An Easter Shirt

Our Week in Review

Whew, am I tired! I don't think I was home for more than 3 waking hours in a row between last Sunday to this past Saturday. Emily arrived for a one week visit on the 16th and we managed to put quite a few miles on the car sightseeing and eating our way across two state. Since Emily is five months pregnant she had a great excuse to sample all of the great fattening food available on the Gulf Coast and I had the excuse that she needed someone to keep her company. I even discovered that I really like sweet tea as long it is blended half-and-half with regular tea. Since Joe left and I have not been cooking large meals I dropped the last five pounds to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I haven't dared to get on the scale today but I'm sure the number has edged back up a couple of pounds.

Sunday was relatively relaxed but Monday we started in full tourist mode with a swamp boat tour. I took Grayden this time and he really enjoyed it and did a great job sitting on the boat for nearly two hours listening to the captain's narration. He was most curious about the signs and non-natural things we saw along the way such as discarded refrigerators and boats marooned by hurricane Katrina. He did like seeing the baby alligators and got to pet one they had in the tour company office. We did not spot any large gators this time but saw an amazing array of birds, snakes, turtles and plants. We'll be heading out for another tour in May when my folks come for a one week visit.

Tuesday we participated in a kids tile painting workshop and both Audrey and Grayden had a good time. We also poked around Ocean Springs where Emily took Grayden to the park so I could do a little shopping in the cute boutiques and art galleries. I haven't felt that relaxed just window shopping in a very long time! Tuesday night we took Grayden to see Hop, his reward for giving up the pacifier the week before. He really liked it and has been pretending to be the Easter Bunny all week.

Wednesday we headed to New Orleans for an overnight stay. We enjoyed taking the street car out Saint Charles Avenue to a great restaurant called Dante's Kitchen. I was a little nervous about dining with the kids at a place that had such a sophisticated menu but the staff was very accommodating and we sat out on the patio so both kids could wander around. It also helped that we arrived right when they opened at 5:30pm and they didn't seat another customer until we'd been there a good 45 minutes or more. New Orleans seems to be the kind of place where people eat late and most restaurants don't reopen for dinner until 6pm. It must be a warm climate thing. Emily and I wanted to try EVERYTHING on the menu but we restrained ourselves and only tried six or seven of the small dishes and sides. I don't think I've eaten such good, creative food since leaving DC a year ago. 

Thursday we got a fairly early start and just beat the crowds of high school tour groups to Cafe du Monde for the requisite beignets and coffee.  We followed it up with a mule carriage ride and then back for the hotel for an attempted swim in the freezing pool and a nap for Emily and Audrey. After another meal we did a bit of shopping, including a solo trip for me to Promenade Fabrics, a high end fabric store with gorgeous silks, designer fabrics and trims. I bought a few yards that will be making appearances on the blog in future weeks.

We sadly said goodbye to Emily on Saturday after several more memorable meals. Sunday morning I enjoyed playing Easter Bunny and manged to wake up at 5am to hide eggs in the yard and set out the baskets for the kids. I bought Audrey a little baby doll as she loves to snuggle and hug just about anything. I gave Grayden a male baby doll when he was just slightly older then Audrey is now and he has never become very attached to it. I've never really bought into the idea of innate gender identity but maybe there really is something to it.

After devouring way too much candy I took the kids down to the beach to burn off some of the sugar high. We are already experiencing very warm, humid weather so it was nice to catch a bit of a cool breeze down by the water. Despite being warm, the water in this part of the Gulf is incredibly murky, almost like a lake, and it never looks terribly clean and inviting.



The Project

• Fabric - 1 yard cotton seersucker, $6.99
• Pattern - Simplicity
• Notions - Buttons, $1
• Time to complete - 4 hours
• Total cost - $8

This shirt is called an Easter Shirt not because Grayden wore it on Easter, but because I sewed it on Easter. We were so busy with Emily's visit that I did not get a chance to sit down and sew until she left on Saturday. Luckily Audrey took a good nap yesterday and both kids were asleep by 7:30 last night and I was able to get through the shirt by 10pm.

The challenging part of this project was matching the plaids. It took me a while to wrap my brain around how to match everything up. With a different fabric I think this would have only taken me about 2 to 3 hours to complete. I think the result was worth the effort because I did a decent job matching the seams, pockets and yoke. The only problem was that the hem on one side of the back is actually about 1/2" longer than the front hem. I think it is because I did not match up the lines perfectly and more fabric should have been pulled up into the arm hole. It is not terribly noticeable since there are side vents that allow the back to hang free from the front.  

Grayden had a very grumpy morning today so I wasn't sure how it would be taking pictures before school. Turns out having a photo session helped snap him out of his funk and he had a good time dancing for the camera. I think he gets all his moves from his dad! I'm curious to see how dirty the shirt is when he gets home from school this afternoon. I hope they didn't have spaghetti for lunch today.