Oh, Tiny.

She makes me laugh, makes me want to pull out my hair, and makes me question everything I do and know. In short, she’s pretty amazing.

Yesterday, she ran around with her rubber duck held high in the air, making it “fly” while making pterodactyl noises. She’s very big into dinosaurs right now and couldn’t have been more excited and proud of herself for mimicking the noises on the documentary we watched and the book we looked at. She’d zoom the duck around, squawking, and then look at me, cheeks flushed and smile wider than the whole world.

Oh my sweet baby.

We later went to Lincoln Park to the beach for a friends birthday-the sun was warm, and even though Izzy wouldn’t sit still, it was a great time. I was able to get some fun pictures of her. Oh my Sunshine.

Well, Hello 🙂

Welcome to my new home! All of my old posts from Tigerlilydesignsseattle.blogspot.com are here. Heck, there’s even some OLD stuff from my old days with tigerlilydesigns.wordpress.com.

I needed a change. I needed a cute site. I needed my own URL, darnit!  And here we are.

Welcome to Make Mend Grow. My new site on making things, mending things, and growing-both as a gardener, and in terms of learning.

Thank you so much for joining  me!

~Yours in Craftiness~

Raina

Burdick Brewing – South Park (Seattle)
You guys. I love this place. Max is a genuinely awesome guy and a great brewer to boot. I could stop here and just tell you to go, but I won’t. Sadly, it’s been a while since I have been, despite this gem being walking distance from my house. The space is large, with high ceilings and cool vintage lights. Local art curated by yours truly adorns the exposed brick walls. A giant projector screen rolls down to watch games. If that’s not enough, there’s even local musician events. This is a one-stop date night, rolled into a place that just feels like home. This, my friends, is my replacement for Baron Brewing. What’s good? Yes. I loathe IPA’s, but Max makes an IPA that is actually good. The Honey and rye, which was one of his first and a low alcohol beer danced in your mouth. The Pale was solid, as was the Stout. Ah heck. What are you doing still reading? Stop and go!
Parking? Street.
Noise level? Depends on what is happening. When local heroes Fluffer played, the place was packed! On a given Thursday, the vibe is super relaxed.
Beers on a scale of 1-10? 8-9.
Food? Nope, but you can grab something from Napoli or Muy Macho our local tasty food places.
Playtime? Max is baby friendly, as is the brewery. There’s room for the littles to stretch out.
Website: http://burdickbrewery.com/

Lowercase Brewing – South Park (Seattle)
These new(er)-comers to the hood are genuinely sweet guys, too. And the best part? They share a wall with Burdick. It’s not uncommon to see the two brewers comparing notes. The space is small, but looks super cool, with upcycled furnishings and pallet walls. You have to see it to get it. The Mexican Lager is darn tasty, and they also make a good root beer. The beers aren’t hard core, and are lighter alcohol. The best part? They also show Game of Thrones! 
Parking? Street. Stay parked and go to or come from, Burdick.
Noise? Since it’s small, it can get noisy, but it’s likely to be South Parkers, so it’s cool. We’re a raucous group. 
Beers on a scale of 1-10? The Mexican Lager? A 9; The others? Nick says a 7. 
Food? They have snacks and mighty tasty hot nuts.
Playtime? If it’s crowded, it’s babes in arms level of space
Website: http://www.lowercasebrewing.com/

Tin Dog Brewing – South Park (Seattle)
Yet another local gem. Lisa and her hubby Erik are pretty darn awesome. They are friendly, fun, and brew some good Bavarian beers. Izzy loves Lisa, and Lisa is always quick to grab Izzy for us, so we can enjoy part of a pint. A few months ago, I got sick, and Lisa emailed to make sure I was ok. It’s that kind of place! The brewing set up is pretty slick, and you can get a quick tour. The taps rotate pretty frequently, but a food good standby’s are there regularly. Another upside? It’s a few blocks away from the Lowercase and Burdick.
Parking? Tons! They are in the industrial plaza at the West end of South Park.
Noise? A good consistent hum of locals chatting and laughing, great background music, but it’s nothing overwhelming.
Beers on a scale of 1-10? If you like hops, you’ll have a happy day. If not, fret not-there’s still more to choose. The beers also have a higher alcohol. The saison is super good, the Jaggery Belgian had tropical notes and the Hefe’s are banana-y. The beers for me, range from good, to holy pants. I give the Jaggery a 10. 
Food? These guys do it right! They have small plates of snacks made from local eateries.
Playtime? Super kiddo friendly, but note that there’s a garage door that opens to a parking lot by a busy main drag. Lisa is an awesome beer-Aunt. 
Website: http://tindogbrewing.com/

West Seattle Brewing – West Seattle
This place was great-tons of seating, both at the bar and at tables. There’s big screens for great game watching, and the building itself is pretty great. It was an old quick-E-Mart converted into a funky new business. The guys that were pouring were friendly, and really loved the beer. They were happy to talk to us about it, and asked what we thought about them. All in all, a great joint. It was HOT that weekend, and so they were one-third of their beers, but as you can see in the picture above, there were still quite a few beers to try out. I liked the red and the American Wheat. Nick really liked the Imperial Stout and the Red.  So, what’s the run down?
Parking? Plentiful, with a small shared lot, but a lot street parking available
Noise level? On a weekend afternoon, there’s music and quite a few people, but you can carry on a conversation without raising your voice
Beers on a scale of 1-10? 8. Nick says 7.5, but he was distracted by our Tiny Beast.
Food? None, but they do have a BBQ joint right next door
Playtime? Fellow parents bring their kids, too.
Website? http://westseattlebrewing.com/

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been back almost a week – the time away, and the past few days have gone by in a blur. After a day of rest, we jumped right back into our normal lives-gardening, cooking, and of course going back to work. 

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately-at work, at home, with South Park Arts. It’s been keeping me busy. I’ll write a full review soon, but to tide y’all over, I interviewed a brewer friend of mine!  You can read that interview here.

Read on, and if you’re local, go check out Burdick Brewing!

Cheers,
Raina

This time last year, I was in labor and was in my delivery room being coached to breathe and waiting for my little one to come. I would have to wait another 15 hours, but it didn’t matter.

I look at this picture and can’t help but smile. She was brand new, maybe a minute old. I’m so tired, but so excited. I am thoroughly peaceful.

I can’t believe how quickly the past year has flown by. Every day, I am so grateful for my Tiny Beast; her strength, her fluffy hair, the way she looks like me and my Dad. Everything.

When she was born, even with all that happened immediately after (and you can read about that here, if you want to catch up); I knew that everything in life would be ok. All that mattered was that I had her. After so many years of waiting for the right person and the right time, she was here and she was mine.

Having Isabella erased any anger I had. Every bad day just didn’t matter. Even my Dad’s death a few months before stung a little less. Looking into her big blue eyes, I knew (and know) that as long as I do my best for her, and keep her needs in mind, I can’t and won’t go wrong.

Every night, we snuggle her to sleep, and put her in her crib. I look forward to that time. I look forward to our weekend naps on the couch, snuggled under antique quilts, chasing the last of the sunbeams. She is truly my heart and my world and I can’t imagine my life without her. I am truly blessed to have her.

Here’s to many more years of love, happiness, and those big blue eyes.

To you, my love. Mommy loves you so, so much.
Raina