Food, family, and friends...

...that pretty much sums up our July! We drove up to New York State for the 4th. We attended a great party on Lake Ontario, and then spent the next few days in the Ithaca area. We stayed on the go, visiting friends and family and hanging out at old haunts. At the end of the week, we picked up my sweet step-daughter, Emily, and headed back to Maryland. She stayed with us for over 2 weeks, and we did lots of sewing, shopping, and of course eating out of the garden. Then last week we made a quick trip down to NC to see Del's mom, his sisters, and niece and nephew. On the way back up, we stopped for a night at my folks' house, and I got to see my new baby nephew. That is the Cliff's Notes version of the month. Now I'm going to bombard you with vacation pictures :) . Oh, and I did manage to get some work done in between all the socializing. If you look carefully at the pics, you'll see sneak peaks of the next Sis Boom pattern (which is in the final testing stages)!




Party on the lake




Fireworks




Walking on the rocks in the gorge at Treman Park




Mindy and Julie at Julie's house. Mindy's legendary scones recipe is in Julie's cookbook, by the way.




Wine and cheese on the porch at Cole and Caryn's




Delicious summer rolls and coleslaw




Visiting with science buddies Barb and Stephane at Cornell




Del and Executive Chef Tony




Louie with big brother Dan and his sweet girlfriend, Anna




Emily munching on a homegrown brandywine tomato




Em and Del making pizza on the grill



YUM!




Enjoying the pool at the motel in NC




Louie with his fun cousins Del and Marissa




She is such a little doll!




Welcome baby Ethan!




Making Eggplant Parm




Me in my shirred sundress - perfect for hot July weather! I love that fabric so much, too! Please ignore the funny expression on my face...it was very bright out!

Oh, and I turned 38 on the 23rd. I was beyond thrilled to get a special gift in the mail on that very day! Tom, Cathy, Shannon, and Marlo each made a quilt block, and then Tom assembled and quilted everything.




Isn't it gorgeous? And look, there's that fun fabric again on the border!




I was so giddy, I hung it up right over my bed. It really brightens up the room, and I feel so happy every time I look at it!

OK, I feel a little bit caught up now. This month we have one more big trip, and then Louie starts Kindergarten - wahhh! I promise I'll get better about blogging as summer winds down.