33 days

Until my dear hubby and I escape cold and miserable Calgary for our first ever tropical vacation together!

We have chosen to spend 8 nights and 9 days at the beautiful Secrets Capri Riviera just north of Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya.


Photo Credit: Corey Schubert Photography

To say that I am excited would be an understatement. One of the reasons we picked this resort is the "Unlimited Luxury" all inclusive plans they offer. No wrist bands, premium drinks, beach front wait service, and land sports such as tennis and golf are included. There's 6 restaurants and 5 bars, no reservations required and the resort it's self is on the small side of medium. Only 290 rooms!

I have been to Playa del Carmen once before, for work. It was....exhausting. I went with the first family I nannied with and it was a very long 8 days of not much sleep, over heating and just generally not a lot of fun, even if I was with one of the coolest 2 year olds I know. So needless to say, I am looking forward to an adult trip at an adults only resort where we can come and go as we please, eat delicious food we didn't have to drink and do all the exploring or lazing around we want!


P.S. I just found out that there is something called Tequila Bingo there...oh dear, we may just have to play a game or two!

random

I got new glasses today!



Clearlycontacts.ca was having a crazy $38 end of season clearance sale, so I picked up this crazy pair of Elvis Costello style, nerd-a-licious glasses for a mere $50.04 including shipping. Now that is an absolute miracle because my Rx is ridiculously strong and my last pair of glasses retailed for almost $800 (don't worry I didn't pay that price!)

They are so over the top different from my nearly invisible glasses I've had for the last 4 years, but I think I am embracing the the dorky statement they make. Now if only I could get the sick feeling out of my stomach from trying to get used to the new Rx.

**

In case I haven't mentioned it enough, my job is awesome!

The twins have finally stopped the screaming and crying every time I come over (they hate when their parents leave)and they are cuter than ever. They are talking more and more all the time and even call me by my name now! Yay! Also, they love it when I bring my camera. They get me to take a zillion pictures of all their toys and show them over and over again!



Last week we all put our aprons on and tried making fruit smoothies together. I put all the ingredients in little ramekins and had them take turns dumping them in. Unfortunately I forgot to prepare them for how loud the blender is when it crushes ice and I nearly scared them right off the chair and onto the floor!



They LOVED the smoothies! It is so much fun hanging out with them.

At the other house, J and I did a little art project last week. Being 16 months, I thought it was time for a little finger painting fun! Of course, I didn't remember that he puts his hands in his mouth all the time because well, he's 16 months old! So finger painting quickly turned into tongue painting and crying. Oops. Don't worry it's no toxic! He made an adorable painting though and it made me laugh. Is that mean?



***

Joel and I were given a very generous amount of money from friends and family for Christmas and decided we are going to use it to go on a much needed vacation in March. We've narrowed it down to 2 possible weeks, and Mexico, and hopefully will actually book something tomorrow. I'm beyond excited! Not only do we get to have some time off together, but I get to go back to Mexico and RELAX instead of work 14 hours a day like I did in December of 2009. I'll keep you posted on where we choose.

***

365 is going well. I'm still having fun taking my camera out every day. I've missed one day and taken a couple of crappy end of day nothing to shoot pictures, but overall I'm having a lot of fun. Once we get to February 1st I'll put up the January mosaic, but you can check the set out anytime here.

***

Okay, done with the random. Have a fabulous week!

2011 sewing goals update

Sewing Goals 2011 is going nicely. It turns out that putting my to-do list "out there" for all to see has given me some much needed motivation! Here's the update:

1. Finish Baby J's Christmas Present.

Done!



In a fit of madness just a couple weeks before Christmas, I decided to make J a set of felt letters. Little did I know how much work would go into them! Approximately 35 hours of hand sewing later and they were done. I'm very happy with them, but I won't ever do it again. And I wish I had been able to find wool felt instead of the not so nice acrylic stuff.

I had a cute little hat box (tea cup box) lying around so I drew some cute letters on it and voila! Christmas Present done just 2 weeks late.



2. Finish Plain Spoken III

The quilt is coming along. I finished the third panel and am currently laying out the 4th. The plan is to spend my (unexpected!) day off tomorrow finishing the quilt top. Still no solution for quilting. I'm now considering the hand quilting option...I made a call to the LQS and they won't teach people or rent time on their machines. I'll keep thinking on that one.

4. Finish the Single Girl Quilt for dear patient hubby



Who knew that my lucky stars would align so nicely? I was feeling so motivated by finishing the 3rd panel of the Plain Spoken III quilt that I thought I would take my KJR fabric to work with me and do some cutting during naptime. THAT MORNING I checked my Google Reader and low and behold 3 wonderful bloggy women have put together the Single Girl Quilt Along and Support Group. Incredible!

Megan, Katy and Nova are working together to share tips, tricks and motivation for a group of us who have decided to get serious and finish an item made from the Single Girl Quilt pattern. Most of us have had it sitting for a significant amount of time.

The quilt along posts start on February 14 and they wrap up on March 28, so I guess if I keep on schedule I could have the quilt done in time for Joel's birthday on April 2nd! I figure if not, I'll put it away and give it to him for our anniversary, but that's in September and I don't know if I can wait that long!

Either way, I am feeling reinvigorated about this quilt. My plan is to have all the ring pieces cut by February 14th, that way I can piece the rings and all that and not have to worry about rushing to cut them all in a week.

That's all for now. I'm thinking of writing a random post about random stuff. That will come later.

2011 sewing goals....so far

We are now mid-way through January, and I have lots of thoughts and lists swirling through my head so I thought I had better get them down before my head explodes or I forget everything!

Without further ado I give you "Jessy's List of Sewing Goals 2011"

1. Finish Baby J's CHRISTMAS PRESENT!
(Oops, this one went unattended for too long. Pics to come later today or tomorrow when it is finished.)

2. Finish Plain Spoken III



(I am still at a loss for how to quilt this as it most definitely won't fit in my machine and I most definitely NOT paying to have it quilted and I most definitely do not have a friend with or a budget for a long arm. Suggestions of any kind welcome.)

3. Create a Memory Quilt for my Nini (To be named "The Family Day Quilt" I think)
(My Nini has Alzheimer's and it has been suggested that a warm, cozy quilt covered in pictures of her family would be something to not only cheer her up, but keep her warm. The name comes from the fact that it will be given to her on "Family Day" which is a stat holiday in both my Province - Alberta - and my grandparent's province - Ontario.)

4. Finish the Single Girl Quilt for dear patient hubby



(This one also won't fit in my sewing machine, but since I intend for it to be an heirloom one day I am seriously contempltating hand quilting because well, refer to number 2.)

5. Craft it Forward
(Last year I participated in this little Facebook meme but never sent anything to anyone who responded. Oops. So, this year that will change. I already know what 2 of the 4 projects will be and am thinking about the other two.)

6. The Birdie Sling


Photo by The Workroom

(At least one!! I have had this pattern sitting on my shelf since Christmas of 2008 and it has yet to be made. I need a new giant bag and this one is perfect.)

7. Oh Fransson's weighted Pincushion Organizer


Photo by homemadestuff

I want to make at least one of these.  I definitely need one to keep me from dropping my pins, scraps and threads all over the floor but I have a couple friends in mind that might really like one as well.

8.  The Don't Look Now Oh Christmas Tree Quilt

Photo by Don't Look Now

(I have had this one my Christmas to-do list for a looooong time now, and hopefully this will be my year!)

9. The Twiddletails Geese in the Forest Quilt


Photo by Seaside Stitches

(Originally designed as a Christmas quilt, I think I will end up making this in colours to go with our house year round instead. Especially if I make the Oh Christmas Tree Quilt.)

10. The Oliver & S Ice Cream Dress



(My friend Laura also bought this pattern without knowing I had it when she went on a trip to The Workroom this Christmas. I'm hoping we can work on this side by side!)

Okay, I think 10 is enough goals, don't you? Especially since most of them are either large projects or involve multipes of the same item.

Am I crazy? I hope not!

What are your sewing/quilting/crafting goals for 2011?

DQS10

I. Can't. Believe it!

I GOT IN!

After trying to get in last round but not getting picked in the lottery, I am so excited to be participating in a swap with such stellar quilters! I'm feeling a tad intimidated, but I have lots of time to try a few things before I have to settle and finish.

In an effort to help my partner out I created an inspiration mosaic because well, I have like 20 pages of favourites and that is just a lot to go through. Here is my top 25 I came up with:



I am so looking forward to creating something unique for my partner and I sure hope that he/she loves it! And of course, I can't wait to see what wonderful little quilty I get in return.

I will try to add progress/updates and photos as often as possible during the process.

giveaway alert!

In case you haven't come across her yet, I wanted to let you know about the fabulous Angela of Fussy Cut. You may know her as Raggedy Owl.

Just recently, Angela switched her blog over to her new site (which looks super cute!) and as a nice little reward to all her followers who made the move with her, she is hosting one HOT giveaway!

She is graciously giving away 7 fat eights of the coveted Heather Ross Lightning Bugs and Other Mysteries!! Included is 2 colours of the gnomes, some happy vans, Matrioshka dolls, and even some goldfish!

To enter, all you have to do is become a follower of her blog (and I highly recomend that you do!) and leave her a comment letting her know.

If you would like an extra chance, go ahead and post on your blog about it. See, like I did! I am seriously crushing on this little stack and hope I am lucky enough to win!

So head on over to Angela's new site and check it out!

365

As mentioned previously, I got a new camera for Christmas this year. It is a fair bit more advanced than my last camera, and I think it will encourage me to learn and use more features. Becuase I got this snazzy new camera, I decided to participate in Project 365.

There are a few key reasons I decided to try this project:

I want to learn to really use my camera.
I want to learn to appreciate and capture beauty and fun and things to be thankful for.
I want to challenge myself.
I want to be deliberate about being even just a tiny bit creative every day.
I want to capture life.

So, even though January 1st probably would have been a smarter date to start on, I couldn't help myself and started on December 25th.

Here's my first month:

1. 365.1, 2. 365.2, 3. 365.3, 4. 365.4, 5. 365.5, 6. 365.6, 7. 365.7


In case you are interested, you can check out the set as it builds, here.

2010

Because I think it's a good thing to reflect, here is my last sewing year in review.



1. Vintage Quilt Reborn, 2. Plain Spoken front, 3. Many Patches Quilt, 4. Criss Cross Quilt, 5. Pink Patchwork - Top Done!, 6. Plain Spoken II, 7. The Argyle Quilt of Doom - Finished!, 8. Sea of Blue, 9. Plain Spoken III - Progress

I completed 7 quilts and started 3. (Only 2 of those 3 are pictures, oh well.) Of those 7 completed quilts, 6 have gone to live with someone else. And of those 3 started, 1 will go to live with someone else.

I've been very happy with the evolution of my quilting skills. I have LOTS left to learn, and I highly doubt I will ever be done learning or think of myself as an expert, but I can see an improvement from the first quilt of 2010 to the last.



1. Coasters Galore!, 2. Bibs, 3. STUD June '10 - Sent, 4. STUD May '10 - Sent, 5. Mod Napkins, 6. The Buttercup Bag 2, 7. Neptune Scarf, 8. Girl Banner, 9. Boy Banner, 10. A Monster & 2 Bibs, 11. Baby J TShirts, 12. STUD July/August '10 Landscapes - Sent, 13. STUD October/November '10 Fussy Cut - Sent, 14. Garters, 15. Hope Valley Table Runner & Napkins, 16. Toddler Apron, 17. Toddler Apron, 18. Giveaway Day Prize, 19. Buttercup Bag 4, 20. STUD July/August '10 Anything Goes - Sent

In other sewing, I completed: 44 coasters, 10 bibs (more on that later), 4 mini quilts for swaps, 22 napkins, 4 buttercup bags (only 3 shown), a scarf, 2 birthday banners, 2 more bibs and a monster, 4 baby tshirts (only 2 shown), 2 garters, 2 toddler aprons, a table runner, 30 christmas ornaments, 2 bowties and a pocket square.

Phew.

In a list it seems like a lot, but actually, I feel like I didn't accomplish as much as I could have. The year has been interesting. More free time than ever, but oddly exhausting. I can't quite describe how tiring it is to have 3 different roommates, plus random passers through, support my husband as he works his way (more than full time!) through the last part of his masters degree, and just generally live life in a good but stressful state.

I don't want any of the above to sound like a complaint. Truly, this year has been one of the best of my life. I met a family that I adore working for, I got to continue working with the other family I love, I've made new friends and reconnected with old, I saw family, I saw dear friends get married, I got the time and space to be creative and I even did a little running. I feel pretty lucky.

Next year, I look forward to doing more sewing. I have a few big projects on my list that I would like to finish (including TWO king sized quilts) but I would also like to spend more time just playing. I feel intimidated by improvisation, and also traditional quilting and I would like to try a little bit of both. Perhaps an improve quilt and a pickledish quilt are in my future.

I would like to take this chance to say thank you, to each person that stops by. It means a lot that you read, and take the time to comment and encourage. Thank you. It feels good to share and know that people are actually reading. Happy New Year!

roast beast solstice

This year my husband and I decided to host a roast beast dinner, a la Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The Christmas season gets to be so busy and we thought it would be fun to take the time to eat, drink and be merry with a bunch of our friends. It also happened to fall on solstice, which as most of you know, also included a really cool lunar eclipse. So we had a double celebration. Food, friends, Christmas and days getting longer.

About a week before the occasion, I got a little creative and decided that we needed some pretty napkins and such to set the mood. I had been hoarding my collection of Hope Valley fabrics, thinking I would turn it into a quilt. But after 8 months, I hadn't even cut into the stack and had rethought the quilt as perhaps a bit girly for my husband.

Inspiration! Purl Soho put up a linen thanksgiving napkin tutorial a while back and I loved it! Of course, I never got around to making any. Then I saw that I had a stack of Hope Valley, and about 10 billion yards of Kona Snow and I knew what to do.

I started cutting, ironing, ironing, ironing, ironing (seriously, there is a lot of ironing involved) and stitching. FOURTEEN napkins later, I have a gorgeous set! I loved the tutorial, it was easy to follow, but my only caution is this: it's a LOT of freaking yardage. Each napkin needs a 1/2 yard total. So seriously, I used up 7 yards of fabric for my set.

After the napkins were done I had a pile of pretty scraps, so I thought, "why not make a table runner to match?". Voila. Done.



I am in love. At first, I thought I might be a little crazy for using so much white in napkins, but a little Shout before the wash, and they are perfect and spotless and pretty all over again.



As for the event, it was super fun. I forgot to take photos, and so did my other picture taking friend for the most part. Alexandra did manage to snap one or two, which I have since stolen from her Facebook (thanks Alex!)

Thank you to all of our friends who came to eat and brought all sorts of yummy food and drink. We will surely be doing this again next year.

happiness and cheer

This Christmas was a good one. The only downside was I was missing my family. Unlike last year, where we hosted 10 people (I guess we only hosted 8, since we were the other 2) we had just 3 other people this time around. Quiet, but fun.

My husband and I had decided ahead of time that we wouldn't be giving each other gifts this year. Partially that was a financial decision, since we are trying to be as frugal as possible while he finishes school, but mostly it was a "why pay ridiculous prices to get each other something when we could go shopping during boxing week" decision.

As it turned out, we have some extremely generous family members and employers. Our grandparents and aunt and uncle sent some money our way, and I was completely overwhelmed by an extremely generous bonus from each of the families that I work for. We decided that with all that money, we would go on vacation. We aren't sure where or when yet, or whether we even have enough but we are sure going to try! It looks like maybe Mexico or the Dominican for a week in March, which will be perfect because frankly, the thaw doesn't even start in Calgary until May most years.

Here are some highlights from Christmas:



A new camera! How lucky am I? I have been wanting to move a step up from the Kodak camera Joel and I have been using since our honeymoon. It's a good little camera, but limited. My step-dad is a camera nut and replaces his regularly. Lucky for all us kids, he is super kind and hands all his cameras down to us. It had been a while since I had received one, so he sent me the Canon sx10is for Christmas! It has been super fun learning to use it (I still have a lot to learn) and even inspired me to try out the 365 photo project. Check out the Flickr stream for that.



Moccasins! My parents love handmade and local items, and picked up a pair of moccasins for Joel, my brother and I. They are deliciously soft and comfy and I wish I could wear them absolutely everywhere.

Also in the footwear category:



New slouchy boots! Not Uggs, which is perfectly fine with me since Uggs are SO slippery, I almost die every time I put them on. These are cozy knitted sketchers with a real tread on them. I really needed some new boots and these are perfect. Not actually a Christmas gift, but my mom sent them out with the Christmas box.



A $200 gift card to either of the two biggest malls in the city. Seriously. Part of the bonus I got from one of my families, they specified that I should treat myself to something out of the ordinary for me like a BCBG dress or a new purse. Excited!



Apples to Apples. Have you played this?? So fun, I can't even describe. Perfect with older kids, or friends and coincidentally, (if you are so inclined) the more you drink, the more fun it is. We played this on Christmas day for almost 3 hours.

Finally, not in the material objects category, but a gift non-the-less, spending time with my hubby. He finished up all of his course work and internship hours by the 23rd, and it's been pure relaxation since then. He has until the 3rd to continue relaxing, but then it's back to hard work and long days for him!



It was also super fun spending time with my brother. As we've gotten older we've spent less time together even though we live in the same city. We both have strong (and very similar) personalities so it's easy for us to get on each other's nerves quickly. But this was almost 3 days of fun. I'm glad we can have Christmas together.

For christmas my brother gave me two things: Glee Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack (random but cool!) and a shopping trip with him. He is a super geeky cool dresser with a bit of an Elvis Costello flair and it is really fun to shop with him. We went to Chinook Centre on the 27th to check out the new wing with all the awesome American additions such as Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Fossil. I picked up a pair of skinny jeans, a belt and a cozy sweater from American Eagle, and another pair of jeans from Urban Outfitters, which I have now decided to exchange for a sweater. Oh well, a good excuse to go back to such a cool store. Here's my weird self portrait of the outfit I'm keeping:



I did some sewing for presents. Actually quite a bit of sewing, and the last of it is sitting downstairs waiting to be finished. I'll post about all the handmade gifts when the last one is done.

Also, look forward to a year in review post. :)

I hope each and every one of you had a fantastic Christmas (if that's what you celebrate) and got to enjoy some rest and relaxation.

it's beginning to look a lot like

Christmas!

Actually, for the most part, it looks a bit more like winter in our house. My husband and I have an ongoing disagreement about how the Christmas tree should be decorated. Not an actual fight or a serious cause of tension, but we just seem to have very different ideas on the subject. So, the plan is that we switch years. Every other year I get to choose how the tree is decorated. Actually, last year we got a second tree, so we switch trees each year now. This year is Joel's turn to decorate our big tree upstairs. And now how much I whined, he insisted on making it a blue tree. I complained that since the tree was pre-lit with soft white lights that blue wouldn't look good, but then 3 of the 7 strands in the tree went out and so I pulled them all off and made it a regular fake tree. (Oh yes, and got a huge rash on my arms and hands from it!)



After all my complaining, the tree is spectacular! So spectacular in fact that I have publicly admitted it! And asked him to take over the primary tree decorating from now on. Who knew?



We do have our second tree set up downstairs and it's a more traditional tree filled with all of our random, special and miscellaneous ornaments.



Some other hints of the holiday season have been popping up around our house too. Check out our cool advent calendar!



Plus our neat little (HUGE) nutcracker.

And the other day I got bored during a half day off work and made these cool paper wreaths!



I really want to get around to making a Christmas quilt one of these days. I have pulled some non-holiday themed fabrics in red and white, plus a couple of holiday pieces and I'm hoping to get working on it soon. But here's my dilemma with Christmas quilts. It would kill me to work so hard and have to put it away for 10 months a year! Is it wrong to keep a Christmas quilt out all year round?

Also, sorry for being so absent these last few weeks (months?) It's been busy, I've been feeling a tad uninspired. But I have been getting lots of work done, so hopefully more posts on that later. Thanks for being patient and sticking around!

P.S. Sorry for the photo quality. Low light and all that.

sunday stash #8

Snip Snip by Momo. I found a remnent of this at Bolt in Portland and had to snap it up!

sunday stash #7

K. Fasset Shot Cottons

sunday stash #6

Positively Pink Prints

what i did on my summer vacation: part three

Okay, it's a little late to be posting this, but the final installment of what I did on my summer vacation may be my most favourite part: Seattle!

On our last day of vacation we ventured to Seattle.  Both Portland and Seattle are on my list of American cities to visit.  (Also included: New York, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, Chicago, etc.)  Obviously, one of the major pulls in Seattle is Pike Place, but I also really wanted to see the Troll.  Don't ask me why, I just think it's awesome.  Since we only had one day, we didn't get to see near enough, but I was glad to be able to go.  We left for Seattle at 5:30am in order to beat the rush hour traffic and arrived just before 7:30.  We found some parking by the pier, and some breakfast at a really cool Sourdough Bakery.

We walked through Pike Place for a couple of hours.  Sampled fresh fruit and smoked salmon, watched the fish mongers toss around trout and sniffed all the spices.  I was particularly in love with the flowers.  I couldn't believe the piles and piles of beautiful fresh local flowers for DIRT CHEAP.



Things that you would never be able to find in Calgary, like piles of Dahlias, and if you could find them, they would be $60 a bunch, no $10.

I tasted a nectarine as big as my head.



Obviously, they discourage public displays of affection with the fruit.



We checked out the Starbucks flagship, which was really crowded and couldn't resist buying a set of mugs with the original logo on them.

We went to the gum wall. Gross.



Seriously.

Took a cliche picture or two:





And then we headed off to the Troll.



How cool is that?

At the end of the day (read: 4pm) we were exhausted!  Besides all the landmarks, we also visited a really old part of town which I know can't remember what it is called and walked around on crazy cobbled streets.  We watched a glass blower for a while, at lunch in a really delicious but really sketchy, dirty Italian restaurant with the worlds tiniest bathroom/furnace room, and took a thousand more pictures.

We left Seattle around 4pm and got stuck in rush hour.  What were we thinking?  It took almost 3 hours just to get past Tacoma!  When we finally got home we were pooped!  We had just enough energy to pack some food and our stuff up, load the car and collapse into bed before our early morning departure back to Calgary.

Once again, a BIG thanks to Krissy and Lucas for hosting us.  Other than some short trips to visit family, this is our first actual vacation since our honeymoon more than 3 years ago, and it may be our last for a while since Joel is still in school.  I would say the vacation was a huge success and on top of getting to mark two cities off my list, it was so good to see Krissy and her husband.

sunday stash #5

Cosmo Cricket - Early Bird