Bling Pouf Shoes

I've been sewing, and have finished a few things, but alas, taking photos of myself proves to be too difficult for me (or, I'm simply too lazy). So, I have for you some new shoes.

They are Steve Madden Luxe. We bought them from DSW back in February. (I think. Or maybe January.) They are olive green satin with a bling pouf.

These shoes are adorable, and I love them, however I have not found many opportunities to wear them. But my opportunities are about to broaden; I just finished a sewing project that will go perfectly with these lovelies.

By the way, these shoes were ridiculously inexpensive: something like $16, for the BOTH of them. Cheap, huh?

And here are my legs, in the shoes. On the leg on the left is my birthmark. On the other, is a knobby ankle.


And just as a teaser, here's a preview of what I recently finished. I consider it to be my pièce de ré·sis·tance.

Coming soon!

Happy

I've been drawing. And here is one fruit of my labor.

If this doesn't make you a bit crazy happy you are dead inside.

Gnomes part 2

So glad I could entertain with photos of homes. To be clear, the homes listed did not make the cut for us to actually go see in person. The orange carpet stopped us in our tracks. I understand that carpet can be changed, walls can be painted, wet bars can be ripped out, garage doors can be fixed and freaky glowing eyed dogs can even be sent to live with another family. I just don't want to do any of those things if I can avoid it.

So now that you know that I am a complete lazy bum, here's another gem I found for your consideration:

With this basement you can have a little bit of Vegas right in your own home! I can almost smell the cigarettes and spilled beer.

Gnomes on Homes

So you're probably wondering what do gnomes have to do with homes. In all honesty, nothing. It rhymed and I love catchy phrases. Especially when they make no sense.

Our house hunt continues. After a year of searching online, we finally gathered up the necessary courage to go look at a few houses. We only found one that we were really excited about, but sadly it was snatched up before we got to it. With good reason too: it was a lovely home. We will have to learn to be quicker, I suppose.

The idea of being quick on such a big decision is foreign to us. Six years ago when we bought a new car, it took us nearly a year of research and thought to finally go buy the car. We love it still, even all these years later, which is a testament to how careful we were in making our decision. But buying a home is a different animal. The factory will not just make you another perfect house in the perfect location. So, we are gearing up to pull the trigger when it's time to pull it. I'll let you know how that goes.

In the meantime, I have come across all kinds of interesting things in my online house hunting. I have discovered that weirdness, ugliness, and oldness comes at all price points. (I was afraid for a while that all we could afford were dives until I looked at houses in higher price ranges and came to the aforementioned conclusion).

You may be thinking, "What's so wrong with this picture?" Besides the blue tiled countertop, which is dated, but functional, the kicker for me is the glowing eyed creature in the background. Dog not included for $138/sqft.

For $61/sqft you can buy yourself this lovely newer home... with a plywood garage door? Couldn't be bothered with fixing that before you put the house on the market?

For $116/sqft you can have this busted garage door (oh, and the house behind it). Again with the "can't be bothered to fix stuff, need to sell mahouse," philosophy.

Then we have the all-too-common, all-too-popular wet bar, usually in the basement. Usually wood paneled. It's prevalent, as you are about to see.

 $87/sqft.

 $95/sqft.

 $115/sqft.

$129/sqft. It's perfect for entertaining!

Now I think this just might be my favorite:

A mossy pond in your entry is a sure fire way to say, "Welcome to my micro organism ridden home," and "Watch your step." All of this could be yours for $139/sqft.

Or, how about an entire home carpeted in marbled mauve low pile? Now with lavender painted walls! $89/sqft.

Or your could go with orange carpeting for $129/sqft.

If you find that cost-prohibitive, here is a lower priced orange carpet option at only $91/sqft.

Or if you are more interested in purple carpet, for $101/sqft this could be yours. (I actually really liked this home in all of its funkiness, except for the carpet, which would be a relatively easy change. Alas, this home is no longer on the market.)

Anyone up for a pink kitchen?

And lastly, here is some product placement for you. Wheat Thins and Kroger brand Grahams? Yes please. Oh, and the house could be yours for only $77/sqft.

Ugly Shoes

I haven't written in months and this is what I want to say: I had a dream last night. I was really stressed in the dream, but when I woke up I laughed.

The dream was set in the present day, except I was living in the house I grew up in. It was a Sunday morning and I was late getting to church. I looked in my closet for shoes and all I could find were ugly shoes.

There were granny heels (and not the cute kind), 

weird looking shoes,

clunky shoes,

and glittery shoes, like these:

and these:

I was pretty stressed that all I could find were ugly shoes and I was late, and my clothes didn't fit. It was all very horrible. 

And then I woke up. And then I laughed at myself for being so stressed out. And then I told TC. And then he laughed at me. And now you can laugh at me too.

Simplicity 2633 Orangine

The first top made with Simplicity 2633 left me wanting more. So, with some super bright orange stretch cotton sateen I made another version. However, I was left with fit issues.

Here's the summary:

And here's the semi-finished product:

Maybe it's not too obvious, but the shirt is quite big in the waist.

Look how unflattering it is on me! It makes me do stupid things with my face!

And it makes me look heavier than I need to look.

Sigh. It's shapeless.

Funny story: When I finished this top and tried it on for TC, I knew I didn't like it, but I couldn't put my finger on why it was so blech. TC, after some thought, hit the nail on the head when he said, "That shirt makes you look like a janitor." YES! He was right! So we determined that in order to take the janitorial staff look down a few notches that it needed to be taken in a bit.

See? Just pinning it makes it look better already. And not buttoning a critical third button, while dangerous, also makes it look better.

And now with new side seams, it seems better. See what I did there? Seams and seems. Ha! I crack myself up.

Also, please pay no attention to the seventh buttonless button hole. I can't count. I had only six buttons, and yet made seven holes. Sigh. If I want to wear this shirt for real I will have to switch out the buttons. Sigh. Siiiiiigggggghhhhhhh. 

Now the shirt has some shape, but it is still a really ugly color. But at least, perhaps, maybe, possibly, I look less like a janitor.

What do I do?

It's been a while since I've just written about what's going on with me. And I miss it. As part of my 101 things I've been keeping a daily log, a summary of each day, and that has sort of taken the place of blogging. I do have a completed sewing project to show you, but it will have to wait. Today I just want to talk.

With my free time:

I've been baking bread, and keeping TC stocked with cookies (I've finally figured out how to prevent rock-hard, dog biscuit-like cookies).

I've been keeping a database tracking grocery prices with the intent that after a year or so of data I will be able to predict when certain goods might go on sale. Is this project a bit overboard? Yes. But I love it. Another part of the same database is keeping track of how long it takes us to use non-food goods, like shampoo, soap, shaving cream, etc. Once we have a good amount of data I will be able to figure out how much we spend per day on just grooming and cleaning. This excites me beyond recognition.

A screenshot of my little database.

I've made several playlists to provide the background music for my days: Toto's Africa, Til Tuesday's Voices Carry, Far East Movement's Like a G6, Astor Piazzolla's Adios Nonino.

I've been sewing, but not as much as I imagined I would.

I've made it nearly a full-time pursuit to research homes, neighborhoods, socio-economic data on surrounding areas, potential commute times for TC, reasonable prices for neighborhoods we are interested in, and the whole real estate process. I've realized how easy it is to be seduced by shiny new neighborhoods that would make for a long commute for the Huz. I've realized how little you get for the money in the neighborhoods I have always wanted to live in. It's an interesting process. On a lighter note, maybe someday I'll share with you a worst of real estate that I've started keeping track of (for example, a home that has a pond in the entry way, and stepping stones leading the way to the rest of the house; or the house decked out entirely in seemingly new royal purple carpet).

Last week TC was sick; he had a man cold of the worst kind. In all seriousness, poor guy was knocked out nearly all week. I've never seen him so miserable, and I've never ever felt so helpless and sad for him. He's better now, besides a lingering cough. I did my best to nurse him back to health, making sure he drank plenty of liquids, giving him his decongestant, and put a cool rag on his forehead when he had a fever.

I've been ironing TC's work shirts. I've been ironing my own clothes. I've been planning, scheming, plotting exciting things that I will share shortly.

That, in a few words, is what I do. I'm enjoying my opportunity to develop my domesticity and to serve my wonderful, loving husband. I enjoyed being able to focus all my attention and nurturing on TC last week. I enjoy baking bread, and the way our home smells when TC comes home. I enjoy taking walks in the middle of the day. I enjoy taking naps whenever I feel like it. And I enjoy being able to focus on making our home lovely and comfortable, clean and organized.

My contentment is a miracle. I tend to be so negative. Don't worry; I am still aware of what I lack. I'm just choosing not to focus on it. And that's leading to happiness. What a miracle! If only I'd known sooner that that is all it takes.

Simplicity 2337

Last week I finished Simplicity 2337. 

I ran into a few issues with this dress. Because I raised the neckline by 1 inch, it wreaked havoc on the area where the faux wrap meets the other side of the dress. I adjusted, and readjusted, and readjusted to get the overlapping seam to lay right. I played around with it for hours. Finally, I readjusted the pleats so that the seams met lower (basically almost where it should have if I hadn't raised the neckline). I suppose it's pretty much common sense that raising the neckline would make such a difference in a faux wrap dress, but let that be a word of warning to you.

Also, instead of doing facings on the neck and armscye, I sewed the lining to it, eliminating the need for facings. I hand sewed the armscye lining to the fabric.


So here's the result:

There's still a little bit of weirdness at the neckline, but I don't mind it.

I love the sleeves. I sewed one in with the pleats facing up, and one with the pleats facing down, so the sleeves lay differently. I think if I wanted to rip out one of the sleeves, I would sew them both in with the pleats facing up (opposite of how the pattern suggests). I like the way it hangs better.

Wanted: Appreciation for snide comments

TC and I in the summer of 1999.

I'm coming down with something and have a sore throat, so instead of getting up and living a productive life, I spent this morning reading my journal from 1999. A lot happened that year: I had a mid-studies crisis and decided to take a fall semester off from BYU while I sorted my life out, I continued my Spanish studies, I met TC, we began dating, I went back home to California, we got engaged, we got married, and I returned to Provo.

It was really interesting that in my journal, in the time leading up to when I met TC, I wrote about how I felt certain that a big change was coming in my life. I didn't know what.

Once I met him, I wrote about his great qualities, and all the kind things he did and said to me. 

Once we got engaged, I wrote about how much I loved him, and how humbled I felt that a guy as great as him loved me. 

The things I said about him then hold true today, and I think that's so special. He has only gotten better and better as time has gone on, and he's helped me become better. But the most favorite thing I wrote about him is, 

"I never thought I’d meet a guy who appreciates my snide comments and sarcasm, but I have."

And 11 years later this good man still appreciates my snide comments. 

Here are some closing thoughts on this man of mine.

He makes me so happy, happier than I’ve ever been. He’s so sweet and thoughtful and loving and expressive and funny and attentive and sensitive to the needs of others and kind and good with children and passionate and smart and handsome and I could go on and on. I’m still not really sure why he wants to be with me. I’m so flawed, so insensitive, so unkind. But he loves me and that makes me very happy.

Simplicity 2403

I'm moving in slow motion, as evidenced by the completion date of this dress: October something or other, 2010.

The dress I finished is Simplicity 2403.

I made the reddish one on the top right, without the belt. I had been looking for the perfect fabric for this dress for a while, but nothing tickled my fancy, until I found the most adorable mystery blend fabric at Hancock Fabrics: a dark brown with beige polka dots. I'm a sucker for polka dots. So I bought several yards, and set out to make the dress.

This is how it turned out:

So, it's a bit (lot) tight in the bust. I ought to have made a size bigger. And the sleeve bands are tight as well, but I'd like to think that it's from all the P90X I've been doing. You know, the weight lifting, the 1/4 pull-ups, the punching and flexing I do as I admire my guns...

But seriously: look how happy I am in this dress.

And here's a close-up so you can get a better view of the fabric. Cute, no?

My take on the pattern: it's a nice design. I would love my version a lot more if only I had lengthened it by about 2 inches (as it is, I have a hard time sitting down without indecency), and if I had made it one size bigger. Honestly, it's like I have no idea what I'm doing half the time when I'm sewing. You'd think I'd learn from one project and apply that knowledge to the next, but that doesn't seem to be in my make-up.