airplanes & postcards ruffle apron - betsy's getting married!

are you all thinking what i'm thinking?
if you are, it's probably something along the lines of "FINALLY..."  because that's how i feel about getting a real blog post up.  no joke.  and i'm super pumped about this one... and the next one to come too.  but more on that later.  obviously.
dearest betsy is getting married in less than three weeks (eeeps!) and a week ago yesterday jenny hosted a fabulous tea party bridal shower at the power's mansion inn tea room and once i got that invite, i knew i had to make something for her.  i made this apron previously in 2011 for a different friend and absolutely loved how it turned out then.  when i thought of what i could make for betsy, it seemed right up her alley.
when i think of betsy's style (and look at her pinterest.  haha) it's very vintage/classy with a splash of color here and there.  like taylor swift, but prettier.  true story.  the girl loves her pearls!  the husband to be is a pilot, so i thought that would be a perfect starting point for the "theme" of the apron.
the postcards & stamps came inspired from betsy's love to travel.  there was a time where she was working for a company that involved her traveling all over the nashville area.  pretty sure i remember her saying she met nicole kidman!  she also did some traveling in europe with a friend back in 2011.  and now with a pilot of a husband, i'm sure they've got plenty of great plans ahead of them.
when a project turns out better than i imagined... i can't help but mentally high five myself.
this is one of those kinds of projects for sure.  not to brag or anything...
here is part two of her gift.  i wish i knew how to make these... or had the patience to do so.
but i just love these hangers so much.  i bought one for erika last year (that i clearly did not blog a photo of) and it got such rave reviews that i decided betsy totally needed one too.  and the result was the same.  these hangers are fabulous, and every bride should have one to hang her wedding dress on.  the vendor i've used is handcrafted affairs.  be sure to check them out!
as usual, i forgot to get something... and that would be a card, or at least a gift tag to tell her who the present was from.  i remembered i had these initially for the next project that will be blogged, so i remembered last minute and put one on here as well.  my grandma got them for me years ago, and i need to remember to use them!
it should be mentioned that jenny did a fantastic job hosting the bridal shower. betsy was given little detail as to what to expect, and when she walked in the place, she was beaming with excitement.  she was truly a bride who appreciates everything & everyone that has been involved in the process of her wedding planning.  her big day is just a short while away, and i cannot wait to celebrate that with her as well!
once again, for the original apron tutorial (metric style): click here

september - instagram lookback

hah. each time i do one of these posts, i think i try and procrastinate it a little bit longer, since i like to tell myself "there is NO way that this month could be over already!" and then the calendar proves me wrong...  and my homework assignments that just happen to keep on coming one after the other.  well... here's september, and there was no sleeping through it like there was for green day.
- new phone!  after a weekend of my phone dying on me while i was working a wedding, it was time to commit to a new phone.  so now, i have myself a droid mini, which really isn't THAT small... but it compares in size to my droid 3 that i had, minus the slide out keyboard since that was one of the first things to die on me.  so far, it's been fantastic.  i guess anything would be compared to a phone that has a mind of it's own and calls people on it's own.
- i had another bridal show this year, and trekked out to yuba city for it.  erika came along with me, and that made the day much more enjoyable (as well as productive.  i think i got more leads at this show because there were two people to talk to) i talked to a lot of brides, gave out a lot of hand outs, and even got to wear my new dress from old navy.  sawheet!
- that same day, after the bridal show was said & done (this is the real reason why erika was with me...) we headed out to concord to see the backstreet boys.  yes my friends, you read that correctly.  the drive was super easy, parking was INSANE, and the wendys was disgusting with no AC and no ice (personal complaint there).  but the concert was great.  dj pauly d was there... you know, that jersey shore guy? that's all i can tell you about him.  jesse mccartney totally aged well, is still adorable, and sounds fantastic.  and the backstreet boys were just as great as always.  played a lot of the "original" songs, which made life so much easier, since we both failed to get the newer albums.  all in all, well worth it!
- jenny & i went and saw "meet the millers" which i was prepared to be let down by...  most people i had heard it was a "stupid funny" kind of movie... but i thought it was fantastically hilarious.  sure, jennifer aniston is in her 40s and plays a stripper... but man, is there anything that woman can't do?  fantastic.  i would totally go see it again.
- forced myself back to the gym, and started watching dancing with the stars as a reason to be there...  i was rooting for bill nye of course.  alas, this past monday he was sent home and out of the competition, but boy did he put an awkwardly brilliant valiant effort in to his dancing.  yeah, i'll still keep going to the gym... even if it is just to work out.
- wedding invites make me so excited, and this lovely couple is one that i cannot wait for!  betsy is fantastic, and i'm positive dillon is a lucky fella to have reeled her in.  her bridal shower is this upcoming sunday, and i can't wait!  so much wedding goodness in this next month i can't wait :)
- ahhh the fabric store.  my happy place in town.  did a little bit of shopping to finish up a project that's being delivered soon (aka blog post on that soon as well) and got some ideas for future projects.  amy also has a wedding coming up, as well as a few of my favorite people are due in march with babies... so i can't wait to get crafty with all that fun stuff.
- see?  i went to the gym more than once.  as well as going back to the gym, i've also been using my library card more.  trying to churn out some leisure reading mixed in with all the school books... apparently "leisure reading" means reading & walking on a treadmill.  hey, i'll take what i can get.  p.s. that book is pretty good so far.
- another gift that has been sent on it's way (and according to my usps receipt should be arriving today!) but i always have these little tags that my grandma bought me way back when, and i always forget to use them.  they're totally cute, so i should really try harder to tag my stuff!  i feel so stuck right now that i really have no crafting to do at this very moment.  i should take care of that.

august - instagram lookback

holy cow internet, didn't i JUST do the july post? and now august is over?? why has this year hit the gas pedal? i was totally enjoying my nice slow drive through the first half of the year. but now, it's full steam ahead to next year apparently.  but hey, there are some pretty cool things happening in 2014...  but come on.  let's let 2013 have its moment.
- at the start of the month, pre back to school post, i got my books.  i think that was the starting moment that this was all about to get real.  yeah, pretty crazy this whole process (mind you as of today, i'm only one week in to the semester) but i'm excited to see where it goes.  my professor was talking about how her original intention was to just teach preschool but then inched her way each time getting more and more education & ended up with a masters degree in early childhood education.  i guess we'll see whether i keep going, or if i'm content with teaching preschool.  haha.
- i got back in to sewing this month.  it's a project i can't exactly show off yet (still in the finishing process anyways) but i'm in love with how it turned out.  so for now, you'll just have to deal with this teaser post of the great beast who always seems to find his way in between the presser feet... no matter which machine you're trying to use, he always ends up in the way.
- second shot a wedding on the north shore of tahoe this month, and that means almost 2 hours each way to drive.  with my new car i am back to having a cassette player which helps free up my cigarette lighter outlets for my cell phone charger & the gps.  so i have now officially gone back to kicking it old school with this lovely contraption.  it works great, and i don't have to worry about radio station frequencies not working with the transmitters!
- mid month, erika & i headed out to folsom to see cassadee pope perform at toby keith's i love this bar and grill and it was fantastic!  i had forgotten about this show until one of my favorite people from my old job posted about it.  she sounds amazing live, and i seriously cannot wait to get her new album in october.  she was in the band hey monday, which erika and i saw back in 2009 at a fall out boy concert (of course) as well as won season 3 of the voice.  here's one of the videos from the night
- i was sticky note preached to.  found this on my car as i was leaving work one day.
- and here begins all the reno weekend photos.  jenny and i drove up late friday night for the wedding weekend at amy's house.  it was a fantastic little get away from the real world before we (amy & i) both started school on monday.  saturday morning, amy made pancakes for everyone - her parents were there the night before, sarah came up saturday morning & so did her friend rachel - and then brought us a little surprise.  we each got a bamboo plant with this little sign in it :)  i asked her what she would do if i said no, and she informed me she would cry... no tears were shed in front of these plants.  don't you worry!
- all the photos on my camera are amy in wedding dress related, so this will have to do for that portion of the day.  we headed out to alfred angelo and were welcomed in right away by the perfect consultant for amy.  her personality meshed GREAT and really helped amy out with figuring out where to start for wedding dresses.  we were there for 2ish hours, and after a lot of options the last dress was fantastic.  but we decided 1. we were hungry and 2. we should head on to our appointment at david's bridal as well.  ate lunch at red robin (yumm) and the headed to davids bridal.  which was a hot mess.  they were under staffed, and we started out looking at bridesmaid dresses... which were all rather blah.  we each tried on different styles and found things that were okay, but nothing that was awesome.  amy was supposed to get started at 2 for her dress appointment there, but it wasn't until 2:30 (and getting yelled at that we were in a "bride area") that we got started.  needless to say, none of us wanted amy to buy anything from this place.  and since the consultant we ended up with was tag teaming us & another bride that she was obviously more focused on, we stopped caring & amy just started to try on princess dresses.  once we left there, we headed back to alfred angelo to end the day on a good note.  even though we didn't have an appointment, the manager took us back in, got amy back in to the last dress and we knew it was the one.  the only thing we learned from david's bridal was putting a blue sash on it, so we tried that and it was meant to be.  and there was an amy farrah fowler tiara moment.  no joke.  the dress was perfect, it was purchased, and it came home with amy that day.
- whippets are the dog of amy's family.  her mom has two, and amy has rue.  of course, the was a lot of whippet action this weekend.  if i was ever to go crazy and change my mind about having a dog (not really likely) this might be one breed i would highly consider.
- lastly, before we left sunday, we went to the squeeze in that was located in sparks.  we got there at 12, but still opted for breakfast food.  i had this crazy huge sandwich thing (that was only half eaten) and it was delish.  you can write on the walls & leave messages and such.  jenny left our names on there forever, i think even with some hearts or something.  but the food was good, and the place was very true to it's name.  we didn't even get to experience the way back of the place since we were put at a table right in the front.  after a quick stop at UNR for amy's nursing posse & tour of the classrooms, we made our voyage home to gross hot california...  at least smokey nevada was a little bit cooler weather wise...

back to school. back to school.

here's my hoorah of final first day back to school day.  or so i thought.
not soon after, i realized that becoming a preschool teacher basically means first days of school forever.
yesterday was the "official" first back to school day, even though it didn't really feel like it.
went to work for 4 hours
drove to school
stood in line (sweating to death) for 35 minutes to pick up my final textbook
went to class for an hour, where we went over basics of the syllabus & played child development bingo.
from which i won a werther's original, andee's mint & peppermint patty.
compared to amy's hooplah of being a level 4 nursing student (which started today for her as well) this should all be fairly easy.
of course, in the midst of all this back to school talk, i got to thinking about college round one.  what i did, what i didn't do, how i survived it, and what i should do differently.  this time around, i want to make the most of it (i've already called it my master's degree in mid 20s crisis) and so i came up with some goals.  some lame, some school related, some life related.  i'm sure i could spend time coming up with a bunch of things i should try and go, but i decided to keep it basic.  so with that, i present to you...
the back to school mini bucket list of fall 2013
don't be "that girl"...
you know, the one who carries the large purse AND the backpack?
yeah, i spent the first round of college years carrying the unnecessary shoulder purse.
basically, this one really benefits nothing besides looking dumb.  but that's a priority.
engage
totally not in an "if you like it, you shoulda put a ring on it" sort of way.  nooooo
the first time around, i basically attended to pass. i had a class at sac state i called my "facebook class" because that's literally what i did the whole time.  just to stay awake and look alive.  yes, i passed.  but i didn't actually engage myself as much in that class as i should have.  so here's to reading the textbooks in length, taking notes, and maybe even raising my hand in class a time or two.
make friend(s)
wow.  i'm really making myself out to sound like a terrible antisocial person...  but hear me out.  at sierra, i had my friends there with me.  jenny was always around, i worked at the mall and had friends from there.  basically the only person that wasn't around was erika, but that was just one year she was in san diego.  when i hit sac state, i was there with a get in, get my degree, get out mindset.  i didn't want to "waste time" and apparently that meant making friends.  yeah, i look back now and that sounds really dumb.  LUCKILY i did make friends at sac state, even if they are scattered all over california & canada - whoop whoop second to back row!  anyways, i'm hoping to make a worthwhile friend or two.  someone to hang out with, study with, all that jazz.  i'm not trying to replace friends i have.  just add to the mix.
keep organized, keep on top of it
i'm the kind of person who buys a planner, uses it the first month, and then slacks at it.  this goes along with the "engage" portion...  i need to keep organized and on top of things more so than i usually am.  i'm a master procrastinator like no other, and i'm sure my stress levels would be lower if i didn't do that.  so instead of last minute, i'm hoping to get things done ahead of time instead of last minute.  then i'll be able to enjoy free time and take it easy instead of cramming to write papers the night before they are due.
breathe
yes, i generally do have a lot going on.  i somehow like to do that to myself.  i would rather be over worked & busy than under worked & bored... but i know there is a fine line to that.  having most of my weekend free thankfully will allow me time to step back, breathe a little bit and recuperate before the week begins all over each monday.  also having those days not scheduled to work will give me not just extra homework time, but the ability to escape one direction or another to friends out of town, as well as little breaks here and there.  everyone deserves a little daycation, so i'm not going to let school & work overwhelm me completely.  at least, that's the hope.  and if it does, i'm sure a little retail therapy could help here and there ;)
and during this whole past week i kept thinking to myself "i swear there is a song about going back to school... like the thanksgiving song adam sandler sings, but about school."
sure enough, thanks to youtube, i was proven to be correct.

two music themed donation quilts

finally at the end of catching up, and now i should hopefully convince myself to start sewing the next project that has been cut out for days!  this year, my mom came up with the idea for the music camp my siblings have attended forever to have a quilt raffle in order to help raise money for the camp.  i did a music themed quilt for the high school a few years ago (quilt here) and this time had to bust out some quilts in a matter of days before the final day of camp each week.
these two quilts fall under the stash bust category since we had the fabric laying around, but did also have to purchase some filler fabric as well as the backing pieces in order to complete the quilts.  the first quilt (on the left) is based off of "pinwheel play" (link below) and pieced together easily.  the pinwheels are 10" finished, with a stashing in between.  i really like the colors on this quilt a whole lot.  a little more punch to them than the others i have done for music donations.  and we still have fabric left over to do another one for next year!
quilt 2 on the right is using the same "just can't cut it" pattern as the donation quilt done a few years back.  we had a LOT of black & white fat quarters that were managed to work in with this pattern.  this quilt pattern is a great one for a new quilter.  the blocks are easy to piece together, no tiny pieces, and everything goes together super quick.  i was able to put both of these quilt tops together in one afternoon, and send off to quilt within a few days after that.
due to the quick finish time and need for them to get sent off to camp, i didn't get a chance to photograph these quite like i usually do. so alas, this isn't a very picture filled post.  but there you have it, two more quilts done and out of here!
quilt 1: based off of pinwheel play by julie weaver in quilts for babies & kids
quilt 2: "just can't cut it" by all washed up
total stash busting quilts/quilt tops combined: 12

safari animal "circus is in town" quilt top

this was mentioned in june... and then never blogged.  and then july happened... still not blogged.  so here we are in august, finally catching up on blog life.  time to knock out what i have done before school starts on the 26th.
the fabrics from this stashbust came primarily from a quilt i made for my childhood bff's older sister in 2010.  yeah, three years later, finally busting out the rest of the fabric and making something of it. (original quilt)  this quilt pattern was yet another from my "quilts for babies & kids" book that i've had forever so i just had to try something new out.  i tweaked it a little bit and didn't do all the borders it had (ran short on some fabric) but still love how it turned out!
the blocks turned out to be a pretty decent size, which helped the safari animals be a good size in the center of the blocks.  everything pieced together so well, and boy am i impressed with how those squares lined up for me.  usually, that's my hardest part.
seriously. look at that nearly lined up striping. winner winner!
one last closeup of the blocks.  totally like the safari animals than the clown print that was shown in the book.
pattern: "circus is in town" by michelle crawford in quilts for babies & kids
stash bust total: 10.  wow.  last quilt top i posted was back in may...  yikes!

july - instagram lookback

as quickly as july rolled in, i feel it rolled right away.  some for good reason, some for bad.  i'd much rather prefer to focus on the happy while it was there, instead of what isn't anymore.
- new car!  you saw the tow truck snap shot from june, and two things happened.  the corolla got fixed (and is in the process of getting listed to sell.  just photographed it last night.  hoping to craigslist it soon) and i got a car that is much more suited to my needs.  sure, the corolla served me well, but this 2001 rav4 is where it's at.  we went out on the 4th of july, got tired after one car lot, and then went back to look at cars online.  we found first a 2000 rav4 i thought was okay, and then this one was in folsom and i did commit to saying i liked how it looked (yes.  a real emotional response) so we went and ate dinner, then went to the dealer to check it out.  test drove it, i liked it, done.  got my grandparental loan agreement the next day, and then saturday it was mine!  so far, it's been fantastic.  i feel like with the corolla i settled because it was in budget, and was decent, but i feel like this car will serve me well.  for a long time :)
oh.  and the pen was the expensive part.  the car came free with it.  at least that's what was decided to tell everyone ;)
- for the music camp up at donner mine this year, my mom got the idea to do a quilt raffle to raise money for the camp.  so in a matter of days, i busted out two quilts, front & back, and then had them quilted by my grandma.  binding on, and sent on their way, each week of camp got a quilt to be raffled off.  sure, it was a lot of last minute work, but i'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
- oh financial aid, you are the bane of my existence.  i took in a whole bunch of paperwork to get the "red flags" cleared off my page... but yet there are still there. all i want to do is get everything good to go so i can move forward, but apparently there would be no fun in that at all!  ugh.
- this panda express fortune cookie slip was very relevant that day... but i can't remember why.  haha.  back to school maybe?  i don't know.
- in preperation for the costume party i shared a picture of, i made this little gem completely out of duct tape sheets.  i wasn't sure if he would actually wear a super hero themed shirt more than once, so it's a red shirt, duct tape flash logo, and i eventually sewed the gray sleeves on to the shirt so it wasn't a complete layer overheating fest.
- state fair day 1 complete.  performed, sweated to death, and called it good.  so tiring.  if it wasn't for our studio performing, i would avoid the fair for sure.  $10 turkey legs?  no thanks.
- state fair day 2.  oh that face of his.  i have no words.  totally forgot to share the luke head instagram in this mix... but there is a good collection of luke faces on my facebook.  haha.  amy seemed to love it.
- state fair day 3.  final day, and boy am i glad i just went, did what i had to do, and then left.  it was just WAY too hot.  my feel feel like they melted in to the pavement.  what fun is walking on asphalt in july in flip flops?  yeah, it's not.
- after the crazy week, it was time for the week 2 camp photo at donner mine.  i thought i was going to be unable to do it this year, but everything got shifted around and i made it up there with my dad.  standing on a ladder on a hill, super exciting.  for sure.
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on a side not instagrammed note, yes it's true.
i did switch jobs yet again this year.  luckily, it wasn't because i was laid off from one as seasonal and had to start looking.  it was totally unexpected since i applied on a whim one night, and after a lot of stress, hopefully worth it.
i went from working at a smaller child care facility in folsom to one that is much closer to home (and crazier as far as number of kids.  haha) in rocklin.  so far, it has appeared to blend nicely with what my school & work schedule will be like for the upcoming semester, and it's a free gym membership that i'll actually use.  or not feel guilty about not using, since it is free.  win/win situation for sure.
next up:  room overhaul, car selling, and maybe some ebay listing to hopefully lead to (and fund) moving on up & out on my own.  real world, here i hope to come ;)