Spring but not Spring

This weather is weird, man. I don't know what to make of it. On the one hand, I love the cold, and I really am enjoying every last drop of it that we're having...but on the other hand, I pulled my spring/summer wardrobe out like a month and a half ago, and...I haven't been able to wear any of it without throwing a sweater on top! Today was the last straw, though. I got new flip-flops (finally!).

Let me tell you a story about flip-flops: I don't like them. Never have. Not the flimsy, $2, Old Navy kind that everyone wears, anyway. I agree that they're easy to slip on as you run out the door, and they're cheap and easy to replace, but come on. They're ugly, and cheap, and I refuse to wear them. (Well, the cheap rubber kind at least.)

I do have a pair of Diane von Furstenberg flip-flops (that, for the record, are almost two years old and still functioning), and last year I bought a pair of black Polo ones. Unfortunately I made the mistake of throwing them in the washing machine once, and they did not survive that too well, so I've been on the lookout for a replacement pair for a while now...and today I found some! Josh and I were at TJ Maxx when I spotted these adorable black (Coach) flip-flops with a sweet little bow on them.



And I bought them. Duh. They're plastic, which makes for easy cleaning, and way durable, and, they actually have grip on the bottom! Bonus. These are easily going to become my go-to slip on everyday shoe.

Yesterday my newest bracelet arrived, a Marc by Marc Jacobs black/white leather piece, very cute:



I love it! (bottom one is also Marc by Marc Jacobs, but I already had it...just hadn't taken a picture yet!)

Anyway, I have one more thing coming, a dress that should be here Thursday, and then it's back to a self-imposed shopping ban for April.

Today (Tuesday) was the only day this week I didn't have a doctors appointment. Yesterday I saw the orthopedic specialist, tomorrow I see the psychiatrist, Thursday the eye doctor, and Friday I have an MRI on my knee. It sucks. I absolutely hate going to the doctor, any doctor, but it is a necessary evil. I'm just ready for it to be over with! At least yesterday's was the only early appointment, the rest of them are in the afternoon, so I don't have to get up early.

In other news, I kind of got off-track with my goals this month. Like I said before, it ended up being a really strange month, but I know that's no excuse. Obviously I'm still restricted from working out (doctors orders), but I'm trying to get back to eating right. I did ok while my parents were here, but since I was sick last week, I wasn't eating much at all, and now I'm trying to get back in the habit of cooking daily. (Which is only hard because doing that produces a lot of dishes, and loading/unloading the dishwasher is painful due to a lot of knee-bending.) I have only lost one pound so far this month - I'm not really pleased with that, but I'll take it. It's better than a gain.

Since I've got a lot going on the rest of the week I might not have time to post until the weekend, but I hope everyone is having a good week! Maybe it'll warm up and I can wear my new shoes out sometime this weekend! :)

Friday fashion talk

Well so much for my 'no-buy' goal. My mom and I (famous for our shopping sprees) managed to keep it light, but we did shop every single day that Josh was gone.

We started it off Monday, with a trip to TJ Maxx not long after they arrived. (We certainly didn't waste any time.) My mom picked up some Coach tennis shoes, a shirt or two (I tried convincing her to buy a black version of the Michael Kors shirt I got, but she wasn't having it), and some houseware stuff. I got some face stuff off the clearance rack (Elizabeth Arden face mask, some crazy organic moisturizer, I forget the brand, and some nail polish), a hot pink Michael Kors shirt (see below) and a Max Studio maxi.

 (sorry about the blurry one, but it's the closest to showing the true color)

Tuesday we went to ReStore; she had brought like a huge box + 3 or 4 large bags of stuff, and I had 3 large bags. It filled up the entire back of her Escape, so it was a hefty load. Then we went in and shopped. She found a nice scarf with the tags still on it, and I got two shirts. I don't really intend to wear either as-is, but the black/gold one is so pretty, and detailed (and brand new, it had tags on it), that I am going to hold off on cutting into it until I have a solid plan.

Wednesday we headed to the mall, my mom wanted to get her hair cut, but we still managed to squeeze some store time in before and after. I picked up a pair of striped leggings (how on-trend am I, y'all?!), and an absolutely gorgeous navy blue ruffly Cremieux skirt I found on a clearance rack at Dillards. My mom got a few shirts and a hi/low (mermaid hem?) dress in oxblood (also off the clearance rack, they were packed with awesome stuff!) 

Thursday we stuck to the bookstore, my mom got a bunch of books but I didn't. I picked one out but decided to buy it on my Kindle instead. :)

Today, after my parents left, Josh and I went back and I found another Michael Kors shirt (nautical! perfection!) so that just sort of happened, but I really think it was worth it. It's beautiful, and dressier than a lot of things I own, so it will be a little more versatile.

Also included, for your consideration, two things I had mentioned but hadn't shared pictures of: the grey maxi skirt from last time we were at TJ Maxx (it's Max Studio) and my newest addition to my Marc by Marc Jacobs sunglasses collection. (Stars!)

Ok, well we're off for a night of fun and adventure, I'll catch up with you cats later and write more about the week, and our very exciting (not so much) travel plans for either next week, or the week after. Intrigue! (Or just poor planning, who knows.)

Friday things.

Last week, on Sunday, I told Josh to go through the list of recipes I have and pick some out for the week. Then, I made a grocery list based on that, and he went to the store and bought everything. What I did not anticipate, however, was that he picked a large number of meals that yield leftovers...so now we only have to go replenish a few things for this next week, since we still have some frozen meat, and leftovers. Crazy. I should have realized this years ago. I have forever revolutionized grocery shopping.

Tomorrow night we're actually going to have a pretty fancy, and rather seafood-heavy, meal. Spicy shrimp dip to start, and steaks with saffron & lobster mashed potatoes on the side. I'm really excited!

The doctor visit went really well today. She actually concluded that I'm not bipolar, which was nice to hear, but then she said that I am delusional, which, apparently, is it's own diagnosis. I knew I had delusions, but didn't realize it was it's own disorder. Anyway, that plus anxiety NOS is what I have. Pretty sure she hit the nail on the head, though, because she actually read me the definition of each diagnosis and it was one of those, "Oh, hey, that's me!" moments. (Well, minus the exclamation point, I guess.) We talked for a long time, longer than any other doctor has ever talked to me (usually after one or two questions they hand me a prescription and show me the door) so it was really nice. I feel really comfortable with her, and I'm glad that it seems like this is going to work out. I have two more appoints with her, plus one with the actual psychiatrist (who, she warned me, will hand me a prescription and show me the door, but it'll be in conjunction with talking to her so I'm not worried.)

Just so I have a picture in this post, here is part of what I wore today. Alice + Olivia cashmere striped skirt, black tights, my Uggs that I swore to never leave the house in (it was cold and I was running late!), and you can kind of see my purse (Michael Kors) with it's fox fur keychain. (I pet it when I'm nervous.)

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the smell of shrimp off your hands after you peel and de-vein two pounds of them? IMPOSSIBLE. My hands smell disgusting.

While we're on the subject of Annoying Things...my sunglasses are HERE, in this town, but I won't get them til Monday because Fed Ex is stupid. (Well, I think, I don't really know if they deliver on Saturday or not.)

I got inspired to make a bracelet today! Unfortunately my desk is still a horrific mess so it may be a couple of days before I get it cleared off, and work up the nerve to open my Giant Box of Fabric, but I promise it'll happen this week.

All those empty boxes from the gluten-free stuff I've been meaning to talk about are still in my kitchen. They're stuffed in a large bowl, and they get moved around at least once a day, but I haven't really been inspired to talk about them since I've cut out processed food for the time being.

Sometimes I get really sad about the fact that there is so much beauty in the world that I'll never get to experience. I mean, even if the whole world just stopped, right this second, and I never slept again, and spent the rest of my time alive just wandering the earth and experiencing everything this amazing planet has to offer - I still couldn't fit it all in.

"Getting old is a fatal mistake."

It doesn't feel like February.

My watch got here. It's the most gorgeous thing ever. And by that I mean it's the most gorgeous thing until I get something else new. Because that's life, people.

Anyway. Things are...weird right now. Not bad weird, actually they're weird in the absolute best way possible. That's all I'm saying for now. Have fun wondering non-stop what I mean by that.

I have a doctors appointment for the 22nd. Apparently I get to see a therapist who then decides if I need to see they psychiatrist, the psychologist, or both...I think. I'm not sure, I made Josh make the appointment because making phone calls when I don't know the situation at the other end is a huge source of anxiety for me. (Yeah, this is one of those that confuses me too. But I just can't do it. I panic and hang up on people all the time. It's awful.) It's sort of a long way off, but now that I don't have to fly somewhere and meet people I'm ok with waiting.

Lately I've been in the mood to go do stuff, but I don't know what I want to do. I think part of it just stems from not really having anyone to do stuff with, other than Josh. Which is fine like 99% of the time, I mean, we got married because we are best friends, and could stand to be around each other 24/7, obviously, but some days I just want a girlfriend to go have coffee with, and walk around the mall and talk to. I've found that it's much harder to find stuff to do when you're trying not to eat out as much. Everything revolves around food. Or shopping, which I'm totally ok with and really good at, but clearly, we're not millionaires. I can't shop every day...unless it's at Restore. But then we'd need a bigger house to hold all my junk. Wow this paragraph really got away from me.

I just want to get out of the house more. Also, I'm about done with it getting dark at 5 pm. I'm ready for longer days. (Sure I could just wake up earlier, but where's the fun in that?!) I miss Fredericksburg.

My brain is doing that thing where it won't stop thinking thoughts but it's going too fast for me to make sense of it, so I'm going to end this.

Well except for this picture of my watch that I'm posting. :D

Weekend pt 1

We finally made it to Restore to donate all those old clothes! The guest bed is empty (and clean!), and I am slowly getting everything else in order back there. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've all guessed, I couldn't just drop stuff off without a little walk-through...which led to buying something. I found this really awesome two-piece outfit...it's a long skirt and a button down shirt, but I'm thinking of putting it altogether and making a romper...or just making shorts out of the skirt, and making the top sleeveless. I don't know yet, it's very exciting. The fabric is gorgeous, it's black with big blue, green, pink, and orange flowers and leaves on it. I'm in the process of washing it right now, so I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Yesterday we went out because Josh and I both kind of felt like going somewhere, but neither of us had any idea of where to go, so we ended up at TJ Maxx. I found this really awesome aromatherapy set, and the smell reminded me of this lotion I used to have from Victoria's Secret, so today after Restore we stopped at the mall and got some of that. (Very proud of myself for going in through Dillard's but not getting distracted!)

Oh, remember how I couldn't resist that Marc Jacobs watch the other day? Well, last night I was might have ordered a bracelet so it wouldn't be lonely on my arm. I can't help it, everything Marc Jacobs does is perfection. Anyway, I told Josh that those two things can be my Valentine's Day gift. Mostly just so I'd have an excuse for having bought them, we normally don't celebrate Valentine's Day.

I discovered the magic of cooking with quinoa this past week. I made some with apples and cinnamon for breakfast the other day, and tonight I made fajitas and replaced the rice with quinoa cooked just like Mexican rice...so good! (I found both of those on Pinterest.)

Well, it's kind of early for me, we slept till 2:30 today (isn't it awful? I wish I could flip my schedule back to normal.) so I'll be up for a while, and I really want to go empty my cabinet space under the counter, and toss all the food that's expired or we're not planning on eating. I'll try to get the craft room clean, too, I have a project that needs to get done pretty soon so I really want to get stuff organized in there so I can get it done!

Here's a picture of an awesome car we spotted while on the way to Restore today. (It's a 1961 Studebaker Hawk, if you're curious.)

Weekend words

I don't know why I've been more philosophical than crafty lately, but oh well. It is what it is. Plus, my craft room is still sort of disaster-y because we haven't gotten around to donating the discarded clothes, and the cat has been sleeping on them. And also, you know, it's just generally messy and I hate going in there when it's messy. One of these days I'll be in a cleaning mood, and I'll go in there, but it's been sunny the past few days so we've been spending more time outside.

Both Friday and Saturday Josh and I did our workouts outside. Thursday we tried to go outside for a while, but Belle was out there with us and had a panic attack and got tangled around a post, then clawed her way up my leg. It was extremely painful for me, and obviously terrifying for her (it took at least five minutes of talking to her calmly, while bent over and holding her up with her claws sunk deep into the back of my thigh before I could even get her to let go), so we gave up and came back inside. I still have a bunch of bruises but she seems to have recovered nicely. No more going outside for her though.

Oh! The shopping trip on Friday went well. Josh got two pairs of dress pants and two shirts, and I got two shirts and a skirt. (The skirt is so great! Looks like this one.) One of the shirts I got is black/white/gold striped, to match my new gold glittery Chinese Laundry shoes that came in yesterday. The other is a grey, three-quarter sleeve, asymmetrical hem sweater. I'm feeling a lot calmer about traveling now.

...or at least I was until I thought about it.

Thursday I got a new book, The Naked Foods Cookbook. We were walking around downtown, and I wandered into one of the bath-houses while Josh was taking a restroom break and found it. The gluten-free, healthy fats part is what grabbed my attention - I've never been one to fall into any kind of 'fad diet' trap. I've done my homework, I know enough about nutrition to hold an educated conversation, and I hate when people think that eating low-fat processed food is a better choice than raw nuts/nut butter or an avocado, just because of the fat content. Anyway, I'm rambling - it's a great book, I'm going through it slowly and loving every page!

On the flip side, I also bought the Biggest Loser: 6 Weeks to a Healthier You, and didn't like it at all! The format of it sucked; it basically just profiled all the people from that particular season in the first part, and then, when I got into the recipe part, nearly every single one of them uses a microwave! That's not a recipe to me. I guess they're geared more towards people with busy lives and all, but still. Don't waste your money on that. I didn't learn anything from it that I didn't already know, other than a bunch of random facts about a bunch of random people. (In the interest of total honesty, though, I haven't finished this book either, and I doubt that I ever will.)

As usual I have no solid plans this week, but Friday is our 5 year anniversary and Josh clearly has something up his sleeve. I know I'm getting a gift, and I know (vaguely) what it is, but I don't know when it will be here, and he seems to want to 'present' it at a dinner or something, so I don't know when we'll actually be celebrating. I'm not one that puts a lot of emphasis on this sort of thing, though, so it does not matter to me when (or even if) we go out and celebrate. I much prefer a night at home, wearing pajamas and watching tv together. I just cannot believe we're going to have been married for five years. It does not seem like it was that long ago that we were standing there in the courthouse, waiting in line, and then running across Burnet in the middle of rush hour on a rainy winter day because we were hungry and couldn't get a seat at Trudy's. And while our wedding day may not have been traditional, it was fun, quite fitting for us, and full of love and laughter.

Well, almost

Yesterday we found out that because of some changes that are taking place within Joshs company right now, they're going to be having this big 'meet and greet' sort of conference, at which they'll be getting necessary things done, but they want people to bring their spouses since they'll be going over benefits and what not. Which means that I have to meet other people. A lot of them. At once.

I already had two anxiety attacks over this yesterday, but I keep telling myself that if I get them over with now, then maybe I won't have any there. In front of people. I know that's not really how it works, but I'm doing what I can. And today, I'm choosing to focus my energy elsewhere. Like the mall!

I know, I KNOW. I'm not supposed to be shopping, but since this trip is taking place very soon, if I want anything new to take with me, I have to shop now. And I definitely want something (or a couple of somethings) new to take. And Josh actually needs new stuff, since he was...a little less chunky the last time he had to travel and look presentable. Working from home will do that to ya!

Anyway. I'm going to try and just choose one or two nice dresses or something, and focus more on getting Josh some nice stuff, since he really needs it more. I plan to just show up when I have to, and spend the rest of my time wandering the city alone taking pictures. (Anyone out there live in Charlotte, N.C., or have some suggestions of things I must see?)

Fresh.

I know I talked a bit about goals yesterday, but since today is officially a new start, a fresh canvas on which to paint my twenty-seventh year of life, I'm going to elaborate a bit more on what I want to do this year, how, and why.

I don't normally make resolutions; they seem so trivial, and are so often being broken before they've even begun to take hold that I see no real point. But I do know that there are aspects of my life that need change, and a new year is as good a time as any to start the effort towards accomplishing that. So instead of taking all of those goals from yesterday, and breaking my brain by trying to get them all done in the next week, I'm going to focus on one or two each month, cultivate them into habits, and making sure that the change is permanent before moving on to the next thing. Make sense?

This month I have two large goals: not buy anything new, and get back into the habit of logging my food daily.

And while it might not look like it at first glance, they do actually compliment each other. If I can hold back on my shopping, and focus more on eating at home, watching what I eat, then perhaps by the time I do go shopping, it will be for a different size.

The shopping problem is kind of a new thing. (And really, it's not a problem, but I'd like to make sure I have it in check before it becomes one.) For a long time (five years, to be exact) I shopped very minimally. Only when it was absolutely necessary, or when my parents were visiting and my mom took me shopping. It had to do a lot with how broke we were for the first few years we lived in Austin.

Then, slowly, I realized how awesome thrift shopping was; it became an adventure to go to a thrift store, and find the treasures hidden amongst the piles of crap. After we moved here last year, I realized while going through a lot of my clothes just how rarely I splurged on myself and bought clothes new. It was a treat to go to the mall and get new things, and it kind of bugged me. I decided that I deserved nice things, and started buying what I wanted.

Which is good, I think people should buy what they want, and treat themselves nice, but then it became a thing, in which I bought stuff because it was nice, in my size, and/or on sale, and not really because they were something I would wear. And instead of balancing my thrifting with my regular shopping, I've just being on a spree for the past few months, which, along with not getting rid of too much, has resulted in my having two whole packed-to-the-max closets. And that's just being greedy.

I started last night, and am continuing today, to go through my closets and find things to donate that don't fit, or I don't wear. It's a slow process because the first time I went through I only came up with two pairs of pants. Then I thought about it a bunch, and went over again, and got out two more pairs of pants and a shirt I think I wore once. It may take a few times of going over it again (I can already think of another shirt I've only worn once) but I will make a dent in my collection before I allow myself to shop again.

Tucked in along with that goal is my intention to only buy things I really love, and intend to wear over and over. I've always favored very classic pieces, clean lines, and the most basic colors: black, grey, and white. For the past few years, though, especially when I was buying something used, and it was cheap, I've been trying to expand my taste, challenge myself to wear different colors, and honestly? It's useless. I like what I like, and I'm done trying to keep up with fashion trends, or force myself to wear things I don't really like.

It's also, in a way, teaching me a lesson. I feel bad having wasted money on things that I didn't love. Money I could have saved and put towards something I really want (uggh Prada rain boots). Definitely not making that mistake again this year.

As far as food goes, I plan to start by logging everything daily to get an idea of where I'm at, then incorporating changes to meet my nutritional goals. Being gluten-free definitely makes it trickier than before, but I know it can be done. Once I get that in check, then I'll move on to adding in work-outs next month. (That's not to say I'm not doing anything in the way of exercise now, only that it is minimal and mostly consists of walking/jogging, because I want to make my body is getting everything it needs before I start anything intense.) By the end of the year, I want to run a 10K.

I'm posting this all on here as a way to keep myself honest, and hopefully, get some encouragement along the way. So if you're planning anything similar, let me know!

November musings

I think I need to set a goal for myself regarding November: make things using only materials I already have on hand! I mean, I have a few skirt ideas in mind that will obviously require me to buy elastic (I cannot install a zipper to save my life) but other than that, no more buying things from re-store! My fabric bins (yes, more than one) are overflowing, and my floor, desk, and coffee table are covered. As in you can barely see what color those things are through all the fabric that's spread out everywhere.

Belle doesn't complain though, she thinks that the craft room is her room and she is the Queen of the Fabric and gets to lay on whatever texture suits her mood at the moment.

I have so many materials already, so much fabric, and too-small or too-big items that need to be altered or just cut up and used as fabric, but I get distracted so easily. I think what I need to do is go through my 'Craft Ideas & Sewing Projects' board on pinterest, pick out some stuff, set up my laptop in the craft room with 5 or 6 project ideas open, and then cut off the wireless so I can't open up anything else!

I do have to make sure I put everything away for the week of Thanksgiving, though, because my in-laws will be here! So I guess minus the half week I've already wasted spent not doing much of anything (well except painting the Coolest Doll Ever) I've got three weeks to work with this month.

Anyway, here are a few pieces I'm wanting to wok on specifically this week:

Ivory/gold brocade skirt. It's a really nice skirt, but it's like one size too small, and I'm not sure whether I should hold out and hope I can fit into it soon, or just go ahead and make something out of it. If I do, I'm thinking a clutch.

This dress is also really nice, but it's an XS and I know I'll never be that tiny so it's destined for re-purposing. Just not too sure what it will turn into...

They're both gold (and sparkly!) which makes me think of winter and Christmas, which is kind of why I'm trying to work with them first.

I also have a black maxi that I grabbed at restore that I'm debating turning into asymmetrical hem skirt...I really don't know! I kind of want to just go ahead and do it because it's a $2 skirt so what's the harm? But at the same time nice flowy, not-faded-one-little-bit thrift store maxis are hard to come by!

Also this month: I'll be getting (and restoring!) a table and six chairs from my in-laws. That will definitely be a learning experience. I might even paint them. We'll see how it goes.

I'll probably also be baking and possibly sharing a few gluten-free ideas. I'm still getting used to this, and finding new things to eat can be hard. Partially because I'm picky, and partially because Josh doesn't have to eat gluten-free, so it can be difficult to find things for both of us to eat, and that still taste good to him. I'm still trying to not eat out the rest of this month, so hopefully embracing the eating at home thing will lead to us finding a balance.

And on a final note, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS ALREADY NOVEMBER.

I've returned!

Sorry if I seemed to fall off the face of the earth for a whole week! Things got a little bit crazy around here. Remember my hand problem? Well it ended up getting worse and Benedryl wasn't helping me at all, so I went to the doctor, got a shot and two prescriptions, and am now finally, starting to feel normal again. My pointer finger is still a little itchy and numb but it's not swollen anymore, and it's not nearly as bad as it was last week. Crazy! I can't believe that one tiny little old spider molt would cause such a huge fuss.

But that wasn't the only excitement I had. Last Thursday we headed down to Magnolia again, as my brother was up visiting his girlfriend. So we went down for a long weekend, stayed with my in-laws, and spent time visiting with everyone. We also got to go to the thrift store since we made it down there on a weekday this time around. At the first place we went I got an owl painting, and a creepy looking doll for a grand total of $2.50. Perfect. Then we went next door (where I spotted the exact same owl painting for $10.99!) and I got an iron owl that I believe is to put a hot pot on (although he seems kind of small for that), a brass wall-mount candlestick, and a food chopper (not pictured.) I'm quite pleased with all these things, although I would have been much happier if there had been a matching pair for my candle stick.

I also saw a wonderful owl cookie jar but passed him up based on price...which is kind of ironic considering that on Saturday we went shopping and I ended up with these:

Despite the fact that I've been on the hunt for some comfy house shoes(boots) for a while now, I did not go in the store with the intention of buying these. I was just looking around, because the store (The Shoe Box) usually has really interesting and unique stuff. Unfortunately all the nice 'normal' boots they had this time around were made for people with no calf muscles...and just as I was about to give up I saw these. Tried them on...and couldn't resist! Seriously, it's like walking on clouds. They haven't come off my feet since I've been home. (Well besides when I took the picture :P) I never thought of myself as an Ugg person, but I definitely am now. (Although I must say, the only time you'll ever catch me wearing them out of the house is if we run to a drive-thru, or gas station in the middle of the night and I'm wearing pajamas.)

My other wonderful find of the weekend was actually found by Josh! He found this at the outlet store and asked if I wanted it! He should have known he didn't even have to ask.

And last but not least is this adorable owl shirt...don't ask why I'm so grumpy in this picture, I look really cute otherwise :P

So that's why I didn't make anything over the weekend, even though my hands are probably up to it now. I was off buying stuff instead!! Today was my rest day, though, and tomorrow I cross-my-heart that I will go into the craft room and sit my butt down and not get up until I have something (or two or three somethings) to post!

Clearance and crafting and leather OH MY!

Oh man. What an awesome weekend. Friday I had to take Orion to the vet because he had his last heartworm pill last month and he needed more by today. (Yay procrastination!) Actually I kind of waited this long on purpose because he's a growing boy and he needed to get weighed so we'd know what size to get him...and of course he needs two separate sizes. Two pills each month, two boxes every six months...because my 9 month old puppy has passed the 100 pound mark! Anyway, I took him by myself while Josh was working, then we went to Pet-co where he got two new toys and a treat for being a good boy. He (I) picked out a giant rubber gummy bear and a triangular frisbee looking thing. He loves them both.

Once Josh finished up his work we (tried) to take his brother and friend to the card shop but found it no longer exists...so we headed to Michael's where I got some clasps that I needed (since I've been making jewelry non-stop for the past week!) and then, while looking for the leather scraps, I got sucked into the clearance bin. (I think they put it across from the leather just because they saw me coming.) I ended up with all this:

Pretty sure this was the best deal. Not sure what I'm going to use it for, yet, but I couldn't pass it up!

After we came home the guys spent most of the evening outside playing ping-pong on the new table and I managed to pass out early.

Saturday, after Aaron and his friend left, Josh and I went to the floral convention! It was really fun, and I got a lot of awesome pictures but I'm not going to post any until I'm done editing them (which is not something I usually do) and have them uploaded to an album where the florists who invited us can see them first.

Yesterday I spent most of the day lounging around the house, playing ping-pong, and making jewelry for Josh and me...I used the black leather that I got in the scrap bag and made four different bracelets...here are two of them:

And then today I made these for Josh and his friend Riquo:

And now, my desk is a giant mess, with glue and bottle caps and pieces of leather everywhere, but it feels like fall and I couldn't be happier. :)

P.S. Joining: