Domesticity

I've been away from blogging for a bit, partially because I've been so busy doing things that are perhaps perceived as out of my character. Well, I don't know about that, but it might be shocking the things that I've created. I've taken pictures for the proof.
For Mother's Day, I decided to make a cape for my mom. She had quipped something about a super-hero cape hidden in her closet, lilac colored, a few Sundays before Mom's Day, so I decided to make one for her. I had to enlist Newt's sewing knowledge and her sewing machine, but I made quite the cape for my mom, who went by Crae (see-ray) as a kid and still does sometimes to this day:



















Then, for Mother's Day dinner, I decided to make a recipe that I'd briefly seen on the Food Network: Couscous Stuffed Chicken Breast with Feta, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives. Truth be told, I didn't use the wine, but freshly-squeezed tangelo juice, orange juice and lemon juice, and I got rid of the olives (blech). But it was darn tasty. I actually like to cook and would do it more if I had the time and the patience. I never cooked before my mission, but realized while down there that I'd better learn how so that I could make all of the things that I'd miss. My mom was so shocked by my cooking after my mission, that in the Christmas letter that she sent out to everyone after I'd returned from Brazil said only about me: "Vanessa's home from her mission. It's great to have her back. She cooks now."
That's all that it said about me after serving my mission. I guess that's how big of deal my cooking was.
Anyway, here's the picture of what I made my mom for dinner:

*Notice the sautéed zucchini and tomato at the right. That's was Emily's idea.
**Shout-out to Scottie for his help in making the dinner.
***Laurel, don't you wish you'd been there for this meal?

Then, in the middle of this fit of domesticity, I made a quilt for Megan Snoderly Jackson's baby shower. It was cute and pink:

Sorry that I don't have a better picture, but you get the idea.

So there you have it. Sometimes I surprise myself with my endeavors. I think my 15-year-old self simply wouldn't believe what I've been up to lately, claiming that I'd staged a nutty. It's funny how things change, eh?