I've moved! New blog address.


My new website + blog is emilyneuburger.com.  Please visit me there!

If you have this site bookmarked in a blog reader, you'll want to switch to emilyneuburger.com.

Thanks, and see you in my new space!

xo emily

silver

These are my new, old shoes. $5.99 at the local thrift store. Perfectly old timey for my two new, old timey cocktail dresses (both were insanely cheap and on sale).


I have a big wedding and a kindergarten send-off to tend to before I post some of the crafty bits I have stored up in my studio.

Just today, I remembered my Labor Day peach cobbler recipe from last year. I think I have to buy a bucket of utility peaches and squeeze some sweetness into my week.

xo e

toothy


Chick's wiggly, jiggly tooth finally came out. It happened without fanfare, without blood, without even the tiniest little "ouch." It just sort of slid out of her mouth, kerplink, into her hands. She wandered into the kitchen and handed me the tooth, and then she was ready for something else, something other than a wobbly nuisance in her mouth. Of course, she wanted to be sure I tucked it safely away, so she can stow it under her pillow this evening, but she was, otherwise, ready to move on.

Meanwhile, in first-child-to-lose-a-tooth land, things were a bit more buzzy. A band leader baton was bought, photographs were taken, and people were called. And, I made her a tooth pillow last night out of some fabric scraps I had stashed away in my studio.

Materials: two 6" inch squares of coordinating fabric and one 2" inch square of the same coordinating fabric.

How To:
1. Hem one side of the little 2" square
2. Press the other three sides of the 2" square under and then pin and sew it onto one of the 6" squares.
3. Pin the two 6" inch squares together (right sides together).
4. Sew it up, leaving a 1" inch gap
5. Turn inside out, poke out corners, and stuff with fluff.
6. Hand sew the 1" gap closed with a hidden stitch.

"Thirty nine more teeth to go between the two kids" Tom reminded me today. And, I pointed out that he was the one who went store to store searching for a baton. I'm excited for Leah to sleep on a baton for most of the night tonight, but next time, it's got to be a bunch of stickers or a lollipop. Tooth fairy gifts are supposed to feel magical, but also tiny and small. Fairies are tiny and small, right?

Now, I get to stare at the goofy space in her mouth remembering how hard it was when that little tooth pushed through her tender baby gums. I remember feeling floored that my milky mouthed baby had TEETH! Real, honest to goodness teeth! And, now I am reminded that something so seemingly permanent really isn't.

Anna Maria Horner's post today is heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful. I am nowhere near sending my kids to college, but her words reminded me that now is what it is all about. Tomorrow is tomorrow.

xo e

an ordinary spool of string


a spool of blue string 5" x 5"


the muse


I like drawing and painting fiber because of the wiggly lines. And, don't get me started on how much I love this color blue.

xo e

some fairy dust

a jar of fairy dust left at the party 3.5" x 3.5"

This is a little painting I made in honor of the last few weeks of summer. I was thinking of things ending when I made it.

Speaking of the end of things, Chick is officially ending her time as a person with all of her baby teeth. She has her first really, really loose tooth and another kind of loose tooth. Since she is a kid who tends to feel worried and anxious when any little thing feels different, having these teeth "floating around in [her] mouth" (as she describes it) has made her a bit on edge. I'm proud of her for holding it together while side-chewing her strips of toast. There was a time during her toddler years where I couldn't even imagine her being remotely okay with the possibility of teeth falling out of her head. Now, she happily tells people about them in stores and on the playground - pushing her tooth as far forward as possible, making those people squint and feel a bit queasy.

It is a little heartbreaking for me, though, watching her buck up and face the unknown, all the while trying to make lemonade out of lemons. "I would like the tooth fairy to bring bring me a band leader set with a hat, whistle, and baton," she says. The next minute she runs to me, whimpering, worried that it will hurt when they actually fall out.

And, I can't promise that it won't.

This is her journey, and she is trying to be brave. I would lose the tooth for her if I could, but that just isn't how it works. There will be many other journeys; kindergarten is just around the corner. I've taken to consoling myself with lots of local frozen yogurt, gently telling myself that I'll be okay on her first morning of kindergarten. I know she'll be okay. But, walking her up the path to school and watching as she finds her own way into a new community is part of my journey, and I don't feel ready yet. I guess I should just follow her baton twirling lead.

Boy, do I want Chick to always pine away for things like band leader sets. And, for the record, if it were me I totally would have asked the tooth fairy for new pens.

xo e

August

We ate tiny plums

and visited our beloved farm

where we picked green beans (aim for the slender ones)

and rode a choo choo train at the park (shout when you go through the tunnel!)

Some things never get old.

xo e

camp beautiful


I can't believe I had "malfunction" as my post title for the past three weeks. Granted, we did have a few bumps and turns and more bumps and more turns, but, really, my summer has been so much more than a big malfunction. For starters, we went on a family camping vacation to Nickerson State Park where we played in the most dreamy, calm, warm, bay beach water. There were some nibbler crabs scooting around the ocean floor, but if you accepted your toes' fate with humor, it was just perfect. And, don't get me started on the crystal clear, warm, sandy bottom kettle pond that was a few mere feet from our campsite. It was perfection wrapped up in a leafy, sandy, refreshing, little package. It was so tranquil and peaceful that it really did feel like it was just sitting there, quietly, waiting for us to slide in and splash around.


This is the clear pond that I can't stop thinking about. Look at how clear and sandy it is.


Making oatmeal with our CorningWare percolator and fancy, new camping stove. A most useful blend of old and new.

Magical moss perfect for fairies, said Leah.


I did end up losing 130 photos when my computer decided to be cranky, but, thankfully, none of them were camping photos. I've been tip toeing around my photos, glancing quickly at the place where all of my photos should be, but aren't. And, when I get wistful, I just shush myself and tell myself that if this was fifteen years ago, the film canister would have been stuffed in a sock drawer and forgotten about. Right?

xo e