I mentioned a few posts back that I was finally going to attempt my first REAL quilt…by going through quilting processes, piecing together fabrics, etc. No winging it…I wanted to do it the right way. So I started the tutorial on Obsessively Stitching, for the 1st Quilt Ever.

First I had to pick my fabrics. Figured since it was for our home, I’d drag Mick along. That and we were going to dinner later, so he sort of HAD to come. He is actually quite helpful. We decided to go with a color scheme that we have in places around our house, primarily our bedroom. Pretty stoked on our choices. (apologies for all the dark photos)

I then had to cut it into a whole lotta 6″ squares, and honestly, I’m not going to go over the process piece by piece, as Obsessively Stitching has the great tutorial, so she would definitely be more useful. Below are my 6″ squares and a bunch of 3″ strips…that I believe will be part of the binding.

Then I put them all into 9 – squares.

Only to have them sliced and diced after.

And the I got to do the fun part and piece it all together. Granted in the below photo its all just laid out on our rug, and nothing has been put together yet, but it looks like progress. I stacked up all those rows and organized them by number, so my next step will be the tough part of sewing the entire front piece.

I’m pretty proud of my progress so far. I’m totally capable of following directions!! Hooray for me!

During a mellow Saturday night at home, Mick and I decided to watch a movie, and make it one we considered a cheesy 80′s classic. After suggesting Adventures in Babysitting, and finding out that he had never seen it, the decision was made.

How he could have gone through his teenage years and never seen it is beyond me…but then again, he wasn’t a teenage girl. Happy to report he enjoyed it, and my view on this 80′s hit wasn’t skewed. What I did forget however, and found super entertaining was this.

Yes, that is Vincent D’Onofrio. So random. So blonde. So skinny. Definitely not the Lt. Goren that I have come to love on Law and Order Criminal Intent, or the fat bald Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket (which oddly enough came out the same year.)

Watch one of the clips here:

I was walking to the area where I get picked up for casual carpool this morning, and I heard a loud tapping echoing through the streets. Then I heard it from another location, so i discounted the fact that it might be construction. I looked up at a telephone pole and saw it. I cant remember the last time I saw a woodpecker, let alone heard one…and boy did I hear it. It was pretty cool, because the way the streets are, the sound traveled on most of my walk.

I also passed by some pretty blossoms, and couldnt help but snap a picture. I hope the weather stays like it has been, though I think we are expecting some rain again this weekend.

Ahhhhh!!! So today is my SITS day and I forgot to post my welcome post!!! I had it on my list of things to do yesterday, and it completely escaped me!! Story of my life. I feel like Im hosting a party and forgot to be a greeter, and am hiding in my room. My apologies!!

So let me do a little explaining.

I head about SITS a few years ago, when I started blogging more regularly, and wanted to be a part of it. An amazing opportunity lay before me, and what better way to get exposure to a group of 0ther bloggers. Today is my day to shine. My SITS day. My day to be featured…and I almost blew it!!  A community of over 8,000 bloggers come together to form a community, and share posts, comments, chat in forums, go to conferences, and support each other. Thats why SITS stands for The Secret to Success is Support! Additionally, there is a featured blogger every weekday, and that’s what I am today!

1)I love costumes. I love reasons to wear them, and I have way too much closet space being taken up by them. Many of my costume themed posts can be found here.

2)My house is a zoo. Between 2 cats and a dog, the dander and cat litter are plentiful..but I couldn’t have it any other way.

3) My husband and I both have mustache tattoos on our fingers. He got his first, and I told him that when he proposed I’d get one too. We call it my commitment stache. Its fun to play with at parties.

4) Im an ex-sorority girl living in the Bay Area. Though sorority girl most definitely doesn’t define me… people are actually sometimes shocked I was in one. I’m a California girl born and raised, starting my life in LA, school in SD, and been in the bay for 8 years. A majority of my friends from home and college having families, some with up to 3 kids! I feel like the Bay area is home to a lot of people with peter pan syndrome, and they dont want to grow up. Living here was always more of a party and work kind of life rather than family focused. Things are changing. My friends up here are maturing and starting the wedding circuit. I got married last August, and cant wait to have a family….stay tuned, hopefully things will turn around and I’ll be able to actually post baby posts as opposed to stalking other peoples baby focused Etsy sites. Love making Wunzees for other people, but cant wait to make them for ME!

5)I like to think I’m crafty…though I’ve seen what other people can do. I was making Wunzees for a while, and if you need one, I still can. I am currently trying to make a new quilt, (the one below is a first attempt) and doing a bunch of small ones in the process. I wish i knew what i was doing!!

Anyway…I hope you enjoy my blog. Not traditional in the “I have focus” sense, but hopefully fun nonetheless. Thanks for visiting!!!

I decided to do some new installments of my Etsy Tag Mondays, but just keep it to when I want to do it, so there is no schedule to adhere to. As I sit on my couch during this rainy day..hopefully the last of many, I realize how much i enjoy the rain. Its a pain when I need to get somewhere, and I dont necessarily love driving in it, but I love listening to it. I could lay in bed all day and listen to the rain…it makes me feel comfortable and cozy. Sure, too much of it not allowing me to do what I want to outside gets depressing at times..but then i just sit back again, and listen to it. The only thing that would make the rain better would be if we had a fireplace to light. Someday.

So I went through Etsy and found some items I really liked with the tag of Rainy Day. Enjoy.

Rainy Day Pillow Cover by Modernality

Dreamy Rainbow Mobile by babyjives

Rainy Day Letterpress card (all proceeds go to Japan) by leterpress

Rainy Day Bath Towel Set by 15 pieces of flair

Rainy Day by Pedro Nogueria

Rainy Day by Majali

I had a few projects lying around the house, that I figured I’d get to before starting on the First Quilt Ever project. I have been on the receiving end of many “fabric donations” when my friends and family are ditching stuff they don’t need or want. I got a pile of fabric from a friend of mine, and as I was sorting through it, I found a bunch of blue and white panels, many already sewn together. I kept the patches going, and decided to make it a blanket that we could take on picnics. I used a checked vinyl on the back, so if it ends up on wet grass, we dont end up with a wet ass.

I had also attempted to make a quilt with triangle patches, but went about it all wrong. I sewed the triangles across in rows, instead of blocks to attach. The result is a mess, but I’m sure I’ll find the right person to give it to as a gift, as it might be one of the softest ones I’ve made. I can’t wait to do it properly this next time….and piece it together the right way. I still need to figure out my color scheme, but at least I’ve got these two out of my queue of things to do.

Well, it wont be my FIRST ever quilt. I’ve had my hand at quilt making, but it has been self taught, un-professional, and just sloppy. Remember this one? Or this one? Well, this time, I’m actually going to learn something. I recently bought the Better Homes and Garden Complete Guide to Quilting book, so I’ve been reading up on details and terminology, but there is no better way to learn than to follow a tutorial.

Obsessively Stitching has created this tutorial that will take me step by step in making a quilt, called “1st Quilt Ever.” Of course she started this LAST year and I’m a little late to the game, but I can’t wait to start. Its called the Dissappearing Nine Patch quilt, and the options as far as what it looks like are endless. I will be sure to blog about my disaster of a process. My crafting area will likely be my kitchen table for this, so I apologize to Mick in advance.

Now to come up with the color scheme and get to shopping!!

I am buying something tonight off of Craigslist, with nowhere to put it, and no idea what to do with it. But I saw it, fell in love with it, and decided it was worth buying for any future home I have.

Description: “Vintage bathroom mirror and medicine cabinet likely circa 1940s. I found this at Urban Ore and cleaned it up for a “shabby chic” or distressed look. It is constructed to be installed as a built-in, but personally I hung it on the wall for a funky effect. All original hardware has been refinished and refurbished and is gleaming. Contains two movable/ adjustable interior shelves and is very well-made as were most things of earlier eras. Super cute!”

What do you think?? I figured we could paint it for any room in a future home, or just keep it distressed if that is where it works best.

All I know now is that I need to find a place to store it.

Its been a while since I’ve gone back and updated my 101 in 1001 days. Im not sure if I will complete it, nor do I think its even possible, but I adjusted some of the list according to my last few months.

My excuses thus far….

I havent moved out of the Bay Area just yet, and I don’t forsee us leaving my apartment for another one in the bay, so that limits my progress in:

• #10 Live somewhere with a backyard–I just dont, and wont till I move somewhere with one.
• #14 Get a tan–please, have you ever tried to get a tan in Northern California? Damn near impossible.
• #72 Paint Walls in my home–I rent, don’t really care for my landlord….why bother sprucing up walls that arent too shabby already

There are a few out of my control:

• #17 get pregnant–Doin what I can.
• #22. stay off the computer for a week–I work in front of one, though I may chalk this one up to my honeymoon, where I did successfully stay off for a week. That counts. I’m taking it.
• #44. go to Burningman–not sure if this is a priority anymore for me to go here. Especially because if #17 is successful in the next year, not the best place to be pregnant or have a newborn.

There are a few where I’ve just stopped keeping track

• #55. see an average of one live show a month–maybe on average, though I’ve been trying to save, so it might be fewer.
• #65. read at least one book every other month–gonna trust that I have
• #81. see 30 new movies–considering we have all but cleared out our Netflix queue…I’m going to assume this has happened, and is happening.

I have done a few things that I want to share…but thats for other posts.

Last weekend my mom came into town and we were trying to figure out how we could entertain her, and what she hasn’t seen yet. I’ve been in the bay for 8 years now, so she has definitely seen most. Now I’m a sucker for factories. I love shows like Unwrapped, How it’s Made, etc., that take you into the factory to see how things happen. Figured I hadn’t ever visited the Jelly Belly Factory, my mom loves candy….perfect. It is Fairfield, California, so its only a 45 minute drive from Oakland.

Note to anyone who hasn’t been there. I’d recommend not going on the weekend. Two reasons. 1) Full of tourists that can only get away for the weekend, but most importantly, 2)The factory doesn’t work on the weekend. There are no people in it, so you take the tour…but dont get to see the magic happen. Thats what I love about factories…guess I’ll have to go back. We also werent able to take pics in the factory…just the store and outside. So apologies for the lack of cool photos of millions of jelly bellys IN the factory, though there was no movement anyway.

We had to wear silly hats just to even get in the tour.

We also bought 8 lbs of Belly Flops, which are basically the reject Jelly Bellys, either too big, too small or just mishaped. They are cheaper than the others…and taste the same, so who cares.

They also have all this art displayed..that people make out of Jelly Belly Beans. Such detail and crazy accuracy! I took some photos of examples, but there were  a ton more too.