love love love love

here is the new sewing room, though i suppose that is technically a misnomer as the room is also used for knitting, scrapbooking, beading, ironing (the chore kind, not in conjunction with sewing), my "office" for writing cards and letters, my library (cds as well as books, though i’m missing a box of books), and all-around good feelings. i love love love this room. it gets great light and just makes me feel happy when I stand in the middle of it, or even in the doorway.

our old entertainment center has been repurposed here:



and soon i will find those adhesive-backed business card holders, so i can label my boxes (some of those have fabric, some have beads, some have cards, some have packaging-type stuff) and change the labels at will. eventually the ugly plain cardboard boxes will be covered with pretty contact paper. yes, i’m compulsive.

and my cozy chair has found a new home, for hemming and other hand sewing, knitting, or just curling up with a book:



and the dressform ("sewing body," according to my husband) was inherited from my mother. (the dress is see & sew # 4957 and is not a new project – i made it for easter a couple of years ago – but i love it so much i thought i’d show it off. it is my latest favorite dress pattern because it is sew easy, ha ha, very classic styling, simple to adjust the fit at the bust darts and/or the waistline. i love wearing it, mostly because of the swirly skirt – i love swirly skirts):



from my mother, this new organizing tip – why didn’t i ever think of this?



i made this binder for our appliance manuals and i plan to make another for the "other" manuals. since i am all about a place for everything (though not everything always makes it back to its place) and creating things and little gadgetry-type stuffs, i had a ball with this. (it is even blue, like the binder for our home inspection report! as opposed to the red "orange binder" that has the important stuff in it. yes, i’m a bit of a geek.) i tore out all the other languages because honestly, as beautiful as dishwasher sounds in french (lave-vaisselle) – and i do love estufa, the spanish word for stove – i just don’t think i’ll be using those sections anytime soon. this made for vastly fewer pages – nice! then i three-hole-punched the remaining (english) pages and tabbed them with adhesive divider tabs, so we can easily go to the "fireplace" section when we are ready to blow ourselves up by attempting to light the pilot light in the fall.

one day i will even organize my pantry, hopefully soon, because it is kind of driving me nuts that things are kind of everywhere in it, and that in a pantry as large as ours (really, i ought to just call it a "food closet") i can’t seem to create some semblance of order. if it were organized, i could stand there and look at it and revel in the organization all day. yes, i’m quirky like that.

jam it up

i am so totally inspired to make jam. i have all these little jars from all the other times i have made jam, and they are just sitting lonely and empty waiting for me. problem is, we don't eat jam that much. at least, not the jam i like - brian pretty much only enjoys apricot jam (blleeecccchhhh). i have a small flat of peaches that a little old man gave me and i thought i would make a pie but now i all i can think of is JAM.

side note: don't you just adore little old men? i do. they are just so sweet. though i like him just the way he is right now, part of me can't wait for brian to be a little old man, because he will be so sweet and crotchety.

domestications

i heart my new sewing room. it is so cozy and comfortable and full of the things i love. the only problem is, my drop-down ironing board is completely inconvenient now as it drops down into my sewing shelves. so now i want a new ironing board.

omg, did i actually just say that? i mean, come on, e, seriously? a new ironing board is my wildest dream?

love and sweat

yes, it is h.o.t. out here right now. i mean, come on, i knew it would be, but 106'? the hot makes it too hot to do yardwork et cetera, which kind of needs to be done and i am excited/motivated to do it right now because i am in love love love with our new house. i am not so in love with unpacking, but i hope that will be done soon. here are some things i especially love:

- not having to share a bathroom, because we have more than one
- cooking in my beautiful kitchen with actual counter space
- being able to do laundry whenever i want
- air conditioning
- space, because everything is not crammed into our tiny apartment
- a garage to put my tools and crap in
- brian's baseball room
- the orchid in the upstairs bathroom
- my sewing room (when it gets "finished")
- more space
- our front porch
- did i mention that i love the space in this house?

you have to come visit, really you do. we have a guest room, you're welcome any time. i'm sure i'll still be in love when you come.

FINALLY!!

we are moved in! we still have some knots to untangle (we had the escrow officer from h3!! and are still dealing with that mess), but we are sleeping in our new house and unpacking all our boxes. thank heaven.

*and* my mother and sister are coming to visit this weekend (and hopefully mil too), so we are going to barbecue and drink margaritas and daiquiris and have a grand ole time for the holiday. cheers!