feeling happy and productive

My weekend was busy, busy! The good kind of busy (see previous post). I got a lot accomplished.

Besides all the time with Grandkids, I had plenty of sewing time and actually needed to go fabric shopping for an order (really!)

I finished an order for two aprons for a pre-school:

I finished an order for 3 aprons for a church kitchen:

All of these aprons were rather utilitarian, so I now feel the need to do something more creative in the next few days. Time to get out the fabric stash and come up with something new and different. (I can feel my brain already heading in that direction....probably won't be able to sleep tonight!)

My creative cooking need kicked into gear today, too. I took the leftover CHILE VERDE I made on Friday night and created these CHILE VERDE ENCHILADAS. They were delicious! (now if can just remember how I made them...I never seem to write these recipes down)

I also found time to make a list of things to get done this week:

"Open Etsy Shop"

"Organize fabric/sewing stuff onto new shelves in garage"

"Sew matching sundresses for grandaughters #3 and #4"

A HAPPY AND PRODUCTIVE WEEKEND....(is it Monday already??)

One on One

Yesterday I had some one-on-one time with the Grandson (3 yrs). He is surrounded by all things girly all the time and sometimes just needs some time without girl stuff. (" Just you and me, Mimi? By ourselves? Not with the girls?!!!"... "That's right Buddy! Just you and me!")

We went to the library to check out books, all of HIS choosing (such power!).....

Then to Wal Mart for new Spiderman "Crocs"...

We sang silly songs in the car and stopped at McDonalds for french fries......

He was thrilled with our outing. You should have seen him strut back into the house with his McDonalds bag!

We got home in time for grandaughters #2 and #3 to come over for a sleepover with #4. (Mimi was the host of course...).

We made Jello Popcorn:

JELLO POPCORN

8 cups popped popcorn

1/4 cup butter

3 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 box (4 oz) JELLO any flavor

In small saucepan, melt butter and syrup together. Add sugar and jello. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Pour immediately over popcorn and toss to coat well. Spread popcorn onto 2 cookie sheets lined with foil or waxed paper. Bake at 300* for 10 minutes. Cool.

We played Wild Animal Bingo:

Then, once everyone was asleep, Mimi stayed up until 2:30 a.m. sewing APRONS!

It was a lovely, Mimi kind of day....but boy, do I need a nap today!!

Wedding Gifts

In the last two weeks, I've had 2 separate friends get married in different parts of the country, one male, one female.

Of course I saw this as the perfect opportunity for more FABRIC SHOPPING and APRON MAKING!!

I made them each an appropriate apron as part of their wedding gift.

She is an Artist/Painter/60's flower child living in Santa Cruz, California.......

He is a retired marine living in Dallas, Texas.........

The aprons were part of an Avocado-themed gift which included an avo slicer, avo masher, avo cookbook, avocado-shaped serving bowl, and LOTS OF AVOCADOS!

The packages are on the way today. I hope they like wearing their aprons as much as I enjoyed making them.

Best Wishes Lorrie!!

Congratulations Rob!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today my firstborn turns 34 years old. How is this possible? I gave birth to her when I was just 16. Where have the years gone?

It seems like just yesterday that she was starting kindergarten:

( remember how you hated it when I cut your bangs because I could never cut them straight?!)

Then I blinked my eyes and you were graduating from High School

( remember when we actually started being friends instead of butting heads all the time?)

I blinked again and I was at your wedding

And now you have 3 wonderful girls of your own

We've had an interesting life together. Things were not always easy between us. I often wonder how we could possibly have ended up where we are today, not just mother and daughter, but really good friends, too.

I love you SHANNON LARUE.

I'm very proud to be your Mother.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

.........love Mom

Family Time.....

This weekend we had a mini family reunion/house warming. My sister and her family were in town from Seattle and my daughter has a new home everyone wanted to see, so we combined the two happenings into one.....

We always have a potluck and as usual there was WAY too much food, especially desserts:

We played "Family Bingo". I made up game cards using pictures of all 34 of us:

My niece, a teacher at a school for the deaf in Puerto Rico, couldn't be with us but she sent along a coconut for the kids to have fun opening:

There was much talking, laughing, writing communal letters to those far away, and enjoyment of those with new accomplishments:

....and six young cousins that only get to see each other once a year, picked up right where they left off, having a wonderful time together, and were SO excited by an impromptu sleepover they weren't expecting!

We all had a wonderful, unforgetable time together and missed all of you family members that couldn't be there. (wait until you hear Caitlin on the guitar, singing the song she wrote!!)

Extreme Room Makeover: $100.00 edition

A few weeks ago I decided to make over my room.

In the home I share with my son & his family, my room, my personal space, is the very large bonus room upstairs. It's the size of a studio apartment (minus a kitchenette). I love my room. I have it exactly the way I like it. BUT...suddenly the walls were just too white and boring!

I love watercolors. I love shades of purple mixed with blue. I have bedding that I've had for a few years that I'm still very fond of, shades of purple, blue, aqua, green.

On Monday,I brought home 12 different paint samples, all in shades of aqua & turquoise and taped them on my wall. I stared at them for 4 days, eliminating them one by one.

On Wednesday I went to the fabric store and bought these two fabrics.

(Are you thinking watercolors?)

On Thursday I sewed covers for the couch cushions.

On Friday I bought a gallon of "Spaqua" Who gets paid to sit around all day and think up names for colors of paint? What are the job qualifications? (How do I get a job like that?)

Saturday morning, 9:00 a.m.,I prepped the walls and started painting.

I painted only two walls, meeting in the corner behind my headboard, which is on an angle. Painting, cleanup and moving furniture was done by 4:oo p.m

I love my new room!..... I feel like I'm living in a Monet painting.

EXTREME ROOM MAKEOVER: $100.00 EDITION:

1 GALLON PAINT=$25.00

FABRIC FOR 5 CUSHIONS= $16.00

WHITE SOFA SLIPCOVER (that hasn't arrived yet..)= $59.00

Let's see you beat that, Ty Pennington!

All things Apron-y...

Well, apparently I am officially obsessed with aprons! Let me present the evidence:

I started making aprons about a year ago, mostly to justify my ridiculous need to buy fabric, fabric, and MORE fabric........yes, I am a FABRIHOLIC!! See, I just admitted it. ....I have a serious problem and yet I know many of you ladies can relate. I've seen it myself with my own eyes on YOUR blogs, so don't try to deny it! It helps to know I'm not alone. Here is a pic of just a small part of my stash, all purchased with aprons in mind:Check out these two new fabrics! Fabrics with aprons on them that I will make into aprons! Hmmmmm.....??

I love to sew, but I hate the cutting part. If I could just wake up and find that I'd been visited by some fabric cutting fairies and I could just sit down and sew, sew, sew, my life would be just perfect! (HA!)

To add to the obsession evidence, I realized this weekend that all my reading material lately is about aprons:

....and I think all my family members are getting tired of knowing what they'll be getting for birthdays and Christmas ("oooooh.......another apron!) I mean, how many 3 & 4 year olds do you know who have an entire wardrobe of aprons to choose from?

I had an EBAY store for a while that did o.k. but I closed it after the Holidays. I came to the conclusion that people don't go to EBAY looking for handmade items. Then I discovered ETSY!!! I'll be opening my ETSY store any minute now (I know, I know! I've been saying that since January, but this Sunday....I really mean it this time!)

I've joined an Apron Social Network online, "The Apronista", and am enjoying meeting new friends that are also obsessed with aprons and all things apron-y.

I found apron charms at Christmas and made some apron necklaces as gifts.

In my idea notebook, in the apron section (yes, I only have an apron section, not a whole apron notebook), I currently have 5 pages, single spaced, of aprons/apron ideas that are just waiting for the time to work on them ( fabric is already purchased, of course!). Now if I could just win the lottery so I could quit my job, build myself a sewing studio and do nothing but make aprons all day!

SEE! See what I mean! Other people want to win the lottery so they can buy cars and houses and boats. I just want to be able to sew aprons all day!!!

OBSESSED???? I think so!!! DOES ANYONE OUT THERE NEED AN APRON?????

A List....

For lack of something better to say today, here is a list of some of my favorite things, in no particular order:

1. Cracked Pepper flavored anything
2. "La Playa" handmade soap from Simply Soap
3. Emu oil
4. Crocs (5 pairs so far)
5. Craft blogs
6. fabric shopping
7. Children's literature
8. Mentholatum
9. Hummingbirds
10. Weiner dogs
11. iTunes
12. my Neti Pot
13. Vetyver scented anything
14. Knit scarves
15. Black jelly bellies
16. Flannel sheets
17. my Tempurpedic pillow
18. Pureology hair products
19. used book stores
20. mowing the lawn
21. the "Apronista" website
22. tearing apart old magazines
23. Libraries
24. collecting recipes
25. Food section of the newspaper
26. MAKING LISTS!


How about you? What are your favorite things?

My Favorite Kind Of Weekend...

I had absolutely no obligations or commitments this weekend. I had plenty of time to do some of all my favorite things:

I tried a new recipe in the crockpot "TANTALIZING ADOBO SAUCE" and it was terrific! (Thank you Lucy B)

I sewed this reversible apron:

and this towel cafe apron:

I got some reading done:

and took these two to the movies to see "Nim's Island". It was a cross between "Home Alone" and Swiss Family Robinson". It was a little too intense and confusing for the 4 yr. old, but the 7 yr.old & I enjoyed it.

I also got plenty of computer time to spend on my new favorite Apron site "The Apronista". I'm having a great time meeting new friends and talking apron talk!

a little bit of all my favorite things........my favorite kind of weekend!

(bella: the apron pattern is my own. I traced a purchased apron a fellow vendor was wearing at a craft fair and then tweaked it a little to make it my own....)