Third Time's A Hot Mess

Thanks to a boatload of stress, I had all night last night to try my hand at a third skirt. I was so impressed with myself right up to the point where the whole thing turned out crazy, but I'm still glad I tried it and I'm going to keep trying.

This one had six panels that went into the main part and then a yoke with interfacing for the waist. The hem was supposed to be just folded, pressed, and sewn, but I used red double-fold bias tape to make it extra sassy (and because I realized it was going to be way too short but didn't have dark brown bias tape). I had to totally redo the waist because the pattern was made to fit an hourglass shape, and I'm a good inch smaller in the waist than the bust and hips (read: straight up and down). And to top it all off, it has a side zipper. This was no "Sew E-Z!" like the pattern said, but I think I did pretty good. Even if I can't wear it and it's totally wonky.

Next up: a child-sized messenger bag, hopefully some sleep, and definitely homework, if I know what's good for me.

Surf and Other Stuff

• I went surfing the last Saturday of June. It was heavenly - sunny and hot. I thought that meant it was another no booties day, and I tried hard for about 30 minutes to make it so, but it wasn't meant to be. I had a great time and left a piece of myself in the water that day -- I played around for a few hours, got out to eat a protein bar, and got in and did it all again. I took some baby greens, walked around on my board, and at one point was so anxious to scoot up that I ran right off the end of the board while I was still on the wave. A bit bittersweet, but it was a great day. What's better than surfing? Nothing.
• In just over a month, I'm headed to Hawaii for 9 days with my BFF. MY GOD, I am looking forward to that time. We've done this trip a few times before, so we're experts on exactly how we like to do it. I can't wait. 
• I couldn't be more over school. I can't figure out if the entire industry is totally backwards and inside out, or if I'm just really done with being in school. I don't know. We have a brief break in August and I'm going to use it to do some thinking. 
• Work is pretty much fun. It's a little complicated, but fun. 
• I don't know about this whole sewing business. I think I'm going to put a few things on Etsy, post here that the shop is open, and see what happens. But - and I don't know if this is just being a perfectionist, or just liking to do things out of enjoyment and not out of having to - I like sewing for myself and for friends more than the thought of sewing to sell things. We'll see. Maybe if I make some cash to support the new-found and expensive fabric habit, I'll start to like it more.
• I like blogging and reading blogs, but I'm enjoying other forms of social media less and less. I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me. 
• I'm back to running. Can I say that if I've only been consistent for about 2 1/2 weeks? That's a lifetime in running-consistency for me. I'm slower than I was last year, but I'm doing it 3 - 4 times a week, 3 - 4 miles at a time. I'm really enjoying the whole process. I change into my running clothes at work and go straight to the track. It feels good to breathe in the night air, and if it happens to be a (very) rare warm day, it's cooled off by the time I'm starting.
• This weekend is a three-day weekend for me because I'm switching from Sun - Thurs to Mon - Fri for work. It's a good thing, because I have about a billion hours of homework to catch up on. So right now I'm sewing. Natch.

Nourishment

The last few days of 80+ degree weather - not a cloud in the sky - has me wondering if a good part of the shit-tastic time I've been having hasn't been the constant greyness. Just like a plant, I need sun to live. And I've finally gotten a nice, big dose of it.

Now I just need more. A lot more.

I've been doing some sewing this week, trying to get a few items ready for the Etsy shop, and I put together this fab bag with the organic bike fabric I love.

Notice anything? The #$^%@# bicycles are upside down! Ugh! I rarely work with directional fabric, so it didn't even cross my mind until I was done with everything but the top-stitching. Now what the hell do I do with it?

My buddy Sizzle came down to Portland this weekend and we got a chance to hang out and do some catching up. We had about 5 hours of non-stop gabbing, and honestly, I could have done with about five (hundred) more. I haven't had the energy to deal with humans lately, but Sizz requires no energy. It's come-as-you-are, and that's something I can do. Our time together was good for my soul.

Here we are trading pictures during mani/pedis:

My schedule is changing a bit at work (actually, everything is changing a bit at work; corporate reorgs: I'll NEVER miss you), so I'll no longer have my gorgeous Fridays to myself. My weekend is going back to Sat/Sun like the rest of the miserable world. Tonight I got off at my normal time (9:00 PM; I work evenings and love it), and got home around 9:30 after a stop at the store. I guess it was just the beautiful night air, and also the feeling of not wanting to just succumb to the normal work/sleep/work/sleep/work/school/sleep routine, so I slid into my swimming suit and went to the pool to feel alive.

I did laps for a while and then lay on my back and floated, looking at the planes or whatever in the sky. It actually reminded me of a trip I took to Guam years ago where I did that for hours - just floated around in the ocean with my ears submerged and everything silent. (Christ on a cracker, here's a brief post about it. I've been blogging for a long time.) Tonight I only stayed in for about 20 minutes, but it was silent and dark except for the pool lights, and peaceful. I feel like it's been the dead of winter for over a year. I can't say how badly I've needed this.