Don't Look At The Header!

I am leaving for France in a few weeks. I need to pack. I need to finish the dress I'm making to wear to my cousin's wedding. I need to get my house in order after the marathon sewing fest. But no, I've decided that it is oh so important to fulfill one of my yearly goals and learn how to navigate Photoshop Elements well enough to create pieces and parts for my blog. Yeah, that makes sense. Because I guess I plan on wearing the blog in Europe. Hence the titile. Don't look at the header. This is the 4th iteration of said header today. I can't get the size right. And I need to start obsessing about the real things I need to obsess about.

I've actually made tons of progress on my packing for France project. I wanted to take just a few lightweight knits that would mix and match with each other. A couple of skirts, a couple of pairs of pants, a couple of tees plus the dress for the wedding. 

My skirt photos are on my iPad, so I'll show them later. Below is the gorgeous fabric for my dress and the slip that goes under it. It is sheer and light and floats like a breeze. 

Here's the pattern - just a simple shift dress with a bit of a flounce over a sea green slip...

Juli knows something's up and she does not like it...

Absent Way Too Long

I haven't posted in forever and I miss it. For me blogging is not about others. I don't think many people read this. But it does keep me focused. It keeps me getting things done and helps me realize that I do accomplish things from time to time. I've been diving into my love of textiles head first and I love it. I've knitted up a storm this spring and summer. My cousin Helen has had her first baby. Her name is Solene Virginia and she lives in Paris. She is named after my father's sister, Virginia. Virginia was a character of the highest order. Picture this scene. Virginia well into her 80's. A Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles. You have to walk in through the bar to the dining room. A football game playing on the TV. Virginia asks one of the gentlemen sitting at the bar "who's winning?". We walk into the dining room and Virginia turns and says in a stage whisper "I think he thought I was trying to pick him up". This is a bit of a convoluted story, but since I don't think anybody really reads this blog - that's ok! When I was pregnant with my first baby a box arrived from Virginia. She was an avid knitter. She taught me to knit when I was a very little girl. The box was full of hand knits for my baby. I was more than thrilled. My own mother was not thrilled that I was expecting. Another long story we don't need to get into right now. So, when Virginia's oldest grand daughter was expecting a baby girl I wanted to send a box of hand knits for her to carry on the tradition.

And because Aunt Virginia knit in good old fashioned acrylic, the things she knit will withstand Armageddon. I was able to include a blanket that was in that box I received from Virginia 39 years ago this summer.

The blanket that kept my oldest daughter warm is now wrapping Virginia's great grand dauther Solene. I will be meeting Solene in September and I can't wait.

You Can Go Back

We live in a fast paced world. I am astonished that I have not posted on here in forever. I blame the iPad. I love my iPad and it is perfect for everything except blogging and writing.

I'm just back from a wonderful week in Port Charlotte FL with my BFF and college roommate Carol. Carol and I lost touch for a number of years, but a few years ago we reconnected. It was like no time passed. Strangely, even though we were out of touch for a while, our interests grew in similar ways. Both of us love exploring, art, creating things. We can get on the phone and have a two hour conversation over Pinterest.

The time in Florida really was magical. We spent a day on a gorgeous, almost deserted beach. We shopped a little in boutiques, vowing to remember every high priced item we saw because we can replicate for 1/10th of the cost. We took the trip one day at a time....and spent some of those days with our 3rd roommate Brenda.

We found a world class bead store. If you are ever near Port Charlotte and you like to play with shiny objects - this is your place!

Anderson's Bead Room

Carol and I made one or two (maybe 5) visits. In the old days we enabled each other with Boone's Farm Apple Wine and Sloe Gin Fizzes. Now the enabling takes the shape of turquoise and crystals and glass lampwork beads. We'd have been better off financially to buy a bottle of Boones Farm and call it good! But we had such fun. We made bracelets, necklaces, bookmarks and I'm pretty sure both of us may have several more beads waiting in the wings to become something wonderful.

We painted watercolors on the lanai. Carol's talent amazes me as I try to make it look like I've got 3rd grade a few years behind me in the paintings I do.

We went to Happy Hour at The Tikki Bar where the drinks were $2.50 and the view of the sunset free. It's the perfect recipe for a great vacation. Bring your old chairs and gather around the firepits. Drink tropical drinks (no sloe gin to be found) along side  a person with whom you bonded  in 1969 in a cement block dormitory in the middle of Michigan. There was nothing you couldn't tell her then and there's nothing you can't tell her now. A lifetime of memories is shared and many more are yet to be created. But the one thing I know, with special people you can go back. You can go home again. 

You can just be and that is the very best vacation of all.