Sometimes it takes me a while to finish things

I know you all have been dying to know what I've been crafting lately. I kept waiting to post until I finished this dress. My first ever done almost totally with my serger. It's got darts, pleats, sleeves, and a ZIPPER. That was the big hold up. I ended up using my sister's sewing machine over Easter - and it still took like 4 attempts and 4 phone calls to my mom. I need to get a serious sewing machine now with a zipper foot and buttonhole maker.

Punch needle onesie for baby Henry.

Hat for my mom for Christmas - fancy cables and bobbles.

One sock. Turning the heel was IMPOSSIBLE and I had to wait until Christmas to see my mom to get her help. And it turns out that the pattern had a mistake in it. Though I did need my mom's help to figure out that the pattern had a mistake. We'll see if I ever knit the other sock.

So there you go. I need new projects now. I've recently found some great vintage ribbons and I've got big plans for them. We'll see.

Viking Hat

My newest creation. I let me neices and nephews try it on to see what size of child it would fit. Turns out they liked it so I let them keep it. I'm pretty happy that the ear flaps were actually in the right spot.

I love kids with missing teeth!

This fabric has been sitting in my room for weeks. I finally got this tube scarf done.

Now time to get working on Christmas presents.

Findings and Finishings

I waited for an hour to get into the Goodwill Glitter Sale. I'm thinking this is gonna have to an annual event for me now. Here are my 2 favorite treasures. I'm such a sucker for necklaces.



Also, I worked on these mittens while flying to and from the North Carolina and I just finished them up. Now I think I've only got 3 half-done projects I need to finish.

Projects

I've found that I suck at this. Unless I have something to brag about. Here's what I have to brag about.

1. I recently finished my first ever embroidery project. This purple pillow. Hand-embroidered by yours truly.

2. And this one is a big deal - I finished my first ever quilt that actually required lots of cutting, sewing, piecing, and hand-quilting. Yes, I hand quilted this guy. And a good portion of the corners lined up. Are you impressed? Luckily I had it quilted and just the binding left to do when my sister had her baby (about 3 weeks early and at a fire station when they didn't have time to get to the hospital). I finished the binding the day after she was born. All I can say is - Natalia - I'd better be your favorite aunt.

3. And this one I can't really brag about, so much as be grateful for grandmas and good timing. I had the idea to create an earring holder by getting an old frame, getting some wire sort of screening from somewhere and somehow putting it in the frame. Realistically, that was never going to happen. Then I was at my grandma's house one day and while walking out I saw these leaning against the side of the house. I asked about them and the plan was to take them to Goodwill. They are the most perfect things I've ever seen. And required zero effort and zero money. Magic! Look at the details! Perfectly worn paint, and I organized my earrings by color in the different spaces. Sometimes I feel like the universe aligns just for me.

lists

So... if you haven't heard I passed my test. That means the ever growing list of things that I've needed to be doing, but haven't been doing because I've been studying or exhausted by studying, gets to be done. And it's about time. Here's where I'm at.

Done
1. Laundry
2. Clean room
3. Starting to work out again - went to Zumba yesterday and it almost killed me
4. Watching the Bachelorette
5. Miscellaneous personal hygiene - my legs have been shaved in the past few days at least
6. Reading books - just started a new one

Still needs to be done
1. Grocery shopping
2. Miscellaneous personal hygiene (ie eyebrows)
3. Blogging about a) a good book and b) a magical coincidence
4. Wash Jen's sheets after I slept in her bed for almost a week when it was so hot in my room
5. Planning packing/packing for Red Brick House Reunion 2010 - CANADA (I can't wait!!)

this will not be interesting

When I started this blog I was working on my thesis. So many years ago - weird! I needed some sort of concrete way of tracking my progress and motivating myself to keep going. I feel like I blogged my thesis progress for maybe a few months before I told a few close, trusted friends so they could track my progress as well.

Well, I'm in that place again. Well, honestly, not nearly as bad, but still I feel stuck. I am scheduled to take the National Counseling Exam on July 10th. If I pass I can become Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington state. Which doesn't mean a whole lot, except it would open up a lot more job opportunities, earning potential, and would allow me to go into private practice if I ever wanted to go down that road. The issue that I'm facing is that I really am so sick of studying. So sick of it. I keep telling myself that I only need to stay focused for a week and a half more but right now that seems like a real long time.

I'm going to go on a short walk. Then I am going to come back. Then I will focus.

New Favorite

This gem has joined the ranks of one of my favorite books. I gobbled it up in just a few days and am sad that it ended so quickly and I had to say goodbye to characters I just grew to love. The writing is incredibly charming and witty. I found myself giggling to myself all the time and having to go back to lines to share them with friends. Cassie can attest to my fits of giggles when trying to share one particularly cute/funny passage. The story is told through a series of letters between several characters, each with a distinct voice and dripping with personality - you just get into their magical little world and I loved it there. And it doesn't hurt that the main characters name is Juliet.

So, let me give thanks where thanks is due - Nathaniel's mom recommended this book to me. And thank goodness for that. Nathaniel - you better send your mom this link. And send her my warmest regards.

I'm bad at the internet

Fact:

I got gmail a few days ago because a friend went and signed me up (Thanks Mary) though I'm feeling real hesitant to really make the switch.

Websites I normally frequent:

Yahoo for my email, facebook, friends' blogs, nytimes crossword, hulu, netflix. I've heard that there is a lot of cool, funny, interesting things on the world wide web, I'm not sure what those things are or how to find them.

What people I know blog about:

Babies (don't have any), funny things (I'm not that funny)

Fact:
My life is basically boring. My work can be interesting, but it would be unethical for me to blog about it.

How can I get better at this?

I will brag about my most recent crafting escapades. I made this dress.

twenty ten

Do I put blogging on my list of resolutions? I'm thinking no.

Guatemala

More pics to come

Crafting

I started making these little felt flowers (and yes I got the idea from Anthropologie). Not sure what I'm going to use them for yet... I think they'd be cute on a headband, or necklace, or pinned to a cardigan.

Car, Coast, Makeover, and The Bunny

I know that I'm a neurotic and sentimental person. I like to hold onto things. I do not like changes. It was a sad day when my registration was about expire and I finally had to get Washington plates. I keep thinking that I should change my phone number, but I don't know if I can do it now. It's the one thing I've got that's connecting me to Phillly.


My neices at Cannon Beach. I finally made it down to Portland for my neice's birthday and we went to the beach. It eventually cleared up and we had a good time looking at tide pools, collecting hermit crabs, kite-flying, sand-sculpturing, etc.


Also, the saddest thing lately has been my roommate Megan moving back to Utah. After a lot of deliberation (trading closet space and a door for windows, higher ceilings, and sharing a kitchen/bathroom with one person instead of 3-4) I decided to move into Megan's old room. Which basically meant that I was living in chaos (and paint fumes) for at least a week. I almost had a breakdown in Ikea. Then Labor Day was just a horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad day... until I came home and found this.


My fabulous roommates Cassie and Kaylene, cleaned, organized, and decorated so much of my room. It was seriously like make-over shows on TV and yes I cried.

And they even rented me the Hannah Montana movie which I've been dying to see AND I got the Bunny, which is the most prized posession of the house (left by Megan - bless her heart) which gets passed around to whichever roommate is in need (oh the things this bunny has seen - someone should make a move - like sister of the travelling pants, only with the bunny)

Trips

I went to Utah for Jessie's wedding reception. It was lovely, but the best was getting some personal time when we went to brunch. She's showing her ring so we can always remember why we got together.

I saw Ashley, Russ, and Alyssa (friends from Philly that live in Utah now).

I saw this girl a lot.

I met my nephew Blade. Isn't he the CUTEST!?!




And then this weekend I went to CANADA people. Victoria, BC. It was a lovely time.

My job

Minus the fact that my phone got stolen at work today (one week after I got it to replace my broken one), I have to admit that I have a pretty awesome job. Here are a few of the things of I've done or places I've gone with kids this summer. Sadly the rollerskating fell through. Still not bad for a day at the office.

I am getting BRAVE

1. There are BIG spiders here. The first time I saw one I was able to put a cup over it and then had to ask most of my roommates before I found one (go Kaylene!) to get it out of my room. And she said, "you need to work on this." Later I saw a spider in the shower (alright it was actually a daddy-long-legs, but I'll be honest, I don't get why people think that daddy-long-legs are not as gross as spiders - it just as gross!) and I went and showered in another bathroom. Then I thought, don't be a sissy, and that next time I saw a giant spider I was so BRAVE and got that thing out of the house all by myself. That's right people. I did it. And then, one day one of my friends was afraid of a spider in the bathroom and I went in all calm... it wasn't a total success because I couldn't catch him before he crawled into a hole, but still... I was calm.

2. I did NOT diving when I was a kid. I hated swimming lessons, because I hated diving. There's something so terrifying about going head first into water, in fact, I sort of hate just putting my head under water. And this summer, I've been diving so much.

3. Today for work we took a bunch of our clients to a ropes course. There's something so awesome about seeing a bunch of tough kids from the city, including a bunch of teenagers who act like they're not afraid on nothing, totally terrified when they climbed to the top of this pole. Anyways, the point was to climb to the top of this pole, stand on top of it, and then jump and grab this trapeze bar (oh my dreams of being in the circus). And I got a chance to do it too. Only two of the kids actually stood on top of the pole and none of them took the leap to grab the bar. But you know what... I DID IT! I am BRAVE!

Summer

Things that I want to post.

Timmy was here.

I jump in Green Lake with these girls. And I've been practicing my diving.

I need to do more research on this, but my mind was BLOWN yesterday when we were walking by this plant that apparently oozes flowers - that look like normal yellow daisies. Is this normal? Who knows about this? I want to learn. I bet Annie Dillard knows.

So maybe I'm hormonal

Sarra,

I made these for Scarlett. I just finished them... and I'm hoping her feet aren't growing too fast. I'm holding them hostage until you email me your address. They won't be a surprise, but believe me I've got a pile of things to send to you.

Oh and now that my new nephew Blade has been born (Congrats Eric and Allison!) and he's gotten his present, I can also reveal one of my other latest baby-related craft projects. With Blade's cousin Josh modeling. And I hand-quilted the center panel (my first time!)

And speaking of so many babies... This week I got to meet the babies of two good friends that I haven't seen in years.

Moses

Jett

Their moms, April and Melisa. There was so much nostalgia happening it was awesome.

Groundhog's Day

Have you ever had one of those days when you've thought, "I'd be pretty happy if I could live this day over and over"? Well yesterday was one of those days.

1. Ate delicious breakfast on a ferry
2. Went to a Renaissance Faire
3. Got to learn about forging metal, making knives, and making armor
4. Did some archery and wasn't half bad
5. Put flowers in my hair
6. Ate funnel cake
7. Went to an antique sale and got cute fish plates
8. Got to read a book about how to be a "proper lady" circa 1900
8. Saw Nathaniel's mom and she gave us British chocolate
9. Went to Camera Obscura show
10. Got to spend time with two of my favorite people and this guy

BOOKS

It turns out that since finishing grad school I've rediscovered my love of reading. As a kid I was totally the shy girl who loved reading. My favorites... Baby-sitter's Club, Sweet Valley High, and morbidly all these books about teenagers with terminal illnesses with titles like 6 Months to Live. Then, I'd say some time around Junior High or High School I totally stopped reading for fun. But I'll tell you one of the best things about not being in school is that no one is making me read or telling me what to read. I get to pick! Here are some of my favorites from the last few months.


Have you ever read a mediocre book and when you finish it you're in a hurry to start another book to get the taste of the past book out of your mouth? (eg - Memory Keeper's Daughter... I hated that book and I'm pretty sure I started another book like an hour after finishing it) Well with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao it was the exact opposite experience. It took me at least a weekend to finally pick up another book from my to-read stack and even then I was really sad to be leaving those characters behind. I just wanted to have Oscar and Lola and Beli and La Inca in my life a little longer. So just read it. And bonus - have a spanish-speaking friend translate the little Spanish bits in it and you'll learn a lot of Spanish swears.




Thanks to Kaylene for recommending I Capture the Castle to me. I cannot believe I survived my late childhood and adolesence without this book in my life. I was hooked from the first line.... "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink." Brilliant. Totally charming. Like a more hormonal and quirky Jane Austen. I giggled to myself throughout most of the book and found myself interrupting conversations to read passages to my roommates. Just brilliant. Totally adorable.