Craft Weekend

I have decent handwriting.
And I once made festive PJ pants with Christmas tree fabric.
I never wear them because I can't tell the front from the back.
And.
That's about as crafty as this California girl gets.

My friend, Kim had traveling to Kansas on her bucket list.
So she put herself on the wait list for Meg's Craft Weekend.
She was picked via random lottery.
And could bring a friend.

And that is how I ended up crafting in Kansas.

Strap on your craftalicious seat belts.
Here's my recap.

We were scheduled to leave SFO at 7:45 on Friday morning.
Technical difficulties kept us on the runway for over an hour.
Our layover in Houston was 50 minutes.
Bad news.

We missed our connecting flight and spent 12 lovely hours at George Bush International.

We charged our phones in some interesting places.
And ate 30 United voucher dollars worth of airport food.

We arrived at Meg's around 11:30 pm and were greeted by 12 new smiley faces.
Who were still furiously crafting away.
Serious biz in Wichita.

Exhausted, but not wanting to feel left out, I got my midnight ruffle on.
And started with my apron.
The women were sweet and friendly.
And didn't make fun of my uncraftiness much.
Except for Karen from Houston.
Figures.

We also had some serious swag waiting at our table.

I think we finally closed our eyes around 3 am that first night.
In super comfy brand new beds.
With happy vintage quilts.
Dreaming of ruffles and bunting and lemon fabric.
Definitely delirious from our day of travel.

We were up early the next morning.
Kimberlee prepared a lovely breakfast with fantastic cinnamon rolls.
We chatted.
Ate more.
Laughed.
Bloggers are fun people.

We packed up the caravan and headed to an antique store and barn.
And I'll just be honest, old stuff is not my favorite.
But when in Rome...
You buy hand-painted orange-shaped ceramic California salt and pepper shakers for $5.
And a Girl Scout pocket guide for Kayla from 1947.
My house already smells weird.

Also, Kansas is windy.

Quick stop at Sonic for lunch and back to our ruffles.

We also made bunting.
And painted on canvas.
And decorated totes.

We stopped only to eat.
Yummy enchiladas ala Kimberlee.
Peanut butter cake with chocolate ganache.
Which I didn't enjoy as much as I should have because I was stressing about my inability to rethread a sewing machine.
Which is now on MY bucket list.

Chicago Jenny, sensing my troubles, came to the rescue.
With a screwdriver.
Standard.

We crafted into the wee hours of the night.
And shared stories.
And laughed some more.

We loved our Read Roomies: the very literate/no-blog 2 Karens and a Tara.

I enjoyed meeting Jade.

And chatting with Ashley Ann about their pending adoption.

And realizing that Amy and I had both guest posted for Jeannett's special needs series.
She's from Alabama. I'm from California. And there we were crafting in Kansas.

We shared technical skills.
Converted a few to Instagram.
And Pinterest.
My work there was done.

Overall, such a wonderful time and happy memories.
And a much-needed break for this busy mama.

Thanks, Meg, for letting crazies invade your home.
It was lovely.

Thank you, Kimberlee for the food and desserts.
It was all so delicious.

Thank you, new friends for a whirlwind, craftabulous weekend.

I loved every ruffly second.

Hello, Monday.

Hello, Monday.  Hello, laundry.

Hello, spending more time in the Houston airport during one unexpected layover
than total hours of sleeping all weekend long.

Hello new canvas for Ashlyn's room.

That I'll probably re-do because I have crafting OCD.

Hello new burlap bunting for Ashlyn's room.

That I'll never re-do because burlap is an angry fabric.

And I'm allergic to it.

Hello nerd alert.

Hello new ruffled apron for Kayla.

Which was originally mine.

But she loves ruffles more than I do.

Hello lots of help from Chicago Jenny because sewing machines hate my guts.

Hello cute new tote bag.

Filled with amazing swag.

Hello five pounds more to lose thanks to lots of delicious food and desserts.

And Houston layover food.

Hello 13 new friends.

I can't wait to tell you all about it.

I just need to take a nap first.

Oh!  One more thing.

THIS Thursday.

Be sure to link up.

Thank you and goodnight.

Kansas, Goth Hair and White-Washed Tombs

Kim and I are leaving for Wichita tomorrow.

To craft.

I died my hair myself so my new friends won't be appalled by washed out old color/hints of gray.

And I look goth.

And I'm not sure which is more appalling.

No offense, goths.

Garnier Nutrisse, your "Darkest Brown?"

It lies.

My cute friend, Keri wrote this post a few days ago.

And I can't stop thinking about it.

How often do we do this?

Or worse, how often so we tweak our "behind the scenes" to make it look like our highlight reel?

On Tuesday night we had nachos for dinner because I was too tired to cook.

Not even fancy nachos.

Just chips and cheese.

And Dave made them.

Kayla and I started Bible Study Fellowship last Monday night.

And the first week went well.

We were able to study God's Word together every day.

This week?  Not so much.

And I leave tomorrow.

This happy, super-fan picture taken before the 49ers choked on Sunday?

Ashlyn screamed the rest of the car ride because she wanted a gray sweatshirt like Kayla.

Kayla threw a sock at her to make her stop.

Ashlyn had show and tell yesterday.

And I forgot.

For the second week in a row.

She's snoring next to me as I type this at 5:42 AM because that is usually when I blog.

Dave is in her room.

We've been trying to regulate on the musical beds.

And clearly it's not going so well.

And you know what?

It's all ok.

Kids scream.

And throw socks.

Moms are too tired to cook.

Or lift their kids out of the wrong bed.

Things don't always go as planned.

And we all survive.

Because, truthfully, none of us have it all together.

We just like to make it look like we do.

Which leaves us to compete against each other's false realities.

We gain empty, fleeting value from what other's see of our outsides.

When our value should come from what God sees on the inside.

Hear me.

This is not an excuse to be lazy.

Or without accountability.

Quite the opposite, actually.

This is freedom to do more than we can imagine.

For the right audience.

So let's just be real, ok?

With ourselves.

With each other.

Besides, Jesus had strong words for fakers.

Football. Still Awesome.

It was 1984.

The Denver Broncos were facing the Cleveland Browns in a championship game of some sort.

My dad (far left) was the only Cleveland fan in all of California.

The couple he's pictured with, Gary and Carol, bought their jerseys the day before.

I'm sure of it.

Our neighbors across the court, The Caldwell's, were from Denver.

My parents hosted a party that day.

Wally Caldwell cut our cable line (with scissors) in the 4th quarter.

Everyone had to go to their house to watch the rest.

So scandalous.  So genius.  I loved our court.

My mom's family is from Long Island.

They are lifelong Jets fans, especially my uncle.

But in the 80s?

EVERYONE was a Niner fan.

I have clear memories of watching the close game against the Bengals at my Uncle Bert's house in 1989.

And I remember my dad buying our very first projector big screen for the 1985 game against the Dolphins.

Then, there's Hometown Tommy.

Yes.  That is our grouchy baby up past her bedtime in a seedy Houston bar in 2004.

I know.

Although I've always been a bit confused over who I should be rooting for,

I've always loved the game.

It's always been a part of my life.

And my earliest memories.

Thrilled for Sunday.

Super excited for a potential Pats/Niners Superbowl.

But this time I know who I'll be rooting for.

Sorry, Tommy.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwOPqwROIBQ]

Our Big News

If you missed church on Sunday, you missed some really good cupcakes.

These were the leftovers on Monday.

We ate them for breakfast.

You also missed some really big news.

For us, at least.

Dave was able to quit his job at CityTeam, Oakland.

To pastor Hope full-time.

We are so thankful for God's provision through His people.

We are excited, humbled and anxiously anticipate all that the Lord is going to do.

As Dave has more time, energy and focus to place on our sweet church.

 

Super thankful to our church body for seeing a need.

And fulfilling it so generously.

We anxiously await this next season.

It is our privilege and joy to serve you.

It always has been.

Dream.

Kayla gave a speech last night.

And had great motivation thanks to a "risk taker" ice cream social that's taking place at school today.

And a no homework pass.

Either way, we are super proud of her.

There were well over 100 people in the room.

And she did great.

 

Here's the video.

She was called sooner than I anticipated and

I missed the hook.

Because I was fishing my phone out of my black hole purse.

I have a dream that I'm going to clean it out one day.

 

She started by saying: "Love is more powerful than hate.

Dr. Martin Luthur King changed the world so people can have more equal rights..."

In case you were wondering.

Hello, Monday.

Hello laundry.

Hello dishes.

Hello 2011 Toy Purge continued.

Hello volunteer day at Ashlyn's school.

Hello "I Have a Dream" speech rehearsal for Kayla.

I once heard it said that people fear public speaking more than death.

So they'd rather be IN the casket than giving the eulogy.

This applies to 8-year-olds, too.

She's nervous.

But she's going to do great.

 

Hello carpet spraying and cleaning.

Kobi peed on Butterscotch while we were gone.

 

Goodbye, San Diego.

You were beautiful.

Hello married life.

You are beautiful, too.

Hello wedding ring #5.

The rental car lady said he probably shouldn't be performing weddings without one.

Good point, rental car lady.

 

Goodbye book I finished in 2 days because it was real good.

Lord of the Flies meets a SUPER twisted and dark Survivor.

Hello, Laura.

I'm coming to pick up the second one today.

 

Hello rooting for the Giants because they have a better chance of beating the Packers.

And if the Packers lose to the Giants and the Niners beat the Saints, the Niners have home field advantage.

Welcome to my world in January.

 

Goodbye CityTeam.

Dave resigned last week.

Hello awesome new adventure that I can't fully disclose yet.

Come to church on Sunday to hear all about it.

Plus, I'm bringing cupcakes.

 

Hello Monday.

Linking up with Lisa Leonard.

Pintertest Kitchen 4: Galaxy PlayDoh

So I lied to you.

No glue gun.

But good news!

No fire department either.

I wimped out on the super crafty.

And went kid's arts and crafty.

I compose this post surrounded in glitter and glittered Play-Doh.

On my face.

In my hair.

On the table.

Embedded in the crevices of the table.

On the chairs.

In the carpet.

I'm not a big fan of Play-Doh in the wintertime.

You know?  Indoors.

In case there was any question.

I've also just learned that I'm not a huge fan of glittered Play-Doh ever.

But both girls love it.

So I took one for the team this month.

And so did my carpet.

2 cups flour
2 cups water dyed with black and blue food coloring
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. cream of tartar
1 cup salt

Heat colored water and oil in large pan.
Add dry ingredients.
Stir often.
Mixture will turn to dough rather quickly.
Let cool in separate container, add glitter and knead until it reaches desired consistency.

Original recipe/pin found here.

Ours looks different than the original for a few reasons.

I could not find black food coloring so I mixed red, yellow, blue and green.

Also, we probably needed to add more glitter.

But me and my table crevices are done with glitter.

For a while.

So... what have you been up to?

Grab a button.

Link up below and tell me all about it!