The Boy Trifecta

Confession: I have a laundry problem.

2012-05-29T12:43:00.001-04:00

So. Confession time. I have a SERIOUS laundry problem.

I probably need to go to Laundry Haters Anonymous or something. I mean, it's bad. Like, BAD BAD.

It's so bad that a few months ago, my saint-like mother-in-law went to the laundromat with me and helped me do approximately FORTY loads of laundry at once.

Yes, you read that right.

FORTY. AND THAT WASN'T EVEN HALF OF OUR LAUNDRY.

I know, I'm disgusted with me too. Part of the problem, obviously, is that we have too many clothes. There was a time in my life when, rather than do laundry, I would simply go buy something new. Yes, really. I was that frivolous and ridiculous and lazy. So, to tackle my problem, step one is to get rid of some clothes.

I also am not very good at switching out clothes for the seasons. So, for example, right now there are sweaters laying around my house, despite the fact that it is 90 degrees outside. Step two, then, should be to box up off-season clothes, right?

And, the third thing that I know I can improve on is boxing up too-small clothing, rather than letting it linger in drawers, where it inevitably gets tried on, deemed to small, thrown on the floor, and eventually makes it back to the laundry pile.

Something tells me that these three things still won't totally alleviate my problem, so I'm asking for help.

Do you have a system to keep your laundry under control?

How many towels per person should a family have?

How many loads of laundry do you do per week?

I don't mind washing and drying it, but do you know of a magic robot to fold and put away my clean laundry?

Should I just throw away all of my clothes and make my family go naked to avoid this dreaded task?

HELP!!!!!!!

Things that handmade dresses are good for (or not) - a list

2012-05-27T17:05:00.000-04:00

Things that handmade dresses are good for:

1. Vainly taking myspace-style photos of yourself in front of the mirror.

2. Hanging out around the house, vainly taking pictures of yourself and your hubby so you can show off your new specs.

3. Attending events at your local fabric store (more on this next week)

Things handmade dresses are NOT good for:

Jousting your husband and/or son.

About three seconds after this was taken, Bryan knocked me off the pedestal and I fell backwards several feet onto the ground, exposing all of my lady parts to the entire crowd.

What's worse is that BEFORE I jousted Bryan, I jousted Riley.

As I knocked Riley off the pedestal, he reached forward and grabbed the front of my dress AND my strapless bra, exposing my ta tas (yes, I just called them ta tas) to the whole crowd.

Ahem.

SO, if you were at the Bogey Inn yesterday and witnessed these special moments, I apologize. I have learned my lesson.

Handmade dresses are NOT for jousting.

Insta-junkie

2012-05-25T09:22:00.000-04:00

I know things have been a little quiet around here lately, but one place you can find me (and probably see more of my life than you ever wanted to) is on Instagram (and if you aren't an Instagram user, I post lots of my photos to Twitter). I'm sort of addicted.

Here are some of my recent pictures, most of which have been taken while hanging out at my in-law's home. When Grandma and Grandpa have a pool, it's pretty much the best place to hang out in the summer!

And every once in awhile, you might actually catch a picture of me!

Are you on Instagram? What's your user name? You can find me under user name "epassias" (someone else already was using TheBoyTrifecta!).

On mothering: Being there

2012-05-17T14:42:00.000-04:00

Today is field day at Riley's school. The morning started with a walk-a-thon to raise money for Peletonia, followed by field day games and a family picnic at lunch. I volunteered for just an hour this morning to help with the walk, during which Riley basically ignored my presence. Because there were more volunteers than were needed, I felt pretty useless, but I loved watching the kids have fun and raise money for a good cause. I certainly didn't feel like my presence added any value to Riley's day - it didn't seem that he cared that I was there.

After a few hours of work, I headed back to school for the family picnic. Riley and I found an empty table, which quickly filled with Riley's friends, none of whose parents came to the picnic. They started talking to me about how their parents "never came to anything", that their parents "didn't even know what happened at school"*. Riley and I listened quietly while the kids talked, and one boy got up and walked away in tears.

It. Was. Heartbreaking.

When there was a lull in the conversation, Riley looked up from his food, sat up straight, and said,

"Well, my parents are here all the time, for everything."

And he smiled at me.

He wasn't bragging - his friends know this. Bryan coaches two of those boys in soccer, I coach his basketball team, and I've sat at the lunch table with Riley and his friends more times than I can count. During nearly ALL of those lunches, I felt invisible, like he really didn't care that I came to have lunch with him. I know Bryan frequently feels unappreciated, and sometimes down right abused by the boys he coaches. More than once I've wondered if it was worth it to continue to take time out of my day to show up to lunch, to spend hours on the evenings and weekends coaching boys in sports and trying to mold them into respectful, resilient young men. Today, I got my answer.

It is worth it.

Showing up, even if he rolls his eyes at me, ignores me, disrespects me - IT MATTERS.

I know the future holds many more eye rolls, many more disrespectful comments, many more moments when I feel like my presence is unwanted, or doesn't matter. And in those moments, I'm going to hold on tight to this memory, and remember that

BEING THERE MATTERS.

*I'm not judging these parents, or suggesting that they are absent from the lives of their children. I know many of them, and they are loving parents and lovely people. They, like so many working parents, have schedules that prevent them from being at school during the school day. I'm also not suggesting that I am somehow a better parent than they are. I am simply fortunate to be in a position where my schedule is flexible enough to permit me to show up and be ignored at Riley's school. :)

Proud as a Peacock Embroidered Necklace Tutorial

2012-04-06T13:53:00.000-04:00

***First, I've gotten many emails and comments recently wondering if I have fallen off the face of the earth. Rest assured, I have not. Ever have one of those months where everything is just sort of TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING? Yeah, that is sort of how March felt. And how April is feeling so far. Sometimes, having a family and a job and a blog and a dissertation to write is just too much, and the blog is the first thing that gets ignored. Thanks for your patience when I disappear for awhile!***

In case you missed it last month on Sewing in No Mans Land...

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, I can put away all my cowl neck sweaters and start pulling out my fun necklaces. I love the idea of making my own jewelry, but beading isn't really my thing. I'd seen these pendants on etsy, and thought putting an embroidered design inside could be awesome - like wearable art!

Here's what I came up with - the Proud As A Peacock Embroidered Necklace! I've worn it out of the house exactly ONE time and immediately got compliments on it. Isn't that pretty much the most fun thing in the world - getting a compliment about something you're wearing and getting to say you made it?!?! I LOOOOVE that.

It's super simple to make, and because it's small, it is a great project to keep in your purse to work on when you have a few minutes here and there.

Supplies:

Small embroidery hoop

Fabric - just enough to fit in your hoop

Embroidery floss in 4 colors

Hand-sewing needle

Pendant - I ordered mine from this etsy seller, and was pleased with the quality and service. I purchased the second largest oval pendant.

Peacock template (click to print)

First things first - trace the embroidery pattern lightly onto your fabric. You can use my peacock feather design, of create your own! You can use an water-soluble ink pen to trace the pattern, but I just do it lightly in pencil. Then, place your fabric in the embroidery hoop.

This pendant uses two types of embroidery stitches - a satin stitch and a back stitch. The back stitch is incredibly easy. Satin stitches take a tiny bit of practice to get the tension right, but are basically just back stitches worked next to one another rather than in a line. Trust me, you can master these stitches.

I started in the middle of the design with a navy blue embroidery floss. Embroidery floss comes as six strands that are loosely wound together. I separated my strands so that I was working with three strands at a time.

I used the satin stitch on the four inner sections of my design. The "eye" of the peacock feather is a dark blue. I started my satin stitch in the middle of the eye and worked outwards towards the edge.

Then I stitched the next section around the eye in a bright turquoise. These smaller sections of satin stitch are the easiest.

Next was the large gold section. You can see here where I started the satin stitch for this section - right in the middle. I wanted to make sure those large stitches would be straight, so I started there and worked outward.

For the last section of satin stitch, I started at the bottom, since it was the largest section..

And finally, I used the back stitch to cover all those little feather lines. I wanted these lines to appear daintier, so I only used two strands of floss for these stitches.

And that's it for the embroidery! It looks like it takes a long time, but really those satin stitches fill in quite quickly - you'll be surprised how fast it comes together!

Putting your hand-stitched art into the pendant takes nearly no time at all! The pendant comes as three separate pieces - the front frame, and inner piece to wrap your fabric around, and a backing piece. Simply wrap your fabric around the center piece, and use a little tape to hold it in place.

Then, just place it inside the frame and fold the prongs down on the back.

Place your brand new pendant on a chain, and you're done!

Any other ideas for cute embroideries to put in pendants? I'm thinking of making a few more. The possibilities are endless!

Proud as a Peacock Embroidered Necklace Tutorial

2012-03-14T08:05:00.000-04:00

Hey! I'm over at Sewing in No Man's Land today sharing the tutorial for this AWESOME (if I do say so myself, AND I DO) embroidered necklace. I can't even tell you how much I love this necklace, and how much I'm looking forward to making some more with different designs!

Head on over to Sewing In No Man's Land for the tutorial! If you've never been over to Kelly's blog, you're missing out. She is an AMAZING photographer and her patterns are gorgeous!

Sometimes it's hard being 3.

2012-02-27T10:05:00.001-05:00

Poor buddy. All because his mean mommy wanted him to wear a coat outside in February. Don't you just want to squeeze him?

The Fat Girl Weighs In

2012-02-23T16:00:00.000-05:00

It's been a few weeks since I've updated you all on my ongoing weight loss goals. That's not an accident. I sort of stalled out for a few weeks, for one reason only: LAZINESS.

My motivation went straight down the drain. I'm still doing great in terms of eating a plant-based diet, but I stumbled onto some plant-based dessert recipes (see Chocolate Covered Katie for lots plant-based desserts) and got excited. Excited to try new recipes, excited that I might stumble onto something "healthy" that my hubby might eat, excited that I might be able to sneak some extra plant foods into Quinn's diet (he's thinks there are three food groups - sugar, chicken, and brownies). I got carried away trying new recipes, and then when they tasted good, I went overboard on eating all my "healthy" treats. Well, guess what? Just because the recipes are made with plant-based food doesn't mean they don't have calories in them! Are they better than conventional desserts? Probably. But truly "healthy"? Doubtful.

Despite this small detour, I've still managed to lose 17.2 pounds since the beginning of the year. That's almost 20% of my weight loss goal, so I know it's not trivial. I also know it's not as much as I COULD have lost if I'd been working hard and tracking my Weight Watchers points like I should.

I feel back on track this week, and am closely recording and tracking my food. I'm focusing on this:

One year from now, what WILL I wish I had done today? I'm certain I'll wish that I had made healthy food choices. My mother-in-law is a Weight Watchers lifetimer. She's done the plan many times, and is currently ROCKING it. She's down more than 40 pounds and counting. What a huge inspiration - to see the plan working right in front of my face. I mean, I KNOW it works, but to see it happening in front of my eyes is down right inspiring. She's mentioned to me a few times that, several months ago when she wasn't following the plan, I told her than a year from now, she would wish she had started working the plan that day instead of waiting for some other day, and it helped motivate her to go back to the WW plan. It seems I need to take a bit of my own advice (SOMETIMES I know what I'm talking about!), so that's just what I'm trying to do.

And it doesn't just apply to food choices. A year from now, I'll probably also wish I had spent more hours working on my dissertation. I'm sure I WON'T wish I'd spent more hours reading people.com, facebooking, or watching TiVoed episodes of Private Practice (most depressing show ever). Looking at the big picture, seeing the overarching goal and how my daily actions support (or don't support) those goals is something I'm working on this week.

Lots of you told me you were working on weight loss as a goal this year. How's it going for you? How do you stay focused on the big picture, and not let the nitty gritty of daily life (like that box of vegan cookies taunting me from the counter) get in your way?

The universe hates me, and a little giveaway

2012-02-20T21:20:00.001-05:00

Remember how I bragged about how AWESOME Friday was? Well, apparently the universe didn't like my bragging, because this was how I started my day.

I've got a bruised and swollen knee from slamming up against the steering wheel column, and my beloved van "Goldie" is broken.

So, my husband left work to come help me, and on the way to pick me up, the tire in our OTHER van blew out.

REALLY, UNIVERSE? Really?!

All I had to say is thank goodness for AAA and helpful in-laws. It was an absurd chain of events for sure.

I spent the rest of the day taking care of this sick little buddy.

Just when I was starting to feel REALLY sorry for myself , two things happened. First, my lovely mother-in-law swept in with a bazillion groceries, did all the dishes in my sink, and offered to come back with dinner. Her thoughtfulness and generosity is endless, and very much appreciated on days like today! Thanks, Gayle!

The second thing was this:

I looked down at my wrist and took note of the CHOOSE JOY bracelets from Ashley of Lil Blue Boo. If you're not familiar with Ashley or her story, start here. And then here. And take some tissues with you because her story and her spirit will move you to tears.

Noticing those bracelets on my wrist reminded me that, despite my broken car and banged up knee and sick baby, I could still CHOOSE JOY. So, I'm trying to do just that.

And in the spirit of spreading a little joy, I'm going to give away three of my bracelets. Just leave me a comment on this post, and I'll choose winners Friday night.

A day in the life

2012-02-18T20:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had a fantastic mommy & Riley day with my biggest kid. He had the day off school, so we sent the little kids off to preschool and spent the day together. After breakfast, we headed out to paint some pottery. We both made Harry Potter themed plates. This kid is super into Harry Potter right now, so I made the plate in the foreground with Riley's intials (RP) with Gryffindor colors, while he painted a plate about the outcome of a Quidditch match.

(Warning - cell phone pics ahead)

After that, we headed out to Buckeye Bounce Club, which is basically a room full of trampolines.

They've also got a "cheese pit" - one of those huge foam filled pits. I jumped in, and let me tell you, getting OUT of that pit as an adult damn near impossible. Seriously, took me several minutes to wade my way out of there.

I adore spending one on one time with Riley. He's a totally different kid when he gets one on one attention - the whining and complaining stops, and is replaced with lovely, adult-like conversation. He's such a cool kid. He loves sports and Phineas and Ferb, but prefers NPR and classical music to pop or rock. He's learning both acoustic and electric guitar, but so that he can play classical tunes. His big goal last week - to read 1,000 minutes, which he reached with no problem. It's clear that a few girls in his grade have crushes on him, but he doesn't let that get in the way of his friendships with them. I just adore the young man he's turning in to. I'm so very proud to know him.

When we picked up the littles from "school" (yes, I call child care "school"), Quinn presented me with this family portrait. I especially like that he included "cousin", and "other cousin". Since he has 4 cousins, it's probably good to not be too specific. :) Also, love the rockin' beard Quinn drew on Daddy.

I took the boys out for some Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds. There can't be anything healthy in fluorescent green food.

We went BACK to the pottery place to let Quinn paint an angry bird.

Later, Bryan and I went out on our Valentine's date to our favorite Asian fusion restaurant. I had some delicious vegetarian sushi. Those are peanut avocado rolls - YUM.

You know it's date night when the hubby busts out the John Legend Pandora Station. :)

Ever have one of those days that is just REALLY good from start to finish? Well, yesterday was it. Perfect from sun up to sun down. I'm a lucky mama.

Nerd Love Valentine's Shirt

2012-02-14T16:04:00.000-05:00

I finished one last Valentine's project - this nerd love shirt for Quinn. I made him step out in the snow (FINALLY! A tiny bit of snow!) to take a few pictures before he was off to preschool this morning.

I used my Silhouette to cut the text. The numbers on the front spell out LOVE in binary code. We're big time nerds over here. As usual, shoot me an email if you'd like the Silhouette file.

This kid has more spunk in his pinky finger than I have in my entire body.

He cracks me up with those big blue eyes and those silly faces.

And, this kid is the only one who will smile and willingly have his photo taken these days. You know what that means? He's only one who gets handmade goodies from now. :)

I'm kidding.

Sort of. ;)

Turning the Flashback Tee into a Flashback Hoodie

2012-02-13T12:22:00.000-05:00

You had to know I was going to put a hood on it eventually, right?

This weekend, I got a little experimental with the Flashback Tee pattern. I added a hood and layered sleeve. It was a pretty easy adjustment, and didn't add much time onto the project.

Basically, I cut two sleeves - one long sleeve and one short sleeve. I cut my short sleeve from a thrifted shirt, so it had existing hems, but if you don't have existing hems, you'll want to hem the short sleeves before attaching them to the shirt. Then, I simply treated the long and shirt sleeves as one unit - I attached them at the same time, and sewed the arm seam as one, just being sure to catch all four layer (each side of the short sleeve and each side of the long sleeve) as I sewed. You could also use this method for adding the layered sleeve.

For the hood, I took the same approach. I drafted and sewed a hood based on the measurement for the neck band. Then, when it was time to attach the neck band to the shirt, I simply added the hood at the same time, all in one seam. You sandwich the neck band between the hood and shirt body, with the right side of the neckband and hood facing the right side of the shirt. Stitch that seam, and VIOLA! Your tee is now a hoodie.

Alternatively, you could skip the neck band all together, and just add a hood. That would work too. Lots of versatility in this pattern!

Rae released the pattern today, so for those of you who've been waiting, it's out!

The Stefon Shirt

2012-02-07T16:43:00.002-05:00

Yet another skinny tee. This one I made with some random houndstooth fabric I had lying (laying? Where are the grammar police?) around. You can't tell so much in the pictures, but the material is a super light weight, sort of burn out texture. You can almost see through it.

I'm not quite sure why, but every single time I look at this shirt, it reminds me of Stefon. Yes, THAT Stefon. I know Stefon wears Ed Hardy, but still...

You're welcome for that video. :)

I want my MTV.

2012-02-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

I have a problem. I'm addicted to making skinny tees.

But if making 380420394820482348029 skinny tees is wrong, then I don't wanna be right.

I made this one from a thrifted t-shirt, and added the MTV logo using my Silhouette and some heat transfer material.

If you use the Flashback Skinny Tee pattern with regular/thrifted t-shirts as your fabric, I suggest going up a size. T-shirts don't have a ton of stretch, and this pattern has a slim cut, so going up a size will ensure that you can get them on and off easily.

Unrelated side note: See that kid up there? Remember when he looked like this?

Sigh. Where did my baby go?!?

Flashback Skinny Tee

2012-02-04T17:08:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of testing Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern last week. The verdict: Me likey. Me likey A LOT. Like, so much that I made four in two days. This is the first version I made. I'll share the others next week.

I used a green interlock for the body and sleeves, and a purple rib nit for the cuffs and neck. The applique is a scrap of orange french terry.

I just drew the star freehand, cut it out, and stitched it to the front with purple thread.

This is a great pattern. It's well written and easy to follow, like all of Rae's patterns. It's sure to be my new go-to shirt pattern. The Flashback Skinny Tee has everything going for it - it comes together so quickly (like, WELL under an hour - I think I got it down to about 20ish minutes of actual sewing on the last one I made), and I love the style. I serged all of my seams - never even turned my regular machine on - but this pattern can absolutely be sewn with your regular machine.

I might have cleaned our Goodwill out of cool shirts to cut up and use with this pattern (since I'm not buying fabric - old shirts don't count, right? It's recycling!). If you use existing hems from old or thrifted shirts, it comes together even quicker. I love instant gratification.

I think the pattern will be released next week. I highly recommend it!

"You're Super" Valentines

2012-02-03T12:37:00.000-05:00

More Lego valentines! These are the same style as the Harry Potter ones I posted earlier this week, but with Superman and Wonder Woman!

We don't want the girls to feel left out, do we? In all honesty, the Wonder Woman minifig is the whole reason I bought this Lego set.

Just download the images below to your computer, and print them at home or wherever you have photos printed. If you want to add a name to yours, I used the font Bladerunner, and added the text using Google Picasa.

I've seen lots of great boy valentines this year, including this great roundup over at All for the Boys. Char at Crap I've Made has been posting great valentines all week as well. Don't miss her NKOTB one. I died laughing.

Rawr means "I love you" in dinosaur.

2012-02-02T15:34:00.000-05:00

This shirt was inspired by a poster I saw on Etsy that I can no longer locate (it was totally adorable though). I made it with my Silhoette, but you could totally do it as a freezer paper stencil.

Unfortunately, the blue heat transfer doesn't show up as well as I would like it to on the gray shirt. If I were doing it again, I'd choose either a different color shirt or a different color heat transfer.

Want the Silhouette file? I bought the dino from the Silhouette download store, but I'd be happy to send you my text file. Email me and I'll send it over.

Side note: Several of you have asked recently if I'm a Silhouette affiliate, and the answer is no. My hubby bought mine for me as a gift, and I get no compensation or anything from them.

Lego Harry Potter Valentines

2012-02-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've seen the sucker-holding valentines that took the internet by storm for the last three years (find the originals here). Well, this is the same concept, only with Lego minifigs. We're huge Harry Potter fans around here (there's a Lego Harry Potter birthday party in the planning stages over here), so we went with a Potter theme this year.

You could do this yourself with any minifig or other poseable action figure. Just pose them with their arm outstretched, snap a picture, and add text.

Or you could just use mine.

Free Harry Potter font found here. The Lego backdrop for these is just Lego scrapbooking paper, found at Joann's. I had these printed as 4x6 photos for nine cents a piece.

Valentines for Dudes - Day 1

2012-01-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

I've decided that this week is going to be boy's valentine week here on blog. Why? Because the whole "valentine's day is only for girls, there are no good boys valentine's day projects" rhetoric drives me insane. First, let's be clear -Valentine's day is manufactured, commercial holiday to begin with. If you want to hate on V-day on that level, by my guest. But really, why object to an opportunity to spread a little love?

BUT, if we buy into the idea that love and valentines are only for girls and aren't "masculine" enough for boys, we're only reinforcing the idea that boys and men shouldn't or can't be loving and tender and caring, and I refuse to do that. In fact, I RAIL against that assertion. That assertion is harmful to BOTH men and women. I will teach my boys to be kind and express love if it kills me.

So, this week, we're celebrating Valentine's Day and love. And it doesn't have to be romantic love. It can be love between friends, or within the family. We're especially emphasizing love between brothers (did you see this post from last week? We need some brotherly love up in here). We're going to kick it off with revisiting last year's Valentine's projects.

Robot Love Valentine's Shirt

Mama's Boy Hat

Love Skull shirt

I love you because printable.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more lovey goodness for boys!

Brotherly love?

2012-01-27T22:17:00.000-05:00

I really, really want my boys to love each other...

but some days, the best we can do is to apologize for wanting to punch each other.

Here's to a kinder, gentler tomorrow.

The Story Behind the Name, From One of my Besties

2012-01-25T11:35:00.000-05:00

***Yesterday morning was my weekly weigh in, and I was down 3.2 pounds last week! That puts me down 11.8 pounds for the month, and 13.11% of the way to my goal! WAHOOO!!***

Today I have a fun guest here on the blog - one of my very best friends in the world, Jencie.

Jencie and her oldest, Mya. If you've read the blog for awhile, you've met Mya here and here.

Jencie loving on baby Sawyer.

I met Jencie in January 1999 when we both joined the same sorority. I talked about her over here when Tam interviewed the Crafting With The Stars contestants. She's been a constant, amazing force in my adult life, and I love her to pieces. Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend like Jence. She is brave - she and her family just moved across the country to California in search of the life they've imagined for their family. She is amazingly artistic, and has her own photography business. You can check out her photos here - they're fantastic.

She's married to this guy.

I know, right?!?! Wait, I'M talking about the quality of the photo, what are YOU looking at? ;)

And they have these kids.

So, yes, they are absolutely the most beautiful family you'll ever meet, inside and out.

Jencie agreed to pop in and tell the story behind the name Fat Girl in a Little Coat.

So here she is!

I will never forget the night I heard that little sentence and what I saw just after, nor will I ever forget how much fun it is to laugh with one of my best, college-friends, Emily.

When I look back on my fuzzy memory of the college version of us, all I can do is shake my head and giggle. My head is flooded with a laundry list of funny things that Emily did, and as a result, my gut-busting laughter.

Something you should know about Emily and me is that we are complete opposites, in just about every way. Here’s a short list: She’s tall, I’m not, she has a waterfall of beautiful hair, mine is almost always short, she wears her confidence on her sleeve and I fight to keep mine in existence, she is a natural academic and I couldn’t be further from studious, she is actually crafty and I pay her to make things for me (wish I could do that more often!)

What we do have in common is that we don’t sleep very much, we always procrastinate, and we love to laugh.

Let me paint a picture for you:

Its finals, and time is of the essence when it comes to cramming for the test. Emily and I, and some other friends, created a sorority within a sorority called Alpha Nu Lamda (All Night Long) because we were all depriving ourselves of sleep in the name of “studying”. Most of the group were successful in their studies, Emily and I were successful in having as much fun as we could.

During one cram-session of fun we found ourselves in the computer room of our sorority house. My memory is blurry but I feel like we were playing dress-up in the lost and found. My back was to Emily and when she said, “Hey Jence!” I spun on my heel to see her in someone (a very small someone) else’s coat. Emily bent over ever so slightly and did her best Tommy Boy impersonation, “Fat Em in a little coooaaat.”

It still makes me laugh to this day, like my eyes are watering as I type this. I hope all of you have a friend that evokes such memories of silliness.

The significance of this “little coat” has now been a marker in Emily’s quest for a healthier lifestyle. I couldn’t be more proud to have a friend who can laugh at herself while also taking her health very seriously. I have a vision of her reaching her weight loss goal, sewing herself a purple trench coat, and cinching the waist every so tightly. And when she looks at herself in the mirror, I hope she hears my voice saying, “Skinny Em in a purple coaaat!”

Then we’ll skype and drink champagne while the six kids between us make messes and noise at our feet.....deal?

DEAL! Thanks for taking the time to share this memory, Jencie! :)

Space Rock Shirt

2012-01-24T09:47:00.000-05:00

Headphone alien download from the Silhouette store + random NASA font from the internet= Space Rock shirt!

I used my Silhouette to cut a freezer paper stencil, and then used some fabric paint to paint this shirt. It's sort of stiff because of the large size of the graphic. If I were doing it again, I'd make the alien smaller to decrease the stiffness of the shirt.

Did you know you can download the Silhouette software from their website, even if you don't have a machine? So, if you want this graphic, you can buy it from the store and then print it out and cut the stencil yourself.

I practically had to pay Riley to get him to let me take these pictures. His modeling days may be over. Sigh.

This post brought to you by January in Ohio.

2012-01-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

Yuck.

Yes, that is several inches of standing water in my backyard. It's gross. Has this been the weirdest winter in terms of weather, or what? Bring on the snow!!

The Show Off Bag

2012-01-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

Do you ever grab a pattern and think "oh, I don't really need to read the instructions because I am SO FREAKING GOOD AT SEWING that reading instructions is totally beneath me."

No?

That's just me?

Well, anyway, this bag was a humbling exercise in "why you should read instructions, even if you think the project is simple". I totally screwed up the order of operations in terms of sewing the straps to the yoke, and ended up with messy stitching. This annoys me to death, especially because I have no one to blame but myself.

It's the Show Off Bag, by Rae of Made By Rae. It's an adorable, quick little pattern, and had I read the instructions properly, my bag might have been less of a hot mess. Also, if I hadn't been forced to sew the entire bag with a zipper foot, maybe my topstitching could have been straight. But alas, it is not. Not straight at all. And I'm showing you anyway, because everybody sews some wonky topstitching now and then.

Don't let my failures deter you from this pattern - it's a great, adorable, very clearly written pattern. I'm FOR SURE going to make another one. It's the perfect size bag for what I need.

I used a wool suiting from my stash on the yoke portion, and the new Anna Maria velveteen for the bottom. Those velveteens sure are yummy, and this is my favorite print of the bunch.

You can see the hot pink lining peeking out there, which I love too.

So, I'm going to take another crack at this pattern soon, with a proper foot on my machine, and after having read the pattern instructions. Live and learn. :)

FGIALC: Weigh In, and Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup Recipe

2012-01-17T23:11:00.001-05:00

It's time for the first OFFICIAL installment of

First things first: You guys are AWESOME! Thank you so much for all the amazing comments, emails, and tweets in support of my weight loss quest! It feels really good to know there are people cheering for me, and that so many of you are struggling with and working through the same issues as me. (In case you missed my last post, you can read about my weight loss goals here.)

This morning was my weigh in, and (drum roll, please...) I lost 2 pounds this week! That brings me to 8.6 pounds for the month - I'm not complaining about that loss at all!

I have to say, I feel FANTASTIC, and I fully attribute it to the plant-based, whole foods diet. I have an absurd amount of energy - more energy than I've had in YEARS. Actually, more energy than I can EVER remember having, even when I was thin in high school. I really think it's because of the amount of fruits in vegetables in my diet now. I'm sleeping better too. Before I switched my diet, I was having all sorts of crazy dreams and sleeping terribly. Now, I'm sleeping great (when the kids will let me), and I can get through the whole day with lots of energy. I don't have that mid-day lull in energy anymore. It feels amazing. If that's not motivation to keep going, I don't know what is!

Today, I'm going to share with you a recipe for Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup that I've been eating a ton of in the last two weeks. It has no added oil, is entirely plant based, tastes great, and is really filling.

Sweet Potato And Black Bean Soup

Makes about 8 cups of soup
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 2.5 per cup (The whole pot contains 20 PointsPlus values.)
Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 can of chiles in adobo sauce (only need 1 chile or so - don't dump in the whole can!)
1 box veggie stock
1.5 cups of water

2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. red cayenne pepper (more or less to taste - if you don't like heat, you can decrease or eliminate the cayenne)

In a large stock pot, using a little veggie stock (about 1/4 cup), saute the onion, garlic, chiles, sweet potato, and squash until the onions are softened. Once the onions are softened, add the rest of the veggie stock and simmer until squash and potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, add water while blending until smooth. Add black beans and spices and simmer 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

(I just realized you can see my reflection in the spoon - HA!)

It's super easy and delicious! I've made it with 3 sweet potatoes, and it worked great as well, but subbing the squash reduces the PointsPlus values while achieving the same flavor. I've topped it on occasion with some pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and it was fantastic.

How are things going in your world? So many of you said you were trying to lose weight, eat healthier, or exercise more - how's it going so far?