Fun-Filled Saturday!

Hello my lovelies! I've been having a couple of "Calgon Take Me Away" couple of weeks and am all wrapped up (ha! no pun intended) in all the christmas happenings. But I had to yank myself away from the card writing to just catch up a little. I probably have glitter in my hair and on my face but at the moment, I'm oblivious to all that. I've got so much to share and will have to spread it amongst a few posts. I've had some friends emailing me to make sure I am ok. It's been a much longer absence than I thought but I am well. Thanks so much for worrying about me.

Saturday the 3rd was my fun day. I'd been looking forward to it for months since my stitching group was planning our Christmas Shindig for that day. I went about getting my things together the night before and had grand plans to eat terrific food and get loads of stitching done.

I had hoped to be finished with Hallow Eden by Friday so I could start something Christmasy for the holiday party but as usual...I think I can stitch much faster than I actually can! Ha! As the weekend got closer, I decided to just take my time since Hallow Eden is small and portable anyways and I only had two more colors left to stitch.

As I left home in the morning, I noticed the postman on my block and asked him if he had any packages for me as I was expecting a package of finishing from KarenV. If I didn't get it that day, I'd have to wait until the following Saturday to get it from the Post Office. I was lucky because he had it! Yay! Since I was heading to the party, I put the box in the car and off I went. Once I arrived to the venue, I debated bringing the box in but when I mentioned it to some of the stitchers, they all urged me to get my box from the car and share. They all wanted to join in on the fun.

Karen did a wonderful job, as usual. She finished my Christmas Rules into a bellpull just in time for the holiday. She did say there were issues with this hardware so if you decide to buy it, be careful! However, Images Stitchery does guarantee their products and will take care of you.

And I found it's special spot!
And this is the backing fabric used. A fun, simple polka dot.
She also finished Tweet Gift but Full Circle Designs. I love this ornie. The cardinal is so cute and I plan to stitch it's companion soon.
Here is Almost Halloween by The Drawn Thread finished as a little pillow with the most perfect backing fabric and jumbo rick rack trim! And lastly, she sewed my Traveling Stitcher and matching needles piece onto it's pouch and needlebook for me. If I wanted to do it myself, it would have sat in the closet forever!
And the fun backing fabric for the Halloween pillow...

I am thrilled with the finishes and the fact that they will be displayed this year instead of gathering more dust unfinished in the closet. Thanks Karen!

The rest of the Christmas Party was great. We had a wonderful lunch and cake and I enjoyed a glass or two of wine along with chatter with some lovely ladies I only get to see a couple of times a year. It was so nice to catch up and share some laughs, stories and stitching with one another.

The Clubhouse was decorated very nicely with many trees and nutcrackers and some ladies brought some wonderful projects to show and tell. Here are some photos.
My dear friend Mary's French Alphabet Sampler. It's gorgeous! The picture doesn't do it justice and sadly I caught a glare from the windows behind me.
Narita's completed Flower Power. It's stunning and massive! It's almost the size of the loveseat!
Naomi's almost completed Mirabilia Winter Queen.

It was a fantastic day! I still have lots to share. My "bringing home the tree" story and the end result and I finally finished Hallow Eden! But...it will all have to wait another day.

Oh and before I leave, sign up for Joyzse's IHSW! It's this weekend and it actually looks like a quiet one for me (famous last words) and I plan on starting something Christmasy! I can't wait! Of course, that will only happen if I finish my cards, wrap gifts, head to the post office finish picking up the last of the gifts by the weekend. Oof...doesn't it seem like there's 5x more things to do because of Christmas!?

Until next time...be merry and bright!

Bring on the Color!

A couple of the comments on my last post made me laugh! I thought I'd share them. I was definitely in a gloomy funk the weekend before last and am feeling brighter.

KarenV said: Start something new, woman! and

LisaD said: We definitely have to get some color in your life...black, grey and fog - oh my!

Karen, I love your conviction and the whimsical Wizard of Oz twist that Lisa relayed. Both of the comments remind me of my sister, whose also a KarenV. My sister has always been this bright colorful person who wears red, teal and magenta more than she wears black. She is the optimist in the family along with my dad. Then there's me who loves fog and wears black, grey and denim the majority of the time. When I wear color, I think there have actually been gasps of astonishment. Yea, really! I wear more color now but I was borderline goth in my college/post-college years. I'm a pessimist. Surprise! Like you guys haven't figured that out already! My mother is the Queen of Pessimists. A couple of weeks ago, my sister told me I was like our mom! I think I died a little inside. Like mom...wonderful! The goal of the year was to be more positive in my thinking. It's hard when things have been crumbling around me but that's still the goal. I know I'm lucky and can recite all the reasons why...now I just need to act that way.

I wish my mom would be less like Chicken Little. Oh my Gosh, the sky is falling! Being the one whose been around the old folks the longest, I wonder if her negative thinking has rubbed off on me or are you just born that way. Just the other day, I talked to her on the phone and she told me to not go out after dark because the car might break down. *sigh* So I'm supposed to stay at home after dark because the car can break down and some rapist can come out of the bushes and attack me. She thinks this way. Ma, really...I can't live my life in fear! That's why we have cell phones and Gold AAA memberships and pepper spray! If she only knew I did so much online stuff...some things are better left unsaid.

It was always like this growing up. I was considered the difficult rebel child because I questioned every curfew. Curfew was at 10pm which as a teen/college student, was ridiculous. You can imagine the fighting. I wish my siblings had broken them in for me. If I left the house at 8pm to do something, I was repeatedly questioned. And having to go "oh my mom won't let me" when you're in college is you know...kind of lame...but sometimes, I was just too tired to fight. It definitely ruined my coolness factor. I think once she hit 75, mom mellowed out. Uhh, yea, that was only 5 years ago! If I still lived at home with the old folks, I'd have gone berserk by now.

***

Hmmm, got a little sidetracked there. Anyways, I pulled out something colorful to start and have been working on it all week. I probably didn't make the wisest choice of starting in the middle since it's not the most colorful area. I was too lazy to do the math to start at the border so the middle it is. I really like the goldenrod color of the house though. It feels like it's taking me forever to build this house.

I'm enjoying it since it's brainless. Very little counting once you build the foundation and I'm working on installing all the windows. After that, time to lay down the sod and plant some flowers. I figure I only have one more week to work on this before I have to move onto obligations. I have an ornament to stitch for the Attic Auction and also need to see if I can stitch up a little something for my mom's birthday. I also have to do the finishing on my blog giveaway gift from back in May...you know...when my life was imploding. Sharon and Lisa, I haven't forgotten. I'm still playing catch up on my stitching obligations.

Last week was all about getting back into yoga and finding a place that was reasonable and conducive to do so. I think I found it and did 2 classes. One relaxing (too relaxing; mind was a-racing) and the other was typical Hatha. The Hatha class kicked my ass...I was sore for 2 days afterwards! Apparently, I'm a tad (ok, a lot) out of shape. But I crashed and slept and I think this will help my sleep schedule and health tremendously. I'm actually excited about working out. Now to juggle the workouts and the social schedule. I think this will take a little finesse.

This weekend was a blur of busyness. Lots of errands and chores and there are still more chores to do. How did things get so messy?! There was great stuff though like seeing old friends and meeting their baby, crabcakes benedict at SeaSalt (new to me place...so yum!), the car show (see below) and getting together with new acquaintences. But the highlight was visiting NiaH at their new location and seeing the new digs. I got a tad lost going there because I thought I knew where it was and apparently not. The street just kind of sneaks by you! The ceiling in the new place is amazing! It took a little bit of time to find where the stuff was that I was looking for especially as I was able to find things in my sleep at the old space but things got found. I was good and only got a Mira pattern (like I need another!), a cut of BOAF fabric that is becoming almost extinct and a CHS tombie pattern. Not bad.

The best part of the trip was that I got to meet up with Lisa and Brandy! Yay! It was so nice to meet Brandy and see Lisa again. We shopped and then sat around and had a little Stitch 'n Bitch. It was so much fun! Time came when we had to part ways but maybe we can do it again sometime soon. Thanks Ladies! If anyone else lives in the Bay Area and wants to meet up at NiaH, drop me an email and let me know. I love meeting stitchy bloggers!

Online dating observations of the week: the old men leave you alone once you call them out on it and put a disclaimer on your profile telling them to not email/wink you. I can spot a juggler a mile away and just can't deal with it so I'm going to mellow out on even reading these profiles since I've established there isn't anyone I want to date. One guy emailed me saying he'd like to meet. I emailed him back inviting him to the car show (because what guy doesn't like cars?!) and he didn't even acknowledge my invitation. Umm, can you say rude?! Meeting was his idea! Considering we went to the same alma mater and we were practically forced into etiquette class...I think that's bad manners. I'm starting to think being single for life may be the way to go. I already have enough drama! I went to the car show anyways...should have taken photos instead of drooling all over the awesome cars!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Until next time...

(Is anyone else having problems loading photos into Blogger? It's taken me an hour just to load the one photo! Photo for the last post has been uploaded.)

Weekend Happenings

What a weekend! Lots and lots of happenings to talk about so hopefully I don't bore anyone. The most fun item on the agenda for the weekend was going to NiaH for a Stitchers by the Bay yahoo get together. I joined the group about two or three months ago but this was the first time that I went to a get together or met anyone from the group. I was a total newbie and the funny thing is that I am the third *Valerie* in the group! It's been a long time since I've been in the same room with another Valerie...let alone two others! I think a fun time was had by all and I got to meet Lisa and Natasha there too! I was on hyper overload. It had been over two months since my last visit to the shop and I was a shopping fiend, not to mention meeting lots of new people, hearing funny stories and seeing loads of beautiful work and finishing! It was just such an amazing day! I had such fun and despite my crazy shopping, I didn't buy out the store. Maybe next time though! I had to put my Mary Wigham fabric on order so I will be making another trip shortly. Oh, can't wait!

On Sunday, I heard from Anna who was my exchange partner for the HoE Christmas in July exchange that I was so tardy on. I cannot believe it arrived in Norway in only one week! One week...can you believe it?! Norway is really far! I received a sweet email from Anna saying she loved everything I sent her. I was so happy! I stitched her up a cute Santa ornie and a floss tag. Below is the front side:

Prairie Schooler Santa Ornament
Gift of Stitching e-Magazine
32 count Antique Ivory Belfast w/Recommended DMC
Finish: pillow ornament w/green Mill Hill glass beads

Floss Tag
Motif taken from Peppermint Twist - Blue Ribbon Designs
32 count Antique Ivory Belfast w/Recommended WDW

And here is the back of the ornie and floss tag:
And here is everything I included in the package. I was happy to find some California natural lemon drops at my local neighborhood candy shop for Anna as she said lemon is her favorite flavor! I also included ribbon, needles, backing fabric, threads and a couple of small charts. So happy she liked everything. As a funny sidenote to my exchange, my friend Claire and *the boy* both saw me working on the floss tag. They would look at the tag, look at me and be all skeptical. I had to explain that I wasn't rudely calling dear Anna a ho(e) but that the abbreviation for Hooked on Exchanging was HoE and we all referred to it as that. They didn't really buy the explanation and I was hoping Anna wouldn't get offended but she seemed to like both pieces.

Other cool weekend stuff.

I reached my goal on Sunday of having the border up to September all done. I am all caught up! Yay! Here's how it looks so far. It's hard getting a decent picture of it since it's so long!

Here's my attempt at an artistic shot. I really love those July birdies! This was taken before I finished off the border...as you can tell. I think I will keep on keeping on with the Snappers for the week. I really like the October block and seem to be on a roll. It will be nice to work with other autumnal colors...you know...other than the blasted green!

And the perfect ending to a great weekend? On Sundays, we, me and *the boy*, like having a low-key dinner at home. He cooks and I get to stitch. I had asked him last week if he could make bread salad. He says bread stuffing...I say bread salad. We go back and forth. He doesn't get it so I say, "bread salad like they make with the roast chicken at Zuni!" And then he understood. Zuni makes awesome bread salad and roasted chicken...it is very, very good as well as very expensive. I had the wonderful chance at trying it with AM last year and she blogged about it here. Now that I am dating this total foodie, "I went to culinary school" boyfriend, I like challenging him once in a while. He tells me I have to eat better and stop laying off the popcorn. So this was my attempt at eating healthier.
And here is it. Bread salad and roasted chicken a la Zuni. It was pretty yum...crispy skin, tender meat, soaked bread with crispy outsides, toasted pinenuts, sweet currants and the bitter kick from the arugala. It was pretty spot on and I'm not just saying that. Mr. I Went to Culinary School sometimes has disasters and I end up eating popcorn. I wish there was more bread salad!! Wow, it was really good.

And that was the end to a great weekend! I hope everyone had a great weekend too.

Until next time...