birthday bounty

My older brother and I happen to have birthdays that are two days apart. Last weekend he turned 30 and I turned 27 and it was one of our best joint celebrations yet. I felt that big 3-0 deserved some recognition and used his birthday as an excuse to throw a fun summer soirée at the house where we grew up a little outside of Chicago. Since I love to cook and entertain, preparing a bunch of good food and hanging out with family and friends was the perfect way to spend my birthday weekend.

My actual birthday was a pretty low-key day full of some work and visits with friends. I made a skirt, met with one of my seamstresses and a friend working on an exciting new sewing project, ate a few too many cookies (some delicious homemade fig and walnut cookies from my sister and an extra large  frosted one from Sweet Mandy B's), jumpstarted a car, and got locked out of my house (which was followed by borrowing a ladder from the neighbor and climbing in one of my windows). Thankfully, my plans for the day didn't involve too much other than spending time around the house, so the unexpected adventures made the day a little more exciting and enjoyable.

I feel so touched by the love, generosity, and creativity of my family and friends. In addition to being incredibly grateful for the wonderful people in my life, I am totally excited about all of my sweet presents! A girl could not ask for a better birthday.

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{ one } A lovely diamond wedding band that belonged to Collin's great-great-aunt and was passed down to his mom and now to me. I cried when I opened this. It is such a special gift. The design is timeless and the box it came in is super cool. This ring has been very well cared for and I plan to do the same.

{ two } A wood block for printing. It is so pretty that I almost don't want to get it dirty with ink. Alas, my curiosity about how the design looks on fabric will most likely lead to some printing experiments.

{ three } A hand-embroidered vintage pillow case.

{ four } Some new tunes for my Califone record player.

{ five } Handmade ginger soap and lavender essential oil.

{ six } A porcelain bowl from Michael del Piero that dates back to the Song Dynasty.

{ seven } A book about Sonia Delaunay, a painter and textile designer from the early-1900's whose work was recently on exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.