fighting the funk...

Thanks for all of your encouragement on my last post. I've decided I'm not going down without a fight. The mid-winter and post-birthday blues (I'm always OK with winter until my birthday is over and then I think it's just time for it to be spring - so at least I get one extra month of relative satisfaction with winter.) will not get me! And here is my plan of attack:

1) Drive north to visit Missy for the afternoon.
status: Accomplished yesterday - the sun was shining on the way up and the kids laughed and played and then cried when it was time to go home. Fun for all! Thanks for having us Missy!

2) Start an all new project - one that I've been thinking about and had supplies for for months.
status: Getting there. I've left it out on my sewing room floor and it makes me smile every time I walk by. Any guesses about what it is?



3) Finish some sunshine-y yellow vintage banners for the shop.
status: Banners are finished, the sun came out today so pictures are taken, will list in the next day or two.
4) Just work through whatever is holding me back on the second trial of this bag and do it.
status: I got a great start last night. I actually almost finished the bag. This will no longer be the bane of my existence!

5) New mystery project in the works.
status: to be revealed later this week or early next week. Go to my shop for a preview.

a few things

1) Thanks so much for all of your encouraging and supportive comments on my last post. The boys and I have been laughing and playing a little more in the last couple of days. I have some plans for moving things around in the house to help us be more balanced in our days. More on that later.

2) Want another chance to win one of my bags? Leave a comment here.

3)I was flattered to be seen here.

4) Many of you asked about the jacket. Well, it's on hold, while I help a friend sew some of her new fabric into something pretty. It's not hard with such lovely fabric. And I'll get back to the jacket just as soon as I can. The weather next week looks perfect for jacket wearing.

5) Enjoy your weekend!

A little bit of everything

I've been fighting a cold since last Thursday and I think I'm getting over it today as I sit here breathing freely through my nose. So, I haven't done much crafting for the past few days - a little bit of work on the boys costumes that I will show later, but not much other than that. I did manage to do a few other things though....

1) I got my hair cut yesterday. I tried out someone new. I'm not so good at staying with one person - if I have one bad experience with them, I cut them off, at least for a little while. If their price it too high (not a problem here in Idaho, but very much an issue in California), I will go to them occasionally and fill in with a less expensive stylist. The last time I got my hair colored (I have a ton of gray and am way too vain to let it show) before I had Baby N was the day before he was born. It didn't really take and even turned my hair a bit green. I swore off this stylist because of this, but then I thought that maybe it wasn't her fault, it was probably the hormones.

So, the verdict of yesterday's cut and color experience - good. It is my same old hair style (my hair is pulled back here - I hate having it on my face!) and I was trying to go for something a little different. I think I'll have to either chop it really short or grow it out to get a really different look. Maybe I will chop it next time. I'm tired of this hair style, but it is a good haircut. It lays nicely and it took more than ten minutes to do (the reasons why I left my last stylist). And the best part - I got my hair cut, colored, and highlighted for the same price as just my haircut in California.

2) We made these delicious apple cakes, a recipe that my family started making when I was a teenager. Can you tell what they are supposed to be? Probably not, so I'll tell you - ghosts! My little ghost pan was probably not the best for this cake as it has a streusel topping that just bubbled and boiled over making a gooey, ooey, yummy mess that didn't do much for the shape of the ghost. I tried to make some changes in the recipe to make it healthier, but I think the streusel thwarted my efforts. Anyone know a way to make a healthy streusel?

Here's the recipe without any modifications:

Yummy Apple Cake
4 cups apples peeled and chopped
2 cups sugar
Cover apples with sugar and let stand for 10 to 20 minutes.

Sift together 3 cups flour, 2 tsp soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon.

Blend 2 eggs and 2/3 c. oil into apple mixture. Add flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Add 2 tsp vanilla. Pour into 9x13 pan.

Mix and spread on top: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup butter.

Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes.

3) And while we're on the subject of food, Darcy tagged me for a food related meme - a food factoid for every letter of my name. Here we go...

J - Juice is a good breakfast beverage and breakfast is by far my favorite meal. I love cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, yogurt, waffles, french toast, eggs, omelettes, etc. I don't usually eat breakfast how I would really want to, but I still love it!

E - Escargot is something I've never tried and really have no desire to try.

S - Sushi is something I tried and was surprised to find it wasn't so bad. I'm not in love with it, but I'm not opposed to it either.

S - Spaghetti was my favorite dinner when I was a kid.

I - Ice cream is by far my favorite food. It got me through my first pregnancy. It's my favorite treat. I had a few ice cream birthday cakes as a kid - ice cream birthday cakes with ice cream on the side. I scream, you scream, Jessi screams for ice cream!!


4) And on my crafty to-do list - get going on the 11 purses I cut out last week (this was before the cold hit). Some of these will go in the shop and some I will save for the craft show.

We got a late start to this week because Ryan had the day off yesterday. Three day weekends are the best! Even if you don't go somewhere, it's so great to have an extra day to sleep in, especially when you're a little under the weather.

Take a Look

Just in case you don't read Molly Chicken, take a look at these fab free patterns here. She lists two other sites, but I thought this one was by far the best - it had the most variety and had great pictures. They are all in Japanese, but look like they would be fairly easy to figure out as measurements are abundant. I printed one out and it looks great.