Officially a Domestic Goddess

Here is the first curtain...complete! Saturday, Jeni brought over a wonderful sewing machine (that she even gifted to me : O )) and taught me how to sew!!! She was a great teacher and had me do most of the work, so I was actually learning and not just watching her do it. Oh my gosh, I was so excited to learn a new craft. Now I'm just a little worried, because I already have a number of crafts that I love and don't actively participate in nearly enough, so the last thing I should be doing is adding a new one to the mix, but what are you going to do? Life is short, creating crafty things is fun. Expensive, but fun. AND, now I have another option to make people heartfelt gifts with...what could be better than that. I still have another small valance to finish for the little window over the sink, but we ran out of time to do it on Saturday. I'm not a master just yet, but I now have another skill to add to my "Domestic Goddess" resume.

And the Curtains Go Up!

No silly, not on a stage....in our kitchen!!! My friend Jeni is coming over this morning to help me make the curtains. I have NEVER sewn before, so this should be interesting. She is bringing over an older sewing machine that she doesn't use anymore, so hoping this will be the start of some new creative adventures. I'll post pictures once they're up. Have a great Saturday!

Tending to the Plants...and Myself

Today was an okay day.

"Date Night" was a blast last night! It was just what I needed to get myself in a better frame of mind. Johnny totally appreciated that I was making an extra effort to not be such a grump. I don't think I was snippy at all...not even once! We got some grinders at one of our favorite little restaurants, Veanos, then headed over to the late show of Ratatouille. It was such a cute, funny, laugh out loud movie. John's not big on Disney movies seen at the theater, but he LOVED it too. He even said there wasn't ANYTHING he didn't like about it as the credits were rolling. There was a fun little photo booth there too, so we did the corny date-night movie deal and opted to get a strip of goofy photos. I'll try to snap a picture of them later, because they were pretty funny.

I felt a little better today, but still not great. My throat really started bothering me again this afternoon (happened Monday too) and my glands are starting to swell. I'm keeping a close eye on it, but I think it's probably just allergy related. I was proud of myself for not letting it be an excuse to skip the gym today. I just took it easy and did 35 minutes on the bike and then a 15 minute set of weights. I felt much better afterward and was sooooo happy that I forced myself to go.

When I got home I was able to take a few minutes to cut back the plants (they were getting pretty overgrown), and I must say, they are doing really well! I don't really know what I'm doing as a gardener, but at least I'm not killing them! Here are some new pictures. The tomato plant ones came out much better today. Hope you enjoy your night!

Feeling Kind of Blue

*WARNING*, the following blog entry is uber-depressing, but I just had to get it out so it will stop banging around inside my head. Sorry ahead of time, but at least I warned you...

So, I've been feeling kind of blue the past few days. Part of me is just really stressed out and unhappy at work, part of me is SUPER emotional (Oh so sick of being a woman sometimes), part of me misses my family out in Colorado, part of me is jealous that my parents are getting to go see my family out there in a few days, part of me is cranky that we are paying off the final expenses incurred from our vacation, part of me is sad that I won't get to see Johnny until Sunday and then maybe not again until the following weekend (I'll be house and puppy sitting while my parents are away), part of me is depressed that I still can't lose any weight, part of me is wishing for a little more time in the day so I can finally create something again and part of me is just in a VERY big slump. Being broken into so many random parts and thoughts is a bit much right now and more than I can take anymore today.

So, instead of being a BIG grump like I was last night, John and I are going on a date night! We have some free movie tickets from a friend and I'm hoping I can talk him into going to the late showing of Ratatouille! I just need to get out of my own brain and laugh for a while.

As my friend Steph would say, "We will soon return to your regular blog enjoyment, sorry for this interruption"...or something like that.

Another Picture

Here is another picture from vacation. I still haven't had time yet to upload them to Flickr, but hopefully this weekend!

Friends and Food

Tonight I had my friend Erin over for dinner and we had sooooo much fun! Erin has had a tough time lately and it was so nice to just have girl-talk and be reminded of how important our friends and family are to us. It made me so grateful for all the wonderful people who are a part of our lives. Thanks Erin, you're a great friend.

Another part of what was so fun about tonight was that I tried a new recipe and it turned out great! It was in the August issue of Real Simple magazine and when I read it last week I knew that I wanted to make it right away. It is a pasta dish with marinated tomatoes and mozzarella. Check out the recipe here!So quick and easy to make. And made even better with a light salad and the wheat garlic toast that Erin brought over...add a glass of merlot and we were good to go!

I really do like to cook (when I have time) and having friends over for dinner is just so much fun. I've decided to try a new recipe every week. Who knows if I'll keep up with it or not, but it will be nice to at least try. Next week I think I'm going to try a recipe from Shape magazine that is a blueberry glazed pork chop...YUMMY! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Green Thumb

Finally, this year I seem to have a bit of a green thumb with our plants. We planted some nice flowers in pots out on our front stairs and our tomato plant (courtesy of Joanne and Ryan) is shooting up like crazy since we got back from vacation. I'm guessing our landlords helped it out a bit while we were gone. I haven't taken any photos of the planters yet, but I snapped a quick one of our little tomatoes that are popping out. Not the best picture, but I still wanted to share because I was so excited about them growing. We have 10 so far. I'll take some better pictures this weekend and try to get some with the flowers too. Enjoy!

New Hairdo

I realized that I never shared pics of the new hairdo last week. It's a bit shorter than usual, but I wanted something a little new, a little more fun and a LOT spunkier! I think all was achieved with this one. I'm still thinking I want the highlights to be a bit chunkier and lighter blonde (maybe next visit in August), but I'm happy with it. Definitely still worth the 45 minute drive to Keene every 6-8 weeks to see my girl Sara. What do you think?

Vacation Pics!

Well, I was finally able to download my vacation pics from my camera, but I still have to sort through them all and get them posted on flickr for your viewing enjoyment. In the meantime, here is one of John and I at our favorite beach while we were there...Carambola. Enjoy!

Our Big Night Out

WOW! That is seriously the best word to describe my night out with my mom on Friday. We went to the Tweeter Center to see the Daughtry, Staind, Nickelback show and it was AMAZING! I don't think we sat down for more than five minutes the entire night. We were only about 20 rows back from the stage and the view was perfect. You could see every word they were singing and every move they were all making. You could even feel the heat from they flames and pyrotechnics during the Nickelback show! We danced, we sang, we jumped up and down...it was sooooo much fun. And it was fun, not only because it was a great concert, with wonderful music, it was a night out with my mom...and we don't get to have those very often these days! We really needed a special night to celebrate life after all the crazy medical scares we have had this past year. AND, we were celebrating Mom's new healthy lifestyle and her success of losing over 80 lbs! Good job Mom, I'm so proud of you! So, a big "Thanks Mom" for our weekend, and more importantly, for being you.

We snapped a few "before and after" pictures from our night, and you can clearly see from the after picture how hot and sweaty we were. We also took a picture in the mirror of our matching zip up hoodies when we got back to the hotel room...but I'm afraid that my camera decided to do the weird thing where it doesn't actually take good pictures, but I wanted to post it anyway. Hope you all had a good weekend too! Now I'm off to clean the apartment....whooo hoooo!

Three Weeks???

Has it really been that long since I last posted? Gosh, just when I promise to be a better little blogger girl, I go and leave you with no love for three whole weeks! Sorry about that my friends...I know I'm always saying I'm busy, but I promise that it's no lie! After my trip to Atlanta, things were super busy at work and then John and I headed off on our first vacation together. We went to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. We had a blast together, but I have to admit, it wasn't exactly what I had expected. You see, the only other island I have been to is Bermuda and it holds a very special place in my heart, as it was one of the last family vacations my family did before my sister left for college.

Anyway, St.Croix is suprisingly under-developed and there was far more poverty that I was prepared for. Seeing so many abandoned buildings, stray animals, and people who look like they have very little was so upsetting to me. It was also the first real experience I have ever felt in regards to racism. White people on the island are certainly the minority and some local people literally hated us because we were white. We were even refused help and service in one store...very eye opening! It also made me so appreciative for everything that I have, but it also reminded me that I want to become more involved in volunterism and continuing to make this world a better place!

On the other hand, we had a great visit with my highschool friend Kim and her family and they were gracious hosts for our stay! The beaches were amazing and I can't wait to post the pictures soon, but there is a slight delay with this (another story for another day). We also got to go ocean kayaking and scuba diving!!!! Both amazing experiences that I can't wait to tell you more about later this week.

But now, I'm off to work! Mom is picking me up at 1:00 and we're off to a great concert tonight!!!! Daughtry, Stained and Nickelback. It's going to be a great time. Tell you all about it when I get back tomorrow night. Hope you have a happy Friday!