Baby Shower in a Box

Yesterday I picked up a large package from the post office (one of many actually, since my sister is slowly moving here through the mail) and it was a baby shower box!!
It said in clear writing on it "Do not open unless under camera supervision!"
I was by myself, but of course I had a camera-





Okay, so I was being a bit of a smart-ass...



(Hey, I was having fun.)



And as bad S.A. karma would have it, my camera battery died! So I don't have any more photos than that.

But there was so much great stuff in the box!!! My family is something else, let me tell 'ya. There was loads of fabric, flannels, sheets, ect., handmade and passed along blankets. A baby book! Which is good because I have refused to buy one from the BX, haha... Picture frames and little kids' dishes. Clothing! And BOOKS! Tons of books :) Including all the Corduroy books, which is sweet because that was my teddy bear growing up. And Stellaluna, which I've never read but now I will. And Blueberries for Sal! (You must read that book, all of you!) There was so much more, I have to sit down and write thank you notes tonight for all the wonderful things these wonderful people put in the box.

I'm so blessed to have such a thoughtful family! Not only were the gifts perfect but there was almost no packaging, items were wrapped in fabric pieces or sheets and tied with fabric ribbons. One box was wrapped with the top and bottom separate, I'll use it to put all the cards in from the baby showers and the birth so that Johnny can have them someday.

This was our second shower, back in May Emily threw one for use before everyone left here- and it was the same then, everything was so thoughtfully picked out and wrapped, I love that the people we know and love take such care to pay attention to the way we live around this house. The frugality, craftiness and appreciation for passing things on is recognized and admired by both Chris and myself!

My favorite part of both of these showers is yet to be announced. I promise you'll love it too!

~~~~~~

The mail has been good to me lately, today it bestowed upon me something I treated myself with.

On Etsy there is a seller, Sasaki Bags, who makes all these great hand bags and shopping bags out of old coffee bean bags. She's in Hawaii and we've almost become sort of pen pals over the past few weeks. It's been really nice to talk about random things with a random person, especially someone I admire for using such a cool material that would normally be thrown out to make something so fun and useful.
I got this as a shopping bag but I think it'll be the only purse I carry for a while!


And then today after finishing up a tattoo I actually remembered that there was a shop I had been meaning to find down by the base. A good friend of mine had a beautiful apron and she told me she bought it near an Abby and that there was a lot of nice things in the shop, I have just never gotten around to finding it. So this afternoon I drove out into the country a little ways and finally figured out where it is. Or, at least I think so. If not that's okay because this shop was a super find anyway :)

There was a row of hand carved Enten (ducks) out on the parking area, and I HAD to pick one out for J's room! This one had such great character to him, he really stood out...


Then inside, amidst the hand built furniture, I came across these two little cars- I know Chris will love the jeep, and I absolutely adore the van. The old man who made all of this (Ben) told me he made the jeep because he used to have one that he restored (which is what Chris wants to do), and the van because he wants to buy one and road trip across America someday (which is what I want to do). How could I resist?


There were some really lovely paintings that Ben had done, I'd like to buy one someday before we leave here. There were at least three poppy paintings, which I'm a sucker for.

I love how around here you can walk into a store and get to know the owners just like *that*. They really take pride in their shops and are always happy to see new faces coming in.

~~~~~~

Oh! I made bread the other day for the first time in ages. It served me well for lunch today!



Xoxo!