I love my friends. M and I went to Chicago to visit two of my best friends. M was so excited that Emily had toys in her apartment, even though she doesn’t have any kids! (Japanese toys like Monchichis, cute mugs, and of course bears - Emily’s mom is a collectible teddy bear artist.) I was so excited that Emily’s apartment was so cool, and I was inspired to find some ways to redo our place. M was also excited that Emily and Becky took us to Rainforest Cafe (which is crazy and overwhelming and the perfect place to go with a three year old and your wisecracking girlfriends who will also spoil your kid and get her the GIANT dessert with the sparkler on top). M was excited to ride the train, and she fell asleep in her stroller right before we got to Barney’s. I swear I could have been wearing a tattered garbage bag and none of the salesladies would have noticed, they were all gushing so much over my adorable kid with her adorable mouth hanging open. It bought us lots of time to rifle through the $700 shoes and Comme des Garcons cape/sculptures.
…poor little thing, this little blog. I haven’t had any time to write or make anything or share anything. My old camera gave up the ghost (this was a $350 fancy shmancy digital back in… 2001 or so) and I had nothing to share. With grad school, as I predicted, I’ve had no time to make anything. My desk is a mountain of paper, most of it probably junk mail and artwork from M’s school, and my sewing machine is under there somewhere, but when will I even find the time to clean it off? Maybe this weekend. But oh yeah, I just signed M up for a free music class on Sundays. Maybe someone else… a magical nanny… will take her. Actually, scratch that, I want to take her, maybe a magical cleaning lady will come and clean my house.
But the big news that’s got me checking in with the blog is that I’ve got a new camera! A good little fancy schmancy digital point and shoot that has all sorts of nifty features and best of all, a really good macro feature! Seriously! For real! (That’s M’s new expression, “for real!” all the time.) I am very excited about this. In addition to keeping some record of my child’s life, I might also be able to take pictures of things I make (even if they’re tiny scraps of projects) and post them. Or, I might actually be able to take nice enough pictures that they might be worth sharing in and of themselves. Wow. I’m getting all geeked out about it like I did when I got my first real camera, a Pentax 35mm, in 8th grade. I love that camera, still do. Maybe I ought to get that out one of these days too.
Here is one of the very very first pictures I took with this new little camera:
I mean, natural light, closeup capabilites, actually clicks when you want it to instead of 2 seconds after. For real.
OH! I actually did make something, though - something very simple - a tweed wrap skirt using the pattern from Sew What Skirts. It turned out great. I actually didn’t sew on the closures yet, I just pinned it shut in 2 places and wore it today and you know what, it looked great! I actually might not sew on the snaps because then it’d be more flexible and forgiving. It’s just got a fringed waist and hemline, it was super easy to make, and it’s a great color, a tweed inbetween gray and taupe. I wore it with black tights and my new black merino turtleneck, and felt pretty dang pulled together.
Ok. So. See you soon, little blog. With more pictures! Really!
The semester has begun in earnest; I may not ever have time to craft again! (Craft a musicological argument, maybe.) Life has been just so … life-y… lately too, with lots of curves thrown my way. Not to mention politics, teaching, etc, all wanting a piece of my attention. So, apologies, I have been absent from the blog and the sewing machine, and may continue to be.
M and I did make yogurt “cheese” from plain yogurt, salt, and fresh dill… it’s delicious! I need to find some more applications for it - it would make a stunning accompaniment to lox. M had it for dinner on toast, with tiny tomatoes that my dad brought her from the farmer’s market (he works for some local farmer friends most Saturdays in exchange for produce, and most weeks he sets something aside just for M). The other food items I have been loving lately are the DIY salsa and guacamole kits from Trader Joe’s…. it seems so much easier when they just put it together for you.
I am planning to make a tweed wrap skirt from Sew What Skirts, soon, so that I’ll be able to wear it in the fall weather (I took my unusually narrow boots to the cobbler in our neighborhood - how many people can walk to their friendly neighborhood cobbler?? - to get them, um, enlarged 
with a bigger gusset for my calves - they never really fit well even when I was thinner). My unfinished crafty objects are mostly put away. Next on the list, though - the rag rug, and my embroidered blog header.
What else am I loving and looking forward to? Browsing natural, simple gemstone jewelry on etsy… I’m also browsing the gemstone beads themselves, designing necklaces and earrings in my mind. I’ve been online shopping for sweaters, purses, and a few other things - not actually buying them but deciding exactly what I want for when my ridiculously late tax refund finally comes. I’ve been lusting over shoes that I would probably never even get a chance to wear (those new geeky oxford high heels, among others); I’ve also been wanting to buy a Flea ukelele (Dan Zanes model, perhaps). I did order a kid’s yoga dvd and an accupressure release thingie for myself, so I’m waiting for that to come. I have been drinking yerba mates, trying to stick to a diet, watching Mad Men like everyone else (it gets so much better after the first couple of episodes) and generally trying to manage my time. Oh grad school. I love you, but you are kind of hard.
Disappeared for a while, thanks to our crazy new internet provider which apparently doesn’t want me blogging. I will be back to post when I can but I’m also starting a new semester (I taught an exhausting 4 sections in a row today), so who knows how much craft I will get up to.
I am tossing up links at my tumblr page. Not majority-craft-related but stuff that’s interesting to me.
We’re so lucky to have you to goof around with! And we’re bringing cake tonight.
xoxo
