Weekend Wrap Up

I know what you're thinking ....A weekend wrap up on Wednesday?  Really??  Isn't that kinda late?

Yeah, I agree....it is kinda late.  But, honestly, the last weekend was rough. Fun...but rough.  I've just recovered.  So...there's that.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day in Boston.  Hubs and Guinness picked me up from work.  Since I had my gym bag and sneakers with me we had the idea to stop at Castle Island in Southie for a little dinner and evening walkies.  Castle Island is one of my favorite spots in Boston.  It's a very popular park and walk around a little piece of Boston Harbor.  Right at the head of the park is a small fast food place called Sullivan's.  Sullivan's is the kind of place that puts their burgers in wax paper to serve.  I don't know what it is about those places, but they are always the best.  Don't get me wrong, it's not health food in the least.  It's greasy and fatty, and DELICIOUS.  Plus, it's only open in the spring and summer.

(Sullivan's actually has a website.....Check it out http://www.sullivanscastleisland.com )

Dinner was great.  We even let Guin enjoy a few fries.  The walk however, that was something I wasn't really prepared for.  I've walked around Castle Island so many times since I moved to Boston sixish years ago.   This is the only time it has ever taken the life out of me.  It was very windy, and maybe that's why I felt so drained....or maybe it was just because I'm seven months pregnant and can't handle a two mile walk anymore...lol.  Regardless of the reason, I was beat when we got back to the car.  Both the dog and I fell asleep on the couch a little after eight, and didn't wake up again until after midnight, when we both decided it was time to go to bed.


Saturday morning my parents arrived for their weekend visit.  My Mom and I had planned to take our annual trip to the Boston Flower Show.  Usually, it's at the expo center in Dorchester near Hubs old high school, but this year it was in town at the Seaport World Trade Center.  My Dad and Hubs decided not to go to the flower show with us.  Neither flowers or crowds are really their thing, and both are ever present at the flower show.


I absolutely love the flower show.  The exhibits are always so beautiful.  Each year there is at least one display that I wish I could escape into with a book and never leave.  This year did not disappoint.   My dream exhibit this year was this one with an little house (perfect for a craft studio) and lush fruit trees.

The last picture is a tad bit blurry...but there were chaises underneath the house.  This is where I would do my reading (while sipping on white wine or equally classy mixed drinks).

This year the theme of the show was container gardening.  They had some pretty cute ideas for planting in containers.  Here are a few of my favorites:

There was a lot of metal work adorning the garden displays this year.  My dad is a metal fabricator so we took a bunch of pictures of those for him.  Mom and I tried to convince him that he could make a good business for himself fabricating garden design pieces and water features.  I honestly think he could.

There was one display that was kinda out there and had all kinds of dead animal skulls arranged with flowers.  It attracted a lot of attention cause it was different (and because a flash mob from the new rendition of Hair that opens this week decided to preform right in front of it).  It was one of my favorite exhibits.  I thought the arrangements were interesting, but what I LOVED about it was that they had literary quotations strewn throughout.  I can't express how much I love when people combine art and literature (because literature IS art!!)

My other favorite display was setup to look like a tea party.  It was full of glitz, romanticism and butterflies (which I am obsessed with right now because we are using them in Olivia's room).  Really, who doesn't love a tea party?  It reminded me of something that belonged in The Importance of Being Earnest.  I loved it.

It was a great weekend, but very tiring.  I loved being able to spend one on one time with my Mom.  I just wish I would have had more energy.

Next year, Mom and I will be taking Baby Olivia to the flower show :)  I can only imagine how many pictures I will take then :)

Family Time and The Dempsey Challenge

Thursday night after work Hubs and I headed up to visit my family in Maine.  Boston is three hours from where my parents live, so we didn't arrive until pretty late (for Maine that is).  Everyone was asleep.  We followed suit, the heavy country air had tired us out immediately :)

The trip up to Maine was a multi purpose trip.  We hadn't been up to visit in awhile and needed some quality time with the niece and nephew.

Brooklyn and Tommy playing in Guin's Crate

Aren't they adorable? Brooklyn is the tiniest toddler ever.  Several times over the course of the weekend I witnessed her pants falling off of her.  Why didn't this gene settle in my biological composition?  (Does that sentence even make sense?) Never once has my pants fallen off of me...I mean...they are just too tight for that to happen..

I also wanted to spend some time with my sister, since her birthday had been Wednesday.  Friday we went shopping to a few of the sewing stores in Lewiston, had barbecue, and then Hubs bought her the Wii that he promised her as payment for designing his website (http://www.darrengreaneylaw.com/).

The final reason that we made the travel up to Maine is because I was running in the Dempsey Challenge on Saturday morning.  The Dempsey Challenge is named in honor of Patrick Dempsey (from Grey's Anatomy) and is done to raise funds for the Dempsey Center at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.  The Dempsey Center provides counceling and education to newly diagnosed cancer patients. Patrick Dempsey actually grew up in Maine really close to where I grew up.  (Are we spiritually connected?  I think so.)  

A few of my high school friends ran the race last year.  I looked into it, and really liked the idea of the Dempsey Center.  So many walks and runs are to fund cancer research, but how many are actually helping to support the fragile emotions of people who have been diagnosed with cancer? 

I was signed up for the 10k race, and though I had a bit of a back and forth about whether I should run it, I did.  I had a great time.  The place on Saturday was absolutely packed.   Since it was outdoors we decided to take Guin with us.  He loved walking with his Grammy and Grampy...

Shortly after we got there I had to go and line up for the race.  Hubs, my parents and my sister went their separate way.  Apparently, Hubs made it his personal mission to get me a picture of Patrick Dempsey for the blog.  He got right up to the stage, and got a couple pretty good ones.  It's not like he was standing right next to him, but you can still tell we were in the same place :)

An hour and thirteen minutes after it started the race was over for me.  It was fun, but really, really hilly.  I'm used to training on the treadmill, so I did my fair share of walking.  I finished running though, and that's all that matter right?

Hubs and Guin were really proud of me.  They wanted to cuddle up and take a pic right after the race, even though I was soaked through (from sweat).  My sister wanted a picture too.  I tried to warn them not to touch me, but they didn't heed my warnings. 

My hair looks wet doesn't it?  I actually think it may be.  I have the worst excessive sweating problem.  I think it's really embarrassing, but Hubs tells me it's fine.  He says that it proves that I've been working out hard.  I'm not so sure about that....

It was a great run, and a great visit to see my family.  I miss them already. 
Oh, on a side note, my mom let me borrow her serger so I could see if I want one of my own.  I'm pumped!

Weekend Wrap up: Pats Edition

Hubs and I are huge Pats fans.  They lost today....to the Jets.  The only thing that would be worse was losing to the Colts.  Okay, that's enough talk about the game...it's just too painful anyways.

I had wanted to get a lot of sewing done this weekend.  In reality I didn't get as much done as I wanted.  I did, however, catch up on my sleep, which was wonderful.  I closed my eyes on Saturday afternoon for a quick nap, and didn't wake up until Saturday evening.  I slept for three hours.  By the time I woke up, basically all my sewing time for Saturday was gone. 

Today I started by cutting out all the pieces for Brookie's Snow White costume.  I bought and washed all the fabric Friday.  I'm going to start pinning and cutting out all the pieces tomorrow.  I decided to make Brooklyn the smallest size for the pattern (1/2) even though it's a little big.  I figure she can wear it for awhile that way.

After cutting out all of the pieces for the costume I decided to work on the Elastic Waist dress that Julie had ordered the other day.  I thought it would be easy and I would be able to finish it today.  While it wasn't as easy as I had thought, I was able to finish it.  I am super happy with the way that it turned out.  I hope it's everything that Julie hoped it would be.

The dress is fairly simple.  It's just an elastic waist, a yard of fabric, and a pre-made tank top.  I grabbed the tank top yesterday at Forever 21.  Since I had to cut the tank top short, I decided to add some ruffles.  The skirt is just a simple gathered skirt, except for a few pleats that I added on the right hand side.  Like I said before, I really really like how it turned out.

The skirt looks a little weird in this picture, but the ruffles are a little easier to see. 

Hubs took a lot of pictures of me this time.  This one I have my eyes closed, like basically every picture anyone ever takes of me.  Classic Margie.  I like it.

Here's a close-up of the ruffles.  I cut the excess fabric from the tank into two inch strips and gathered them up.  Hubs wasn't sure if he liked how all the ruffles are different lengths.  I assured him that this was the style and that he just didn't know what he was talking about.  God, I hope I was right.

I love my little "Dorchester Designs" tags.  This time I made it the tag out leftover pieces from the skirt.  It's very matchy, matchy, but I like it.

Finally, I hemmed the skirt with a decorative stitch, since I knew the stitches would show.  The photo is a little blurry, but I think it looks cute. 

In addition to the dress I worked on a doll for Isabelle's dollhouse this weekend.  I had a really tough time with the doll.  In the end, I think it looks okay, but it was really hard.  The doll is really tiny, and the pieces were so small to sew, and stuff and turn.  I find it much much easier making clothes...

She decided she wanted a dress just like Julie's but in reverse.  I said, hey, why not.  I hate making faces on dolls cause I feel like the eyes always turn out so creepy.  I'm not so sure how I feel about the eyes on her, but, I don't think they are creepy.  Weird, maybe, but creepy no.

I wanted to put a tag on the doll, but it was soooo small I didn't know where to add it.  So, instead of a tag, I decided to tattoo "DD" on the dolls butt.

Hopefully, Isabelle will think that this DD means Dorchester Designs and not Dunkin Donuts.....

That's all I managed to sew this weekend. Tomorrow the Snow White sewing starts.  Wish me luck!

I decided to link my post up to a few parties.....I mean...why not right?

Weekend Wrap Up

Unfortunately, I didn't get a TON of sewing done this weekend.  I was feeling a little under the weather on Saturday and took the whole day off.  I'm starting to wonder if I may have gotten my sister in law's mono before we knew she had it.  We share makeup from time to time, and it's possible I used her lip gloss.  But, my throat has been hurting when I swallow for about the last week, and I don't have tonsils anymore...

But, I did sew yesterday after a very disappointing trip to the mall.  We're going to Florida for Christmas and I wanted to get some shorts.  Did I find any I liked?  Of course not.  Then we went to best buy, almost got run over and then heckled by the runner overers.  Honestly, why would someone yell back a response about Hubs' weight when I was the one who screamed at them in the first place. And all I said was "Are you going to run us over? Jesus"  Maybe I've lived in Boston too long...

Anyways, yesterday I worked on the tank top I was making for my friend Julie from the One Yard Wonders book.  This is the same book the dollhouse came from, and I love it.  I love the projects and feel like this will not be my last.

Making the bias tape was kinda a pain, but I love the way it turned out.  I think the fabrics go really well together.  The pattern was for a tank top, but I decided to keep it as a halter.  I thought it was cute, and honestly, I wasn't really sure where to attach the straps so that they would fit Julie.  I tried to try it on myself and attach the straps, but the girl are just a little too big for the size I made.  The kinda laughed at my face.  I looked a lot like Christina Hendricks did at the Emmy's last night, but with a bra..lol

Here's the front of the tank top:

Front of Tank

Closeup of the front and of the back.  I made a little too much binding, so I decided to bind the back too.  I think it looked nicer and more finished.  I'm glad I did it. 

Front Detail

Back Detail

And finally, here are the seams.  I finished them so it would look uber professional.  I think the proper term for this is a flat felled seam.  I just call them pretty seams.

Flat Felled Seams (I think)

What do you think?  Will Julie like it?

Next, I'm making the mini bloomers from Collette patterns to go with the tank. I read the directions last night.  I think they will be pretty quick actually.  I'm really excited to make them.  Updates to come!!

Weekend Wrap Up

This morning was absolutely crazy at work!  I've been dying to blog all day, and am just getting a chance now (it's 2:30!!).  This weekend I was on call, so we didn't venture out too far.  It was a sales tax weekend in Massachusetts, and we did our fair share of shopping (at the liquor store, separate post to come). 
Sunday morning I sat down and started sewing.  I had bought this dark floral print a few weeks earlier and had planned to make a tank top with it.  After I got everything pinned out I realized that it was just impossible to see the markings, so I gave up. I bought some wide black elastic and decided to make a work out of it. 

I had to cut my face out.  Just too little sleep, not enough eye cream.

 I usually wear my newly sewn clothing to work on Mondays, but this skirt felt a little short.  I actually realized when looking at the tutorial again today, I didn't really construct it exactly right.  The way I sewed the skirt onto the elastic kinda cut the width of the elastic in half.  Lessons learned, I think I'm going to try again.  It was super easy, and if I would have sewed it straight through I think it would have only taken a half hour.

So, what do you think?  Do you like it?

Weekend Wrap up...a day late

Alas, the weekend has past again, and I am still tired.  But, today is Tuesday.  Only four more more days until it's the weekend again.  I can't wait until Friday at 5:30.  As Hubby has explained to me, Friday when you get out of work is the best part of the entire weekend.  It's never going to get any better than that.

 

The themes of this past weekend were cleaning and makeup.  I didn't plan on any real crafting projects, because with the way things had been going since my mother in law left for Ireland, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get to them. What I did get to was a whole lot of cleaning and shopping for makeup, which is a necessity in itself.

 

My sister in law, Sarah, has a fabulous setup in her room for putting on her makeup.  In front of her window she has a table setup with all her makeup on it, a mirror and an iPod charger.  Underneath she has drawers to store the makeup that she doesn't use as often.  I mentioned to her that I was really envious of this.  I really don't have a good place to put on or store my makeup.  I had it stored all over the place (half in the bathroom, half in the bedroom).   On Friday, Sarah and I went to the mall and shopped the Mac counter.  I got two eye shadows (Swish and Pink Freeze, both pinks ) and an eye liner pencil (Technakohl in GrayPrint).

On the way home, she suggested that I take my sewing table and turn it into a place for my makeup like she has.  

 

When we first moved into the apartment Hubs suggested that we setup half of the office as a craft room for me.  I was pumped.  We got a sweet drafting table at IKEA and I setup all my sewing stuff on it.   Did I ever use it?  Of course not.  But, where do I sew you ask?  I take my sewing machine into the dining room and setup on the dining room table.  I hate to be in the room all by myself when Hubs is home and watching TV.  I feel if I setup on the dining room table then I'm spending time with him.  Crazy...I know. 

 

Saturday morning, I set off to cleaning early.  The sewing table had become unrecognizably cluttered.  I cleaned until I could see it again and then started setting up my makeup.  It doesn't look like anything special really, but now I have a nice place to sit in the morning and apply my face.

 

 

 

Sunday we got up made breakfast and went on our weekend coffee run.  There's a new Mary Lou's in Quincy so we tried that out.  Hubs got a Creamy Chocolate Coconut and I got a Nutty Irishman.  Hubs coffee was far better than mine.  After Mary Lou's we went to the mall for a Sunday morning walk around, just to waste time before we went to the airport to get his mom.  

 

Hubs wanted to look at Spenser's and have a laugh. He hadn't been feeling good on Saturday and thought that looking at all the merchandise geared towards horney middle schoolers would make him laugh.  He was right.  They had these baby onesies with funny phrases on them.  They were absolutely hilarious.  I captured a few of the tamer ones on my iphone.

 

 

 

Finally, we picked up Sarah and went to the airport to wait for my Mother in law.  Thank god she was coming home.  We ended up waiting a little over an hour for her, but people watching at the airport is fabulous. The time just flew by.  Sarah and I were thinking we may need to just go to the airport on weekends to watch and make fun of people, even if we aren't waiting for someone.  There's some really interesting stuff going on there. 

 

That was my weekend.  Cleaning, makeup, onesies, airport, mother in law came home.  A nice and round weekend.  My mommy in law brought back so many pressies from Ireland for us.  Hubs and I are going to model some of them tonight for another blog entry.  I know it's kind of a week entry....but we'll make the pictures funny.  Promise. 

A Penny for my Thoughts

Ever imagine what life would be like if cliched phrases were real?  Take the phrase "A Penny for your Thoughts?" for example.  If that was real, I imagine I would be a millionaire, especially after this weekend.  My mind has been going overtime. I mean, I've been thinking probably about 20 dollars worth of pennies a day.

Sadly, as far as crafting goes this weekend was all thinking no doing.  I usually get a lot of crafting done in the morning when Hubs is sleeping.  Yet, this weekend we were up early both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday we had 8am dentist appointments (YUCK!), and Sunday we got up early to make a big breakfast for Hub's still motherless (6 more days till she comes back...thank god) family.

I had wanted to accomplish two projects over the weekend. I wanted to finish marking, cutting and sewing my floral tank top, and I wanted to refinish a tray that I had been meaning to redo for years.

Terrible, Horrible, Ugly Tray

Tank top Fabric/Pattern (I'm making the green one)

I hate the winter background on the tray almost as much as I hate the hunter green color of it.  It just has to go.  Everything about it is hideous.  Aside from that I didn't have very many ideas. I did some Internet searching for inspiration on Friday, and came up with this tray I loved:

 Hubs and I went to Home Depot to look for painted/designed tiles.  Could I find them? OF COURSE NOT!!  Back to the drawing board.  This morning, I saw a blog entry where they gussied up a tray with painted bottle caps.  I really liked that idea:

http://sweetsomethingdesign.blogspot.com/2010/07/bottle-cap-tray.html

How cute does that look?  What with my family being full blown Irish immigrants and everything, the bottle cap finding and gathering stage would be easy.  I'm definitely keeping this idea as a possibility (the inexpensiveness of the project is intoxicating).

Yesterday, I took out my tank top to start marking.  Armed with a red and a white pencil I started to mark.  Neither of them showed on the cloth.  I pressed harder.  Nothing. I tried a real normal pencil.  Still couldn't see it.  I hate marking out patterns.  I love it when my size is the last on the multi-size pattern and I can just cut.  But, alas, I was second to last on this one, so marking was necessary.  My interest in the project kinda waned and my mind wandered to the fact that I had a dirty kitchen.  I left the tank top for the dishes expecting to return shortly.  I never returned.  Halfway through doing the dishes I got stressed out.  I like to clean when I'm stressed.  Now, instead of having a marked and cut tank top, I have a spotlessly clean kitchen. 

I'm hoping to be able to get some crafting done during the week, but my expectations are considerably low.  I've promised to make a co-worker a tie as his going away gift (got a new job).  I've never made a tie before so I'm hesitant.  I found some fabric yesterday, but it was ten dollars a yard.  I would hate to ruin ten dollar a yard fabric.  I just don't know what to do.....