20 weeks

20 weeks (a little late but thats how we roll these days)

--We're growing like crazy over here and my belly button is officially poking out all the way. The part of my wardrobe that still fits me is growing smaller and smaller.
--The only thing close to a craving is my need for sparkling water 24/7. I'm going through it like nobodies business.
--Sleeping has mostly improved with the help of 4 pillows. ay yi yi... so high maintenance.
--Baby is a mover and shaker. Josh felt some kicks (or somersaults) about a week ago for the first time. Feeling your baby move around inside of you has to be one of the greatest feelings on earth...

p.s. We're having a boy! And I cannot wait to see a mini version of Josh running around soon. Plus dressing a baby boy sounds like the most fun ever ;) just look at that little cardigan!

Shop update: Baby stuff galore! (and some shop clearance too)

All the new baby stuff is now for sale in my shop! Here's what you'll find there:

You can find all of that here in the baby tab

There is also a bunch of clearance/last chance/limited stock items I added. I listed them last night and some already sold but here's whats left currently! (Some of them are specific sizes so make sure to look at that before buying!)



^^that price is wrong! its actually only $25^^









You can find all of these in the last chance/limited stock tab


And last but not least, this Pendleton clutch is on sale for $20 right now. Which is a steal!

Coming soon...

I've been sewing away in my own little sweatshop trying to get some new things finished up. There are some new baby items (unisex! finally!) like these little harem style bloomers, and leggings too!





There's also a bunch of new prints for women and baby girl dresses. They are lightweight knit and sooo comfortable!




And a couple new prints for baby girl dresses in regular cotton. Wait till you see the little baby dress in the pink camera print...









ALSO! I did a task I had been dreading for awhile and cleared out my fabric stashes and found a ton of store items that were either never listed because fabric sold out or I made the wrong size or something so I'll be adding those too under a SALE tab. Then there will be some regular clearance too. We're moving in a couple weeks and I need to downsize my fabric pile. There will be tons of cheap stuff :)


I'm working on it all weekend so i'm HOPING to have everything listed by Monday!

Video: Making pretzels

Making Pretzels from Abi Porter on Vimeo.


Have you ever made soft pretzels before? It's surprisingly easy and I bet you already have all the ingredients! I went over to Sarah's house to make some a few weeks ago and I convinced her to let me film it, she's my go-to hand model ;) I see more recipe videos in our future.

Watch the video and let me know what you think!



The most delicious soft pretzels 
Makes 8

(Note: Once you've shaped each pretzel you can then put them in the freezer. When you're ready to bake, just add 10-15 seconds to the boil time and a few minutes to bake time.)

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

currently...

Reading: Her: A memoir by Christa Parravani. Memoirs are by far my favorite and this one has been fantastic. Sad but fantastic! Love summertime reading.

Excited about: The shipping system we got for our online stores. Between the both of us we ship out packages every other day and going to the post office was getting really annoying. Now we have a postal scale and label writer so things can be packaged and shipped within the day, without ever going to the post office again. Hallelujah!

Feeling: hot. It's been pretty toasty here the past week... like 87* in our bedroom, 96* on our top floor/working space. Which is why we had a living room sleepover and pushed the couches together to make a bed. We've since moved our mattress to the basement where it stays a cool 70*... we'll be there the rest of summer.

Eating: these cookie dough bites. I had a pretty intense craving for everything bad for me earlier today and almost talked josh into bringing something home but decided on these instead. Craving satisfied!

Working on: finishing up the pretzel video post. Videos taking me foreveeeeer but they are so fun to make. Also working on adding a sale section to my store, along with a few new items. If only my work space wasn't 96*...


Hope you have a fun holiday! Josh has the day off and we're headed for some water!

16 weeks

A few thoughts on 16 weeks (and pregnancy thus far):

--I'm excited to finally look pregnant... I may take this back when I get as big as a whale but for now i'm loving my growing belly. When it's bare it looks like there is a cantaloupe perfect placed in the center of my abdomen..
--I'm not loving trying to sleep on my sides. I've been a stomach sleeper all my life and everything else is so uncomfortable to me.
--I haven't experienced cravings yet, but I am 100x more thirsty.
--We have a boy name and maybe a girl name...
--Emotional has taken on a whole new meaning the past few weeks... hormones are a funny thing.
--Now that the baby can hear Josh has been talking to my belly everyday (don't tell him I told you, he might be embarrassed) ;)

Feeling pregnant is so surreal. I'm so so thankful for this tiny babe inside of me, and I'm pretty sure I tell Jesus that about 30,000 times a day.

(healthier) chocolate chip cookie dough bites

You might be thinking "not another healthy "raw" cookie dough ball thing" and you're right, there's a million out there but I've been trying my hand at them for years and while most taste decent they just don't cut it for actually satisfying a real cookie dough craving. But these were a game changer! They were super simple to make, they use ingredients I always have and they actually taste like cookie dough, I promise! (You can even ask my husband, he ate plenty of them). I kept mine in the freezer which I would highly recommend, it doesn't get much better than frozen cookie dough. And yes, I guess some might not count these as healthy since they have some chocolate chips in it and use sweeteners (god forbid!) but they are loads healthier than the butter/sugar/brown sugar ones so that's good right? Plus the base is cashews which has protein which is enough to make it a health food in my book ;)


2/3 c raw cashews
1/3 c oats
1 Tbsp shredded coconut
2 Tbsp Agave
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup/Honey 
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 c Chocolate Chips (Mini would look nicer but it all tastes the same...)

Blend the cashews and oats in a Vita-Mix, food processor, or high speed blender until they're a fine powder. Don't overblend or you'll wind up with cashew butter very quickly.

Add the agave, maple, vanilla and blend until incorporated. Be careful to just blend in short bursts and only until combined; don't over-process. You know you have “The Right Consistency” of Dough when the dough starts to ball up like a tennis ball and bangs around from side to side in the canister. 

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Form into balls and store in freezer. If dough is sticky, chilling it in the refrigerator or flash-chilling it in the freezer helps make it easier to form into balls.
(original recipe source)

Please tell me you'll try these! And let me know if you do!