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It’s been one of those 24hours. You know the kind……
Perhaps it starts off innocently enough when you put the milk in the pantry and the crackers in the fridge, but you don’t realize until the following morning when you go to make your tea? And you’re really looking forward to that tea because you’ve woken with a splitting headache. But, you move on…..you get dressed and go to the grocery store. Maybe you can’t stand the WF on River Street because it’s packed at all times- you dread it, but this time will be different? No such luck. It’s packed alright, with all the new people in town for school. As you pull in the parking lot, one of those road-rage-minivan-Moms on a cell phone is tearing so fast diagonally across the parking lot she *almost* T-bones you. When you slam on your brakes and mouth “w.t.f?” she presses her face to the window, with cell phone, and gives you a laugh and a wave.
You’re starting to think it’s not turning out to be such a good day, maybe you should have slept in a little more because something seems off. You plod along with your cart, filling it with a random assortment of vegetables and fruits, none of which have any potential to come together for a meal, but you’re lost inside your head. Thinking about that person in the minivan, thinking about what evil you’d do if you had magical powers…..when you slip and fall in what appears to be a large container of garlic hummus that’s been smashed in the aisle and left for someone else to worry about. Did I mention you have flip flops on? And the hummus is garlic? And it’s all down your leg and in your shoe? And when you hobble over to the butcher counter for help the people in line hiss at you? Well they do….so you hobble to the bakery for help but frankly, they can’t be bothered. They have finger nails to stare at. Finally a man walks by with a walkie talkie and you ask him for help, he looks important and makes people hustle. Next thing you know you’re wiping yourself down with that scratchy, recycled, brown paper towel and try to clean out your shoe. The employees are flustered because they think you’re going to sue. But, you just go back to shopping and shrug it off. To help yourself through this trying time, you fill the cart with popcorn, kettle corn, cassava chips, tortilla chips, cookies, cheese crackers and all sorts of goodies that make sense at the time. You wrap it up and finish on a high note (frozen Greek yogurt!).
Then you get a call from your husband. He’s at the bike shop picking up your bike (bless him!) and he prefaces his call with “do you want the good news or the bad news?….. The bike is done, has it’s new fenders, but that wire basket- the one you made that custom liner for last night? The one the very same shop that sold you the bike, told you would work and then ordered it for you – yeah that one….well, it doesn’t work with your bike.” And the bike shop, chock full of those hipster, fixed gear-types, just laughs it all off, because really, your bike needs are not worthy of their brain cells.
Maybe when you get home (I should mention here that you’ve thought it a good idea to carry all 5 bags of groceries in one trip) and open the door, your arms are so full that the door slams behind you and causes all of the glass plates on the wall, as well as the key holder, to come smashing to the ground. Glass shatters all over the room, and your little dog is so happy to see you she runs to and fro through the glass. And said glass is sticking to your feet (because you’re still wearing flip flops) and hurting you……but you……you persevere and drag the groceries to the fridge. You put away the perishables, put the dog someplace safe and clean up the mess. At this point you are hysterically laughing! And possibly talking to yourself.
You check the Turkish blog to see if anything has happened, has the person that has stolen your photos and taken your pattern (conveniently cropping off all of your logos and trademarks) and put them on their site as their own….maybe they’ve come to their senses? Alas, no…..the day can’t get any worse. You’ve had some help from a kind soul out there in the internet, but help with translating such things takes time. Impatient as you are, you click on all the buttons on the site to see if you can somehow strike gold and leave a comment asking them to knock it off. Which you think you may have, but can’t be sure. You will just have to wait.
So you clean, you clean things that you never usually clean. And you decide it would be a good idea to clean the large glass wall in your loft and do a bunch of laundry. That will take time but it will make you feel better. Then your husband comes home and makes you a fantastic dinner and you’re so full, and so exhausted from the day that you take a long shower and decide to just call it a day and pray that Saturday Night Live will be a good one. You could use a laugh. A little browsing on the internet headlines makes you think you’re wallowing…..it’s not so bad. Cheer up, tomorrow is another day and all that crap. All that sewing you were going to do can wait until tomorrow.
Is that the kind of day you’ve had? Interestingly enough it is exactly the kind of day I’ve had.
I need a little favor….does anyone out there read Turkish? Babelfish & AltaVista don’t do Turkish and the one online Turkish translator I found is fairly useless. I am having a little problem with a blog that has taken my photos and my kimono pattern for their own use. I can’t seem to email them , join the ‘network’ or even comment to request they take my photos and pattern down.
If anyone out there could give me some tips on this situation, or, if you happen to speak Turkish- that would be a GREAT help. Feel free to email me if you have any info that would help.
Thanks!
The pattern is up! You can get it here or here…… Note: it is a LARGE file, so give it a minute to download.
I hope everyone enjoys it. I promise it’s the easiest thing in the world to make, and you will have a great time picking textures and patterns to mix and match.
Now….for the giveaway. Dun dun dun.
The 12 month, gingham dress goes to comment number 21: Hannah!
And the 18month, khaki voile dress goes to number 36: ShimmyShake!
Congratulations to the winners! Please email me your mailing address and I will send off the packages…I’ve never done a giveaway before, I hope it was fun (and I hope I did it correctly). If anyone wants a sundress, but does not want to make it, always feel free to contact me via email.
Edit: Congratulations to the Winners!
Well, in anticipation of the Simple Sundress pattern, I am going to giveaway 2 sundresses to say thank you to all the readers out there who have left comments and sent emails encouraging me to keep up with my patterns and expanding my horizons.
The first one is a size 12 months. It’s red and white ginham and has a prussian blue paisley-ish print tie.
The second one is a size 18 months. It’s a khaki voile color with a pink and brown bird toile-ish tie.
The pattern is all sorted. I just need to proof it. I think it will be up and ready by Wednesday night. So, leave a comment (as many times as you like) and on Wednesday night (let’s say 8pm EST), I will pick 2 names at random and announce the winners.
Thanks again for all your kindness and support! I promise that the sundress pattern is even more simple and even faster than the simple kimono…..promise.
Edit: If you leave a comment, be sure to let me know which size you would like….
When Jules and I went down to NC to see our Dad in March, we came back with a ton of old family photographs. My stepmother had dragged the box upstairs and said “do you guys want any of these? If not I’m going to pitch them”. Horrified, we carefully sorted through them and made piles for ourselves and other sisters. My pile has been sitting on my desk since then, gathering dust.
I managed to get them into some semblance of order in an album for now. I can’t help but wonder where the massive collection of other photos went. My Dad was a photographer (it was not his career, it was his passion), he had more equipment than a Pro. He had a darkroom and did all of his own developing and experimenting…..
I hated having my picture taken, still do…..but it’s so important to capture those memories. As life progresses and our memories grow deeper and deeper, it’s photographs that help rekindle the scents, the sounds, and the emotions that have long since passed. I’m thankful to have these.
I’ve never won anything. No prizes, no giveaways. Maybe it’s bad luck, or maybe I just don’t enter enough contests. Either way, this is quite a delicately-incredible prize. A small, hand spun drop spindle of wool. A collection of thread, full of meaning and beauty.
Thank you Erin. It will be treasured.
I’ve been a little buried under a side project lately….trying to fight off the MBTA from putting a gigantic, 24 hour maintenance and storage facility right next to us. I mean, this is an industrial area and everything, but it’s a neighborhood first. If it was 200 single family homes, this site would never be considered. So – we organize and we fight. What else can we do?
Ok – having this done by Sunday is not looking good. There’s just been too much excitement around here: more storms, friends in town, and a new orange bike! And those damn Olympians are so intriguing. I think this is going to be more of a ‘Baby Arrival’ gift…….on to plan B for the shower.
