mermaids

It’s 40 degrees and raining.  What happened to spring?  Tomorrow is suppose to be more of the same.  It’s that annoying little misty rain that seems too light for an umbrella, but soaks through your clothing.  Yuck.  I was working on a cute dress to wear this week.  It doesn’t look like it will be warm enough to wear it, so I lost my enthusiasm.  Instead, my friend and I went to look at new clothes dryers, then stopped by the bookstore for a warm beverage and a browse.

Ding, ding, ding…..Gaylen got it right.  The photos are of the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.  It was just the kind of low key getaway that we all needed.  The Biltmore was truly amazing.  The indoor pool and bowling alley were dwarfed by the rest of the basement if that gives you any clue as to how incredibly huge this place was.  It is incomprehensible that this was built as a single family dwelling.  We were there on Easter Sunday, hence the large number of children and small plastic eggs on the front lawn.  Over the next few days, I will upload more photos to my Flickr account.  (If you click on one of these, it will take you to my Flickr photostream.)  Indoor photos were prohibited.  :(  The gardens were just starting to bloom, but it was still impressive.  I bet it will be stunning in a couple of weeks. 

It is rather ironic that Gaylen figured out the mystery location because I also received this lovely from her in today’s mail:

She sent it as her “Pay It Forward” gift.  Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!  More irony here…When Gaylen posted the shawl on her blog, I thought, “Wow, that would be perfect for summer when you wear a little sundress, but it gets chilly when the sun goes down.  Where would I ever find one that doesn’t cost a bazillion dollars?”  Won’t I look chic and stylish this summer?  I wish you could feel it….so soft and cozy.  The workmanship is amazing.  She has certainly set the bar pretty high for the gifts I still need to send out.  Again, more irony…just this weekend I finally decided what I would make for my gifts to send out.  No, I am not telling.  :)  A million “thank yous” to Gaylen! 

A few bloggy friends have noticed that I have been chattier than usual.  Well, you can thank Blog365 for that.  The motto is “Blogging for 365 days, 12 months, 52 weeks, 1 lap around the sun.” You can blame thank Little Miss Sew n Sew.  When I saw she was doing it, I decided to join in.  It seemed like a good challenge….and a good way to practice what I preach to my writing students.

The best way to become a writer is to write.  I know, “Thank you Captain Obvious.”  A constant cry from students is “But I don’t know what to write about.”  I tell them to just start writing, even if it is drivel.  Drivel is better than a blank page.  Usually, once they start writing drivel, something good begins to emerge.  It is taking that first step that is the hardest.  I tell them to just think about writing one sentence, not the whole paper or story.  Just one little sentence doesn’t seem so hard.  It doesn’t have to be the thesis statement or the opening sentence.  Just one little sentence.  One sentence leads to two and then three.  Before you know it, the key board is clicking away like a room of out of sync tap dancers.  The beginning stuff is often edited out during the first revision, but that’s okay.

With blogging, it is easy to think there is nothing to write about.  Honestly, my life is not that exciting.  However, not every post has to be earth shattering, utterly profound, life altering stuff.  Sometimes I have more to say than originally thought if I just start with one sentence.  Some days, I’ve only got one sentence in me.

So why have there not been posts every day on this blog?  I did not want to overwhelm my sewing readers with too much randomness.  According the Blog365 rules, you can post on more than one blog.  My more random posts are on my old LiveJournal account which just seems more suited for randomness.

For those of you who have blogs that go post-less for weeks on end, try to build the habit of blogging every day, even if it is just one sentence.  If 365 days seems overwhelming, try it for a week, then a month.  To be a good writer, you have “exercise your writing muscles” on a daily basis.

Are you ever so proud of your child that you could just burst?  The school is trying to publish the first issue of the literary magazine, but there is currently no funding for the project.  Like most schools, there aren’t little piles of cash sitting around waiting for a project.  Last night, Hubski and I were discussing the possibility of making a contribution to help cover the costs of the first issue.  C immediately offered to donate the allowance money he has saved.  We are stingy with allowance and we don’t buy them anything beyond the basics, like clothes and shoes.  New video games and such come out of their allowance or they have to wait until their birthday.  (I know, we are harsh, but those boys know the value of a dollar.)  Anyway, I was so touched that C was willing to give his cash to help the school.  What a great guy! 

So now I am torn.  I will feel bad if C gives up his cash because he gets so little.  However, it would be wonderful for him to feel the joy of giving to something he really believes in.  Here’s my plan…tell me what you think.  I have a lot of fabric that needs to be cut for the soft sculpture unit I am doing with the art teacher.  What if I “paid” him to help me (because I *will* need help) and let that be the money he donates to the literary magazine? 

C is such a compassionate and giving young man.  Makes a mama proud.

This is going to separate my geeky friends from my cool friends….

Today is National Pi Day.  That is “pi” as in the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, not “pie” as in apple, blueberry etc.  If that isn’t enough to make your pocket protector go pitter patter, it is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.  What a lucky dude to be born on 3-14.  Very cool birth date. 

We are holding out for the big celebration in 2015.  The date will be 3-14-15 which are the first five digits of pi.  Of course the party will have to commence at 9:26…the next 3 digits of pi.  Yes, geeks think about these things.  Today, we shall celebrate Pi Day, we will go out for pizza and have apple pie for dessert.  We shall raise our forks in honor of Albert and math geeks everywhere.  

I know…the cool kids are rolling their eyes.      

My friend’s husband is an intelligent human being.  He made it through medical school, so must be smart, right?  Today, I am questioning this.  Yesterday, he was returning from a business trip.  For some reason that makes no sense to me, he puts his car keys in his suitcase when he travels.  Yes, in the suitcase that he checks as baggage with the airlines.  Guess which suitcase the airlines lost?  No one was home, so he had to a taxi home.  Oh, and to add to the fun, he has that same icky viral thing that my family had.

Today, he was too sick to go back to the airport to retrieve his car, so I give my friend a ride to the airport.  The only information she has as to the location of the car is “on the 5th level, near the elevators.”  Row number?  Could we get a row number?  Nope.  We drive around and around and around, looking for the car.  Just as we were all getting nauseous from driving around in circles, we spot the car.

So, what lesson did we learn here?  Do not pack your car keys in your checked luggage.  I can laugh at it because it wasn’t *my* husband who did this.  I can’t wait to see my friend’s husband again.  He will get grief about this for a long, long time.

Another season of Project Runway is over.  What ever will I do with my Wednesday nights?  (Sleep might be a good start….)  Christian won, which did not surprise me.  I think his personality had a lot to do with it.  There was something endearing about his over confidence.  He reminded of a little boy who uses a towel as a super hero cape and proudly proclaims that he will save the universe from evil…..and totally believes it.  His collection had some amazing individual pieces.  However, it was very repetitive…lots of black jackets with skinny black pants.  Not very many women can wear that look.  Christian is drama and designs drama, which makes for excellent television.

Jillian bored me from day one.  Her designs were not ugly; some were quite attractive.  Jillian is a fatalist.  Everything is doom and gloom.  Lighten up, honey….it will all be okay.  Her collection was random, not at all cohesive.  She had a couple of killer jackets, but there were also some bizarre pieces like the gold lame mini dress that reminded of a super hero costume from KMart.

Ok, you have probably figured out that Rami is my guy….has been from the beginning.  His attention to detail is phenomenal.  I would love to see his work up close.  I bet every seam is finished to perfection.  His evening wear….any adjective I can think of is inadequate.  Michael Kors never liked him from day one.  The way Kors constantly snarked on the draping makes me think Kors is jealous, very jealous that he can’t drape like that.  I so wanted Rami to win.  Hopefully just being on Project Runway will help Rami get the business he so richly deserves.

My personal disappointment….I can’t quite make it work.  I am working on a top from the latest Ottobre Woman.  Thus far, I have tried two different neckline treatments.  Not happy with either one.  I am awfully close to just slapping FOE on it and calling it done.  Perhaps FOE is what needs to be there.  As Tim would say, “Don’t over design it.  Pull it back.”

An actual stitch has not been sewn yet, but I am getting closer.  I traced and started cutting out Design #4 from the 02/08 issue of Ottobre Woman.  I am stalling on the sleeves while I contemplate design choices.  Yes, I am deviating from the pattern. 

My original plan was to finish this top to wear to work tomorrow.  Instead, I spent most of the day with C.  He has to watch the movie Gandhi for a school project.  Yes, yet another school project suck up our whole weekend.  Yesterday, I had to drive to another town to find a copy of Gandhi.  That was after trying to recover J’s documents from the black hole of Connect2School. 

Fabulous movie.  Ben Kingsley was amazing.  Long movie, especially on DVD with all the extra stuff.  The boys and I curled with blankets and pillows for a large portion of the day.  Gandhi was a truly incredible human being.  Watching the movie together, prompted some great conversations.  As much as I adore squishy little babies, I would not trade today for anything.  C commented that we need another Gandhi to resolve the conflicts in the world.  Perhaps we need world leaders to curl up with blankets and pillows to watch Gandhi. 

There were so many great quotes in the movie, but two stood out.  He was talking about a song he sang in temple as a child.  Part of a verse said a good disciple “bows to all and despises none.”  We need to be more respectful of everyone around us and hate no one.  When discussing revenge, he said, “An eye for an eye until the whole world is blind.” 

Now, I am off to bed with a steamy mug of Mexican hot chocolate, my new favorite warm beverage.  Perhaps there will be sewing tomorrow.  We shall see how much energy I have after teaching art all day.

I’ve been fighting off this flu-like viral thing since Saturday.  (Allegedly, it’s not technically the flu, but fever, head ache, sore throat, cough, exhaustion…hmmmm, you do the math.)  Call it what you want….it’s not fun.  Yesterday, I cut out a shirt for J.  Had to take nap afterwards.  Today, I went to the post office….and had to take a nap.  But tonight is Project Runway.  Am I going to bed early so I can rest?  Absolutely not.  It’s Project Runway night!! Hubski is not happy with me.  He doesn’t get Project Runway or my deep allegiance to Tim Gunn.  We compromised.  I agreed to not work tomorrow so I can rest after staying up late to Project Runway.

A girl’s gotta have her priorities straight. Project Runway is a priority for this girl.

PS Don’t fret about my health.  Both boys had this same viral thing.  Based on their experience, I in the home stretch.  Another day or two and I will be right as rain.  (What does that mean, anyway?)

Most people who are serious about sewing have a fabric stash. Buying fabric is fun. The colors are intoxicating. Each piece is so full of possibilities. However, that stash can be guilt inducing. It can represent unfulfilled dreams, plans that were derailed by life, even more things that did not get crossed off the “to do” list.

Like food diets, fabric diets are hard. Some people try to quit cold turkey, which usually results in a binge at some point. Some people think they can just nibble and it will be okay. No one can eat just one potato chip or buy just one yard. When faced with temptation, it is difficult to remember the promise “to be sensible.”  I searched for a fabric diet I could live with.

A recent article on Gretchen Rubin’s blog, The Happiness Project, made me think about fabric shopping. (Ok, truth be told, there isn’t much that doesn’t make me think about fabric shopping. Gretchen was referring to buying too many things for her daughter, but this idea can apply to fabric too. Here is a snippet that sums it up nicely:

“I remember that when the Big Girl was in nursery school, the school head told a story about a four-year-old who had a toy car he loved. He played with it constantly. Then when his grandmother came to visit, she bought him ten toys cars, and he stopped playing with the cars altogether.

“Why don’t you play with your cars?” she asked. “You loved your blue car so much.”

“But I can’t love lots of cars,” he answered.

It’s so easy to make the mistake of thinking that if you have something you love, or if there’s something you want, that you’ll be happier with more of it.“

Having too much stash can be overwhelming.  How do I decide which piece to use first?  It can be physically impossible to find a specific piece.  Having some stash can be helpful. I don’t live close enough to a fabric store to run out for fabric every time I want to start a new project. Having a stash has saved me more than once when someone needed a new article clothing in less than 24 hours. There is also the inspiration aspect - a fabric from three years ago might be perfect for a design from the latest Ottobre.  However, there can be too much of a good thing.

More fabric does not necessarily mean more happiness or better sewing. When the size of your stash causes you angst, it is a problem. My stash threatens to cause angst. I cannot go cold turkey and say “no more fabric.” Nibbling quickly turns to gobbling.  However, I can apply Gretchen’s story to fabric shopping.  During my trip to DC, I went to Ikea and GStreet. I promised myself that I would only buy fabric if it was truly exceptional.  There were some pretty things, but nothing better than what I already have.  I did not feel cheated, because I knew had lots of pretty fabrics waiting for me at home….my own version of the blue car….full of lovely fabrics.