Mea culpa

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa for my absence.

I have just wrapped 3 weeks of travel for work, and while the busy time at work is not quite done I am at least home so feeling a bit more grounded and ready to come back to the blogsophere.

Part of the events I was working on included my giving a short presentation/introducing an activity inspired by Six Words by SMITH Magazine.  This is a project that I learned about several years ago when I heard the founder speak at a professional conference - clearly it stuck with me.

So working on my own...

Craft enthusiast, loyal friend, lifelong learner

Or a dating site headline...

Curly, curvy, sassy. Looking for love.

Helping out a friend

My good friend and her husband have decided that it's time for a decor overhaul of their apartment. They have a great space but over the years have hodge podged (yes that is a verb) together random furniture, so it's missing an overall cohesiveness.  They have jumped in head first, and I'm sure it's obvious that I'm excited to help, give opinions, or contribute in any way that is accepted.

A major item on the list is the paint throughout the rooms.  They inherited several murals throughout the apartment which are actually great but limit their color choices and after many years they're more than ready for a change.  The walls are going to live in the neutral gray shades, pretty much throughout the space, leaving room for furniture and accent pieces to really play up their personalities and fun.

First on their list, an upgrade to their standard Malm IKEA dresser.  For inspiration we went, where else, to Pinterest and found this idea:

So with inspiration in hand we went to the hardware store to pick the paint color.  Originally planning to go with a traditional navy, we were faced with an amazing teal option that threw that into question.

Feeling bold, she picked the more teal/aqua blue - my favorite, though I attempted to keep my opinions to myself - in a high-gloss finish.  We also picked up an ivory white for the overlays.  Now we were ready to work...

Our first step was to use a liquid deglosser, instead of sanding.  We were in an apartment without a lot of protection or tools and were happy to forego all the sanding dust. One tip, we didn't do this until the last coat but if you are using brushes and not a sprayer, I would definitely use Floetrol to thin out the paint and help remove some of the brush strokes in the paint.  One nice thing on this IKEA dresser is that it was super easy to pop the drawer faces off for easy painting. After letting that dry, we started with a first coat.

You can see that the first coat didn't cover very well, and looked worryingly like the blue tape color instead of our chic deep teal.  Not to be dissuaded though, we went and got Thai takeout while we waited for the first and second coat to dry.

Then it started to come together

You can see the gloss reflecting the light and the color is much closer to what we wanted it to be. Success!

I hate to say this but the completely finished result for this project is going to be a cliff hanger.  My friend's husband has access to a woodshop and is going to be creating the overlays for the drawers.  Until those are done we can't call this complete, but, the majority of it got done on super bowl Sunday while the Broncos got the asses handed to them...heard it was a pretty sad game and we didn't miss much by painting instead.

Goodwill Find!

As teased, here is one of my projects that I got through the other weekend.

After a leisurely brunch with a friend we decided to walk over to the Goodwill that was near where we were eating.  No, I wasn't looking for anything in particular and no, that doesn't matter.  After perusing the odds and ends we made it over to the furniture area.  That's when I saw it!

An amazing teal blue chair with bronze studs along the piping. It was listed at $35 dollars which was a steal in itself but when I got to the cash register I only paid a whopping total of $29 for the chair, a picnic basket, 2 frames, and 2 books!  The prices a Goodwill never get old, it always feel like I just won a contest or something.  After some maneuvering of the backseat, and strategic angling, we got the chair in the back of my Beetle and I headed home with my bounty.

The chair was great but had a chocolatey brown wood for the legs and on the arms that just dragged the whole thing down.  Spray paint to the rescue.  I had on hand an ivory, high-gloss, spray paint and after taping/papering off the fabric and quickly sanding down the legs I went to work.  It took two coats and I am so happy with the final look of the chair.  Now I just need to find the perfect place for it in the house...

Here are the pics, in order of production - please forgive the angles on some of them, but I remembered to actually take pictures this time:

 

    

Old Timey Christmas Garland

I'm still building out my personal collection of Christmas decorations and like the idea of making them when I can.

I found this project on Pinterest and after collecting some scraps from fabric stores nearby set to work. 

First I cut a conservative amount of strips of the fabrics I gathered (1). I included some red and green felt in my garland.  I liked the idea of the differing weights mixed together.  My length was limited by this because I only purchase 2 squares of each, though this worked out great for me, the garland could have gone much longer had I purchased a few more.

I used some hemp cord that I had lying around as the base, thinking that it's strong and will hold up for years.  I didn't cut this ahead of time, because I didin't know how long it would be in the end. I don't plan ahead like that - sometimes works and sometimes bites me in the you know what.  I tied a loop in one end and looped it around a water bottle to hold the end up, you want that end stable, like when you used to safety pin friendship bracelets to the knee of your jeans - remember?

Next step - start tying (2).  That's pretty much it.  I picked the order that I wanted for my garland and just kept going.  I put on my Hulu and just plugged away.  It took me a couple evenings after work but I got it done in time for the holidays (even if I didn't get it posted).

The finished product (3) hung across the entry to my living room and brough cheer immediately upon entering my house.  Very pleased with this Pinterest success, definitely one of the easier DIY Christmas decorations that I found that still looked really good.

DIY Christmas Trees

So I have had the supplies for this project for ages and finally my friend and I attempted it.  The project I did is kind of a combination of these two original pins:

          

True to myself I made do with what I had on hand which was a very very thin and uneven green thread.  Pulled it through the glue, corn starch mixture and wrapped it around my styrofoam cones of three sizes.  Before starting I wrapped the cones in saran wrap and then put a layer of vaseline on that, to (reportedly) allow the "trees" to easily come off the molds once dry.

As you can probably guess this is not exactly how it went down.  While it was a wonderfully fun and messy project I could tell pretty early on that these trees were not going to politely pop off of their forms without some work.

Lessons I learned:

• When not using a balloon that one can pop and remove from the shape it is necessary to wrap loose, even with the vaseline and saran wrap.
• Use real string that is not super thin and breaks apart in your glue mixture - just takes so much longer to wrap it.
• A glue and corn starch mixture will not dry clear.  I know this should have been obvious but call it a brain fart.  Not a mistake because they are meant to be Christmas-y so I'm calling them frosted, but still.
• If you smash a foam cone enough it will eventually pop out from your "tree".  Just make sure that your tarp from the glue messiness is still down for this part too.

End results are not so bad.  Tried out two different styles of wrapping the string, and I'm pretty happy with a new DIY decoration for this year.

Mason Jar Project - Check!

A little while back I posted a Pinterest project that I was going to try to make, this one.  Well I did, it turned out pretty well and I was finally better about documenting my steps in photos.

First was to determine what piece of board I wanted my jars to attach to.  I actually had this piece on hand and so decided not to spend extra money on another piece and work with what I had.  After a Home Depot run to purchase the plumbing clamps and hooks (I added these on a whim - not part of the original project) I was ready to start.

Immediately I ran into my first hiccup.  No where in the Pinterest project does it clearly communicate how the plumbing clamps are "screwed on" to the board - time to improvise!  I didn't have any nails small enough to get through the slats on the clamp itself, and I didn't have wide enough staples in the staple gun to span the width and securely hold them in place. I ended up taking two screws and placing them on either side of the clamp.  Not screwing them in all the way first, placing the plumbing clamp and then screwing them both down so the edges are held in place by the lips of the screws.  Be sure to place the clamps in a way that still allows you to adjust the size around the neck of your mason jars.

Next I placed the hooks.  I measured and placed them roughly 1.5" apart from each other.  First drilling a small pilot hole then hand screwing in the screws on the bottom of the board.  I want these to be for hanging necklaces.  I have some great earring holders made from frames and screen but at this point no good way to store and display my necklaces.  The hooks go all the way across the bottom.

The end result before testing out my jars allowed for 4 mason jars and hooks along the bottom.  I attached at sawtooth picture hanger in the middle of the back (no picture) to allow for easier hanging.  I substituted much longer nails for the ones that came with that piece of hardware for some added support and security.

Now it's time for the second hiccup.  Due to my improvising for getting the plumbing clamps to attach to the board, the jars while mostly secure were not held in as tightly as I would have wanted by the clamps.  They were almost secure enough but had wiggle that sent visions of mason jars plummeting to my floor and shattering through my head.  Originally I liked the idea that I would be able to take the jars down as needed from the adjustable plumbing clamps but gave that luxury up for a more secure hold.  I used clear, heavy duty epoxy glue, a dime size dot on the jar and a dime size dot of the plumbing clamp where the screws held it to the board.  Then placed the jars and tightened.  I allowed this to dry overnight and then it was time to hang.

Here's the finished product.  Not exactly as I imagined in terms of functionality but overall I'm pretty happy with the resulting look. Please forgive the grainy picture, as you can see I'm still deciding what exactly to store in each of my jars.

WW Update

Sticking with the idea that making this public and paying for the service will help me stay motivated and on track, here is another update on the Weight Watchers journey (this time around).

First an admission, I did not weigh in last week.  It was the week following Thanksgiving and the week of lady days and mostly I was not feeling up to seeing a raise in the number on the scale.  I realize this was me being a scaredy cat but I didn't have it in me.  So I went one more week, attempting to stay on track and making it to Zumba twice and go from there this week.

This morning I woke up about an hour late - either alarms didn't go off or I woke up, turned them off and then went back to sleep with no memory of doing so (it's happened before).  I could have easily used this an excuse to not weigh in this morning but that is my old pattern and I'm working on new patterns.  I weighed in, braced to face the number whatever it was and...it was lower!! In fact, it was lower by 3.8 lbs - almost the recommended 2 lbs per week which felt great considering Thanksgiving was part of one of those weeks!

Not only that, but when I put it in the tracker...

10lbs down!  That was my personal goal to reach 10 lbs down by Christmas, now I can reset that and keep it going.  Not a bad way to start a Monday, even if I did oversleep.

Thanksgiving Dinner Contribution

My mason jar holder is currently on hold - I got through almost the whole project, however the last step is only hold. Due to the way that I attached the plumbing clamps the jars don't get cinched in tight enough to actually hold in.  A gentle shake sent two loose.  Some more tinkering to come...

This year each of us are bringing a dish to Thanksgiving dinner - this is new for us and given our collective cooking experience good go really wrong or really right, so fingers crossed.  I am making a gluten free Spicy Cheesy Bread Stuffing.  I found this recipe through Pinterest (where else?). 

Last night after work I braved the crowds at the grocery store.  Side note about myself I very much dislike grocery shopping in general and avoid holiday related grocery shopping whenever possible.  Though this was unavoidable so I bit the bullet and went in, shopping list in hand.  Happy to report it was not nearly as dreadful as I had envisioned.

I did spend a bit of time trying to find the almond flour necessary for the recipe and enlisted the help of a, somewhat attractive, store employee (always look for the cute ones when you have a question - it may take longer but, in my opinion, worth it).  My question led to a short, somewhat flirty, discussion about the gluten free craze sweeping California, if not the nation.  I shared my humble opinion that I think the general extremism is crazy and that the trend to raise your children gluten free seems like a bunch of crap.  

I believe in whole grains and steering clear of super processed foods as a general rule to but as with all things, truthfully believe in moderation.  I am making a gluten-free dish because my dad actually has Celiac and I want him to enjoy the stuffing too - assuming this turns out enjoyable. With a smile from the flirting and ingredients in hand I leave the store and head where any responsible person who is making a dish for her family's Thanksgiving meal would.  To her best friend's house to watch Secret Princes.

Small tangent, this show is hilarious and you should absolutely watch it!

After getting sucked into 4 episodes I went home and unloaded the groceries.  Hit by a sudden burst of inspiration I baked the first part of the recipe, the skillet "bread" that needs to be made a day ahead for the final stuffing dish.  Yay responsibility! Actually looks pretty good, and tastes almost as good if I do say so myself!

UPDATE: This stuffing turned out delicious!  I didn't read all the way through the recipe (story of my life) so I didn't actually bake and dry out the skillet bread two days before but even with that snafu this was definitely an excellent contribution to the meal.

Gonna try to make this

On to the next project!  Gonna try to make this Pinterest project:

I got some scrap wood from my mom recently and love, like everyone else, the mason jar look.

Off to home depot to get the rest of the supplies I need.

I'll keep you posted!

Sunday morning

I'd like to say that this post is about how prepared I am for the week and that I purposefully spent my morning preparing healthy meals for my week.  While the results are nearly the same this is not what happened.

What did happen is that last week through a combination of good intentions and excitement at a farmers market I purchase several healthy options for food for my week.  Last week I made some great ground turkey dishes, including turkey meatloaf muffins - perfect for a quick meal - and an egg frittata.  Leaving to sit in my kitchen, awaiting preparation, a large spaghetti squash, a head of cauliflower, some small (adorable) zucchini from a farmers market, and some purple tomatillos and a pepper.  There they sat all week, through my late nights where the most I could manage each night was to get my contacts out of my eyes before crawling gratefully into my flannel sheets.

So this morning when I was contemplating what to make for breakfast and realized I was nearly out of everything except the items listed above and that some of them were bordering on turning bad I decided to make them all.  So you see the spoils of my morning are in fact a result of procrastination and failing to prepare but in spite of this I still have meals for my week!  Take that adulthood!

Homemade Salsa - I used a Rick Bayless recipe and while I still love Herdez Verde because of the vinegar kick this is pretty delicious and more satisfying as it is made by yours truly.









Spaghetti Squash - I roasted the large spaghetti squash that has been staring at me from my counter top all week.  I still have a large tupperware full of the strings to make some different iterations all week but this morning I sauteed the zucchini, olive oil, garlic, pepperoncinis, and some marinara sauce.  When ready I poured it over about 2-3 cups of the squash, about a 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and stirred.






Roasted Cauliflower - I found this recipe online.  I have a deep love of anything with a vinegar slant of lemon juice, for me it cuts through oil and is just a flavor I love.  I used this recipe online.  I chopped mine up a little more than suggested in the recipe and used some of my lemons from my prolific lemon tree in my backyard.  This is delicious and I'm restraining myself from popping it into my mouth and finishing it all before the week starts.


I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with myself and feeling pretty smug - you know maturing and all - and can't help but feel that my former roommate, an incredible cook who definitely made the most of our meals when we lived together would be proud.  She's even has her own blog where she shares some of her delicious concoctions - The Lazy Wife.

Craft day!

My friend and I spent all day Saturday, sewing, mending, attempting Pinterest projects, and generally feeling pretty self-congratulatory.

The one Pinterest project I tried does appear, at this point, to be a bit of a fail but I'll definitely keep you posted on the final outcome.  I attempted to make Christmas trees from twine, but at this point they are not pulling nicely off the cone forms. Final outcome TBD.

In other news I did complete another project off the list which was to complete some school colors scarves for my friend the high school teacher.  I originally was just making one for her but then realized I bought an excessive amount of yarn in her school colors so she ended up with 4 scarves total.  I suggested she use the extra three to bribe good behavior out of her students but I think she may instead give them to her fellow teachers.

Another project down!

How Do I Look?

I don't love the pictures I got but I do absolutely love the color and the whole experience!  Very happy. As a recap, here is the before during and after (with makeup still on from the event).

   

The salon and the people who did my color and cut were amazing.  While I'm pretty sure that they're out of my normal price range, I cannot more highly recommend Rosa and Tyress from J. Roland Salon in San Francisco - they are amazing!

There was also another surprise that I had no idea was coming.  Roland, the owner, offered me the $ amount off of my follow up haircuts as I continued on with Weight Watchers.  This was a WW event, even though I'm not part of the group that was hosting it (no one from the group wanted full makeovers).  Which is amazing and I do want to take them up on it as I continue to work on getting healthier (though I have to say it's been a rough week for that).  I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Don't worry I still want to be a fabulous thick chick, but I could definitely stand to be less thick.  Maybe one of these days I'll get the balls to put up a real, full before pic and work towards an awesome after...maybe.

Halfway through

Must say. I'm glad I'm not bald and that I trust the quality of this salon because the orange would be worrisome if not!

Another project....?

I'm tempted to add this to my list of projects though I'm not totally convinced it counts because it wasn't necessarily something I've been wanting to do so much as an opportunity that dropped in my lap.

A coworker of mine is hosting a joint event with a salon and couldn't find people willing to get a makeover.  I said "why the hell not?"  My hair grows back, color will grow out, and if its horrible I can adjust it right away and it's all free.

The first step is a consultation tomorrow where we figure out what they are going to do, and then tomorrow after work we go to it.  On Thursday there is the "reveal" event.  I feel a bit like I'm getting sneak attacked into a How Do I Look situation - though meeting Jeannie Mai might be enough to get over the insult, or a What Not To Wear which without question I would get over the secret filming and friend betrayal to hang out with Stacey and Clinton.

Truthfully, I like to believe that I wouldn't actually qualify for either of these shows but I am pretty sure that the respective hosts might be horrified by some items that still remain in my closet (for costumes? yeah, definitely, for "costumes").  It also feels like perfect timing so I'm committed to jumping in wholeheartedly.  I've been working to let go of a couple of things recently and what better way to shake things up with a new look (a free new look)?

Some reservations: my hair is the longest I've had it probably ever, but it grows; I don't want to look marm-ish, old-lady ish, has to be minimal work each day - I am not a get up and do my hair kind of gal...

So wish me luck.  Here is a before pic to give you an idea of the mass amount of hair they will be working with...

Bedside Tables

This project was inspired by the many many Pinterest projects I found that took an old suitcase and turned it into a side table or an end table. There are countless iterations of this project and I'm not convinced that I approached this in the easiest of ways but I'm still happy with it in the end.

I eventually found my suitcase on ebay and used the pre-fab table legs from Home Depot.  I overestimated how high I wanted the table originally and so sawed them shorter.  In the end I used the other pieces on my coffee table that was shown in an earlier post.

I don't have pictures of the inside but on the inside for stability I used a piece of left over masonite that the legs will attach into and reinforcing the bottom of the suitcase. Then, using 4 table top leg plates, attached my 4 legs.  I was still in experimental mode or I would have painted them first but I wasn't sure so I ended up getting them attached and painting them afterwards - no worse for the wear.

I'm pretty happy with the end result though think there may be an easier way to build the second one for the other side (if I ever do)

Projects Update!

It has been a while but it doesn't mean I've forgotten this goal.  I've been working on a few items from the list and even incorporated one into the latest Coursera design course I'm taking.

I'm going to add in the updates, below.  This will include the updates from before and the most recent...

1. Bedroom Makeover: At this point my bedroom still looks like a slightly grown up college dorm room, even though it is attached to a house I own! UPDATE:  I've been in touch with a local artist who works in reclaimed lumber and I'm commissioning a bed!  Going over to his studio this weekend to finalize the design details and then we're moving forward.  Thanks friends for this referral!  DONE!  I have been comfortably sleeping on my new bed for a month or two now.  I'm so happy with the final product.  I'll be sure to get a post up about this soon and link to the artist.  He does some great work!
2. Color in the Kitchen: The kitchen is full of beige, I am not a beige person! Or if I have become one I no longer want to be one!
3. Build 4 x 4 workbench:  As seen at an artist studio at American Steel Studios.  Forgot about this one, need to see about supplies
4. Build nightstands I'm counting this one as DONE too.  I actually just finished up this project yesterday.  I'm being vague because I've actually only completed one nightstand but I'm pretty happy with it.  I also think that it has spurred another project that I've added to the bottom of the list.
5. Run a race.  Getting there.  I've agreed to sign up and train for a race with my coworker.  I've agreed but haven't done anything yet :-/
6. Front yard makeover: Want to replace lawn with native plants and drought resistant plants, tired of seeing brown grass.  I did mow it the other day, which felt like an accomplishment.
7. Back yard makeover: Add fruit trees, cut out some lawn for "crops", create succulent planter
8. Complete one new woodblock
9. Take an art class
10. Make a "pouf": Here's one project but maybe search because I know there were a couple that did it on the cheap using IKEA rugs I think. UPDATE:  I made an IKEA run and the rugs referenced in this pattern are no longer there, or weren't that day.  Thinking I can probably find a substitute though.
11. Sew a complete item of clothing (more complicated than a skirt though) using a pattern. DONE. I made a fairly hideous pair of kulots/gaucho pants for our Troop Beverly Hills Halloween costume this year.  While it was not a true pattern, I did use a pair of pants I already have to create this pair and had to make some sizing adjustments and amendments as I went.  Let's just say I'm not destined for Project Runway anytime soon. 
12. Design and get a tattoo: TGT tattoo or other UPDATE:  I've pinned some ideas to the Pinterest Board and I'm trying to pin down the girls on when we might do this.  P.s. TGT is what we've named our friend group - yup, we named ourselves.
13. Make Christmas presents for my neighbors: Starting pinning mason jar gifts.  Just a nice thought and I like the idea of remaining close with the neighborhood.
14. Build and paint a bean bag toss game: A family friend requested this game and while I'm not totally convinced that my construction skills are up to it I found a youtube telling me how and pinned it. I'm going to take some time this weekend to go and get the supplies and give it a go. Note: As I'm writing this I realize I'm referencing a lot of pins so I created a Pinterest board for this blog in case anyone wants to see them all in one place.  UPDATE: I've made a shopping list and purchased some of the supplies for this.  Found the plans.  Then life got in the way, trying to make time for this again.  Ack, still behind on this, fail.
15. Sew baby blanket:  My good friend just had a baby and I want to send her a homemade baby blanket and one of my onesies from my etsy shop RadBaby.  DONE! See the post about making the blanket.  I recently got a photo back from my friend with her one month old swaddled up in it - baby adorablness.
16. Add a new item for sale to RadBaby: Speaking of, this shop needs some new energy in it and I think a new product.  I'm working right now to keep it active and may do a sale to clear out some stock and then work to figure out another item to put up for sale.  I've gotten the suggestion of button earrings which could be cute especially using scrap fabric from our aprons.  DONE!  See the post about the new earrings we added.
17. Complete a Coursera course:  I have signed up for Dino 101 and Intro to Computational Design (starting today!).  However my real project is to actually complete a course.  I took two others previously that I really enjoyed but I let life get in the way and didn't complete them.  UPDATE: Haven't completed either course yet, but still on the right track and not too far behind in either of them. It's still early yet though. DONE I completed all the lectures and assignments for Dino 101 - it was awesome.  I have given up on the Intro to Computational Design.  I enjoyed the first two modules, programming and photoshop, but the third is audio which does not interest me.
18. Create a housewarming gift for friends that are moving. DONE!  I created a great housewarming gift in a mason jar for my best friend's brother and his girlfriend.  It took me forever to give to them but that is not part of this project so there.
19. Add shelves and/or decor to the bathroom.
20. Go to Zumba classes 2 times a week for at least a month. DONE!  Successfully accomplished and still going.  With the exception of some sick days we have been consistently going every week and plan to keep at it. It's a great break and separation from the day.  Plus an amazing instructor, which makes all the difference.
21. Attach a charging pad in the new nightstand so that phone can charge just sitting on the nightstand.  I've seen this project online and thought this would work really well in my new suitcase nightstand.  Just need to research how much one of those costs and if I want to splurge.
22. Build an acoustic speaker for iphones. DONE!  I actually built two, and gave one to Meg for her birthday.  I'm using this idea as a prototype for the next Coursera class I'm taking (Design) and am hoping to refine the design even more.  

Wow!  Finaly tally isn't looking so bad.  We're 5 months into my 30th year and I've come up with 22 of the 30 projects and completed 9 of those 22.  I was feeling like I'd been slacking but writing it down made me feel more accomplished.

Jumpstart

The seasons have definitely turned and while I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep I'm not looking forward to the dark rides home from the office.  It really cuts into my motivation to get out of the house in the evening.  The dark equals bed time in my brain.

So I decided as I go into the holiday seasons and the darkness I need a jumpstart getting back on track with my food and tracking etc.  Going with the theory that one is more committed if you pay for it I decided to try out Weight Watchers online.

I did WW years ago but hated going to the meetings, so I'm hoping this is a good substitute for me.  I don't love calorie counting and kind of just need a structure to get me going through the holidays.

Going to keep on the cardio from the trainer and I'll keep you posted.

Autumn Equinox

This is where I spent my weekend, with two great friends, celebrating the autumn equinox.  In usual fashion, I did not check the weather before heading up to the lake - why ruin the mystery? - and packed for the weather we've been experiencing here at home.  At home, not up in the Rockies, in late September...

Packed in my overnighter was one pair of jeans, shorts, flip flops, slip on sneakers, t-shirt/tank, two bathing suits, in case I swam so much I wanted to wear a different one, and on a whim a pair of sweat pants and a thermal shirt.  Thank god for that whim.

On our drive up there was pouring rain, and the occasional slush, and by the time we reached our friend's cabin it was 45 degrees out and my shorts seemed pretty laughable.  Lucky for us our friend was better prepared and had the fire above roaring to welcome us, as we bundled in what we had, borrowed socks, and pulled out our books and our (in my case) knitting.  It was an incredible way to celebrate the fall equinox, including a midnight stroll to the lake to see the harvest moon, with two important people in my life.

On a side note, inspired by a friend of mine who asked about knitting chevrons I embarked on an attempt to see if it would be something I could teach.  It's not too bad, but I'm still working out some kinks.

Holy Zumba, Batman!

One of my projects for my 30th year was to go to two Zumba classes a week for at least a month and see how I felt - different, same?

I'm into my second week and so far so good, except, Zumba's hard.

The gym where one of my besties and I are going has a class that is later in the evening, good for us working folks, but it is intense!  Feels like it's at a level 13 on a 1- 10 scale for the whole hour.  There are so many people in there that they had to move it to the basketball court to accommodate.

This is not a bad thing though because there are no mirrors in the basketball court.  Because, while I feel like I'm getting a little bit better each time, the main thing that doing Zumba has taught me is that I'm incredibly uncoordinated and should not be watched while dancing.  Also, that it is possible to sweat so much that you fell like you accidentally fell in a pool somehow.

As felt by many others, I'm pretty sure that to the objective observer it is quite a bit like this:



I'll keep you posted!

30 Projects in my 30th Year: Update

And a status update:

1. Bedroom Makeover: At this point my bedroom still looks like a slightly grown up college dorm room, even though it is attached to a house I own! UPDATE:  I've been in touch with a local artist who works in reclaimed lumber and I'm commissioning a bed!  Going over to his studio this weekend to finalize the design details and then we're moving forward.  Thanks friends for this referral!
2. Color in the Kitchen: The kitchen is full of beige, I am not a beige person! Or if I have become one I no longer want to be one!
3. Build 4 x 4 workbench:  As seen at an artist studio at American Steel Studios
4. Build nightstands
5. Run a race
6. Front yard makeover: Want to replace lawn with native plants and drought resistant plants, tired of seeing brown grass.
7. Back yard makeover: Add fruit trees, cut out some lawn for "crops", create succulent planter
8. Complete one new woodblock
9. Take an art class
10. Make a "pouf": Here's one project but maybe search because I know there were a couple that did it on the cheap using IKEA rugs I think. UPDATE:  I made an IKEA run and the rugs referenced in this pattern are no longer there, or weren't that day.  Thinking I can probably find a substitute though.
11. Sew a complete item of clothing (more complicated than a skirt though) using a pattern
12. Design and get a tattoo: TGT tattoo or other UPDATE:  I've pinned some ideas to the Pinterest Board and I'm trying to pin down the girls on when we might do this.  P.s. TGT is what we've named our friend group - yup, we named ourselves.
13. Make Christmas presents for my neighbors: Starting pinning mason jar gifts.  Just a nice thought and I like the idea of remaining close with the neighborhood.
14. Build and paint a bean bag toss game: A family friend requested this game and while I'm not totally convinced that my construction skills are up to it I found a youtube telling me how and pinned it. I'm going to take some time this weekend to go and get the supplies and give it a go. Note: As I'm writing this I realize I'm referencing a lot of pins so I created a Pinterest board for this blog in case anyone wants to see them all in one place.  UPDATE: I've made a shopping list and purchased some of the supplies for this.  Found the plans.  Then life got in the way, trying to make time for this again.
15. Sew baby blanket:  My good friend just had a baby and I want to send her a homemade baby blanket and one of my onesies from my etsy shop RadBaby.  DONE! See the post about making the blanket.  I recently got a photo back from my friend with her one month old swaddled up in it - baby adorablness.
16. Add a new item for sale to RadBaby: Speaking of, this shop needs some new energy in it and I think a new product.  I'm working right now to keep it active and may do a sale to clear out some stock and then work to figure out another item to put up for sale.  I've gotten the suggestion of button earrings which could be cute especially using scrap fabric from our aprons.  DONE!  See the post about the new earrings we added.
17. Complete a Coursera course:  I have signed up for Dino 101 and Intro to Computational Design (starting today!).  However my real project is to actually complete a course.  I took two others previously that I really enjoyed but I let life get in the way and didn't complete them.  UPDATE: Haven't completed either course yet, but still on the right track and not too far behind in either of them. It's still early yet though.
18. Create a housewarming gift for friends that are moving.
19. Add shelves and/or decor to the bathroom.
20. Go to Zumba classes 2 times a week for at least a month.
21. ...

So, while I still haven't come up with 20 I am starting to truck along through some of the projects!  Feeling productive!