Life happens!

Happy Monday,

I will return to create future posts, but for a short while life has been very busy. Please stay tuned - old friends visited from Oklahoma, my youngest graduated from college (handsome guy at left) and there was a big party to plan and execute in celebration of this. Of course there was a couple weeks of household and yard projects to prepare for the grand event. Whew!

Also - I am pleased to report that summer weather is finally here in Northern California - so there is that! Peace.

A good night's sleep

It's been told to me that you spend a third of your life in bed. Maybe I heard that on a mattress commercial rather than from some scientific study but it's right there in the front of my head - a third of your life in bed. Well if I do - its wasted time because I don't have a great track record for sleeping. Sincerely some of our greatest family stories have an element of - remember when Mom hadn't slept in days...? Anyway, our 12 year old Simmons Beautyrest pillow-top mattress had pooped out. Hubby and I agreed it was time to stop sleeping in two valleys separated by a rise that divided us in our old California King bed.
But mattress shopping is the worst thing. It's an impossible decision and an expensive purchase. We've had good success with some major purchases through QVC especially because they have that 30 day unconditional money-back satisfaction guarantee. This gave us the confidence to order the Sleep Number bed when it came on as a special value of the day. Boom! We ordered the Cal King. How easy was that? We quickly ran to the mall to try them out in the store but they never have the exact model you purchased since they make exclusive versions for different deals. No apples to apples for us - nice. Well in the 10 mins. we spent in the store it seemed like they were comfortable, customizable and that we got the best price from QVC. We waited.

The day our new Sleep Number system arrived hubby put our mattress and box springs on Craigslist for free, with photos showing - no stains. To know hubby is to know he's a bit against the prospect of anything else landing in his garage for storage - space being at a premium and all. If we don't need it - get rid of it! As soon as he hit enter the phone started ringing. We had to remove the add within 20 mins. The family drove about 80 miles to get the set and was very happy - as were we. Now to assemble this "sleep system". I can't say it was easy - kind of a pain really. There were a few hair raising moments when a hammer had to be employed (not recommended by the instruction guide btw). Hubby likes the hammer. :-) We started sleeping on the new bed that night and for 3 weeks we tried to find our personal sleep numbers. Hubby did better than I did. The two sides operate independently and if you like a soft bed the appearance of the bed when you are not in it is sloppy and low profile. It just kept feeling like a bad hotel bed to me. It had to go back - but what next?

A friend told me about a place in Berkeley, CA called European Sleep Works. I'm thinking - that can't be cheap! I called QVC to ensure I was within the 30 days to return our bed and apologized repeatedly to the customer service agent saying, "We really wanted this to work...never thought we'd have to return it..." I will tell you they are really terrific. don't hesitate to buy something from QVC - they stand behind their guarantee. Love those guys! Hubby and I spent about 90 mins at European Sleep Works last Saturday and knew immediately that this was where we'd find our bed. First of all if you know me at all you know I was already freaked out about a new bed because of the chemicals & gasses a new bed emits - all that fire retardant crap. People do get sick when they get new carpet or new mattresses. Not sure how the government is helping us there?? The mattresses at this place were made in Southern CA using parts imported from Europe. They get around the fire retardant regulation by using wool - a natural fire retardant and a very cooling material in the top layer. So we're talking coils designed and manufactured in Germany, organic wool, organic cotton, natural foam rubber, wood - no evil components made in a laboratory. Yes! If interested I've linked to their site - it would take too long to cover it all here. We were sold. Boom! That was easy.
Do you wonder what we are presently sleeping on? The UPS guy picked up the 5 boxes containing the Sleep Number system yesterday and the European Sleep Works bed is scheduled to arrive on June 7. Yeah, that was a bummer, but hey, they are making our order - kind of like In-n Out Burger. Good things are worth the wait. :-)

See photo for our temporary bedding - Queen size Aerobed carefully placed on the horizontal bed frame slats inside our Cal. King 4 poster frame. Hubby and I get in together - no false move, I'm telling you, or you could get bounced right out. Ha!

Blushing Blouse

I decided to do a dressier and more romantic take on the peasant blouse pattern I used for the vintage gingham - peasant top which I blogged about earlier.
This of course being my entree back into the world of garment sewing. I know, I know, I told you the next challenge was going to be that adorable button-down shirtwaist dress but - what can I say? I'm chicken! :-) I also wanted to learn to work with something other than flat cotton and so in this case I have a blush colored (all the rage, right?) georgette fabric and I'm placing vertical lace on the front. I learned to change the needle on my machine since the delicate fabric warrants that. Easy peasy! This is progress. I like the idea of getting two completely different looks from the same pattern. One will be a fun Saturday afternoon at the wine festival top and the other a beautifully shear, drapey and sexy blouse to wear over a camisole with a straight skirt and some great pumps. It could also peak through a sharp business suit giving it the feminine touch it needs.
Okay, it's in- progress as you can see by the photo. You know, I can't say enough about the sewing class / club I'm participating in. If you are new to sewing you must hook up with some other ladies - preferably one should be very experienced and available to pop around to assist where needed. The plan is to complete this next week. Cheers!

Mother's Day

I haven't posted in a few weeks and so much has happened in the world since then. The evil, dreaded, hated, Most- Wanted, Osama (now apparently Usama) bin Laden is dead. Ding, dong! Now before you move away from this page, I promise this is not another political blog-spot. I actually don't think the killing of the most wanted man in the world is a political event at all and I'm thrilled it's something our country can come together on - perhaps begin to heal. I know - probably - wishful thinking. A girl can dream, right?

Anyway, today's post is really about the day - Mother's Day. Specifically it's a little homage to my Mom who passed away in 1981 - so long ago. My mother was a natural beauty. She was also a real lady and I'm forever grateful for the grace and poise that she modeled for me. This woman, my mom, could put an outfit together such that every head turned when she entered a party, arrived at church or even showed up at work. I'm not talking about crazy kooky outfits, I'm talking about classic elegance - like Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn. Keep in mind the bias of the writer here! Of course there were the years when, for some unknown reason, woman's wigs were popular. LOL - when I look back at some of our family photo's (1 in this post) and see her and her sister (Aunt Mary Ann) in those wigs, I just have to smile. Again, they were very in at the time. You could not get me to squeeze my head into one of those today - times change.

I'm sure my mother was very worried about my tomboyish childhood ways. I was not exactly known as graceful. In fact I had a friend whose mother nicknamed me, Grace, because of how often I seemed to trip over my own two feet. Nice lady, right? I was larger than other girls my age. I'm grateful for all the times Mom tapped me in a public place and whispered, "put your legs together". Remember in the 60's little girls wore dresses on a regular basis. Seriously, when I moved schools from one town to the next in about 1969 I saw some girls wearing pants at school for the first time. It was not even allowed at the public school I attended for 1 - 3rd grade. Of course knowing me and knowing I would head right to the monkey bars at recess my mother always ensured I wore shorts under my dresses. :-)

Cancer took my mother and robbed her of her best years. I have an older brother and a younger sister and I know how lucky and incredibly grateful I am that she was around long enough to show me how to be a mother. We won't go into dates and ages but suffice to say I was a young mother myself and my Mom was invaluable to me in initially supporting me and welcoming this family addition. She got to be a Grandma (called Nannie - grandma sounded too old!) and that meant so much to her. She threw me the best baby shower I've ever attended - to this day. It was one helluva party! There must have been 30 women there and we even had lemon custard ice cream rosettes. She helped me with absolutely everything those first couple of years.

I never really liked this holiday since my Mom passed away but over the years I began to think of this day as a day to pull out an old photo - dust off some precious memories - and never forget where I come from. And on occasion, when I arrive at an event and heads turn, I think of her and all she taught me about putting a tasteful and fashionable outfit together.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Karen's favorites

There are three things I can't start my day without. Two of them are from Arbonne and if you aren't familiar you're really missing out. Arbonne is not new but in my area it's fairly new to me. Their products are phenomenally made and who doesn't love their tag line - pure, safe, beneficial. That's says it all for me. I used to just pick-up my cosmetics and personal products at the big-box store but after studying nutrition I understand what you put on your skin really does enter your system. So that is my plug and if you are more curious you can contact Lauren who is a very helpful Arbonne rep at laurenmhaberman@gmail.com and visit the main site -
arbonne.com.

1) Awaken body lotion - put this on right after you towel dry out of the shower. It disappears quickly into your skin and leaves you moistened and soft all day long without any greasy feeling. It's great for guys, too as the scent is very lightly citrus / earthy. Hubby loves it!

2) The Arbonne eye shadow formula is the best I've ever tried. I can't live without the color Sand - a great neutral - never creases or falls into wrinkles like some shadows can do.

3) fresh Sugar Lemon Eau de Parfum spray is the BEST! fresh is the brand and their tag line is Feel Good Beauty. I do feel good when wearing it. :) This company introduced using sugar as an essential ingredient in their skin and body treatments...zero calories. Ha! You can find their products at Sephora stores. Stop in to smell something delicious soon.

Vintage Gingham - peasant top

Ta-da! This is the big reveal. I am feeling really excited about this little addition to my summer wardrobe.

If you remember back to my earlier post on March 28. Mena over at Sew Weekly inspired me to do something with my stash. My stash included a pattern of some cute peasant style tops I've had in the closet for years. Then on a fun thrifting jaunt with my daughter I snatched up some green - big bold vintage green gingham checks that is.
To be honest I plucked two cute fabrics that day totaling 5+ yards at total price of just over $2.50. I intended to make a cute dress with the solid green linen-like cotton but the darn buttonholes kicked my butt. I even had hubby in the dining room helping me sort through all my "extra" parts that came with my sewing machine (a long time ago) that I never ventured to experiment with - namely those required for buttonholes and zippers. We had the parts and the instructional guide open, reading, reading... Yes - I was the poster child of the straight-stitch, but hey, over the years I made a lot of darling curtains, tablecloths, quilt tops, baby blankets and pullover Halloween costumes without ever needing these attachments.

But now - at nearly 50 years of age - I wanted more. I wanted to stop avoiding the patterns that really appealed to me, and yet here I was stuck, frustrated and feeling low. Now I had blogged about that dress with buttons down the front so I had to meet the challenge. I decided to take a little break and use the gingham to meet the stash challenge and make a peasant top for summer. This would boost my sense of accomplishment, right?
Imagine my surprise when after cutting out the pattern I read the step-by-step instructions and did a double-take when I saw ...mark the buttonholes! What? Buttonholes? Where, oh where, could a pullover peasant blouse with drawstring neckline require buttonholes? It turns out the two openings that you feed the draw string through are actually buttonholes. Time to meet the challenge head on.
After asking a few friends - quilters - no help. I found a Sewing Center in a neighboring town where I took my machine in to complain it would not make buttonholes. It must need repairs or adjustments I told the woman at the register. Immediately she identified that I did not have my bobbin installed correctly - I was red faced with embarrassment but she was so kind. She talked about a "get to know your machine" class coming up in May. May? I told her I know my machine very well, just not the buttonhole attachments. LOL. Long story short she invited me that very night to an ongoing open workshop style class where people work on their own projects every Monday night, and she is there and available to call on for help. She felt very confident she could help me learn to make a buttonhole with my own machine.
Well friends, the rest is history as you can see by the pictures. I made two small and perfect buttonholes - easy peasy! Thank you Nancy! I even had the correct foot all along but just couldn't identify it from the instruction photo's. I plan to continue with the Monday night workshops - it reminds me of the sewing part of high school Home-Ec which is a fond memory for me. Some of the other ladies have been coming for 8+ years! I'm really pleased with how the little top came out and I really love the cotton crocheted lace trim.
Next project - the button down shirt waist dress.

41 Years Ago Today

Today I was struck by the fact that in 1970 the movie Midnight Cowboy starring John Voight and Dustin Hoffman was awarded 3 Academy Awards - Best Picture - Best Director - Best Screenplay. It remains the only X Rated film to receive an Oscar. That just jumps out at you - X rated film. I am fairly certain that the ratings have softened and that this movie would no longer carry the same rating. Have you seen it? It really is a touching tale of the unlikely friendship of two down and out souls, Joe Buck from Texas and Rico Rizzo from the Bronx. It's one of those movies that sticks with you. The music is also phenomenal with the great John Barry composing the theme.