the best weekend ever...

This past weekend was definitely one for the record books. The girls and I had SO MUCH FUN! On Saturday, the girls and I spent the late morning/early afternoon (after my am cooking and baking party) swimming. The girls love the pool. I really must sign them up for swim lessons soon. Saturday evening we packed up our picnic dinner (chicken cutlets with motz cheese and basil on cibatta bread, corn and tomato salad, iced tea and raspberry cheesecake bars) and headed to Boordy vineyards. It was a great evening to throw a blanket on the lawn, relax and listen to/ dance to a Jimmy Buffett/ Beach Boys cover band. The girls and I ate, played cards and danced. We even made some new friends.

Sunday morning we woke up late and hit the pool again. We didn't stay for too long because the girls really wanted me to finish sewing a bag that I was working on. After showers and a completed bag, we packed up another picnic and headed to Oregon Ridge for another outdoor concert and fireworks. The BSO was great. I loved laying on our blanket, snuggled together listening to music and watching fireworks. It was a perfect night with my girls.

On Monday the girls and I had a bit of movie marathon. I was working on sewing a new purse (which I'm in love with). We ate ice cream for lunch and drove over to my parents house for a cookout. The girls ran around in the backyard and my mom helped them to roast marshmellows over the grill. We all had another great night.

I think we need a weekend from our weekend.

This weekend, the girls are with their Dad and I'm going tubing down the Gunpowder! I'm also hoping to get a good run in both days.

So excited!

i have received lots of fabric coupons recently. i haven't purchased fabric in almost a year! (HUGE shocker, since i have quite the fabric obsession). i really haven't sewn too many things in this past year either, but now that i'm back in the groove, i have quite the project list. soooo...i decided to treat myself to a few fun new prints. first, fabric.com (one of my most favorite fabric sites for reasonably priced designer fabric) sent me a 15% off my purchase coupon. then they put christmas fabric and patterns on sale. i have been pining over this grinch flannel christmas fabric becasue i want to make my girlies nightgowns. sooo...i ordered the grinch fabric, a shirt pattern and two bag patterns. then, the very next day, quilthome.com (home of some of my most favorite girly fabric designers) sent me a coupon code for 25% off of all amy butler fabric. sooo, i purchased fabric to make the bags i bought the patterns for. i can't wait to get everything in the mail!!!!

i started cutting the fabric for my sorority quilt. i have actually gone back and forth on what quilt pattern i wanted to use for two years now. i finally decided to kind of create my own. that way, i can accomodate the different sizes of t-shirt cut outs i have and still have a super cute quilt. i would really like to have it finished by this weekend, but i'm thinking that might not happen.

i'm also super excited for the weekend. the girls and i are going to watch fireworks, picnic, see a concert and go swimming. we have a three day weekend, so lots of time to spend together. we are also going to make some fun treats for both our fireworks picnic and our "quiet" evening at home. yay!

all moved in

I'm all moved into my new office. Its almost situated just the way I want it. I just need to get a few more pictures hung on my walls. I have a very nice out of my window. My office is a bit smaller than my old one, but the furniture seems newer and is matchy. In my old office, I had a mish-mash of a number of different things. Its also nice to be completely organized. I went through a massive purge before the move.

In other news, I'm apartment/cat sitting. The girls spent the night with me on Thursday night, but have been with their dad all weekend. I'm excited to get them back so that we can enjoy just the three of us time. This past weekend, I headed out to Target to get them some new clothing and a few fun things. I organized it all in a little crate with a thank you for being so wonderful note. I can't wait to suprise them when they get home. We don't have many things planned for this week (although we are doing make your own pizza on Friday night), but I can't wait to take them to a concert/picnic/fireworks to celebrate the fourth of July.

I did enjoy my weekend without the girls...enjoying two dinners out and a wonderful homemade meal last night. I have definitely been enjoying Brian and Chrissy's balcony logging lots of lazy reading and talking hours out there already.

the big move

I am in the midst of a big move. My department is relocating to a different building on campus. Somehow, this is the second time I have packed up my office in two and a half years. This time, its permanent.

Initially, as most moves are, it seemed so exciting. A new office. New to me furniture. A nicer space. Better parking. Closer to food. All sounds great!!! But then, nostalgia got the better of me, as it generally does. This job has been my first long term (7+ years) job. I have made so many memories in this building, it seems almost like the end of an era.

The hardest part right now is packing my office. Its physically hard...I have so many files and so much stuff to get into the blue packing boxes. I have been trying to downsize, recycling lots of paper that I don't need anymore. Even that is a walk down memory lane as I see the names of counselors who no longer work here. My walls are bare and I feel like I'm in college again, moving out of my dorm room at the end of the year.

I need to have everything packed by tomorrow at noon. Hopefully i can pull that off.

i think i need...

i think i need a hammock for the backyard. i'm in a reading place. i didn't intend to be in a reading place, but i ended up placing a ton of books on hold at the library all at once. in my defense, they all had seemingly high numbers so i assumed that i would not receive them anytime soon. much to my suprise, two of them were available within a few days of reserving them! so, i'm reading away (not that i'm not always a bit of a bookworm). i think a hammock would compliment this relaxing activity. we live in the woods. i think a hammock would just work perfectly.

i am also the proud mom of two prek grads. my girlies participated in the first graduation ceremony (other than their nicu graduation) last friday. onto kindergarten in the fall.

nesting?

I'm in this strange nesting phase of life. I think that I've realized that in order to truly be comfortable, or as comfortable as I can be, at my parents place, I need to get myself organized. My closet, which has been my brothers closet for the past 26 years, is filled with yearbooks and lacrosse jerseys in addition to my things. When I moved in, I just kind of threw my stuff on top of his and figured I'd deal with it later. Well, I have decided, its later! I spent a while last night putting his things together (most of which have a nice little spot on the shelf in the top corner of the closet), so that I could have better access and better storage for the stuff I use fairly frequently.

Next up, the girls room, aka the shrine to high school me. The bottom of their closet is devoted to my yearbooks, skating medals, old magazines, etc. The walls of the room are covered in spsg stuff. I would like to make it a space about them and give them a little more room in the closet for some of their toys and books.

I also think I need to make some of the things I like to use in the kitchen more accessible. Maybe that will motivate me to bake and cook again.

back to sewing

This past weekend, the girls and I worked on some serious organization. It looks like we're still with my parents for a bit (no suprises there). In light of that, I decided that our downstairs living space needed to be a bit more functional. The girls and I share a "crafting" table. So far, they have been the only ones to use it. They have covered it in their painting, stamping and coloring. They have taken over the space. I haven't sewn in months. This weekend, I changed that. I organized all of their artisitic items. Once I use some of my fabric, I will be better able to organize the rest of their stuff.

With our current living situation, I spend a large amount of time in my bedroom, especially after the girls have gone to bed or during times when they are not home. I decided last weekend that I wanted a comfy-er looking and feeling bed. Since its just the girls and I, I'm in this very girl-y place (I'm sure i've mentioned that before). Yesterday, I used more of my poppy fabric and made two more pillow cases. I am really pleased with how well they turned out. They were a great easy project to get back into sewing. I need to make the girls graduation dresses for their preschool graduation in a few weeks.

My next large-ish purchases will be a rug for the girls play area in the downstairs living area and hopefully a better colored rug for my room. Next up on the agenda, organize the stuff in my closet.