:: HOORAY ::



This is how I feel today. It is Friday. I am babysitting no one. The sun is shining. Cohen and I are heading to the zoo. I am going fabric shopping to start some baby blankets. And... I have Season 2 of Project Runway ready for my weekend viewing pleasure. I anticipate a great weekend. I hope you have one, too.

:: CAN'T GET ENOUGH ::



Man, I am having a blast back from Rick's College this month. Since purchasing the new Pennywise album a few weeks ago, I just can't stop listening. I've been pulling out all of my 90's skatepunk CDs and adding them to my iTunes library. I'm even wearing the old brown Independent hoodie a lot more.* (side note: I bought this sweatshirt with my very first paycheck when I was 15. Yes... I know the sweatshirt is 15 years old and is a ragged mess. The worst part about it, is that I still wear it at least 2 times a week.) Am I digressing?

*disclaimer:: for the last 5 years, said sweatshirt is not allowed outside of the house.

:: BUNCO ::


Yes, like all good housewives should, I belong to a Bunco/Bunko/Bonko/Bonco group and have for the last two years. My old group was lacking in the personality department, but I LOVE my current group. I used to work with 2 of the gals I play with, but the rest are all friends of theirs. But, we play quick and dirty and the room gets LOUD.


Last night was the hostess. For my invitations, I used more of the old photos that my sister gave me (they used to belong to her aunt-in-law, or something). I chose groups of girls to add to the invites and they were just perfect. I love the simplicity and randomness of the designs. I hope these old photos never run out. They are always the perfect touch.

:: A NEW PROJECT ::


I'm going through my stash and deciding on my next project. I don't have much to report. In the meantime, I walked into the living room and found Cohen like this. He stayed this way for at least 10 minutes. Crazy kid.

:: YO HO YO HO ::

Just in time for a friend's pirate birthday party, Cohen got a rad shirt in the mail. Hayley and I did a swappy-swap and she made him this fantastic shirt in return for one of my market bags. He has wanted to wear it everyday since it came. We've already washed it three times, and I am impressed with the quality of it. She does a great job.


Go visit her blog and etsy shop. Get your kids some new clothes. She is also having a give-a-way through her blog right now. I know you all love free stuff.

A pirate's life for me.

Disclaimer:: Shirt not guaranteed to make your kid as goofy as mine is.

:: Calorimetry ::



I made my first calorimetry for a swap. It was a fast fun project and I was able to complete it in one afternoon.



And... look at this fantastic leather button. I love it. The free pattern is linked above. It seriously is a fast project!

::KIDDIE KANDIDS::

I had the opportunity to have breakfast with all of my aunts recently. These are my mom's sisters. She only has one brother. I don't know what they were all doing in town, but I am sure glad my mom called me to join them.

I asked them if I could take their picture before I left. They wouldn't stop laughing long enough to look at the camera. Their giggles are contagious. There was a group of gals my age standing a few feet away and they would laugh every time my aunts would erupt.

Corri Theobald, Donalyn Sessions, Sally Brown, MaryAnn Batt, Kaye Judd

This is the closest I could get to seeing all of their faces. What a great bunch! I couldn't have a more positive group of female role models.

I titled this post Kiddie Kandids because they were as wiggly as Cohen is when we're trying to get his pictures taken.

I'll sleep when I die::

Did you hear about this?

::I've found a replacement for treats::


WOOT! The boys are baa-aack! I'm serious. I am SO ready for this. Let me tell you a story::

In 1988, my family moved to St. Anthony, ID, from Carson City, NV. The following summer, we all went back to see our old friends. I stayed at Jaime's house and she introduced me to NKOTB. She had this poster on her wall that she kissed each night before bed. She had a pillow with Jordan's face on it and a little pin she wore on her "jean jacket". We were 10!! Sheesh. My friend dubbed me a copy of the tape and I went back to Idaho with a new obsession and was so excited to tell my friends all about the band.

Over the next few years, I am sure my bedroom looked a lot like all of yours. I bought every Tiger Beat and Teen Bop magazine and wallpapered my room with New Kids posters. My jacket was covered with "I love NKOTB" and "Donnie's Girl" pins. My mom wouldn't buy me all of the bedding or clothing. I did buy some socks from K-Mart for $2.00. My friend Lacey had all of the videos of concerts and the dolls. We would watch those videos every day after school and act out the scenes with the dolls. haha!

My obsession lasted as long as it could while I could still keep my "cool" rep, but secretly I held on a lot longer than that. New Kids came to SLC to a concert in 1990. Did any of you go? I did not get any tickets, but my mom did bring me to Ogden that weekend (I still lived in Idaho). She said she'd drive me by the Salt Palace to see the tour bus anyway. Unfortunately, that weekend also marked my first ride on the crimson wave and I refused to leave my Grandmother's house.

When I moved out of my parents house, I packed my New Kids stuff safely away in my cedar chest. I found a New Kids shirt at DI while I was attending Ricks College and wore it at least once a week. In 1999, I moved to SLC and lived with my Aunt Sally. Jordan Knight was putting out a solo album (that was no bueno) and was on a US Mall Tour. The South Towne Mall was on his list, and my cousin Lauren and I headed down for a free show. We casually hung out on the balcony and pretended we just happened across it. :) He was as cute as ever and I had butterflies in my stomach the entire time.

So - what I am saying is that I am SO READY for the KNOTB reunion to happen. Their blog is already bookmarked. I'm a geek... but admit it... you loved them, too.

(about the title:: I'm doing a Biggest Loser challenge with my family. I'm down 4 lbs this week! Woohoo!)

::MY MOM::


Last weekend all of my siblings (minus Tim who was 1/2 way trough Canada on his way to Alaska for the summer), in-laws, nieces and nephews, aunt and uncle, cousins and their kids, all got together for a barbecue to celebrate my dear sweet mom. She just finished her Master's Degree at Weber State (great! great! great!) and graduated. She looks cute standing there next to Pops in her 'wizard costume'.

I'm grateful for my mom for many reasons:
:: she gave me life :: she trusts me :: she taught me to love education :: she is a great teacher :: she hardly ever made me clean my room :: she is a great grandmother to Cohen :: she keeps us in check :: she challenged the entire family to lose weight - and we're taking it seriously because she said so :: she always let me have a 'sip' of her diet coke :: she is crafty :: she encourages creative thinking :: she never gave empty threats :: she washed my clothes and let me come home to do laundry during college :: she appreciates my handmade gifts :: she loves my dad :: she gave me awesome siblings :: she's righteous - in all the right ways :: she sold 2 mustangs and traded them for family cars :: she's smart :: she gave me consequences and never let me off the hook :: she made huge breakfasts for my friends and let us borrow her mini van to go to warped tour (from ID to SLC) on several occasions :: she also let me borrow her mini van for several spring break trips to Las Vegas :: she is thrifty :: she has a plethora of good ideas :: she made us go on a walk before opening our Christmas gifts :: she lets Pops have a dog even though she hates them :: she loves her parents :: she loves her siblings :: she believes in family :: she fed my cats and cleaned their litter boxes when i 'forgot' :: she believes in God :: she loves me ::

Thanks, Gramma Dough-knee, for all your hard work. I love you!

::FOR SALE::

These are by no means "leftovers", but these bags are what I did not sell at the boutique. If you are interested in any of them, please email me and we'll set up payment and shipping options. Prices and fibers are listed below each bag. Prices do not include shipping. For all Book Totes and Market Totes, please add $4.60 for shipping (if you are in SLC I'll drop it off where you want and there will be no shipping costs). For the Messenger Bag, add $9.00 - unless you really want me to smash it and then it will only be $4.60.

::TOTES::

Story Book Tote $12.00
Measurements: 15" x 12"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: No inner pockets

Flea Market Book Tote
$12.00
Measurements: 15" x 12"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: No inner pockets

Pink Floral Book Tote
$12.00
Measurements: 15" x 12"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: No inner pockets

::MARKET BAGS::

Fiber Information and Care Instructions on all Tags

Pink/Brown Market Bag $25.00
Measurements: 19.5" x 19"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: Large inner patch pocket

Pink/Green Market Bag $25.00
Measurements: 19.5" x 19"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: Large inner patch pocket

Natural Rose Market Bag $25.00
Measurements: 19.5" x 19"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: Large inner patch pocket

Patriotic Market Bag $25.00
Measurements: 19.5" x 19"
Shell: 55% Linen & 45% Cotton Blend
Lining, Handles, Patchwork: 100% Cotton
Info: Large inner patch pocket

::MESSENGER BAGS::

SOLD

If you are interested, please email me at lori(dot)vanwagoner(at)gmail(dot)com.

Whew...

We're done until Fall. YAHOO! What a great boutique. We had a fantastic turn-out and it was so great to see all of you SLC-punks represent! I do have a few bags left. I am going to take pictures of all of them tomorrow and I'll post them on here. If you are interested, they are for sale or trade. :) You are a good bunch.

Lori

EXCITEMENT::

Well, I was over setting up my table at the boutique this morning. The excitement is setting in. I am so in love with some of the stuff I saw. I was tempted to buy right on the spot. Good thing the vendors had left. Seriously... too cute.

This is the final style of bags I've made up. I am a big fan of the owl, but only because I already two different bags made out of that crazy polyester floral print. About three years ago I bought the entire bolt of that stuff and that, my friends, is the very last little bit.

We are in Ogden today celebrating my Mother with my siblings (well, except for Tim. He is half way to Skagway, Alaska, where he spends his summer driving tour buses). My mom graduated with her Masters today. It was fun to see her all dressed up in her robes, ropes, and tassels. She looked great and we are so proud of her. The grand kids thought she looked like a magician. Sometimes I think she really is. I'll share pictures later.

I hope to see you all tomorrow! If I do not know you, please introduce yourselves. I'd love to meet you and connect in "real life".

How long is this going to take::

Today is my last official sewing day before the big day. WAHOO! This is the point where I am going, "Why do I enjoy this?" But, as soon as I sew up the last few bags I have cut out I'll remember that I really do love sewing and preparing for boutiques.

Although I am not setting up my booth until Friday morning, I have stuff going on every minute up until then. I am very excited about Wednesday night because I am taking a knitting class at Unwind. We are learning how to make socks on 4 double-point needles... YIKES! Seems pretty tricky and tedious, but I am excited to learn something new.

On Thursday is our 2nd Book Club meeting. We read the Count of Monte Cristo this month. What a humdinger! As I've mentioned here before, it is such a fabulous book. I wish I hadn't been so busy this month so I could have paid more attention to it. Last week I just plowed through the end to make sure I'd finish. I am going to encourage a quick, light read for our next choice. 600+ pages of intense revenge is about all I can handle. The book I am reading now is hard to get into. I might drop it. A book has to be pretty bad if I don't want to finish it. Maybe next week when I am not so side tracked by sewing and boutique blogging I'll be ready for it.

The above bags are some of the Market Bags I made for the boutique. I love how versatile the look is. They are all the same pattern, just tied up in different ways. Very cute. As much as I hope to sell them all, I wouldn't mind keeping the brown one with orange birds. I kept just enough of both fabrics just in case.

BOUTIQUE GIVE-A-WAY::

I'm giving away this bag.... go to the boutique blog to enter.
Kim is giving away a coupon, too. Wahoo, for double prizes!

Patchwork Totes::


I made a few of these patchwork totes for the boutique. I am spending the weekend sewing to finish up the last bits of everything. I'll be giving away one of these tote bags via the boutique blog (will be posted from Sunday - Wednesday), so hop on over and say hello.

Taking a sewing break::

Have you ever been over to Kristina Werner's blog before? I love her site. I don't know how I came across it, but I have been a loyal fan of her Make a Card Monday videos that she posts each week. Recently she started doing Color Challenges, challenging readers to make a card based on a photo she found. I decided I'd enter this time. I'm not much of a paper crafter, but I thought a sewing break was much needed.

So, here is my card::


Based on this color scheme::


The white looking paper really is the same color as linen. It is a light natural beige-ish color. I was also going to spell "Mother", but I was spelling backwards and got a bit mixed up with the "t" and "h", so I changed the word. I figured my sister is a mother, too. Jenny, this one is for you. Act surprised!!

I hope you win::


Thanks to all of you who entered the first contest on the boutique blog!!! I hope someone that I sent over there wins. Just a reminder, the winner will be announced later today and a new contest will be posted. YAHOO!

I had another late sewing night. I'm ready to go to bed by 9:00 each night after this baby is over. I'm getting really sleepy. I forget how much work getting ready for boutiques is. On top of sewing each day, I have a family to take care of, and a lot of work for Carone Fitness to do. I'm running on adrenalin and Diet DP. Are you sick of hearing about it yet?? Well, your invites are in the mail. If you don't think I have your street address, email me.

What a workout::


I was up late last night finishing this baby. I bought this pattern from Montessori by Hand last month. It really is a cute bag, but it gave my poor little machine a workout. I had to switch out my regular needle for a fatty-boomba-latty upholstery needle just to get through 10 layers of fabric and interfacing. SHEESH! Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it. I'm loving the pear and brown combination What do you think?

My friend, Lindsey, came over today and modeled all of my bags for me. Now I have pictures of almost everything I've got for the boutique. The winner of the earrings will be drawn tomorrow (Wednesday) so make sure you go enter. Also, another new contest starts tomorrow. I'll be giving away a tote bag next week along with a $5 coupon off anything on Kim's table.

::Why spend money on dietitians and Weight Watchers::

A conversation started the day off right as I treated myself to a bowl of Capt'n Crunch.

Cohen:: Mom, Capt'n Crunch is for little kids... not mommies.
Me:: Oh, mommies can have it, too, as a special treat.
Cohen:: No, Mom, you need to eat Mommy cereal.

Cohen walks to pantry and returns to me with a box of Special K Berries.

Cohen:: Here, you should eat this and I should eat Capt'n Crunch.
Me:: No, I think I'll eat Capt'n Crunch instead.
Cohen:: Okay... but you are not making the right choice.
Me:: Fine, I'll eat the Mommy Cereal.