Weekend Recap!

Hello!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! Were you able to squeeze in any sewing/crafting time?  On Saturday, I had some time to work on the wedding quilt.  Here is a sneak peek at the first to rows of the quilt.  For the most part the quilt is complete, except for the embroidery of the bride and groom's initials, plus wedding date!  :)

 

On Sunday my sister and I headed to the local outlet mall for a little retail therapy!  I have to say that it was SO nice to spend the afternoon together.  We both lead busy lives (well, she does and I'm just a homebody), so although we live close together we don't normally spend the afternoon together.  I picked up a cute dress for the upcoming wedding, and I think I turned my little sister onto Gap and Banana Republic.  She doesn't quite have the same love for the two that I do, but I did what I could, with the time that I had!  :)

Do you have a sister that lives close by?  If so, what do the two of you find yourselves doing for fun?

Easter Egg Hunt!

I have to say that when my sister mentioned that she was filling plastic eggs for her two dogs to find on Easter morning, I was a bit skeptical.  I am totally guilty of treating Stuart like a human kid (at times!), but I had never thought of filling Easter eggs for him.  I am stoked to report that my sister's Easter egg hunt for her pups was such a success, that she kindly filled eggs for Maggie (the lab) and Stuart!  :)

A couple of photos from Easter Sunday...

There were two sizes of eggs, both of which were filled with an assortment of dog treats!  The pups would find the eggs and either open them on their own, or bring them to one of the bystanders for assistance!  :)

One happy camper!!!

My sister Megan, and brother-in-law Joe!

Hidden Treasures

I spent sometime in the garage on Sunday tidying up the space, as I'm using a portion of my parent's garage as my personal storage unit (thanks Mom and Dad!). :) When my Grandma gifted the sewing desk to me, she had left one of the drawers full of sewing notions (zippers, rick rac, elastic, etc.). I had emptied the drawer to go through the goodies, not knowing exactly all that was in the drawer until my Dad found this...

Which resulted in this (July 1976)....

I'm a bit biased, but aren't they the cutest high school sweethearts ever? :)

And just for kicks, here they are today (well, technically September 2009...but today they're just a couple of months short of their 35th wedding anniversary)!

Skull iPod Cozy!

Is it just me, or is sewing for men just plain hard? My Dad travels a lot (a lot might be an understatement!) and I wanted to sew him a little something for the road. He mentioned that he didn't have a case for his new iPod, thus his one-of-a-kind skull iPod Cozy!


I sat down one afternoon, with out a tutorial, and started out by measuring the height and width of the iPod. I added the needed seam allowances to both dimensions and started sewing! The Cozy is fully lined and has a layer of quilt batting, which helps to protect the screen from any minor accidents! :)


Next on my Miscellaneous Sewing To-Do List (after the Craft Show is over!) are cell phone cozies for my Momma and I! I'll start out by measuring the height and width and adding the appropriate seam allowances, just like I did for the iPod Cozy, but perhaps this time I'll write up a tutorial to share with all! :)

Argyle With Style!

An argyle baby quilt...I don't even know where to start!

I love argyle as it is so clean, simple, and everlasting; and baby quilts, well they are small, colorful, and always aim to please/comfort a child. The two combined, if I say so myself, make one awesome newborn gift! My Momma whipped up this beauty for a family friend's granddaughter!


I love the contrast of the green against the pinks and the jumbo (1 13/32") yellow ric rac really finishes off the quilt!


The quilt back continues the green and pink color combination! If you are in love (like I am!) and are interested in making your own argyle baby quilt, the pattern (Argyle With Style by Bate and Taylor) is now conveniently available at JoAnn's. Great job Mom!!! :)

A Day At The Fair...

Last Saturday Mr. D and I went to the LA County Fair (thankfully it cooled down enough for us to enjoy the fair!). Here are a couple of snapshots from our day at the fair...

We watched a couple of horse races.



As well as some Wiener Dog races...so much fun! Maybe next year the fair will trade in the Wiener Dogs for some Miniature Schnauzers!?! :)


Ate some fried food (zucchini curls)...


Thought about eating some more fried food, but didn't.


...and while looking for the market animals we stumbled upon these cute little piglets!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day to all Dads, but an extra BIG Happy Father's Day to my Dad...I'm one lucky girl! Love you! :)

Dad and I- October 2007.
PS- totally one of my favorite photos of the two of us! :)

The song that played during our Father/Daughter dance (my Dad picked a GOOD one!)...

Salzburg...Something Special!

If you're looking for the Urban Tots giveaway...click here!

I was going through some photos tonight and stumbled upon our 'Honeymoon 2007' folder...good times! We took a two week trip through Europe, stopping in Vienna, Prague, Pilsen, Krakow, Salzburg, and Bratislava. I had spent time in Vienna and Prague while living in Florence, so I was excited to 'show' Mr. D around. The latter half of the trip was a new adventure for both of us. Exploring the cities by foot was quite exciting!

Here are a couple of photos from Salzburg...definitely a favorite in my book!

View of country living from high atop a mountain!

View of old town along the Salzach River.

View of Salzburg with the Hohensalzburg Castle ("High Salzburg Fortress") in the background.

Pretzels (my favorite!) are huge in Salzburg!!!

The happy couple (on a train back to Vienna)...

P.S.- I REALLY wanted to go on The Sound of Music bus tour (sing-a-long central!), but didn't have the chance...hopefully next time! :)

Memorial Day Festivities!

I hope everyone had a great (and safe) Memorial Day! I spent the morning with my Momma at Disneyland, where we arrived at 8am when it opened to avoid the lines. I hated the idea of getting up so early on my day off, but it sure did pay off (big time). We tackled Disneyland first, and then went over to California Adventure when it opened at 10am, by noon we were on the tram to the parking structure! :) Here are a couple highlights of today's trip...

Space Ranger 2 (aka my Momma) was on a mission! :)

After a year plus, we were finally able to get a photo of the envelope and balloons!

All of the characters hang out in Toon Town! :)

After Disneyland we did a little fabric shopping and then I came home to spend the afternoon with Mr. D and Stuart! :) I'd love to hear how you spent your Memorial Day...

I'm One Lucky Girl...

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Momma!!!

Mom and I at Senor Frog's- September 2010

Tennessee's On My Mind

Mr. D is in Tennessee this week visiting his Dad and step-mom, with a quick trip to Atlanta to visit his sisters and nieces. Being home alone I've had some extra free time and wanted to share some photos with you from our (Mr. D and I) last trip to Tennessee last April.

Most of you know that I work in an architecture office by day and blog/sew/craft at night (my favorite part of the day!). With my architecture background, my father-in-law thought that I'd greatly appreciate the efforts of the designer and builder of the world's tallest treehouse, built from recycled wood.

Horace Burgess is the man and minister behind the treehouse. It rises a whopping 97 feet into the sky, the support provided by a live, 80-foot-tall oak tree, which measures 12 feet in diameter at its base. The treehouse consists of 10 floors which includes a sanctuary (which doubles as a basketball court), contains +/- 258,000 nails, and is estimated to be between 8,000 to 10,000 square feet.

The treehouse, located in Crossville, Tennessee, attracts approximately 400 - 500 visits weekly. Visitors are free to roam around the treehouse, as Mr. D and I did. Still to this day I remember how scared to death I was as the treehouse clearly does not meet all of the building code requirements!!!



The second half of this music video is shot at/within the treehouse. If you like the song listen to the whole thing, but if you just want to see some of the treehouse details and/or scale, the treehouse debuts at about 1 minute and 52 seconds into the music video. Music video by Kate & Kacey performing Dreaming Love. (C) 2009 Big Machine Records, LLC

Focused Space Rangers

My Momma and I went to Disneyland a couple weeks back, as it was my {not so} bright idea to go Friday evening after work- my oh my it was a busy night at D-land! Like the Troopers {or perhaps Rangers} that we are, we made the most of our time at D-land, as it is the Happiest Place On Earth!

I seem to ALWAYS forget my camera when heading to D-land, but thankfully the Astro Blasters ride has a free service where you can send a photo to your email account (see below). I'm not quite sure at what point in the ride the photo was taken, but from the looks of it we were two very focused Space Rangers!

Happy Friday! :)

I {HEART} Christmas Cards!

If you do too, swing on over to the and view the Christmas Card Carousel (via Walk with me by faith)- I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

In the past I've been a 'one picture Christmas card giver', however this year I decided to spice it up bit! I absolutely love how the cards came out, and the colors/flowers are totally my style!

The photo on the left is of Mr. D and I ice skating on the cruise we took in September, the middle photo is from Thanksgiving (thanks photographer Dad!), and the picture on the right is from our trip to Georgia in April.

Christmas cards were created and printed through www.samsclub.com

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Saturday morning started by participating in a local Quilt Shop Hop in which my mom and I went to two shops and received free Halloween fabric at each (anything to build my fabric stash!). :o) There is a larger Quilt Shop Hop in which we will be participating in on November 21st- it should be a good one (I'll post more details for the locals as the date approaches). November 21st is my Grandma M.'s 84th birthday! She is a quilter and crafter as well, and will be joining my mom and I for the Quilt Shop Hop- I'm looking forward to it!

Back to Saturday's festivities- Halloween 2009 proved to be the year of the cutest jack-o-lantern and Hillbilly (I may be a bit biased, but take a look for yourselves!).





I'll be back tomorrow (daylight savings is really kicking my hiney today!).

2 Years Ago Today...

...Mr. D and I walked down the aisle. Happy Anniversary sweetie! :)

A few of my all time favorites from the day...

(All photos by Red Loft Studios.)

My Dad giving me away...

Well Rested and Back in the USA!

Hello to all! I'm back with access to a computer and cell phone (yeah!), as well as nice and icy cold Diet Coke (my favorite)!!! A week sure does fly by when you're having fun...

We left last Sunday out of San Pedro, CA and sailed on the Mariner of the Seas to Mexico (Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarata) and back. Mr. D and I were welcomed home this morning by a very happy and rambunctious puppy (Stuart), as well as our two dear friends Casey and Heather that graciously house sat and puppy sat while we were away (THANK YOU SO MUCH!).

Mariner of the Seas

The first port of call was Cabo San Lucas, where Mr. D, my sister and soon to be brother-in-law chose to do a canopy adventure excursion (way out of my comfort zone!). Below are a few photos of the zip-lines, bridges, ladders, etc. that both Mr. D and I conquered!

Zip- line

Mr. D crossing the rope bridge (very scary, and I'm not even going to comment about the lovely green water below!).

Rock Wall Ladder

Tarazan Swing (quite fun!).

Mr. D crossing the hanging bridge. (Note- [dear family] due to my past experience of FALLING through a hanging bridge in Hawaii [granted not nearly as high as the one pictured above] I was very NERVOUS, but I made it!)

We (aka the six of us- Mom, Dad, me, Mr. D, sister, and soon to be brother-in-law) spent the day in Mazatlan traveling through the City both by taxi (aka buggies) and foot (it was SO hot and HUMID- ick!). We stopped in Senor Frog's for a drink and some entertainment and then ended the day with a very delicious (and cheap) lunch before heading back to the boat. Oh and PS- we walked around looking for a tequila bottle shaped like a worm for someone in California. If you're in need of one you can find them in the shops at the cruise terminal (the last place we looked before we boarded the ship)! ;)

View of Mazatlan from ship (Port side).

View of Mazatlan from left side of ship.

Puerto Vallarata was also very hot and humid (thus most of the photos are foggy as the camera lens fogged up due to the humidity!). The six of us spent the day walking around the City, looking in shops, we grabbed lunch at a local taco place (quite yummy) and rode the City bus back to the Port (much more economical than a taxi!). :)

All in all the cruise was a wonderful and very relaxing vacation. The food was EXCELLENT, as well as the on-board activities (entertainment, games, etc.). In January my vacation hours will be replenished, thus Mr. D and I might have to look at taking another cruise in the near future! :)

PS- The cruise hosted an art class on Saturday (which I missed because I thought it was a kid's art class- so sad!). From what I gathered the participants used Mod Podge and made a frame for a vacation photo or two- so cool! I've got some unpacking and grocery shopping to do, and tomorrow after work I'm back to my crafting routine! :)