So That's Where My Planter is Going

I have these little iron baskets and window boxes with the coconut shell planter box out on my balcony. Of course, there isn't anything growing in them now. . . since it's finally consistently warm I need to put my green thumb to practice with some herbs and flowers. That is, if my planters are still intact. I've noticed over the last few weeks that chunks of them have started to go missing. I've caught the culprit red-handed.

See that cute little wren there?

The boxes are saggy, so I might have to get new ones anyways, but the cutest pair of wrens have been very busily taking bits of the coconut shells to make their nest. I would agree that it's a good building material! For being such little birds, these guys aren't very shy. They fly around while I am out on the balcony (I do have to be still though). I think they are very cute birds, (I've always had a thing for wrens) and that Wren is a cute name. Not only is this sweet pair taking my coconut planter, they have also re-established the use for one of my bird feeders.

it's a little wren house now!

I have another feeder, just a cheap plastic one, so I am using that one for seed and letting these guys keep the schnazzy one for their nesty abode. I love watching them fly back and forth (so do the kitties).

Mr. Cardinal here also had to check out what's going on.

Love that fire-engine red coloring. Cardinals on the other hand are very shy birds. I have some of those bamboo-framed round chairs with the big cushion out on the balcony. I am scheming to hide out there under a blanket to get some closer shots of them. These are taken through my glass sliding door. We'll see if I can get anything.

I had fun this weekend with some bird-watching. Hope you did something fun too!

Donderdag

Thursday. In Dutch. That was yesterday, and I so appropriately finished a little bit of something....here's a sneak peek.

"Thursday" (you can click on the photo for a closeup)

I am making some special dishtowels for a special someone. These are a la Alicia Paulson's (are you surprised?) Pleasant Dish Towels. She has a free pdf pattern for them, but I decided to make my own Dutch-themed ones for the week. I got artistic and did all the sketches myself! I have been having a lot of fun with the embroidery. It doesn't require much thinking, just following the outline I have already sketched and traced onto the fabric with my needle and thread. Plus having different stitches to do keeps it from getting too monotonous. I think French knots are my favorite to make so far, and I know I haven't even begun to learn all the possible stitches. Anyhow, this towel is not complete yet. I have some pretty blue fabric prints to trim the border, so I'll get to that when I get to that. I'm not really in a rush.

Those purple blooms are, I think, wisteria. I saw them when coming home yesterday, the vines climbing all over this old oak tree alongside the road just bursting with all this beautiful purple. So I rode my bike over (it was such a pretty day) with a little bag and cut some for my little photo op. =) They are fragrant, but not so heady as lilac, and that's why I think it could be wisteria. I could be wrong though! Aren't they pretty? I love purple. . . maybe that has to do with one of my Dad's nicknames for me, Sugarplum. Wisteria and lilac are on my "list of plants for my garden" to have one day, if my location allows for their growth. Anyhow, I am trying to be better about styling my photos . . . I'm learning! =)

I'm in Love

Last week, I discovered Anthropologie. Not discovered as heard of it for the first time, but went into the store, got to touch, see smell everything and be in total girly-fun wonder kind of discovered. I was meeting Ryan, his friend and friend's wife at Book People, had gotten there early and saw that Anthro was also in the same shopping mall. Now, I love me some books, but I love me girly things even more, and I really wanted to check it out. I am pretty sure I gasped as soon as I walked in. everything there is so feminine and just . . . pretty. it's like a huge art project of clothes, home decor and well, everything! I saw a chandelier made of seashells, which if I had a lot of money (because that's how much it cost), would have bought for my beach-babe sister and her surfer beau. it was SO Ash. so Ash. But some other things that really caught my eye....

This dress was right at the front door when you walked in. Nothing says cool in the summer like crisp white and blue.

purrrrty

I know I could make something like this....

And I think that was perhaps one of my most favorite things about the store. Other than being a place to splurge and treat myself to pretty things, it's a great place for inspiration. I just loved walking around and finding things that caught my eye and dissecting how it was made. It's really not hard (I can handle that), just impeccably done (where I need practice). Like said top above.

I bet this silk dress is heavenly to wear in the summer. It felt so light to the touch

As did this skirt....

What about this capelet?

I think its feminine and smart

ok, yet another example of something that, with a good amount of time, could totally be made!

so dainty

love that pop of color....something else that could be handmade!

Emma, one of my buddies here, also loves this place and we have decided that we will make a girls date to go back. She hasn't been to the one in Austin yet. And I would love to get this.

I've been on a lavender kick, and I am certain I won't get over it. I have a couple perfumes that are just about gone and I have my eye on this one!

Their housewares section was just as fun.

This is just a color gradient of cotton ruffles. viola! Expensive shower curtain! genius.

poppy drawer knob? yes please. I would be fine not making this one. But it is so cute. I am already dreaming about a little studio/craft room so artfully decorated. . . complete with poppy drawer knobs.

And pretty door knobs too.

I would get fat making food just so I could eat them off these plates. And I'd have lots of dinner parties. more poppies. =)

embroidered dishtowels. how cute is that? I am working on some simple ones right now (the going is very slow) and this example, while very cute, is not nearly as ornate as some of the others they had. Anyhow, my eyes were opened yet again!

So, that was my lovely adventure at Anthropologie. And I didn't even get to the bedroom section. But I did see a quilt that was made of jersey. huh? yeah. It was so gooshy and felt amazing. Kind of heavy, but somehow light at the same time. I'm sure I'll embark on such an endeavor sometime in the future. Now I know what everyone has meant when they talk about Anthro, and I am all over that boat.

I love to. . .

Wash my face. I know. Is that lame?
During the Superbowl, they aired some commercials for L'oreal's new Go 360 Clean skincare line. I don't know if these aired before because I don't have or watch TV. This line features a little "scrublet", a gentle little scrubber thingiebobber. The guys all laughed and thought it ridiculous. But I secretly wanted one. I hate using washcloths to wash my face. I just don't like leaving a wet, dripping cloth to dry and get everything else wet. It gets so humid here, that it often does not dry, and you're left with a mildewy towel. eewww. definitely not washing my face with that. And I feel like my palms/fingers just don't clean as well. So, I promised myself that I would wait until my current bottle of face cleanser was gone, because I am one of those girls. you know, the kind that sees a new beauty product, then buys it, and has a whole stash that she never ends up using, taking up all the space in her bathroom. I hate seeing all that stuff around. It makes me feel guilty, like I'm really high maintenance. But really, I'm not. Anyhow, I finally got it last weekend. And I love it.

the scrublet =P

I got the orange one. It's a foaming scrub cleanser. yeah, you're probably thinking, "geez, a scrub and scrublet? Does this girl have any skin left on her face?" I do. And it's soft. And my skin feels cleaner and my pores smaller. Plus, I loved the smell of it. apricots. it's like a fresh summer day, sun a-shining and birds a-singing. a near-spiritual experience, twice a day. for five bucks. (maybe the guys were laughing for a good reason) So yeah, I love to wash my face. You should try it, you will too. Now, I wash my face just for the heck of it. Ok, maybe not that much. But at least now it's fun.

Oh, I also made a Flickr page. You can check it out here. I think I also have a space for it in my happy places. There are some sneak photos up there, so you can check 'em out if you like. and leave comments. Every blogger, poster, person who shares something over the web loves to get comments and feedback. I was reading an article somewhere about blogging etiquette, and how one should leave a comment whenever they come across something that really piques their interest or moves them in some way. I've really tried to get better about that. Especially since I use Google Reader to keep up with all my favorites. With reader, you don't have the option to directly leave comments, you have to go to the blog page itself. I used to be lazy and not leave comments, but now I'm being better about it. Because I know I like to get comments. who doesn't? =)

Annnnd, I joined a quilting bee! Lisa (The Blue Dress) just started one, and asked me to be a part of the group! i'm excited. i'll get to be a part of 12 different quilts, one being my own. Each member, or bee, is assigned a month, and gets to decide on a theme for their quilt. They buy the fabrics, and send them to the other bees with instructions on how they want their blocks constructed. The bees then get to create the blocks and send them back to the Queen Bee for the month, who then assembles her quilt. Sounds like fun, eh? I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

Ok, that's it for now. I don't have much else to post about. i've been keeping busy with school stuff, and things are going to be pretty intense on that front for a while. I'll pop in and update when i can. Hope you all have a FABULOUS weekend!

For a Friend

My friend, Nikki, a former grad student in the department moved away up to Michigan last year. =( She got a job at a pharmaceutical company up there, and her fiance, Nick, is going to law school there as well. They both grew up in Michigan, so naturally, it made sense for them to go back home once they finished with school here in Texas. But oh how I miss my buddy.

There were so many hours of fun game nights, with margaritas and Scene It! (fun game) . While they are not as frequently held now, we always play this classic for game nights that I still have at my apartment. There is always a sad empty spot on my couch, and it's just not the same without them. I will never forget the time she and Nick convinced Ryan and I to finally check out The Oasis (where Nick proposed to Nikki [awww!]), a beautiful restaurant high on the cliffs above Lake Travis. The sunsets there are quite breath-taking. Anyhow, we made a big trip to go out there (it's a bit of a ways out of town) one summer evening. Sure enough, as we get there, huge rain clouds are moving in. We decided to take our chances. As soon as we sit down, torrential downpours had us soaked in seconds. We all laughed, and thought it hilarious something like this would happen to us during all the possible summer nights we could have chosen to go there for dinner. Needless to say, we did not get to see the sunset that night, but still enjoyed their great company and dinner. I cannot think of Nick and Nikki without thinking of that dinner. good times.
Nikki and I were also pool buddies, shopping buddies and the likes. I miss her, and the fact that there haven't been too many girls here in the department makes her presence missed even more. They are getting married this summer, and just bought a house. I knew had to send along some things as a sort of house-warming gift.

First I did some crochet produce bags. Nikki was here when I decided to take up learning how to crochet and knit. Remember that knit square I did way back when? Yeah, she was the second person I proudly showed it off to, in a sort of "Look, Mommy!" moment. As well as many of my other early projects. She thoughtfully picked up a knit and crochet magazine for me one day when she was at Barnes and Noble, so I wanted to do at least one gift of that craft for her.

two crochet bags: one dusty rose and the other heather grey cotton blend

The pattern I followed for these was from the Purl Bee - Whit's linen grocery tote. I love the Purl Bee, they always have such great tutorials on this site. I have done several of them, and this was another easy, relatively quick project. I hope they work out well. . . it looks like they can get pretty stretchy. She already has plans for riding her bike to the farmers market downtown and using them once it warms up. I'm glad she likes them.

I also did a napkin set, using this great tutorial. I'd made them before, for my sister Ashley. She is keeping hers in her hope chest. =) Though now, I'm kind of feeling bad that she got those particular ones. They were the very first thing I made with my brand new sewing machine, and pretty much making something on my own. ever. So they've definitely got all that first-time love and little mistakes going on. Nikki's set turned out drastically different.

front of the napkin. the back is a dark wine red, you can see a glimpse of it to the left of the top-facing napkin.

I am kind of confused by that picture. Does it look kind of blurry to you too? It's weird, some parts look clear, others blurry. maybe my eyes are starting to give out on me. It's my only one of a single napkin front so I had to use it. please forgive me if it's just a bad picture! I'm really trying to be better and more conscientious of the photos I take.

I chose that print because Nikki spent some time in Paris, and I remember her telling me about some of her travels in Europe. I've never been there myself, but this reminded me of that, with the fancy flowers, swirlymagigs (I can imagine this embedded in the ancient architecture, moldings, etc), French script, and Paris passport stamps.

with one of my plates

I am so glad she liked the fabric, and she told me she was really needing a set of napkins. They just got a new dining table and she said that they looked great together. As if I had seen their table and made the set accordingly. I don't know how I am so lucky with picking these sorts of things out!

the whole set and pouch

There are six napkins and a linen pouch to store them in. The tutorial is awesome, I was able to follow it on my own, with little to no prior sewing experience to make that first set for Ash. Next time I make these though, I think I will make the napkins a bit bigger. I have long legs and they had just a little extra over my lap. I don't think they could even begin to think about covering Ryan's lap, plus I like a nice big napkin. Half the time I'm using them to keep my legs warm anyways. =)

tucked away inside their pouch

Ryan was impressed when I showed them to him, he thought they looked like something you would buy at a department store. I made sure to be as impeccable as possible, but I thought he was being overly nice, because he loves me and is always complimenting me like that. I talked to Nikki after she got them, and she said that when she opened the gift, she and her mom could not tell if I had made them or not. I had attached washing instructions, but did not say if I had made them and they had a hard time telling the difference. Can't say that I'm not proud of that. =) So Ash, if you want a better version of that napkin set, just let me know, k? You can tell me if you want different fabric too. I can whip it out for ya.

The last part of the gift was a game, since they helped me establish game nights down here. It's the Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. I don't remember if I raved about this game yet on here, but it's awesome. It's for large groups (you need a minimum of 8, and can get up to 50!) and it is a lot like the Mafia game. I've never played Mafia myself, but others who have played both say that Werewolves is more fun. The overall point of the game is the same, but there are special characters and situations that add some nice twists and keep the things interesting. We love it here (we've even had a department game featuring the game and that never happens here), and it's spreading like wildfire at my sisters' college campuses. Since Nick comes from a family of 8 and all his siblings pretty much have their own families, I knew they would have enough people to play. This is what the game cover looks like. It's just a small box with a set of cards, and their is also an expansion pack. I have both, bought from Amazon and it's so worth it.

Get this game I tell you!


at the Iguana Grill on Lake Travis celebrating my 25th birthday
(me, Ryan, Chris, Nick, Nikki)

Congratulations on your new house Nick and Nikki! Hope to catch up with you guys in person sometime soon.

My Cousin is Cool

This post is a shout out to my cousin, Alyssa. She is one of the So. Cal 9 (the 5 from my family, 2 from Tante San [Willem and Meryl], and Tante Bay [Alyssa and Brad]), so we grew up together and we're all really close.

Alyssa

She is an officer in the Coast Guard, and 2009 graduate from the US Coast Guard Academy.

My sisters and I with her during graduation weekend
(Chanelle, Ashley, Alyssa, me, Ingrid)

She is currently up in Kodiak, Alaska patrolling the Bering Sea and keeping up the fishing regulations/ law enforcement on the boats up there. There is also a lot of drug smuggling that goes by way of those northern waters, so they patrol and monitor that situation as well. scary! The ship, or more properly cutter, she is assigned to is the U.S.S. Munro. I'm not remembering all the stats, but it's one of the best cutters in the Coast Guard. She actually gets to steer the ship, turning it around, driving out of the harbor and out to sea. Talk about responsibility! Here it is:

This photo was actually taken by a crew member's wife from the dock. Alyssa is manning the wheel at the very moment!

One day, they were notified to board another cutter, not knowing that she was going to be going aboard the Wizard! She was filmed on the Deadliest Catch doing safety rounds, log book checks and all that good stuff. . . though I am not sure if it aired yet this season.

A picture of them leaving the Wizard. That's Alyss!
Brrrr. . . that water looks mighty cold.

It's king crab season. In Alaska. Thusly, crab is cheap. For her. So she sent a whole boatload (maybe not quite that much) to California, and my whole family (minus me) feasted on crab. Oh no, my mouth is watering again. She spent over $200 on the shipping (wowzers), such a sweet way for her to spoil all of them. lucky people I tell you!

The whole point of being stationed up there is to log hours doing all kinds of various duties. While her main objective is to act as assistant boarding officer and law enforcement, she also does things like help Coast Guard helicopters safely land on deck (landing signals). You can imagine this gets pretty hairy at night and when it's storming. The Bering Sea is not a nice place, especially in the heart of winter. Yet she and her crewmates know how to make it fun. . .

You know that's Alyss in the middle

Oh, and on off days she gets to do fun things like snow mobiling, shooting, hiking, 4-wheeling, making friends with bald eagles, etc. Yes, I said making friends with bald eagles.

Ok, seriously?

Am I the only person jealous here? =) I know her job isn't safe, she's worked her tail off to get there and continues to do so everyday. Yet despite the difficulty, I know she is having some amazing adventures and quite the time of her life.

Isn't he amazing?

Love you Alyss, and praying for your safety out there! Can't wait to see you in the summer.

Unrelated, but maybe kind of is since most of these pictures have snow. . . it's snowing here today! I mentioned it yesterday and boy was I skeptical. I thought we were going to get sleet at best. Sure enough, at 4:00 this morning I heard it skipping against my window. Did not enjoy it at all on the drive in (a tea latte had to make up for that) (Mom, I decided to drive in case they shut down all the buses and there was no way home, don't worry, I was and will be careful) due to all the overly-slow driving. See this post regarding that. Anyhow having Lisa, one of my students, shout out in class today, "Vanessa, it's snowing!" quite giddily, and everyone pausing their lab experiments to gaze in awe, smile and laugh, gush, "Ooooh, that's a big one!", then complain about not being able to be outside made up for all of that. I'm pretty sure I even squealed. And I have proof.

1) I am looking out my window and it just started coming down again. This morning, there were HUGE chunks. You don't know how hard it was not to run out of my lab section this morning when it started snowing. It sucks when you really have to stay inside! Ok, but that is just my word right here. In case you don't believe me. . .

2)

I know, another weather report

But did you see that? Not just snow, but heavy snow. K, just checkin.

3) These were taken while I was teaching, from a dirty iron-paned glass window, from the fifth floor, and I'm sorry (perhaps more for myself than you) that I was not able to be outside. I REALLY wanted to be outside. The hugest snow flakes were falling. I'm talking lumps of snow nearly the size of my palm sometimes. Does that mean it's wet snow? Because they are sticking together? I don't know, having grown up in Cali, where it's essentially desert, I'm not a snow expert.

Yes, those are flakes!

This was near the beginning of when it started falling. There were times when the whole outside was white.

Over the trees for some better contrast against the dark leaves

And of course my camera battery is low, so my picture taking today to chronicle this fabulous event is going to be minimal. big time boo.

the aftermath of those heavy morning showers. You can see it accumulated on the tin roofing, and in the flower beds.

Besides that, this is so fun. Even if I have to be at school. I love looking outside my window at the furious little flurries. They're really little right now (the flakes) and still swirling around, but it is supposed to continue until the end of the day. It's hard to believe our local high was 83 degrees only two days ago!

Sheesh, it is still snowing. All through the time it took to write this post, including uploading, editing and placing pictures, finding them online (Alyssa's fb pics) and writing. I'm in love.

I'm having an AWESOME day. Hope you are too!

All About the Weekend(s)

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's weekend! I did. Our weather has been kind of cold, but I don't mind being cooped up indoors for a little bit. I did some not-so-spring cleaning. Washing the walls. and the base boards. cabinets too. REALLY good vacuuming. dusting. even those bits that collect so well on the fan blades and in the air vents. all the laundry. then I lit some lavender candles and did lots of sewing. That's why you guys got those tease photos of Myla's quilt. I had so much fun. I haven't gotten to do that much crafty stuff in a long time. Usually when I do things it's because I have to. I am leaving for a wedding that week and I need a wedding present. Or it's someone's birthday. You know. And while I do have a stack of things that I "need" to do (like Myla's quilt because she was born just over two months ago), things that are bugging me because I don't like having a bunch of unfinished things left around waiting to be given to that special person to commemorate that significant moment in their life, there isn't that big of a rush for when I get them done. Gifts like those can be given at almost any time. I put those deadlines on myself.
So I had a really fun weekend of sewing, because I decided to do so for myself. And now I'm wishing I could all the time. Maybe someday.
Anyhow, Ryan got me some great presents. Gingher goodies!

rotary cutter

I already had one, but it was the cheap-o one from Joann. It get's the job done, but it's not something that will really last. And when Joann has a 30% off sale for a President's Day sale, you gotta thank honest Abe (along with our many other great presidents) and let your man treat you once in a while. Am I right? This thing cuts so smoothly. I'm excited for when I'll have the time to use it more often. I'm thinking I'll send the other one to my sisters. To my knowledge, they don't have a rotary cutter and they only do light sewing, so I think it will suit them well.

Also, new thread snippers.

it's a cute stork!

I had snippers (emphasis had), some my sister Ashley got me, and they got lost when I brought them up to Oklahoma at Thanksgiving. I looked everywhere for them. sad. These guys will do as a replacement though. I love watching the stork open and close his beak as he snips my thread. I'm very easily amused.

So I spent most of the weekend, using some of my new tools in working on Myla's quilt. Sunday night Ryan and I went to the Alamo to see a movie. Jeff Bridges, one of Ryan's favorite actors, has a new movie out called Crazy Heart. I had no idea what it was about, Ryan didn't really either, but it was Jeff Bridges, so it had to be good. It WAS good! It's a musical , not like Moulin Rouge but more like Walk the Line, and it is country music. Jeff Bridges sings. So does Colin Farrell. What? not expected. I was pleasantly surprised, they are both really good, and the story was great too. I am sure Ryan will end up buying it when it comes out. I love films where the actors do things like singing and playing the guitar or other instruments. It adds a whole other dimension to them, and I respect them all the more for it, especially if they weren't very musical before the project.

They actually filmed a part of the movie at a Toby Keith concert in New Mexico in 2008, so it's a live performance. Pretty crazy. Take a peek:



We had some time to kill before the movie, so we went to Barnes and Noble. I went upstairs to the craft section to check out Alicia Paulson's book, Stitched in Time. She is the wonderful artist who wrote the pattern I used for Myla's quilt, and I love visiting her blog. It's definitely in my top three. I love her style, her writing, and she is a big inspiration for me. Everything over there just seems so magical.

Ryan ended up getting that for me too!

I'm such a spoiled girl.

This weekend, so funny how time always manages to fly right on by, was really nice too. Yesterday was absolutely GORGEOUS. It was about 75 degrees and sunny with a light breeze. Our first warm day of the year. Oh man, I soaked that up. Ryan and I went to a UT baseball game, part of their opening weekend. Emma and James joined us there (she is a first year in our group and my workout buddy). For someone who seems to fail to have an internal thermostat and maintain her own body temperature, it was so nice to wear a sundress outside and not need to be bundled up in warm-ups and a sweater. I even got a little sunburned on my shoulders.

However, I am confused. How can you go from that sort of weather to expecting 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow? Really, I just checked the weather, because it is brrrrrr. . . cold outside right now.