Sewing Room Progress!

I not only got a lot done in the Sewing Room but I actually listed some items on Nouveaute including lots of vintage buttons:

vintage buttons on nouveaute

vintage buttons on nouveaute

Miniature Wooden Dice

 I see floor!

Sewing Room Progress

I collect all sorts of things

Part of my Mary collection

A few more days and then on to tackling the upstairs closet which contains everything from an inflatable pool to wooden eagles.

Quick Snack

Sometimes I'm hungry and just so not in the mood to make anything.  Or I feel bad that something is starting to get stale and I know I should eat it but really don't want to.  Such was the case this day- but luckily a favorite snack came out of necessity.  There was some ciabatta bread that was hard but a sprinkling of water and less than a minute in the micro softened it up considerably.  Then goat cheese and raspberry preserves were spread on the warm bread and ta-da! 

Cleaning the Craft Room

What HAVE I been up to?  Spending 5+ hrs a day tackling my monstrosity of a sewing room.  When I work I pull out everything I need and spread it out on the floor around me.  Then when I have to go to work or downstairs for dinner, I leave it there so I can easily pick up where I was later.  That coupled with the fact that I have so many hobbies has contributed to THIS:

That spot barely visible above the pink suitcase is where I sit to work.  Watching some hoarders episodes along with nesting has finally given me the kick in the ass I need.  Every bead, ribbon, scrap of paper, and paperclip is being sorted through and it's all getting a new home.  I have bags and bags of stuff I know I will never use and that is being donated.  Believe it or now, what you see below is PROGRESS!

Getting rid of so much crap will make this room easier to handle and make craft times more efficient.

Goodwill Cat

 Now here it looks like a step backwards but I swear it's still progress.  This is 4 days into the project:

When I have some "After" photos available I will post some tips for tackling the worst messes.  You wouldnt believe my downstairs is really nice, but it is.  I don't need a hoarding intervention- Just a craft supply hoarding intervention!

Veggie Tales- salad recipe and peeing carrot

I am a total snot factory.  Today is the tail-end of what was a nasty cold (i think) consisting of sneezing fits, sore throat, loss of smell and taste, tiredness, and mass quantities of boogies.  I'm surprised I succumbed since it's been years since I've had one of these common ailments even with my compromised immune system.  I guess it's the hit my body took with the additional lowering of the immune system you get being pregnant and the stress of being a very worrisome person.  It didn't last too long though on part of eating 5-9 servings of fruits n veggies on a daily basis.

I may have posted this recipe before, but I'm always making it just a bit better.  Right now this is how I make my favorite salad dressing for my favorite salad (that I eat about 7 times a week!):

I have a super cute glass salad dressing bottle from walmart but you can easily do this in a jar- which is great for giving it a good mixing shake.

Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinegar - #1 ingredient.  more of this than anything else.  i give it a hearty pour

Trader Joe's Extra Virgin Cold-Pressed Olive Oil- little bit.  i do like a couple tablespoons or less

Pomegranate Molasses from a Middle Eastern or Eastern European Grocer (I've seen this in specialty shops too)- yummy stuff.  its concentrated juice and wonderfully sweet and tart. maybe 3 tablespoons

The juice from a container of Mandarin Oranges- use as much as you want but it will make for a thinner dressing

dash of salt and pepper- optional.  i usually forget, honestly.  you can also add cayenne pepper or garlic powder

I literally drink this stuff straight sometimes.  vinegar is so wonderful.  when i make this i start with a small batch in a bigger jar so i can taste test it to perfection and add more of whatever is needed.  Olive oil is the ingredient I usually put too much in.

Refrigerate your concoction.  If you pull it out and there's weird things floating around- it's probably just the olive oil solidified from the cold.  It's fine, let it sit on the counter for a bit.   Now for the ensalada!

Kale- WONDERFUL for you!! I get it pretty cheap at BJ'S

Spinach- will i EVER go back to iceberg?

Goat Cheese- Trader Joe's has great prices for this

Beets- canned is easier to mess with than fresh.  i dont get pickled, just regular sliced beets in a can

Mandarin Oranges- I don't go with canned or with ones that come in syrup, just juice

Organic Trail Mix- (THE BEST!) Pumpkin seeds, toasted soy nuts, sunflower seeds, cranberries, dates, dark raisins.  I buy this in a 1 lb container from BJ's Wholesale and it is MARVELOUS.

This salad will make you fall in love.  Don't be surprised if you get wet at first bite.  Ok, just kidding.

And here is a picture of a carrot I ate that made me laugh because it looks like it has legs and is peeing a nice long yellow stream:

Peeing Carrot

Now to make my 50th cup of tea in three days and make my lunch salad!

Putting on the Pounds

Exercise has quickly fallen away from my daily schedule- as was horridly illustrated by a brightly lit dressing room mirror yesterday right before I hopelessly struggled to pull a pair of size small maternity pants  up over my thighs.  Ugh, they were tight even around the ankles.  A lot of factors added up to produce a pretty bad attitude- pale, pale thighs; the kind of unnaturally bright light one would require for destroying a nation of vampires at once; what from my angle of viewing looked like cellulite from my ass down to my knees; unstretchy fabric not suitable for pants; an idiot salesperson talking me out of the one thing i was there to buy; and not having showered thinking i was just making a quick produce run.  All these things at once made me feel like a hideous beast.  Oh, and I wasn't even wearing makeup.

A lot of it is that it's winter.  Who looks slim under so many layers?  When I'm at home in dim light and the heat is cranked I look quite lovely in a vintage black slip with the cups actually well-filled for the first time.  But  I feel like that marshmallow man from Ghostbusters when I step out:

 And putting boots on requires a little rolling around on the floor.

 I did end up getting the maternity band for my jeans I needed.  I can wear my larger jeans as long as they aren't buttoned or zipped.  Stupid lady at the maternity store said no, no, that's not what I want- it's only for the first trimester.  It's actually for the duration of your pregnancy AND afterward.  So I just paid full price for it at another store.

Another thing I've found so disheartening is how every Prenatal Yoga video is so sub-par and even offensive.  The instructors talk to me as if I've regressed to being a 4 year old.  With high pitched narratives, giggling, and stupid comments like, "Now reach down to your toes.  can you see them?  *giggling*  well not for long!"  "say hi to your baby!  hi baby!"  Shut the hell up!!!   Instead of finding yoga relaxing and concentrating on my body and the stretches I find myself becoming enraged and imagining hitting these women over the heads with shovels.  Visualizations of violence are not meditative.  The models they use are ugly and dressed so frumpy.   They don't use the pose names like I've never practiced before.

I ended up doing regular yoga and began to chill out.  I tried to avoid what was probably bad for me and felt super afterward.  I need a great yoga video for this pregnancy.  One that treats me like I'm still an adult and didnt lose my brain to inane googliness and pink rubber duckies.

Oh, the two that come to mind are the Gaiam Prenatal Yoga DVD and the Crunch Mama video.  If you've never worked out before and were super into baby crap before you were pregnant and happened to lose most of your brain in a tragic accident- maybe you would enjoy these.

In other news, I broke a three day constipation spell by releasing into the wild a Loch Ness in a local Irish pub.  Yup.