Quilter - To be or not to be??

I used to honestly think I had some impairment when it came to sewing. My first go at it was in 7th grade home-ec were I managed to sew together (quite horribly) a multi-colored windsock. Well at the top of this windsock I was suppose to sew a button hole as a place were you could tie some fishing line and hang the thing up, but for the life of me I could not figure it out. I watched the teacher do the demonstration and all but I had a block and just couldn't do it right. So the teacher came over and out of frustration sat down at my machine and sewed it for me. I was embarrassed, which is a constant state of being for a 7th grader I'm sure, but I just remember feeling lame cause my windsock looked awful and I had to have the teacher finish it.

The summer after that year of middle school an adorable woman in our ward who made all of her kids clothes complete with the "Guess" tags in the right place on the overalls had sewing classes in her home. The "in crowd" of girls in our neighborhood, namely Mindy, Mandy, and Lindsey, were taking this class so I wanted to too mainly because I was hoping to fit in a little better with them and what is a better way to become best friends then make huge hair bows together!! You gotta love 1989!! Yes, the first project in the class was a gargantuan light denim blue hair bow hot glued onto a barrette and I wore it religiously as a symbol of my solidarity with my would be best friends. Well it didn't quite work, we didn't become the best of friends and sadly I didn't learn much about sewing either. Somehow I managed to get that sweet sister from our ward to do all the hard stuff for me. I don't think I even learned how to thread a bobbin quite honestly. Yes Mom, I am now admitting all those cute projects, the hair bows, stuffed bunny, candy-cane embroidered apron, and nautical themed t-shirt were all mostly sewn by Sister Bradshaw. It's good to get that off my chest.:)

And my ventures into sewing have continued with limited success since that summer of 1989. I sewed a few "angel gowns" as part of a stake Relief Society service project a few years ago and I made "I-Spy" book thingies for my kids and their cousins for Christmas, yet I have never felt very confident with the sewing machine or been completely happy with my sewing results. But shockingly enough in the past few weeks during my blogging hiatuses I have been sewing taggie mini blankets for all my friends who have had or who are having babies soon (lots and lots of babies on the way) and I'm getting better at it. It all started 6 months ago when the shop I had been buying taggie blankies from (or "woobies" as they call them) stopped selling them all of a sudden. It had been my go-to baby gift ever since I had gotten one for Nina and she loved it so much (and still does - it's her comfort object and she won't go to bed without it). Well when they stopped selling them I looked at Nina's and thought to myself hey I can make this. And I did! It was a total confidence booster, simple as the project is and as forgiving as fleece is which the blankets are made from, I still felt for the first time that I can sew a straight line!! Yay! And I enjoy it. It's actually been a soothing pass-time. In the evening while Adrian is doing his homework I put on my i-Pod and listen to a shuffle of all my favorite tunes and sew away.

So my taggie inspired confidence has led to my soon to be newest adventure in sewing - quilting. Da da dun.... There is a quilting enrichment activity group in my ward and they are starting a new snowman wall-hanging quilt and I'm going to give it a go. I don't know if I have the aptitude for quilting, but I'm going to try and I have a feeling that the leader of the group, who is a master quilter, will probably not step in and sew my cute wall hanging no matter how hopeless a quilter I am. So I really have to do it myself this time - wish me luck!

The Contents of my Bag Tag

I thought this was a really fun thing to do - thanks for tagging me Deb. I was actually quite amazed by all the stuff I stuff into my bag - it's like I'm packing it to win that baby shower game were you get points for all the odd things you have in your purse!! It was also good to clean out all the junk in there (the old grocery list serves as the representative for all the junkie papers I threw away before taking this picture:)).

My bag is a Vera Bradley bag that I got last Mother's day. (I usually pick out my own mother's day gift from Adrian - it just works better that way.) I love the size so that I can fit a lot of kid's stuff in it and I don't have to carry a separate diaper bag when I'm out and about.

Here's what all that stuff is:

- my planner (I've been carrying this model of planner for almost 13 years now - the thought of being without it makes my eye twitch and the contents of my planner could be a post unto itself.)

- cell phone

- keys

- little white and navy checkered thing is my knock off "Diapee Wipee" bag from ebay (it was only 4 bucks)

- 2 diapers and 1 pull-up

- wipes

- a bandaid

- diaper cream

- Coconut Lime Verbena hand sanitizer

- Shout Wipes (these have saved many a shirt from permanent spottiness)

- pop-up brush

- an old shopping list

- Kleenex tissues

- little lavendar paper is my "important numbers list" (I have one in my planner too so this is admittedly redundant)

- Este Lauder "flamingo" lip gloss (very silly name, but I like the color)

- chapstick

-Altoids

- 4 pens

- my i-Pod (at the constant ready with my favorite tunes and audio-books, oh how I love it!)

- small bottle of various medicines like ibuprofen and Tylenol (headaches usually seem to strike when I am out and about with the kiddies - go figure:))

- calculator

- Valentines card from Adrian

- 10 year Anniversary card from Adrian (I've had this folded down in the bottom of my purse since he gave it too me - I love the little note he wrote inside and get it out and read it every once in a while for smiles.)

- various portrait studio coupons (I still need to get Nina's 18 mo pics done)

- the book I'm currently reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (it's a beautifully written book)


Okay I'm going to tag Cami, Brenda, and Jann but only if you want to... Also anyone else who wants to! I think it's been really fun to see everyones' bags and those hidden bag contents...

Valentines Day and Date

Adrian and I went out on Friday night instead of Thursday for our Valentines date and we had a grand time. I should start by saying that we did have a fun sort of family Valentines dinner on Thursday with our traditional spaghetti and meatballs - I think ever since I watched Lady and the Tramp as a child spaghetti and meatballs has seemed like a romantic dinner. I surprised everyone by putting a little bag of goodies on there plate. The kids got little bitty Build a Bear stuffed animals, Valentines candy hearts, and a card. Adrian got a card and candy heart along with some Hot Tamales which has been an inside joke for a while that I'll not share on the blogs, but if you'd like me to tell you the story in person let me know.:) After the kids went to bed we watched No Reservations on pay per view which I have to say right now was a tedious romantic comedy. I don't even think I would call it all that romantic, it was just boring. So sorry if you liked that movie! But we did watch the whole thing out of obligation to the 3.99 we paid for it and had brownies together which was nice.

Then on Friday we went to the Melting Pot for our actual V-date and oh how super yummy it was. We decided to forgo gifts this year (with the exception of cards and the the stuff I got for the kids) and go all out for the full on Melting Pot feast. We got the Swiss cheese fondue, spinach and mushroom salad, yummy meats like fillet mignon and chicken with the coq a vin broth, and the yin yang chocolate fondue dessert course. It was GOOD!! And when you do the whole dinner feast it actually takes quite a while - our reservation was at 9pm and we were there until 11 - so it was so nice to sit and talk, stew meats and dip desserts together... They said on the Today show that fondue is the perfect Valentines dinner cause it's so romantic and cozy and I totally agree. Maybe we'll make it a tradition. This year was our 11th valentines day together as a couple and I can really say that the years have only strengthen the love I have for my sweet hubby. Happy Valentines day again Adrian!

Happy Valentines Day!

Thought I'd wish everyone a happy valentines day with another lovely Pre-Raphaelite. I think I'm going to try to watch a few Jane Austen movies today for the occasion (that is if Ben and Nina will go along with it). I hope your valentines day is a good one!!

(Tristan and Isolde, Edmund Blair Leighton, 1907)

A Puzzling Miracle

A new activity has taken hold at our house - puzzles. The story I am about to tell you is true and accurate and sure to amaze... Last Saturday our 2 oldest, Sophie and Ben, woke up early as usual, but they did not disturb us, nor did they raid the pantry for left over Christmas candy or fruit snacks as they have been known to do on very naughty mornings. No, they came downstairs and quietly worked on a puzzle together!! Like they actually worked together in peaceful harmony on a 100 piece Ravensburger chameleon puzzle - for a long time letting the rest of us sleep peacefully! I didn't witness the moment that Adrian descended the stairs to find them happily puzzling at our dining room table with the TV turned off, but he says the scene almost brought tears to his eyes. It was our little Saturday miracle and since then we have bought a few more puzzles in hopes of recreating that moment again... We hope this Saturday morning!
(Here they are doing the same puzzle together on another day.)

U2 in 3D

Saturday night Adrian and I went out with a group of wonderful friends to U2 in 3D at an IMAX theater and it was awesome!! I am probably what you would call a casual U2 fan - which basically means I own Joshua Tree, Actung Baby, and have (or had, I have no idea where it is now) the tape of the Sunday Bloody Sunday single which I procured sometime in middle school. But even as a casual fan I would say it was almost the coolest concert I've ever seen. The Tori Amos"Under the Pink" concert I went to in high school is still the best concert I've ever been too, but this one was just so neat to see because the band is right in front of you. It felt like Bono was right there and you could almost touch him. There was this one point were he reaches out during "wipe your tears away" in Sunday Bloody Sunday and I thought to myself "oh, look he has cute chubby hands!".:) I also found out that the Edge plays a very sparkly guitar! They played so many of my favorites like Where the Streets Have No Names and With or Without You... If you have the chance to see it I would highly recommend going!


So I think it is the best idea to see concerts in 3D - I really hope they start doing lots more like Sting and The Cure! Wouldn't that be great!! But I'm sure it makes Cami and Kellie - the "fans" from our group - happy to know that U2 were the first ones to do it!:)

Romantic Art History Pic for February

So I just had to pick a romantic art history piece for February because of Valentines Day, so what could be more romantic then this lovely painting of Romeo and Juliet by Sir Frank Dicksee?! Dicksee was a Pre-Raphaelite in style, but was never actually a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a reformist movement in art that happened right before the turn of the 2oth century. Many other movements were going on at this time such as Impressionism and Post-Impressionism and even some early Expressionism (lots and lots of 'isms) so the Pre-Raphaelites really didn't get a whole lot of critical attention in comparison with all these other extremely innovative movements.

As much as they weren't considered all that "important" (who can compete with the Impressionists?!) the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood had an interesting point of view. They absolutely abhorred Mannerism which was the "out-there" style of art that took over after the Renaissance. They actually trace the corruption of what they thought was beautiful, un-mechanical, art to the Renaissance painter Raphael which led to their name the "pre-Raphaelites". It's funny because you really never hear anything bad about Raphael except for these guys!:) Raphael was kind of the "darling" of the Renaissance masters - he wasn't as innovative as say Leonardo (as you can see innovation really is the key to be considered historically important), but he was a patron-pleaser and his workshop pumped out massive amounts of art. Raphael was very well liked during his time and in ours. Hey there's even a Ninja Turtle named after him right?! Well the Pre-Raphaelites believe that art started to take a horrible formulaic, ultra-posed turn with Raphael and they instead took their cues from Flemmish art like say Rembrandt and Vermeer and Italian Quattrocento art. They really took painting to a new ultra-romantic and luciously beautiful height. The Pre-Raphaelites major themes are almost fairy tale-ish really, like the knights and ladies of Camelot, Shakespearian characters, and beautiful historic women draped in extremely detailed clothes.

My senior year of high school I had a Pre-Raphaelite calendar which was filled with works by Rosetti, Millais and Waterhouse (though like Dicksee,Waterhouse was never an actual member of the Brotherhood). I loved that calendar and think I left it hanging up for a couple of years just cause I loved all the prints. When Adrian and I got married I bought a print of Midsummer Eve by Hughes (stylistically a Pre-Raphaelite too) at Prints Plus in the University Mall to hang over our bed and to this day it's still in the same place just in a different house now. I have a special fondness for Pre-Raphaelite art - it is considered a bit "fluffy" art-historically, but it's beautiful and oh so Valentines Day-ish.

(Midsummer Eve, by Edward Robert Hughes, 1908)