Happy Halloween!

            Wishing you a very spooky Halloween!

Evan's Orchard (Lexington- Part III)

Ok, last Lexington post. We read about a small town outside of Lexington called Georgetown and knew we needed to take a look, since we were so close. We found Evan's Orchard. I must admit I was giddy while we were driving up. I had never been to an apple orchard before and I was dreaming about the cider!

As we pulled up this was the first thing we saw...pumpkins as far as the eye could see. (Insert smile)

Yummy!

Keeneland (Lexington-Part II)

Keeneland Race Park was a ton of fun! The horses were beautiful. Savanna came with us to the race and we met up with another friend, Naoko, who is also working with Kentucky Opera. It was a charged atmosphere and sooooo packed. It was a Thursday. Can't imagine what it's like on the weekends. I recommend if you ever go in the future, bring our friend Savanna. She actually knew what was going on, and don't forget your parasol, ladies.

See...lots of fun.

Lexington

Thursday morning we left for Lexington, Kentucky. We took a scenic route which was most definitely worth the time. The landscape is gorgeous here. Along the way we stumbled upon Kentucky's state capitol

building in Frankfurt.

When we made it to Lexington our first stop was The Garden Cafe for lunch. This little gem was featured in Southern Living magazine. It is a house that was converted into an antique and gift shop and the restaurant takes up about three rooms of the house. There were so many cute things for sale. Our friend Savanna lives in Lexington so we were able to spend the day with her. Thanks Savanna! We had a blast!

The food was delicious. If you're ever in Lexington, don't miss this place. I had a pasta salad and for dessert we shared cheese cake with raspberry sauce and lemon geranium pound cake with a lemon glaze.

Is your mouth watering yet? 

Our next stop was Keeneland Race Park. Stayed tuned for parts 2 and possibly 3 of Lexington. We saw so much and took too many great pics to cram into one post.

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Kentucky Opera's second show  The Elixir of Love opened last night. I'm going tomorrow. I can't believe we only have four more weeks here. Time has flown. Gabe's biggest show is next, The Barber of Seville . The opera is going to be semi staged with orchestra in Owensboro, KY. Gabe is playing the title role so he is super pumped about that performance. More details to come :) Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!



Cinci

I've heard a lot of people around here call Cincinnati, Cinci. So, there I go. Acting like a local. Gabe applied to grad school in Cincinnati a few years ago and I secretly hoped it wouldn't work out. I'm not meant to live in snow. I only play in it. After visiting the city I truly loved how it displayed the season. While Gabe was in an audition for Cincinnati Opera, I drove around and found Eden Park. It lived up to it's name.

I also went to the Cincinnati Museum of Art. They had this really cool exhibit of wedding dresses created over the last 200 years. I couldn't take pictures, but Zac Posen made me open my eyes to wedding dresses that were anything but white or ivory. The museum was free! Yah! So pretty too!

Then I drove Gabe back to the park after he was done. He loved it too.

All the pictures on the blog header are from the park too :)

We had a lot of fun!

(I started to add texture to this photo, but ended up going with the original. I thought the colors were perfect. Gabe made fun of me for wanting to take a picture in front of a wall,

but I think he might have to recant.)

Heading to Lexington on Thursday to see a friend. Yah for seeing new places!

something new

Guess what I did?

I Turned this...

Into this...

Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the material over the summer and the pattern over a year ago. It took me that long to dive in. Now, I might just be hooked :) Disregard that the pattern photo looks quite different. I used a stiff fabric and well... you, know. It was my first time. I have a few more patterns I want to start soon.

Sew skirt from a pattern. Check.

it's been good

Today has been a great day. Gabe didn't have any morning rehearsals so we slept in way too late and woke up smiling at each other. Perfect. He made us some yummy food and then we both left. Me to they gym, he to work. The weather is sooooooo amazing! It's almost hard to be inside. Then I made a pit stop to panera to finish a book and drink some soda. This is a great place and we're happy to be here.

Last night I was invited to a Girls Night Out with some girls from church. It was so much fun. I didn't get home until after 1. Gabe thought I was dead. Oops. Made me miss my Houston Girls Night Outers. Hi girls! We always had so much fun. The women here are great too and they make some seriously yummy treats! . We're blessed to be part of a really sweet ward.

We're driving to Cincinnati tomorrow with a few people for an audition. Hopefully we'll get to explore this and maybe this. If not tomorrow, at least before we leave KY.

Happy weekend!

An observation

A few days ago someone called me a young lady. Young Lady.

I kind of have a problem with that. (Obviously. I'm thinking about it a few days later)

I didn't tell the person that it bothered me for fear of being rude.

I also didn't tell him that he brought me back to those awkward years as a middle schooler who'd just lost a baby tooth within the frame of her smile.

(that totally happened to me. A baby tooth...as an eighth grader. Can you imagine?)

This person wasn't even that old. I wonder what he would have done if I told him I was 27.

In his defense, I was sans makeup, hair in a pony tail, wearing gym clothes. Had I been in a dress and heels maybe he would have reconsidered the statement.

I vow to never call anyone a young lady ever again. Or young man. Couldn't possibly be any better. Any guys read this here blog? Do you want anyone calling you a young man if you're well into your twenties?

Maybe I should stop talking about my age.
OK, thanks.

Just for reference, the picture below was taken Dec 21, 2002 (Gretchie's wedding day) We were 19 and 18. Maybe, you could have called me a young lady then, maybe.

Thanks for reading friends.

An Accidental Ruffle Scarf and Chico's Inspired Pin

Remember how I ranted in my last post about a failed sewing project? Well, I decided that I didn't want it to get the best of me. So, in order to save the fabric I already used I started attacking it with my rotary cutter. I ended up with a couple long pieces, and several thin ones.  I sewed the long pieces together to make one long scarf about 100" long and 6" wide and then sewed a very thin hem along all sides.

I knew I needed to cover up the seams I had just created to make more length. I took some of the small thin pieces, sewed a basting stitch on my machine, then pulled one end to ruffle it. The first one turned out great! I really liked the almost tattered uneven look. So I made several more and tacked them down with a few hand stitches here and there. Take that failed sewing project. I made something out of you all on my own.

Wait...there's more....

For a birthday present recently, I made a flower pin with feathers. It was inspired by this pin from Chicos. The retail price is $38.

via

This project was pretty quick and easy.

Supplies:

Felt

Flower of your choice

Feathers (mine were from Hobby Lobby $1.99)

Alligator Clips

Glue gun

Sewing machine, or thread and needle

Scissors

Pin Back

1. Cut felt into a circle about two and a half inches in diameter. I used a lid to trace the circle about the same size as the flower. Then cut a small piece of felt about 1.5" by 0.5". Pin that in the center of your circle. I then sewed along the long sides of the small piece of felt. Be sure to leave the short sides open.

2. Pop flower off of plastic stem. Set aside.

3. Begin placing feathers on felt. Once you like the placement, hot glue feathers in place. Then glue flower on top of feathers.

4. Almost done. Take metal pin back and hot glue to top of felt. Then attach alligator clip to felt. You can use alligator clip to place pin in hair, or add to lapel of clothing. The other bonus of the felt piece- remove alligator clip and slide a basic headband in, and position pin as desired on your head.

All done!

Please let me know if that was unclear or if there are any questions. I'm linking up with Sew Dang Cute for their Crafting with the Stars contest. This is my audition :) Click the button below if you want to check it out. There are soooo many cute entries!

Merit Badge

Yesterday I had a fight with a sewing project. A huge brawl. I was ready to throw it out the window. I'm actually surprised I didn't. The problem originated from instructions that were not very clear to me. There were also several pictures, but for some reason I was not getting it. You know? I had great intentions. I did. These instructions were battling with me. The clincher.....

The project was labeled as "Soooooooooo easy."

Just like that, multiple O's.

The more I read about how easy it was the more I wanted to cry. Why was I not understanding. I learned that I am not so much a "big picture" person. I like to take small steps which then lead to something great. Had I seen the "big picture" I'm sure this would have made things easier.

Gabe was working on some music and could hear and sense my escalating frustration. So frustrated I became that I enlisted my non-crafty, never sewn a day in his life husband for help. He also read the instructions and looked at the pictures. It also was confusing to him, even though he is a "big picture" kind of person. After he tossed the fabric around, trying to see the end result, he muttered under his breath "I feel like a boy scout again." I don't think I was supposed to hear him, but it made me smile.

End of story...project was an epic fail. My confidence was belittled some due to the "sooooo easy" instructions, but I realized, or at least rationalized that this non-professional blogger whom I took instructions from might not have realized that I needed 100 steps instead of 4. Not her fault. From now on I will just choose projects not only based on end result, but clarity of instructions. There. I am finished. Sorry to rant.

The point of the story...my honey did everything he could to make me feel better, and help me along the process. He earned a badge in my eyes. Since my sewing skills are a bit confused I made him a virtual badge. He's a great scout in my book.

St. James Court Art Fair

Fall is here. 53 degrees today and I walked outside for 2 hours. Good thing I brought a jacket...and this new scarf I made...

I got a few compliments from the artists which was nice. Should of said, "Oh thanks, I'll trade ya." Yeah right, everything there was so expensive. Yikes! Everything was beautiful, though!!

The jewelry stands were my favorite! I Wonder why.

The traditional...and not so traditional.

Awesome photography and pewter collections. Both intriguing.

There were also some great sewing crafts too. Very cute baby accessories and kids clothes. These people must sew all day and all night to have so much product. Maybe I'll get a booth at an art fair someday...hmmmm...

Happy Sunday! 

weekend

Happy October!

We hope everyone has a great weekend. We will be having an enriching weekend watching this.

Then, we're going to the St. James Art Fair. It's one of the biggest art fairs in the country. I'm excited for some inspiration. The weather is beautiful here and and we're having lots of fun meeting new people and seeing the sights. There is a Target, Wal-Mart super center (with fabric), Michael's and a Hobby Lobby within 5 miles. Mkay. I bought a 5yd bolt of fabric for $5 today. Now what to do with it...you'll see :)