She Rolled Over!

Jane rolled over today!
Here's my happy girl after I found her on her back:

I am sure she would have rolled over earlier if her mama ever put her on her tummy, but I've been terrible about tummy time with this kid. However, once I started to see that she was developing so well but had not rolled over, I started making an effort to put her on her tummy more, and voila! A couple of days later, she figured it out. I walked past her one way, and she was on her tummy; I walked past again, and she was on her back! And she's already trying to go back-to-tummy now. Go Jane!

Little Miss Janey Beth

Here's my precious girl, looking all cute and coy.
Sweet smiler.
Love that pacifier face.
Loving on the lamb she got in her Easter basket.

Some of Jane's nicknames:
~Janey
~Janey Beth
~My Precious
~Dearest (I always loved that the sisters in Sense and Sensibility call each other "Dearest")

She's still the sweetest girl I know.

The Anglo and Anglophiles' Trip to the British Isles

Nathan's sister and brother, Deborah and Andrew, are staying with us this weekend for a visit! Yesterday, the six of us all went down to Rice Village to visit one of our favorite stores in Houston, The British Isles.

Now, our decision to go there may need some explanation. The reason we all love this store is that we've all spent a little (or a lot) of time in England. Nathan's dad did his postdoc at Cambridge, so their family lived there off and on until Nathan was about eight, and he and all his siblings have very fond memories of England. In fact, Nathan was born there, so technically, he's kind of a Brit (although, if you know him, you know he is a Texan more than anything else). And I am not completely outside of this circle of love for East Anglia, either, because I spent a summer abroad studying at Cambridge. I loved it so much that I came back saying I'd be happy to live there (which means I harbor a little jealousy towards Matthew and Emily, who do live there). I've told Nathan that if we ever have the opportunity to move there for a year or two, I'd be happy to jump at it.

So back to the British Isles--the store, not the world power--Nathan's parents also love to go there and make it a point to visit any time they're in Houston. I think the store owners may know them by name at this point. I would have thought about picking up some tea for my mother-in-law, but since they are returning from the real British Isles tomorrow after a three-week visit, I figure she'll probably be set.

Anyway, we totally enjoyed shopping there yesterday, too. As soon as I started looking around, I thought to myself, "This place is so bloggable!" Thus, this post.

At first, I noticed a couple of cheesy British things:

The obligatory framed photo of Diana, though I have to say that this frame is not a hundredth as sophisticated as she was.

A TEAPOT LAMP.
Please, no, Brits. Don't do this to yourselves.
Way to make yourselves look as cheesy as possible.
I know you are better than this.

Oh, but then. Then I looked up and saw the glory of what is the British Isles.
The china.

Okay, so I have a little thing for china. Not that I want to collect a ton of it, but I do love looking at it and considering which patterns I would like at my house. Tangent: maybe I'll start collecting teacups. Anyway, one of the glories of this store is its collection of china. I always spend several minutes browsing in this section.

Here's a pretty blue teacup. I like it better than the blue tea set I have at home.

I like the color combination in this pattern.

And the latticework in this pattern is unique and pretty.

This pattern is always there. It's eye catching because of the depth of color, but I'm not sure it's one I'd choose.

Then, once I finish coveting several china patterns, I move on to the china mugs.
That is just one side the four-sided pillar they have in the store. Do you need a mug? What size? What shape? What color? What subject? Modern or traditional? You can probably find it there. And most of them are quality mugs made of real china, so they are nice to have.

This one made me smile.

I liked these two; both the pattern and the shape are attractive. I could see myself using them.

This caught my eye, too. They have them in several colors.

Ooooh, and these. I think they are William Morris patterns, but I'm no expert, and I'm not sure. They sure are handsome, though, aren't they?

Speaking of William Morris, if you need a box of cards, you can get them with his pretty artwork on them.

The store did have a fair amount of owl stuff, and I'm fairly sure that it has to do with the fact that it's right next to Rice. Generally, since I went to school there, I get excited about owls (we do have a few around the house), but I'm kind of picky about the owls that I pick up, and though this tea towel caught my eye, I just didn't think it was all that pretty. But even though I didn't buy it, it did make me feel that kind of glowy nostalgia for something well-loved.

Speaking of nostalgia, let's move on to the food section of the store, which is where Deborah and Andrew went to town. Having grown up in England, they love to pick up a few items that you can't get Stateside. Like Andrew's prawn flavored chips (gross!) or Smarties (the Brits' version of M&M's). Here's Deb on the glorious Cadbury aisle.

And the tea. Oh, the tea. They have so much tea. It is a beautiful thing to behold. They have two aisles of it, and it just warms my heart. I usually want to buy every other tin I see.

I love tea tins.

I have a few, and I save them. I display them.

And the British Isles has a nice selection.
But I didn't buy a tin this trip. I bought some Assam tea, a black tea I've been meaning to try, and some PG Tips, which Amanda has mentioned a few times. We had some PG Tips last night, and I thought it was a really good black tea.

I know it's only July, but if anyone is looking for a good stocking stuffer for me, a tea infuser would be good. I need a new one.

And these caught my eye, too. They're shortbread molds. It's one of those extraneous things you don't really need in your kitchen but would be fun to have. Who doesn't like shortbread, after all? I mean, it's butter and sugar and little else. And these pans are so pretty. My shortbread would turn out so nice! Isn't this the Scottish thistle?

This one is cute, too, though I like the thistles better.

Right before we checked out, I made Deb and Andrew pose with all our loot. Then I promised them I wouldn't embarrass them anymore with my wayward camera.

This is So Nathan

This is what greeted me when Nathan suggested I go check on something in the closet.

This is so Nathan.

Our Swagger Wagon

So guess what we bought last week:


Yep, a minivan. How cool are we?!

Actually, Nathan was pretty set against a minivan. We both thought we'd end up with an SUV. But after borrowing my parents' minivan for several weeks (we needed a second car after we moved) and test driving some SUV's, I was pretty darn convinced that remote automatic doors might just make life worth living. That, and the fact that Noah can climb into a minivan without help since it's lower to the ground, the gas mileage is better, they are a bit cheaper than an equivalent SUV, the way they're laid out is very roomy, etc.

Apparently, we are not the only ones thinking this way. After we bought our car, we ran across this article on Forbes.com, which pretty much describes our decision-making process in the last paragraph. It went something like this:

Minivans are not cool enough for me-->Man, those sliding doors sure are convenient-->I don't think I can live without this thing.

We bought a used Toyota Sienna, and it really drives sooo nicely. I really, really like my Swagger Wagon. I bet you didn't know it was so cool:

That video gets funnier every time I watch it. It's really the reason I wrote this post.

Blueberry-Strawberry Crisp

Every summer, I try to go blueberry picking. It's just one of the things I love to do. Well, to be truthful, I just love to eat blueberries, which is the main reason I like to go pick them. Blueberries fresh off the bush just taste much better than store bought ones. This all started when I was a kid, eating blueberries straight off the bush on my distant family's property in Mississippi. Then, years later, my blueberry enthusiasm re-emerged the summer after Nathan and I got married. We went to a blueberry farm just outside of Houston, and because blueberries were $1 a pound there, we picked a bucket and a half of the little blue gems. We went home with major sunburns and--get this--TWELVE POUNDS of blueberries. Everyone thought I was crazy for being so happy about having twelve pounds of blueberries in my fridge, but I was beyond thrilled. I gave some away, froze some, ate them by the handful and in my cereal, and spent the rest of the summer making blueberry crisps. I was nuts for blueberry crisps that summer, and it was a good thing, considering how many I made. Nathan thought I had lost my ever loving mind. It was a fun and delicious summer, and ever since then, I look forward to picking some blueberries every summer, though nowadays we usually just go home with a pound or so.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I realized earlier this month that in Texas, the blueberry season is over by July, as opposed to New England, when it's just beginning in July. Duh. Move two thousand miles away into a completely different climate, and you might want to think about the different growing season, Lauren. So no fresh-picked blueberries for me this year. Boo.

However, much to my surprise and delight, my parents came back from a road trip with a gallon-sized ziploc bag full of blueberries for me. They had stopped in Mississippi on their way to and from Atlanta (they went to go visit my brother and sis-in-law, Ken & Meredith), and someone gave them a ridiculous amount of fresh-picked blueberries. Not twelve pounds, but plenty. So I have been back to making my blueberry crisps. They've been great for me as an alternative dessert to chocolate, since I can't eat that right now. There is a little butter in the topping, but evidently it's not enough to bother Jane.

Anyway, I got to the bottom of my bag o' blueberries and realized I didn't have enough to make another crisp, so I decided to add some strawberries, and it came out so yummy. I thought you guys might want the recipe, too, since berries are in season right now and are so delicious. And I hope that if you love blueberries as much as I do, someone will surprise you with a gallon of them!

-----

Blueberry-Strawberry Crisp

3 cups blueberries
3 cups strawberries, quartered
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
4.5 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375. In a 1.5 or 2 quart baking dish, combine the first five ingredients, through the brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Top the berry mixture with the oatmeal mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden and the berries are bubbling.

Anthropologie

While browsing the web last night, I discovered something. I discovered that, given the chance, I could drop some serious cash at Anthropologie.

It all started when I ran across a blog with a picture of this sweater. Oh my goodness. I love it. It's so feminine. I love the ruffle, the shape, and the pointelle design at the bottom. I also like the color a lot.

While we're on the topic of sweaters, check this one out.
It's a sweater coat. I love the idea of a sweater coat. I wished I had one while we were living in Boston; it would have been perfect for fall, because it's not a full-on heavy winter coat, but it still covers you up and can be quite warm. Plus, I just have a thing for sweaters. I love them. I love how cozy they are and everything they represent and make me think of: hot cocoa, hot tea, crisp days and evenings, beginning to smell fires when you walk through your neighborhood in the evenings, fall foliage, etc. I loved fall before we lived in New England, but after having lived there for six years, it will probably forever be my favorite season of the year.

Anyway, back to this sweater. This particular one is more like a coat than a sweater because it's boiled wool, which in my book, is pretty much a coat. However, I can't get over the design of it. I love the neckline, the length, the detail at the waist. I generally pass over purple when shopping for myself (dark purple and dark burgundy wash me out), but in this case, it's so rich and autumnal and pretty that I would have to try it on and see, because I love everything else about it. Why they are selling this in mid-July, I have no idea, but that's not hindering me from some major sweater love.

After checking out the sweater section online, I started browsing Anthropologie's blouses. Now, I do have to say that Anthropologie has always been a bit over the top for me style-wise before now. I've always wanted to love their stuff, but I just have not been able to quite go there with them. But not now. I don't know if they started styling their clothes so they'd be a little more wearable and mainstream, or if I'm just a few years older now and have the confidence and wherewithal to carry a particular style better.

One of the first blouses that caught my eye was this one. It is very Lauren. Very feminine and ruffly, but it also gathers at the waist in a very flattering way.

The next blouse that I saw and liked was this one. I don't know if it'd actually look good on me, but I love how old fashioned it is. The name of it is actually "Cedar Chest Blouse," as if it's some treasure you'd pull out of your grandma's attic. I just think it's sweet.
I like the color and the pattern on this blouse. I think it'd be pretty in spring or as a transition-to-fall piece because of the longer sleeves.

So here's the thing. After hanging up all my clothes in our huge closet, I realized something about my wardrobe. I have waaaaaay too many fitted t-shirts. Like, my entire wardrobe is short- and long-sleeved fitted t-shirts of just about every variety. After throwing away all my moth-eaten and old clothes, I ended up with some pretty slim pickings. I might have three summer shirts that are not t-shirts, which is ridiculous.

I think it happened because after I stopped working to stay home with Noah, I just started buying mommy clothes and phased out all of my old professional clothes. Plus, our last place was an old Victorian house, and I will now forever think "small closets" when I think of old houses. Anyway, because of the lack of closet space, our clothes were spread all over the place--in a small closet, in the chest of drawers, in the dresser, and stored under the bed--so I didn't really know what I had. After hanging everything up, it became apparent that I need to buy some things. Not to say that I'm going to go nuts and drop a ton of cash at Anthropologie or something, but I might pick up one or two items, since I'm kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel here clothes-wise. I love them!