lindsey marcella

au revoir mes amies

I don't even know if that's right. It's actually been a long time since my last french class, but some of my favorite cds are french.

Tomorrow is vacation day! I was very excited...but that was before Fay. Yep, I'm headed to the heart of it. Cocoa Beach. Only about 24" of rain there so far. I'm hoping for the best. I was contemplating postponing the trip, but I decided not to. So here I am packing. Why is it that things in mini size are so fun to buy? They're cheap and super practical, especially when we're taking my car down again. On a LONG, straight through drive.

As I was pulling my clothes out and putting them on the bed, I realize how much green I have in my wardrobe. Ask me my favorite color, and I might say pink or orange, but never green. Maybe I need to reevaluate?

Even if we have horrible weather in the great state of FL, I'll at least have plenty to do. I plan on bringing some knitting, my embroidery floss, some good books, and some good music. Either way it's a week off with Derek and Cosmo! I should have access to the internet, and be able to pop in and say hi. If not, vous me manquez!

it's official

Today is my last Monday "out of office". Starting next week, I am going to work full time. Same job, just tacking on Mondays and Tuesdays. It was my choice (and my job share partner's!), and I think it is going to be very good. I still don't know how to feel about it for now though. I love my time at home, whatever I happen to be doing or working on. It will be a big adjustment! I haven't worked full time since 2004. So if I'm a little quiet here...you'll know why! I will still be updating Deerly though, since I've done a lot of prep work already. Oh, and if you like those cute red beads in my sign, those are here!

little me

A box of pictures fell out of my closet today, so while I was cleaning the mess up I figured I should scan a few in. So I'll leave you with a few pictures of "little me", and on of my mom, because it's cute! I've been super busy, but it's winding down now so I should be back to normal posting soon!

back and forth

I enjoy doing too many things. I can't focus on one activity or project. Right now I want to look at some Japanese craft books, crochet a summer scarf, sew a bag, finish a great book, and read blogs. Tomorrow it will probably be drawing, knitting, cleaning, and cooking. Eeek! I like doing it all, but I should probably be more focused. I bet I could get more done!

Doesn't that OJ look good? Fresh squeezed!

Pop on over to this cute little blog and enter a great giveaway!

Redo

I've been doing a lot of cleaning/ reorganizing over the past few days. My poor little front room was a little worse for wear. It's looking a lot better already, so hopefully (fingers crossed) it should be done tomorrow. The Easter Bunny brought be a regular, full sized ironing board, so that was the start of this whole redo. I needed a place for that board. So I switched around some bookcases, cleared out the fabric shelves, fiddled with the walls. It's getting there. With a few breaks in between. Like that little Moleskin I did. I actually fused the trees to the book before stitching, so they're really on there! And then today I went to the thrift store, and found that cute sheet. Also a cute Pyrex too, with some pretty flowers on it.

The thrift store was fun. It was just really in an out, and I barely spent any money. Good entertainment. I would like to find some more around here, but there are just a lot of expensive vintage stores around here that aren't really worth my time.

I've also been playing around with Photoshop. I've had it forever, but never ever (ok, rarely) use it. Do you know what I use if I need to edit? Paint. I'm not kidding. That's why my pictures never look good. I was going through Alicia's blog and found this older entry which is basically a picture tutorial. It seems like the minimum, but wow it works wonders! Those flowers on the Pyrex up there just popped after I fiddled with it for a few minutes. Now I want to go through all of my picture folders and play around.

This wasn't a very good picture to begin with. It's got the evening sun and nothing was really that clear. The top picture was my Paint version, the bottom Photoshop. Not too bad! Those hangers are from the $1 section (2 for $1 actually) at Target. The flower thing is an old pin board that I covered with some Swell fabric. I don't know if I'll use it as a board or if I'll just leave it as-is as 'art'.

Tomorrow it will be off to Home Depot or Lowe's. I need a few container-type things and think I can get some inexpensively at one of those places. I'm only bringing $20 to spend so I hope so. This room switch is not something I need/want to spend $ on so we'll see!

Yep,

I'd say it's a blizzard.

A pretty one though!

(happy) v-day

I hope you all had a happy valentine's day. I did, and I didn't. Here's the happy part:

A stitched button card for Derek, along with a warm pad:

Cosmo tested it, and he loves it. I will need to buy some more rice and make some extras for us too. I did what some people mentioned in the comments; I made little rice compartments to keep it from shifting in there too much.

Now the not so happy: something very unexpected and sad and awful happened to my mom today, something she didn't deserve. I found out early today, and my boss was nice enough to allow me to leave. Cosmo and I drove home to spend some time with her and everyone else of course. Be cool tomorrow, and then stick it out til the end of March. Then we can have some fun and do our own business - haha, yeah right, but we can dream right?

keeping busy

I've just been puttering around here...sewing a little, cleaning, fun stuff. I made this apron last night:

The fabric is so cute - little teacups! This was part of the sweet "hive" package Debby sent me over the summer. I liked it so much I've just had it sitting on my shelf! So I chopped it up and made this for myself. I cut out another one too, so maybe I'll make it as a gift? Start stocking up now for x-mas '08?

Speaking of hives, I've still got them, but I did finally see an allergist this week. He told me the hives aren't from any products I'm using, and not from any foods. I've just got them...and they could last years! He gave me some medicine to try, and for now it seems to be working very well. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. It is nice though being able to use lotion and perfume again though.

Look at this adorable lightswitch plate I bought from Jen! I couldn't pass it up. It fits my switch; I just need to get longer screws. This is where it's going to go:

The scissors holder thing was just put up. By me, and just with nails...but Derek said it should hold just fine. My scissors aren't very heavy. I would like a pegboard, but I already had this coat rack, so it's use what you have and no need to buy!

*edit to add* I totally forgot to show the cute little extras that Jen sent me! That was so nice - thank you!

Alright...back to cleaning! 

stop and smell them

I got some flowers tonight from Whole Foods! This is a big deal because I never get flowers. But my mom got some this weekend, and I decided I needed some too! I love them, and I told Derek I want flowers all the time now.

I finished up a few little things today. They were things that had been sitting around waiting for awhile, so it was nice to wrap them up. This little sachet was embroidered in Florida, so all I had to do was sew up the rectangle and ribbon, and fill it with flax seed and lavender. Door hanger for V-day, and hanger-hanger the rest of the time!

I also went to the dentist today. I've been very bad - this was my first appointment in a long time. I had 2 wisdom teeth out the summer of 2004, and I think I had a check up around that time too. Of course I've got excuses: living in NY, school, no insurance, hives...but none of them are good enough. I've got great insurance now, so there really is no excuse. The dentist was very nice, and everyone said I've got great teeth, but no dental attention is bad. I've got 3 appointments coming up- a cleaning and then a visit to fix up the left and then the right side. Again - great insurance...but I'm still left to foot a $600 bill at the end of it all!  Buh-bye sewing machine savings! Oh well. So visit the dentist!!!

wishing you all...

a very Merry Christmas!