sorry, blog

Blog, it has been almost a month since I have posted. I have no good excuse for that, but let me try to explain.

First week of work I did before care as well as camp hours. So that had me up at 6:30 and working until 3:30 and then I was spent after that and accomplished absolutely nothing in the afternoons that week, aside from watching a hell of a lot of television on my computer.

Then over the weekend I got nothing done because I was sleeping.

Second week I didn't have to get up until 7:30 but I worked until 6:00. So again, I got nothing done due to exhaustion. And over that weekend I went to New York for cousin's graduation party, so, no sleep. Or accomplishments.

Third week I got up at 7:30 and worked until 3:30 and had no excuse for getting nothing done except that I wanted to finish watching all the seasons of Lost. Which I did. Then on Friday I got a car! Then over the weekend I went to New York again for Fourth of July celebrations and family time. And got no sleep. Again. But I did learn to weave beads into bracelets!

So this past week I've been exhausted from getting no sleep for two weeks and weekends and therefore still got nothing done, despite 7:30 to 3:30 schedule again.

HOWEVER this weekend I've decided it's time for a change. I've gotten in a couple of workouts over the past four weeks, but not enough. I got my sleep in this weekend as well as the following:

Saturday

• WORK OUT CITY. Kind of. Cardio and swimming. I saw four campers at the pool. Talk about making relaxing not nearly as relaxing.
• SOCIALIZING which I haven't done in a while. Went out with a couple of lovely ladies for dinner and drinks and complaining about children. What could be better?

Then I slept 11 hours and then...

Sunday

• Phone calls to parents of my campers next week to tell them what their kids need to bring / where we meet / etc.
• Folded laundry that I did last week. Oops on the delayed folding. (Watched some really good TED Talks while I folded. Highly recommend them. Seriously watch them both right now.)
• Finished the two bracelets I made over the week/weekend with button closures. This took way longer than I expected.
• YOGAMAZING weight loss flow. Maybe if I do it everyday I will lose weight? It's about 25 minutes and makes me fall over and sweat a lot. That's good, right? 
• 100 sit-ups. Jesus. I forgot what feeling my abs was like. Back in the gymnastics days that was super easy. I have become a fatty.
• Attempted YOGA FOR THE BUTT AND THIGHS except that it was after I ate dinner and that is always a bad idea when you are doing downward dog. So I abandoned that about ten minutes in.
• Pending: finishing room cleaning. The laundry was the biggest part but I have some desk/dresser surfaces to clear, also.

While I was in the resting pose after my first session of yoga today, I decided that I think I want to do yoga everyday / make a schedule for myself to follow as far as being off of my butt goes. I'm super intimidated by weight machines at the fitness center so I'm kinda leaning toward yoga instead because I feel the sore more after that, anyway. And I don't have to feel self-conscious because I can do it at home. SO cardio and swimming and yoga in some sort of schedule where everyday I do something to not be a fatty.

Also, attempting to eat better. On that topic, I've not been eating meat for a while. For about a month actually I think? Still gotta back off on fats and sugars etc., though.

HERE'S TO BEING PRODUCTIVE AND HEALTHY. And blogging more, hopefully, too. Tomorrow, perhaps, pictures of car and bracelets. 

shirt!

Holla atcha, blog! I finished my shirt! If you recall it was a dress to shirt transformation that involved the total take apart of the dress to cut out pattern parts and put it together as a shirt. I learned cool things like how to UNDERSTITCH and SLIPSTITCH. (RElearn, actually, since I had done it before, but long ago.)

As a refresher, here's the before:

Let's remember, this was $0.75 worth of fabric (and buttons! and zipper!), and now it is this not-perfect, but good-enough shirt:

I promise I'm wearing shorts. Just you can only tell in the one picture. It's a bit shapeless, and you don't really notice the little yoke and gathering up top (detailed in the corner), but I like the pattern and I think I like it enough to actually wear it around. There aren't any pictures of the back because the back is pretty much exactly the same as the front. At the very least, I am proud of myself for finally finishing it. And I like it with a belt!

Things that were tough:

• This fabric is old. It frays soooo easily (and rips easily too) 'cause it is decrepit and fragile.
• The pieces didn't match up as well as I would have liked. 
• I got so tired of working with the instructions after a while. It is a lot more work to sew from a pattern than to just wing it. 
• I put too much pressure on the pedal of the sewing machine and it goes crazy fast and I'd get stressed when I was sewing sections that needed to be more particular.

Things that were nice:

• Making something totally different from a frumpy dress.
• Hand sewing! I actually really like that sometimes. Like when Mad Men is on and I'm seeing all the pretty clothes while I make clothes.
• The pattern of the fabric hides mistakes!
• I like gathering fabric!
• BEING DONE.

And on the topic of being done, to be honest there are a couple things I should fix that probably I won't because I am just so over this project, ha. BUT IT IS DONE (enough) SO THAT'S OKAY.

Also spent hours out for coffee and dinner with dear Steph and read more of my book. I am almost done with it-- expect an entry about it because I am wrestling with it very much.

So today, blog, has been very productive. Even though I didn't get up until noon.

hey again, blog!

I have not been home so here's an update:

• made a bandana! with embroideryomg!
• pumpkin muffins!
• wandering around outside!
• super fancy mall!
• driving in the rain and the sun!
• sister's graduation!
• got a new book and been readin' it!
• avatar and where the wild things are! (both pretty decent)
• camp planning!
• picking off all my nail polish! (oops)
• sleeping and eating!

So. Back to regular updates tomorrow.

last day o' may

WELL because of the weekend and the part where I was SOCIALIZING, not as much to post on what I actually did. But here are some tidbits from this memorial day weekend:

• 10 Simplicity patterns for $10 (thanks, JoAnn fabrics sale!) (also patterns generally run over $15 for just one, so this is an awesome deal)
• Party party party for the going away of some working-in-PA-for-the-summer friends
• Lunch with grandparents fo FREE
• BON BON COOKIES which are gone now, but there were only like 14, sooooo... there (ALSO: pumpkin catastrophe of Ohio, apparently, because we wanted to make pumpkin cupcakes but there were no canned pumpkins saddest)
• Super lovely walk in the park
• Memorial day grillin' feast with family friends

And maybe some other things, but I forget.

Did I sew? Nope. OH but I did start and finish reading The Giver 'cause I didn't remember much of it from reading it years and years ago. Starts out super interesting, but the end is a lot weaker if you ask me. Not cool.

Anyhow, goodbye May. It's been real.

just an average zoo date

Well! The zoo was fabulous. Saw the whole darn thing in only five hours! (This is a big deal. The Cleveland Zoo is kinda big. And full of animals.) I didn't do anything else because I figured that wandering around for five hours is enough / I am tired and my body hurts / I'm watching Weeds on Netflix, okay?!

Anyway, so the zoo had lots of great things and here are some highlights!

There were instructional signs for the safety of animals:

There were informational signs on the animals themselves! This one showed different ways condors had to deal with being almost extinct / dying:

(I added the frowny faces.)

And of course, there was wildlife! My favorite = dinosaurs.

Thanks for all the cool stuff, zoo! And a great time with friends which included not only dinosaurs, but also actual living animals, blue icees (and blue stained mouths, oops), and all sorts of walking in the beautiful Ohio sun.

Gotta watch television now lol!

a shirt for $0.75 (provided I can follow directions)

After a glorious birthday weekend involving relaxation and booze and turning into a grown-up-21-year-old, I'm back to doing things that are slightly more productive and sometimes less fun.

I started today with some good old-fashioned seam-ripping to take apart the floral dress recently procured at the local thrift store for $0.75. I took apart the sides, took out the 8 ridiculous pleats on the upper portion, took out the zipper, took off the non-functional buttons, and ironed the crap out of that fabric. (Sometime in the middle of SEAM-RIPPING FOREVER was a trip to Target where unfortunately there remain zero one-piece swimsuits, which is a bummer because I need one for not looking whoreish working at camp this summer.)

After seam-ripping the poop out of everything, I cut out a pattern for a SHIRT because I am going to try making a shirt. It's Simplicity somethingorother, I don't remember the number, and I am far too lazy to go upstairs to look at the pattern. I'll include it next time, once (if) the shirt is finished. Although I love skirts and dresses very much, I'm attempting a tank top mostly just because I've never made a shirt at all and it's a SUPER COOL CHALLENGE for myself. Which actually seems like it's going to be a lot easier than all the other patterns I've attempted in the past, soooo fail on the challenge part, maybe. (Fun fact: I have sewn three things with patterns. One was a tote, one was a dress, and one was a failure of a dress.)

Somethin' coo': I noticed unfortunately that I need bias tape for this pattern, also. I've never used bias tape before but I'm excited for it, not only because it's a new thing to learn, but also because I made my own. Usually you buy stuff that matches your fabric, but I made some from some leftover fabric. I used this tutorial, but I don't have a fancy bias tape tool, so I just used my iron (it takes longer).

Here's a picture of the dress before, some homemade bias tape in the upper right corner, and the cut out pattern pieces waiting for me to sew them.

The little green square on the neck of the dress is the price-tag. $1.50, but green tags were half-off the day I went, so I got it for $0.75, and soon that'll mean a shirt for $0.75 and also a good long zipper and some buttons. This is what we call a good deal.

Going to the zoo with friends tomorrow! And maybe even doing some sewing. We shall see. It's supposed to be summer for real tomorrow (hot) and maybe the zoo will kill me (probably not).

painting 4eva

MY ROOM IS PAINTED. I am tired.

Thanks to mom for the assist on the second coat.

OH ALSO went to coffee with darling Stephanie. She had better be reading this.

where have i been?

I didn't cheat. Visiting the bf for a couple of days counts as doing something.

DOING THINGS again tomorrow.