A Recipe For You

Dear Hannah,

Are you still free? That is, gluten and dairy-free? If so, or even if not, here is a recipe for you! It is a great way to clean out the fridge from an over-exuberant shopping experience at the Farmer's Market.

Cube 5 little eggplants, 2 small zucchini, 1 tiny red onion, and one small red pepper. Get those Dorot spice pods from Trader Joe's. You need 2 garlic pods and 2 basil. Also get a tube of tomato paste.

In a large skillet, add 2 Tbs olive oil and heat on medium.

Add eggplant and cook for a few minutes.

Add onion and cook for a few minutes.

Add zucchini and cook for a few minutes.

Add the red pepper, some salt and pepper, the garlic and the basil, and about 2 Tbs tomato paste. Throw in some red pepper flakes if you feel like it.

If it looks dry, add more olive oil.

Cover and cook until veggies are tender on low heat.

Meanwhile... cook 1 cup of quinoa.

When that is done, mix it all up together and eat.

Yum.

Art!

Dear Hannah,

We finally hung Max's art up in the nursery. Of course, he has the best art in the house. The only thing missing is a Hannah McDonald original!
Love,
Ellen

BUZZ

Dear Ellen,

I went to the barber shop
I hopped up in the chair
I asked him for a buzz
and he shaved off all my hair!

That's right.  Little man wanted one and I said yes.

Dear Ellen, I just couldn't pass up this ducks in a row pic.  How's it?

MAX

Dear Ellen, You had a baby. Also, you sent the MOTHER of all birthday messages today: a movie of Max, held by Matthew, with your voice singing to me in the background. Oh. My. Word. And I have to say...he's really really cute. I love his little face. Can't wait to see more pics on here. I realize these things take time. You just get as much rest as you can. xo Hannah

Don't worry, Ellen, you'll have a bouncing baby soon. You will. xo Hannah

Baby Shower

Dear Hannah,

I still remember your baby shower with such fondness. Bowls of chili, copious amounts of lager (which I could drink!), good friends, and GAMES! Of course, Matthew and I dominated! My favorite was identifying the candy bars melted in the tiny diapers - yep that's right - guess the poop was my favorite. Mostly I remember you and Ben being so content with life - the life you had at that exact moment and with the little life growing inside you. I'm trying to channel that feeling right now. Can you believe that was more than four years ago?

 Well, my sisters were able to capture the same feel as your shower and put their own twist on it. The evening was beautiful. From the baby themed play list to the pictures all over the place of Matthew and me when we were babies, to the delicious food and cocktails to the company - it all made us feel so content with life.Thank you Allison and Erica!

Wish you could have been there!
Love,
Ellen

Making a List

from Oh Joy!


Dear Schmellen,

I am sorry I haven't called you. I could tell you all my excuses but I won't.

In case you haven't gotten absolutely everything for baby yet,

here
and
here

are the lists I wish someone had given me back when I was incubating.

I don't know if Sophie Giraffe is on there, but if not, you need to get her. For teething.

I want

Dear Hannah, 

I'm up at this obscene hour because, I"M PREGNANT and can't sleep. So, naturally, I thought I should blog until I get tired, which, as I know you know, is not the correct strategy for this situation, but is all that seems to make sense right now. First of all, we're going to set up the nursery this week. It is a daunting task and making this whole baby thing feel really real, probably because it is. Of course, I've been pouring over pinterest for ideas for baby boy's little orange room. Here are the highlights: 

Owl print

 

Puppy dog tails

My friend Mike's poster 

Abacus over bed is from CB2, photo from projectnursery.com

More to come this week - it's spring break!

xoxo,

Ellen

 

Bump

Dear Ellen,
You haven't posted one of these so I did it for you. Lookin' good, girl!
Your cousin does good work. Does she have a website?
xox
Hannah

Dressers

Dear Ellen,

You know when you get that feeling that you should take care of something NOW but you're just tired? (Oops, that's all of pregnancy, I forgot). Welllll, this happened weeks ago and I just couldn't talk about it. A dresser almost identical to the white one shown was on Craigslist. And sold from under me because I didn't jump on it. It sold for $35. And if you go to the Dwell website it sells for over 1,000. And I didn't know this, I just knew it was an awesome dresser. I guess the silver lining is that Dwell thinks it's an awesome dresser, too. I told Ben I was so upset that I felt like my ribcage was collapsing on itself.

Your patchwork is sew cute! What have you done with your newest fabric?

Sewing School

Dear Hannah,

I got a sewing machine from Santa for Christmas and unlike my previous sewing machine, I'm actually learning how to use this one! Currently, I am enrolled in Sewing 101 at Stitch on Belmont Boulevard. Last Saturday, we learned how to make a pin cushion. Tomorrow, I will make a flip wallet. I might even make one for you, too! I find the machine totally intimidating and I can't sew a straight line to save my life. The process has helped me have more empathy for beginners of any craft, especially the new and nervous knitters that used to come into Angel Hair Yarn Co. I have great plans for this craft, but here are the very humble beginnings...

Step 1: choose fabric strips.

Step 2: try to sew a straight line.

The fabric on the right is the bottom of the cushion.

Step 3: Ta da!

Here are my classmates' pillows. Aren't they cute?

Love,
Ellen