New York & Lined Bags

Hello Everyone,

Things are starting to slow down around here just a bit, and just in time for the holidays.

I hope everyone is doing well and I especially pray that if you have loved ones on the East Coast right now, that they are safe. As most of you know, our middle son is living in Midtown NY. Right there in the heart of the city. I have not been a happy camper at all. Thankfully, he is totally safe, and has plenty of water and food. The first day of the storm, I requested a text update every five minutes, but that didn't fly. He was fortunate enough to have power and the ability to use his cell so I know it was best to keep lines open for others less fortunate. With Facebook and other ways to communicate, I was satisfied that he was going to be okay. He has been working from his apartment because his office is without internet, probably for the rest of the week. The pictures and video footage I see on the news is just devastating. I asked him about the crane that is sorta hanging over the city. He said he can see it from his bedroom window and it is a strange sight. To back up just a bit, he left his original apartment two months early due to bugs in the building {He was practically best buds with the bug guy}. Since he left quickly, his back up plan was to rent a room in the Chelsea neighborhood until he could find another apartment. After a few weeks of searching, he found a 3 bedroom apartment on the third floor in Midtown. Move in date was Nov. 1st but since it was vacant, he and the other boys were able to get the keys and move in last Saturday.  Would you believe that the very next day after he moved out, that neighborhood was evacuated. I am such a thankful Mom right now! One of the apartments in his "old" neighborhood, lost the entire front wall. It's like you're looking into a doll house. All of those poor people! I can't imagine. 

On the crafty side of life, I added a link on my Tutorial page for the coolest lined drawstring bags.  They are pretty simple and are such a nice addition to a gift. Presentation is everything!   I've made several for gifts.  One idea I used was to fill the bag with different hair products like a brush, pony tail holders, hair clips, hair spray, pretty barrettes, etc.  It was really appreciated.  It's kinda fun to pick themes especially if you're able to match the fabric of the bag as well.  In this case I wasn't but it would've been really cute if I had hair products or something "hair dresser" oriented in coordinating colors.  You get the idea!!  With Christmas around the corner, a reusable bag is like giving two gifts in one! 
Check out Jeni's link right here!! Her blog is called "In Color Order". Be sure to check out her other pages too. Lots of amazing info and inspiration. 
I have the next two days off work and keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get to do major craftiness this weekend :-)

InColorOrder.com- see link above

 Happy Crafting to you.
 Until Next Time, 

They Did It and Some Instagram Obsession

Hey Everyone!
Wedding #2 was a wonderful success. The venue was beautiful and a good time was had by all. I have some photos to share... fair warning though, I'm waiting on the professional ones. They have to be better than mine!

We'll begin with rehearsal 24hrs prior

My Boys and Their Girls

Her Dad Gives Her Hand and Jeffrey Takes Her Hand

They Clean Up Well !  The Guys Waiting....

With This Ring

Sealed With A Kiss

Meet The New Mister And Misses!

The Whole Gang!

Amazing Cake!

The Beautiful Flowers

Parting Gifts ~ Wine Stoppers From The Vineyard

I love Instagram! A little collage.

Hope you enjoyed this little sampling of pictures. Their photographers took SO many photos.  There was also a photo booth at the venue. Oh boy, what a fun idea. Over 880 pictures were taken at just the photo booth alone! I'll find a few choice ones and post here next time.
I apologize for the long gaps in posts. It has been incredibly busy here. With the house being remodeled, the weddings 8 weeks apart, working long, long days, doggie issues with the old guy, my favorite visitor from NY and his adorable girlfriend visiting, just to name a few things....  oh yeah, and today was my court day.....

Bad Day

 The Judge wasn't very flexible.  He asked if I am guilty or not guilty.  I asked for other options. Guess I should've baked brownies or something? Lol.  So... now I have a trial date. Not saying I was not speeding, but I'm a first time offender and I want to be able to explain my side. I know they've heard it all and they will hear it again from me.  I think we'll do a video re-enactment to better explain my case.  This should be interesting. November 13th is the next big date.  If I elected to pay today, do you know how expensive this is? My bail is $377. and traffic school is about $ 430. Crazy!  I guess California really needs money. And they want to collect it all from traffic offenders.

I'm SO itching to get in my sewing room.  I made great headway over the past weekend clearing out things that didn't belong there but lived there while the carpet was torn out and tile laid. I received a few awesome books in the mail, which I'll share next post ~ they are such a great inspiration to get me sewing again.  These last few months make the Holidays look like child's play!

Well, it's almost 1am and my alarm always goes off at 5:30am for work. Hummmmmm..... I just did the "math" and that's not much rest tonight.
Goodnight all Until Next Time,

Six Days And Counting!

Hey Everyone!
I'm still here. I'm going in about a million different directions and besides that, Blogger has changed it's format. I'm not huge on change unless I have a big part in it....and wouldn't
you know it, Blogger did not consult me on this! I've started a quick post about 3 different times but got stuck and then had to go.  I couldn't find the photos I wanted to upload and right now I've got the patience & attention span of a gnat.
Six days and counting down until my youngest son's wedding!  His fiance's bridal shower was two weeks ago and was really fun! This weekend the boys are all off in Palm Springs for the bachelor party.  I have a feeling this week will go by so quickly!
I'm thinking that when all I have to do is prepare for the Holidays, it will be an easy thing!
Of course, that depends on how the house re-do goes.  Right now my entire kitchen and living room are spread out between the garage, backyard and the other available rooms. Not good. We are still in a horrible heat wave - good thing for the items out back. No more carpet, Yay! It's going to be so wonderfully clean.  Photos to follow..
I went to the L.A. Fair last week and had a blast! I think I enjoyed playing hookey from work too. I took a few token pictures to document the day.

Truly the biggest Ferris Wheel! I went on it & took awesome pics.

Impulse buy - Teeth Whitening. At least I didn't buy an above ground Spa.

Beautiful Quilt

Just a sampling of the wonderful talent on display

Lunch At The Grandstands. My first horse race, too!

The Famous Pink's Hotdogs Even Came To The Fair. They smelled good, but I don't do Hotdogs.

Until Next Time,  

Re-Useable Bags

Hey Everyone,
A day off for me today and I'm thoroughly enjoying a lazy morning surfing all the craft & sewing blogs that I subscribe to.  I love re-usable bags.  You should see the trunk in my car.  It's more like a bag problem! Very colorful and varied in size and shape, I just love them.  Each store that I frequent is represented.  I also like to make them and I do have a favorite pattern I purchased from Michelle Patterns formerly Keyka Lou  specifically This One Here.

Re-Usable Bag, In my Etsy Shop

Some time ago, I stumbled across the Japanese Knot Bag and I think this will be my new Fav bag.  I like how one handle loops through the opposite handle.  I can picture myself setting up an assembly line scenario in my sewing room and busting out many of these.  Depending on the fabrics used, these can be plain & solid or all decked out in wild prints.  First, I have a few projects to complete and then I will tackle the re-usable bags. It's not too early to think about Christmas ya know.
Our kitchen is under big construction.  Originally, it was a mold issue but after cabinets were torn out and walls came down, it seems termites had set up shop as well.  Good thing we don't make a habit of sitting on our kitchen counter because I'm pretty sure an embarrassing moment would've followed. The 2x4's holding up the counter/sink/tiles were just about hollow and reduced to dust as soon as the guys pulled them out.

The worker pulled out what was once a 2x4. Our neighbor picked it up and it disintegrated to dust.

Scary what goes on behind the scenes. Little critters that you cannot see but wreak havoc! So for now we are eating out a lot. Which I don't really care for so often.  You never really know what goes into the food someone else prepares... well actually, I think a lot of sodium goes into it because I feel it!
Time to be productive.  I'm feeling inspired.
Until Next Time,

End of Summer/Sales/Tickets

Hey Everyone,

I hope you're having a great week. I'm looking forward to the long holiday weekend!
Maybe I can get some sewing in. Oooo, fingers crossed!  Labor Day weekend always lines up with back to school, one last heat wave and the smell of Fall in the air { You really can smell it }.

We stopped by the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach.  We opted to go in the evening just so it would be a bit cooler.

Sorta blurry. Mom and I getting more toe rings. This place is the best.

I felt sorta bad for keeping this one. Afterwards I noticed a small sign saying No Photos :-(

This glass blower was amazing

Waiting their turn to sit up high and get their toe rings

One of the local bands getting ready to play. They were SO good!

A great time was had by all.  I love the local talent and it's fun to "window" shop.  I never did make it by the OC Fair. I think it's probably a good thing though because I just heard from one of the medical reps that came by the office, one or some of the piggies tested positive for H1N1 or H1N2 - don't quote me on the exact strain, I quickly forgot because I instantly thought to myself, Ohmygosh, If I did go to the Fair, I would've totally petted those pigs!!!  There was a litter born and they were so darn cute that I posted them on my FB page. I'm a sucker for "baby" anything.  {well, maybe not baby bugs}.
As it is, right now I've got like 10 mosquito bites on my right arm alone. About another dozen on my legs.  I don't respond favorably to bites.  Big swelling and redness goes on. I try to stay on allergy pills or at least Benadryl around the clock until the itchy part gets under control... because in my sleep, I will scratch until blood comes. I know, gross.  I'm a nurse and I like blood - it gives me something to fix.
*Labor Day Weekend Sale*  Aren't you loving the *SaLeS* going on right now?  I know I am. JoAnn's is having a great one!  I was lucky enough to receive a few birthday gift cards to spend there and Oh Boy am I excited!  I also got one to SteinMart. It just so happens that they had a Betsey Johnson purse that I thought I totally needed.  Really Bad. There was also a really good coupon on FB. I just have to share this part.... Originally $98.00 marked to $49.00 then with the coupon, I walked out the door with my $24.00 Bag!   Just happen to have a pic....

It's pretty much covered with clear sequins. Totally Me.

End of Summer/Sales/Tickets.  I wish I was referring to my Angel game tickets. Nope. More like speeding. Ugh.  Maybe end of the month quota? I hear they really don't do that but I'm pretty sure they do.  Here's what happened. Yesterday I'm leaving for work. Few minutes behind but no biggie.  I'm sitting at the signal, popping the top off my yogurt. I see a motorcycle cop cross in front of me heading the same direction I will be going as soon as my left turn light turns green.  It does and off I go.  I did notice that I didn't see him up ahead. Weird thing to notice-then it quickly went out of my mind. I slow down to turn right and look in my mirror.  Look at all those pretty lights!  Oh Geeze.... I think they're for me!  I pull over and down into a closed business {It's only 7:40am}.  After we exchanged pleasantries, he tells me I was clocked at 56 in a 35.  All I could say was  "Really? Are you sure?"  I'm thinking, that seems so fast especially since I did just see you pass in front of me.  This kid wrote me a ticket!!!   I was so shocked I couldn't think of anything to say.  Now I can think of a million things. First off, I HAD a spotless record. Never in my life a ticket. Certainly that should say something.  I'm wearing scrubs, he knows I'm a nurse - I'm sure he saw my license plate frame when he ran my car. I listen to direction. He could've given me a warning, he has that option. I was polite. I'm a Mom, old enough to be his Mom! I don't like speeders either!  I should've said "Hope I never run into you in the ER buddy!!  Okay, I know he was doing his job. That street was 35 mph for a reason. My new car is just so darn smooth, I had no clue!  Maybe I should contact Mazda and be in their next commercial:   0 to 60 in five seconds flat.
I'm not going to just pay it though.  You know why?  It does bother me that he was so quick to hand me that yellow slip of paper. Maybe he was new?  I didn't look at my ticket until today. I noticed that the time he wrote down was 8am. It wasn't 8am.  It was about 7:45. I was at work by 8:10 so how could I leave my house and be in Laguna in 10 minutes? It will never happen, no matter how fast he says I drive.   I'm not sure but 20mph + over the limit is really bad.  If he's "rounding up" his time, who's to say he's not "rounding up" my speed?  You need to be more detailed when you're messing with someone's  money/fees/auto insurance. You know what I mean? These things will all be altered.  Yes, I should've been looking at the speedometer. I know that now. I usually go with the flow of traffic.  I truly don't believe I was going that fast and a warning lecture would hold me until I'm too old to drive.  Maybe he had a quota to meet? It was end of the month.  Oh well.  I'm already becoming an expert on how to get a ticket dismissed.  I can't believe how much info is online. Hahaha. Guess I'm not the first one. Even though it feels like it.

Until Next Time,

A Few More Wedding Photos

Hey Everyone!
I hope you're all having a great summer.  Things are busy here, with less than six weeks before the next wedding - a loud buzz can always be heard.  I even thought about putting my shop/twitter/blog/FB "on vacation".  I haven't been able to craft or sew much these days.  I feel rather anxious because sitting down to my machine keeps me calm. I know that some of you can relate!  I still find time, late at night, to look at crafting sites & I want to throw back the covers and run into my sewing room but I'm quickly reminded that the alarm will sound by 5:30am and off to work I go. Those 10+ hr days don't allow for much creativity.  Oh, and did I mention the heat? Geeze, we've had killer hot summer nights.  I even snapped a picture of my thermostat in my car - 104 degrees while on the freeway. Seconds before it went to 105. We have one room with A/C and I prefer to hang there. 
I wanted to share a few more wedding photos...  I don't remember if I mentioned that I made the veil and hand beaded sash.  I'll include those, too!  Enjoy.

Happy Couple

The Wedding Party

My Boys! I can't even tell you how much I love them!!

My Sweet Daughter-In-Law and Her Girls

Mr & Mrs Kiss :-)

Silly Boys

Another Silly Pose {trust me, I have about a dozen more}

Ah! I'm Hitched!

The Railroad Tracks, San Juan Capistrano, CA

Sharing the Wine {You can see the sash on her dress}

Well, I hope you enjoyed those... if you're local and happen to be looking for a photographer, you can go directly to Pamela's website.  She was so great with the kids... I mean, my son and his wife!  She also took their engagement photos and they were awesome!  Her boyfriend was in charge of the boys. He hung out in the Groom Room while Pamela was in the Bridal Suite.  They are an amazing team.  Her facebook page also has a great selection of photos.  I highly recommend them!

Until Next Time,