What Time is it?

It's time to get a ring watch. I realize this is one step away from wearing holiday themed jewelry, like Christmas Bulb earrings and American Flag necklaces. I am not quite there yet. But... I had one of these a while back and dumbly left it on an airport bathroom sink when washing my hands. I miss it! I love it! And it is much easier than the wrist-shackling feeling of wearing a watch... so I plan on getting another one.

They are impossibly hard to find, and when you do, they are usually crappy. This kind is tried and true:

http://www.amazon.com/Carolyn-Forsman-Ring-Watch-white/dp/B000N89VP4/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1XB8TCL08TRGG&colid=2ZPDV2TK7K7KD

Sew Cyuuuuuute!

I just joined a quilting club. We meet once a month on Mondays to create some fabric magic. The cool thing about this group is that in exchange for learning this amazing art form from these talented and patient ladies, we donate every blanket we make to hospitals and charitable organizations! Everybody wins!

Since the average age of the group members is 68, I am like a darling granddaughter to all of them! I love it! It reminds me of when I used to go with my grandmother to her weekly hair appointment. All of the ladies giving me candy, hugs, and endless attention, it fills that place in me that so misses my grandmas. I am so happy I took the risk and went.

Another risk I took. I bought this little mechanical joy! It's a Hello Kitty Sewing Machine by Janome. Yes, I am really getting into this 8-year-old little girl feeling! Seriously, I did endless hours of internet research and this is a great beginner's machine. It's strong enough for quilting and will make me smile when I sew. I am vey intimidated by sewing machines, as I nearly failed Costuming 101 in College after breaking two machines. (I had to do hours of wardrobe crew on the plays to make up for my complete lack of sewing skills). This machine will allow me to be a beginner. I am ecstatic and inspired to make blankets and bring warmth to the world!

Once I assemble my first quilt, I will most certainly put it up on this blog. Until then, wish me luck.

In Honor of Mother's Day... Baby animals!!!

Mother's Day approaches. This is a day of breakfasts, flowers, and sentimental cards. In my geographical predicament, it's a day of bi-coastal phone calls where I try to express my deepest gratitude and love for the 3 ladies who raised me: my mom, my Gram, and my Sito (grandma is Arabic). These are women who woke me up in time for school, laughed at my corny jokes, encouraged my talents and skills, yelled at me for smoking and kissing boys, fed me great ethnic family foods, told me I was beautiful and then begged me to wear colors instead of all black, held exhausting 8-hour a day jobs that they rushed home from to turn around and drive me back up 95 to take me to dance classes 4 times a week, and were my shoulder to cry on when I learned life's hard lessons. These are the role models that molded me into the (nearly) perfect adult woman that I am today. How do you thank someone for that?

Recently I have had a change of heart about my priorities and have decided to focus less on career climbing and more on building a family (I had written some horrible analogy about being lucky with your eggs and gambling on the fertility-slot-machine and seeing what pops out... but it got too graphic). But, I believe this is one way to let my mom know what an amazing job I think she did... by trying motherhood myself. It has such purpose.

I am currently the proud mother of a 4-pawed gray tabby. She is a beauty. I give her all of the love she deserves and then some. As you well know by now, I am a sucker for soft furry friends. So, in honor of motherhood - past, present, and future, I share this with you.

First a special thanks to Miss Andy Goldblatt and Jeff Crocker, who so kindly called my attention to this website called Zooborns! A site devoted to baby animals born in zoos. Ahhh! I love it! Too cute!

And now meet Baby Quembo at the zoo in Frankfurt, West Germany:

You can learn more about this little sweet one here: http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Photos+Meet+Quembo+Frankfurt+baby+gorilla/4070215/story.html

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers of the earth... especially mine!