a little inspiration

I just celebrated thirty years on the planet.  I have had some discomfort over the last year coming to terms with the idea.  Not because I think thirty is old but because I have been twenty something for such a long time.  I did also think you would feel more grown up when you got to thirty.  And since I so often feel seventeen in my head the disparity can be glaring... When I was twenty I moved to Baltimore. When I was twenty one I moved onto the career path that took me into event marketing. When I was twenty two I  realized I was staying in Baltimore for a while. When I was twenty three I married the most amazing man. When I was twenty four I traveled the country with my husband and met thousands of interesting people. When I was twenty five I experienced great losses at my husbands side. When I was twenty six I began to explore my creative side with sewing. When I was twenty seven I found out I would be a mother. When I was twenty eight I learned...

Thanksgiving 2010 057 , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . Hooray for cousins! (and aunties and uncles and oma and opa and all the rest!)

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. From Soulemama . Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Oddly, the Christmas spirit is with me very early this year.  Generally, decorating before Thanksgiving and my birthday is something I am not interested in.  This year is a little different because the Bug is able to help (a little) with some simple crafts.  I wanted to do something with him that would be fun, easy, and have lasting appeal.  In wandering around the craft store looking at all the obvious options I came across some beautiful bells and thought it might be fun to string them and hang them in the doorway between the living and dining areas.  I picked largish bells with a nice texture and sound.  I chose a ribbon just big enough to keep them from sliding around but not so big as to be difficult to slip the bells onto. I taped the end of the ribbon and had him pull out the bells one at a time and hold them for me to push the ribbon through.  He loved taking them out of the container and watching them become part of the ribbon.  I cou...

I think about clothing and designing clothing pretty much all the time.  Some garment is swimming around in my head every minute.  I occasionally focus on something else enough to make dinner or accomplish my class work.  I almost never feel like I have the time or attention span to translate these ideas into actual items.  Yesterday I decided to stop making excuses and draft a pattern for a shirt.  A knit, no less.  And so I got out Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified  and opened to the shirt page.  Okay, first I put on Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days  for the Bug.  Then I pulled out the book.  I followed the instructions until it got to the sleeve part.  I wanted dolmen sleeves for two reasons.  One, I like the look.  Two, I am lazy and it means less cutting and less sewing.  Both of the latter reasons are a huge bonus for working with a knit fabric too.  I mean, the less cutting and...

I have been thinking lots of things.  I have been making lots of things.  I have been studying lots of things.  And so, not so much time to write here. One of the things I read from Integrative Nutrition was about using hot water bottles in bed at night to keep you warm and  help digestion.  Since our house is always chilly in the winter and I am a cold footed person I latched on to this idea right away.  And the Bug sleeps in under jams and over jams.  For real.  His room is chilly.  And he has been coming and getting in bed us around one anyway. So we all needed a hot water bottle.  And cozies!  Which we should be able to tell apart.  (because it is important  for some reason not to share cozies ;)  And I had such fun making "boo" .  Of course, I only had time to make two like that.  The last one was just fast as could be. We are getting plenty of use from them.  The whole thing seems s...