sew far, sew good

i got a lil bee in my bonnet today after looking at thrifty/crafty/sewing blogs and took a trip to the woodbury goodwill. that goodwill seems to be made for me. every trip i've taken there, just about every dress i've liked has been in my size or a size i can deal with! that's just crazy talk! i ended up getting 3 dresses, a shirt & 2 books for $20!!

the below dress is originally from old navy and was way too wide for me but i loved the design. and for me to love a piece of gray clothing is kinda absurd :) so it was a must have. plus it was a blue tag day and this was a blug tag item so i got it for $1.49!

i decided to attempt my very first alteration/taking in. a bit scary but this was/is such a simple silhouette/design that i thought it would be a perfect guinea pig for me.

here is the before picture.

and it was a success!! at least so far; we'll see if it holds up in an actual wear. :)

here is the after (with a belt) picture. so much better!!

i ended up taking about 2 inches off each side in the bottom part of the dress and a 1/2 inch at the top. i also had to shorten the straps a bit too.

this is the shirt i got. it's crocheted!! which is awesome because i was just admiring elsie's crocheted top on her blog today! i would usually put a black shirt underneath but when i was trying this on i had the blue tank underneath and kinda love the 2 colors together. me wearing colors other then black? so absurd :)

valentime's day

happy valentine's day!! i take this holiday as one to celebrate love and to wear red and pink! :) here's all my valentime's treats:

al and i shared this heart shaped pizza from papa murphy's with shane and jodi (who got engaged on sunday!!!) on saturday night.

here is mom's valentine's day table display :)
my heart garland i have been working on for a good week. it's not quite finished but i thought i'd hang it up today any way.

i cut the hearts out of felt, hand stitched them and stuffed them.

i also crocheted the "string" they are hanging on and then stitched them to the string.

there are still a few that need to be sewed on but for now they're pinned on. :)

i hung them over my closet.

here are my valentine's i made with the idea and print out from a blog that i forgot to save so i cannot source at this time. i will try to find it again and source it, but i love them! they're so cute!! and had i gotten my act together earlier i woulda made a bunch more and sent them out ahead of time!!

the whole lot of them!

the hearts are cut out of felt and sewed onto the card; the sewing line then looks like the string that's holding on the heart eye patch :)

arrrr!!!

super bowl fiesta

it has now become tradition that matt and gina host a super bowl party. this year was a tad different because the freaking packers made it to the super bowl and all but 3 of us at the party were from wisconsin/packer fans. not so great for this vikings fan, but it was still a successful party. i once again helped gina prepare the food and set up. here is the tabel-scape on gina's new table with her new light fixture. here is matt and gina's pup, mya sporting her aaron rodgers jersey...
mmm salsa and corn salsa! (thanks to some softball friends for suggesting cucumber slices instead of chips. that's what i ate my salsa with and it was amazing!)

gina and i had seen pictures of these cute apple sandwiches so we decided to make them as well. they didn't turn out as cute as the pics we saw but they sure were delicious! it's cored apple slices with peanut butter and chocolate chips inside.

here is gina's attempt at having a green and gold theme :) the pretzels are dipped in dyed white chocolate, although it really looked like cheese ;)

i closer view of the table

matt and gina have been working on remodelling their entire top floor for a while and worked hard to get it complete and furnished before the party. here are some pics of their new living room with ikea furniture and gina's awesome styling.

looks straight outta a magazine

i just love that big owl :)

birthday

my birthday was a great day this year! although i did have to spend it without my momma :( i dropped her off at the airport to head to colorado with her sister to see my cousin play college hockey the day before.

then on my birthday i got to drive to work looking at this beautiful sunrise!!
i got to have a sushi lunch at my favorite sushi place with al, gina and my cousin angi (all pics from that are in instax form and i don't have a scanner....) it was yummy delicious!! then went home, got to take a nap and hangout with al for a bit. and got to see this fabulous sunset!! cotton candy skies are my favorite!!
then i went to zumba in the club (carbones in burnsville) with the amazing instructor, awbria, with rachel and meg! it was good times and a good workout!

a great way to start this 27th year in which i feel much older (read: closer to 30) then 26 felt. but i am planning to make it a good one!!

baby shower & cute kids

went to a friends baby shower on sunday. it was good to see all the softball ladies, the games were fun, the food was good, and there were super cute kids there!

here is my friend kris' lil guy, easton. he's 3 months old and so cute and smiley!

getting to be such a big guy!


sleepy baby! :)

here is my friend amanda's cute lil one, eva. she's a little over a year now and growing even cuter every time i see her! she knows a little bit of sign language now and i got to see it today; she's so smart! manda always dresses her so cute!! today: a homemade knit sweater with amazing colors and purple cord skinny jeans! i love it!! so cute!!

her hair is getting longer now and it's curly in the back; adorable!
kris also has ellie (pictured on the left here). ellie was too much of a mover today for me to get pics of her alone, but she's so frickin cute too! and she liked me this time :) she's such a big helper! she can dress herself, put her shoes on, put things away, put her nook in her pocket (so cute!) and she says "uh huh" to everything! i just love her! ellie will be 2 in march and is such a little peanut!

here is the momma to be, rachel. she is due the end of february with a little girl.

here is one of the games: the tinkle game. there were 2 teams; it was a relay type of game. we had to put a balloon under our shirt and had to walk with 2 quarters between our knees over to a glass on the ground and drop the quarters in the cups without using our hands. it was supposed to simulate peeing as a pregnant lady. so funny!! here is nancy and mel going for it!

the next game was picking small safety pins out of rice and it was much more difficult then expected. and i won that one with 7! :)

then we did the cotton ball game. you were blind folded and had to scoop cotton balls from the bucket in your lap to the bucket on your head. it was so funny! here is manda's turn.

here is a wider view of the party and gaylene's turn at the cotton ball game.

hinckley

this weekend we went up to hinckley with a group of friends. i had sooo much fun and haven't laughed that hard and that much in a super long time. it was such a good time away. and these people are hilarious! :)

here are my girlies and i: meg and rachel

al and i in my typical self portrait-ness that he puts up with for only so long :)
rach and i and our bathroom blue steel poses
highlights of the night:
:: meg trying to drink bottled beer out of her chest cuz she saw it in a music video :: hanging out in the pool area listenin to tunes :: a load in your nose :: matt's limp line :: things going in and coming out the pool area bathroom vent :: "poop" on matt's paper towel :: rubber band flinging :: the neighbors; his red undies & tying his tie :: dave puking from laughing too hard

the whole group: al, me, dave, matt, meg, rachel, lee, dawn and joe

more highlights:

somersaults on the bed :: rachel can't curl :: rachel's platform plank drop thing :: lee's sideways somersault that almost took out joe :: teaching them tippy cup :: lee not finishing his beer and slamming down his cup :: matt spitting out his beer :: matt's socks are wet :: dave playing with lemonade

wrestling :: meg, rach and i falling off the bed together :: dave's dancing moves :: jumping on the bed :: rachel dancing on the cooler :: dave the snap on salesmen

teaching them categories :: rachel's rule: whenever the word "the" is used you have to grab your boobs :: boys have to play with their pants at their knees :: girls have to play with their pants down :: dragging dave to the pool ::

girl picture; sort of.


THE!!

went to the arcade and played games; ddr.


arcade!

hockey

i have never played hockey. i never thought i would play hockey. but this winter i got a bee in my bonnet and decided i would like to know how to play hockey. i got some skates and a stick. i also got the other equipment needed, which i have yet to use. i have skated my whole life, but only a couple times a season. i can not skate to any level of a hockey player. and i cannot do any kind of stick or puck handling. my hope is to play in one game this year... i have a long way to go. :) i felt it necessary to make my hockey equipment girly, hence the pink tape. and since my feet are so funny shaped hockey skates usually kill my feet, but lon was able to get them punched out for me. and now they're so comfy!! i can skate for more then 15 minutes without my feet dying. no excuses now...one of my best friends, lon. he was able to skate with me for a bit today.

me with my gear!!