Random Round Up: The Land Of AZ, Revisited

Surprise, I'm alive!

We took a week off last week and headed for the Arizona desert: Palm trees, sun, and wonderful friends. What could be better?

A delayed flight made for a later-than-planned arrival, but still managed some pool time!

Have you heard of Top Golf? There are quite a few, but make it a must-do in Scottsdale.

New Adventures: A first-time visit to the Grand Canyon for all four of us!

Frost Gelato - Delicious and we even dined with a semi-celebrity one night!

My vacation souvenir? A horrendous cold. Pho and cold meds have me on the mend.

I'm healing up and getting back into the swing of things - More to come on the trip later in the week. Have a great one!

Edit: See the whole recap of the trip right here.

Quick Craft: Crew Neck to Cardigan

In spite of my ongoing goal not to cave in to buying throwaway fashion, there are times when I just get the urge to haunt the Forever21.com sale section. Where else can you find an ill-fitting dress for $4?! Anyway, a couple years back I picked up a lace crewneck pullover. I liked the idea of wearing a camisole under it, and it was a fun, interesting shade of minty-jade green (a color nearly impossible to capture in photos, as it turns out. NONE of the coming pics really do it justice).

Shocker: It didn't fit. The arms were fine, the body was fine, but the length was just way too short for a girl of 5'8" like m'self. So, into the scrap fabric bin it went. ...For two years. Suddenly a weekend or so ago, inspiration struck when I was rifling through the bin. If I simply sliced this pullover up the middle, it would be a pretty cute cropped cardigan!

The shoulder at the top of the image almost shows the actual color...
No option of light I could find allowed the camera to actually capture it.

I got to work.

Measure twice+ to determine the center, then snip away.

Hemming the cut line will prevent raveling.
As for thread, when you don't have a perfect match, a little lighter is always better than darker.

I hand-stitched my two pin lines, mostly because my machine is on the fritz and I don't trust it on anything out side of basic cotton. As this was both a synthetic and stretchy, I wasn't willing to risk it having a mechanical tantrum and forcing me to scrap the whole thing.

Et voila! A slice, a stitch, and a new addition to my wardrobe. Two bucks well spent.

Random Round Up: Blue Sky Blooms

It was a stunner of a weekend and I couldn't get enough.

How cute are these burp cloth cakes? One of my bosses made one for each of two
girls in my work group who are expecting.

Full bloom backyard!

No enhancement necessary on our front yard cherry tree.

Happy Monday - I promise this time, the sewing project promised last week is actually going to be posted this week!

Random Round Up: Springtime and Stupidity

Such glorious weekend weather. Perfect for a little early-in-the-season yard wrangling, beach walking, and general drinking in of vitamin D.

It's March, true, but it still feels way too early for spring to be showing itself.

Bonehead move of the week: Forgot the rotisserie chicken was in the oven to
stay warm... Turned the oven to 400 to roast potatoes..... d'oh!

Cherry blossoms in the moonlight.

Oh what a beautiful mooorn-iiiiing...
(you guys know to click linked words like this for extra fun, right?)

The Boeing Dreamlifter - Doesn't it look prehistoric? Such a beast.

Have a great week - Little sewing project coming your way later in the week!