The reason for my flakery... or a quick catch up.

Hello~hello! So sorry to have kept you lovely people waiting, I'm afraid the past couple of days have been packed beyond blogging capability. Let's play catch up real quick!

So! I moved my niece Ana down to Santa Barbara this weekend. I've never been to Santa Barbara before, it's a beautiful city! I think Ana is really going to have a good time there. Hopefully not *too* much of a good time, she is there to attend college after all... We drove down Saturday, met up with some friends for dinner and a walk up and down the pier, the beach, then State Street which was alive with revelers. We happened into town during the final night of the Old Spanish Days Festival, perfect timing! A lively fiesta was in full swing when we arrived, there was confetti, music, food and laughter everywhere! I told Ana the festival was being thrown in her honor, seeing as how she moved to town that day :o) She rolled her eyes at me if I remember correctly. Puh, kids...

This guy is ready to party!

Next morning we moved her in to her little apartment. She's sharing a 2 bedroom / 1 bath flat with three other girls. All college freshman. Oh, the fun they'll have!! But 4 girls vs. 1 tiny bathroom? We'll see... It was strange leaving her there. I knew I needed to hit the road, I had another 6 hour drive home, but when it came time for me to go, it felt weird not to have her with me. I'm gonna miss that kid. But look how happy she is!

My happy girl!

My drive home was long, boring and uneventful... nothing exciting to share. I made good time, six hours right on the nose. When I got home, I kept telling myself, blog! blog! blog! You promised you'd be back with Lisa & Jill's Big Day In The City Part II! But... girls, I just couldn't... I was beat. Driving does that, ya know?

Monday was fun! A quick morning passed at work, then a co-worker and I took off to the city for a San Francisco Giants game, it was Jerry Garcia Tribute Night!

As you may or may not already know, I am a Deadhead. Love those boys. I have a lot of great memories of music, laughter and friendship associated with that band. Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, two of the original members of the Grateful Dead were there last night to sing the National Anthem, as well as Jerry's daughter Annabelle to throw out the first pitch. Good times! In the 7th inning stretch, Phil and Bill Kreutzmann, another original member lead the crowd in a resounding rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" on kazoo! They were trying to break a World Record for largest kazoo ensemble. I don't know if they did, but it was fun anyway.

Got me some new GD swag too, yes I did! Some of it looks like this...

It was a long but exciting game with two extra innings due to a 3/3 tie. But in the end the Giants win!!

 

This superfan was sitting right behind me. I liked her sign. I think everyone in attendance had a great time last night, except the Chicago Cubs fans... boo.

Two extra innings resulted in a late, late night. I didn't get home until after 1:00am. Oi!

Today... not as much fun. I'm sick again. More summer sinus headaches, coupled with a runny nose, sore throat and ear aches. I've been told that I burn the candle at both ends...I think that it's caught up with me. But it sure is fun along the way!

Feeling (not so) groovy, but always yours truly,

Lisa

Tap, tap, tap...hello? Is this thing on?

Hi Girls~
I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, I swear! But I also can't believe it's been a week since I've talked to most of you... or picked up a needle and thread. What a sad thing, no? Even my mom made a comment on my facebook page... "Hello? We're waiting for squares 34 & 35" Hehehe... I promise I haven't been slacking! It's been a heck of a busy week.

 Since we last talked, I... 

Stitched up a little goodie and celebrated into the wee hours
of the morning, one of my best friends birthdays!
More on the goodie later...

(We've been friends since 7th grade! Left to right is Tiffany, Melissa (the b-day girl) and yours truly.)

Hosted a small book club meeting/tea party. Exciting deets to come!

Stayed up all night doing my taxes (yuck!) 

(This isn't me, but it's not far off the mark.)

Went back to Jazzercise (after a year away, and limped & complained for the next two days... it's ok, I totally deserve it. That's what I get for treating my body poorly for almost a year).

 Don't laugh, or at least don't laugh unless you've tried it lately, Jazzercise is hard!

(This ain't me either... I flippin' wish!)

Went to opening night of baseball season with Sean for our local Single A team, the Stockton Ports.

You know what that means, right?? Baseball Season = Guilt Free Embroidery time!!

Said goodbye to my beloved Metropolitan...

But that's ok because Lulu went to a really good home...

(Recognize the b-day girl?)

Melissa is now the proud mama of my first and much loved scooter! I wish I didn't have to sell her, but

Miss Vespa didn't come cheap... but she sure is purrty...and fast!

Sew my darlings, this is why I've been absent as of late. As much as I loved the 35 Squares project and getting to embroider every single day and have show and tell with you all every morning, it's been a marathon. But don't count me out just yet, I have a plan for those last two squares! They're sketched in on the fabric, the colors chosen, they only need to be stitched! I'm going to TRY to get some done this weekend. I say "try" because it's already stacking up to be a busy humm~dinger.

Tomorrow I have Miss Ava's 1st birthday!!

 ...and Sunday the wedding of my handsome cousin and his beautiful bride as well as baseball games BOTH Saturday & Sunday with Sean. Oy!

I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining, these are blessings and I'm so happy and grateful to have such a busy life filled with much fun, love and people who mean so much to me. You ladies, and this wonderfully encouraging blog community mean a lot to me too! Thank you for following along these last few weeks, it's been a fun adventure and I've really enjoyed getting to know so many new and talented stitchers and all around great chics!

I'll be back soon!

oxo,

Lisa

Tea, Baseball and... Pot Holders?

Hello All~

I hope you've all had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend!

I love birthdays! Even though mine has been over & done for a few weeks, I'm still getting to enjoy it. Case in point, these pretty teapot iron on transfers my mom gave to me this year. I've never used transfers before, but I thought these were just great! Thanks Mom! Sean decided last week that since baseball season was almost over for our Stockton Ports, that he wanted to see one last game for the year. He didn't have to twist my arm too hard, I've been wanting to go ever since I saw this. So Wednesday evening after dinner, I sat down to a little pot of my current favorite tea (Blueberry Bang Rooibos) prepared a little project, and gathered up a small embroidery kit to take to the game on Thursday. The transfers are from a company called Aunt Martha's. I think Mom said she found them at Beverly Craft for just a couple of bucks.

I picked up this small quilted pot holder from the dollar bin at JoAnn's several months ago... I didn't have a specific project in mind when I bought it, just vague plans for some type of embroidery... I thought it was a cute little blank canvas, and for only a buck I wouldn't be too upset if I ruined it.
I chose a pretty transfer with flowers look like little bells, but also kind of like Lily of the Valley...

Transferring the design was so simple and quick and the design came out clean as a whistle, no smudges!

After we'd settled in our seats at the game, I whipped out my needle & thread and prepared to stitch! I was a little apprehensive at first because we were in the very first row... right behind home plate... and Comcast was televising the game that night! Can you imagine? Sitting at home watching the game, and every time they show the batter up at the plate there's a lady right behind him stitching away? Ha! Sean teased me about it, said I'd better make my stitches nice & neat! Oh, the pressure!!

As it turns out, this was a pretty exciting game (we won too, yay!), and I didn't get very much done, see... did I mention it was $2 beer night?

I vowed to not let my little pot holder sit unfinished for too long, I didn't have a lot of time on Friday evening and I spent what little time I did have, adding a few more tid bits to my sampler (music notes, soo cute!). Saturday was busy too, in fact this entire Labor Day weekend has been very busy, but close to home and very productive, so it was a good thing! So after an afternoon garden tea party with my mother-in-law and my 4 year old niece (more on that later), and making dinner for Sean, I finally sat down and started stitching in earnest at about 8:30pm on Saturday night and didn't stop until I was finished!

Which wasn't until 3:10am!! Whew! I was getting a little bleary-eyed near the end. I think I can see some wonky stitch work... but I'm not telling where... This was also my first time using the Satin Stitch. I was really leary about that type of stitch, I'd only ever practiced them on the cross stitch fabric, and they didn't look very good because you just can't get the stitches close enough together to fill in a solid area so I didn't know exactly how to do them. Should I outline the design in back stitch first then fill in or just start filling the design in right from the get-go?

Not knowing, I first tried the back stitch, then fill in method. See that big yucky lavender flower? No... I thought, that can't be right, looks too sloppy... Just fill in then, like a coloring book... yes! I'd originally outlined the teapot in ivory back stitching, but it didn't stand out enough against the pink, kind of just faded into nothing. So last night I restitched around the ivory outline of the teapot again using the variegated lavender/blue/pink floss that I'd used on some of the flowers. Much better.

I'm really pleased with the finished project, it's pretty and I like the colors. I'm not really going to use it for messy pots and pans though, I think I'll put it with my tea towels and use it as a trivet for the teapot. I'd love to hear any tips you all might have on doing the satin stitches better. I'm sure I'll improve with practice, but I'm always open to ideas and comments.

Hope September is finding you well!

oxo~Lisa