Happy Pink Day!

Did you know there's an entire holiday just for the color pink? I didn't either, but the editors at Paper Crafts say there is, so it must be so. (I know they wouldn't lie about something as important as colors; right, Susan?) I've always said that my favorite color is blue, but I've really been drawn to pink lately, especially since I'm such a girly-girl. And with two daughters in the house, I don't have to look very far to find pink things.

(The pink aisle in the toy department is like some kind of Mecca to Betsy!)

Fashion-wise, I have become a big fan lately of the pairing of pink and black. I found this blouse a few weeks ago at Goodwill and I'm wearing it today with black capris.

Here's one of the aprons I picked up at a church sale last weekend (for a whole dollar!) I just love the rickrack trim on the pockets, don't you? When it comes to papercrafting I have a plethora of pink products. One of my all-time favorite paper lines is Cosmo Cricket's Honey Pie, which is very pink-heavy. (I finally caved and bought the whole paper kit, although of course I waited until it was 50% off at Hobby Lobby.)

Hot pink works great as an accent for black and white (this is the card I made for Rob and Laura's wedding - the damask print is just a scrap of the wrapping paper I used on their gift):
I'm also really fond of pairing pink with my new favorite neutral, chocolate brown.


I think pink even works well as a Christmas color when it's matched up with some aqua blue and evergreen.

In the world of sewing, I pretty much can't avoid pink. (Like I would want to!) My most recent project was the vintage dress I mentioned in my last post. I went fabric shopping at JoAnn's with something completely else in mind, and came away with this gorgeous, cherry-blossom-pink poplin. I love how the dress turned out, and I'd wear it every day if I could.

When I first put it on I wore it with a white belt but Matt said I looked like a waitress! So I went down to Goodwill and picked up a black one for 25 cents. I used my Crop-a-Dile, a really handy scrapbooking tool (which incidentally has pink handles), to punch some extra holes for the buckle - worked like a charm.

There's also pinking, which is to say, trimming the seam allowances with pinking shears so that they won't ravel. I've always been pretty diligent about seam finishing, even though it doesn't show from the outside. Only I won't be needing to do that any more now that I have a serger! Hooray! Instead, how about some vintage pink buttons (courtesy of Goodwill, and there's lots more where that came from):

What's more, a length of bright pink silk dupioni that I recently purchased off of Fabric.com (I couldn't help it; they were having a really good sale) is currently sitting in my fabric stash. To be made into some future project (I actually have the pattern in mind already but nowhere to wear it) or at least blogged about.
So, what do you think of pink?

Edited to add a late-breaking Pink Day find! Mom, you are seriously going to die. I found this at the new (and I mean BRAND new) Goodwill store up here:

Vintage. Pink. Crinoline. Petticoat. Pretty much the awesomest thing ever (although I say that about everything I buy at Goodwill, so take it at face value). It's miles too big for me in the waist, so I will have to do something about that (possibly take apart the side seams, although it may just need new elastic at the waist) and I don't technically have any dresses that need a crinoline underneath (at least not yet) (at least not a HOT PINK one) but for four dollars, how could I possibly pass it up? Happy National Pink Day, indeed!

Finds

So, I've been having a run of good luck lately. See, I've been shopping at Goodwill for years and years and YEARS now; I got all of my clothes there when I worked in labs (jeans & tshirts that can be disposed of without regret when they get trashed) and now that I am not working again I go in at least once a week. I never used to find anything vintage - nice stuff, granted, but not vintage - and I never saw any sewing patterns until I bought like 20 of them in a 3 week period. I kind of think that the universe is giving me good thrift-store karma to make up for, you know, the whole repeated-job-loss thing. Here's some of the sweet finds I've scored lately:

A green glass jar ($3) that sits on my kitchen counter and holds cookies when we have them, which isn't often (not that I don't make cookies, they just don't stay around very long)

Patterns, patterns, patterns, patterns (49 cents apiece).
This is only a small portion of my huge stash of vintage patterns. I literally tripped over some of them because they were strewn across the floor one of the times I went in. The ones that are my size I will keep and eventually sew (I'm dying to make that Very Easy Vogue wrap dress from the 70s just as soon as I have the right fabric) and the rest I will list in my Etsy store, once I go through all the pieces and everything.

What's better than old sewing patterns? Umm, how about the pattern and the fabric to go with it? I found these cool boxes (a steal at $2.50 per) that had apparently been in someone's stash that they never got around to using. I love this cool brocade-y stuff: I think I will see if I can lengthen that pattern into a dress, since I don't have much use for a tunic with Nehru collar and matching bellbottoms. And I found this one with the pattern pieces already cut out AND the notions inside the box: The dress will actually fit me, and I completely love the style, so I think I'll sew it up and wear it this winter and piggyback off someone else's hard work. I'm not crazy about the fabric since dark green isn't really my color, so after I finish I'll probably make it up in something else. Maybe shorten the pointy collar a little because technically it's not the seventies ANYMORE.

Polly Flinders smocked dresses ($4 each)! Remember those from the eighties? The funny thing is that we had THESE EXACT ONES in the Blinn household at one point. I have vivid memories of Emily wearing that green one around Christmastime when she had bangs in her hair. They're too small for Betsy (size 6 but Polly Flinderses seem to run small. Amy has one that's a 24m and she wears it now. With pants underneath because it's so short) but Amy will grow into them eventually. And then I will pass them down to my girls when they are grown - one for each of them - and we will pretend that they are family heirlooms and not a miraculous thrift-store find.

Speaking of smocked dresses for little girls, how about this beauty ($4)?
I snatched it right off the rack because it's clearly homesewn. Once I got it home and took a closer look at it I realized what a good job it is - French seams, a seriously deep hem, miles of slipstitching (something I personally loathe, and avoid whenever possible). It's in pretty good condition but not so much so that you would think it's never been worn, and it's just a tad big for Amy at the moment.

A huuuge stack of records for my mother ($10 for the lot, or roughly $1 a pound).

Mom's been listening to records a lot lately and these ones are seriously old - they predate vinyl, and according to Wikipedia the switch to vinyl was around 1940. Cool.

A really cool old full slip - my mom swears that her mom had one just like it in the sixties. Only this one is way, way bigger (I could get maybe an arm into Grandma's slip; she was a teeny little thing)

A really nice heavy saucepan ($5) - I haven't been able to find out much about the Altiva brand other than that it used to be sold at Sears. But it's the perfect size, bigger than my other saucepans and smaller than the stock pot.

A bike for Porter ($13) and helmets for both of the kids ($2 each)

A sheet ($3). Why a sheet? Because it's old and cool and I liked the print. It's really soft and not faded in the slightest, and I think I will cut the elastic off the edges and sew it up into a dress.

This purple satin dress ($2.50)
They had these at Target around Christmas and boy, I wanted one BAD but I wasn't about to spend $40 on a dress. Goodwill shoppers know that sometimes if you get lucky, brand new stuff from Target will appear once it's no longer in the stores, and I got lucky.

Because I'm my mother's daughter, a Liz Claiborne purse ($3). I like that it's capacious enough to hold my keys, cell phone, camera, anti-swine-flu hand sanitizer, some snacks, and all of my coupons without making me look like the kind of woman who carries all that stuff around in her purse. (Sorry, I guess it's not 'swine flu' any more - it's now H1N1, which I believe is pronounced "heinie.")

The outfit I am wearing THIS VERY MOMENT ($6 total).

Because if there's one thing I love, it's a cotton print A-line skirt. The polo was rather unappealingly baggy so I took in the sides with my sewing machine, and discovered that the knit stitch makes an interesting rhythm as it sews.

So, who else has been thrift-store-hunting? Any great finds lately?

It's the (second) most wonderful time of the year

What, you thought I meant Christmas? I'm talking about clearance time! January/February and July/August are when I do most of my shopping for the kids: when the previous seasons are being cleared out of the stores (to make room for, y'know, swimsuits in January) I buy up all their clothes for the next year and store them in those big Rubbermaid totes, along with all of my Goodwill and garage-sale finds. I get a lot of good stuff for ridiculously low prices and my kids haven't figured out yet that their clothes are always a year out of style. Generally, something has to be at least 50% off to catch my eye (unless it's something that's harder to find, like coats or pajamas). Today I went to Target, Old Navy (all their baby clearance is an extra 50% off!) and Walmart (I know! I hardly ever shop at Walmart. I'm not one of those anti-Walmart people, I just don't like their stores. Although the gear oil lawsuit thing is probably not necessarily their fault. When quality control analysts do their job, everybody wins. But I digress) and brought home a seriously good haul. And since I had nothing else to blog about except complaining about all the snow, I thought I'd share.

I came home with a huge pile of clothes for Porter - adjustable waist cords, buttondown shirts, a hoodie and some other goodies - for like twenty bucks. Given that he hasn't outgrown all of his size 3's yet and they may be good for another year, I think his fall/winter '09 wardrobe is pretty much set.

Betsy is a little more difficult, since she's at the awkward age between toddler and tween. Call me crazy but I don't like the idea of decking out my little six-year-old in Hannah Montana or High School Musical. It's hard to find anything good for her, let alone on clearance. But I picked up some cute velour trackpants ($5) and a huge stack of long-sleeved T shirts ($3 each) at Walmart. Since the shirts are plain, I think I'll dress them up with some of my scrapbook supplies. Goodness knows I have enough foam stamps, ribbons, and buttons laying around that I can spare a few. Who wouldn't love to have a bunch of unique, custom-designed tops?

Okay, these were for me. I couldn't decide between the black and the yellow, so I got them both. In my defense, they were five dollars a pair (which is the exact same price of a pair of shoes at Goodwill). A little different from my usual style but I think they're so cool and vintagey-looking: you'd have to be dead inside not to love the little ruffles on the vamp! My sister Emily is always telling me that I need to get over my fear of ballet flats (Emily loves ballet flats. Emily got married in a pair of ballet flats. Even though her husband is like eight inches taller than her) and that there's nothing wrong with a little toe cleavage. I'm not sure if these technically qualify as ballet flats because they have that darling narrow strap and a kitten heel that you can't see but I'm not a shoe person so I don't know what else you'd call them.

So, just when I thought I'd get away with a minimal amount of damage, I discovered the toy clearance at Wal Mart, which was marked down an extra 50%. I thought I'd take a peek and see if there was anything worth putting in storage for a future gift giving occasion. I ended up having so much that a complete stranger (a really nice lady) went to the front of the store to get a cart for me, because I couldn't put it all in the stroller.

I picked up this neat, insanely detailed jungle playset for Porter's birthday in April (fifteen dollars). Check out the spider web! And the rocks shaped like a gorilla!
A radio-controlled car, also for the P-man's birthday (fifteen bucks). I think it will be a lot of fun in the basement, where there's hard floors and lots of wide open spaces. And being that he's a guy, he does love the remote control.
A ball-rolly thing for Amy's first birthday (twelve-fifty). It plays really annoying music when you roll the ball down the track. Think I'll be taking the batteries out of this one.

Oh, and the much-coveted Barbie MyHouse that Betsy originally wanted for Christmas but didn't get because Santa didn't feel like buying all the little furniture sets separately. (Don't feel to sorry for Betsy - she got a bunch of art stuff instead.) It was packaged together with the living room and dining room sets for a whole seventeen dollars, and I got the last one. Poor Betsy is going to have an awfully hard time waiting for her birthday to get here.
So, blog-readers, what are you shopping for these days? While you're at it you may want to pick up some mouth socks, which is what all the cool kids are wearing these days. Everyone knows only lame-o's put their socks on their feet...

So cute, it's scary!

Doesn't Betsy look cute in that dress? It's the one my mother sewed for me mumble years ago when I was starting school. Betsy wore it yesterday for her semi-official first day of school. (Matt argued that it doesn't count because it's only preschool. I maintain that it's close enough, especially since it meets at the same elementary school where she'll be going for kindergarten.) I wore the dress and all my sisters wore the dress and now we have a whole new generation! Of course, I'm the only one with daughters so far (although I think Miles could pull it off, with his blue eyes and all). I had to replace the buttons because one was missing and strangely enough, I couldn't find an exact match. I also made an interesting discovery when I was sewing a patch into the placket facing: Mom forgot to pull out the basting stitches at the waist, all those years ago! I had half a mind to grab my seam ripper and do it myself, but then I decided to leave them in there, just to embarrass Grammie.

Unfortunately, Betsy's first day of 'school' was short-lived. We thought she was over the cold she'd had over the weekend, but it turns out she was sucking it up because she wanted to go to school so badly. (I can't wait to tell her that story when she's a teenager.) The school called us after an hour or two and had me come get Betsy because she wouldn't stop wiping her nose. This is a problem we've had with her in the past. I'm hoping that the threat of missing school is sufficient motivation for her to break the habit.

I did get to run a few errands while she was there, though, and I scored a pretty good find at Goodwill. I got a brand-new, still-in-the-package-from-Target set of crib bedding for ten bucks. Now, I already had some bumper pads which were sensibly gender-neutral. This new stuff, however, is most decidedly not. It's basically pink with pink flowers and pink ribbons on it. The package had a tag from Target stating that it was returned because it was defective. I spent probably ten minutes going over the whole thing before I found the apparent defect: a teeny tiny spot on the side of the blanket. Oh, no. Like the crib bedding won't be getting horribly stained sooner or later anyway, right?

R.I.P Daisy

This is, or rather was, Matt's Pontiac Sunfire named Daisy. Matt bought Daisy in 1998, when he was in college, before we even met. (And isn't he cute in this picture? He was working at the MTC then.) Anyway, Daisy had 130,000 miles and she needed a new transmission, which would have cost more than the car is worth. And we've been wanting something that gets better gas mileage, because although gas has finally dropped below $3/gallon, it's still painful, isn't it? I mean, I've bought gas for less than a dollar, and I am... not that old.

Anyway. So Matt took a day off from work and we went around to all the dealerships. We looked at everything from the Ford Focus to the Chevy Aveo to the Hyundai Accent (we considered one of those but the only one they had in stock was bright green... umm, no) but we settled on the Yaris because it gets ridiculous gas mileage. Like, 34 mpg city... the best you can get short of buying a hybrid. And since it's a Toyota, Betsy will probably drive this car when she's in high school.

It's kind of weird. We've never bought a brand new car before; we've actually had pretty good luck with low-mileage used. On the other hand, we also built a new house last year, so maybe we are becoming snobs? On the other hand, I bought a huge sack of clothes at Goodwill on Saturday, so maybe not.

So THAT'S why my house is messy!

It's because I've been scrapping again. I got a batch of prints in the mail, so now I have something to keep me occupied.

Do you not absolutely love those colors? I think American Crafts really outdid themselves on their latest release as far as scrumptious colors are concerned. The brown paper with dots is actually called 'Bonbon' (the entire line is named after foods, actually) and I think it couldn't be more fitting.
I usually don't like scrapping multi-page, 'event' type layouts. I don't know why, but I find it easier to assemble a single-photo layout on some random subject like hating laundry. As a result, I'm usually unhappy with all the pages I've done for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc. This time, though, I was on a roll and the design seemed to come together fairly easily.

The other great thing about scrapbooking, besides the scrapbooking, is shopping for supplies.

I finally killed off the Hobby Lobby giftcard that Matt gave me for Christmas. (Don't I always try to stretch out the enjoyment as long as possible? I know, I am such a dork.) I got sparkly cardstock and cool vintage trims and velvet letter stickers and ribbon. It's really amazing how much you can get when Hobby Lobby is having one of their 50% sales.

I've got one more layout to complete and then I really should fold laundry. But, Porter's birthday is tomorrow and I'm bound to take lots of pictures (I have some of this paper and Porter totally has an outfit that matches it) so maybe the responsible-adult-type stuff is going to have to wait.

Time to buy furniture!

Soooo... we went to IKEA on Saturday.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love that store? I really, really wish there was one here so we didn't have to keep driving to Chicago. We went to the Bolingbrook location instead of the Schaumburg store (no fair! they have two!) because it was a little closer. But the floorplan was really weirdly set up: like there was only one elevator and it was really hard to get to. I think we'll go back to the Scaumburg one next time.

Still, I had a really great time shopping there, since IKEA is like the funnest store of all time. We had lunch in the in-store cafe even. (I remember eating Swedish meatballs as a kid but I have no idea when, it's the vaguest of memories. Funny how my taste buds remember what my brain has forgotten.) And yes, we filled up three carts. Although one whole cart was just seat cushions for our new dining room chairs so I don't think that really counts, do you?

embellish your behind

I can't believe it, I'm leaving day after tomorrow for the Scrap Etc. Event! I worked on laundry and a few projects today, including these jeans:

I picked up the jeans at Goodwill and embellished them with Heidi Swapp foam stamps, fabric paint, and a Sharpie marker. I thought they'd be kind of cheesy looking and really only suitable for a scrapbooking convention, but I'm actually quite happy with how they turned out.

The kids and I headed down to Hobby Lobby this afternoon - I needed a pencil box for all my adhesives and sharp little craft knives and stuff to travel in - and as is my wont, ended up perusing the clearance fabrics. Where I found these obscenely gorgeous, heavy Japanese polyester satins for a price so dizzyingly low, I felt a little faint.

They're actually the same print - each colorway has a totally different personality, so it took me a while to realize that! I don't have a clue what I will make with them, since I already have a dress and two aprons in the queue. Fortunately I've recently learned how to buy fabric so I was all set - although I'm less inclined to make circle skirts so I went with three yards instead of four. They're now sitting on the shelf in my laundry roomuntil I can think of what to do.

Go ahead and say it, Mom...

The weather was so beautiful and perfect today - 71 and sunny - that the kids and I really had no choice but to go play outside. If it's this nice over the weekend, Matt's going to have an awesome time with the kids.

goodwill hunting

Went to Goodwill today for some jeans that I can alter with foam stamps or something and wear at the Event. Unfortunately, I also spotted this skirt.
It was two dollars! I love the print - it reminds me of the new American Crafts papers but in different colors - and I love that it's in cotton, so it would be only a tiny bit weird to wear a full(ish) knee length skirt to the grocery store. (In case you've been paying attention, my sartorial aim is towards being a Person Who Wears Dresses On Non Dressy Occasions, Yet Doesn't Look Weird. Cotton seems to help, although I could never pull off this dress.) Anyway, I think it would look great with a lime-green T shirt and flip flops. I'm dying to start wearing flip flops again, is that weird? Of course, wearing white on the bottom does seem to bring out the unnatural pallor of my legs, so thank heavens for self-tanner lotion.

Also, I found these pants.

Yes, those are hot pink and orange tigers. This is actually the second pair of Lilly Pulitzer capris that I've found at Goodwill (I snagged martini drinking pigs a few years ago). Four dollar Lilly pants are like the needle in the proverbial thrift-store haystack, since these things sell for mucho dinero. Twice in a lifetime means I should probably write a book ro something. I snatched them up even though they are not my size (in my dreams, maybe). I think I'll see if my sister Catherine wants 'em - she has both the figure and the fashion sense to pull off neon colored jungle cats.

I seem to be blogging a lot about clothes lately. It must be the time of year. I am so ready for it to be spring.

projects

I can’t believe, it’s less than a month until the 2007 Scrap Etc. Event! I spent like three hours on the computer Saturday finding all the pictures I need to have printed. I’m sure it makes me weird, but I don’t store them on my hard drive, so I had to wander around in my online gallery until I found all 100 or so that I needed. Then of course I had to edit them (I can’t believe how bad of a photographer I am) and convert most to black and white. Still, it makes it feel so much more real, knowing that there are things I can do now to get ready for the Event!

Also, since it’s President’s Day, a lot of fabric stores were having sales today, and I totally made the rounds. First I went to Hancock where Simplicity patterns were seriously 99 cents. I couldn’t find the awesome pajama pattern that Emily made, which seems to have been discontinued. Bummer. I did get another dress pattern which you’ll see shortly - and a bunch more vintage baby doll clothes to sew for Betsy. I think I’m more into it than she is but I keep seeing all these awesome fabrics that just beg to be made into teeny tiny dresses and PJ’s and sunsuits.

Next stop was Hobby Lobby which conveniently is close by. I returned some stuff - no Joni, you do not need any more AC Charlie stickers - and somehow ended up in the fabric department, where I scored this for $4.00 a yard.

That’s my new dress pattern - I’m going to try the version shown in blue, with the crossover front and the adorable sleeves (I can do set in sleeves is my new mantra) but I’d like to do the contrast bands as well. It may be difficult to find another print that contrasts perfectly with this one. I suppose if worst comes to worst I can do a solid rusty-brown cotton, which will at least match those shoes I got at Old Navy.

After that I headed over to JoAnn. I’ve discovered the secret to finding really great fabric at JoAnn: bypass the ‘Apparel’ section and head straight to quilting. Not only do they have way better prints, not only are they cheaper, but the quilting fabrics have the distinct advantage of being 100% cotton. (The last dress I served effectively turned me off to ‘silkies.’ Not that it was all that bad to sew, but I’m afraid to wear it too much or it will unravel. Plus, I’m trying to become one of those cool people like Dress a Day Girl who can wear a dress just for the sake of wearing a dress. Cotton somehow seems more ‘everyday’ to me.) Anyway, all the quilting prints were 30% off, and I found, all stashed in one corner like they were too cool to associate with the dowdy calicos and ditsy florals…

Alexander Henry prints! (Okay, so I'm a label snob. Sue me.)

Isn’t that the cutest? The funny thing is, I bought that pattern like 3 years ago, long before I ever knew how to sew. Simplicity doesn’t even sell it anymore. But I seem to be partial to that silhouette - it is vaguely Duro-esque, isn’t it? - and it’s a look which seems to flatter me. Won’t this be sweet, with cherry red ribbon for the ties?

I think this will be my next project so that I can wear it to the Event. It looks pretty easy - the sleeves are cut on the bias, so there’s no gathering, and like all of my projects, no fasteners. As soon as I get the fabric washed I’ll start working on the muslin (have to make sure the crossover part isn‘t going to provide any, um, unwanted glimpses…) All of my tutoring students seem to be on winter break, so I have time this week that really should be spent more productively than watching NCIS repeats.

This was another awesome print I found in the Alexander Henry section. The cutting lady told me they just got it in last week.

I’m dying to make matching bib aprons for Betsy and me. Why have a daughter and learn how to sew, if not to make matching mother-daughter aprons? I’ve been hunting for just the perfect fabric to use, and since I didn‘t have the envelope with me, I accidentally bought enough yardage to make a third apron if we ever have another girl. And while it’s not specifically marketed as such, I think the pattern is fairly vintage looking, don’t you? Maybe I’ll pick up a quarter yard of something else and do contrast pockets, just for fun.

While the fabric has me absolutely salivating, I think I’m going to have to work up to this one. (Maybe I’ll have them done by Mother’s Day. This year.) Why? Because each one is edged with miles and miles of bias tape. If you’ll recall from the Baby Doll Christmas Coat - which I never posted pictures of because I basically hated how it turned out - bias tape and I are not friends. Of course, that was the extra skinny kind. Maybe if I use wider tape - and yes, they do sell it in the perfect tomato-red to match the berries and flowers of Mr. Henry’s imagination - then maybe it won’t quite leave me wanting to hurl the whole thing out the window.

random stuff...

We went to the State Museum on Monday (all the museums are free on MLK Day). They had a really gross exhibit about bugs and dead bodies. Fascinating, but gross.

I'm 97% done with my Hall of Fame entry. Still waiting for York Photo to send me my prints so I can finish up the Crafty Combo. Why do I keep ordering from York? They always take f o r e v e r to send me my pictures.

We're teaching Betsy how to write her name now. She's got the E and the T and more or less the Y (it looks a lot like the T, but I'm forgiving) and we're working on the B. S still has her completely stumped, however.

My voice is nearly hoars from rrawring with Porter.

The Colts are playing the Patriots in the conference championship this weekend. I hate to be a Negative Nellie, but aren't the Pats the ones who always knock the Colts out of the playoffs? Much like the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. I don't, however, reserve the same level of hatred for the Patriots as I do for the Cowboys. Some teams are just pure evil.

Don't overcook angelhair pasta. Not a pretty sight.

Old Navy is having a massive clearance sale. No more 97-cent capris for me. But, I got Matt some work pants for $8 (good thing, they inevitably end up with ink on them) and a scarf for 75 cents. Now his neck will be warm when he's walking from the parking garage, because I am a good wife.

You actually haven't seen cute, until you've seen a 1-year-old do the motions to 'Popcorn Popping.'

Patio pictures

Mom wanted to see some pictures of the new patio. So here you go... the patio is in there somewhere behind the kids... if you squint.

It was nice tonight so we ate outside again. I made what was originally intended as chili, but I didn't have any ground hamburger, so I used chicken breast, and I didn't have any tomato sauce, so I just used 2 cans of tomatoes, but it was really soupy, so I used smashed up tortilla chips to soak up the juice... So I guess what I made is Chicken Tortilla Soup.

I wore one of my new linen skirts to church today. Did I mention that I went back to Old Navy, and got two long, bias-cut linen skirts for 97 cents each??!! Yeah, it's a sickness. One is white, so I can't wear it for a while, but the other is a sort of plummy-raspberry color, so I wore it with my white Wal-Mart blouse and looked very hip. Man, I love the 97-cent stuff.

Scrapping again

Two things I pretty much never do: I don't scrap photos that are more than 1 year old, and I never buy Basic Grey! I've actually broken both of those barriers this time around. This is a photo that Julie Blasini took when Porter was a baby, that I somehow missed the first time around. And the papers are from BG's new LilyKate collection, which I actually really like. I think they worked well for the mood I was trying to convey.

I got 7 new papers today and it was mostly brands I don't usually use: K & Company, Fontwerks, 3 Bugs in a Rug, and the aforementioned Basic Grey. Plus Chatterbox. I think I need to stop buying patterned papers for a while! They're just so pretty... I'm starting to understand why my mom has such a stash of fabrics! (Speaking of which, Mom, I also got the fabric for Betsy's baby doll dress today, and it is gorgeous.)

It was a really nice day today, so we had dinner (taco salad) out on the patio. It's funny, our sad little patio table looks really small on the new patio, which is quite a bit larger than the deck on our old house! Which is good - we will have plenty of room when we get around to buying a nice set of outdoor furniture.

And you thought the $4 suede boots were a good deal.

Matt's parents went back to Utah today (sad face) so in the afternoon, I did a little shopping (happy face). I had seen Hobby Lobby's sale ad which said that ALL of their stickers, papers, and rub-ons for scrapbooking are 50% off this week. Hobby Lobby's prices are quite reasonable to begin with, so I definitely wanted to stock up.

They had some new patterned papers in from We R Memories Urban Window collection - I got some of the Diner papers - Hello gorgeous, where have you been all my life?! I've never used We R before - they seem to be big into the boho look, which I'm not huge on but like in small doses - but I really, really loved the bright colors on a white background. I also liked some of the Restoration prints, in soft muted greens and grays... will work nicely for a potential Hall of Fame layout... hmmm...

Anyway, all that patterned paper, plus a bunch of cardstock (I know, I know, I have a lot of cardstock already, but at twelve and a half cents a sheet, you woulda bought some too) and some of those 7Gypsies stickers... came to like 5 bucks. Have I mentioned that I love Hobby Lobby?

Then we headed around the corner to Old Navy, because I had some returns. I decided to kill some time by checking out the clearance sections... and HOLY COW did I hit the motherlode! They had just marked down a bunch of stuff to 97 cents each. Most of it was mini-skirts and tank tops, which I can't wear, but I found some good stuff. I found some capri pants - they are literally the cutest capri pants in the entire universe - so I bought 5 pairs, in 3 different colors and 2 different sizes. Because they were NINETY-SEVEN CENTS EACH.

I also got a couple of cute T-shirts; then I headed over to the register with my loot. Lo and behold, the girl at the register was in the process of marking down MORE stuff that she was about to put out, so I got a maternity (NO I AM NOT PREGNANT I AM JUST PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE) blouse and jacket for, you guessed it, 97 cents each. And saved the cashier from having to walk over to the rack to hang them up again. All in all, I bought 9 things, and spent a whopping total of $9.25 (yes, that includes the tax). When I got home, I added up all the tags and found out it was, like, $200 or something.

Am I a dork, to be so excited over a good sale? Probably. But I'm a well-dressed dork.

I'm also excited because there's a new episode of NCIS on tonight. Woo hoo!