Friday, March 20, 2009

I'm famous!

Well, not really... but I was mentioned in an article in the Harvard Crimson published today. Check it out here!

It's funny, I wasn't expecting to be singled out at all, the reporter spent over 2 hours touring out lab last week and only stopped at the rubbings I was working on for a small amount of that time. And it's also funny to see what I "said" since although I remember saying some of that, I think he really just paraphrased me. But who really cares right? I'm famous!

I'm going to go find a copy since it's a front page article and there's supposed to be a picture with it. Not of me of course, but I'm interested to see what it will be of.

In other news, guess what comes out tonight? That's right! The Twilight DVD! Unfortunately I won't be going to a midnight release party, but we're getting some people together to watch it tomorrow night, right at twilight. Should be fun!

Oh and if you're in the mood for some funny Twilight reading check out this blog! Hilarious! I'm really enjoying the adventures of Pocket Edward...

Also stay tuned for an update on the sewing I do this weekend... I bought fabric!!

{ Happy Weekend! }

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Sewing projects going on my "List"

I've come across some really fun sewing projects in the last little while.  They are now on my "To Do" list and there are a couple that I *need* to do ASAP!

Like this Buttercup Bag Tutorial.  Have you seen a cuter bag?  And can you believe it only takes 2 fat quarters to make?  I'll finally be able to use the magnetic closures I bought forever ago as well!  I'm tempted to go out tonight and buy some fun fabric... although I have a lot in my stash that I'm sure would work... maybe I'll make a couple!

{photo by Rae}

Also, this headband!  Gah!  And it's reversible!

{photo from thelongthread.com}
I about died when I first saw it... I've been looking for the perfect headband, but I get frustrated with plastic ones cause they kill my head when I wear them for a whole day.  These are the perfect solution and I can make one to match every outfit!  Just kidding... I wouldn't go that far.  Well.  Maybe.

Here are some more tutorials you really should check out:
Pretty Birds by spoolsewing.com
Lots of pretty free patterns from Amy Butler
Pintuck Pillows by thelongthread.com
This amazing Button Pillow (although I don't think I'd attempt it) on Craft Stylish
Woven Button Coasters again on Craft Stylish to continue the button theme

And there are even more projects here that can all be made from fat quarters of fabric!  Perfect for stash busting!

Also, I think I'm going to spruce up some of the pillows on my bed by tufting them with buttons (like this one).  And I've also been meaning to make a bolster for forever.  Anyone know of a good tutorial?  Maybe I'll make one and share it if mine turns out!

Oh, and I'll try to post an update of my weekend soon... nothing too exciting but Edwin did take some pictures of the "Music Session" I attended on Friday night.  Pretty fun!

{ Sewing Adventures }

Monday, March 9, 2009

A Weekend Downtown

I feel like I spent most of the weekend downtown, which is never a bad thing!  It's been a beautiful weekend, Friday was warm and Saturday was almost hot!  It got up to around 60 during the day, which makes me think Spring just might be on the way (despite the fact that it snowed today)!

On Friday after work, I met up with my roommate, Lisa, and her friend, Beth, to eat some yummy food and skate at the Frog Pond in the Boston Commons.

We ended up eating at a Vietnamese Restaurant, Pho Pasture, that I love, and I was adventurous and tried something new from the menu!  After our delicious meal, we went ice skating at the Frog Pond, which is almost as iconic as skating at Rockefeller Plaza in NY!  Luckily my hip held up.  It was a beautiful night and I did get some pictures, though they're not the best since they were taken by Edwin (once again, he's so handy).

In the heart of Downtown Boston

Lisa and I

Lisa and Beth

You can see the gold dome of the State House a bit in the background


Then on Saturday night, I found myself back at the Boston Commons to see Coraline in 3D at the movie theater there.  I loved the movie, and was just blow away by the fact that it was stop-animation.  Tim Burton is very talented!

Also this weekend, I've been working on getting my quilts going again.  I finished this quilt top over 3 years ago and I still haven't actually quilted it!  So I was finally all raring to go to just do it this weekend.  I'd bought some solid brown cotton for the backing, some batting and even some pre-made bias tape to bind it with, but I guess my measurements were off because I don't seem to have enough material for the backing!  

So even though I told myself I couldn't start piecing the new quilt (with beautiful Amy Butler fabrics from her Midwest Modern prints) until I finished the old one, I just had to do some sewing, so I went ahead with it anyway.  I figure some quilting is better than none, right?  I'm still not 100% sure exactly how I'm going to do this one, but I guess I'm kinda winging it.

Aren't they just beautiful colors?

Since I have to get more fabric before I can finish the Charm quilt (which is also Amy Butler fabrics) and since I've been doing some research about the actual quilting part, I found out it's better to use a patterned fabric for the back so it hides any mistakes.  So now I'm thinking I'm going to get some different fabric to use, but we'll see.  It's hard to get to fabric stores without a car around here... so who knows when they'll get done.  Hopefully it won't take another 3 years!

Hope you all had a good weekend too!

{ Crafting More Adventures }

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Sounds good to me

One of the great things about my job is that since a lot of the time I'm just working on little paper repairs that are pretty mindless, I can listen to books on my iPod.  Multitasking is a great thing.


Well, in my attempt to find free audio books to listen to, a couple years ago I came across Librivox.  It's a great site and every single one of their audio books are free!  They are all books that are in the public domain (published before 1926) and are read by volunteers.  This of course means that not all of the recordings are the most professional sounding, but for the most part, they are excellent.  I've "read" so many books this way over the last couple years.  Here's just a few:  The Count of Monte Cristo, Daniel Deronda, Emma, The House of Mirth, Little Men, Mansfield Park, North and SouthPersuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Room With a View, The Scarlet Pimpernel (currently listening), Sense and Sensibility, and Vanity Fair.  

And another fantastic feature of the site is that you can "subscribe" to a book as a podcast and you can download it automatically in iTunes, so it's ready to put onto your iPod!  You can even try searching for a book in iTunes as well.

And if you find you love the site as much as me, they are always looking for volunteers to help read books!  I've been wanting to volunteer for a while, but didn't have a microphone, but now, thanks to my new MacBook, I can actually help out!

{ Happy Listening! }

Monday, March 2, 2009

JA Fix

Oh Darn.

I just found out that because of the snow my class at the Harvard Extension School has been canceled for tonight. Have I mentioned what my class is yet? I'm really excited about it!

It's called "Jane Austen's World in History, Literature and Film". Could there *be* a more perfect class for me?! It's wonderful to be able to learn and talk about Jane Austen for 3 hours a week. I'm just sad because with the President's Day holiday and last week being just for "credit students" I haven't gotten my weekly dose for a while! I was really hoping that by tonight the snow situation would be better, but no such luck.

So to make up for that, I thought I'd at least get a little Jane Austen fix, via YouTube.

So, check out this fun video, and then maybe go watch some more. Some of them are pretty good!


Are you kidding me?

The weather last Friday (for my birthday party) was a beautiful 60 degrees. So lovely, so perfect, I got all excited that spring was finally on it's way!

Well, that dream came to an abrupt end on Sunday morning. It was snowing lightly, and I thought well, hopefully it won't be too much.

Boy was I wrong.


I woke up to so much snow this morning that Harvard even canceled their classes. Unfortunately our work did not proclaim it a snow day, so I trudged in.

I'm going to keep dreaming of this:



I can't wait to ride the Swan Boats at the Boston Public Gardens during tulip season... how much longer will I have to wait?

Technical Difficulties?

I'm wondering if people are having problems viewing the post content on my blog... Maybe my last post broke it? There were a lot of pictures... Maybe I'll try reposting it or something. For now, I'll try tweaking some things and see what works. Let me know if you can read this!

Thanks!

*Update:
I think I got it working again... I limited the number of posts that appear on the page to just 5. Since I haven't been very good at blogging lately, most of my posts are kind of picture overload. Anyway, I hope it's working for everyone again! Thanks for leaving feedback!