Our Special Saturday

All my life, Saturdays were meaningful to me and it's my favorite day of the week. I was born on a Saturday. I took ballet lessons on Saturdays when I was little. My stepfather used to wake up the family on Saturday mornings by playing The Temptations' My Girl. I studied Thai traditional music and dance at the Wat (Thai word for temple) on Saturdays. My favorite color is purple, which also represents Saturday in Thai culture. Unfortunately my stepfather passed away on a Saturday when I was nine years old. With every death there's a new beginning...


I have another reason to love Saturdays. I got married today, the last Saturday and day in June! As I prepared for the small ceremony - just my sweetheart, our dogs, and me - I made sure to wear my pretty purple Sisco Berlutti bracelets that were given to Chris to give to me from Lisa Sisco and Carolyn Berluti themselves. (They are members of Chris's gym.) We stopped by the local florist's shop, Floral Scents, and designed a very pretty bouquet of purple roses with little white flowers. I really love the results and the beautiful bouquet!

Pretty bouquet of purple roses.

I love purple. The florist did a wonderful job.

If you're in the Canton/Norwood/Dedham/Sharon area, definitely stop by!

The ceremony was held in the Justice of the Peace's backyard. We chose Justice Linda Woodhouse. She's so nice and helpful. She said some beautiful words about love and marriage. Then we shared our vows to each other. I was a bawling mess. Chris is a great writer, just amazing.

Chris with our boys wearing their new neck ties.

Us with Linda, our Justice of the Peace.

Us and the boys. One family.

When we got home, we had a photo shoot on our balcony. I think they came out pretty good. Now it's time to make the final preparations for my Thai wedding and wedding reception next month on Long Island.

Husband and wife. :)

All smiles.

Purple roses, bracelets, and a new ring.

Love,

Patti

Friday Finds - 6.29.12

It's that time of the week again...

Urban Threads' Tutorials

I'm a fan of tutorials. I'm a visual learner so having videos or pictures definitely helps me understand the concepts and techniques used while crafting. I stumbled across Urban Threads a while ago while looking for free embroidery patterns. They have the coolest designs. I love all their steampunk patterns and all the tutorials on how to make some cool stuff. Here's a link to Urban Threads' tutorial section and to their Hand Embroidery tutorials.

I love braids and Lauren Conrad's Tutorials

I've been braiding since I was 7 years old. It was during a long car ride to Florida that I got bored and started playing with my hair. Through trial and error I learned to braid on my own. A few years later I learned how to french braid by just trying it out. I always wanted to learn how to do the fishtail braid, but never took the time to learn. While on Pinterest the other day I a pin about fishtail braids. I eventually found my way onto YouTube, specifically Lauren Conrad's beauty channel. Hope you enjoy this video!

Pixel of Ink

Do you like to read? I do. Do you own a Kindle? You should. I love my Kindle Touch and I love getting free books. As of today, I own over 2,000 free Kindle books. I rarely buy books unless it's something that's on sale and I really would like to have it in my collection. I usually get a daily e-mail about the latest free Kindle book through www.pixelofink.com. It's a great place to start. There are definitely other ways. You can go directly to the Amazon Kindle website and view their best selling free Kindle books.

Green Bag Lady & Betz White

Woo hoo! I won a bag made by Green Bag Lady using Betz White's organic fabric line - Stitch. I usually don't win giveaways and sweepstakes, but you know that saying? It went something like "You don't win if you don't play." I'll play if it's for FREE!

It's here! Thanks Green Bag Lady!

Pretty! It's simple, but still a great tote bag.

My bag is #20664.

Betz White's fabric from www.robertkaufman.com.

Sunday Shares - 6.24.12

What a busy weekend! Chris's childhood friend, Eric, and his wife, Debbie came over on Saturday. We were puppy sitting their Cockalier, JB, while they attend a wedding that night. We had lunch at the Feisty Greek and then parted ways. Chris and I went to Walmart to pick up a new toy for the boys and JB. I ended up with new fabric, of course.

Pretty flowers, fabric from Walmart.

I spent all Saturday afternoon and night making a bag for Debbie. Once I had something in mind, I'll work like a mad woman to finish it. I found a great list of tote bags at Tipnut - 45+ Free Tote Bag Patterns and Tutorials. I used Very Purple Person's Reversible Bag pattern. There was a good tutorial on how to make the bag. If only I was diligent at reading instead of watching Breaking Pointe, I would have saved myself the issues I encountered later that night. I also had enough time to make a matching purse. I'm so pleased on how it came out.

Tada! Reversible bag.

A matching purse. I used a 7" zipper for this one.

 On Sunday, we all went to Boston's Chinatown for dim sum at the Empire Garden Restaurant. Sooo good! Afterwards we went for a walk in the Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden. It was a beautiful day with a lovely breeze.

A swan making her nest near the pond.

Swan boats.

Debbie, Chris, and Eric taking in the site of swans, ducks, and swan boats.

 Later that day after Chris and I got back from IKEA, I ended up at Joann Fabrics. It happens quite often. I picked up some linen fabric and cute flower patterned fabrics. I have a thing for flowers.

Our little Dragon Trees from IKEA.

New fabrics to add to the bin.

 That's all from today's Sunday Share.

Books, Trip, and Ice Cream Truck

Whew! It's been a while... Let's catch up on the past week. First, my books arrived last Friday! They contain pretty pictures. Makes my hands itch to make something right now. They were from Interweave's Hurt Book Sale. From the looks of them, there's nothing wrong at all. What a bargain!

Color on Color, New England Knits, I <3 Patchwork, and French Girl Knits

On Tuesday I had a last minute business trip to Bath, Maine. Good thing I kept my bag packed and ready for this trip. It was still in limbo on Monday. We were supposed to leave Monday night, but it was delayed. We got the go ahead on Tuesday and left work at 9:30 am and arrived in Bath at 1 pm. Bath is a little town that's known for their ship building, specifically U.S. Navy ships like the DDG-51 and the DDG-1000, Zumwalt class destroyers.

My co-worker, Stephanie, and I were there to replace some parts on the ship. It was cool to walk through it, but we picked one of the hottest days to be on the ship. We had to wear long sleeves and long pants along with a hard hat and safety glasses. Don't know how those guys do it everyday. After running back and forth between the shipyard and the warehouse, we finally finished around 3 pm on Wednesday. We got home later that evening and I was glad to take a nice cold shower at home. I miss being home with Chris and our boys.

This restaurant was attached to the Holiday Inn.
It had a maritime theme, quite appropriate for Bath.
The Bounty.

Thursday was Ice Cream Truck Day at my company. The Fun Team arranged for an ice cream truck to come for two hours. You can pick whatever you like. I had one of those chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Yummy!

Let's gather around the ice cream truck!

Today, I just did a lot of laundry. While I'm waiting for Chris to come home, I'll probably start a new craft project. It's been so busy and I've been slacking on the craft front. The hard part is picking out a project...

Downton Abbey and Crafts Night

I just wanted to post a quick update before I start my Downton Abbey, season 2 marathon. :)

On Sunday, Chris and I went to see Cirque Du Soleil's Totem in Boston. Chris bought tickets to celebrate my birthday and it was opening night. It was my first time seeing a Cirque show live... yay! While there I got to show off my new tote that I made a few hours before we left the house.

Our seats at Cirque Du Soleil Totem.

Photo shoot during intermission.

New tote bag I made that day.

 Today I got my zippers in the mail! I ordered 100 assorted 7" zippers. I plan on making a lot of bags and skirts with these babies. Can't wait. Look at the pretty colors!

Zippers from Zip It's Etsy shop.

As for tonight, I will be relaxing in front of the tv with my knitting and crocheting books I borrowed from the library yesterday. I might even knit or crochet. Wait and see!

My reading list and movie for the night.

Ashland's Relay for Life

Today was a beautiful day for the Relay for Life in Ashland, MA. The sun was out and very few clouds in sight. My company gathered many volunteers from a variety of departments - Engineering, Marketing, Customer Service, and HR - and everyone showed up to support the cause. Together we raised over $15,000 for this event in a span of one year. We held bake sales, casual Wednesdays, raffles, and a golf tournament throughout the year.

I managed to convince Chris to join me and I believe he had a great time once I put him to work selling lemonade, popcorn, and chili. See for yourself!

Chris advertising the popcorn and lemonade.

My company's tents - manicure and massage on the left, food on the right.

Together, we can!

All the pretty signs. I made the Chili and Chips sign.

Manning the popcorn machine.

Friday Finds - 6.8.12

TGIF! I love Fridays. It always signals the beginning of my weekends. I want to start sharing links to awesome articles and interesting things I stumble across on the internet. It'll be aptly called "Friday Finds."

Loyal Pup Waits for Trucker's Return

I love this story! The first part details how the pup went missing. The second part is about their joyful reunion! It brought a smile to my face. I doubt our pups would be that patient and wait for us to find them after two days. Lucky man and his lucky pup!

Insanity

No, I'm not going insane. Chris wanted us to try a new exercise program and decided that we should do the Insanity workout. I'm clearly out of shape - I didn't get through the entire fit test. Ugh. Maybe I'll give it a try later today and this time I will eat a light snack before and dinner after the workout. This is a link to their website... Insanity Workout.

Interweave's Hurt Book Sale

First, I have to say I'm excited. I collect a lot of books, but I usually buy them on sale. Haven't bought them used yet (I have this weird thing - I like my books brand spanking new). Interweave is having a Hurt Book Sale to get rid of craft books in their inventory with slight imperfections. You can get a lot of different craft books for 30-70% off. Don't wait - it all ends on June 12 and it's first come, first serve! I just got myself four new books for under $10 each.

• Color on Color: Elegant Designs to Stitch
• I Love Patchwork! 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew
• French Girl Knits: Innovative Techniques, Romantic Details, and Feminine Designs
• New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist

According to Interweave:

More than 400 art and craft resources will be deeply discounted for five days and sold online on a first-come basis beginning today through 11:59 p.m. MDT on Tuesday, June 12. This is Interweave’s largest online book sale ever, with deep discounts on new and recently published books on the topics of drawing, painting, quilting, beading, jewelry making, knitting, crocheting, felting, spinning, weaving, needlework, sewing, mixed-media and other popular arts and crafts. 

What are hurt books?
Hurt books are still in good condition but may have slight imperfections, like minor dings, a scratch on the cover, or a bent page. In addition to the huge discounts on hurt books, Interweave will be offering exclusive discounts on overstock books, eBooks, and book-related DVDs and video downloads during the sale.

 Enjoy!

Sunday Food and Fun

Chris and I went to Empire Garden Restaurant in Chinatown yesterday. That's where my family usually go when we're in Boston on Sunday during lunchtime.

Pot stickers (beef), Har Gow (shrimp), and Siu Mai (pork).

After dim sum we usually stop by the local C-Mart next door to pick up groceries. Today we just used the store as a detour to get to the other side of the block. Next, we pick up boba from Juice Bar. I used to love Thai Iced Tea with boba, now I go for the Taro with boba. At this store they call the boba "pearl".

Taro with pearl (boba).

Chris reading the Chinese newspaper in Juice Bar.

After our trip to Chinatown, we stopped by the HomeGoods store in Allston. We were looking for vases for the tables at our wedding reception, but no luck. I stumbled across my perfect armchair (if I had a house). It's so pretty and the colors are so fun! Alas, with a price tag of $299, it was not meant to be... right now.

I want this armchair! Totally loving it.

After a long day of gallavanting around Boston, I came home and played on my new phone for ages. Then I decided I wanted to crochet a cute dish cloth. I turned to Hulu Plus for my entertainment needs - I settled on a marathon of MTV's Real World San Diego. It was filmed over the summer of 2011. I was actually in San Diego last July. I didn't run into them, but it's fun to think they're running around in the same town as me. It's also sad to realize that they are all younger than me with the oldest cast member being 24 years old and the youngest is 19. I remember a time when they were all real old... remember Real World: LA, San Fran, or the older San Diego seasons? Crazy.

Just saw that I messed up on the dish cloth. Pattern by Lily.

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone had a great Sunday!

Sunday Shares - 6.3.12

I want to start sharing my craft projects summary on Sundays as "Sunday Shares." I've been diligent this past week. My sewing projects have progressed and I found some cute patterns that I wanted to share. Links are located after the photos. Enjoy!

Envelope Bag - I didn't sew the button on yet.
I don't like how the top of the envelope came out... might have to redo it.

Tissue Cozy

Tissue Pouch

Card Holder

Inside the holder - I love the cute patterns!

Fabrics from Walmart

I was in the Walpole Walmart on Tuesday to pick up a window fan for our bedroom. If you ever venture into this one you'll know that they're in the middle of a remodeling to make it a Super Walmart - complete with a grocery section and garden center. This Walmart was big, but now they're making it bigger. I got a bit confused about where everything was located so I started wandering around. During my wanderings I came across their arts & crafts area, complete with a surprising selection of fabrics.

After I picked up some new sewing notions I ended up selecting a few cute printed fabrics. I took my goodies up to the fabric table but no one was there. After asking a few associates to page someone, I finally got hold of the store's assistant manager. He brought along two older gentlemen with him to train. I actually had to teach them how to line up the fabric on the ruler and cut in the metal ditch. One of them jokingly said "You want a job running the fabric counter?" I thought he was joking, but maybe not. All in all, it wasn't a bad experience and the prices were decent.

Birdies and Hello Kitty prints. Pink lining.

Purple and blue paisley print. Periwinkle lining.

Tri-color leafy print. Love.

What do you think? I think I'll go back and pick out some more cute prints in the future.