Monday, September 27, 2010
Suzy's Sling
We had the family birthday gathering this last weekend, and I gave my sister, Suzy, her new bag that I made for her. Thankfully, she loved it! I think the worst part while making it was the "fusible" interface that refused to fuse. :) In all, it was a great project and my very first bag!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Ohh....wow...heaven in a cupcake
I found a little package of heaven over lunch today.
A friend and I went out to Briarcliff today because I wanted to go to Urban Arts & Crafts store, which carries a great line of Amy Butler fabric. I've decided to make a tote bag for my sister for her birthday this month (hopefully she doesn't read my blog post anytime soon) and since I wanted to make an Amy Butler tote, I decided to remain true to form and get Amy Butler fabric. Here's a picture of the fabric I bought:
The polka dot pattern will be the straps and top part of the bag. The darker fabric with the daisies will be the large outside part of the bag. The solid pea green is the inside lining. I hope she loves it! I love it! I want it if she doesn't....
Anyways, after shopping, my friend and I were headed back to the car when we passed by a new store in the area called Sugar Mama's. It looked SO yummy from the outside that we just had to go in! The had cupcakes, cookies, chocolate truffles, and some other specialty items. We each got a cupcake, to go. They boxed them up in the cutest little packages! And let me tell you, mine was DIVINE....
My razzle dazzle, chocolate and raspberry cupcake.
My friend got a mint chocolate one. Hers is still nestled gently in its box. How she has the willpower to keep it there, I'll never know....
So if you've got a sweet tooth, or need a little bite of heaven in a box, visit Sugar Mama's!
A friend and I went out to Briarcliff today because I wanted to go to Urban Arts & Crafts store, which carries a great line of Amy Butler fabric. I've decided to make a tote bag for my sister for her birthday this month (hopefully she doesn't read my blog post anytime soon) and since I wanted to make an Amy Butler tote, I decided to remain true to form and get Amy Butler fabric. Here's a picture of the fabric I bought:
The polka dot pattern will be the straps and top part of the bag. The darker fabric with the daisies will be the large outside part of the bag. The solid pea green is the inside lining. I hope she loves it! I love it! I want it if she doesn't....
Anyways, after shopping, my friend and I were headed back to the car when we passed by a new store in the area called Sugar Mama's. It looked SO yummy from the outside that we just had to go in! The had cupcakes, cookies, chocolate truffles, and some other specialty items. We each got a cupcake, to go. They boxed them up in the cutest little packages! And let me tell you, mine was DIVINE....
My razzle dazzle, chocolate and raspberry cupcake.
My friend got a mint chocolate one. Hers is still nestled gently in its box. How she has the willpower to keep it there, I'll never know....
So if you've got a sweet tooth, or need a little bite of heaven in a box, visit Sugar Mama's!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Revamping the Study
My weekend project (which took a total of three full days) was to redo our study. My first hurdle when attempting this project was, apparently, calling the room a 'study.' A girlfriend started laughing at me and said, "Nobody calls it a 'study' anymore! It's a 'home office!' " Well, call me old-fashioned, but it's my room gosh-darn it! I can call it a study if I want to! From my viewpoint, it's part office, part library, part makeup room when the boyfriend is hogging the bathroom. So. It's my STUDY.
The project began Friday morning when I surveyed the mess that was in there. I began to slowly clean out the clutter, going through items, throwing stuff away, marking others for Goodwill or to sell. Here's a photo of how the room looked "before," though I'd already done a bit of cleaning at this point:
Maybe it doesn't look that bad to you, but it was awful just trying to get to anything inside the room, much less on the desk itself!
By late afternoon, the study was pretty empty except for the desk itself, and my living room looked like this:
I left a small path for us to walk through the room, but otherwise, it was crammed full of all our study junk.
Now the hard part began. My deal with the boyfriend was I'd do all the painting if he stayed out of my hair and put the new bookshelves together. He thought it was a pretty sweet deal, but hey, so did I. You haven't seen him paint.
I taped off all the wood trim that was in the room (including the inside of the closet you can't see in the picture), and started priming. I figured an hour, tops, to get a coat of primer on the trim. After all, it was just baseboard trim, door trim, and the windows, right? Two and a half hours later it's 11:30 p.m. and I'm finally finished priming. I go to bed.
Saturday morning comes a bit too soon and I'm back in the room ready to paint the trim white. By 3 p.m. I've got two nice coats of white paint down and the room is already looking completely different. My better half has one of the three shelves put together and is watching a soccer game on tv. Humph.
By 6 p.m., I've pulled all the painters tape off from around the trim, and retaped the room so the walls are ready to go. The better half has another bookshelf put together and says, "You don't have to do it all today, honey." But I DO. It must get done! I cannot stop now! Mostly because I know if I stop now, my fingers, hands, elbows, knees, and back will protest way too much on Sunday and I will not be able to finish at all. So, I plunge on.
By 11:30 that night, just a bit over 24 hours since I began, all the painting is FINALLY DONE. I go to bed again.
Sunday morning dawns way too fast, and I ache. All over. Painting really does a job on your joints, even if you think you're still a young'un. But, the project must get finished this weekend! So I take the tape off, spend a few lazy moments admiring my paint job and patting myself on the back for keeping the boyfriend out of it.... then I clean, sweep, mop and we move all our crap back into the room.
6 p.m. on Sunday, here's our final results:
Every single one of my books is OFF THE FLOOR!!!!!!!!!! Of course, the shelves are full... might need more soon. But the trim is gorgeous and I actually love the wall color. It's a little pink-looking in this photo, but in actuality it's a nice purple-gray. Everything is clean and has a place for it. Even HIS side of the room is picked up for once!
No more room redos for a while though.... :)
The project began Friday morning when I surveyed the mess that was in there. I began to slowly clean out the clutter, going through items, throwing stuff away, marking others for Goodwill or to sell. Here's a photo of how the room looked "before," though I'd already done a bit of cleaning at this point:
Maybe it doesn't look that bad to you, but it was awful just trying to get to anything inside the room, much less on the desk itself!
By late afternoon, the study was pretty empty except for the desk itself, and my living room looked like this:
I left a small path for us to walk through the room, but otherwise, it was crammed full of all our study junk.
Now the hard part began. My deal with the boyfriend was I'd do all the painting if he stayed out of my hair and put the new bookshelves together. He thought it was a pretty sweet deal, but hey, so did I. You haven't seen him paint.
I taped off all the wood trim that was in the room (including the inside of the closet you can't see in the picture), and started priming. I figured an hour, tops, to get a coat of primer on the trim. After all, it was just baseboard trim, door trim, and the windows, right? Two and a half hours later it's 11:30 p.m. and I'm finally finished priming. I go to bed.
Saturday morning comes a bit too soon and I'm back in the room ready to paint the trim white. By 3 p.m. I've got two nice coats of white paint down and the room is already looking completely different. My better half has one of the three shelves put together and is watching a soccer game on tv. Humph.
By 6 p.m., I've pulled all the painters tape off from around the trim, and retaped the room so the walls are ready to go. The better half has another bookshelf put together and says, "You don't have to do it all today, honey." But I DO. It must get done! I cannot stop now! Mostly because I know if I stop now, my fingers, hands, elbows, knees, and back will protest way too much on Sunday and I will not be able to finish at all. So, I plunge on.
By 11:30 that night, just a bit over 24 hours since I began, all the painting is FINALLY DONE. I go to bed again.
Sunday morning dawns way too fast, and I ache. All over. Painting really does a job on your joints, even if you think you're still a young'un. But, the project must get finished this weekend! So I take the tape off, spend a few lazy moments admiring my paint job and patting myself on the back for keeping the boyfriend out of it.... then I clean, sweep, mop and we move all our crap back into the room.
6 p.m. on Sunday, here's our final results:
Every single one of my books is OFF THE FLOOR!!!!!!!!!! Of course, the shelves are full... might need more soon. But the trim is gorgeous and I actually love the wall color. It's a little pink-looking in this photo, but in actuality it's a nice purple-gray. Everything is clean and has a place for it. Even HIS side of the room is picked up for once!
No more room redos for a while though.... :)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
An Apple girl all the way
Well folks, I went and did it. I picked up my new iPhone 4 yesterday! Complete with anti-scratch shield guard and and ifrogz hard casing. I LOVE IT!!! I can't keep my hands off my deliciously shiny new toy! Saweeet!
It's taken me awhile to make my iPhone purchase decision. I've been a T-mobile user for eons now, and had a Blackberry Curve for 2 years. The Curve was quite reliable and I had no problems with it whatsoever. But there comes a point when the technology being offered just isn't enough, not even with the new version (can you say blackberry torch? sheesh... too little too late!) and it's just time to move on. T-mobile's phones were out for me. I needed to move on to greener pastures. Sounds like a choosing a boyfriend, eh?
Well, it kind of is.
Let's compare, for a moment, the iPhone 4 and the EVO 4g, my top two choices. Now, before you roll your eyes so far they get stuck that way, hear me out. I actually like both phones. They both have great features and, of course, quite a few differences between them. In the end, it really all comes down to personal preference.
The EVO, for example, is like a big, burlesque mountain man. It packs a rugged punch and draws you in with its disheveled good looks. It's also cranky and loud and gets on your nerves, plus there's all the extra work you have to put into it to make it run smoothly. It's also a bit short on stamina (or battery life, if I must clarify) .... now who wants that in a man?
The iPhone, on the other hand, is like a suave GQ pot of honey. It's smooth, sleek, streamlined, and quite nice on the eyes (not to mention the hands). It's synced in with your very thoughts and is so easy to use it's like, well... there's nothing like it. Not to mention the fact that it's seamless integration with my mac laptop at home. None of that disjointedness you can run into with the android apps. And stamina? Whoo baby, this man goes for a loonnngggg time!
So for me, the choice was clear. I'm an Apple girl all the way.
Steve Jobs will always be my sugar daddy.
It's taken me awhile to make my iPhone purchase decision. I've been a T-mobile user for eons now, and had a Blackberry Curve for 2 years. The Curve was quite reliable and I had no problems with it whatsoever. But there comes a point when the technology being offered just isn't enough, not even with the new version (can you say blackberry torch? sheesh... too little too late!) and it's just time to move on. T-mobile's phones were out for me. I needed to move on to greener pastures. Sounds like a choosing a boyfriend, eh?
Well, it kind of is.
Let's compare, for a moment, the iPhone 4 and the EVO 4g, my top two choices. Now, before you roll your eyes so far they get stuck that way, hear me out. I actually like both phones. They both have great features and, of course, quite a few differences between them. In the end, it really all comes down to personal preference.
The EVO, for example, is like a big, burlesque mountain man. It packs a rugged punch and draws you in with its disheveled good looks. It's also cranky and loud and gets on your nerves, plus there's all the extra work you have to put into it to make it run smoothly. It's also a bit short on stamina (or battery life, if I must clarify) .... now who wants that in a man?
The iPhone, on the other hand, is like a suave GQ pot of honey. It's smooth, sleek, streamlined, and quite nice on the eyes (not to mention the hands). It's synced in with your very thoughts and is so easy to use it's like, well... there's nothing like it. Not to mention the fact that it's seamless integration with my mac laptop at home. None of that disjointedness you can run into with the android apps. And stamina? Whoo baby, this man goes for a loonnngggg time!
So for me, the choice was clear. I'm an Apple girl all the way.
Steve Jobs will always be my sugar daddy.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Social Bluffing Rears its Ugly Head
Today, during lunch, I decided my Jeep Wrangler needed a bath (and I, a break from work). My girl hasn't been really cleaned in a good long while, so I decided to do the works: vacuum, dump trash, pre-soak, wash, wax, etc. I needed change, so I walked up to one of those change machines the car wash offers. I was standing behind a guy, rooting around in my purse, with a million things going through my head: Where'd all my cash go? How am I gonna solve that problem at work? Where the f did I put my chapstick? Oh my god, is that a stain on my shoe? ...
Suddenly, I realized the guy in front of me was talking. To me. Uh-oh.
Ok, back to the story. The guy had taken me by surprise as I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was suddenly trying to figure out what he was saying, why I should care, and how to respond, all while checking the guy out. He was a pretty good looking black dude, if you like the dripped-in-gold look from a Jay-Z music video. He was also driving a brand new Hummer, which, if you follow cars, you know aren't being made anymore. Since he managed to snag a new one, he must be rollin' in dough.
Dragging my attention back to the guy and what he was saying, I realized he asked me a question and suddenly felt this sense of panic take over. I could not look like a moron in front of this stranger! I MUST act carefree and in-the-know! So I said, "no."
Seems like a safe answer, wouldn't you think?
The guy breaks into a huge smile and says, "now that's just fabulous isn't it? I'm not attached either!" Panic seizes me again and I miss the next question he asks. Since 'no' was a horrible answer the first time, this time I simply say, "yes." The guy laughs and does a skip-hop and goes, "you wait right here, I'll be right back!" Panic seizes even harder. What have I gotten myself into?? The guy comes back with his cell phone and says, "What's that number, honey?"
Now, at this point in time, what I should have done is simply set the guy straight. I should have said, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I am an idiot and can't hear a damn thing. I wasn't paying any attention to you either and I just have to admit that. I'm not interested. Goodbye." What I actually said was, "Uh, okay. It's XXX-XXX-XXXX." And I didn't even have the decency of mind to make up a number. Sheeesh.
The guy punched in the number, sent me a confirmation text, and said, "I'll be talking to you soon, good-lookin'. We gonna have a night we won't forget." And he saunters off to his Hummer, all 90 pounds of gold chains blinding me in the sunshine. And I don't say a word.
Now, a mere hour later, I am absolutely horrified with myself. I can only hope my boyfriend forgives me too. And I still don't know why I couldn't set the situation straight. Panic makes you do strange things, and social bluffing is a monster that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
So what have I learned?
Suddenly, I realized the guy in front of me was talking. To me. Uh-oh.
Now, I must digress just for a moment and give you little bit of background information. I am hard of hearing. I have no hearing at all in my left ear and a profound loss in my right. I wear a hearing aid, speak fairly proficiently, and get by the best I can. I rely on lipreading. I do not use the telephone (in the conventional sense). And I am proud of all of this.
Ok, back to the story. The guy had taken me by surprise as I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was suddenly trying to figure out what he was saying, why I should care, and how to respond, all while checking the guy out. He was a pretty good looking black dude, if you like the dripped-in-gold look from a Jay-Z music video. He was also driving a brand new Hummer, which, if you follow cars, you know aren't being made anymore. Since he managed to snag a new one, he must be rollin' in dough.
Dragging my attention back to the guy and what he was saying, I realized he asked me a question and suddenly felt this sense of panic take over. I could not look like a moron in front of this stranger! I MUST act carefree and in-the-know! So I said, "no."
Seems like a safe answer, wouldn't you think?
The guy breaks into a huge smile and says, "now that's just fabulous isn't it? I'm not attached either!" Panic seizes me again and I miss the next question he asks. Since 'no' was a horrible answer the first time, this time I simply say, "yes." The guy laughs and does a skip-hop and goes, "you wait right here, I'll be right back!" Panic seizes even harder. What have I gotten myself into?? The guy comes back with his cell phone and says, "What's that number, honey?"
Now, at this point in time, what I should have done is simply set the guy straight. I should have said, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I am an idiot and can't hear a damn thing. I wasn't paying any attention to you either and I just have to admit that. I'm not interested. Goodbye." What I actually said was, "Uh, okay. It's XXX-XXX-XXXX." And I didn't even have the decency of mind to make up a number. Sheeesh.
Now, to digress again, I am not a weak person. I'm quite strong-willed, to put it nicely. And I've been told so, frequently. So where did this asinine persona come from? I was stupified at how I was handling the situation but couldn't seem to change my path once I was on it. I was gonna have to give myself a talking to later....
The guy punched in the number, sent me a confirmation text, and said, "I'll be talking to you soon, good-lookin'. We gonna have a night we won't forget." And he saunters off to his Hummer, all 90 pounds of gold chains blinding me in the sunshine. And I don't say a word.
Now, a mere hour later, I am absolutely horrified with myself. I can only hope my boyfriend forgives me too. And I still don't know why I couldn't set the situation straight. Panic makes you do strange things, and social bluffing is a monster that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
So what have I learned?
- I love my boyfriend.
- Don't go to the car wash ever again.
- And next time, don't say "no" OR "yes"! Say.... something else. You'll figure it out, won't you?
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