spoonful of sugar

there's a lot going on in my world.

• I am finally trying to make heads or tails of my "hometown" quilt guild website.
• I am helping out some friends with some print materials for their respective jobs/events.
• I am picking up the slack at work b/c my coworker just opened her own wedding invitation business and is using some of her work time to take care of some details here and there (or just gets easily distracted by searching for new paper stock and invitation ideas on the web).
• I have three jobs.
• I am trying to cook more complete meals at home rather than throwing something together at the last minute (read: hamburger helper).
• I am helping to plan a bachelorette party.
• I am preparing for a wedding shower.
• I am the newly-elected vice president of my local soccer league... thusly I am in charge of retaining the old (and obtaining new) sponsorship plus plan three weekends worth of preseason clinics.
• I need to finish cleaning our office so I can have space for all of the information regarding the above tasks.

then there's the stuff that I just want to do...

• finish the flannel pillowcases for my friends' children before it gets too late for flannel pillowcases
• spend some time knitting
• wear more makeup
• upload more photos to shutterfly (of our wedding, for example, and of ireland)
• do yoga
• take walks (with and without bowser)
• spend time with das
• read more books (including "unstuck", even though I don't feel stuck anymore)
• watch movies I haven't seen, and some that I have seen
• take a cooking class

I realize that the first list is, well, really a bunch of stuff that could probably fall under "wants" as well. no one ever said that I had to have three jobs. I could deal without the other two. but I like bartending. no one forced me to do the website for quilt guild. but I wanted to help bring our ladies into the technology age. my friends didn't say I had to help them. but they're my friends, so why wouldn't I offer? I wasn't forced into leadership in soccer. but I wanted to be a part of that which organizes and supports our league.

the short answer is... that there is no short answer. some say that life is too short to go to bed early and sit on the couch. some say that if you want to do it, then your time will come. some say that you have to worry about yourself and make YOU happy.

I say as crazy and hectic as my life is right now... I'm ok with it. because I know... my time won't come... it's already here. really... life's too short to think otherwise.

what do you think?

yay! a quilting post! (kind of)

well, a quilting post and a recap of the past few days. my parents are down visiting so I've been hanging out with them and not doing a whole lot of blogging. also, my co-worker is on vacation, too, so I haven't really blogged at work either. I know all two of you are sitting on the edge of your seat just anxiously awaiting the details of my mundane life... so here you go. ;)

so thursday night, my parents brought all the stuff I have been anxiously posting about. unloading the moving truck wasn't as daunting as I thought it would be, so all worked out well. and by moving truck, I do mean a 14' truck... but only about 1/8 of it was filled. that was just the smallest they could get. still funny though. :) anyway, the greatest accomplishment of the night... was breaking out the treadle. yeah, that's right. my mom brought me my grandmother's treadle sewing machine. it needs some work... namely a tune-up, new leather strap, and a good polishing of the wood (unfortunately, it has a gouge in it from its original move to my parents' house a few years back). I have plans to do some 30s wallhangings with it... for a little authenticity. :) I looked up the serial number on singer's website and discovered that it was in a lot of 5000 (model/class #44) out of elizabeth, new jersey on january 8, 1910. :) how rad is that?! I am very excited. in addition to the great treadle that was brought, we finally have some semblance of a spare room! my parents brought a full size bed (the whole set) plus sheets, a dresser, and a behemoth mirror. they also brought my old student desk so now I have that... and can finally use my computer at home (more easily than I was anyway).

friday das and I went to happy hour at, hm... well, I don't remember where (and NO, it's not because I was drunk!). we had some fabulous wings and other typical bar fare... it was a good, fun night. not much else to report there...

saturday I kind of slept in. not as much as I would've liked... but oh well I guess. we watched some olympics recaps... made breakfast... just generally lazed around. then das found some sales for kitchen/dining furniture so we decided to go check it out. we need a new kitchen table since our other one, well, isn't going to make it up the stairs (it's pretty old, and falling apart). one of the first ones we saw was really awesome... but also $1200. so we opted against that one. then we went to bob's discount furniture and found a great set plus a coffee table with end tables (it's being delivered as I write!). :) then we came home, had an awesome taco meal, and watched more olympics. here are some photos of the furniture. the table is just an example... it's not quite the one we got, but similar. the coffee table is exact... isn't the elevating table top cool?! now we can more satisfactoraly eat dinner in front of the TV! (oh, and we opened the homemade pickles - AWESOME!!)

sunday... I slept in. a little bit anyway. then my mom and I went out to the old house, loaded up the jetta... and I finally brought almost all of my stuff back. there was a lot there... but most of it was in bags and was easily manipulated to fit into the car. :) I will probably go back tonight to get my long table, the iron, the light for my lightbox, and the rest of my scrapbooking stuff (if there's room). after loading that up and then unloading it again back home, das and I got ready for a concert at mohegan sun: cheap trick, heart, and journey. we've seen journey before... and had a really great time. not so much this time around. they played a lot of songs we weren't familiar with... but heart totally rocked the house!! ann wilson is still the amazing songstress she has always been, and nancy plays a mean guitar. it was a wonderful show... I wish THEY were headlining!! now since my parents didn't get to go on their canadian vacation, they decided to hit up the slots at mohegan while we were there. after the concert, we met up with them for a few minutes... I won $20 on the penny slots (for my mom). then I promptly lost my $20 I played. das won $30... and then we were leaving. well, my dad said, "no wait! I see the one that'll be the jackpot!" we all said, "oh ok..." and slowly followed him over to the machine. about $11 into his $20... he hits a BAR-10x BONUS-BAR... which gave him 300 tokens (which is $75)!! apparently that was enough jackpot for him... because we left shortly after. :)

monday... was a dragging, dr a g g i n g day. after a late night sunday and all the olympic fever... it was rough. but after work, mom and I went to joann's fabric. what an event... did you know that they don't put out their irons for general viewing? well, I didn't. and apparently that's the biggest process known to man. 47 associates and 3 hours later... (sigh). I didn't buy an iron. :)

and now we're at today. which, for me, is over! :) time to head home... to my new (though slightly dinged) furniture... to my sewing machine... to my family... and to a tasty hamburger dinner. I hope to do up some photos tonight. maybe I'll show off my dimly-lit-but-more-expansive-sewing area. ;)

CHAOS!!

omg. can I just tell you the ridiculousness that has been my past few days?! work, where I do most of my blogging (shh don't tell), has been crazy. I work for a direct mail facility in the quoting department... a department of two people. and my coworker was out for the past three days. [sigh] usually, it's not too bad because my boss (the CEO) just happened to be out as well... but for whatever reason, I was just absolutely slammed with work. my coworker came back today (which is why I can take a few moments to blog) and all is somewhat right with the world. I still have a ton of work to finish, but at least I can breathe while doing it! :)

meanwhile, das and I are going to chicago tomorrow morning for a few days. we'll be visiting and staying with das's sister and brother-in-law, as well as catching up with some old friends (and give them their long-awaited wedding quilt - pics to follow) and just being general tourists. neither das nor I have been to the windy city, but we're excited for the opportunity! he and I can really make the best of whatever situation we're in... and we enjoy each other's company so we could be broken down in the middle of nowhere and we'd manage. :)

so, I've been busting my butt to finish up this ginormous quilt for this trip. I am still finishing it up, but only about half the binding plus the label remain. nothing I can't handle! I've been doing a LOT better with my bindings... I'm mostly just slow, but I've been cruising through this binding. so yay for that. for some reason, I love doing bindings. perhaps just the mindlessness of it... and I think I do a pretty decent job with it, too, so it gives me a sense of pride that my quilts are finished off so well. the pattern is called 'jacket plaid' from an older thimbleberries book. it was an easy pattern... didn't hurt that my mom had started a lot of it about ten years ago, and then since I needed the quilt for the wedding, let me take and finish it up. I did do about 80-85% myself, but there were quite a few (of 90) blocks already put together. it uses almost all thimbleberries fabrics, too, resulting in a very folky, homey look. the backing is a paisley repro. it's the first time that I've ever used a wideback for the backing - can I tell you how much I LOVE IT that I didn't have to piece the damn backing?! oh it was so fabulous. I really feel like that is all I will do now for backings... screw piecing! also, because I am a wicked procrastinator and I have been spoiled for the past few years with fast fast turnaround for my quilting... I waited until the last minute to get it all quilted. so the many places I contacted around here had no availability... even my usual LAQ was booked until the middle of may. so... I went to maine last weekend (to visit the folks and attend a maine quilts chair meeting)... and was so very fortunate to find a wonderful amazing woman who would quilt it for me while I was there - for the weekend. the quilting she did was absolutely wonderful. I couldn't ask for a more pleasant experience. she also does a lot of stuff out-of-state, so I may send some of my stuff out to her. she did such a great job... if anyone is in her area, or even if you aren't... she's worth it. and the prices are comparable to any other quilters, too. ok, enough plugging. :) anyway, I'll make sure to post some pictures (I always say that!).

so as I mentioned, I was in maine last weekend. a lot of it was travelling... the LAQ was about 45 minutes north of my parents' house... the chairpersons' meeting was an hour north of my parents' house... and then we had to do some random bits of driving to my mom's dr appointment. friday my dad and I drove up to drop off the quilt, then went out to lunch at governor's restaurant in lewiston. I hadn't eaten there in so long. it was a great meal, though they are really known for their desserts, especially the strawberry shortcake. unfortunately, we didn't partake of the sweet treats... we were both full! then we came back and waited until my mom got home from work, then we took her to south portland for some bloodwork. since my dad and I ate so late, we just rummaged around at home for dinner... but then my mom suggested going to amato's for some hot sandwiches. I ended up with stuffers (think cinnamon rolls but instead of cinnamon and icing, it's spinach, broccoli and cheese). then for the rest of the evening, I ironed... I brought four or five projects to cut out and I just got the fabric ready and hanging on hangers. saturday, mom and I were up early and out to be in augusta by 9am for the meeting. it lasted about 3-1/2 hours (ugh) then we were back on our way home. when we got home, I did a lot of cutting. I was sore... there wasn't a height for any of the surfaces that worked well, so I just sucked it up and finished two total projects. I left one for my mom to work on (the michaela bag - a funky take on the messenger bag), and took two home to attempt to work on. oh, and we went back to amato's for dinner... I got a real maine italian. SO fabulous... I miss them so when I am in CT. :) then sunday... it was a family outing to drive up and pick up the quilt, then grab a quick bite, and off I went back to CT since I had a soccer game in west hartford at 4:30p. [sigh] the life I lead.

well, I am tired just remembering my weekend... and I have to get back to work! I'll be off in the windy city for a few days... I hope to grab lots and lots of pictures!

I feel like a cymbalta commercial

today has been awful. just total crap. not only is it raining and just generally crappy out... I feel like ass, too. I want to be at home just curled up with das and the furboys not doing anything. I am not physically sick... just family crap that I wish didn't need to happen. I'm almost 27 and it shouldn't bother me, but it does.

regardless, yesterday went well for lunch. I made roast chicken with sage and rosemary seasoning. it was my first roast chicken (I've done turkeys and the like) and it came out awesome. very moist and totally delish. for sides I did roast asparagus with garlic and rosemary, and kasha varnishkes, a traditional jewish side of pasta with kasha. very tasty. my MIL and das's bubbe both make it. mine didn't come out too badly for never having made that before either. we had some good pinot grigio with dinner, too, and overall it was a good afternoon/evening. I just relaxed after that and read a little. I was tired and felt like I was falling asleep sitting up... so I figured trying to sew would prove a costly mistake. :/ such is life.