Roses

Today I went to the Paper Source to pick up a couple of things. I love the Paper Source. I can't keep myself away from all the prettiness. Any day now I'll pick up and move in. Anyway, they had this little ball jar of roses sitting by the register. It seems they had a wedding event the night before, had these roses left over, and stuck them in a ball jar they found in the basement. Lovely, yes, but wait! Let me tell you my plan!

Fred and I collect glass peanut butter jars. Strange, I know, but we go through a lot of peanut butter, and then we use the clean jars to store dry rice and beans and whatnot in our pantry. Now we're starting to use the glass jars for leftovers. They're the perfect size, the lids are interchangeable, and we've never broken one. It's part of our plan to move away from plastics. Well, one day I was scanning a few wedding blogs, looking for ideas for my sister's wedding, and I realized that my peanut butter jar collection would be perfect for the flower centerpieces at my own wedding someday. Maybe wrapped in linen or faux bois, like these? Because I'll be doing my own flowers, naturally. Oh, did I mention I plan to have the reception in a New England barn? Yep, in the fall. But don't hold your breath, it'll be a while! In the meantime, if you're looking for some fun wedding inspiration, look here. These are some of my favorite wedding pictures ever. Ever.

2/365

As soon as I posted last night about starting a 365 project I began to worry. What was I going to take a picture of? Where would I find it? How would I feel about taking pictures randomly in public? What happens if I get sick and can't take a picture one day? Why did I have to go announcing this plan to the world without thinking it through a bit more? Well, all that aside, here's my picture for today. It was kind of neat, actually, seeing things in my day more carefully. Two down, a bunch to go.

1/365

I've decided to get on the "365 Project" bandwagon. It was seeing this set today that made up my mind. First, her photos are beautiful. I wondered how it could be possible that every day be so colorful and bright. Well, obviously, we're only looking at one snapshot of each day. Of course it makes sense to post the nicest ones. But on the other hand, it also means that she's found something colorful and bright in each day, and isn't that an exercise worth participating in?

For an added benefit, I like the idea of using my camera more often. I welcome a good excuse to get some practice with it. And sometimes I'm hesitant to take pictures while I'm out and about. It makes me feel like a tourist. But it's high time I get over that silliness, and I think this assignment might do it. And lastly, I've been curious about how this blog fits into my life. Or rather, how my life fits into this blog. It's been my tendency to share projects and crafts and such, but not get into the nitty-gritty of what else I do. But I do some really neat things when I'm away from my sewing machine! So maybe this 365 will open those lines of communication a little more, eh?



So here we go! Fred and I have this plant in our kitchen. I don't know at all what it's called. There's a vegan restaurant in Brookline that has one draped along all four walls! Clearly they grow like mad. Ours is all wrapped around its own pot and growing in knots. Sometimes when a new leaf is about to open up it presents us with a drop of water. Just like that.

Invitations

Invitations are done and in the mail!

Gratitudes

Yesterday I stopped at my favorite local coffee shop for tea and a scone. I've decided to stop going to coffee shops unless I bring my own travel mug. How many people each day get coffee and throw away that paper cup? And cardboard sleeve? And plastic lid? All of which is recyclable, but we toss them anyway? And how many travel mugs do we have sitting in our cupboards? So it's a new rule I'm going to hold myself to, at least as much as possible. Anyway, use your own cup at Starbucks and they'll give you a $0.10 discount. That's pretty cool, but $0.10 won't make a huge dent in my tea-and-a-scone outings. But yesterday, at my favorite local coffee shop, somehow the bill was noticeably smaller. I asked the cool person behind the counter what the story was, and she said the discount for bringing my own mug was a dollar. A dollar! Now that's some serious incentive right there. Obviously those paper cups probably cost more like $0.10 than $1, but I love that they're making it worth my while to create less needless trash. And then, the tea. Blueberry rooibos. My car smelled of blueberry muffins all the way to my teaching gig. Even one of my fourth graders asked about it during his lesson. Yum.



Next up, my red wool tights. Tights make my inner 4-year old really happy. They're the perfect partner to my beloved boot collection, especially during Boston winters. Wool is an added bonus. Red wool puts them over the top. These were found during my last shopping trip to Northampton, MA with Fred. They're great with the perfect black boots he got me for Christmas. And yesterday they went from fashion to function when I woke up to 11 degree weather! Happy that.



And finally, I'm making progress on my sister's wedding invitations. I might be a complete gocco novice, but I love this thing. Mass production is so gratifying in the crafting world of tiny, individual stitches and piece by piece construction. They might be simple, but I think they're going to look slick!

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Fred had pink eye and a cold last week, so naturally I have pink eye and a cold this week. I thought I would get by with just the cold, but my eye was swollen and pink and gross when I woke up this morning. It's not cute. My day has been full of tissues and eye medicine and cold medicine and tea. But look, I managed to make something in between sniffles!



I got a slick new flash recorder in the mail the other day, and decided it needed a decent bag. Given my propensity for dropping things (really, I am an amazing klutz), the flimsy pouch it came with wasn't going to cut it.



This pretty canvas fabric came from Jo-Ann's, of all places. I put on a zipper, stuffed it with batting, lined it, stitched the seams with basting tape, and it's good to go!



Next on my list - new pajamas. I need a new favorite pair to replace that old favorite pair that died. Bumming around in your pajamas all day makes it hard to hide how ratty the PJ stash has gotten. This fabric came from my last trip to Boston's best fabric store. Fresh out of the wash and ready to be cut, I'll have new PJ's by bedtime.



Alright, I'm off to go clean out my eyes and blow my nose again. Hey, it could be worse. Fred popped a blood vessel with his pink eye last week, and the whole eye was completely red for a few days. Yeah, talk about not cute. Stay well, everyone!