Oh my, we have Chocolate

Tis but too true, there they were, two at the top of the fridge. Right there waiting for me. Taunting me. Daring me. So I ate one. Oh sweet felicity. Yes I ate you and washed you down with a Diet Coke. Nectar.

I babysat again today. Four little girls. We had such a girly giggly time. I haven't played Barbies in years, I made up for that today. They wanted to play Twilight Baribies (oh lord) but seeing as they are 9, 6 and 2 year old twins, I thought Twilight was a bit out of their maturity level.

I gave 2 full mani/pedis and got my hair braided (ouch). There were kittens and fairies and Jonas Brothers. Such girly nonsense, I needed it after being with VBS Cowboys, rock stars, and Jr. Sir Topham Hatts. I am getting better at telling Gordon apart from Henry! (yes those would be narrow gauge engines on the island of Sodor)

Finished Thomas the emBOYdery project! I will make it into a pillow to match the truck piece but I must find red and blue corduroy, I am determined to use corduroy!

Eclipse advanced viewing

HA HA! I got to see it before you! My pal works at a movie theatre and so I get ALL kinds of goodies like seeing movies before the public. Its awesome since I LOOOOVVVEEE movies. I'm even taking a Film Literature course this summer and I have learned alot. So I took my new knowledge of the cinema arts and my high standards for book-to-movie movies to the Hollywood Rose to see Edward, Bella and this one stupid jerk who gets more attention than he should-Jacob. I don't like him. Obviously.

Well, it starts with what happens to Reily and for you readers you will be impressed. It was done well, it actually looked like a big budget movie. But as for one of the meadow scenes you can see the green screen "green" shining in their hair. So that was lame because you know the meadow scenes are supposed to me happy times. :)

It stuck very close to the book which you would think would be easy right? You wouldn't need a script writer since all the dialogue and staging is, uh, CALLED THE BOOK! Its not that hard to copy paste! But I have been purposely putting some distance between me and the books so I could forget things and have it seem almost new again (what I wouldn't give to read it for the first time again!), anyway I remember the lines straight from the book and I haven't read them in over a year so thats good.

The acting is still damp. But not at all as HORRIBLE as the first one. (shudder) Very funny scenes with Charlie and Bella. But Edward needs to get that squinty eyed frown off his face. Rob is very very attractive in real life and as Cedric Diggory, but they have Edward looking so frumpy.

Oh! And can I just PLEASE laugh at how stickin' rediculous Jacob's introduction is! It's like they let an 11 year old pick out the pose and song. PAH-LEEEZZZ! I laughed in the theatre (which I hate other people doing, silence is golden).

EmBOYdery by a Stepford Wife wannabe

As I mentioned in my last post, I don't do boy. Its so hard to come up with father's day cards and such, oh well!

You recall the truck I just finished for one little lad, and I hope to finish this Thomas tonight. I know a few boys who loooove Thomas so I plan to make a couple of him!

Mom frequently tells me the God is preparing me for little boys. I do very well with little boys, but I don't think my little boy will appreciate all the little girl things I have been planning in my head for decades now. I even have my little girls name picked (sorry future hubby): Verity Jane. You can't use it, it's mine and I have copyrights on it, so I will catch you. :) I have NO ideas for boy names. None, (future hubby can have full constitution with that one).

I am quite domestic at heart. When I get my own place (in 10,000 years) I will be Martha Jr. A few years ago she had a segment on her show about making your bed...I loved it! Went to L-n-T and bought the necessities for a properly made bed. Once I helped prep rooms at the Mercy Ships Guest House, I had soo much fun making the beds that I snuck back into the rooms that the manager cleaned and re-made the beds to look better. Tee hee.

Today I helped clean some of the Dorms up there and darling Jan H taught me the secrets of towel folding! How do you like it??? All the bathrooms in my afore mentioned residency will have lovely towel displays for my esteemed guests.

Babies, Berries and Bibles

Nothing too momentous has happened lately, which I am grateful for! Just pleasant summer days coming and going.

On Thursday and Fridays I babysit Trae and Corbyn...aww I know. Look at that smile! Corbyn is a well known mammas boy and has slowly grown warm to me. On last friday we had fun tumbling around on blankets and pillows (he has a good pile drive for a toddler), then when it was tim for me to go home, he actually toddled over to me at the door and held up his arms! His mamma was right there and he still wanted me! :) It melted my heart.

Trae is 4 and a sweet heart. They had some puppies dropped off on their property which Trae just loved. Sadly though they could not stay, and when their new owner came to pick them up, he stood there gravely for a minute watching me hand them over. And then his heart broke. Tears flowed. Noses sniffed.

But! Trae has Sam to ease the heart ache. Cuddly kitty that ever there was. Corbyn didn't like the jumpy licky puppies, but he thinks Sam is just the funniest thing. I love watching him laugh when he gets brave enough to touch Sam.

My favorite snack right now is fresh blueberries with strawberries mixed with about a table spoon of vanilla creamer. I know I know, coffee creamer, really Alicia? YES! Its just the same idea of real "berries and cream" and has the added bonus of being lactose free for those of us who have a Zero Tolerance Policy when it comes to milk. Yumm!

Currently reading Persuasion by none other than her royal Awesomeness Jane Austen. I know its unorthodox but it's my favorite, yes tis true, I like it better than Pride & Prejudice.

Not that I dislike P&P (lord no!), but Persuasion has themes that I can relate to more I guess. My favorite character is the sickly widow in Westgate Buildings Bath, Mrs. Smith. Yes, "one of the 5,000 Smiths that are everywhere to be met with" she has little to live on and is just fine with that because guess what she does... sells crafts! AHHH!!! Jane must have had me in mind. Her nurse taught her to crochet and so she makes little things to be sold in the market. I love it! Regency Indiepreneurs!

Speaking of craft, since all the 4 and 5 year old boys in Van are obsessed with BIG trucks and BIG trains, I have started some projects for a few of my boys at church. I am not good with making "manly" crafts. I can't-not make something girly. I don't know how to make something look good to a guy. So I'll do trains and trucks and see how they are received!

Today I promoted myself up in Sunday School. The college class is great but I am a bit older than the average college senior so I will be going to the Adult 1 class. Being the youngest in the room was refreshing! I think I will enjoy an "adult" church experience now that I'm getting on in years ;).

Busy busy busy!

The Craft For a Cure is almost exactly a month away! AHHH We are not as far along as far as vendors, but we are still optimistic. 9 confirmed so far, I will have a booth of course and hopefully the college and career group from my church will get a booth. The anchorage cafe said they would set up their extra espresso machine so we could serve lattes. Shannon and I have been driving all over creation posting "Looking for vendors" signs.

So with all that going on I have my first midterm this summer due on monday and I am half way prepared for it. It is open now and a I plan to just take it and get it over with! These short summer classes are great! They zooooom by!

Needless to say, my embroidery has taken a back seat. I am still working on my Antropologie napkins, which are trickier that I thought because the back side isn't going to be hidden in a pillow or something. I have to keep my tails tucked away nice and neat which has lead to some fancy needle work when I do the french knots. I dont want blue thread trailing all over the back so I am doing clusters of about 3 close together. Its looking really nice tho!

Last night while I was supposed to be studying... I thought about those pillows that have some little proverb sewn on the front that serve no other purpose other than to sit on your couch or that chair that no one sits in and look fancy. Well my best Ginger friend Amber (tee hee) gave me a little book of Jane Austen quotes for my birthday which I absolutely LOVE! You would think that her quotes would be all quaint and soft spoken UNLESS you read her work, then you know she was a spit fire who had plenty to say. My favorite quote comes from a letter she wrote to Cassandra her sister, "I would recommend to her and Mr. D the simple regimen of separate rooms"

Well, I had the brilliant idea to make my own pillows with her lines! The first one I am doing is that infamous opening line from P&P. If you don't know it, get out of my blog! Just kidding but seriously... go read a book! The type is so small, it is going to be very tricky getting the curves and angles sharp. I may kill myself before its finished because its a long one. But I think it will be worth it.

Anthropologie inspired embroidery

The Northpark Mall in Dallas is the BEST mall in Texas. Not only do they have the only Paper-Source in Texas (soon Houston will have one) but they have Urban Outfitters, PF Changs and Anthropologie. All of which I can never afford but appreciate and find quite to my liking none the less!

So this being the first day of summer for the rest of the world, (Texas summer starts on December 26th) I have here, some fresh summer colors for my newest project:

I found these place mats and matching napkins at Anthropologie on super sale!

Since I can't leave anything as it is, I start thinking how I can add a little flair to it. Now that my medium of choice is *~embroidery~* the simple lines and 2D designs inspired me. Of course I hope they sell, but if not I still love them and will put them in own kitchen. Or beach house. :)

My other current project is this little lady! The dress is purple and she has matching earrings, well one earring (think pirate, jk) her sly little hand is covering her giggling mouth so I don't get to give her a matching pair.

I got the images from Mom's friend who knew I would like to do something with them. It wasn't a pattern until I got my hands on it. They are cute instructions on how to wash satin of all things.

After I embroider them, what am I supposed to do with them? You can only have so many throw pillows ya know?

Monogramed Pillows

Did I mention that I love embroidery? AHH! I can't stop. So two little lovely ladies have been brought into this world recently, both of whom I have been able to practice my needlework.

This pillow was made for Mary Meadows, the newest addition to East Texas society.

I could not find an acceptable lace for the life of me to go with the fabric and I couldn't leave it blank. But I saw this odd bit of trim and thought man thats kind of crazy I wonder...
... and I think it looks pretty nice and I wish I had lots more.

Nellie Grace's pillow has silk ribbon flowers. Silk ribbon is a pain Let me just tell you girlfriend! It will snag, and it will tangle, and it will get ruined, and it will piss you off!
but it will look fabulous! I took these pics with my phone so the depth of field isn't in focus. The trim was also an accident and I didn't think I would like it at first site but it goes so well with the rest of the pillow. I need more little babies so I can have an excuse to monogram more things. A girl from my college group (shout out Allison) mentioned she just started embroidery as well and thought about doing some Soffe shorts. I think custom monogram orders is a great idea and may steal it from her. :)