Shopping with Elinor

Elinor has a bit of a unicorn obsession. She has a unicorn castle with five plush unicorns that live within. She has a walking unicorn with a light-up horn that makes magical sparkly sounds. Her pillow proudly sports a gaudy (Mama-made) unicorn pillowcase. And yes, she even has a ceramic unicorn. I'm sure a collaboration with Vladimir and his collection would be a wondrous thing for her.

Today our local fabric store was having a sale, so I took her over there to choose a backing for her next quilt. She was half asleep so I was mostly able to choose it by myself -- until we got to the cutting counter, unrolled three yards, and literally had the rotary cutter poised above the fabric and ready to go. Then she told us she didn't really like it and wanted to choose a different one. I wish I had a picture of my fabric choice. It was pretty adorable. I might have to go back for it.

Anyhow, we headed back to the racks and she immediately chose this one:

I, however, was not digging the unicorn-camo vibe it had going on and used my mommy powers to veto it. We ended up compromising with this one:

Yep. We came home with three yards of this beauty, which, honestly, I don't mind too much. It's a Masha D'yans design and I have to say I'm a new fan! I sorta want her 2015 calendar! I like that it's a tastefully designed, watercolor-esque depiction of what every four-year-old girl would want on the back of her quilt - unicorns and princesses.

And now, really quick, a few other snippets from my time spent with Elinor over the last few days:

Elinor's end of a conversation with Joseph at the dinner table: "Ha ha! I tricked you! I am a chicken with the face of a monkey!"

After crying big fat tears for a full half hour caused by thinking deep thoughts about death (her own and me and Joseph's), she suddenly stopped and said, "You know what, Mom? Plants don't need sandwiches."

And just this morning she told me she'd had a nightmare about a sandwich that was alive and chasing her but she'd rather not think about it so the conversation was short.

Maybe we've been eating too many sandwiches lately? I'll have to be more careful.