It's that time again = WDW 2010

Wow - I can't believe it's finally here! This morning I called Red Top and booked our cab for 6 a.m. tomorrow morning...taking us to the airport obviously!

This week has been a bit challenging for me.

1. I've been THRILLED to be working my first full official week as part of the Human Resources team! This has brought on some anxiety and stress in being my last week in the office before being out for 5 days and my first even day in HR in 6 weeks! I've struggled to get everything done and am down to the last 2 things on my to do list with 3 1/2 hours left before 5:30.

2. There is always so much work to get done before going on a trip. I worked basically non stop around the clock last weekend picking up, cleaning, organizing, decorating for Halloween, doing laundry and packing, and I thought that I'd have very little to do on week nights so that I could rest up and be ready for Disney! Well every night turned into a production that left me working non stop and by Wednesday I was becoming so stressed that I was no longer excited about Disney. This in turn made me VERY depressed and I almost broke down in tears at the nail salon on Wednesday night. Thank goodness for all the work off my to do list that I got done last night, I've been very excited all day today......this means getting focused work done has been all but impossible!

I've wondered all week long why I don't recall being this stressed out last year. I mean I was working at the same company, making the same trip - what could possibly be so different? Then, about 5 min ago I got on here and found my blog post that I remember typing up on my last day in the office last year before Disney. I remembering typing up a list of things I still needed to do and thought that might be beneficial to see today. The answer became clear very quickly why I was less stressed out last year - we left on Sunday, not Saturday! Now don't get me wrong, I'm actually thrilled to now see that we have a full extra day in Disney this year (now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Jon told me this when we booked the trip....good thing I was listening :-) right? ha). It's totally making sense now why I was about to break down mid-week. I looked over the things I had to do last year as of Friday afternoon around this time and I planned on packing everything that night and then was going to clean and hang by the pool all day on Saturday.....no.wonder.

Now I wish they would let us go home early on this overly gorgeous fall day we're having! My co-workers want this to sit at a happy hour outside somewhere...I want this to go home and pack now and then do crafts all night to make up for my crazy ass week - ever the dork I am!

Have a great 9 days everyone, I'll be posting pictures via FB mobile uploads along the way to be sure to check 'em out!

Uneventful....sorta

I wish I was writing this with lots of fun new pictures to share of all the great things I've been working on, creating and have finished....but I have none of those things to share! It's not that I've been doing nothing though - Jon and I went camping for a 2nd time at Loft Mountain last weekend so all the prep work of packing happened last week, we were out being one with nature after leaving straight from work on Friday afternoon until returning on Sunday afternoon when I said I was going to lay down just to catch up on Private Practice and pretty much never got up again (other than to shower all the camping smells away!)

I did spend about 2 hours on Sunday evening trying to learn the new pattern for a crocheted scarf. After 2 hours I was annoyed when I found a mistake made in both squares I had completed and I quit for the night. Monday morning I had some spare time before work and I was able to tear apart the 2 squares that I'd messed up the night before and pretty redid all of it w/ in 20 min! I like how it's turning out, and am enjoying crocheting it now that I understand the pattern and all it's many changes the more I keep doing it.

Getting started on a new project of course means that I sat at work yesterday obsessing about all I wanted to be making (even thought I didn't really have the time yesterday to be thinking such things at work with all that I had going on). I opted after work last night to head out to ACMoore, JoAnns and Michaels to pick up some supplies because I hadn't really been since like late July and I was getting the "itch" (plus I was sick of throwing away my great coupons each and every week!). Off I went while Jon was a class thinking I'd be home with plenty of time to work on my new love affair scarf....

Unfortunately I didn't get home until close to 8:20 and had the pesky task of unpacking from camping which I had promised Jon I would get done while he was at class...that and do the sink full of dishes and take a shower thanks to the lovely late September, relentless HUMIDITY that refuses to leave the region. I did all this work as quickly as I possibly could on my commercial breaks of Dancing with the Stars (which thanks to Jennifer Grey being on this year, has become a new favorite show for me) so that I could get some crocheting in before Jon got home and things turned into "pay attention to me" and "I don't want to watch this"....I did a bit but by 9:30ish the crazy day of travel reservations at work, my shopping adventures in VA and the racing around to get my work down had taken it's toll and I couldn't deal with sitting upright AND using my hands....

Tonight, well tonight is gonna be different! I'm leaving here and praying for as little traffic as possible - given the shooting on U St. today, right in my commute path the drive may be a disaster. I am hoping to get a work out in and then after dinner am sitting my little butt on the couch with a drink and am crocheting the night away! This will of course only be able to happen during commercial breaks come 8 p.m. but that's ok....I'm gonna get my work done quickly so that I can make some concentrated progress before Britney/Brittany makes it FAR to hard for me to concentrate!

Happy TuesGLEEday everyone, and Happy Crafting!

Hodgepodge Combination - it's everything but the kitchen sink!

I have not been good about updating on the work I've done lately....these are the pictures I've taken after completing each project and had them sitting here waiting for me to post, and it never happens..."work" always gets in the way! So here is what I did in August (I'm pretty sure it was all in August):

1. I wanted to make a case for my iPod...yes, I have a case on my iPod but there is nothing protecting the case from getting scratched up where it's protecting the screen from getting scratched up! Yes, I'm just that OCD. In some alternate universe I thought that after only sewing for a month I could making this without a pattern....this led to the picture below and a very stressful evening!

No, it doesn't necessarily look bad, but it was definitely not right!

I found a pattern online that I loved so I went out and bought some new material and after working on it for 2 nights after work I had this:

It's very cute, it does the job it's destined to do and looks pretty much exactly how I wanted it to. I used flannel thinking it would be extra soft for the iPod. Lesson learned: if using flannel for this pattern do NOT use batting...it ended up so thick on the seams once turned right side out that where I stitched was the furthest out I could get for the top stitch - this makes the case much larger looking than it really needs to be.

Dear future self: if you decide to make this again with flannel and insist on using batting, cut the pattern larger so that you can sew at a larger seam allowance. Yes this may be wasteful but it will allow more room for trimming excess batting out and you may actually be able to get this top seam closer to the edge.

2. Next, I thought it would be fun to make Mom and I matching shorts for relaxing in the hotel room during the August trip. I already had the material to make them for both of us, so why not make them now while it's still summer and hot enough out for shorts. She was very surprised and loves them, but it was a lot of work working on 2 pair at the same time - not sure I'd ever do it that way again. I did make my pair a bit shorter this time (still not as short as the pattern seems to want them to me - seriously, I'm not 18 anymore, I like my butt cheeks to be covered when I'm relaxing)

3. I ordered the material for the skirt pictured below online over the summer and was in LOVE with it when it arrived. I finally wanted to make the skirt (I don't love my skirt pattern so was putting it off a bit). I of course on like Sunday at 3:00 p.m. decided that I must wear it to work that Tuesday prior to going out of town. I sewed it all up on Sunday and had it ready to be worn on Tuesday. That's the good thing about making skirts vs. pants/shorts, lots less to hem w/o 2 legs :-) Unfortunately Monday night rolled around and I checked the weather for the following day before going to sleep and it was barely going to be 70 degrees the following day.....after the record heat we've had in DC this summer, 70 is FAR TOO COLD for a skirt and short sleeve shirt. So it still sits in my bedroom waiting to be worn....

It's already the middle of September and my days for wearing skirts are coming to a close. I did see that CWC mentioned this a.m. that there is a chance that it'll be back up near 90 or higher a couple of days next week so I think I most definitely need to make this outfit happen before I have to wait for Spring!

A good portion of tomorrow needs to be spent being domestic (grocery shopping, laundry, picking up, unpacking, etc. etc. etc) If nothing else I'm hoping to get all that sh*t done tomorrow so that I can spend Sunday relaxing/crafting. I have many things that I've been wanting to work on all week but have been too tired each night when I get home. It's also the middle of Sept which means it's time for me to get into the mind set for "3 months until Christmas" (a bit more, but I will need some time to wrap and travel home). Lots and lots of supplies for all these gifts have already been purchased, I just need to actually work on them!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Hope to be up to date and have an update on the weekends progress by Monday!

Sewing update

It seems as though it's been forever since I used my machine...then I realized last night that not until this coming Thursday will I have had it for a full month! I just haven't used for the past 2 weeks which seems to feel like it's been forever, apparently work has been more stressful that I realized...I haven't really done any crafts lately. I am starting to feel a bit sad that I haven't crocheted or anything in like the past month or so! Time to get back into the swing of things, and it's gonna start with sewing again and it's gonna start as soon as I get home tonight!

Over the weekend I decided that I wanted to sew a pouch for my new iPod...yes, I brought a clear case for it, but the case itself is getting scratched up in my purse and the wheel is not covered so constantly needs to be cleaned. The OCD side of me decided that sewing a soft little pouch to protect my case was the way to go! Sunday evening I got everything out I needed, designed my pattern, looked down and saw that I didn't own pink thread that matched the scraps of material from Mom that I wanted to use.....SERIOUSLY? There went my plans of sewing on Sunday. I sat on the couch, pouted until Jon asked me what was wrong and I responded by telling him that I'd be making a trip to JoAnns Monday after work.

That's exactly what I did yesterday. Of course, I find it IMPOSSIBLE to walk into JoAnns (or any other craft store for that matter) without spending more time than necessary looking at everything, buying things that I didn't go there for and spending much more money than I had anticipated spending! Oh well, I got some really gorgeous fabric not only for my pouch (flannel vs. the cotton scraps I planned to use) and some fun Halloween decorations (place mats and a table runner). I also picked up buttons and Velcro for the pouch. I then hit up Michaels and AC Moore in search of some different/fun beads to take with me on the 25th to see what the girls can create for me this year.

After getting gas, driving home, showing Jon my purchases and eating dinner...I found it impossible to pull myself off the couch and got sucked into a really horrible Shark Week show that I just couldn't pull myself away from. By 9:45 I was feeling a bit guilty but realized that that wasn't the best time to start a project (the I still needed to redesign the pattern for). I decided to hold off and start first thing when I get home tonight so that 1. I can actually work on the project start to finish in one night and 2. I'm not so overly tired that I make stupid mistakes and get really upset with myself.

Happy Shark Week from Silver Spring (Discovery Communications Headquarters)

That's the update on what I haven't done/plan to do! I do have 2 projects that I last made 2 weeks ago and never shared.



My 2nd pair of shorts completed - all shorts finally made it through the wash last week and came out in one piece - yeah!



First work skirt completed - brown with green and white polka dots (cotton). Not super duper happy with the pattern I bought, but I made it work by doing pieces of it my way :-) I have material for 3 more skirts that I look forward to making before it gets too chilly to wear anymore (HAHA like that'll be happening anytime soon1)


Hope to have a picture of the iPod case to share tomorrow!

Add another new "craft" to the list

Not too long ago I posted how reading had become my summer "craft"....well I haven't read all the much since that post (well I have read "The Wednesday Letters" and "What Time Is It, You Mean Now?") and that's mostly because Mom was in town for 10 days. The days we spent at the pool I didn't really spend anytime reading because 1. I was chatting with Mom and 2. it was so damn hot the 50% of our time outside was spent in the pool. One big thing I miss about the Promenade (strange thing to say.....LOL) was that there were no kids at the pool. This meant you could stand in the shallow end and read along the edge. Not the the Blairs! Far tooooo many kinds screaming, jumping and splashing (me and my book) to make it worth while!

My newest craft, for those of you who didn't see my FB status updates over the last 2 weeks is.....SEWING! Mom had brought her machine down to work on some projects on the days that I had to work while she was visiting. We made a trip to JoAnns on Saturday evening to buy some material and a new pattern to make some lounge shorts, Sunday (4th of July) morning she sewed both pairs while I watched and by about 1 p.m. I knew I wanted to buy myself a machine and finally once and for all learn how to sew, have a machine in my possession to practice on and do it right! I did some research on JoAnn's website that night, and of course most of the machines I was looking at online were "online only" lame. This meant Monday after about 4 hours at the pool we made our 2nd trip to JoAnns so I could buy my very first machine (Singer Simple) while my 10% off my purchase coupon was still good. Between that and the holiday weekend sales going on, it came in much under $100 which I was thrilled about! Tuesday so too darn hot to be at the pool so I spent my "personal day" from work with mom in the air conditioning sewing! We had a blast and I was addicted very quickly. During the rest of the week I finished up my first pair of shorts and started making plans for how Mom and I could get in one more trip to JoAnns to stock up on fabric before she left. This trip came on Saturday morning since it was raining. We ended up doing a shopping trip to Target, JoAnns, Michaels & AC Moore which took about 6 hours total (including the driving), about 2 of those hours were at JoAnns looking at material and patterns. Such fun we had! Unfortunately by the time we got home, and got all of our material washed and went through all our other purchases, it was time for Mom to start packing up since we was leaving the following morning.

This was my VERY first completed project on my new machine. They're coaster pads for my coffee table. Learned from them for next time: Need a thin piece of batting, should have made about 1" bigger.

Drumroll please.................first time making anything with a pattern! Very proud of myself, I'm not gonna lie! Looking forward to making more shorts and pants in the future (some also as gifts) it's lots of fun to be able to create something to wear that I can fit to my body (I have to add about 4" to the bottom of a pant pattern, BUT it means I can wear comfy pants that aren't floods!)

Jon also came back on Sunday afternoon and he took me to dinner in Rockville that night, but we got home in plenty of time for me to make a pillowcase! Had a bit of trouble with flannel vs. cotton (slipping around when I pinned it). Definitely learned from my mistakes on this; from cutting off a little too much material to the fact that I should have laid it on the rug to pin, I now know for the future!

Last night I put this on a different pillow that isn't quite as "fat". which makes it not look like I sewed it unevenly! It's super duper soft and I basically want to live in it's softness :-)

Monday morning I came into work and did some online fabric shopping with JoAnns and Hancock. Can't wait for the shipment to come in so I can get it washed and get to JoAnns for some thread to start more sewing! Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to work on the projects that I already have material for at home ready to go!

Happy Long Weekend!

Ok - so technically that should be Happy 4th of July....but have you ever noticed that more people care that it's a 3 day weekend, not that it's America's Birthday?

I am most definitely looking forward to the long weekend. Mine is 4 1/2 days long and begins in precisely 3 hours :-) Mom is on her way down to Silver Spring and I can't wait to spend 10 days hanging out with her here vs. all the times that I'm usually at home to visit for that long.

Our time together will primarily be spent at the pool, drinking and doing crafts (not necessarily in that order either...) I hope that by Wednesday when I return to the office I will have many pics of completed projects and maybe even a few that are still in the process of being completed.

I hope that everyone has a lovely holiday weekend, enjoys their time away from the office and please BE SAFE!

Reading has become my new craft

It has practically been a lifetime since I last posted anything here. My reasons for this jump from "too busy at work", "nothing new to post", "sick", "lazy"....this list goes on and on. I get on here daily though to read new posts on the blogs I follow and end up annoyed when not enough of my friends have posted anything new in the last 24-36 hours. I realized yesterday that this wasn't fair of me, if I'm not posting anything new, how can I "demand" this of them?!? Of course, I closed my Blogger window shortly after this revelation and probably went right back to FB stalking or possibly doing some work.

This morning after I told the 3 person in my life that I finished my book last night, the 2nd in 5 days, and that I'd counted and have already read 9 books in 2010, I got to thinking..... Then, after going to lunch with a dear friend and making a fun trip to Borders with her, I thought about this again. While walking back to my office $56 poorer and a heavy 5 cent Borders bag, sweating my toosh off in this crazy summer heat (note to self, no matter how freezing office is, no black pants till September), I realized how much I wanted to head straight home to read on my balcony vs. going back to work! Of course, we can all say that we would rather be doing anything other than sitting indoors for 9 hours a day, especially during the summer months.....but this reading has really become an obsession! I can't seem to read a book fast enough to move on to the next!

This is usually how I am with craft projects. I'll have 3 more lined up in my head, all supplies purchased and will sit hour on end working to finish one to start the next. This "replacing" crafts with reading became more obvious when I realized that I haven't walked into an AC Moore, Michaels or JoAnns since around early April! This is beyond words for someone who 6 months ago was making weekly or bi-weekly visits to 1 if not all 3! Well, this money isn't getting saved up in my checking account, it isn't going into a savings account, and unfortunately it's not being saved up for vacation spending this summer/fall. It seems that all this money is going straight to Borders (and yesterday, even a $13 purchase at Barnes & Noble). That's right, 2 days in a row now I've gone book shopping on my lunch break. I now have 7 new books (6 today, 1 yesterday) plus the one that I pulled off my overflowing shelf last night that I decided I want to read next. Luckily it's not a lengthy book, so I should have it finished before the weekend and can move on to one of my actual new, new ones :-) My new "current read" was purchased last summer.

I spend all this time in Borders - either downtown or in Silver Spring with Jon and I usually spend my time looking at the titles by the authors that I love the most (Sherryl Woods, Nora Roberts, Kristen Hannah, Elin Hilderbrand), since I never really need to buy another book I tell myself I'm there to browse....I read the back covers to those that either the title or cover/spine of the book grab my attention and I then stand there trying to figure out if I already own this book (usually if I've read it I remember that I've read it, but my collection of "to reads" is ginormous). Last night I decided to make a list of books currently owned by my favorite authors so that I can carry this with me to reference, and add to as needed. In case you missed it in past posts, I enjoy making lists :-)

While making my "what I own" list, I decided to also make a list of what I've read this year. I used to do this every year and thought it was great to look back and see what I read in the past 12 months - it always gave me a goal to reach or exceed the following year as well. I missed doing this the past couple of years and I wanted to get something together now before I forget all that I've read in 2010.

Here is the list so far:

"Dear John", Nicholas Sparks

"Sunday's at Tiffany's", James Patterson

"Flamingo Diner", Sherryl Woods

"How to Knit a Love Song", Rachael Herron

"The Last Song", Nicholas Sparks

"The Carrie Diaries", Candace Busnell

"About That Man", Sheryll Woods

"Ask Anyone", Sherryl Woods

"Along Came Trouble", Sherryl Woods

Plan to start reading tonight: "The Wednesday Letters", Jason F. Wright

Just 2 hours to go, then home to ready for the evening.....everything still far to painful to even consider working out tonight!