Sew Cool

I almost had to reschedule my sewing class on Saturday. The one I’d been looking forward to for two whole weeks! Here’s what happened…

Saturday morning I woke up early and decided to sit on the porch reading and crocheting until it was time to head to my lesson at noon. At around 11 my Mom asked what I was doing and I told her about the class and invited her to come along and check out the space and watch for a bit to see if she wanted to take classes too.

Long story short at 11:45 we were close to running late and I was rushing us both out of the house. As I went to close the door to the garage behind me BAM! The spring caught the door and pulled it faster than I expected (and I was rushing and not paying enough attention) slamming my pointer finger on my right hand in the door. Hard.

After a lot of dramatics, I had a band-aid, and ice pack and was riding shot gun to my class. “So Mom, if I can’t bend my finger do you want to take the class in my place?”

I toughed it out during my class (my finger throbbed but I was REALLY excited to be taking a sewing lesson so eventually I forgot about it).

My 2 hour lesson was about $50 and I walked out with a fully lined tote bag that I had made. I’m ready to go back. I’d go today after work and start my next lesson, a simple skirt, if time would permit. But, Mom and I both agreed that we’re going to be taking more classes maybe together. Until then I’ve got this awesome bag and some fabric in  my basement that I’d like to play with.

Wish me luck!

I Did it!

I’m celebrating what some might consider a small success today, but to me it’s HUGE. I managed to create and follow a meal plan for an entire week!

I’ve tried to use meal plans at least a dozen times before and never made it through the first week. Maybe I just wasn’t making it a priority, but here were some of my crazy hurdles.

- Shopping

- Meal prep time

- Unexpected errands

- Exhaustion

Bruchetta Chicken

Pretty typical, right? On Monday when I decided “ok I’m going to do this” I knew I wasn’t going to have time to grocery shop until Tuesday or Wednesday. That’s halfway through my meal plan! Maybe you would have said ok I’ll create the plan now, shop this weekend, and implement next week. But no, I had to do it now before I lose the motivation and focus.

So Monday I planned based on what I had in the house. Tuesday I made the meal part of my evening plans (I was hosting a pinterest party so I chose a meal from pinterest that I had most of the ingredients for). Wednesday I finally made it to the grocery store and the rest, as they say, is history.

My next challenge…making it through week two!

On My Nightstand

I have been devouring books recently. Ok maybe not devouring  more like sneaking reading into every spare second I can find each day. Twelve minutes before I need to leave for work? Time to pick up a book. Half an hour before I need to be asleep? Grab a book. Twenty  minutes left of my lunch break? Oh yeah I’m reading a book.

My reading tastes are always changing. Earlier this year I went on a young adult lit. kick and read The Hunger Gamesand the Chemical Garden Series. I’m also always trying to read something for book club, like Steven King’s 11/22/63, but I can’t always finish them.

Here’s what I’m reading now:

The Shape of Mercy

I’m surprised how much I am enjoying this book. I took one look at the front cover and just though, ”Oh no, I am NOT in the mood for period literature.” I was pleasantly surprised. The book is about a young college student transcribing the diary of a young woman accused of witch craft during the Salem trials.

Not a typical subject for me, but the writing is good. I’m completely invested in the characters and a little sad that there are so few pages left before I finish.

Odd Thomas
This is another book club read that I DID NOT expect to like.  I was so sure I wouldn’t be able to get through it on my own that I got the audio book and begrudgingly put it on while I was making dinner last night. It’s certainly not as captivating as The Shape of Mercy, but it’s entertaining. There is a bit of something magical/supernatural/odd going on – the narrator sees dead people - and I haven’t decided how I feel about it yet. It’s not hokey, but every time I turn the page I’m afraid it’s about to turn hokey. We’ll see.

What is on your nightstand right now? I’ve got The Girl Who Played with Fire waiting for me to finish Shape of Mercy and then I think I’m going to tackle Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.

Enamored

I have been devouring information on upholstery lately. Today I found an oddity that I wanted to share with you. It’s not exactly upholstery and it’s not exactly crocheting, but it’s fun and funky looking. And if I had one of those chairs I would try this in a heartbeat (really I would).

What do you think? Could you rock one of these chairs in a library or living room? PS Has anyone taken an upholstery course? I tried local community colleges, trade schools, etc but I can’t seem to find anything closer than New York which isn’t particularly close.

Pinterest Party

You know how some friends have been in your life forever? Victoria is one of those friends. She's good people. We can vacation together - camping no less - for a long weekend or more and come out of it still friends. We can go months without seeing each other and then pick up right where we left off.

Well yesterday Victoria and I got together for a Pinterest Party - and lets just say it is certainly going to be a repeat event.

What's a Pinterest Party? Well you invite people/a person over to actually create some of the things you pinned on Pinterest.

We had grand plans to make dinner and then do something crafty, but we got to talking [as we do] and never made it past the dessert. A brilliantly successful evening.

Oh and now we have an excuse for round to. On to the pins:

Victoria pinned and made:

And for dinner I pinned and made:

And for dessert Victoria and I both made the Smoore Dip that we ate so fast we never got a picture of it. (Ok and I had a glass and a half of the beverage above and completely forgot I was the photographer for the night).

Such is life!

Anyone else making things that they've been pinning on pinterest?

Weekend Recap

[apologies for the terrible iPhone photos, the light was poor and I wasn't willing climb off the roof to fetch my camera]

The beautiful weather is calling me and I'm having a difficult time finding moments to blog between adventures. And yes, this weekend was an adventure.

Friday night I went to bed thinking that Saturday would be split between farm fair and a film festival. However, after running a few errands and spending three hours at farm fair HB and I changed our plans. Instead of hopping in the car and heading to watch some movies by the beach we joined my family up on the roof, doing what every family does on a hot July day, tearing off the old rubber roof!

 It's terribly glamorous work, don't you agree?

Sunday HB and I drove and drove and drove to pick up his new project bike (motorcycle). He's out in the garage at his father's house working on the carburetors as I type. I crochet, he tinkers. We've each got our passions.

Sadly I don't have a pictures of the bike to share with you (yet) so you'll have to be patient. Now I'm off to work on this weeks squares from the granny square sampler I've fallen oh...4 weeks behind on. Shame on me!

Psst...the super secret project is in the mail! Hoping to point you to photos of it soon :]

Another view of the yurts in Colorado. I really miss this place.

Work in Progress

While I edit photos, sign up for sewing courses, and dream about an upholstery class in November I'm also squeezing in some time to work on this super secret project.

I suppose this is not much of a super secret project now that you've seen some of the pieces, but I'm clearly not done yet.
And about the basket on the right, the green ball of yarn (bottom), turquoise ball of yarn (far right), and wooden crochet hook are all mementos from my trip. Only I bring back fiber and hooks from Colorado as my souvenirs. What can I say, I'm hooked (ridiculous pun intended). 

I'm Back...

from Colorado. I wasn't entirely sure I was going to get on the plane and come home. But I did. And then I took a vacation from the blog after my vacation. It wasn't terribly exciting though. Mostly, I dug myself out from under a grueling pile of laundry, forced myself back into eastern standard time, and made the mistake of giving up caffeine.

Just caffeine though, I'm still drink decaf coffee every morning. Anyway...vacation photos commence!

You understand why I wanted to skip my return flight, right?

There are still a lot of photos to upload, edit, and share with my family so I'm afraid I only have two to share for now. I couldn't help sharing my favorite spot from the entire trip...the yurt.

I miss that yurt. I'm going to have to go back very, very soon!

Hey all! HB and I are running around like crazy enjoying our fantastic vacation. My heart’s been telling me that on this vacation I need to sip my coffee slowly in the morning and indulge in an pastry or two ;)

We’re backpacking and sightseeing and trying to take tons of photos. I can’t wait to share them with you when I come back!

Is anyone else doing something special this summer? What are your plans?

You Made What?! Crochet Dreamz

Oh hey! The You Made What series is back today. Sorry if you’ve been missing it, I’ve been taking a summer break and really focusing on my reading and crocheting (as one does in these warm summer months…). But today I’ve got this awesome YOU MADE WHAT post to share with you. Read on…

Can you handle all of that cuteness? These crocheted baby flip flops were made by Crochet Dreamz on Craftsy. I love super bright yarn this summer. Especially in that lime green teal combo on the left. And who can look at teeny, tiny baby shoes – or flip flops – and not think about teeny, tiny baby feet.

My cousin is expecting a baby this fall so I’ve been looking at LOTS of baby patterns lately thinking about all of the cute things I could make her little girl on the way. The flip flops clearly stole my heart. Too bad she’s not coming until October! We’re going to miss baby flip flop season with that little girl.

But you can enjoy all of the sweetness! Just look at these shoes…

And, if you are so inclined you can make them yourself. The pattern is available on Craftsy.