Late Weekend Update

Well at least I am posting right? LOL! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was definitely busy to say the least.

On Saturday I had two parties. One party was a child's birthday party. Tyler Selah my friend Marilyn's daughter turned three! She was too cute with her hula swimsuit!

It had a little grass skirt attached! So cute! I took many photos because I plan to make her a small scrapbook for her third birthday. I will post photos as I complete pages. The party was held at an indoor waterpark. It was really nice and all the kids and adults had a great time.

I then left her party went home and changed and had my next party. The picture below is of me, my friend Sue and Rebecca. Sue is getting married this month and so I went to her bachelorette party at Cafe Iberico.

This restaurant is a tapas bar and has great food! I never got a chance to take pictures of any of the food because we were too busy eating! They have some wonderful dishes and if you are ever in downtown Chicago I highly recommend going to this restaurant one evening. It's always crowded but its worth the wait.

We saw at least two other bachelorette parties while we were there. I had no idea this was such a popular place to go for a bachelorette party.

Sue had a wonderful dessert I couldn't help but laugh at! I am sure you will too!
It's ice cream and a glazed banana shaped like....well I guess you can figure it out! They even got more gross and spread whipped cream over her nose and face. I didn't get a picture of that because I was laughing too hard!

A very fun time! I didn't stay past dinner though. I had a flight to catch in the morning and staying out late wasn't something I could do. They went on to a bar then to another bar to watch the bands. I am sure they had a wonderful time!

On Sunday I had to fly to Corpus Christi, Texas. When I arrived in Dallas they needed six people to take another flight. They offered a hotel stay and a $250 voucher. Well it wasn't enough so no one offered to give up their seat. So what they did was take the last six passengers to purchase tickets which included me! This has never happened to me! I was too shocked and slightly miffed! But I regrouped and thought about the positive side which was a $250 voucher for travel. But as time progressed they were able to get me on the flight and I made it to Corpus Christi.

So that was my weekend. I do have some other updates for you regarding my crocheting so be on the look out for another posting soon!

Toodles!

I was a little bad

I am here in Texas (north of Houston) and I decide to go to a scrapbook store in the area. The store is called The Lone Star Scrapbook Company and is very nice. I really liked the store. They had a really nice selection of scrapbook merchandise and a decent size crop room. I was able to find the papers I have been searching for in my area. Which was a good thing and I found some inspiration for my "pay it forward" gifts (no I haven't sent those out yet! SORRY!). Hopefully I can get to those soon. I like a store with good examples and page kits. This place had enough for me. If you are ever in The Woodlands, Texas stop by and check it out. It will be worth it!

But after I left the scrapbook store I went to JoAnn's where I slipped a bit. I don't know if I posted it here but I wasn't supposed to purchase any sewing patterns or material until I use what I already have at home. Well, to make a long story short I bought four! JoAnn's had a sale on Butterick patterns (two for three bucks) and I couldn't resist. I bought all very easy patterns for myself. I felt this would be the best way to start myself out. I don't want to push myself too much! So here are the patterns. I say look for at least one of these to be completed by the end of May. I don't want to make too big of a promise. We will see! My first sewing project will be a duct tape dress form. That's if I can get someone to help!

Check this out!

Also I tried a new restaurant. I went to Pappas Bar-B-Q restaurant for lunch. I was pretty hungry and I unfortunately did not take a picture. But I had a delicious meal of Sliced Barbecue Beef, Pork Ribs, Ranch Beans and Cucumber salad. VERY DELICIOUS! I highly recommend this place. I am still smacking my lips! This restaurant is owned by the Pappas family which owns Pappadeux and many other types of restaurants (Mexican, Seafood, Italian, Steak, etc) in the Houston area. One of my brokers told me to try any of them because they are all good. She was totally right! It was awesome!

Nothing else exciting happened today. I went to the mall and walked around. A very calm day.

Later yall!

H-Town

Well I am back in Texas for another ten days on work. I am in the Houston area doing the job and enjoying some good cajun cuisine! I had a chance to dine at Razzos & Pappadeux this week and I am mighty satisfied! I think I gained about ten pounds! I must find something to do which requires lots of sweating to work some of it off!

Right now I am in Hempstead, TX in a hotel basically in the middle of nowhere! LMAO! This actually could be a good thing. It keeps me from spending too much money at the stores! I need some help in that department. I bought myself a blouse yesterday while I was in the Houston area. I don't want to start shopping while here. I almost have my credit card paid off!

Anyway I bought the latest issue of Sew Stylish. What a wonderful issue! I am feeling inspired as I read each article. They discuss basic draping, handstitching, dress forms and much more. I can't wait until I get home so I can make my own dressform. The duct tape has already been purchased I just need someone to help me with the taping process. I know I have talked a good game about sewing but nothing has been started or completed. My plans keep changing and things happen but at sometime there will be a completed project! Just you wait!

As for my crocheting I am at a stand still. I didn't bring any of it with me. I like to crochet on the road but sometimes it can be a bit much to bring. My last project the chenille cowl was easy but the yarn was bulky and took up a lot of luggage space. I did start another chenille cowl but I have yet to finish it. It can wait until I return of course. I still have two other unfinished crochet projects. Hopefully they will be completed soon.

The only thing I will be working on during this trip will be my Photoshop elements tutorial book. I can't wait to learn how to correct my photos. Look out for some digital layouts soon!

Well I think this update should be sufficient for now.

Holler at ya later!

Finished Chenille Cowl

O.K. Here is my finished chenille cowl! I loved this project! It was very easy and quick to make! Here is my review a la Crimson Purl!
Book - So Simple Crochet
Author - Melody Griffiths for Creative Homeowners
Pattern - Chenille Cowl
Level - Beginner
Time to complete - about four hours
Yarn - Lion Brand Chenille Thick & Quick, 1 skein each color antique white, khaki and Champagne
Needle size - N
Pro's - It's very easy and quick.

Con's - I never figured out how they got the fringe to twist! Also the pattern is one size fits all which isn't true for us busty women! I had to add several additional rows to the pattern. If I make it again for myself I would increase the stitches at least by five!

Overall this was a fabulous pattern. I will make a few of these to give as gifts this year!

This is my finished KCAL project for the Ebony Elite group. I may have another one to show later this week! This was too fun to make and easy!

Smooches!

KCAL Chenille Cowl Progress

Here is my chenille cowl I am doing for the KCAL with Ebony Elite. I am having some sizing issues. I wish I would have added a few more rows of the first color to the cowl. Now it only shows on the collar portion. I have decided to add a few more rows to the cowl of the other colors to make it long enough for me. I have broad shoulders and I wear an extra large in tops. This pattern appears to be made for a much smaller person. So I need to improvise some. I do like the way its working out though. I hope to have it finished by the time I leave for home on Thursday.

This is a picture of the cowl with the collar not rolled. This is a picture with the collar rolled. I would have preferred more of the cream on the shoulders but it appears the cream will show only on the collar. I know for next time now!

I will post the finished product by the end of the week!

Toodles!

Happy Easter!

I hope each and every one of you had a fantastic Easter! Today I didn't get to go to church but I had a good day. I actually slept in until 10:30am! It felt good! I really needed it. I got up got dressed and located an I-HOP and had a very late breakfast. Afterward I went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas and spent the day riding the roller coasters. It was terrific! It was much better than yesterday. The lines were awful yesterday. I spent three hours waiting to get on one Roller coaster and an hour on another. That alone tired me out. Today I got a chance to ride the other roller coasters offered at the park. The lines were much shorter than yesterday! I simply ran and got on the rides today or I had a very short wait of about 20 minutes which was fabulous! Yesterday some of the roller coasters were not open. Today they opened them all but the latest called "Goliath". I really wanted to check that one out but it doesn't seem ready to run. Anyway it was a great day! I rode The Poltergeist, The Boomerang (again), The Roadrunner, Superman, Der Twister (another wonderful ride not a roller coaster) and Die Fledermaus ( the swing). It was a good day! Today was a bit cooler than yesterday so I didn't consider riding any of the water rides. I didn't want to be wet and get a cold.

Here are some photos I took at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. There are these beautiful man made waterfalls in the park. I really thought they were great photo opportunities. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of me. Maybe next time!

This is one of the really cool rides I found by the Superman roller coaster. It's called Das Fledermaus (wave swinger). It was really fun. The ride spins around and the total rides goes around and around while its spinning. I screamed the whole time (but I do this on all rides LOL!).

The whole Six Flags experience was made possible this weekend due to me using my coin savings. I don't know about you guys but at the end of each day I empty my pockets of change and I put them into different banks per coin( quarter, nickels, dimes and pennies). When I fill a bank I use the money for fun things. I filled my quarter container and I ended up with $135! I was too happy! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the money. I like going to the amusement parks and I also wanted to visit more water parks (which I love). Since Six Flags has both I decided to buy a season pass. I will not take a personally funded vacation, so I figured I would take some time to visit the water park and amusement parks in Illinois, St. Louis and Texas. A friend of mine told me her daughter purchased her season passes in other places besides Illinois because they were cheaper in other states and they could be used in Illinois. I checked and the prices were cheaper (by at least $20) here in Texas. So I used the money to buy a season pass and I also learned you could purchase a parking season pass too. It cost $15 to park at Six Flags! Not cheap with even with a season pass. I checked and you can use them at other parks too! The cost of the season parking pass was $45. So Voila! I bought the season pass and the parking pass with my quarter savings! The total cost was around $115. Woo Hoo! I feel good now! I also spent money earlier in the week to purchase a Couture sewing book from Barnes and Noble. I am very satisfied with myself! I have a tendency to try to buy mostly needed stuff with found money (I get teased sometimes) So this feels so good!

I was wondering if any of you have a system for saving money. If not you should consider it. I simply empty my pockets of all change every time I come home. I separate it by coins and I spend the money only when I fill the container. I never fill all the coin containers at the same time. The dimes take the longest (maybe I need a smaller container (tee hee)). I am not sure how long it takes to fill a container but I think I will slip a piece of paper into the bank so I will know when I began my saving. If you need change you can always make your change and slip a few dollar bills into the bank. Find a system that works for you! It's nice to have some money to spend on whatever you want.

It took a lot of will power for me to not purchase anything for my hobbies. I already spent enough money and I have a serious collection of things already. This is what kept me from going crazy with those expenditures. But I am very satisfied with the way I used my money. I should get a lot of pleasure from the season pass this summer. I can't wait!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Smooches!

San Antonio

Well, here I am in San Antonio, Texas enjoying the weather. It's a wonderful seventy degrees and I am having a blast. I spent the day at Six Flags Fiesta, Texas this Saturday and I road two rollercoasters. What fun! I love rollercoasters but I think I am getting too old for them! LOL! I rode one called the The Rattler which is properly named. I felt rattled when I was done. There was a three hour wait to get on this ride. I loved it until the end when it jerked to a stop. You see I had to go to the bathroom (due to the long wait in line plus a bottle of water which was much needed due to the heat) and I almost had an accident! Luckily I didn't! After that I decided to eat and rest a while because I was pretty dizzy. The next ride I tackled was called The Boomerang. This was even better than The Rattler to me! It went upside down twice and then went backwards! Too Cool! I was dizzy and queasy after this ride. This was the last ride I did while I was there. I thought I better stop while I was ahead. Besides I was only interested in the rollercoasters. I bought a season pass and I plan to go back tomorrow to do some of the other rollercoasters I didn't do today. I didn't have enough time to do them all anyway unless you bought the fast pass card which is too expensive in my opinion. It's like buying another ticket to the park.

Yesterday I went to the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. It's very pretty there! It even smells really nice because of all the flowers blooming on the paths. I went to the mall and walked around then I listened to South American band who played native instruments. Then I decided to take the boat ride around the Riverwalk to see what was there. Many shops, restaurants, bars, statues, landscaping and landmarks were to be seen. I used this ride to plot the areas I wanted to visit. But because I went on a Friday night it was very crowded and I spent most of my time trying to find someplace to eat which wasn't too crowded. I wanted to eat outside on the actual Riverwalk but that didn't seem possible without a very long wait. I found a restaurant close to the mall I started in and ate a sensible dinner of friend catfish. Yum!

Here are some wonderful pictures of the Riverwalk with captions

The boats on the Riverwalk offer a wonderful guided tour. The ride is easy and last about 25 minutes long. All the landscaping along the river is beautiful.

This is a hotel which was a school before. The architecture was beautiful. I thought how wonderful it would have been to go to a school on the river like this.
O.K. I have a funny story about this statue. It's a statue of Saint Antonio donated by Portugal. As I stood in front on it about to take a picture I noticed something going on behind it. There was a guy behind there taking a leak! I he said excuse me and ran off! I was standing there with my mouth wide open when this guy patted me on the back and laughed. I guess I had the ultimate look of shock on my face. Geez! What are people thinking! It's a saint for goodness sake! There are bathrooms close by!

Excuse my photo. I was trying to quickly take a picture of this mariachi band serenading this couple on the Riverwalk. It was just starting to get dark. There were many roving bands on the Riverwalk Friday evening. The aviance was wonderful!Here is the famous Alamo. It's located in downtown San Antonio not too far from the Riverwalk. It's very impressive and beautiful. There are many markers of historical significance around the site. I didn't get a chance to go because it was late but I am glad I got a chance to see it.

Well that's all of my photos of San Antonio. I have been working all week so I didn't go sightseeing at all. I just waited for the weekend to enjoy myself.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!

Toodles!