July 2008 Archives
So, how are we all feeling about it? Everybody say, "YEAHHHHHHHHH!"
This is my somewhat thrown-together version of the Pastel Marley hat from Itty Bitty Hats. I think it turned out OK. But, if this project has taught me anything, it's that often random-seeming stripes or texture sequences need a little planning to achieve the right look. Next time I think I'll follow the pattern.
One thing I love about summer is the Farmer's Market and fresh produce. When I was young we would go visit my grandparents in rural Georgia during the summer. Granny was a fantastic cook and favored tried and true southern food. I remember snapping peas on the cement carport, and walking down to her catfish pond to catch, and then prepare and fry up our dinner. I also remember shucking corn and using a scrub brush to get off all the "silks," the filaments that are inside the husks and sometimes cling to the cobb. I thought of her this weekend when I got some fresh corn and prepared it. Maybe a bit more work than the canned variety, but SO good!
Last Saturday I went out to a Lindy Hop dance. It's a swing dance similar to the West Coast swing I usually prefer, but a lot more energetic. A few years ago I thought about brushing up on it, but the timing wasn't right--I had just gotten off a dance team and wanted to put more energy into non-dancing activities for a while. Now I've had my break, usually only dancing once or twice a month, and I'm eager to go out more frequently and learn something new. So with more than a little excitement I prepared for a night out at a new place. The dance code tends to range from super casual, especially with the well-represented college set, to heavily 1940s inspired. For a big event guys have been known to show up in vintage WWII uniforms, and the girls in print dresses with pin curled hair.
So I did a little research, mostly on hair and makeup from the period.
After road testing some swept up rolls, I went with a simple (and
heavily bobby-pinned) style with the back brushed out and rolled on a
jumbo curling iron. Makeup then was pretty simple: pale and heavily
powdered face, clean eye makeup with a strong line of black liner, and
a defined mouth, usually a shade of red. Normally a lipgloss girl, I
was a little concerned about my mouth full of red lipstick migrating
all over my face. Following instructions from a movie makeup site, I
did a multi-step process that involved prepping with chapstick, lining
the entire lip with a matching lip liner, a thin layer of loose powder,
a layer of lipstick, blotting and then powdering, followed by another
layer of lipstick. And I'm here to tell ya, those red lips were
bulletproof, people. I went, I danced, I sweated, my hair fuzzed and I
pulled it back with an elastic.....but when I got home, the lips were still red. Our grandmothers clearly knew a thing or two about looking sexy, whether they were working in a factory as a Rosie the Riveter or welcoming their soldiers home in a housedress. Next project: asking Grandma Parker to help me with finger waves.
In my never ceasing quest to keep my little bachelorette pad streamlined and organized, The Stash has resided in several different locations. There were the under-bed storage containers, plastic bins in the closet, and most recently, jumbo Ziploc XL bags. The biggest problem was access: digging through the bags or through layers to find what I needed, when I needed it. That and the lack of being able to scan over the entire contents of what I have.
After recently getting rid of a round pappasan chair and acquiring a sewing desk from my sister, I had a bit of room in the corner next to a bookcase. Using that space for a stash storage option seemed like a wise choice. Between that and a chair, it was an easy decision: company can sit on the floor, by golly--the stash can't.
Having already pilfered Steph's IKEA catalog, I had a good idea of what I wanted. Mom had been wanting to go to IKEA since the store opened, and still had not been, so it was also a great excuse for a mother-daughter outing. We had fun, and my first choice from the catalog looked perfect on display at the store. I got it, loaded it into Mom's minivan, and took it home.
Once I put it together and added the glass door I encountered a problem: due to either the heaviness of the door of uneven flooring, the unit was pitching forward. Uugh. I tried wedging some of the cardboard from the packaging underneath the front edge, but it didn't seem sturdy enough, and didn't really give enough height, anyway.
Like most shelves, it comes with the hardware to secure it to the wall. But due to where it was sitting, in a corner, the back wasn't flush against the wall. The sides weren't against either a wall or the other bookshelf, either, so it couldn't be bolted to anything for support.
Having already committed to helping my sister today, I knew I'd be driving up to Wade Green Road, so I decided to stop off at Home Depot on the way. There were multiple options, but I ended up getting some small plastic knobs that are nailed on, ideally to make furniture easier to slide around. A set of 4 was less than $1, and once distributed across the front edge of the unit, steadied it nicely.
Now my only challenge is figuring out how the HECK to get ALL the stash squished into the thing.
(Early prediction: ain't gonna happen!)
Received via email today.....enjoy!
Too many people put off
something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about
it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are
too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about
all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that
fateful night in an effort to 'cut back the calories'. From then on,
I've tried to be a little more flexible!!
How many women out there will
eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner
until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration'
mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped
in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Who wants to be a
millionaire' on television?
I cannot count the times I
called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?'
She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My
hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It
looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a
few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because we cram so much into our
lives, we tend to even schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet
of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the
grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we
replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we
get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating
as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to
ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show
for our live s is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday,
when things are settled down a bit.'
When anyone calls my 'seize the
moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She
keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious.
You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad
feet for a pair of roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice
cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well
apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the
digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a
triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would
have died happy.
Now.......go on and have a nice day.
Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If
you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make,
who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids
playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the
ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun
into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you
ask 'How are you?' do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie
in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever
told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his
sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say
'Hi?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away. ...
Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!
