carrie girl

turkey, oysters, prosecco and pie--needless to say, i was a happy girl at this year's thanksgiving dinner. we shook it up a bit and spent a few days in new haven, connecticut with ted's family, and headed back to brooklyn for the rest of the weekend. we got a tree, addressed save the dates and drank martinis. all in all, i have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season--dear friends, amazing family, a job i love, good health and loads of laughter. now all i need is a dog who can be left alone, and i'll be really good to go.

i'm gearing up for some major holiday sewing (yay!), but i'm easing into it with little projects around the house. if anyone has ever crate trained a dog, they know that crates aren't all that attractive. and if you have a scared little dog like we do, then you've probably read that covering them up makes them more den-like. so after looking at an old towel covering her crate for the last month, i decided raisin's space needed some sprucing up.

i made it hard on myself and cut 3 panels, and sewed them together instead of using just one long panel. i guess i thought it would look better, but i'm pretty sure it took me twice as long for probably the same outcome.

and what little dog doesn't want to go to bed and wake up with a room filled with flowers?

i have a feeling that sewing with a dog around the apartment is going to be a new experience for me.

hey there!

i got a dog!

i'm also getting married...to ted!

yay!

here's the little lady of the house. her name is raisin, and she loves nothing more than to be snuggled and eat cheese. she's a rescue, so she's a bit scared to be left alone, but we're working on that. she's a recent graduate of puppy kindergarten and is a super star at daycare, so we think we got a good one.

and you all know ted! we're getting married in july. in a barn. with cherry pie. it's going to be epic.

so here's to fall, my favorite season, and some more frequent blogging, if anything just to show you pictures of my pup.

chair re-do

life has calmed down a bit, and because this is my last full week of summer i've been trying to get some projects finished that have been on my list of things to do before my life becomes all about first grade. last year i received my grandparents amazing mid-century dining room table, and it came with four chairs in dire need of recovering. don't get me wrong, the orange velvet definitely reminds me of meals at grandma and grandpa's house, but i just don't think it goes well in a brooklyn apartment.

i used some echino japanese linen i got from brooklyn general and put a layer bamboo batting under for a little extra padding. 

 

 

we need to get our artwork up on the wall, and get some extraneous furniture out of the apartment and we will be pretty close to settled. moving is such an exhausting task, but i also love the opportunity for change and reinvention it provides.

red hook

yesterday, ted and i went for a cloudy walk around our new neighborhood. in our last go-round in brooklyn we lived on the edge of park slope, more like gowanus if we're being honest, and coming back we knew we wanted a change of scenery. we couldn't afford fort greene, couldn't find anything we liked in clinton hill, but got lucky with red hook. i taught here from 2004-2007, and watched the neighborhood change--a bakery here and a fairway there, but i wasn't quite prepared for the boutique stores, wine shops and ikea that i found when i came back. even with all the new shops and restaurants, red hook is still very much red hook. without a train nearby, things move at a slower pace and our apartment is as quiet as the one we shared in iowa city. the downside is that our cellphones rarely hold a call longer than 5 minutes, and there is a little hike to the train, but in my opinion the pros outweigh the cons. i'm excited to explore the new shops, try the restaurants and eat my weight in swedish meatballs.

finished chair!

 

the cushions are finished, and just in time to be loaded up and hauled to brooklyn. after packing the first few boxes yesterday it really started to hit me that we're leaving. ugh. i will really miss this place. 

i used alexander henry's heath in gray, which is actually more of a tan. it looks a little funky but neutral enough that i won't get sick of it. this was my first time with covering cushions, and the piping was quite a challenge. but it is a big step up from the "before" look.

i had been looking for a chair like this that i could fix up without really doing any upholstery work. after i brought it home i realized that it stunk of smoke, and i had to replace the foam inserts as well as the gorgeous mustard vinyl. i ordered the foam and fabric and gave it a go. i think it will fit in perfectly in the new apartment.

i'm tired of seeing you eat that snowcone

the above title is taken straight out of an email my mom sent to me the other day. i took it as a big hint that i needed to post something. anything. so now you can look at my half-finished upholstery project for a couple days.

things are good here. actually, they're pretty great. last week i got a job at a really great school in brooklyn and we found an amazing apartment in red hook, so it looks like we'll be heading back east at the end of july. a big part of me is really sad to be leaving iowa--it has been so wonderful being close to my family and i've made some really amazing friends--but i do feel like it is time to move on. i'm really thrilled about the job in particular because i get to be back in my own classroom with my own kids. that has been something i've missed here. we're still waiting on paperwork stuff for the apartment to go through so we need to keep our fingers crossed on that one, but in the meantime we're going to focus on enjoying the last few weeks we have here in the good ol' midwest.

i won't go another month without posting--i just couldn't find it in myself to do much sewing while everything was up in the air, and i didn't know how many "i don't know what we're doing next year" posts this little blog could take, so bear with me as we make this transition.

enjoy your holiday weekend!

good food, pretty fabric

our csa share started in may, so we've been eating tons of fresh veggies. so far we've made arugula pesto, balsamic and honey roasted carrots and parsnips and eaten tons of delicious salads. the farmers market here has double since last year with in inclusion of a stand that sells homemade biscuits and gravy--truly the way into my heart.

last week the quilting guild had another one of their garage sales. i swear, driving up to one of these you'd think it was a mirage for sewers. boxes of patterns, tables piled with vintage fabrics and notions, and it is run by just about the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet. i exercised great self-restraint and walked away with a only a couple pieces of fabric (granted, both were over 8 yards) and a handful of patterns.

i ordered some leather piping to experiment with using this fabric. i've got some ideas, but finding the time and head-space is proving to be a challenge. i still have no idea what next year has in store, so it feels like all other projects are at a stand-still until the big project is figured out. i do know that i have 16 days of school left, the weather is gorgeous and i will be grilling turkey burgers tonight...life is good. 

limbo

i am so enjoying this weather. which is also code for i'm not doing anything creative or crafty whatsoever. ah, well. i think i'm stuck in that weird place we seem to fall into this time each year since we left brooklyn. the will we stay in iowa or will we go back to new york place that can be very uncomfortable, and usually involves a very elaborate pros and cons list. i even bought a new graph paper notebook and fancy pens with which to write it, but it is still bumming me out. i think once we figure out what next year has in store, i'll be able to let go and enjoy the process. i'm such a planner, so the not knowing is a challenge for me. but i think as long as the crab apple trees keep smelling this sweet and there is time for bikes and swings, i'll be ok.  

exciting stuff

it has been pretty quiet on the sewing front. i've been doing a very good job of avoiding my machine and all things having to do with the etsy shop. i'm feeling a bit uninspired with accessories, and have been wanting to learn more about pattern making and clothing construction. i can buy all the books out there on designing my own clothes, but i really need someone there to guide me through the process. so last week i contacted a local seamstress who offers lessons, and we're in the process of working out a schedule for some one-on-one instruction. i'm really really excited to start this process. designing clothes has been on my mind for quite some time, but i just never knew where to begin. 

 

i'm also excited because two of my oldest and dearest friends are coming in town this weekend. these women have been in my life for nearly 20 years, and have seen me through some of the best and worst times.  so the fridge is stocked with wine, ted is out of town, and the weather is supposed to be perfect---i couldn't be happier!