Stuck!

I had great plans to go running this afternoon, come home, make Charlie a card, shower, and even start cooking dinner. Since Penny is not good leash runner we always take her to trails around our area where we can let her run free. When she's on the leash she tugs for you to go faster, then stops to sniff, and prefers to half step you, in other words runs right in front of you ready to trip you at all times. Today I took Penny to one of the easiest places to go, Profile Falls. There are old roads turned into trails and people snowshoe, ski, and snowmobile on the trail so it's pretty packed down and easy (by winter running standards) to run on. We got there, parked, thought about how there didn't used to be snow in the parking lot but now there was, shrugged, then went running. I realize this sounds dumb, at least the park about the snow. It snowed a ton on Friday and Saturday. I took Penny walking on Monday at Profile and there was some snow in the parking area, not a lot. Then I took her running on Tuesday and there was no snow in the parking lot, it had all melted or been plowed away. It hasn't snowed since then so I was a bit surprised to find that the parking lot was covered with snow.

Anyways I didn't think much of it and went for a run. An easy 3.5 miles. Once we got back to the parking lot I actually looked at the car and realized it was stuck in about 8 inches of snow and one side was sunk way into the snow. Penny hopped in the car and I surved my emergency suplies. Here is an inventory of emergency supplies in my car:

1. Wet wipes
2. Windshield scraper
3. Trash collector
4. Armorall wipes
5. Glass cleaning wipes
6. Ice skates
7. Yack Tracks
8. 3 Blankets
9. 1 pillow
10. First Aid Kit (1 pair of gloves, bandaids, gauze, small useless scissors)
11. Stale Smart Food crumbs (located all over the floor)
12. Maine Atlas
13. New Hampshire Atlas
14. Ripped map of the United States.

None of those supplies were of any help. I attempted to use the windshield scraper to chip away some of the snow and ice but figured that puncturing my tire would only add to my troubles. After many attempts to reverse and drive forward and getting no where, I put Penny on the leash and started walking home. A sensible person might have asked someone for a phone to call someone, but I didn't have anyone to call since I only know Charlie's number and he was at practice 40 minutes away and not with a cell phone,  and my parents phone numbers and they live far away. I could have asked one of the many trucks that passed me for help, but that seemed sketchy. I could have asked for a ride, but who wants to give a ride to a girl and her temperamental dog? Aside from the fact that I would never accept a ride from a stranger anyways. So we just walked. 

Since it has snowed there is little to no shoulder on the main road we had to walk on to get home. Penny nearly pulled my shoulder out of the socket dragging me down the road. Lots of drivers gave me looks that seemed to say "What are you doing wearing that, and walking that dog on this busy road?"Every car that drove by I hoped was Charlie on his way home, miraculously a half hour early. Alas he did not pass us. We walked the two miles home. This gave me lots of time to flume about my problem. Would I have to pay someone to tow me out? I don't feel like spending money on that, I'll just wait until spring. Logical reasoning right? By the time we got home I was super peeved and it was nearly dark. Instead of doing all of the things I thought I would do I ate 2 (or 4) Who Nu's. They are not nearly as good as Oreo's but I didn't care. 

After snarfing down the cookies and contemplating how I would manage until May without a car Charlie got home from work/practice. I told him the story instead of throwing his hands in the air and joining my pity party he swiftly put his boots back on and we set out to dig/push out the car. 

I swear this snow was not here two days ago!

We took turns digging, pushing, and flooring the gas. After about 20 minutes we finally got the car out; only 32 days before spring. 

You know you've picked a winner of a husband when he digs your car out of a snowy, dark, cold, parking lot. Once we got safely home I thanked Charlie for his help, and he said "It's the least I could do.....but lets not make this a Valentine's Day tradition okay?" 

Hope your Valentine's Day was special, and did not involve shoveling snow with a windshield scraper. 

Lauren 

Valentine's Day Pouches

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ever since I was an awkward teen with no boyfriend possibilities in sight (see last picture) I have been a hater of Valentine's Day. I do like the crafty aspect of it. I also like letting my friends know how much I like them. Last year I had a mediocre attempt at graphic design, so this year I stayed away from the cards and went with some candy pouches. Who doesn't love candy right?

I had a few inspiration points that I mixed all together. One was this cute Heart Tote Bag by V&Co. The second was these adorable little Stenciled Valentine Bags. I've been waiting for an opportunity to try freezer paper stenciling. Now that I've done it I have no idea why I waited so long. It's so easy. Once I get some more fabric paint I'll be trying this again. 

There are tons of tutorials out there about freezer paper stenciling. I used this video for the basics, but you can find tons of information on the process on google. I just cut out a bunch of hearts. Some small, some big. For a few of the bags I did just the outline of the heart, others I stenciled in the whole heart. I attempted to make a dot heart with progressively lighter colors like the tote bag above, however my patience got the best of me so instead I did an ombre effect for most of them. Others I just did one solid color.

After letting them dry I sewed them together on three sides, leaving the top open. Then fold the top over once to make a sleeve for the ribbon. Threaded the ribbon through an opening in the side seam, tied the ribbon and there you have it. Simple little pouches. The hardest part was filling them without eating all of the candy.

Here they are all ready to be sent. If I do this again I'll be sure to put the stencils lower down so that when the pouches are closed you can see more of the heart. I probably won't do this next year since I spent more than the pouches were worth on shipping. Forgot to factor that in. Oops. I hope everyone likes them, or at least likes the candy. 

Do you like Valentine's Day?

Hope you can spend some time with people you love today!

Lauren

Jersey Shirt

No, not Jersey Shore, a jersey shirt. I used Simplicity 3692 for the pattern. It's a Built By Wendy pattern, and I love anything Built by Wendy. It's specifically for knits/jersey fabric. This fabric was bought from the red tag (sale) bin at Joann's several months ago. 

 It turned out pretty big. This goes back to my issues with patterns and how I always cut out a size 8 when I should be cutting a 6 or 4. At least I am not cutting out patterns as a size 12 anymore.

If only I could walk around all day with my hands in the back pulling the
excess fabric to the back to make me look slimmer.

 My proudest moment came when I was cutting it out and had the insight to cut the main parts with the dots going horizontal, and the neck pieces going vertical. Thinking ahead really does pay off. I did recently read a scientific study however that says that horizontal stripes make you look fatter. It's science! I can't debate it! Drats, should have read that first!

Science smience, headless me looks good!

 Does the belt make the shirt look better/ me skinner?

Signature slimming moves, turn sideways and put your hands on your hips. 

Even I am not sure? 

 Perhaps it was my drab choice of pants? Does it look better with this skirt?

Please excuse the wrinkles. 

The sleeves turned out to be rather large as well. I feel kind of like I have Oprah arms. That's a real saying apparently. Guess I didn't make it up. 

Excuse the face, oy.

Whenever I think of Oprah I can't help but yell: "You're getting a Caaaaaaaaaar!"

And the audience goes wild!

I think it would have looked better as a dress, which is an option of the pattern, but was not an option for me. I did not have enough fabric to make it a dress, this is all I had left.

Merely scraps. Blurry scraps at that.  

On the plus side the shirt is super comfortable if not super fashionable. It also gave me the opportunity to use my serger. I was super pumped when I did not screw anything up. Woot! I will use the pattern again to make a dress probably.

I think I might wear it on Friday to work with a nice pair of jeans. Friday is causal day, and also will be the end of my pink/red clothes wearing phase in honor of Valentine's Day.

Lauren!

My Claims to Fame

The other day someone asked me about my tote bag. Admittedly it is a bit weird if you don't know me and my family. This lead me to think about all of my claims to "fame" if you will. *warning, this is a very random post* Here goes:

Self:

1. I drew a picture of the Statue of Liberty when I was five that was published in Highlights for Kids. I think my Mom has the copy. Even without the title you would still know it was the Statue Of Liberty.

2. I drew a picture about saving the rainforest with my friends in third grade and got to go meet the governor or something. My Dad made it seem like it was a big deal. All I remember is going to Toys R Us after and getting a new bike.

3. I wrote a story in 5th grade that got published in the newspaper. Looking back on it I want to smack myself for being so cliche because it was a scary Halloween story that ended with me waking up from a nightmare.  Lame 5th grade Lauren! Lame!! It still makes me a published author.

4. Two poems I wrote were published in my high school literary magazine. I think I've written about five poems in my entire life. I wonder what that says about my poem writing abilities?

5. Once I had the highest GPA on the Swimming and Diving Team. I might have sucked at diving, but I did not suck at studying a ton. Go me.

Now, on to the more interesting part of this post, my famous relatives:

1. My uncle Doug, and his partner Bryan, own The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, as well as two Shops in New York City. He might own half of Manhattan but I still pretend to be unimpressed.

Circa 2006. P.S. I made the backback I have on my lap. 

He gave me the unicorn bag which started off this random post. My little cousin and I bejeweled it. Flashy isn't it? If you so desire you can order one HERE. It's not bejeweled though.

 Charlie and I went to the Truck a few summers ago, it was magical. When Charlie's cousin gets married this Spring in Brooklyn we'll be going again, hopefully more than once. I can't wait to eat tons of ice cream. I love soft serve and crazy toppings. 

2. My Aunt Val is a famous author. She even has her own Amazon page. She's written tons of books, including some ghost writing gigs. For you non literary folks ghost writing means you write a book but get no credit because some famous person pretends they wrote it. Seems unfair in some respects, and very secretive.  I'll spil the beans, are you ready? Joan Rivers, and Snooki are the ones I know of. There may be more. My two personal favorite books she's written as herself are:

a.) It's Hard Not to Hate You
b.) Thin Is The New Happy

Both books were hilarious and even though there are gross scenes about my Uncle I still 100 percent enjoyed both.

3. My cousin is a beautiful singer and has about 1 million followers on Youtube. She and her friend record songs which give me goosebumps whenever I listen to them. This one is my favorite.

4. My uncle Steve is an actor for Gilbert and Sullivan's in New York. He also has a blog, which I see he hasn't updated since someone in a bug eating contest died. He doesn't actually look like this, at least not most of the time.

Charlie says that my post just proves that if you live in, or around New York City you must be famous. 

5. My Dad is the Fire Chief of the town I grew up in. This has gotten me out of a speeding ticket, and gotten me two jobs. It has taught me nothing about fire safety. He also has a blog.

That's all I can think of. If you are related to me and feel that you have been slighted in this post please let me know so I can right my wrong as quickly as possible.

Are you related to anyone famous?

Lauren!

Photo A Day: February Week 2 Recap

4. Hope: Charlie and I don't have channels on our TV so we have to watch everything the day after it airs. This includes Downton Abbey, my favorite show ever. While perusing the internet on Monday I found Downton Abbey Bingo. For the prompt I said I hope I would win. It was pretty fun. I cannot watch a TV show without doing some sort of activity (cross stitch, embroider, knit, hand sew, blog) so this kept me busy. I also paid way more attention than I usually do. I did end up winning. The board is pretty general, so I think we'll use it for the upcoming episode as well.

5. Something You Smelled: I accidentally spent $15 at the new dollar store on candy. More on that later. Let's just say smelling this candy and not eating it was torture.

6. Soft: Penny is the epitome of soft. Her ears especially. When I come home from work on days that she's not at Doggy Day Camp she is almost always sleeping on our bed. In the morning when I leave she's usually on the bed too. It makes leaving a soft dog and a soft bed very difficult.

7. Your Name: Using some stamps. I have a bunch of "L" stamps, this one is my favorite for using to label packages with my return address. Just need a "T" one now.

8. Something Orange: We had a snow day this day and the only color we saw for most of the day was white. I did make pumpkin muffins for breakfast, and Charlie had OJ, so I counted that, and then we went skiing and saw nothing by white all day.

9: Guilty Pleasure: I've mentioned it before, but my guilty pleasure is to watch Gossip Girl. On Saturday I watched the last 4 episodes of the series. Now I need to find another mindless show to watch while I sew or cross stitch.

10: 3 O'Clock: I ran errands and went for a long snowshoe walk today with Penny and tried my hardest to put off my 6 mile run. At 3:30 I finally just accepted that I needed to do it and I did. I am loving that it looks like winter out and that we had a snow day, but I am not loving that my average mile was 11 minutes due to all of the snow and ice on the roads. Oh well. Got it done, didn't die. That's all that really matters. Running home into the sunsetting over the white sparkly hills was not too bad either I suppose.

This week I did kind of a crappy job at the challenges. I promise to try harder to be more creative next week.

Lauren

Photo A Day: February

1. Fork: I convinced Charlie to come with me to UNH for a diving meet. My brother met us there and then we went out to eat with our friends Cait and Brian. We went to one of my most favorite restaurants   from when I was in grad school. La Festa. Delicious pizza. I could never be a food blogger because 1. I hate cooking and 2. I always eat my food before I remember to take a picture. Once everyone had finished their meal I remembered the prompt. Oops. In the picture if you look closely you can see that there is in fact a fork leaning on an empty beer glass in the middle of the table.

2. Pattern: I finally got the right color thread to finish my cross stitch. We went to a deliberative session meeting on Saturday. I knew it would be boring, just the name sounds boring, so I brought my cross stitch to work on. It turned out to be slightly boring, slightly funny, and slightly irritating. I was very glad I had something to keep my hands busy otherwise I would have gone crazy. I did stand up to say something, if I hadn't had this to work on who knows how many times I would have gone to the mic. Cross stitch patterns kind of make me want to gouge my eyes out. Once you're working on one it's not that bad, but I am sure most of you are thinking "How on earth does she make sense of that?!?!" Truth is, most of the time I just fudge it.

3. Something Beginning with "E": Express lift. Charlie and I went skiing Sunday. I took a few pictures for this prompt. One of the "Easy way" trail sign , and one of my favorite trail "Exhibition". I figured this one was best though because I am trying to work on taking more pictures of people. Charlie says I am a good skiing partner now because I am not slow anymore.

This was a short week for the photos. At the end of this week I am hoping to have an iphone. Hurray.

Lauren