Bye Baby Bunting Quilt #1 - update

Oh, hey!  Remember this?  (It looks really wrinkly because it's been folded up.)

It's finally done!

Ready to be shipped.  Well almost...I was thinking maybe I'll make one of these adorable little "Cookie the Fox" dolls to go with it. 

Especially with coordinating fabrics from the quilt.  I don't know why I always add more to my to do list.  Dag on you Pinterest!  Anyway, she's the cutest, isn't she?!

denim, denim and more denim

The sewing room was an organized mad house this morning while  I belted out project after project of alterations.  I don't think you can belt out work.  Songs, yes.  Work, no.  Maybe the phrase "git-r-done" is more suitable.  giggles.  I don't ever use that phrase, it sounds so gross and hillbilly.  There's a difference in being country and hillbilly.  If only but to me.  Although I do know plenty of people who still use the phrase "git-r-done" and that's alright too.  I still love 'em just the same.  I'm rambling...
 
In preparation for our upcoming road trip.  I wanted to check some things off my list.  Altering all things denim being one of them.  Here stands the leaning tower of denim...5 pairs of jeans, 2 skirts and a pair of jeans converted to skinnys.
 

 
I used this tutorial for the conversion and they were pretty simple to make.  I changed up a few things, but I still like to have something to go by so I don't mentally flip out because I've forgotten something or other.  My skinnys aren't skin-tight.  Close, but because I am over the age of 25 I don't even try to pull off those stunts!  I'm happy with the way they turned out.  They'll go perfectly with the new pairs of boots I've ordered. 
 

 
"Why", you ask, do I have so many jeans to alter?  Well, it goes a little something like this...I can buy jeans all day long that fit in the butt but, never fit in the waist or are long enough.  Flisa says I'm lucky like that because she inherited "the pancake butt".  I laugh and tell her she's crazy, ain't nothin wrong with her booty!  Anyway, I have a SUPER hard time finding jeans that fit right at all, but if they're long enough, I can work with 'em.  Guess I'm just a weird size, 5'9" and I'm not a 4 or a 6.  I'm in-between.  With that being said, I take in the waist and sometimes just a little bit through the leg and alls fine and dandy in the world again.
 
Here are a few examples, it's "seamingly" painless.  wink.
 

 

Taking in the leg isn't hard either.  With right sides facing out, find the two seams on the pant leg, figure out which one is less "decorative" and take in the other (which ended up being the seam facing outward on each leg.)

 

See this one?  Not so fancy...just a regular seam. 

 

 

Now, see this one?  That's a flat felled seam, friends, and I, for one, don't wanna will not touch that sucker with a ten foot pole.  It gives me the willies! 

 

 

Here's where you pick your stitch and stitch length...I chose a simple straight basting stitch.

 

Now, if you're impatient like me, you tend to ramp that sucker up and lengthen it out to get the most bang for your buck cuz time is precious baby!  See?  Now, it's at a stitch length of 4.5 instead of 2.5.  Ignore the rest, it's hogwash!  (OK, not really, just for this little project.)

 

***Now, before you start sewing ANYTHING, you want to try them on inside out and either pin or grab them up with your fingers and make a mental note of how much you need to take in.  Don't go crazy, you can always go back and take more without ripping out all the work you just did.  (It's actually easier that way, just stitch parallel to your previous go.)

 

I like to start just under the pocket (or below a grommet.)  (It's also possible to start up higher, I just didn't on this pair.)

 

 

Sew on down til you get maybe 6 inches or so from the bottom. 

Pardon me while I go lotion my crackly hands, thankyouverymuch.



 

Now, taper on over until you've met the original seam. (My machine ties knots, so I just hit the STOP & FIX buttons and I'm good to go.)

 

Once you've turned your pants right sides out, it may look a little wonky.  Don't worry, you're trusty ol' iron will do the trick.  You'll have to press the seam flat.  Now, try on your pants!  Woohoo!  You should be in business!

breafas luvin muffins & breafas dating

The Saturday after my handsome husband arrived home, I made him a big breakfast of pancakes, homemade syrup, strawberries, bananas, grapes, blueberries, orange slices and these "muffins".  I didn't follow the recipe, the photo was enough to see what kinda lovin was happenin in that muffin pan.


Photo and originial recipe courtesy of
Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body
(where you'll find tons more incredible recipes!)


Breakfas Luvin Muffins
1 lb. bacon
7 eggs
1/4 - 1/3 cup milk (cuz in the south we like our scrambled eggs fluffy, least that's what I was always told)
a handful (or two) of cheese (whatever you have on hand)
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely diced
1/4 tsp. black pepper
 
Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and wrap a slice of bacon up the sides of each muffin cup (ressembling a cupcake liner of sorts).  Whip remaining ingredients together and evenly distribute amongst each muffin cup.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 min.
 
Now.  Handsome husband can be a tad on the picky side - he's a man, so obviously he likes meat and potatoes.  Period.  Oh yeah, and rolls and biscuits.  So, I'm never quite sure what his reaction'll be.  I must say, these were a hit!  We'll definitely be making these again and again.  In fact, I made them again yesterday.  This would be good for a breakfast date, Betty.  wink. wink.

Betty is my grand friend, known for her many, many, many talents.  Child rearing, fashion, decorating, scheduling, etc., etc., etc.  The list just goes on and on.  Cooking being one of her gifts.  Recently, she was telling me of the breakfast date she had with her husband over a snatched up recipe for Blueberry French Toast Casserole that our mutual friend, Martha has tweaked to perfection.

Along with Betty's many gifts, Betty is ingenious!  I mean, who ever thought of breakfast dates anyway?  What a perfect way to start the day, but with a quiet, cozy breakfast for two?  I'm gonna have to try this breakfast dating thing!

cornbread salad, restautant style steak and bbq potatoes

Dare, I say it?  I found love again.

I'd had this dish a summer or two ago for the very first time.  Never got the recipe or even its name, but I never forgot it.  Finally, I ran across it again on Pinterest.  (It's been my board cover ever since.)  And so, last night it debutted and despite the audience's lack of enthusiasm, I was taken by its color, its appearance, its taste.  Yes, it was true love.

I used this recipe.  And I admit there was one thing I would change...it called for 2 to 3 cups of cornbread.  Now, it's a known fact that this girl loves her some cornbread...bread...rolls.  Who's counting?!  Don't judge!  So, for me, it personally wasn't enough.  I used one package of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix baked in an 8x8 inch dish and only had 3 pieces (or a third of the pan) left.  Next time, they're all takin' the plunge.

Today, I sat in bed with my cornbread salad - yes, I said "in bed" - and ate it straight out of the trifle bowl.  It's a sin but look at it this way, no one else will eat it and I was doing some internet research.  Don't judge!

I think we had the best dinner eva last night.  I'd bought filet mignon for the Mister's homecoming.  I cooked it "restaurant style" and it was near perfection. (We weren't fans of the butta.  Next time, I'd do butta, garlic and parsley.  And leave out the thyme, it was a little overpowering.  I'm undecided on the lemon zest, I didn't think it did much.)  One thing I do agree on...there's no room for steak on the grill any more.  At least not for this sister.  I am restaurant-style all the way baby!

I made 2 batches of my infamous yeast rolls.  They turned out to be the best eva as agreed upon by us all.  (I usually criticize my food pretty heavily, so that was something to note!)  We also tried this new recipe for "BBQ Potatoes".  Mmm, they were so good and so easy.  We all ended up being stuffed.  I think it was all the butta.  Yep, I blame it on the butta.

Photo courtesy of Kayotic Kitchen

I mentioned that I'd baked cookies for the Mister's homecoming but I didn't mention the cake we made, with inspiration from here.  Can you tell we love it when he comes home?  I love the gold sugar crystal sprinkles we used for the heart. That cake was gone in days.

 

middle of the roads rendezvous

So, Thelma and I've been talking lately about how we need a getaway.  Seriously y'all.  

The talks started Monday.  Today, being Wednesday and it is so a done deal!  Being the nerd, I went straight to work on where we'd stay and what we'd do.  I conferred with Thelma regarding my findings and she agrees.  She's a history buff and there's lots of history and country legend stuff to explore in Kentucky.  We're gonna stay in the lodge of a state park because they're inexpensive and tucked away.  Being moms on a budget, we like pocketbook-friendly accommodations.  I don't mind dated (as most state park facilities are since the nation's collapse) but I do require clean. 

I've read reviews up one side and down the other and this place passes.  It has rooms with a lake view and all of our tourist destinations are within a short drive.  Emergency fast food chains are only a few miles away and they have WIFI (not that we'll spend much time in our room, but still, a girl can't live without it these days.)  I'm not a huge fan of chain hotels.  I like places off the beaten path.  Somewhere, quiet, nestled and cozy.  A place where you ask the locals what their favorite haunts are.  A place where you see the same faces day in and day out.  And those faces are happy to see you return at night.  They ask about your day and feel like family.

Our plans include visiting some museums and of course, walking the streets of these little towns to find their best kept secrets...stores, eateries, coffee shops, bakeries.  We have to fit dining into this plan and I can't wait to eat some Kentucky grub.  On my list are Derby Pie, a real Kentucky mint julep and last but certainly not least, my favorite barbecue!  Oh goodness, I'm hungry just thinking about it!

So while everyone goes on about their regular ol' day, Thelma and I have blacktop roads and Bluegrass Country on the mind.  May the days pass quickly and the miles fly by.  Woohoo!Bring on Kentucky!

Note: Thelma is most always and only called Thelma when I speak of road trippin'. One, because of road trips. Two, because she shot her ornery rooster with a shotgun right after he attacked one of her littles and scratched him just under the eye. I still like to laugh about that. Not about her boy being attack, but the thought of her stompin' off with a big shotgun and blowin' his feathery guts to smithereens. Otherwise, she is kindly known as Mother Teresa for all her efforts in volunteering and the greater good she does for humanity. And no, Louise was the one who shot the guy on their road trip but, Thelma's real name starts with a T and it's just easier to keep straight that way.

cookies and home

I have a myriad of things I could be doing.  Should be doing.  Yet, I'm baking cookies.  Do you know how much I hate to bake cookies?  They're so tedious.  Y'all know how I hate tedious...
 
Put some cookies in the oven.
Wait 11 minutes.  (Just enough time to get started doing something productive and then...)
Pull them out.
Let them cool.
Throw more in.
Take some out.
Multiply by 10 and you get the picture.
 
Ohhh, they drive me nuts!  But they are dearly loved by my handsome husband.  Did I mention he'll be arriving in, oh, 9 hours?!  And so, I bake cookies.
 
Can I be real here?  'Course I can, this is my blog.  So, if I'm excited, you hear about it.  If I'm grumpy, you hear about it.  You don't like it?  Don't read it.  I'm sorry, that's just how it works. 

My apologies in advance cuz today I'm gon let it out.
 
I'm tired of the cornfields.  The monotony of riding on paved, straight, flat, gridded roads.  I want to jump in my car with a way too hastily packed suitcase, leaving behind underwear and toothbrush and socks and drive, just drive.  Drive fourteen hours straight through. Til I hit the mountains.  Back to the place from which I came.  I want to stand outside where the wind is near nonexistent.  I want to spin gravel on curvy, dirt roads.  Feel mud splatter my back as I fly through the fields on a four-wheeler, hitting every mud hole there is and drowning in the smell of gasoline.  I want to hold my chickens.  And smell the earthy scent of kitty fur.  I want to put Carhartts and muck boots on and sit in the dog pen with George, the leaning dog and pet him until my hands are black with dirt.  I want to see my mom and her shining bright eyes.  I want to hug my grandma and hear her say a million times, "Well, I don't really know anything." And I want to watch her roll her eyes and say, "Shut up Homer!  Nobody thinks that's funny" when my grandaddy spouts out fake foreign language or says he just wants another 'poonful or that he can't eat that because it "gets in his mouth too much."  I want to have lunch and drink coffee in upscale little places with Mother Teresa, just for the experience.  (Or Thelma, whichever one you remember her as.)  I want to sit in her country kitchen while she talks about how tiny her farmhouse is.  I want to sit around the table, shoulder to shoulder with my brother and the Morgans as we drink coffee until the wee hours of the morning.  I want to take a peach pie from Yoder's to Granny June and Paw Paw Ralph.  To make sure they're happy, havin' their home to themselves once again.  I want to make dinner at Flisa's house while she complains that she can do it!  To enjoy a glass of wine (or two) and embrace Lilith when she tries to make me feel uncomfortable by hugging me long and hard because she knows I like my space.  I want to play with their goats and see their tiny banty chicks.  I want to go camping while I listen to Flisa fuss about how she and Fredrico are too old to sleep on an air mattress and everything else under the sun.  I want to groan about how I hate the smell of campfire in my hair yet I'll move in closer to stay toasty warm.  Then, I'll wake up only to feel dirty and gross from the dew and stinky from the campfire.  Knowing full and well that no matter how much I fuss, it really is grand.  I want to ride horses down the mountain from the camp to the truck.  I want to head over to Watermelon Park and camp for a few nights while we tube down the river, moving as slow turtles on a hundred degree day.  I want to waltz over to my friend, Martha's and have lunch.  I know she'll make something super exciting and special.  Better yet, maybe we should meet at El Agave's!  No cooking required!  It's one of our favorites!  I want to spend the evening at the Myers' farm soaking up the wealth of good company amongst the AWANA group and make s'mores.  I want to pop in and sit for a long, uplifting evening with the Vineyard Keepers.  To linger in one of Miss D's sweet, long embraces.  To attend church and spend all afternoon catchin' up in the foyer until they begin to lock up.  I want to meet up with all the soccer girls at Giovanna's and watch the people sitting near us talk and give dirty looks because we're enjoying ourselves way too much and the noise level has risen to that in which you would find in a stadium.

There are just too many "I wants" to list.  Law, we'd be here til tomorrow.  Yep, I'd give just 'bout anything to be in the big V-A.  I'm painfully aware of how needed a retreat, a reprieve, a getaway is.  Something to refresh this east coast girl dukin' it out in the Midwest.  There's just no place like home and it feels like it's been way too long since I've been back.

Welp, cookies are all done.  So, it's on to the next thing. 

Wait, one more thing.  Completely switchin' subjects on ya....I am totally growing this short mop out.  I'm sick of it and I miss my long hair.  And I want to wear baseball caps during the summer.  Just sayin.

 

I was going through photos and found that Mother Teresa ever so kindly took photos of me while I was folding clothes last time she was here.  She's so kind, isn't she?  Love her.

 

fast forward

 

One more day.  I'm counting down the hours.  There's an excellent plan in order, I'm just not sure how to execute it since we'll have extras here for the weekend.  Oh stop!  We're talkin' food here, mister.  Mmm, I have an amazing menu planned, a grocery list and part of it was prepared today.  You'll like it.  It's man-friendly and could accommodate a few adult friends of your choice.

I imagine everyone being asleep when you arrive.  I'll wait impatiently for you to pull in the drive.  I'll stand at the door waiting to greet you.  You'll walk in and all the littles will be asleep, I pray.  No distractions, no interruptions.  No Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!  Just us and the opportunity for me to lay my head on your chest and fall asleep to the scent of Old Spice and freshly washed linens.  You'll grimace at the cold, wet snow but then sweat under the flannel sheets 'cause you're just hot-natured like that.  All the while, you'll tell me how happy you are to be home.

That's the way this always plays out.  It's a fantastic sketch.  The only problem is, it ends sadly.  You're here for a while, gone again.  That's OK, we'll make the most of our time together with date nights, calling in the favors we're owed.

Here's to tomorrow and your safe journey home!