New Beginnings!

Many unrelated things in this post, all good news:

1) My dear Dad is doing well. His current chemo regimen seems to be providing him an excellent quality of life. Ben and I were over there today (my parents' house) to get everything ready for spring/summer and he had so much energy and was in wonderful spirits. I hope and pray everyday that he has many many more days like today.

2) Ben has a new job! God's plan for us is to stay in Indy for awhile longer. Ben will start his new job with a big engineering firm on the 26th of this month. This is the answer to many many prayers. This period of unemployment has been a period of growth for both of us, but I'm glad it's going to be part of our past!

3) I have been to two great shows recently; Girl Talk and Mayer Hawthorne. This spring/early summer is shaping up to be a good one in Indy, with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings coming at the end of May and MGMT coming in early June. MOKB Presents has been putting on some great stuff recently. One regret, I didn't make it down to Bloomington for Fanfarlo this month...I'll catch them next go-round I suppose.

4) Big trip plans are in the works. Now that we'll have our normal DINK income back, Ben and are I planning a trek to foreign parts. South America is our first choice, Pacific NW is our back up plan. Our planning skills are great, but sometimes life throws us curveballs so we're hoping for either of these to come to fruition in 2011. We're flexible :)

5) Hello Fanfarlo! I love this song. Fanfarlo is like Beirut but cheerier. Just warms my soul.  Every now and again, a song is stuck in my head for weeks and this is it.



6) My seeds are doing very well this year. A smaller variety, this year I'm cutting back on the flowers, no peppers either. So far I've got chives, cilantro, basil (Alhambra), zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, spearmint, and zinnias. So far...I'd love to have more but by August I suffer from plant care burnout. I'll see what other annuals we can squeeze in there. I'd love to see if I can get anything to come up from my dahlia tubers. One day I'll have a HUGE garden that I can play in all day, but for now I'll settle for our condo containers.

It's About Time

  Whoah...it's been awhile. I've been up to a lot of things other than blogging.  

This Technotronic song from 1992 (holy moly!) was one of my faves back in the day.  



The other day at work we were having a conversation about great early nineties jams...remember this one? 

I am ready for some spring cleaning and more productive creative times now that the winter freeze seems to have been banished for another six months.  Get ready for some changes little bloggy blog. You're on my list. Because, you know, it's about time and...I've got the power..har har. 

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yikes...today I am 27. I feel good about it. I swear I was just 23 and meeting some cute blonde guy named Ben...where did the time go?

I Conquered My Fear of Zippers!

I've had this cute little pouch all cut out and laying on my desk for almost a month. I used this great tutorial on Skip to my Lou, and it seemed simple enough...until I got to the assembling and sewing. I'm a novice sewer and the thought of using a zipper was terrifying me! Thankfully, the directions and photos were very clear and once I thought through my spatial challenges with the second side, it worked out great!

I can't wait to whip up a bunch more of these for friends. You can probably make at least two of these from two fat quarters (one fat quarter for lining, one for outside) and the zippers are cheap!

4D Experience

We had a great time in Chicago this past weekend...we squeezed in a lot of fun! Renegade Craft Fair was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you ever have a chance, please go to one of these events. All of those cool crafty ladies and gents you read about are there, selling their handmade and lovingly crafted wares. Miles and miles of booths lined the street (ok, a few blocks). There were so many awesome things, it was a very good thing Ben and I decided on a 'souvenir' budget for our weekend before we got there. It was also a very good thing Ben did not leave me unattended with our trip money.

I was so blinded by everything around me I forgot to take many photos, but here's a view of the street. Miles of tents I tell you.

We also hit up the Shedd Aquarium, a nifty little record store, TJ Maxx for some new shoes for me-ha, Park Grill for a romantic dinner, and Wishbone for breakfast. Yum.

Oh, and the U2 concert, which was our main reason for going. It was great. I was blown away by how close we were to the stage. Bono's buns were very close to our heads and he looked right at meeee when he was on his little walkway.

Can't wait to go back. Oh, and here I am with my 4D Experience glasses. You know you want some.

Easy CD Covers

Last night we celebrated my dad's birthday (57 for those who are counting). We gifted him with an Ipod Nano. Ben carefully curated a collection of tunes he thought my dad might enjoy and burned them onto three CDs. I didn't want to give him boring jewel cases, so I quickly crafted up some sleeves out of scrapbook paper.

The scrapbook paper is usually 12" x 12" so it's really not a lot of cutting. I try to make each cover about 5" x 5".

First, cut two inches off one side of the scrapbook paper. Next, trim two inches off the now shorter side. You should now have a square of 10" x 10" paper. Trim it in half, and fold each piece in half. I like to fasten two edges with stickers, but you could also use tape along the outside. I would avoid using a glue stick or tape on the inside, as it may gunk up the edge of your CD. Finally, I like to use a craft punch to put a small cut out on the open edge of the sleeve. Voila! A totaly customizable CD sleeve. You could jazz it up with your own photos, print the playlist on the back, etc.

I originally saw this idea on Marta's blog, M.Writes. She has so many wonderful ideas and the cutest little boy.

Yes I Can!

So, you know sometimes life gets all complicated and you are separated from the things you enjoy because you have to focus on keeping everything else going? Yeah, that's been my life for the past month and a half. With work stress, other stress, and a general blah-ness surrounding me, I've been neglecting this little blog.

Don't fret too much, because yesterday as I was showering (where I think up some of my greatest ideas) I realized that I CAN do all of these things that I want to do and I need to stop making excuses about it. I've had such a little cloud over my head that I forgot that the sun is still out there! Sometimes I let myself feel so defeated by things I can't control that I forget how much I can control (in a good way...maybe control isn't the right word).

Anyway, this lil' blogger is back. It is my favorite season after all, and a change in seasons is just what I needed to pull myself outta this funk.