my favorite things: embroidery

It's my birthday week!  My official birthday is tomorrow.  I can't wait.  I love birthdays.  Mine. Yours.  Anybody's.  I have no prejudice when it comes to birthdays (or anything else, I hope!).

In celebration of my birthday, I am going to share with you a few of my favorite things this week.  Since Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and my birthday week is almost always during the week of this great event,  I will probably be posting some holiday festivities along the way.

But for starters, I love embroidery! It's definitely one of my favorite things.

Beautiful, right?

I started with cross-stitch when I was a wee lass, maybe 15 years old.  I had stumbled across some floss and aida cloth that my mom had started on years before.   The cute little animals and the colorful floss were so enticing that I couldn't resist picking up the tiny needles and giving it a go.

I soon gave that up.  I mean, high school, sports, friends...way more fun.  And time consuming.

Only very recently did I re-channel that desire for hand embroidered goodness.  It was actually on my study abroad trip to Costa Rica that I decided to pick up the needle and thread again.  I begged my tica momma to take me into the city to a store that sold floss, aida cloth, embroidery hoops, needles and a guide book.  Our communication over this matter was nothing less than a test of patience and linguistic skill.  Let me not forget the ever important and universal hand gestures.

I don't think I have mentioned that throughout this journey of cross-stitch awareness, I never actually completed anything.  At least not that I can remember.  Also, let me say that the graphics that I chose to cross stitch (and that were readily available) were baby farm animals and puppies.  Cute, but not really interesting.  Needless to say, I think I became bored with it.

Cute.

Also cute.

Then I discovered a more free-form hand embroidery technique by a girl named Jenny Hart.  She creates some incredible hand embroidered artwork.  It's fun, it's interesting, and it's totally doable.

The Queen of Embroidery

Day of the Dead Skull, a Jenny Hart design

I became hooked.  I was gifted her how-to book as a Christmas gift and was totally excited to see girly skulls, goofy birds, and beautiful colors and a variety of stitches throughout the pages.

My very first completed hand embroidered project was a tiny flannel dress that I made for my niece Caroline.  It featured the goofy birds.  It was so simple (back stitches and french knots) and so stinkin' cute.

Goofy Birds, a Jenny Hart design

Another item that I finished was a free-form design (meaning I didn't use a pattern, I just let my hands move to the rhythm of my imagination) and it formed into a little matroyshka doll face and I filled in the gaps with a variety of stitches and colors.  I was pretty proud of it when it was completed.  I also gave that to my niece Caroline.

The finished product has two eyes, but I didn't get a picture of that.

I have half started a few other things, my most recent embroidery project is family stockings.  I am only embroidering the names of each individual in my household and then using my machine to sew the stocking together.  They are turning out really nice.

Yeah, it takes a while to use the satin stitch technique to do each name, but it's so bold and rich looking that I think it's worth the time I've invested.

I'm almost finished.  I have Peter's left and most of my own.  After that it's stocking construction time.

Also, these stockings are pretty non-traditional.  They will be the traditional stocking shape, but the fabric I will be choosing/using is not your red and green holiday cloth.  The boys don't care for that. Heck, I am taking a risk assuming they will even care for the stockings at all.

Dustin's stocking will be made of a Carhartt-esque, caramel colored duck cloth (it doesn't get much manlier than that without crossing the tacky threshold).  I think I will line it with a flannel, manly fabric.  Caleb will have a plaid fabric, mostly because he likes to wear plaid shirts.  Peter's stocking will be made of a fabric that he brought back for me from his home in Ghana, Africa.  I think he will appreciate that.

I am still debating on the girls.  They are much easier to choose for, but at the same time I am still unsure.  Regardless, they will be awesome and I will have a great sense of accomplishment once they are finished.

Is anyone else making stockings this year for their families or friends?  Do you prefer traditional Christmas colors/fabrics or are you more likely to go with something non-traditional?

I will admit that I love cross-stitch stockings with a primitive, country flair like these:

A Bent Creek pattern

A Bent Creek pattern

If you are interested in learning to embroider or just to enhance the knowledge you already have, here are some great resources:

Needle N' Thread - for patterns, tutorials, everything you need to know

Rock Sea Embroidery - great pictures and tutorials for a variety of stitches, stitch dictionary

Carina's Craft Blog - frame your finished work

Carina's Craft Blog - paper transfer tutorial

Tada Creations - Heat Transfer Pencil Method

Don't be afraid, go to Pinterest and search "embroidery".  Get inspired!  It's my birthday week anything is possible!!


Keep Posted,

 
the rave

Pie...Oh My!

Don't have much time, but I really wanted to share some pics from this past Saturday's  Pie-Making-Class at our church.

Dustin volunteered me to attend.  I, in turn, volunteered him to attend.  We're even.

We had a blast though.  Dustin is an excellent and motivated chef/baker.  I knew he would have a great time once he jumped the hurdle of the stigma that making pies is a girly thing.

Let's just say, he's ready to impress his Nana with all of the talent he displayed (and confidence gained) during that class.

Most of the pies...Apple and Pumpkin....Dustin's has the creative pastry cutouts on top.

The Bakers and their pies.

Apple and Pumpkin....did I mention he hand-drew and cutout his "P" and leaf?!

The All-American Pie

A mix of apples....Granny Smith, Braeburn & Cortland.  It turned out to be pretty tart.

A perfectly spicy pie.  Is that a cute pie plate?!  Dustin's Aunt gifted that to us for a wedding gift, I think.

Dustin's Masterpiece

That was our Saturday morning/afternoon in a..."pie"shell....hehe.


I am on my way to do more work on the thrift store that I keep sporadically mentioning.  I have partial before and after pics too!!  Yippee!

The store is scheduled to open the first Sunday in December.  I don't have much more time to get things together.  I am soooo detail oriented too that it's difficult to get to the bigger things that need to be done, i.e. organizing and moving things into the room, when I can't stop thinking about the minor things, i.e. painting signs for clothing racks, painting bookshelves, etc.

Just a bit of background.  The thrift store is located in the a room in the bottom floor (basement-esque) of the church.  It was in a fair state of disrepair with moldy, dark wooden walls, mis-matched tile floor with random missing tiles and a bad leak from somewhere.

We've painted the walls, found and fixed the leak, and ripped up all the tiles and painted the concrete floor that was underneath.

BEFORE:

DURING:

Walls have been painted a pure white to brighten up a dark room.

These tiles were AWFUL to tear up.

 AFTER:

Walls painted, floor painted.  GREAT Improvement.

Up close of painted concrete floor.

Dustin adding the final touches of sealer to our "glitter-fied" floor

Up close of glitter floor.  It makes me so happy!

It adds to the brightness of the room, don't you think?

 Here's the tutorial I loosely followed for the glitter floor...The Crafty Chica.

 So, I'm on my way there.  I need to do a lot more to get it ready for opening.  But I will update you as much as possible!  I can't wait.

Oh, I designed a logo for the store too.  I would love to know what you think.  I am debating on colors, mostly because, on a church's budget, you have minimal wiggle room.  So I will probably have to use any paint on hand to fancy up a few bookcases I found in the basement of the church.  We also have some red and white fabric that donated, which I think we will use for curtains on the windows and door that leads to the garden area.

P.S.  Is is a bad thing if you eat pie for dessert and breakfast?!

Keep Posted!!

the rave

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made

New York City.  The Big Apple.  The City that Never Sleeps.  Did you know there are at least 98 nicknames for this city?

This past weekend was my first real visit to NYC, more specifically Manhattan.  It was electrifying.

I felt like I was living in a movie.  Drinking coffee 24/7, riding the subway like I'm legit, haling cabbies (well, I didn't, but my friends did), being a part of the hustle and bustle of millions of people like it's my J-O-B.

Ah, the Land of Opportunity.

I really mean this.  Let me tell you why.


First, we...by "we" I mean me and my insanely awesome housemates, Amy and Janell, booked a room via Air B&B. Laura, the girl who rented her room to us, was really nice and accommodating.  She rents out her room to people whenever she's going to be out of town.  She has a French roommate, Eunice, who was there, in his own room, during our stay.  For $120 a night in Manhattan, you won't catch me complaining.  He was super nice and also accommodating; we were pretty lucky.

The Girls...Dinner, NYC style

Back to the Land of Opportunity thing.  Laura was headed out of town for the weekend.  To vacation in the Hamptons.  To audition as a nanny.  For MADONNA!

A bit intimidating, don't ya think?

Well, for her two oldest kids.

Lourdes and Rocco.  My niece, Darby, looks like Lourdes.  Beautiful.

Our house girl, Laura, spent the weekend with THE Material Girl.  Madge. Mo.

Yeah, she pushes buttons.  She's probably pushed every button in the world, at one point or another.  I'm not saying anything about her character or person....and then again, maybe I am.  The point is, we were one person away from a HUGE celebrity!  My adrenaline can't help but pulse through my veins.  (Confession:  I cried at my first and only Backstreet Boys concert...not a sob, but tears...of joy.)

I am not an avid celebrity follower.  I do like to scan the magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store.  I never buy them.  I do, however, comb through them with Janell brings a new one home, or when I am at the hair store...aka, beauty salon...(who calls it a "hair store"?)...I don't wear weaves.

ANYWAYS....

I didn't get many pictures for a few reasons.

1.  I get really distracted with all of the life that's happening around me.  I just don't think about snapping a picture.

2.  I didn't want to look like a tourist. Especially an obnoxious one that stops in the middle of all the sidewalk traffic to snap a pic of the silly, boring pizza shop that she just had a delicious slice of pizza at.  That wasn't me.  I am not sure that it's ever even happened; I'm just speculating.

Here's the run down of our time spent in Gotham City.

Friday...

-Took the BoltBus from Philly to NYC...for $11.  You couldn't pay me to drive into that city.

-Settled in our teeny apt...beautiful fire escape included....found out that Laura is on the verge of being a celebrity....waited for Amy's bus to arrive.

-After Amy arrived, we walked a couple blocks to this place...

The Crooked Tree Creperie, East Village

Savory Crepes for Dinner

Sweet Crepes for Dessert

 These are not pictures of the particular crepes we ordered.  I tried to snap a shot, but it was too dim for my camera to get a decent photo.

I had a Zucchini, Onion, Mozzarella and Pesto Crepe. So yummy, btw.  Amy had something with mushrooms (yuck), and Janell had something with spinach and goat cheese.

For dessert we opted for a crepe filled with chocolate, walnuts, and whipped cream (on the side).  Not very original, but when I suggested bacon as one of the ingredients, my idea was quickly nixed.

We may or may not have had a carafe of red wine sangria with our meal.  If we had, I would probably suggest it to any future Crooked Tree visitors.  I would also probably warn you of Louis, our waiter.  I've heard he likes to keep the free drinks flowing, until you can no longer stomach it.  But that's just hearsay, I wouldn't know. :)

Janell, on someone's bike.

Saturday....

The nastiest day of the year.  If you watch Glee, you will know what I mean, when I say I felt like I had received a slushie facial...all day long.

It was supposed to snow, and it looked like it was from our second story window.  Knowing that this was our only day for our "shop til you drop" experience, we put on our waterproof big-girl panties, and braved the cold outdoors.

Haha. Ha. Ha. HA!

With only two umbrellas, one of which we borrowed from celebrity nanny, the three of us walked outside and were immediately breathless from the cold air and the lack of snow, but instead slush.  Nasty, wet slush.  We walked about one or two blocks and finally called a cab to take us to the beloved shops that we longed to grace with our presence.

Top Shop, H&M, Forever 21, Madewell, Urban Outfitters, Dean and Deluca's, and a couple other stores that I hadn't heard of.

Nothing too upscale.  What's the point in shopping if you can't even pretend to afford it?!  Why even put it on your Christmas list if you know Santa's just going to laugh and throw your list away?!

After that, we shopped until we dropped...Pretty literally.  We were beat!  I did score an awesome Madewell top.  And it was on sale.  Amy and Janell got some pretty cool things too, but by the time we entered the last store, we were numb from the cold and from all of the shopping.  We couldn't even enjoy the visually overwhelming bliss of Urban Outfitters.  Numb, I say.

Plus, we had to make a break for the apt., cause it was still raining and we needed to get a cab.  Btw, the only cab that stopped for us, after ten minutes of standing in the cold, wet weather, turned us down.  Can that really happen?  Cabbie: "Where you goin?"  Janell: "6th and 1st"  Cabbie: shakes his head and drives off.  Janell: "WTF?"


So we walk.  Janell wore suede boots and they were soaked.  We got to the apt and changed and headed back out to catch the subway to make it on time to a Sandra McCracken and Derek Webb concert.  If you don't know them, Derek Webb was the lead singer for Caedmon's Call, Sandra wrote a lot of their music (but wasn't in the band).  Derek and Sandra are married. And perfect.

Also, if you go to their websites, you can download a lot of their music for free.  All it costs is your email address.  Pretty great.

It was an excellent concert.  They are two  incredible people.  We talked to Sandra afterwards, and she's so normal and easy to talk to.

At the concert

Sunday....

Got up to make it to Kate's Paperie.  Super fun.  Super cute.  I did not buy an $8 greeting card.  But I looked and touched.  It was satisfying enough.

Ran back to the apt., grabbed our bags, rode the subway to our final destination...lunch at Chipotle and BoltBus getaway.

We were back in Philly in no time.

Already planning our next jaunt to the City of Skyscrapers for the holidays!

Rockefeller, here we come!

Keep Posted,

the rave

Bootcamp Challenge: Timed Mile

I am AWESOME!!

I feel like 10 million bucks at this very moment!

Bootcamp.

Cardio Wednesday.

Today was a special Cardio Wednesday because it was really "Bootcamp Challenge" day.

The challenge....run one timed mile.

Major suck.

The winner gets a t-shirt.  That's decent.

I don't know who won yet.  We ran the dreaded mile in three waves.

BUT!!  Here's why I'm so extremely impressed with myself....

I ran the mile faster than I have ran a mile in TEN YEARS!!!

8 minutes and 21 seconds


WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!


I ROCK!  I can't believe myself....

I timed myself, on my own, on Monday....I ran a 9m30s mile.  I will pretty impressed even then.

I have no clue how I ran it in 8m21s today.

Let me re-cap it for you:

Ten bootcamp veterans are lined up on the starting line. I'm am so nervous. Jerry yells "Go" and starts the timer.  I started Lap One at a good pace, right behind 5 other girls.  I keep telling myself to "keep a good pace, don't start off too fast".  Lap Two, I was behind only 2 girls now, breathing good, pace good.  Lap Three, girl number one got passed, but girl number two was right beside me.  We were neck and neck.  I couldn't shake her.  Last Lap, I picked up the pace.  Arms pumping, legs stretching out as far as they can, heaving in air like I was fueling some kind of internal furnace.  Girl number two, passed.  I am in the lead, ya'll (Girl lead, not boy lead.  They were way ahead).  Girl No.2 is right behind me, on my heels, taunting me with her rapid breathing like she wants to run me over at any moment.  On the last curve, before the final stretch, I hear her pace quicken.  She's coming at me.  So I pick up my pace, 'cause I ain't ready to lose (P.S. this is not a competition, but somehow I made it one).  Final 100 Meters....I am at a DEAD sprint....Bustin' it.   Chugging like a crazy train.  As fast as these big legs can move.  Rockin' it.  I cross the finish line, first of the girls in my wave. I'm sucking wind, bad.  But I did it.  In 8 minutes and 21 seconds.  I did it.

I could win that t-shirt.  Maybe, just maybe.

That's all I wanted to share today.  I feel like a champion.  A hero. Like Rocky Balboa.

It's a great way to start a day.


Keep Posted,
'cause if I get that t-shirt, you'll be seeing me in it,


the rave

Pinterest. It's What's For Dinner.

Last night, we had a fabulous meal!

Seriously, it was so good.

I am not a genius in the kitchen, by any means.

But I am really good at following instructions...aka, recipes.

Some may say that makes me less of a "chef", because I lack creativity or the desire to experiment and make a perfectly flavorful concoction. 

Well, I've got news for those folks.  I've never wanted to be a chef, and I don't really like to cook real food (I love baking sweets and breads!). 

So, if I need a recipe to thrive in the kitchen, so be it.  I feel no shame.

Besides, I've always made up for my lack of ability by working super hard to do "whatever" well.

It's worked out well for me so far.

So, for our dinner last night, I consulted my ever-deepening friendship with Pinterest.

First,  I made homemade butter.  I shook my jar of heavy cream while watching an episode of Glee (season 2, episode 11...so good!).

After making my homemade butter (you can definitely use store bought butter), I turned to this Country Living recipe to add a bit of fall flare.  

Maple butter.  Basically, combine butter, maple syrup, and a touch of hot sauce (think Cholula).

I wish I had these cute, tiny maple leaf cutters.  

It's divine.  I admit, I did lick clean one of the beaters from my mixer, after the butter was finished.  

I know, it's disgusting.  But it was so good too.  Sinful.  I'm aware.

Later on in the evening, after dinner, I made the perfect companions to this maple-y, butter-y delight...  

Pumpkin Buttermilk Scones.

So easy.  No rising.  No kneading.  Just mixing and shaping and baking.

I've had a couple for breakfast already.  With butter.  Maple butter.

On to the dinner menu.

Caleb, one of our housemates, invited a couple of guys over for dinner.  They had been camping out at City Hall for the Occupy Philly movement.  They had some pretty interesting stories to tell.  They had been at the Occupy WallStreet movement in NYC before heading to Philly. Crazy stuff.

Anyways, back to dinner.

Baked Chicken Nuggets.  I skipped the coconut oil and used 2 eggs, beaten, to coat the chicken.

Creamed Corn.

Autumn Chopped Salad.

At the last minute, when I found out that we would be having guests, and the food supply seemed like less than enough, I whipped up some **cough** instant **cough** mashed potatoes and frozen peas.  Nothing special there.

I was scrambling to fill the tummies of two nineteen year old boys, plus Dustin and Caleb.  

Let me just say that the Autumn Chopped Salad was the favorite of the night.  Everything was so delicious, but ironically, the salad was the big hit.  Go figure.  Guys and salad...anything is possible I guess.  

Now, if my dad would eat, and love, a salad like that, it would truly be a miracle.  (Dad, there's no watery, white, iceberg

lettuce in this, just pure green, romaine goodness.  I don't know if you could handle it).

If you guys decide to make the salad I would love to hear how it goes over with your audience.  I was totally surprised by the "yum" factor and reaction I got from it.

Also, ya'll should definitely make the maple butter.  It would be excellent on toast, pumpkin bread of any kind, or even cornbread!

Go all out!

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the rave