  I usually sew, but sometimes I'll invent some strange, off the wall task like making hair extensions (ex hairstylist, hello), and sometimes I will make pickles.

I really like this recipe for easy garlic pickles. I like my pickles super spicy and super sour, so I add jalapeƱos to this recipe. You can tweak it to your liking, though, that's what's so cool about pickling.

Pickle,

Pickle.

Insomnia Pickles.

Ok I am done now.  Bye.



 

 


I remember being very young, about when my younger brother (being 4 years younger than me was probably around 4 or 5 then) and I believed in the Santa Claus.  We believed in that very sweet, doe eyed, innocent way any child that age would.  I remember every Christmas Eve, my dad would be going on talking about something at dinner, stop suddenly, look up at the ceiling and whisper "Did you hear that?  Oh!  There it is again!  I think its Santa!"  and we would giggle and wonder if it was true, and run off to bed quickly because we actually did believe it was true.  Then my brother and I would sneak downstairs and hide under these big arm chairs my parents had (its hard to think of myself as ever that small) and try to see Santa.  We would never make it, and always end up falling asleep.  But oh how exciting it was.  It's one of my most favourite memories I have of my childhood.  

When I look at Bam, I often wonder what her favourite memories will be.  How exciting to watch that unfold.  

In other news, I have been too tired to live my life.  I don't know why.  I am so exhausted. BUT- I managed to create some fun shoes for Bam this last weekend, and this week sometime I will be headed downtown to score some leather scraps to turn into shoes for a quick tutorial.  (AND Christmas presents for Bam, but don't tell her I told you).

xB<3






I have been sick the last few days, and yesterday I decided to take Bams out for a nice walk on Main Street in Santa Monica.  It may have been a mistake since today I feel a lot worse, but it was well worth it.  :)  We met a video game creator who gave her a cool sticker, and she got to show off her cuteness.

I can't wait to debut some of these tutorials I am working on come January. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope they are helpful.

Here, she is wearing some moccs I made from a piece of scrap leather I found for $5 in Downtown Los Angeles.  From the piece, I was able to make 8 pairs of shoes for Bam.  I can't do the math right now, but you can already guess that I saved a ton of money making them myself.  <3  Just to give you an idea!

The sweater dress is from Target.  I couldn't find the exact one that she is wearing in these photos, but this cute mint one is just as adorable.  :)

<<3Bx
I don't want to turn this into a food blog, because I do not consider myself an advanced cook or baker by any means (although, my food is a huge hit at my house, which makes me feel like I am a famous chef) but I stumbled upon an AMAZING pumpkin pie recipe and I have a giant need to share this with the world.

I feel like the world needs more good pumpkin pie. I have had my share of awful pies.  Ones that I have made, and others (I won't name any names), and this recipe takes the cake! (see what I did there?)

You can find the recipe here.

I made 4 of these pies.  All I am going to say is that I will need to go on a diet after the holidays.

Boom.


I announced yesterday that I am closing my BigCartel store at the end of December.

I had always wanted to sell handmade things online.  It was a dream of mine for years and years.  Once I got started, It was quickly revealed to me how much time had to go into it.  It worked for about a year, but as my daughter kept growing (they do that...ugh) she required more and more hands on time, which she will always come first.

I am grateful for the process though.  Since I gave it a good year, realized it wasn't quite for me in this time of my life, and a whole other world was presented to me.  I started researching and reading about normalizing breastfeeding, normalizing birth, and ways to bond with the baby and child while I was pregnant with Alabama, and fell in love with Doulas.  I fell in love with natural and gently parenting.  I also fell in love with being an emotional support to other moms and dads out there.  I did not have a Doula when I gave birth.  I do not regret it, however, I am excited to have a different experience next time (fingers crossed).

After tons of reading and contemplating, and meeting with Doulas through the babywearing community,  I decided to take the training course to start my journey into becoming a Doula. Now I am working on become certified through DONA, which will be a timely process, however, I am excited.

This isn't the end of my sewing projects, though.  I am a crafter at heart, and I am working on tutorials and gathering information for moms out there that are DYI-ers and money savers like myself.

Evolution is good.  Bring it on.

and for all you picture people:
Its the eve of my birthday.  I am going to be somewhere in my thirties.  I have to admit, its a lot more exciting being in my thirties than I had ever imagined.  When I was a teenager, turning 30 seemed forever away.  It seemed like an existence for someone who was super mature living a well established life somewhere.  I couldn't even fathom the thought of being this "old" back then.  Now that I am standing here, living it, for reals, I can tell you that my ideas were fiercely incorrect.  While my maturity level is questionable, I don't feel super "old".  I mean, I may or may not want to start getting botox (HEY- don't you dare judge me), but emotionally, I feel so much better today than I did in my 20s.  My 20s were spent so inward, so self focused, and so dramatic and crazy.  My perception of people was screwed up, and my perception of myself was just all kinds of wrong.  It took me YEARS, to break out of some of the habits I had.  Now, I feel like my tool bag for life is more filled with a working set, and I am able to use them accordingly....well, to the best of my ability.  ;)

Thank God.

^^^I wrote that yesterday...Now that it is November 13th, my actual birthday, I want to tell you that I had a great day.  I spent it with a friend and her 2 kids, all of whom I adore.  It was just another day, and it was
so sweet.

When I think of how my life was "supposed to turn out", its so far from it.  HAHA!  I was supposed to be an actress, or a famous pianist, or a hairstylist to the stars, or a bus driver (that last one was a dream I had when I was in kindergarten).  All of those things I really didn't want to work toward.  None of those things, I don't think, would have brought me to this moment.

This moment is pretty damn cool.

xoxo.Bree
this is me grabbing Minnie's ass by accident.
I like to make this pumpkin spice cake.  It's always a hit everywhere I bring it.  (Except the time I tried to make it with coarse salt.  What was I thinking?)

I used to tell people that the recipe would die with me.  I had this obsession with having an image of people the best baker, ever.  I am the furthest thing from perfect, and I am an "ok" baker, but to be fair, I have won an award for best cupcake frosting (It was at a preschool fundraiser, but an award is an award).  

So, I would like to thank Martha Stewart for this one.  Martha, we had this secret going a long time....and I love you.  

You can find the recipe here.  I don't usually do the honey frosting.  But its good, if you are into that sort of thing.  ;)




                            



xoxo.bree

Isn't it crazy how life goes by so quickly?  Even more so when you have kids?  I swear I was *just* in highschool a few years ago, but I checked and that was 15 years ago (?!?!?!).    ugh.  CRAZY.

I bagged up a bunch of Alabama's shoes this morning during her nap.  A whole big ziploc bag FULL to the brim with shoes.  The cool part of this sad story?  I made all her shoes.  #proudmommoment.


I posted a new listing in the shoe department also.  Say hello to "Starry Night"!  She's a fun, all organic cotton canvas.  I love her.

 I have some fun ideas for my blog.  I have been thinking about it for a while now.  I am hoping to launch my ideas and have them come to life soon.  

yay

xoxo.bree




We went to a pumpkin patch this last weekend.  Irvine Park Railroad over in Irvine, CA.  Well, first we went to the wrong one.  I have no one to blame but myself.  I got lazy with looking up the location and directions and just typed in "pumpkin patch farm" in Google thinking there would only be one in Orange County.  Bad idea.  Don't ever do that, especially if you are meeting people there that actually know where they are going.  

The place was very quaint in a beautiful park.  The train ride was actually a lot of fun but the line you have to wait in was pretty long. 

I am not a Halloween person.  I actually loathe this holiday with a passion, and I am not shy about it.   There's no reason for it, I just hate it.  I feel only slightly bad, though, since I know Alabama will probably like it and I should be more excited.  I guess there is always next year.  This year, I am trying, but failing.  I am more of a season gal.  I LOVE fall.  I love fall baking, cooking, decorating.  It feels cozy.  I enjoy cozy. 

Meh...To each their own?  Right?  Blah.

Here: Look at these pics.  

xoxo.Bree






































Dearest Alabama,

You are growing up so fast.

Please slow down.

Love, Mom.
I debuted a solid pair of red shoes yesterday.  I named them Red Rooster.   My dog's name is Rooster, who is a red color.  So, it seemed fitting.


I plan on having people over for the holidays this year.  Because, 1.  I LOVE CHRISTMAS as you can see.  and 2. I LOVE TO BAKE.  All I can think about, though, is changing out the curtains on all my windows.  I really need to work on that....



xoxo.Bree



Lovely weekend spent with my family.  It was the first weekend where I could just put aside everything I thought I needed to be doing instead of having fun, and just had fun.  Its ridiculous how caught up I get with how things "should be".  What's funny, is that it's just an endless sea of disappointment, yet I have a difficult time "getting out" of that mind numbing train of thoughts.

This weekend, though, was well spent.

I got a few emails from happy customers saying how much they loved my shoes.  That makes my day every time I hear that.

Thank you, my sweet customers.  You've made me a happy shoemaker.


I have been so insane trying to get things organized over here and ready for the new season.

Have I told you how much I am in love with Fall?  It's my favourite.  It could still be 90 degrees outside, but it somehow changes the air.  I am on autopilot, and automatically start craving anything pumpkin spice.

I am NOT a fan of Halloween.  Not because I scare easily, which I do, but the whole holiday just doesn't appeal to me.  Now that I have a child, though, I feel as though I need to start pulling it together.  What to make though for costumes this year?  I really have no idea.  Thank GOD for Pinterest.

Lately, I have been focusing a lot on my pants/leggings/awesomeness.  I have 3 available on the website.  Starting at $22.  I love the organic cotton interlock fabric I went with.  Its so soft and plush and PERFECT for the little people in our lives.


Fun, right?

xoxo.Bree

I am all signed up for my doula certification class for November with my good friend Karla.  We have both wanted to become doulas for a while, and we decided to go into it together.  I'm very excited for this next chapter of my life. 

The different turns you take in life are so interesting to me.  

 
Don't you love a giveaway?  I sure do.

I launched my Fall season line.  To help spread the word, im having a contest on my Facebook page.  Like, share, tag!  DO IT!  DO IT NOW!

2 winners will be chosen.






I converted a Girasol woven wrap I had into a ring sling today.  Ive been meaning to add one to my stash, and never got around to having one converted, but realized that since I had a sewing machine, I could do it myself!  After looking at and studying my friend's ring sling, I figured out how to do it. I went with the pleated shoulder.  (I know the terms now after I did it.  I didn't go over any tutorials until afterward...like a BOSS...not...more like a crazy)


I am quite pleased with the results.  If you are interested in sewing together your own ring sling, check out Sleeping Baby Productions.  She has the best tutorials and instructions.  And I like her voice in her videos.  She just sounds like a really nice gal.

Happy Babywearing and happy sewing!

xoxo.Bree
I've been feeling stressed out.  My husband told me on Monday to go out and have fun this week.  I normally would brush it off and say that I was ok.  I was having enough fun chasing a baby around and not getting enough sleep.  I'M OK.

Instead- I decided to throw in the towel and head to Disneyland. I went Monday.  Had so much fun that I went on Tuesday.  Had SO MUCH FUN that I invited a friend and we went Wednesday.  Had SO MUCH EFFING FUN that we came back today(Thursday) with her 12 year old daughter.  (Yes, I have a pass).  It felt so good to just have fun, and not think about anything else.

Seriously.



In other news I have more solid colors available in the store:


Pink Lady!

LOVE!

xo.bree


I went for a short walk today with everyone (the dogs and Bam).  I turned the corner on my street and walked right into a giant spider web....WITH A SPIDER IN IT.  Sure, I am one of those annoying people that will talk NON-STOP about how spiders are the worst thing in the world....But can you disagree when you unwillingly and unexpectedly have one ON YOU?!  I flailed my body around (it was in my hair, then dropped down IN BETWEEN BAM AND ME (she was on my back in her carrier).  This is, quite possibly, my worst nightmare.  I TORE her off my back, got rid of the spider (the killing was actually an accident but RIP good buddy), and stood there in complete disbelief of what just happened.  When I finally collected myself and wrapped Bams back up, I heard a clapping and laughing coming from across the street.  This entire escapade happened right in front of a group of guys, maybe all around 25 years old.  Of course.  3 cheers to my smoothness.

Awesome.

I will say that it prompted me to laugh.  I laughed at myself a good lot for the following hour after the incident.

Laughing is so good.  Thank God for that.


I made the mistake of following Downton Abbey on Instagram.  I fell in love with this show when I was in the hospital a few years ago during the airing of its first season.  It was a wretched recovery to a random illness I have, but the important thing was that I found this show.  I think I watched the first season at least 20 times.  I watched it so many times, I started to believe I was British living in the turn of the century.  I tried getting the husband to watch it with me, however, it wasn't love for him, and it became quite taxing for me to include him in my obsession....annoying really.  

SO NOW- on Instagram, Downton Abbey keeps advertising their Season 5 Premier happening in 5 days....IN EUROPE.  ugh.  It doesn't come out in the states until January.  *Sadsies*  

Mr. Carson, Lady Mary...I need you. 

In other news:  I came out with skirts today.  I am so in love with their cuteness, I can't even take it.  



They are both available on the website.

xoxo.bree





Its been a week.  The flu hit our house like a hammer on a wall.  (is that even a saying?)  It felt like it was never going to go away.  The husband came down with it first, then me, then Bams, sadly.  She has been a trooper, though.  I was the only one that had to visit the urgent care twice, and the husband wants you to know how lame I am for not pushing through.  (He's being sarcastic...I think)  Ugh.  We are on the mend now.  THANK THE SWEET LORD.
.



In AlabamaJune news, my new tags for my shoes came.  I am in love.  I love them.  They are awesome.  



I also have the Bow+Arrow shoes available in red now!  I love these shoes because the pattern is awesome any way you cut it.  The red is so sporty and fun.


Out if all the things going on right now, Im excited best for the holidays to come in.  I LOVE fall baking, and Christmas is the best holiday in the entire world (says lady with a giant Christmas tree tattooed on her leg).  








I finally bought a cordless shutter switch for my camera.  I feel as though the doors to the sky opened up and I am able to speak to birds and plants, and flowers.  Oh, and it was a really good buy.  ;)  

My husband is such a wonderful iphone "photographer".  He takes some of the most beautiful pictures of nature.  When we lived in Northern California, he would always come home and show me the pictures he would take of the orchards and farms he would see on his drives to work.  BEAUTIFUL.  But when it comes to taking pictures of me, I somehow wind up looking lopsided. EVERY.  SINGLE.  TIME.  In the end, I decided to bypass him entirely, and stick to doing it myself.  So far, so good.  Of course, any picture with Bams, is a good picture, lopsided or not.  





This morning we headed over to Marina Del Rey for breakfast.  It was nice, considering we both are recovering from having the flu, and being held up in our apartment for a week.  It is such a beautiful day.  

BTW- we are the family is lets their daughter sit on the table.  Hater's gunna hate.  


Alabama's outfit: Vintage Carter's onesie, AlabamaJune Skirt in Summertime, and AlabamaJune shoes in Watermelon.

My outfit: Vintage Levis Jean cutoffs, Pineapple Tank Top/ Old Navy, Converse Shoes, and I handmade the duster.

Stacey's outfit: MTV shirt/Junk Food, Newsboy hat/Brixton

xo.Bree