What Productivity Looks Like...

I went a little bit crazy this weekend.

Here is what I accomplished in 2 short days:


1. Cleaned out the garage

2. Baked Oatmeal Cranberry cookies from scratch for my sweetie

3. Completed an album/book that I should have finished a month ago

4. Started and completed another album/book

5. Took the puppies to the dog park

6. Folded a thousand baskets of laundry

7. Cleaned my neverending pile of scrap fabric

8. Sorted through my fabric and got an idea...

9. Started a quilt on a whim

10. Didn't get a lot of sleep














Here is a photo on the quilt I started last night. I am following no pattern in particular and am just cutting pieces and putting them here and there. I figured that the actual quilting would be a project I could work on this fall/winter. We'll see if it turns out any good or not.

Boerner Botanical Gardens

One of my friends' husband plays in a community orchestra. They had an event last night called "Music in the Gardens" and I was invited to join them. This was held at the Boerner Botanical Gardens in Milwaukee, and it is a hidden gem that I had no idea about! It is a gorgeous place a few miles outside the city and it has a feel of being in the country. Cookie and I enjoyed wandering around for 2 hours, taking in the sights and smelling the roses, herbs, fresh cut grass and many other flowers. I got some ideas for future flower and herb beds in my yard. I have plans already to come back to this gorgeous place.

Check out the website if you want to learn more about this neat place.
http://www.boernerbotanicalgardens.org/

A Typical Afternoon

Most of today was spent in a workshop on how to edit and post movies. Several members of my team and I took this workshop since we are becoming heavily involved with technology ... I am talking about podcasts and webcasts on the internet, as well as various different methods of using video technology in our jobs. We plan on using technology in order to reach all corners of Wisconsin via the internet, since its almost impossible to visit everyone on a regular basis. This workshop helped us hone our skill in making quality videos for broadcasts.

We had "homework" today and were required to make several clips on our cameras at home, then edit these clips into one piece. Here is mine... it is called "A Typical Afternoon."




What do you think? Perhaps there will be more videos on my blog in the future?

An Adventure

Paul and I had an adventure.

We took the train down to Chicago on a whim. We decided to go to the Aquarium, which ended up to be a gorgeous place. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.


Our first picture on the trip. Of course, Paul has to stick his tongue out. My arm is barely long enough to take the picture and you can barely see me.



I forgot to take a picture of the Aquarium outside, but I took a lot of pictures of the architecture. Just beautiful! I was very fascinated with the lights... they all had a nautical feel to them without being cheesy.


I was unable to take very good pictures of the various sea life that we saw and enjoyed, such as otters, dolphins, whales, turtles, coral and various fish. However, I was able to get an excellent picture of Bozo's (my beloved clown fish from college) cousins! I love those fish!


The Aquarium is on the lakefront and the view is breathtaking.



The weather was very hot and humid. We decided to take advantage of a neat service that Chicago has to offer: water taxis. We took one from the Aquarium to the Navy Pier where we had lunch. We ate at a cool Italian place by the water.


After lunch, we took another water taxi on the "river" that goes through downtown Chicago. This was an excellent way to cool off and enjoy the scenery. What a beautiful city!

The water taxi dropped us off at Union Station where we caught our train back to Milwaukee. The Union Station is another beautiful piece of history in Chicago.


By the time we got home, we were tired, yet happy that we had a great adventure. We plan on returning to Chicago sometime soon to see what else she has to offer.

A Lazy Monday

This is what I came home to today. I often wonder what the menagerie is up to while Paul and I are gone during the day. Looks like they aren't up to much...

The dogs are not allowed on the couch for several reasons. First, with both dogs on the couch, there is no where else to sit. Yes, Rosie takes up more than half of the couch. Secondly, they always mess up the back cushions. Lastly, dogs belong on floors, not furniture.

They didn't seem to be abashed when I caught them on the couch.

"Ok, guys... time's up. Get off."

Can you see it in her face? She is telling me: "But its so comfortable..."

"Rosie, get up. Now."

I get the look from her brown eyes: "Moooooooom!"

What to do?

I am trying to figure out what to do with my growing collection of quilts...

It doesn't help that I found an adorable pattern that I would love to try. It is called "Count to 9" and isn't an antique or vintage pattern that I typically love. I fell in love with this pattern because for one thing, I love numbers! They're so visual and lend a very fun quality to the quilt. Secondly, I love the colors- very simple and classic. You can't go wrong with white, beige, black and a little bit of blue. That specific color combination is found in my office, which I will share with you soon.

The quilt is in the far left corner behind the lady. This woman is the one who designed and made this quilt. She has sells her patterns on Etsy, and she can be found at Sweetwater .



Im trying to decide if I should order this pattern or not? I'm not quite confident in my sewing skills yet, but it would be such a fun project, wouldn't it?

What do you think?

My Secret Fabric

Do you want to know my secret? I didn't buy my fabric for the curtains from a fabric store.

During the first week after I closed on the house, I spent many days painting and had an *eureka* moment. I used a dropcloth to protect the hardwood floors from drips of the paint. When taking a break, I realized that the color of the dropcloth is exactly what I want for my front room. It is a light linen color with very subtle variations in the fabric. It is very natural and airy.

So I decided to do an experiment...


I bought another dropcloth from Home Depot and washed it in very hot water. Now, as you might know, a dropcloth is a big piece of fabric that has been chemically treated in order to be stiff. So, I put them through 4 cycles of very, very hot water to get rid of all the chemcials. As a result of that, they came out very light, very airy and very soft.

The neat thing is they come pre-hemmed, so I didn't have to do very much sewing! I used them for many things...


Mom bought me these cute chairs from the flea market a few years ago. They were covered in a very kitschy, retro fabric that didn't quite match my style. I took the chairs off and re-covered them with the dropcloth fabric. They look much more classic and streamlined. Much more my style now.


I also used the remnants to make a pillow for my new chair.


Lastly, I used them as drapes for my curtains. They blend into the walls very well and give the room a very natural, graceful feel. I love them!

Wanna know the best thing about the dropcloths? They only cost $9.99 at Home Depot! If you were to look for similiar fabric at JoAnn's, for example, you would easily spent $25 per yard.

What a great steal, I think, for a piece of linen that is 8 feet long and 6 feet wide!