Garden Perfection

... no, not my garden. Funny.

But have you ever wanted to know what it would take to get your garden as perfect as this?


Here's the answer:

As in use them to edge,

prune, trim,

anything.

Now that's attention to detail.

Good job, Monty!

Pigs Can Now Fly

The red car is registered and got a tune up.

Good Taste

Alicia and I have a pact that if we find a screamin' deal on something really special, we need to buy two. This rule has been in place for some time and has produced a few 97 cent dresses and this shirt (it has pockets!) among other treasures. But why the long, skinny picture if I just need to show you a shirt? Keep reading.

On Saturday Noah took me shopping and we found my yearly two pairs of comfy, no, sneaker comfy sandals. (See one of the last pairs at left.) They were a fair price, so I, being the thoughtful sister I am, called and asked if she wanted some. "What do they look like?" Jammy, take it away...

So as I'm describing these sandals, Alicia is entertaining the baby and cat. She's quietly giggling. Me: "Are you listening to me?" Her: "I got the same two pairs in Vegas!" Now considering all the shoes at our outlet mall and all the shoes in Vegas, I'd say that makes for an interesting blog post.

She went on to explain the "Ivory Coast" paint story. When we finally got our own rooms growing up, we got to pick paint colors, Dad went to the store with my choice and said, "I need a gallon of Ivory Coast and a gallon of whatever she chooses."

I know what you're thinking, "I can see where this is going, but it's impossible. Surely... no..."

Alicia thoughtfully peruses the thousands of paint chips, chooses just the right one, and tells the guy. The dude checks with dad, "You want two gallons of Ivory Coast." "No, I want one and then one of what she chose." Confusion continues. Guy clarifies, "They chose the same color."

I think that upon finding out that she stole my color, I changed mine to Dover White. Totally different.

This is one example of many, but Dad loves that story because Alicia and I tried our whole lives to get rid of the pink twin/blue twin labels. Now we realize it's too much work.

Baby Sling

"Make a sling-- it's the easiest project you'll ever sew!!" If you said that to me, and a few of you did, I probably wanted to give you a cachetada while I was making my latest project. But I really did it to myself. First of all, I'm cheap. I bought 1 2/3 yards of the print fabric instead of the 2 yards needed. I'm not sure about my reasoning, but I'm sure it's rooted in me trying to save a dime. Second, I'm not good with looking at black-and-gray diagram instructions. They really don't show me one side of fabric from another. And finally, I have limited experience with baby slings. I didn't have one to look, so I was even more skeptical as I made the cuts.

Do you like my big baby? This is Yina-- the hippo that my level three class gave me for my birthday. I thought the mommy waiting for the sling and both of my cats would appreciate it if Yina was my fake baby rather than the other, more obvious choices.

The sling is the "Juicy" print from Jo-ann and lined with orange broadcloth (the mommy's choice). It's got my first flat felted seam (very pleased) and a wrinkle (sad).

So after I finished, I realized how easy it was. If you're looking for an easy project... make a sling. It's the easiest project you'll ever sew!

Buy this-- and sell it to me if you don't like it!

Have you opened your new Costco coupons? You'll see 3 bucks off of this:

and a 3 bag limit. Sad. We bought all three on Thursday, and now there's one bag left. We chopped it up and put it on blueberry salads (thanks for the inspiration, Kayla!) and ate it one little sqare at a time.

And just for reference; this retails for $20 (yeah, right!), is on Amazon for $15, in Costco for $9, and with a coupon... really cheap!

Birthweekend

I had a great birthday/weekend! It started with dinner and dancing at a local restaurant and club. It was so nice to be with friends, and look at the great cake some of them brought! Puubliiix...

I thought I'd grown out of presents from friends, but everybody brought really nice, thoughtful gifts.

Ok, don't look at me, but look at Janneke's cute face!

(Tia, Zafer, Yahya)

On to the dancing. We had to get past this Arabic-speaking, foul mouthed Cuban lady. Then we had to get past some dancing shyness, but by the end of the night everybody was out on the dance floor.

It reminded me a little of being at BYU and going out with Noah.

And look who we found! I was hoping she would be there! Rosana was on the "hot tamale train" that night! (Look at that sweaty guy's shirt!!)

I tried not to think about it too much, but I was wondering if this would be one of the last times I'd be with Janneke and Julio. sad.

(Sleepy Caleb with gorgeous Michelle at his birthday party)
On Sunday, these two surprised me with a birthday lei! It was so great because it came with a hug and a kiss from Caleb!

So this picture isn't terrible, but just know that there were about thirty before this that were all laughable. I think I missed my beauty sleep!

(Sayaka, Caroline, Evrim, Natalia, Yina, Majed, Tia's leg, Ali)

Surprise, Teacher!! What a cute class! Yes, they're naughty, but they're SO fun, too. This is what I saw when they finally let me in the room. They gave me a stuffed hippo (inside joke-- but it's based on my limited art skills), a huge box of chocolates, and a really sweet card signed by everyone.

I had gotten up early to make monkey bread and chocolate muffins, so we added cake and sodas and all rode the sugar high...

Ready for lunch? How 'bout an ice cream. (Stop looking down my shirt!) The next day I had another cone but put the magic shell inside and then the ice cream. Genius!

(Irene, Ruth, Tia, Rosana, Janneke, Stephanie)

No, it's not a modeling agency, it's a school.

(Jin Gyu and Zafer)

[People would get confused when I'd tell them I was born in Japan, and then they'd look at me and say, "Ohh, I see it in your eyes..." I would laugh, but I can see it in this picture.]

Level 4 was so nice, too! Do you recognize any of these faces? There was also a talking card, and I had made them brownies the night before. The expectant mother in the class took two-- as she should! I didn't think to get a picture until most of them had left. :(

So that was mostly it! Noah took me shopping (we didn't find anything) and to dinner (the cajeta-filled churros were the best!).

Well, you don't get into teaching for the pay, but what other job would give you three parties in one day??

Sandy 4th

The Fourth of July started with an intense cleaning of our house-- inside and out! We did yard work, scrubbed the house sparkly, and I even cleaned the car. After that we had hot dogs (the fatty, delicious kind), and I made some coconut cupcakes topped with your typical "flag cake" ingredients. We were off to Jax Beach and my mantra the whole way there was, "We're never going to find a parking space..." Noah took a nap, so missed out on most of the crazy talk.

Now, I've often heard Jax Beach described as "The White Trash Beach" of Jacksonville. But we were meeting up with some friends that know what they're doing, so I didn't question the choice. We got there and I circled a tiny parking lot for about ten minutes. I saw a lady standing outside her car smoking. The breeze stole her cigarette, and when she bent down to pick it up off the ground, she saw me laughing and shooed me away from the spot. I gave up and decided to leave *magic music*-- that's when I saw a car pulling out of the perfect spot. No one in line waiting for it. I grabbed it and we relaxed watching the drunk people on parade. They were mostly on beach cruiser bicycles. There were WAY more perfect, model-looking bikini girls than decent-looking guys. Most interesting: an informal dog parade!

We got out and found a place on the beach. Shortly after that, our friends arrived. We set up the umbrella and chairs. I was off to catch some of the gentle evening waves on my boogie board. Alone. My friends weren't wearing swimsuits, so they left to go get them. Soon enough we were all in the ocean and Noah was "watching our stuff."

Do you SEE what's on Noah's lap?? CMA Review-- he wanted to study! "Every party has a ... " anyway he was an allergic mess after all that yard work, and last year he stayed home while I celebrated with my neighbors, so I'm just glad he came.

Olga, Noah, Liza, Yahya, Zafer, me, Zizo (lots of others couldn't stop the fun for a picture). It was SO nice seeing some long, lost friends! And if I can say that, I guess I can call Jacksonville home!

He does look sick, right? Poor Sneezy.

Then it was time for the fireworks. I made everyone eat the cupcakes and Yahya passed around a huge bag of chocolate. The moon and fireworks reflected on the Atlantic and the fireworks were set off of the pier right next to us.

Noah stuck it out through the whole night! Holiday miracle!

One of my favorite parts was watching the fireworks with Noah and choosing our "favorites." Here's one of them.

And remember that clean car? It still has sand in it. I'm going to go vacuum...