Pocketful of Sunshine

I'm taking a mental health day from work today...I had it planned because with everything going on, a day off here and there really helps! And it's a good thing because the last week + weekend was awful and emotional and just so incredibly draining. I'm pooped! But some lovely ladies out there sent be a little bit of sunshine to boost my spirits and I'm ever thankful! Thank you to Blu, Nicole and Tammy for sending this my way!


I pass this on to everyone out there because reading your blogs gives me a little bit of sunshine and inspiration each and everyday.

A couple of weekends ago, I mentioned I went thrifting. There's a local shop near me that benefits the local humane society and the proceeds go towards the care of the animals. I don't have any pets but I would like some and it's an opportunity to see the shop's resident cat. And since the shop caters to animals and lots of crafters out there are animal lovers, there is lot more craft-related items here than at the Goodwill. So *the boy* and I walked over and I got some great finds! I found a complete Shepherd's Bush Charmed Hearts kit...for $1! The original tag on this is $24. I jumped on that thing like you wouldn't believe. It seems to be all intact...the only thing is the linen has a spot on it. But it's probably nothing a little Shout and a toss in the washing machine can't handle. Can you believe that bargain?! I also got a Spring Blossoms TableTopper kit "charted for needlework" which I assume is cross stitch for $1, complete with aida and floss. And the next find was a Country Lullaby leaflet by Jean Farish which has the bunny on skates that I saw Harmien stitch up a couple of times. And for 50 cents...I couldn't leave it behind. So for $2.50...I got 2 kits and a chart. Hmmm, I kind of like thrifting. Too bad none of the places I went to had any scissor frogs. That was what I was really looking for. The sad thing is I ordered one from eBay after this trip and it arrived shattered into pieces!! Now I'm scared to try and get another one.

I also received some fun mail. My PIF from Dianne arrived and she sent me some lovely silk in a nice deep blue color and breast cancer scissors with stitched sheath. It's beautifully finished and very meaningful!

Thanks Dianne!

When I signed up for Dianne's PIF, I put mine up as well. I think I was supposed to wait until I actually received something before offering my PIF but what do I know. I'd never done it before. Fact is, I am way behind on my own PIF but my recipient knows and I've been slowly stitching away on it for a week. This was after making something and disliking the fabric/thread combo so much, I chucked it. With the emotional upheavel lately, my output is slow going and I am way behind on my stitching. But I've reached the finishing stage. It should be done and mailed out shortly. At this point, I should be happy only one person signed up and not three! lol

Once I'm done with the PIF, I'll move onto my blog giveaway piece and then an exchange. So posting and pictures will be scarce until I manage to get to my own stitching.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Until next time...

An Award!

The lovely CarolR nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award. How sweet! Thanks Carol! You're a beautiful blogger too!

Here's how the award works. The rules are simple:

1. One must accept the award

2. Thank the person who gave you the award

3. Add a link to the person who gave you the award

4. Paste the award on your blog

5. Write 10 things about yourself that others might not know

6. Pass the award on to 10 others

10 things...sheesh. I might bore all of you to tears! Let's see...

1. I learned to stitch when I was 7. My mom taught me from a plastic canvas kit that is still lying around somewhere in their house. After that, I would drag my dad to Woolworth so he could buy me the $2 kits. I've been addicted ever since with breaks here and there. I really, really miss Woolworths!

2. I call myself the "accident baby" because my parents were surprised by my arrival. They were in their late 40's and my siblings were already high school and college age.

3. Because of #2, I'm kind of used to being a loner. Not to mention my parents were strict and wouldn't let me do anything or go anywhere!

4. I'm also very shy which most people don't expect coming from this blog seeing as I've very mouthy. I'm good one on one and with small groups but big parties, forget it, I become a clam and the wallflower in the corner.

5. I'm 100% Nicaraguan and come off looking more Irish. Dark hair, pale skin, freckles. I don't know what happened. To say I stand out in my family is an understatement. Taller than most of them! I'd say I was the mailman's kid but I look like my dad and he wasn't the mailman. :)

6. I've lived in a 20 mile radius of the San Francisco Bay Area my whole life. I love it here!

7. Despite loving it here, I often wonder what would have happened if I moved to Seattle years ago. After visiting it with my sister years ago, I deemed it almost as cool as SF and fell in love with it.

8. I'm a coffee addict. I'm pretty non-functional in the mornings and need high octane brew. Peet's is my favorite. Blue Bottle is a close second but it's hard to get easily near my home or work.

9. I'm a total night owl which makes working an 8am-5pm job very difficult!

10. I would love to travel more! So far I've only been to WA, OR, CA, NV, IL, TX, NH, MA, RI and FL. Outside of the US; Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Canada and France. Ok, that's kind of sad. I need to go about planning my next vacation now.

and as a bonus...

11. I love eavesdropping on spanish conversations...because to most spanish folk, I'm the "gringa" that can't understand a word they say. Goes to show them if they're talking smack!

I'm being a party-pooper on selecting 10 beautiful bloggers because I think that everyone is one and I read far more than 10 blogs to even try to narrow it down! But if you haven't received the reward and want to play the game, please feel free to help yourself and share a little.

I hope everyone is having a terrific St. Valentine's Day! This Nicaraguan is proudly wearing her green. *The boy* who is Irish/Italian was not this morning and he was thoroughly pinched! Hmph!

Until next time...

Brillante Weblog Award

I heard from Carol R. a couple of days ago that she nominated me for the Brillante Weblog Award. I am honored. Thanks Carol! I love that this little award is in Spanish too. How fun!

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add links to those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Here are my nominees. Most are stitcher blogs...people who have inspired me to be more creative over the last few months by seeing what they create and pushing me to do finishes I've never done before. One is a dear friend new to blogging who I think has caught the blogging bug worse than me! I will not message most as I think most have already been bombarded by similar or the same award but I wanted to acknowledge that I think they are brilliante and that I love checking out their blogs.

1. Carol R.
2. Edgar
3. Carol S.
4. Yuko
5. Staci
6. Natasha
7. Ann Marie

Today, I decided to play hooky from work. I've been feeling very stressed and frazzled and just wanted some quite time to myself. It was also a good excuse to call in sick after all the excitement last night...or shall I say this morning. Around 1am, I heard shouting outsde my building. It's quite late for anyone to be shouting but I live one block away from a bar that can get busy late at night. I figured these folks were drunk and would move on. I was getting ready to go to sleep. I was wired and just can't get to sleep at a decent hour. As I turned off the lights, I looked out the window to make sure the shouters had really moved on. I see a man standing outside my building and a woman lying down on the ground. Weird but I had the feeling she was being a depressive drunk and the man didn't know what to do and was waiting for her to snap out of it. At least he didn't just leave her there. I decided that I would wait 10 minutes to see if they were still there before I either went downstairs or called the police to do a drive-by. A few minutes later...I hear the 911 response. One fire engine, one ambulance and three police cars come rushing to my building. Geez, sirens that late at night are liable to give anyone a fricking heart attack. It took me some time to fall asleep after all that excitement! Today, I relished in staying in on a workday. I watched some Sopranos, took my time getting ready, went and got a relaxing manicure and pedicure and went to my parents to drop off my mom's car and a friend came to get me to drop me off back at home. Tonight, I'll head into the city and try a new restaurant and see Cabaret. It should be a fun night! I wish I could play a hooky day more often. This is nice!!