Weeklies#2: A Rose by any other name....

The absolute highlight of my week was finding out that my Dutch sis had her baby girl. It is hard to even take my little weekly "Best of's" seriously with this great news to report. I've been anticipating this moment for months and it finally came and she is a beauty! Earlier this summer, when my girl was born, we chose my Dutch sister's name as her middle name. I wanted to honor a friendship so special to me that it really changed the course of my life for the better. You see it was my Dutch sister's idea to host an exchange student in the first place. And that decision set the rest of my life into motion. From the moment I saw my Dutch sis getting out of the family's van to pick me up I just had this feeling that we'd be close, and our relationship has grown deeper than I ever imagined possible.

My Dutch sis called me first thing when she got home from the hospital (which for her was only a few hours after the baby was born!) It was the middle of the night in Holland and she was tucked up in her bed with the baby by her side. She called to tell me that her little girl had MY NAME as her middle name. I was speechless. I felt so honored, and flattered and humbled at the same time. I also felt a real sense of responsibility to live up to my own name. Here is this little innocent creature half a world away with my name as part as hers. I really want to do her proud! It makes me want to be a better person.

So our two girls are bound by more than this common history their mom's share. And it is my hope that someday their bond will be as special as the one we have. Welcome to the world little sweetie. I love you and can't wait to meet you.

And though none of these next things are nearly as exciting, here are my weekly top picks:

Handmade Object
I am in love, love, love with Etsy. I could spend hours browsing there. I am planning on doing most of my shopping for Christmas gifts online and Etsy will be a big part of my plan! It is a great way to support artists worldwide without leaving the comfort of your armchair. Here is an awesome necklace ($25!) from paraphernalia.


Image
A little something I drew in the car while waiting for hubby to pick up a chocolate shake (see "Best food I ate") while baby napped in her carseat. Hooray for multitasking!
Best food I ate
A maple glazed old fashioned donut, and a chocolate shake from my favorite local burger joint.

Thing I made
Pumpkin raisin bread from the good ole Betty Crocker cookbook, the recipe made 2 loaves and we polished them off in less than 2 days, and our slices were about 10 times as thick as the anemic ones in the recipe's picture.

Best thing I saw on the web:
This house. It is like something out of my imagination! From the Ticky Tacky Westlake photoset on Flickr.


Can't live without
Tetley tea (the British stuff...bought in Canada). It is nice and strong, the American version contains less tea per bag. What's up with that?

Music
Blue Scholars, Northwest hippy-hop (as my hubby calls it) at its finest.

Feeling happy about
New babies!!!! Trees turning gold and red, and the sound of rain at night.

Making me laugh
Again, another SNL skit with dancing! Crazy dancing pretty much cracks me up 24/7. This time it is Lebron James doing Solid Gold. How much did I used to want to be a Solid Gold Dancer?