New Year, New Hopes

Happy New Year Everyone! This is my first post of 2016 and I come into the new year with hopes of one better than 2015 and a new outlook.

It's no secret that 2015 was difficult. A lot has been untold in the blog because I was just too busy to take the time. 2015 saw a new job with a challenging learning curve, the death of my beloved dad, an engagement, a 40th (yikes!) birthday and dealing with an estrangement from my mother. There is nothing more hurtful than a parent saying the most terrible, hateful things and not being one bit happy for you especially when your biggest supporter and protector is no longer around. By the end of the year, I was a stressed out, anxious and incredibly sad shell of my former self who was trying hard to get back into the light.

So 2016 is about time...and relaxing. To let the little things go because too much time and energy goes into something that doesn't really matter in the first place. To rediscover those things that give me joy and stick with them. I don't have any resolutions but I have little goals.

Blog once a month.
Stitch at least one hour 3-4 times per week.
Reorganize my stash and sell off those things I no longer want or see myself stitching.
Declutter my apartment.

With the new year, came a new start. I've been wanting Chatelaine's Embroidered Elegance I for a while and when it finally went on sale I treated myself to the pattern and the kit for my birthday. I started it on January 12th and its a delight even though it's slow going.



I also had a few finishes this month. Mind you, most of the stitching was done last year.


My first finish was Lizzie Kate's A Little Grey Hare. This has sentimental value now. When my dad passed away, I had to pack in a matter of hours and grabbed the first kit I could find that just had everything in it. To keep my mind busy, I stitched on this during the nine days of morning and completed all the stitching. Since I had no beading needle, I had to keep those off and I forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago and I found a beading needle and the beads and finished it off in no time. I'm sending this off to a finisher to be made into a pinkeep like the model. Even though I have the want for stitching, I don't have the brain or energy for finishing work right now.

And I finished my Lizzie Kate Holly & Hearts Mystery Sampler which has been a WIP for a long time. I am glad this one is finished. In retrospect, I think it took me a long time because I prefer traditional christmas colors versus the pastel palate in this sampler. I think I would like it finished as a little quilted table mat in the future. For now, it will hang out with my larger finished projects in the closet.

I also finished a couple of other pieces but one is a surprise and the other I forgot to take a picture of.

I recently bought the new Jolly Happy Soul pattern by With Thy Needle and Thread. I just couldn't resist that cute snowman! The pattern calls for R&R Olde Towne Blend and I knew I had a piece with a project started on it so I could compare the color with fabrics in my stash for Jolly Happy Soul. So off I went looking for that project and unsurfaced my Anniversaries of the Heart. I set it aside due to the over 1 verse in Block 4 and just feeling overwhelmed about how I was even going to go about personalizing the blocks. Seeing it made me fall in love with it all over again so I decided to start Block 5 (Pink Hill Manor). Here is the progress on Block 5

and how it looks as a whole so far.

So this is my blog post for January! I made it! I am hoping to have more finishes in 2016 and will start a journal to keep track of my finishes as things got a little confusing last year.

I hope everyone has had a good start to the new year.

Until next time!
Valerie

An Engagement and a 40th!

Thank you for your supportive comments on my last post. I am back for a quick fly by post to share some good news. I'm engaged! My boyfriend (now fiance) popped the question on Saturday, September 26th and I said YES! I was quite stunned since I wasn't expecting it yet but we are both very excited! We have decided to enjoy the engagement for now so no wedding date has been planned yet. Here is a photo of the two of us that evening. We went to a favorite spot in the East Bay to celebrate with dessert and cocktails.

And then on October 1st, I celebrated a huge birthday milestone. The BIG 4-0! I gathered a group of friends together for a fun meal at Original Joe's in North Beach; complete with Italian cake! Yum! After dinner, we migrated to a fun little bar and enjoyed craft cocktails with friends and fun music. 

It was a wonderful way to celebrate. It's hard to believe I'm already 40!

Hopefully next time I stop by, I can share some stitching! :)

Good News and Sad News

Hello Dear Friends! How is everyone?

Wow. I never shared my big news, which is now over six months old, but at the beginning of March, I was promoted to a new position in a different department in the same organization I have worked for. After almost 10 years in the same position, I just needed a change and said change has been keeping me on my toes. I'm doing completely different tasks which is challenging and has me in learning mode. Being the new person and constantly learning new things has me pretty tired and brain-dead at the end of each workday. I didn't think it was possible but I am stitching even less than before and haven't had much time to read up on blog posts either. I try to read a handful here and there and comment if I can but haven't had many changes to do so. I think I understand why people have turned to Instagram even though I still like the idea and therapeutic act of blogging.

I have the original Lizzie*Kate Christmas mystery sampler on the scroll rods and am about halfway done with Part 3. I am hoping that I can find time to finish it in the next couple of weeks so I can move onto another project.

Little by little, I have been going through my insane amount of stash since my tastes have changed some and I have more than I can go through in a lifetime. I am thinking I will post on Facebook Stash Unload to try and sell some of the items I know I will never get too.

On August 28th, my dad passed away. Even though his health was failing due to complications triggered by dementia, I was shocked and stunned. I managed to get on a plane that night so I could attend the services and burial in Nicaragua. I am still in a fog some days just trying to go through the motions of "normal" life and trying to concentrate on work, life and a relationship. We won't talk about the overwhelming tasks looming with getting my dad's affairs taken care of and switching accounts over to my mom. One step at a time...

Here is one of my favorite photos of me and my dad that I came across. Obviously my dad is pooped and trying to watch tv but I climbed in his lap. It's hard to imagine that I won't hear his voice anymore. My dad dying was always my biggest fear and now it's a reality. But despite the sadness, there are so many memories to smile at. Sunday morning donuts, random drives, amusement park visits where I'd ride and he would eat his way through the concession stands. Road trips, hanging out with him while he tinkered in the garage and I played with my dolls. Lots of lap sitting while watching tv. I am so lucky to have had him as my dad. He always supported me and let me be who I wanted to be and I never felt like I was without. I love you, Dad!

New Year, No Resolutions

Happy New Year folks!

One month and a few days into 2015. Crazy! Life hasn't slowed down for me and I am keeping very busy. Sadly, I've been sidelined by a cold in December and then the flu in January which has knocked the wind out of my sails a bit but I have been Netflix bingeing with the best of them.

I've been hesitant to write a post. It's hard to know where to start after a good amount of time away. How do I catch you all up? I always feel like I need to apologize and I miss visiting this space but life is what it is. It's busy and hectic and stressful and fun and social and frustrating and happy. I anticipate this year to be my Year of Change. The first change may happen as soon as next month but I'll hold off on sharing it until it's official. It's exciting but scary especially for a person who has always hated change. But sometimes change is necessary and good. Right?

Even though I don't blog much, I do visit blogs just to try and stay connected with everyone. One of the major themes recently is how blogging has died down in lieu of Facebook and Instagram because it's faster and offers more immediate satisfaction than blogging. I think that's pretty valid altho I rarely share my stitching on Facebook and don't even have an Instagram account. I still like the journaling aspect of blogs plus it's how I met so many wonderful and supportive stitchers. Call me old school but I still plan on blogging even though it will be on a more sporadic basis.

Following is the stitching I managed from the last half of the year to now. There's a major Lizzie*Kate theme going on. I find her designs fun yet comforting. The colors are bright and the pattern is not difficult which is just what my poor brain needs if I manage to find some time to stitch. I usually only decorate for Halloween and Christmas and I love stitching those types of designs.

Lizzie Kate - Hats Off to Halloween 2

32 count Amber Linen

Lizzie Kate - Snowman '10

Either 28 or 32 count Dirty Linen

Lizzie Kate - Tiny Tidings

32 count Amber Linen

Lizzie Kate - Holly and Hearts Mystery Sampler (Part 3)

32 count PTP Doubloon Linen

Looks like I am going to  have to figure out when to try and schedule a finishing day! Well, that's all I have to share for now. I'll be back soon to share more.

Until next time...
Valerie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Friends,

I'm amazed that five months have passed since my last post. Life has indeed been very busy. Perhaps I can catch you up in my next post. Today, I just wanted to come by to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Despite my hectic pace of the last couple of years and not being able to stitch as much and come share with my friends in blogland, I am ever grateful that I've made wonderful friends and met awesome people, whether in real life or virtually, to share my life happenings and stitching progress with. The blogging and stitching community is so supportive, open and giving and even though I feel like I've disappeared; you are always here to lend an ear and encourage. And for that, I am grateful and I thank you.

Next week, I leave to visit my parents and family in a country I haven't been to in almost ten years. It will be interesting, fun, difficult, happy and sad all at the same time. Since I am staying with the octogenarian set of the family, I anticipate getting lots of stitching and reading done provided the 90 degree weather forecast and lack of air conditioning actually keeps me awake. That's total naptime conditions for me. I'm hoping to catch everyone up when I return and show some photos of my stitching over the past few months.

And for those wondering...me and the boyfriend are still going strong. =) I have to bake goodies tonight for his family dinner tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Much love and hugs,
Valerie

Blog Makeover

A couple of days after my last post, my lovely friend Christina, sent me a Facebook message to let me know that my blog looked like this.

So you can imagine my shock and dismay. It appears that the girl that designed my blog 6 years ago has decided to go out of business and stop paying for the image hosting which supported my blog background and overall look. It would have been nice of her to let me know in advance but...

I'm a bit sad but had been thinking it was time for a change...just not like this. So I've gone with the simple white background until I have time or money to go a different route. I'd love suggestions of free templates or inexpensive blog designers. Please, please send them my way. In time, I'll switch up the look for something more me. 

And craft night was a wash. Always fun to see the ladies but I am frustrated with the small I picked up (SB Tall Sheep). First the linen provided was too dark and now I have two greens next to each other that blend too much. With time to stitch being so limited, I really need stitching to be smooth sailing. So I'm in a stitching funk. I should just concentrate on the apartment re-org and get it over and done with. 

Hope you all had a fun weekend!! Until next time...

And in the Blink of an Eye, Three Months Go By

Well...almost three months. I think that blog posts will just be scarce for a while longer until I can organize my apartment, organize my parents' house and find the time to stitch in between those two things, working full-time, dating the boyfriend and hanging out with friends. The life of a single 30-something definitely is not an easy one.

Being away from my little corner of blogland is hard. I feel the need to apologize for not posting, not commenting and not stitching. I know that I shouldn't. But I miss it...and I miss everyone...and I definitely miss stitching. I haven't really stitched since April. I am going a little nutso. Must correct that soon. But I try to catch up on all my blogs to stay a little connected with the creative circle that keeps me going.

Lots of fun things have happened in the last three months!

~Wine weekend in Mendocino. I am not sure if I convinced the boyfriend that Pinot Noir is fantastic (like I think) but we certainly had fun wine tasting!
~Lots of Jazz. Actually going to check out Jazz in North Beach again this coming Saturday which is always a fun time.
~Six glorious days relaxing in Cancun! It was just what I needed after 8 months of caretaking. We had such a good time and hope to visit again soon.

View from our room...not too shabby!

Taken on a stroll along the beach...

~Managed to sell both my parents' vehicles which is a huge relief...and a little bittersweet.
~Booked my travel to Nicaragua for the Winter to visit family after 9.5 years.
~Going to Seattle with the boyfriend next month for a long weekend. So excited as it's seriously one of my favorite places! We're staying in the Capital Hill neighborhood which isn't one I've explored. If anyone has any recommendations, please send them my way. Thanks so much.

~My boyfriend travels most weeks so we usually only see each other weekends.Every weekend is fun and exciting because there's so much to do and we enjoy each other's company. For some reason, that makes time fly even faster...in a good way.

Well, no stitching to show but maybe after the weekend since I am getting together with some ladies to stitch and gab.

Until next time...

Resurfacing

Hi Dear Blog Friends...

I really didn't think it would take me 6 weeks to come back to my little space in blogland. The weeks have been a blur and I am struggling to get into a routine. My parents made it safely to Nicaragua and so I've been keeping busy trying to catch up on my personal things before I tackle more projects at my parents' house. Mostly, I've been reorganizing my bedroom and getting rid of things. It's amazing how much stuff a person accumulates when they've lived in the same space for over eight years! I still have a lot of work to do to get my place how I want it. Very little stitching has really been done in the last 6 weeks and all of my effort has been focused on Lilac.

About 4 weeks ago, a stitching friend invited me to a get together at her house. It was probably the first time I had really stitched since the start of the year and I got so much done! This is how Lilac looked when I went to her house.

I forgot to take a progress photo after that day and it took me another 2 weeks to pick her up. I went to a local stitching retreat that my guild puts on every year. This is the first year that I've gone and I signed up because my stitching accomplishments last year were abysmal. I figured that if anything, I'd get a full weekend of stitching in case 2014 was as crazy as 2013. So I left on a Thursday afternoon to meet up with my stitching buddies and start 3 full days of basically sitting, stitching, eating (repeat) with a couple of walks thrown in for good measure. 

It was such great fun! Those ladies are hardcore stitching drill sargeants! But I stayed on task and stitched late into the night until I was blearry eyed. Here is how Lilac looked at the end of Thursday night...

And again, at the end of Friday night...

And at the end of Saturday night...

I got a lot done! I made an effort to pull Lilac out this week and had to do a little frogging on the torso but got that corrected and have made even more progress than what's shown here. She is a lot of fun to stitch on!

It's amazing how fast time is flying! My weeks are as busy as ever trying to juggle work, job search, apartment reorganization, social time with friends and spending time with my beau. Somehow I need to squeeze in gym time and more regular stitching time but I am finding it really hard. I am also planning a couple of trips in May; one which will require me to be in bikini shape in 5 weeks. OMG...I need gym time now more than ever!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Until next time...

IHSW Randomness

Hi Everyone!

I haven't done a randomness post in a while and my mind is such a jumble that I can't formulate full sentences. Oh look, I just did one. I'll keep this on the short side since life is terribly busy and I don't think I will be able to do a proper post with real progress for another three weeks. 

• My parents decided to go back to Nicaragua in 12 days. There is a whole slew of things to do. I stress myself out just thinking about it. 
• Besides being stressed; I'm partly relieved and partly sad. This will totally free up my time to work on personal projects like job search and apartment reorganization and redecorating, which is great. But I think that this will most likely be the last time my parents see their house and we will have the hard decision of figuring out what to do with it. That makes me teary to think about. 
• I've been too tired and too lazy to do much stitching since I've been mostly vegging out in bed. My stitching set up is in the living room. So I've been winding a bunch of bobbins while watching tv and I am almost done!
• Thanks for all the well wishes regarding my little health hiccup. I think it's fixed itself (after the dose of terrible hormones) but the doctor will let me know for sure in a couple of weeks. The stress is affecting me a lot I think. My skin is also acting up and I decided to try out acupuncture and herbs to see how that helps. 
• I still keep socially busy so I feel exhausted most of the time. 
• I bought new bedroom furniture! No more mix-matched dorm type furniture for me. It arrives in a month!
• This lady played bumper cars with me on the freeway which resulted in minor cosmetic damage to my car. I feel like I had to "convince" her to pull over to exchange information which upset me more since she is the one who hit me which leaves me to report damage and field insurance calls for a week when I'm already stretched on patience and time.
• I miss regular stitching and blogging more than you know. I know I need to find the time for it but I just feel like I can't concentrate enough.

Here's a view of the little stitching I've managed. Since the last time I showed A Very Fine Sampler, I've added some letters, numbers, two butterflies and started in on one of the many ginormous flowers. I think this middle section will take me a while to accomplish!

Also, Joysze of Random Ramblings and IHSW fame, recently started Lilac so I said that I should pull mine out so we can SAL together. Hey, a girl can hope and have high aspirations. Joyze has already surpassed me  (in one weekend...girl you stitch fast!) and will probably finish before me but that's ok. I pulled Lilac out and put her back on a scroll frame. That's an accomplishment! I even managed to put some new stitches in (the dark green ones) on Friday night before I fell asleep at 830p. 830p! On a Friday night! Since Friday was the only day allotted for IHSW, there were no more stitches. =(

I really need to find the time to sit in my stitching chair and work on her more. I really like how she looks finished. I think one of my deterrents has been the fabric. I usually use linen but this is a 32 count Lugana and boy are those holes tight! I'm assuming the fabric shrunk a little during the dyeing process. 

Well, that's all I have for today! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Much love and hugs...until next time. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope that everyone has a nice Valentine's Day and a great holiday (U.S.) weekend. I am planning on spending time with my Valentine and relaxing as much as possible with a little furniture browsing and maybe, possibly, some stitching thrown into the mix. The last couple of weeks have been hectic with the usual rigamarole. I hit a couple of rough spots where my only consolation has been Scandal and CSI:NY episodes while winding a million DMC skeins and drinking wine. I still have a million more DMC to wind. Why are they never-ending?! As I juggle a million things, the topper was having a lady play bumper cars with my poor little 4-wheeled baby. I'm so stretched on time and patience and now have one more thing to pile on my plate. So I'll relish in the weekend even more...three days off from work to do whatever I want! Happy <3 day="" p="">

The Grand Unveiling

Hi Everyone!

I said that next time I visited blogland, I would do the unveiling of the contents of my Jill Rensel package. You may have seen one of them already since I've been busy and slow to blog and both Jill and Theresa managed to post before I did!

<<>>

Ta-Da! Jane Pattison by Shakespeare Peddler. I love how it turned out!

And I also had her frame Hallow Eden by Plum Street Samplers and convert my frame into a pop out. That way I can display Hallow Eden at Halloween and Christmas Tea at Christmastime.

I'm now just waiting to see when a friend can help me hang Jane up into her permanent spot in the living room. 

Not much else to chat about. I've been dealing with a minor health issue and the medication I am on has made me very cranky and emotional so I've been nesting. Cleaning up the closets little by little and sorting my DMC threads into a jammer box. I hate winding bobbins. It's such a slow process and I think I still have another 200 skeins to go. I find that if I break it into 10 skein increments, it feels like little accomplishments!

A Very Fine Sampler is coming along. Not enough progress to warrant a picture at the moment though. I'm working on a couple of butterflies and hope to move onto the ginormous flowers soon. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm going on a tour of a lace shop in the East Bay with my Guild and plan to see "Her", have a fun evening out and watch the Superbowl. Busy, busy!

Until next time...much love and hugs

Back in the Saddle

Hi Everyone!

I do have to say that it is hard to get back into the groove of blogging when life has been and still is hectic. It's been months since I've had a proper post. One that shared what was going on and most importantly, showed some stitching progress. I wish I could say that things have worked themselves out but they haven't. I am still struggling helping out my parents. 80-somethings are SO stubborn! I've done all that I can (attorneys, bankers and doctors....oh my!) to get things where they need to be and so now it's up to them to decide a date for them to go back to Nicaragua. I assume it's hard for them to leave their house but the constant neediness is hard for me too. I juggle their stuff, working full-time, maintaining a (constantly unorganized) apartment, social life, dating (you know what they say about meeting someone when you least expect it? Yea, that happened) and stitching. I say stitching because without it, I would lose my mind but there's never truly enough stitching time to satisfy me. There have been doctors appointments for me, those pesky five pounds that won't go away and a huge desire and need to job search. A lot of things geared towards my advancement and improvement have been put on hold. I am eager to get back to it all.

When I get super frustrated. I stitch. It's therapeutic. The sound of thread going through linen. To see a design slowly form on a blank canvas is restorative. I had one small finish at the end of 2013. Here is Lizzie Kate Ho Ho Ho. If I remember correctly, it's stitched on 32 count Natural Belfast in Shepherds Bush's thread conversion. A medley of overdyeds and DMC. I plan on stitching this again in the called for color palate which is much brighter than this one.

For my birthday back in October, I ordered the Lizzie Kate Christmas Mystery and diligently stitched the first two parts. I still need to start on the third. I don't know why I set it aside but it's probably because I've been stitching more in hand lately. Sorry for the funky photo. The linen is crooked in the rod and I am too lazy to readjust it since I can still stitch fine. Priorities people!!

Apparently, I've been on a Lizzie Kate kick because my next WIP is Lizzie Kate's Snowman '10. I am so close to finishing this one! It will be a happy dance soon...once I remember where I put the embellishment pack! Does that ever happen to anyone else?

And now for my New Years Start. I decided on A Very Fine Sampler by Birds of a Feather. I'm stitching it on 40 count BOAF Barn Owl using the recommended WDW threads. I've been stitching this in hand but will probably have to move to a scroll rod and stand after the alphabet bands. I've completed almost all the alphabet bands and am really enjoying it.

Last weekend was IHSW and I signed up and managed to get quite a bit done on AVFS. I was only at the lowercase "c" in the third band and managed to complete the numbers band. Pretty good for me considering I don't get much stitching time at all but I've been in a hermity mood lately. Now if I can just motivate myself to get some cleaning and organizing done...

Well, my laptop battery is dying and I had better post this before it gets anymore delayed. I'll have much more to show you soon because I got a package delivery from the infamous and talented Jill. I haven't even opened it yet but am excited to share the reveal with all of you! I know you'll be waiting on pins and needles.

And thank you for sticking with me during these long absences. Life is still not easy but I hope to stitch and post more. I had to do a "clean slate" at the start of the year because I was over 1,000 posts behind in my feedly. Do you know that when you are over 999 posts, they don't even show you the number anymore. I am sure I missed out of lots of wonderful things and sad things and beautiful things and wish I could have shared in it all with you but I had to reset feedly to 0 because there was no way I could have ever caught up. I know you all understand. Thank you so much.

Until next time...much love and hugs.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I still don't have anything big to share since I've been too busy to take photos of the projects I have in progress or my New Year's start, which I technically started on December 30th since I knew I would be too busy getting ready, having fun, drinking cocktails and recovering from drinking said tasty cocktails on New Years Eve and New Years Day. Today, I just come to wish everyone a fantastic year and that everyone has enough...enough love, happiness, good health, success, laughter and stitching in 2014. I've decided to not list any resolutions this year. No resolutions, no SALs, no time constraints. 2014 is a clean slate. I'm just going to be as happy as I can be each day, live in the moment as much as possible and take joy in the little things. My only hope is that I cross more x's in this year than I did in the last. Sorry to keep you in suspense for a tad bit longer. Love and hugs, Valerie.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my blog friends! May all the blessings of the season fill your house and home with joy today and every day. I hope to return in the New Year with lots of stories, news and stitching photos. It's been hectic, busy and stressful but in the midst of all that there have been some nice surprises. Love and hugs, Valerie.

For Cathey

I felt badly that I was not able to post pumpkins for Cathey last week and am now, even more saddened by the news that she lost her battle with cancer. I may not have known her personally but I got to know her in my own way through her blog posts and the short emails we exchanged. Cathey, may you be at peace now that you are free from pain. You fought the fight with grace and determination and were an example to us all.

We thought of you with love today

But that is nothing new

We thought about you yesterday

And days before that too

We think of you in silence

We often speak your name

Now all we have are memories

And your picture in a frame

Your memory is our keepsake

With which we'll never part

God has you in his keeping

We have you in our heart. 

~Unknown~

They Say It's My Birthday!

For once, I am not running away for my birthday. There is no woodsy escape near the foggy beach for me. It's a place I love and will visit again soon...but not today. Today, I decided to be brave and throw myself a cocktail party. To see what impressions I've made over the last two or three years and who shows up. Something I have not done since I was a child and well, back then, my mom threw me parties that I was too shy to enjoy. I'm excited to have my little gathering of 20 close friends and acquaintances at a fun little bar in the city to celebrate being a year wiser over yummy cocktails! Oh my, but there's so much to do! Hair to flat iron, makeup to put on, false eyelashes to have fun with, fun outfit to pick out, delicious St. Honore Cake to collect and devour...with friends, of course. Thank you for stopping by my little space in blogland to celebrate with me. I'll share how it all went when I can! Love and hugs...

The Rollercoaster of Life...

Hi Everyone...

Hard to believe that it's been almost three months since my last blog post. I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster I can't get off of and I anticipate things feeling this way for the remainder of the year.

For most of June, I was busy researching homebuying and came to the conclusion I would probably need to find a higher paying job if I wanted any chance of owning something here and if I couldn't do that, to at least feel comfortable paying my rent and living the lifestyle I am accustomed to. Without the higher paying job, I run the risk of losing my apartment next June because they keep raising my rent each lease term. I love my apartment!! I'm also not fond of thinking I will need to move into a place with a roommate because rents in the Bay Area are just insane. I've never, ever had a roommate and it's not something I favor the closer I get to 40. I worked on updating my resume and LinkedIn and started some minor networking.

For most of July, I dated a guy who was just like all the rest. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and I gave up on dating...for the time being. I didn't have the time anyways because I was whipping my parents' house back into shape because they were coming back after being away for 14 months. I had to coordinate things with the plumber, the gardener, the house cleaner and try to figure out why appliances were not working or acting "funny". Uh...definitely not sure about the home ownership stuff after all that. What a ton of work! At the end of July, my parents returned.

For all of August and September so far, I have been helping my parents. Their health is declining and they are not doing that well. Their conditions will not improve. It's hard to see them struggle to do little things and I find it stressful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Since neither can no longer drive, I need to do weekly errands and grocery runs and take them to their numerous weekly appointments. I find that with full-time work, I only really have the energy to help them with their stuff and I have little energy to take care of my things. My life is on hold. The job search, the dating, the household chores, stitching...there is no time. I'm lucky that I have good friends that make sure I do something social weekly but I've reached the point where I need to hermit. The plan is to get their treatment plans in place and they want to relocate to Nicaragua permanently. There's a lot to do to make that happen and I am hoping that between me, my siblings and the doctors, we can get that to happen before the holidays. Hope, hope...for the sake of my sanity. Of course, after that, there is the matter of the house but one step at a time...one day at a time.

I miss stitching! I miss it every day. I think about it all.the.time. But sadly, when I have time at home, all I can manage is lying in bed in an exhausted stupor while I try to follow a tv show. I still check message boards. I try to read and comment on blogs but that's hard and I am terribly, terribly behind. Sometimes at work, I play with the fabric viewer and just gaze at Mirabilias and fabric choices. I am over the moon over the new Mirabilia Red (Riding Hood). But I'm on a stash diet until my birthday splurge. Speaking of splurging on stash, who signed up for Lizzie Kates's Holly and Hearts Mystery? I am so curious about that one too! I am hoping someone will stitch fast so I can get a good peek at the first part of the sampler. I am wondering if I need some L*K brightness to lighten my mood when I can find those minutes here and there to stitch.

The few minutes here and there that I've found the time to stitch, I've been working on Lilac. She hasn't grown very much but the lilac flowers on the skirt are slowly starting to form. I really enjoy this project but find that I need to use a highlighter to keep track of what stitches I've completed otherwise I lose track and get confused.

I can't wait to finish the skirt! It's not that big in comparison but I think it's big for me at the moment! :)

I hope everyone is doing ok. I miss you all *so* much!

Until next time...

Quick Recap

Hi everybody...how's it going!?

Just a quick post today. Things have been pretty chaotic. I've been to a couple of homeowner workshops and did a phone call to a mortgage broker and all that did was make me really depressed. The housing market in the Bay Area is insane. Rentals are at an all time high and houses cost a pretty penny. I would be limited to mostly condos which means expensive HOA's that kind of put me out of the housing market so my saving grace would be to find some sort of cottage. We'll see what happens. I'm going to sign a year lease on my current apartment (which I love!) and hope that something exciting happens whether it be on the job, dating or housing front. 

But for the moment, I am taking a break from dating. I'm not meeting anyone who give me butterflies or that excitement looking forward to the next date. I've also been dealing with ex drama. One who blabbed my business to a mutual group of friends and I have been struggling to recover my social life ever since and to boot, he is now dating someone I also know and he expects me to just co-mingle with them to events we may all mutually be at. I am sorry...I don't think so! I have been so livid. And then he dares to tell me that I am being paranoid that people have been talking behind my back when I know for a fact that they were. Perhaps they aren't any longer but my suspicions that they were were confirmed and made me all the angrier. He may have a Masters' in Psychology and think he's uber smart but I am sorry, I have a Masters of Life Experience and I know more about what is what and what is going on.

As for stitching, it's been slow going. I've only been focusing on Mary Wigham. I am currently on Part 6 although Part 5 is incomplete since I have not stitched the name over one. I think that I will wait until the very end for that bit. 

Since the last update, I have stitched the dusty rose motif, the white one to the right of that, the dark brown flowery one and the black one of the far right. I am working on another white one. I may put this aside for a while because with everything going on, I feel like working on something whimsical when I have the rare time to craft. Lilac may be making an appearance soon. 

And my TUSAL jar...still skimpy on the orts. Here it is with my Giggles figurine. 

 

Sorry I have been so busy that I am about 600 posts behind in my feeder. I hope that everyone is doing well and I can't wait to catch up and see what everyone is up to!

Until next time...

Big Happy Dance!!!

Hi Everyone...

I'm back after a much shorter absence. This feels a little more normal. I've been keeping busy as usual and had a nice IHSW weekend and a nice weekend away in the North Coast of California. That consisted of lots of wine tasting and stitching. It was fabulous! Of course, I'm now back to the grind of work, housesitting and figuring out how to cram everything I need to do in the few hours I have free each day. It's basically impossible!

The good news is that I have a happy dance. I ignored all chores that needed to get done on Monday so I can stitch my way to a finish. I am happy to announce that after 53 weeks of mostly off and on stitching, my Jane is complete and she is gorgeous, if I don't say so myself.

 Shakespeare Peddler Jane Pattison 1806

Lakeside Linens 40 Count Porcelain

GAST Overdyed Cottons (not the called for wools)

And a close up of the final third of the sampler. I just love the left and right flowers. The cream one just reminds me of some sort of Art Deco design. 

While up at the cabin, I made a small start in Mirabilia Lilac. For now, it just looks like a green blob. I started in the middle as starting at the top seemed too fussy with the color changes and that didn't seem too fun right off the bat.

Of course, now that I finished a project, there are a million I want to start. That sounds familiar, I'm sure, doesn't it? Top of my list is BOAF A Very Fine Sampler but as I dug out the pattern last night, I realized I don't have most of the called for threads since most colors call for 2 skeins so I think I will need to wait a bit for that. So instead, I pulled out Mary Wigham. I haven't worked on her since April of last year and am still on Part 5. But perhaps I can make a little progress on her as Jane has me accustomed to working on 40 count linen now!

So there is a lot going on and I'm contemplating a lot of changes. My rent is increasing so I will stay put for now but it's time for me to start researching if home (ie condo) ownership is feasible for me because it's pointless for me to throw my money down the drain if my rent is comparable to a mortgage. I see lots of forms, credits checks, bankers and realtors in my future. Since rent went up, I am thinking about switching gyms to another place that's more cost effective and canceling my cable and just catch up with shows via streaming Netflix and Hulu+. That would be a huge step for me since I've always had cable and am a huge tv addict. Athough, I have to admit that I have fallen behind on many of my shows and have been relying on On Demand and Hulu+ to catch up as it is. Maybe I don't really *need* cable. It would save me $70 a month! All these things make me think that I need to slow things down so I can focus on these things on top of the organization projects I've been putting off at home. So heads up that I may be a spaz in the next few weeks and my "randomness" posts may make a reappearance. 

Hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful weekend!!

Until next time...

Resurfacing...

Hello my dear blog friends...

It's hard to believe that I've been away from my little space for more than two months. I have no idea how time flies so fast. Much has been going on. I had a lovely trip to Portland and Seattle. Portland to visit a friend and Seattle for a girl's getaway. I do have to say that Seattle feels as much to me as SF does and each time I leave, I pine to be back. I hope to go back in the Fall for a couple days more so I can explore and perhaps figure out if SF or Seattle is where I need to be. So strange to say that. I'm quite lucky to be where I am but Seattle calls to me much the same. Although in the end, it's quite a lot of work to pick up and move a life when everything I know and love is here. Perhaps frequent trips are what I need to visit Pike Place Market, gaze upon the same ocean from a different vantage point, eat delicious food and lust after the hot bartender that made this past visit so much fun. Sadly, he has a girlfriend but looking and chatting doesn't hurt nothing and no one.

Besides the hottie bartender and spending time with my great friends, the next biggest highlight was visiting the Chihuly Glass Garden. L-O-V-E!!! Here are a couple of snaps.

The trip came at the perfect time. It was a wonderful distraction. Since the beginning of the year, I was spending time with someone that I hoped would become more than just friends but after months, I realized that even though I was attracted to him and his totally adorable dog, I deserved to be treated better if we were really having a relationship. So I parted ways and threw myself into dating. So much so that my friends were calling me a "dating fiend" and asked how I kept up. The answer is that you don't. After a couple of months, you get tired, throw in the towel and get frustrated with men. I'm exhausted!! I realized that none of the guys I was dating made me feel butterflies...or super excited. They were great guys. Nice. I could sit over dinner and talk and talk with them. I could have a fun time. But I just wasn't feeling *it*. So at the moment I am feeling quite "ho-hum" about dating.

With working full time, housesitting chores, dating galore, spending time with friends and the usual errands and such, stitching has been low on the totem pole. I get to a point where I feel that if I don't stitch soon, I will go insane and when I get to that point, I'll cancel plans for a night or two just so I can force myself to relax and stitch.

I've only been stitching on my Jane. She's all that holds my attention and since she is a little on the big side and on rods, I can only stitch on her at home. Not like I have time elsewhere anyways. I managed to complete the middle section. She's looking pretty! I didn't even realize until I was stitching that the name on the sampler is more like "Iane Pattison" versus "Jane Pattison". Who knew! I need to pay closer attention.

I've moved onto the last third of the sampler which has the last flowers. This is my favorite section and I am getting that feeling that the project is winding down. Not much farther to go!

This weekend is stitch group and next weekend I am driving up to my little sanctuary in the woods to get some R&R, disconnect from the technology world and get a little bit of stitching done. I was thinking I would leave Jane at home and work on a new start. Over the last few days, I've been slowly getting the supplies together to start Lilac. I've loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her. I saw a finished photo of her on (old) Silkweaver Fallen Leaves which is a soft green-grey color and I bought the fabric ages ago. I think that I can start her in qsnaps and once Jane is completed, Lilac will take her place on the rods. Here is the floss toss. I need to get a move on if I'm going to be able to start by Saturday!

I managed to get a couple of packages out in the mail. Of course, in my rush to send them out I didn't take any photos! I stitched up this Drawn Thread ornie for Carol as a happy belated birthday gift.

I was so happy that it was well received! I stitched it on 32 count Light Mocha Belfast and stitched it completely according to the instructions. The finishing instructions were easy but no matter what, I seem to have a block when it comes to finishing. I am really happy with how it turned out! Carol, I hope you don't mind that I snagged a photo from your blog!

And lastly is my TUSAL report. My jar is woefully lacking in orts. But then, stitching on 40 count doesn't produce very many to begin with!

Doesn't that gigantic peony look gorgeous?! They are my favorite flower and their season is so short. I can't resist treating myself to those fluffy blooms. I'm hoping the big flowers distract from how empty my jar looks!

So I have a couple of things that I need input on. While I was on vacation, Google announced that they are discontinuing Reader. Why are they getting rid of such a good thing?! So I think it's between BlogLovin or Feedly. Any pros/cons? I haven't had the time to research since I've been slammed. Also, how do you write a copyright on a photo? I thought it was Paint but Paint was being a diva tonight so maybe I have it wrong.

I appreciate all my friends and followers sticking with me during my absence. I'm hoping to blog more often but we'll see how things go!

Hope everyone has a good end of the week/weekend!

Until next time...