wish i knew you.

this weekend has left me feeling full and grateful. we were blessed with perfect crisp springy weather; a welcome change after that peek of summer this past week. i found a new song to obsess over and play thirty times while cleaning my house. ‘mom, youre playing it again?’ yes, sorry. your hint is the title of this post…name that band folks and you get a golden star. an imaginary one, but nevertheless you are the winner.

lets see… saturday morning spent cleaning, then a bit of swimming. an impromtu open house visit that turned out to be a really legitimate house we could go for, but try not to get your hopes up bc this house hunt is exhausting on the old emotions right? 

made it home to watch mary poppins, did some dancing, bc you know, step in time. “its the master!” 

a chilly windy sunday morning, mass and wiggly kids. then an fabulous afternoon, early mother’s day celebration brunch at el charro. delish and oh so lovely. a few tears of laughter shed; always a good thing. then home for dinner prepping, and making a strawberry rhubarb crisp with my favorite kitchen helpers, chef dec, mike and fran. needless to say many strawberries were consumed in the process. 

and top that off with some fabulous sidewalk jumping! thats a wrap. and for all interested parties, here is what i can tell you about that fruit crisp. easy peasy; here’s a loose rendering of what we did:

set oven to 425 bc your are already baking potatoes in there for dinner.
chop a pint of strawberries and three large stalks of rhubarb up and place in a bowl. add a half cup of sugar, 2 T flour, hefty pinch of salt, dash of vanilla and almond extract, and juice of half a lemon.
toss well.
melt half a stick of salted butter and add to whisked mixture of 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, handful of oats and dash of cinnamon. whisk and mash into a crumble.
place strawberry mixutre in cast iron skillet, top with crumble and cook until bubbly. serve warmish with vanilla ice cream. cheers!

say what?

 i know! a post. amazing right. i mean its been a couple years but who’s counting. in an effort to find creative outlets being at home, ive somehow decided to hop back into this space i use to devote so much of my time to. lets face it, i love to write…used to be an avid journal keeper…and maybe just maybe i have an audience out there. who knows, lets give it a try.

 so this is life lately. 4 kids: Ruby just turned 9, Declan 7, Mikey is nearly 5, and Frances is on the verge of 3….going on 16. Ruby just had her first communion, Declan is one day away from losing his two front teeth, Mikey is getting pumped to be joining the STA community next fall, and Franny is dancing and talking up a storm…running the household over here really.

 we recently had a wonderful trip to the beach for spring break and spent some time with my sister which was great! the beach is truly a soul soother. we all need it once in a while. the boys had to hold back from gathering all the crabs they found at this awesome little beach in laguna. they are at a stage of constant bug finding, and wanting to keep every little creature in a cup. i suppose will be sad when they are older and this stage has passed.

 other than that? summer is almost here. well its pretty much here in phoenix, just waiting for school to get out. and for a pool to magically appear in my back yard. if you wish it, it will come right? we’ve been pondering for a while whether or not to move east; the pondering continues…but im just not sure im ready to leave downtown and all that i love about living down here. terrifying really.

 so im thinking about what i have to offer you. what would you like to see here? im thinking some recipes, good reads, local shops i love, dinner ideas, az day trips, deep thoughts from frances, and some musings here and there. perhaps the occasional craft or sewing project. let me know what youre up to and want to hear about! ive been eyeing making this dress for a while. i’ll let you know how it turns out when i get to it!

good to be back folks! hope you still read blogs. hahahaha!

up to lately.

here there and everywhere. the weeks all roll together and time will not seem to slow down. it seems i was just thinking 'i can not believe another Christmas is coming' and yet here we are at the beginning of February awaiting valentines day and visits from Chicago cousins. 

i feel as though lately my mind is all over the place, attempting to land in some form of organized calmness and peace where each day will not feel so daunting; i am then comforted that this maybe is the way of life and motherhood; i am not alone in this. 

three kids, and one on the way in June. it is never simple. the moment you sit and breathe something spills, someone sneezes, or someone is hungry and wants something fancy like a lox bagel and all you can do is muster up the strength to stand and keep going, because you are the one they need. you try to remember what it was like before kids, before marriage, and it seems such a faint memory you can hardly grasp. whatever did i do with all that time? all you know is that it is one million times better the way it is now, because those were days of much loneliness and searching. i will take the present and all its greatness, no matter the trial. i am blessed beyond belief with what i have been given. a life of beauty. a life with rare a dull moment. 

so in a interest to be more present in this blog space i have created, and in an interest to write more, i am making some hopeful resolutions; hey the new year was not that long ago right?

i would love to blog more, be more consistent. i want to be a better mother. make fresh bread. be more attentive to my garden. watch an odd foreign or independent film on occasion. read more. check my instagram less. sew more. make a dress. reach out to friends more. write more.share more recipes here. give more. pray more. appreciate and love each and every moment much more. ah, and perhaps finish knitting that scarf that was supposed to be done by Christmas!

{le parc}

 {le library walls}

{le diggers}

the beach part two.

no no. 

we didn't have any fun at all. 

thoughts: considering creating my own beautiful

beach life look by filling a spray bottle with sea salted water

and spritzing myself throughout the day.

i might be crazy.

a little spring cleaning.

i have been wanting to reorganize and clean out the craft room

for a while now, but it was such a daunting project so i kept 

putting it off. problem being, every time i tried to do anything in there

it just kept bugging me and i felt stumped.

crazy i know.

anyhow, i moved out the big table and opted for a small and cozier

little desk to hold my sewing goods. 

i folded all the piles of fabric and got rid of junk.

then i put the kids table right in the middle

 where i think they have much more fun goofing around.

coloring on their bellies with washable markers

(i mean just declan that is)

or glue sticking everything in sight (ahem, ruby).

i was pretty pleased. enjoyed it for a day, 

and now, BOOM, it is back to madness. 

but that is all part of the fun.

here's to an exciting weekend; 

a cinco de mayo party

and mother's day.

should be good. 

happy mom's day to all the wonderful mom's out there!

cheers. 

freshly picked.

there is nothing like the satisfaction of a pretty cleaned 

up kitchen, topped off with some 

lovely smelling flowers from the yard.

i picked three incredibly fragrant flowers; 

lavender, jasmine, and sweet pea.

 oh how i will miss them come summertime.

not a whole lot to choose from once the high temps arrive.

oh, and here's a little looksie at one of those chairs.

my mom suggested some white oil cloth

cushion which i think sounds awesome.

pooped.

what led up to Easter and the day of have left me pretty 

exhausted. 

so much to share, but for now, i am going to just catch up.

back soon.

hope you had a blessed and the happiest of Easters!

back home

oh is it ever so good to be back home.

little secret, i forgot to reveal, but i snuck away

pretty last minute to alt summit...a bloggers design

conference...that was a-maze-ing.

i am still in shock that i could be part of something

so incredible.

i feel pretty blessed.

more on that later.

for now,

it is so so good to be back home in sunny az,

in gorgeous weather,

with the ones i love near to hug and squeeze.

seeing ruby in the airport was glorious.

we did a dramatic run for each other.

now its just catching up and

trying to bring myself back to reality.