(personal photo)

Fabric cover for a leather-covered ebook from Handmade Mommy (as seen on Whipup).  Have an ebook without a hard leather cover?  Check out this tutorial for a padded Kindle sleeve.

(I love this. Via Awkward Family Photos.) 

If you enjoy food blogs, get thee immediately to Salad in a Jar.  I borrowed one of her photos for my instant espresso post, then stuck around for her beautifully designed blog full of appealing recipes.  I predict a best-selling cookbook in her future.

Stroller Traffic offers tidbits on baby products and ideas, via email or Web.  There are local editions for NYC, Dallas, and LA, and an “everywhere” list for everyone else.  It’s new, but promisingly stylish.

“The Weight I’m Still Carrying is From a Baby Named Krispy Kreme.”  Just discovered the odd mix of humor, cursing, and deep thoughts in F—- Yeah, Motherhood.  I expected something funny from this lighthearted title, and came away truly touched. 

Lost watchers, have you discovered The Final Season of Lost as Seen By Someone Who Has Never Seen Lost?  Highly entertaining.  Start at Episode 1.

Tutorial and photo from Jeffrey Rudell on CraftStylish (August ‘08).

P.S. Have paper flowers down cold and looking for a more ambitious project? Check out this amazing chandelier that Jeffrey Rudell created for a Christmas window at Tiffany & Co!

We began the evening’s festivities by getting Elsa into her Birthday Shirt.  She then put on her party face.  (Which, like her game face, her greeting face, and most others, involves two bottom teeth and a RAWR.)

We had dinner with Mr T’s family at a tasty Malaysian restaurant, and then were off to National Geographic to see the Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an.  Elsa was tired, and the exhibition did not end well.

But after a few minutes’ rest in the car, she was ready for her birthday cupcake!  We purchased an almond-y yellow cake with chocolate frosting because the flavor was called Birthday Cupcake.  Not shown: Mommy and Daddy’s own cupcakes and large frozen yogurt, because we couldn’t let our child eat alone, and because the place serves both and, um, the yogurt had fruit on top and fruit is good for you.

Here’s the Before:

During:

And After.  Not actually as messy as I feared, given the chocolate frosting.  Though we did have to wash down the walls.  (By the way, according to The Internets, the best way to get chocolate out of clothing is to treat the stain with either dishwashing detergent or milk.  Who knew?) 

Mmmm, chocolate-covered babies are tasty!

And finally, for those of you who just can’t get enough of La Wallaby (i.e., her grandparents), here’s a special bonus not-especially-exciting-but-kind-of-cute-all-the-same cupcake video:

And ended it with this:

Hard to believe our tiny, squalling, barely-formed human has grown so much and learned so many things in the space of one year.  Looking back over her photos, the changes seemed to happen in the tiniest of increments.  But added together, they worked miracles!

One Month

Not an early fan of baths….

Two Months

Three Months

Wow, I hated that haircut.  (It only lasted one painful week.)

Four Months

Elsa’s first baseball game — Nationals / Orioles at Camden Yards 

Five Months

Zoe watching over her one-member Flock

Six Months

Not an early fan of grass, either….

Seven Months

Much-improved on the bath front

Eight Months

Nine Months

First Christmas

Ten Months

A favorite toy, responsible for many happy hours’ play (and also for Mommy and Daddy’s nervous breakdown after they go to bed singing The Farmer in the Dell to themselves for the 10,000th time) 

Eleven Months

First signs of Snowmageddon 

Birthday pics coming later this weekend — stay tuned!

What do y’all think about the first few episodes of Lost’s final season?  Is it living up to your expectations?  Can it live up to fans’ enormous expectations?  

Any predictions?  

And what will you watch to replace it, once it has gone away and left us with a gaping hole in the slightly-fantastical long-story-arc dramatic universe?

Despite all the grand (sort-of) revelations, this season has felt anti-climactic to me thus far.  I admit the possibility that they’re moving pieces into place for a truly grand finale, but I don’t want to get my hopes up lest they be disappointed.  I have no idea what’s going on. And Fringe is currently in the running to fill the hole in my life once Lost disappears to an alternative universe.  

Or, I could just refuse to admit Lost is gone and spend one hour a week re-creating scenes with the baby’s toys.

Gilded Lace Crowns, photo and tutorial by Bitter Betty Blogs, 10/08.

I have finally jumped on the bandwagon and opened a Formspring account….

Pregnancy?  Motherhood?  Marriage?  Law?  Illness?  Blogging?  Life in DC?  Favorite lip balm?  Thoughts on reality TV?  Ask me anything right here, or type your question in the box-thingie on the right of the screen.**

** But seriously, please ask!  My greatest fear is that no one will have any questions whatsoever!

Many years later, I spied instant espresso powder at a grocery store and grew excited about recreating my Israeli coffee memories.  It’s a great way to whip up a coffeehouse-type drink if you’re stuck at home or don’t want to shell out coffeehouse prices.  All you need is a mug of milk, a microwave, some instant espresso powder, and sugar, cocoa, or other flavoring if desired.  Something about it is comfort in a cup — I’ve gotten my mother hooked as well, and we got through so much that we buy jars by the 6-pack!

Just don’t run out of milk — it’s a sad, sad drink when added to water.  However, it does make an extremely tasty addition to chocolate-based baking.  The espresso doesn’t add a strong “coffee” flavor, just somehow deepens and enriches the chocolate.  Cook’s Illustrated baked with espresso powders for this month’s issue, and recommends the brands Cafe Bustelo or Caffe de Vita.  My personal favorite, Megdalia D’Oro, came in third.

Image sources one and two.  A favorite recipe for chewy Chocolate Espresso Cookies (even better with orange or peppermint flavoring, yum!).  And you can read all you ever wanted to know about coffee in Israel right here.