(365 Chances) #2: Doing it myself.

Remember what I said about the catharsis of a new year? Well, it's really getting to me. Last night I spent the night watching How I Met Your Mother while cutting squares of scrap fabric for a quilt. Before that, I stopped at the resale shop near my house and bought some great sewing patterns for super cheap (unfortunately they're going out of business). I also considered buying an old suede jacket so I could cut it up and use the material (and am still considering it, apparently).

One of my 26 before 26 includes sewing my own dress, and since I got a brand spankin' new sewing machine for Christmas, I've decided to get jumping on my desire to make my own clothes. I feel like my style has taken the brunt of the hit from my low budget lifestyle, and I think making what I wear is a great practice in earning what I own. It's easy to stock up on cheap clothes when the urge strikes, but I'd rather have pieces I thought about, handpicked the materials, and spent time building piece by piece. But my history of self-teaching has proven that I make a lot of mistakes and go the longest possible way before getting it right, so I decided to take a little short cut this time. With the help of Red Velvet's D.I.Y. Dress Up e-course, I plan to whip up my own dresses, belts, hair accessories, and patterns within the span of this year. I'm pretty stoked, especially for all of the birthday and Christmas gifts I'll be able to fashion from it!

Who's with me?

Austin-bound.

June is starting off to be a great and busy month. This past weekend started early with the ScooperBowl on Wednesday night (all-you-can-eat ice cream!). Mike drove down for it, and we hung with Jennatron and KMo and Chris made a late appearance. We drove back to Ludlow that night just in time for Mike to get a tummy ache from his 15 cups of ice cream. There's always a cost to "free." Thursday was an early day: I woke up at 7 to start work so I could finish up in time to head to the Yankee/Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium. We headed out - Mike, his cousin Mike, his friend Mike (no joke), and I - drove the backroads to the Bronx. It was only about a two and a half hour drive, and after a quick nap I was ready to go. The weather turned dark and windy as we approached the stadium, and the skies opened up as soon as we got there and ate meal number one (a noodle bowl). The three and a half hour rain delay meant another meal of garlic fries and a hot dog to tie us over until the game finally started at 10:30.

We only stayed until the 7th inning when the Sox made their 7 run comeback. My favorite part of the game? The soft-serve ice cream cone and belting Dixie Chicks while I drove us home at 3:30 in the morning. Oh, and this guy's hair:

We got back at 4 and quickly hit the sack. Mike took a sick day Friday, so he got to sleep in while I rolled out of bed to work. I took his car and drove to Dunkin Donuts for some iced coffee, then came home and made a big breakfast to ease my bigger-than-if-I'd-slept-normal-hours appetite. We lounged, played some Left4Dead on his Xbox (I've been converted from not having a tv to playing zombie video games and watching Hoarders...). That night we went to Red Robin for dinner. It was a perfect weekend in suburbia.

I also did a little sewing experiment this weekend that turned out pretty great. I saw these adorable owl cake toppers via SkunkBoy Creatures and knew that my friend Kavi, who's wedding is this Saturday in Austin, would love them. I sent her the picture and told her I would do my best to recreate them. A couple weeks later, two trips to Joann's Fabrics, and several pricked fingers and episodes of Hoarders later, I present to you my humble take on Katie's adorable cake toppers:

I leave Thursday morning, so I'm trying to wrap up this week even though it's just begun. I cannot wait to explore Austin and spend some lazy pool time with old friends and make new ones at the bachelorette party and reception. I'd lovelovelove suggestions for while we're in Austin, so throw them at me here or on Twitter!

  

Keeping tabs.

I've been devouring blogs lately. I want to make everything from scratch, including everything in these places:

From Scratch
DIY