Mariannes Motifs

Try Sewing!

2013-03-18T19:59:37-04:00

Last year my mom gave me an awesome birthday present - a new sewing machine. I love it! This baby is easy to thread, works like a charm, and threads its own needle. As someone who learned on really old machines (like think treadle 0ld) this machine is like a modern miracle.

My favorite thing it does however, is the machine embriodery. Here is a bib I embellished today and gave to my housekeeper for her baby grandson.

So here is some advice from me - if you are thinking of sewing, give it a try. Especially embroidery which is so dead simple. The only hard part is learning your machine.

Words To Live By

2013-01-25T21:52:04-05:00

Some of my favorite words to live by, mottos, mantras:

The meaning of life is perfectly clear. The meaning of life is simply to be here.

Don't Poke The Crazy

Things will get better.

Breathe in love, breathe out fear.

New Kia Optima

2012-11-18T12:14:17-05:00

We've had all kinds of car activity. My mom was so nice as to give me her Prius. So then we had three cars. We sold the minivan to Carmax, and got the Prius registered in GA. So hubby had a 1999 Toyota Avalon. It was a great car, just getting a bit old and needing some work. So...

We traded the Avalon in on a brand spanking new 2013 Kia Optima. Wow this car is fancy. My favorite feature - the front seats are heated and cooled. It has all kinds of nice features, looks gorgeous, and has favorable safety, and reliabilty ratings. It doesn't beat the Prius's gas milage, but it does have 26 - 32.

It has an Infinity sound system. Jin has the bass crankin' and it sounds like there was a VOX Valvetronix in the trunk!

Thanksgiving Menu

2012-11-18T12:02:26-05:00

Crudites - relish tray with cucumber, radish, carrots, green and black olives, and roasted almonds

Trader Joes Brined Fresh Turkey - I plan to cook it with salt, pepper, herbs, and stuff it with apple and lemon.

Home made Turkey gravy (supplemented with Trader Joes gravy)

Stuffing a la Jeanette

Mashed Taters

Green Bean Casserole

Maple Sweet Potatoes (got cubed sweet potatoes from Trader Joes)

Cranberry Relish (TJs)

Dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Something else TBD

Shopping List -still need

Twine

Radishes

Merlot

soda pop

Beer

Happy Halloween!

2012-10-31T19:45:32-04:00

The boys were Ninjas and had fun trick or treating around the neighborhood.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Cumming Fair

2012-10-28T14:59:53-04:00

We had some fun a few weekends ago at the Cumming Fair. One of the coolest parts was the display of old steam trains. A bunch of the trains at the fairgrouns are Case steam trains so of course we had to take some pictures. Fun!

My trip to Las Vegas got cancelled. And I have caught a couple of colds in a row so life is a little bit crazy right now. It's one of these months where you just have to hang in there and hope for the best. So between trying to find the best barcode scanner and trying to get our automobile situation resolved, I feel like I don't have enough time to rest and catch my strength back up.

I think what I am going to do it take two of the days I have scheduled off as "staycation" days and get some rest and a few things done.

I'm Going to Las Vegas!

2012-10-06T18:59:19-04:00

My friend Melissa is going to Las Vegas for a conference in November and invited me to go along. Her conference is during the day and then we will be able to do some fun stuff in the evenings. I get a free hotel room (at the Cosmopolitan).

Now that I have an iPhone I can download Vacation Apps. I found an iPhone app for Las Vegas info that looks cool called Vegas Mate that looks like it might be helpful. These days you can do eveything on your mobile phone, from booking a hotel, booking flights, checking into flights, to finding things to do in your travel destination. Smartphones make everything so much easier!

I am looking forward to this trip. I haven't been on a girls weekend in a long time. I have the best husband in the world! I told him about the trip and asked him what he thought. He said I should go. What a sweetie.

I am going to set aside a small amount of money for two things: a spa massage, and some blackjack. I don't expect to win anything, but it can be fun to play for awhile and see how long you can make your pre-decided budget last. I looked up the spa at the Cosmopolitan hotel and they have some awesome sounding massages and services. Since I am going to have the day to myself I am definately going to take advantage of that time. Imagine the peace and quiet!

Trying To Get Healthier

2012-09-23T17:53:55-04:00

I recently got diagnosed with some high blood pressure. On top of about a million other health issues, this is about the last thing I need. So I've been trying to do the DASH diet (with modification for Crohn's disease of course - lower on fiber) and I decided to try some home exercise. And no, I am not smoking any arturo fuente cigars.

I bought the Zumba Rush for X-Box Kinect. I've done it for 2 days. 2 songs the first day, and then a whole 5 song "short class" the second day. My plan is to drop the kids off at the bus and then do a short class after that and before I get ready for work.

I like it when an exercize class or activity has relly good music. It makes it fun and allows you to forget that its boring. The Zumba definately has some good music so I like it. I've done the low intensity class and of course I do a low intensity version of the dancing. I will keep you'all updated.

Started My New Job

2012-09-09T11:46:35-04:00

After getting laid off from RIM, I started my new job last week. I am really enjoying it! It seems like a great group of people and its going to be very challenging. I think how fast I found something good (3 weeks) is an indicator that the Atlanta job market is perking back up. Three years ago it took me about 9 months to find a new job!

Of course all the things I wanted to do while I was off of work didn't get done. Well, that's a good problem to have. I will have to be running around doing things in my off hours just like everyone else. Shopping for linens and bedding, scheduling to get my deck fixed, dentist, doctors appointments... Argh...

Labor Day Fun?

2012-08-26T21:21:25-04:00

Who is up for some Labor Day weekend fun? Since I don't know how my income is going to look, and hubby has to work on Labor Day, we are just going to be taking it easy. No beach house rentals florida for us this year. But don't feel too bad for us - we had two really great vacations this year - one to Ohio to visit the family, and the other to Florida to Kennedy Space Center and St. Augustine. I was pretty proud of myself for planning the Florida trip. I got 2 hotels on the beach that were dog friendly so we even got to take our little mascot, Biscuit.

On the trip from St. Augustine to Coco Beach we even found an old fashioned drive in restaurant to stop at so we didn't have to worry about doggy.