artsy-crafty babe

week 2

I'm still grannying along. 

New yarn arrived, which caused me to re-think a little.  Sort of.  I jumped in at the beginning, using what I had.  Once the new yarn arrived, which I didn't think anything about when ordering, it caused me to think a bit about what colors I was using.  Really, I liked the feel of the new yarn much better that what I already had.

Then I decided that I didn't want to go the pink/purple/blue route so much.  The yellow, orange, and gray were calling me more.

I looked around my living room and deiced that my favorite anthro pillows were going to be my inspiration.  Funny how I ordered those colors without even noticing. So I completed week 2, then made week 1 again.  I didn't mind.  I then decided that a little pink and purple mixed in was okay.  So far, my grand total is 15 colors, but there may be more on the way.

I can't wait to see what week 3 brings!

It's not too late to join in...you know you want to!

 

what i wore

Okay, so I got a new battery for my camera remote, pulled out the tripod and actually *tried* to do better.  I think it is an improvement, but there is still much to learn.  I still haven't figured out how to get a decent full body shot, so you'll have to use your imagination on this one.

When I decided to do these posts, I told myself that I wasn't going to do any of those silly looking away fashion shots, but here I am, looking away. Gah!

It's just a simple outfit, but I felt cute in it.  The tank is from Old Navy and is kind of stretched out, the cardi is from Target, the skirt is one I made about 6 yrs ago after Ava was born, the wedges are from Target, and the belt is from who knows where.  If I do this long enough you'll learn that most of my clothes come from Old Navy & Target.

It's ridiculous how many shots I took to get these few.  Honestly, most looked like this - hee hee!  I may have trouble seeing myself in the mirror, but I have no problem laughing at myself doing silly things like this!!  Yes, there's definitely room for improvement, LOL!!

God Bless Ceci

The month of May is always busy for us. We have 3 birthdays, Mother's Day, a dance recital, extended family birthdays, and various other little things thrown in. This year we had some biggies thrown into the mix - a First Communion (Alex) and a Baptism (Ceci). Sandwiched between Lily's actual birthday and her sleepover friend party, we celebrated Ceci's Baptism on Saturday afternoon.

 

Going into it I was feeling a bit frazzled. We usually do this before our babies are 3 months old, but here we were with Ceci approaching 7 months. Would the christening gown still fit her? The gown worn by her sisters, brother and cousins? Would she look like a giant baby up there among the newborns? Or be totally uncooperative when it came time to pour water on her head? Thankfully, she hasn't grown like her oldest sister & brother, so the gown fit fine. And the other baby being baptized was 6 months old and screamed like a banshee the entire Mass (hee hee), my little Ceci looked like an angel up there!

Once we got to church a calmness came over me. We forgot the bonnet and she wasn't wearing anything on her feet, but we made it on time.  It was a beautiful baptism (despite that screaming baby).  Ceci was in the best of spirits. Seeing each of my kids sneak kisses on Ceci while the baptism was taking place was heart warming. This baby is so loved.

After Mass we all gathered at our house for some celebrating. It was how I think entertaining should be, but rarely is for me. Entertaining usually stresses me out, but I had everything done ahead of time this time around. We were able to enjoy good food and visit with our family and friends, stress-free.

 

I'd have taken more photos, but I was in the moment. It wasn't until everyone had left that I thought to get some photos of Ceci in her christening gown. My sweet baby.  Bless you, Ceci!

 

eleven

 

We celebrated another birthday around here last week. The biggest turned 11.  Wow.  I was given strict orders to not write anything sappy here, so I won't.  But I will say that I am proud of this one.  She's a great kid and I have no doubt that she'll go on to do great things :)

Happy Birthday, Lily!  I love you!!

 

what I wore

Y'all, I suck at this!!  I almost didn't go through with it.  Not only am I doing a sucky job getting photos of my outfits, I'm having a hard time seeing myself in these sucky photos.  Of course, seeing myself and accepting myself is why I'm participating.  I'm still hanging on to a good 20 lbs of pregnancy weight (probably closer to 30 lbs if I'm honest).  Dressing this foreign body is HARD!!  Okay, here it is.

5/16 just a regular work outfit.  top: anthropologie, skirt: wal-mart, necklace and bracelets: ???  too bad you can't see the cute black open toe wedges from target that I'm wearing.

5/17 dress rehearsal edition. lovely photo in a smudged up dressing room mirror :) top: target, ankle pants: jcp, wedges: target

5/22 comfy work outfit, baby on my hip out in the yard edition.  I was trying to do better.  I used the self timer, but I was too far away (using the grill as a tripod becuse I'm too lazy to use a real tripod). I was going to try again, this was supposed to be a test photo, but the phone rang then I got distracted and changed into shorts & a tank (not showing you THAT!).  Oh well, this is all I got!!  top: anthropologie, pants: jcp, sandals: ?? (you can't even see them, so it doesn't really matter)

Once I get a new battery for my camera remote, it will get better, I promise. Bear with me!!!

granny sampler

If you haven't noticed, the crafty side of this blog has been lacking lately.  To be honest, the crafty side has been lacking in my life, too!  And boy, do I miss it! 

After seeing all the talk on twitter, I decided to jump in on Blair's granny square sampler project.  I couldn't help myself!

Crochet is something that I learned when I was a little girl, but I don't do it often enough to feel like I "know" it.  I've never really done a crochet project either.  Well, I did make those flowers last fall, and I was stuck on little one colored grannies another time, but I never went beyond that.  In fact, making a granny square out of more than one color kind of scared me.  Silly me!

This weekend I pulled out the yarn left over from my first granny attempt and went to town with the first assignment. How fun!  I love using multiple colors!

When I finished my 3 squares I was a little sad because I wanted to do more. Right that very second!!  I guess this project will be a little lesson in patience :)

Join in if you'd like, it's great fun!

 

happy friday

Hooray for Friday! It's been one heck of a week around here. Birthday, ball game, dance dress rehearsal, end of school year hoopla, it's been a busy one.

If you were to drop by my house right now you would see a complete disaster. Total pig sty, no lie. I can't wait to get home to do some cleaning. Cleaning makes me feel better. Does that make me weird? Wait, don't answer that. I'd love to extend that cleaning mojo to my closet, but for now I'll settle for clean dishes and a cleared table so that we have a place to eat (take out).

I've decided that my reward for cleaning will be a little sewing. Something. Anything. If I still have the energy, that is.

Oh crazy busy life, I love you!!

*i composed this whole post from my phone. kinda crazy.

37

On Monday I turned 37.  It wasn't the best of days.  It had nothing to do with turning a year older (I don’t mind that at all), just a bunch of little things that became annoying after a while.  Like not being able to find something to wear that morning, then leaving my phone at home, then biting into a rotten blueberry in my blueberry muffin that left grit in my teeth, then having to rush rush rush that afternoon to get the girls shuttled to dance and get myself ready for an evening event.  Stuff like that.  But I was determined to not let it get me down. Had it not been my birthday, it probably would have been a rotten day, but the many well wishes from my family and friends made it all better.

I usually do a birthday ‘things about me’ list, but this year I’m doing something a little different.  Taking the lead from Amanda, I’m going to do a list about things I want to do this year.  A list of 38 things I’d like to do before I turn 38.

1. paint my bedroom
2. attend a creative workshop
3. pick up my camera more often (sorry abandoned 366)
4. smile more
5. make a quilt for Lily
6. finish a sweater
7. say “yes” to my kids more often
8. be in this space more, documenting my life
9. work on losing this pregnancy weight
10. go on individual dates with my kids
11. write a friend a letter telling them how much they mean to me
12. accept myself just the way I am
13. be more daring with my wardrobe
14. paint a painting
15. have friends over for dinner
16. make time to sew weekly
17. reply to my blog comments
18. spend time with my grandmother
19. doodle
20. let go when need be
21. print some photos
22. finish start the playroom overhaul
23. make Ava her own dance bag
24. load up the car and take a weekend road trip
25. make a slipcover for my sofa
26. paint the ugly black computer cabinet (that no longer houses a computer)
27. finally decide on new kitchen counter tops
28. sew Alex some pajama pants
29. participate in what I wore wednesday
30. sew Ceci some little dresses
31. be kind to myself when I want to beat myself up
32. return to my gratitude journal
33. purge lots of stuff from my house
34. purge lots of stuff from my mind
35. organize my closet
36. take more photos with my kids (i think the photo above is the only one I have with all of us together)
37. go on more dates with Matt (even when I’m too tired)
38. be present

Many things on this list aren’t new to me, but are things that have fallen by the wayside.  This year I will make the time to be with those I love, doing the things I love.  I will find “me” again.

back to the needles

A few weeks ago I was in the mood to knit.  A sweater.  With an upcoming trip that included a few travel layovers and a lot of relaxation, it was the perfect time to start something.

I finally decided that I wanted to knit something mesh-like.  Something that wouldn't be too hot that I could wear over a tank top.  I need semi-instant gratification.

After much looking on Ravelry, I never did find exactly what I was looking for.  I liked the lace pattern on Annette, but it was knit bottom up and I wasn't too crazy about the front.  I wanted top down with more of a v-neck.  Arghh!! 

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to go for it.  Having knit many top down raglan patterns, I was somewhat confident that I could do it.  I cast on and off I went.  

It was going well until I started knitting in the airport.  At this point I already had a few inches knit, so I picked up where I left off.  Apparently I wasn't so sure where I left off because I started knitting it totally wrong.  It was BAD.  Riiiiipppppp. I had knit almost an entire ball of yarn at this point.  It hurt a little, but it was the right thing to do.

My next go round I had the stitch pattern down and did a much better job of adapting it to the raglan increases. I'm happy I made that decision.

I still have most of the body to knit and those damn sleeves (HATE sleeves), but it should be smooth sailing from here on out...as long as I work on it without miss grabby baby around :)

*photos are edited with picmonkey. i was hoping a fancy filter could disguise all the lint on my dirty rug. it's a fun tool to play with, but i learned that the only remedy for my dirty rug is a good vacuuming.

getaway

Only a week in and my May is already a blur.

Just about as soon as Ava's birthday ended, I hopped on a plane to be with some friends. As excited as I was to be with them (and enjoy the downtime), I was even more nervous about traveling away from my family, leaving Matt to tend to our brood all alone.

Guess what, they survived!

I had a blast. I laid by the pool. I had spa treatments. I ate lots of cheese. I saw fake celebrities. I laughed a lot and I made new friends. My blissful weekend came to an end much too soon.

Early Sunday morning I hopped back on a plane and made it home in time to attend Alex's First Holy Communion.  Whew!

And now here I am, back in real life. I love my family. I love my friends.

My little getaway from reality refreshed me and made me realize how truly blessed I am.  Life is good :)