George without a beard?!?

Have you heard of St. Baldrick’s? It’s a charity that raises money for childhood cancer research, and their big fundraiser involved shaving heads. George is going to participate this year, and I know, his head is shaved regularly (by moi) already, so what’s the big deal?

Well, I’ve never seen George without facial hair, and we’ve been together for 16 years. I have seen photos, though, and it’s kinda scary. Like Tom Selleck without his mustache! (Am I comparing my husband to Tom Selleck? He wishes. Of course!)

Look how much younger he looks without a beard!

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To make the stakes higher, George has agreed to shave his beard and mustache as well as his head. And if you want to someday see a more updated picture of George without a beard, be sure to donate here!

The big event will be on Saturday, March 10 at the Crown and Anchor if you want to witness it in person!

Donate today! Or tomorrow!

 

Skirt number 3

(Skirt number 2 didn’t merit a post.)

One day I’ll blog about something else, but not today.

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Pattern came from here. And now I never want to sew knits again. It was so slithery and hard to cut. And you definitely can’t look too closely at the hem or the waistband or anything, really. But since it’s so drapey you can’t see the mistakes. So that’s a win!

Twirly!

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I’m a ballerina!

PJs galore

Ok, I’m getting really good at making pajama pants.

Linus got pandas and Miles got a London print. I made my first grown up pair too, but I’ll post those later…

Random stuff (and I made another thing!)

Okay, I’m deep into this sewing obsession (it won’t last forever, don’t worry) but I don’t want to only blog about things I sew, so I’ll combine it with other stuff I need to blog about.

The boys are now playing soccer, and aren’t taking guitar lessons any longer. Deja vu to two years ago – Linus wanted to sign up for soccer, so I did, happy that he wanted to do it by himself. And the other two went to a game and of course then wanted to play as well. So now all three are playing soccer again. Linus had his first game on Saturday and they won. I took a bunch of pictures, of course.

A while back, Linus and I were on a very short segment on the morning news about a toy (on behalf of the moms blog) and I never blogged about it because there’s no clip of it online (thank god), only terrible photos of the screen my brother posted on social media. Sigh. One such gem:

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OKAY NOW CAN I SHOW YOU?

Very simple pajama pants for Oliver (whales again!) and I can tell you now, my next project is two more pairs (in other fabrics.) He was ecstatic. 🙂

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It’s mid-February but I think spring is here now. Sigh. I hate spring. Except for this.

Look what I made!

There’s a long story behind why I decided to take up a new hobby, and hey, this is my blog, so I’ll tell it now.

I’ve already mentioned the boys’ Pixar obsession. So Oliver wanted an Incredibles pillowcase, but since that movie came out 14 years ago (what?!?) it’s not like you can just buy one. And then, we were at Joann buying stuff for our Mardi Gras costumes and the woman behind the counter was talking about how they have a sewing class for kids where they make a pillowcase. So then I thought, Oliver could make an Incredibles pillowcase! (But of course there isn’t Incredibles fabric so that wouldn’t work but by that point I was down the sewing rabbit hole and in the end I just bought him a pillowcase on eBay.)

I posted on FB for simple sewing machine recs for beginners, and got some great advice, but my mom reminded me that I had her sewing machine, an old Swiss beast from the 70s. I mean, I hadn’t forgotten, but it seemed so complicated and surely it didn’t work anymore, and I’d tried to use it and it was a mess and blah I just want something shiny and new.

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But I pulled out the old Elna and dusted it off and plugged it in and, you know, actually read the instructions booklet, and voila! It worked fine.

And man, the memories. My mom used to sew clothes for us, and everything about that machine brought me back to my childhood. Turning on the light. The pedal. How you had to turn the flywheel to bring the thread thingy (need to look at the manual again) up to the top before you raised the foot and pulled out the fabric. The knobs that seemed so mysterious then, but after, you know, reading the manual, kind of make sense. (Another reason I wanted a new machine – all the dials and settings and whatnot on this one terrified me.)

I signed up for a beginner class at Joann in a couple of weeks, but I was getting antsy so I went to Joann and picked out a simple skirt pattern on the advice of some friends. The boys helped me pick out fabric. Going through the aisle buying supplies created another wave of nostalgia. (My mom laying out fabric and patterns on the dining room table, the pads down to protect the surface. Her special left-handed scissors. The little wheel she used to mark the patterns and oh! transfer paper! That’s right!)

Last night, I was itching to get started on my skirt, so I did it! I just did it! I made a skirt! Of course, I screwed up – accidentally sewed the casing for the elastic with half of the wrong side showing, so I had to rip that out and start over. The seams are not quite as straight as they could be. I’m sure the hem is totally catty-whompus. I can’t tell what’s the back and the side of the skirt, and it feels a little backwards or something. But I’m ready to start on my next one already! And what’s next? How about pajama pants? That might be a little ambitious. Hmm.

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Project Runway, here I come!

PS Any tips on great websites for patterns and fabric and blogs to read are welcome! Turns out the patterns you buy at Joann aren’t vanity sized and I had to make the largest size in the plus size pattern – I mean come on. I’m not a tiny woman, but seriously?

The rest of Mardi Gras 2018

More pics from Fat Tuesday, plus our neighborhood parade on Saturday, NOMTOC, which was also NORMTOC because Norm just turned 70 so we made shirts.

Liam marching and embarrassed of us
Norm and his Chicks
Oliver’s studded pleather fingerless gloves he caught
Cool Linus
A lady on a float gave me these! So proud.
All the Chicks!

And on Mardi Gras day, we costumed in a Pixar theme (I really should talk about how amazing I am for pulling this together the night before, after going to a million different stores and crafting late into the evening) and walked down to watch St. Anne’s in the Marigny (a walking parade that has most excellent people-watching) and then tried to catch the end of Rex but it was too crowded and we were all exhausted. But it was fun.

Terry’s family’s amazing loteria costumes
Ollie is Dash from The Incredibles
Miles is Miguel from Coco
Linus is Russell from Up
I am Sadness from Inside Out
Sesame Street in drag
South Korean Rockettes

My goal in life is to one day do a group costume with friends that involves a dance we get to perform in the middle of the street, like these people.

Well, until next year…

 

I got a shoe!!!

Last night was Muses, a woman’s only krewe (sort of like the one I rode in last year but fancier and the original woman’s only krewe and probably no one would like me comparing the two, but, you know, it is what it is.) Oliver and Linus came with me and we met up with a bunch of friends on the route.

Some random pics…

 

I made a sign ahead of time – just in case I saw the Muse who was at the My Favorite Murder show last month.

And it worked!!! I saw her and got this beautiful shoe!

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If you’re wondering what’s the deal with the shoe, read this post I wrote last year: Mardi Gras – what does it all mean?

My friend Jenn works for the founder of Muses, so after the parade, once the kids were tucked in bed, we headed back out and went to the Muses after-party. So fun! Open bar (I only indulged in a couple few, I swear) and food from Jacque-Imos and music by Sheila E and lots of fun people-watching. Didn’t get home until 2am! What a rock star.

 

 

10 years, 2 months

I almost forgot today’s picture (gasp!) Between Mardi Gras and three sick children, it just slipped my mind until this evening, when Miles reminded me. So that’s partly why the picture was taken in the living room instead of outside. But I may have changed the location anyway since no one really felt like doing much today anyway.

Look at those rosy cheeks…

As of right this moment, they seem to be on the mend, but after battling vomit, asthma, ear infections, congestion, coughing, headaches, and fever for the last week, I just give up.

My Favorite (podcast about) Murder

I have to post about this because Friday night was the most fun night ever!

Stephanie and I went to a live show at the Orpheum of our favorite podcast, My Favorite Murder. If you like true crime (I mean, I guess I must) and cursing and laughing, you should definitely listen. If you don’t like all three of those things, maybe stick to This American Life.

Back in October, tickets went on sale. I was in London at the time and just finishing up a meeting when the time came for sales to start. I tried and tried and tried and just could not get tickets. Meanwhile, back in the States, Stephanie was also trying. Thank goodness she was able to get a pair for us. Not just any pair – second row, VIP!

VIP meant we’d get a few goodies but best of all, we’d get to meet the hosts, Karen and Georgia after the show! Eeek! For months, Steph and I planned what we were going to wear (I’d make shirts for sure, but what would they say?!?) and what we’d give them. (People often give them a little gift at the meet and greet.) Read More

Popcorn and murder

Ooh, a whole week has gone by without a post. My bad!

Wasn’t the most exciting week, though. Well, let’s see. The boys went to their friend Ian’s house for a sleepover Saturday night, and everyone stayed all night and had a great time, so that was a relief. Also their house is full of IKEA so I felt right at home and now I want to build a loft-like space above their bedroom. And I had poke for dinner after I dropped them off.

The other great thing that came out of it was Ian’s recipe for cheesy popcorn, which we’ve made twice now. I hope he doesn’t mind if I post it here.

IAN’S CHEESY POPCORN

  1. Put one tablespoon of olive oil in a pot big enough for popcorn, turn on medium to medium high heat.
  2. Add 6 tablespoons of popcorn kernels (this is where Linus says, let’s just add a little bit more, so it’s usually more like 7.)
  3. Wait until one of the kernels pop. This takes an eternity. I guess it’s true, watched popcorn never pops.
  4. Put the lid on. If you’re lucky, your pot has a glass lid so you can watch all the popping action.
  5. Shake the pot while it pops. Is it necessary? Maybe not, but it feels right.
  6. When it’s all done, pour the popcorn into a big ol’ bowl.
  7. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the popcorn and mix it all up.
  8. Shake 6 tablespoons of parmesan cheese on top and mix it all up.
  9. Eat! And then look at all the parmesan cheese at the bottom of the bowl and decide next time to use a bit less.

I hope you enjoy this delicious treat as much as we do!

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What else is exciting? Hmm. Well, Steph and I are going to see a live show of My Favorite Murder podcast tonight, which I am very excited about. Not a podcast for the kids, though. Probably obvious from the title. Oh, and Sunday morning, Linus and I will be on the local news for three minutes talking about this little coding robot toy thingy. I’m sure that won’t be completely awkward or anything.

Oooh, my new glittery sneakers got here! Love them.

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SNOW SNOW SNOW (well sorta)

Brrrrr, it’s gotten cold here! Everyone was excited when this showed up on the weather app:

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The ever elusive snowflake icon!!!

 

And this is what we woke up to:

Okay, it wasn’t really snow, I don’t think. More like tiny ice crystals. But who cares? It looked like snow and it was white and it blanketed the ground, so good enough for us. (Though it would have been nice if it had stuck together for snowmen and snowballs. Alas.)

The boys had a blast, though, and that’s the main thing. School was out yesterday and today. The roads were too icy to drive on yesterday (because, people from the North, we aren’t used to it, and our infrastructure wasn’t designed to deal with it, so stop being snots about it) and I had some friends with burst pipes, which sucked for them. (Again, our houses aren’t built to withstand freezing temps for prolonged periods.)

 

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Pretty much says it all. (Courtesy of my friend Lindsay)

 

Should warm up in the next couple of days which is a relief because I’m ready for the boys to go back to school!

Oh, and I threw together this post for NOMB the other night. My favorite (because it’s true.)

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