Cherry Blossoms Galore

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Greetings Friends!

My favorite (and only) sister and I have made a successful journey to Washington DC to see the sights and take in the cherry blossoms.  We have a pretty strict criteria for "successful" though.  In order for a vacation to be deemed a success, we must A.) limp home B.) broke and C.) exhausted.   Since we accomplished all three, I'd say it was abundantly successful. 

 

The trees along Lafayette Square were putting on a brilliant show.

On Day 1, we did a six-hour "See It All" overview tour.  For us, it was the perfect way to take in the major monuments and memorials all in one day.  I won't bore you with all 450 pictures I snapped, but here are a few of my favs:

 

Jefferson Memorial along Tidal Basin

 

 

 

Iwo Jima Memorial

 

 

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Fala

 

 

 

To conclude Day 1, we hopped over to the Natural History Museum and saw the Hope Diamond.  Incredible!

 

 

Day 2 started early at the National Zoo. 

 

Breeding season just concluded.  Mei could have bun in the oven!! 

So regal

 

 

We walked and walked and walked and saw everything the zoo had to offer.  At some point, we quit walking and began to hobble.  That's when we knew it was time to make our way back into town.  We had not counted on the near-90 degree heat that day.  One thing I've learned from my travels is when the weather gets nasty, find a cool, peaceful church to enjoy.  We did just that and visited the most impressive St. Matthew's Cathedral this afternoon.  Truly spectacular.  Many of you may remember this is where JFK's funeral was held. 

 

Day 3:  Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden

 

Sister and I love to tour house museums/mansions and gardens when we are lucky enough to have time in our vacation schedule to take them in.  With a tag line like "Where Fabulous Lives", how could we pass this one up?  We spent the better part of six hours at Hillwood on Wednesday admiring the mansion, furnishings, art, urns, gardens, and generally every-fabulous-thing Ms. Merriweather Post collected.  It was a slendid way to spend a hot (90 degree) day.

 

 

 

And, the salmon cakes at the Hillwood Cafe were a special kind of fabulous!

 

 

 

Again with afternoon temps reaching 90 degrees, we decided to visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception over in the northeast corner of the city to conclude our day.  Talk about amazing!  Wow wow wow.  It is a bit out of the way, but well worth the trek.

 

 

Day 4:  International Spy Museum

 

Wow!  What a fantastic time we had at the Spy Museum in the heart of downtown DC.  They might have had kids in mind when they designed the "Operation Spy" experience but I can attest to the fact that grown kids will enjoy it too.

 

As a huge James Bond fan, I was enthralled by all the Bond exhibits and memoribilia.  Fascinating!  (no photos allowed)

 

After a wonderful dinner at the brewpub next to the Spy Museum we jumped on the metro one last time and ran uptown to see the art at the Phillips Collection, home of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party.  It was amazing but my favorite might have been a van Gogh I had never seen before called the House at Auvers.  They had several important works by Cezanne, Monet, Degas, Hopper, O'Keeffe, Kandinsky, Pollack, Seurat, Sisley, Goya, El Greco, Gauguin, et al.  In short, the whole gang was there.  I heart art.  :-))

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5:  Off to the Outlet Mall!   Boy howdy.  Just when we thought we'd walked ourselves to death, we spent another five hours or so walking the outlet mall just outside of D.C. in Hagerstown MD. 

 

My dogs were barking, so I tried to hush them with these new loafers... 

 

 

 

  Just call me Dorothy..

 

 And then, I clicked my heels together and we were home.  :-)

 

The best part of the whole week was spending quality time with my baby sis.  I think we could have fun in a paper bag.  :-D

 

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Now off to the laundry room and back to work.  Here's hoping you are enjoying the changing season, wherever you are!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presto Change-o

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Abracadabra!  Kalamazoo!! 

What was once circular is now a circle with straight sides, aka, an octagon..  Just to revisit, the more I stitched this design in the round, the more concerned I was about how to finish the edges.  Bright idea was to give the circle straight sides, to ease the finishing process.  So now, each and every blasted line of color has been unstitched, at both ends, and re-stitched in order to convert the rounded border into a series of straight edges. 

People, seriously...next time I want something tartan, I'm going to take the easy road and get my pilots license, fly solo across the Altantic, hike the Scottish Highlands, and turn it over to the people who make tartans for a LIVING! 

Me and my bright ideas...

Taking off tomorrow for a quick vacation to see the cherry blossoms in DC.  Be back in a week with plenty of pretty photos hopefully...

Until then, here's hoping you all are enjoying the changing seasons, wherever you are!

Spammers are not nice people..

***

Hi Friends! 

It is a cold and rainy Sunday here in my neck of the woods and instead of stitching or blogging about stitching, I have been weeding this here little garden of mine...  In other words, deleting scores of spam comments from my posts. 

Insert unhappy face.

I'm still plugging along with my tartan coaster and will have photo updates soon (or "one day", as the case may be).

Until then, toodles!

The Post of Many Titles

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Good Morning Friends!

Long time, no see..  February was a 'no-post' month for me and I don't really have a good excuse except I was selected for jury duty and spent a little over a week in a courtroom which totally threw me off my normal routine of things.  Don't worry though - you didn't miss anything exciting.

As I was working on my tartan teacup coaster the other evening, I was thinking about posting this update and many different post titles scrolled through my head.  Here's a few:

The Coaster of Many Colors          Groundhog Day

From Here to Eternity              The Grapes of Wrath

What? This old thing??            #!+%@*(_!!!!!!

One Fine Day                     Why Me Lord?

Fixing the Unbroken       I'd Rather be Playing Solitaire

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Someone, Shoot Me             Hey, Hey, Bartender!                

 

and some I can't share...

Needless to say, it has been much more of a challenge than I ever anticipated.  Therefore, I've done what every self-respecting needlewoman I know does when faced with these kinds of situations, I've procrastinated.  I have decorated, crafted, baked, gotten lost in Pinterest, played marathon rounds of Solitaire and even cleaned house in order to pretend that I just was too busy to work on my coaster.  Well, now I've HAD IT.  I am on a mission to finish this bad-boy a.s.a.p.  There are too many other things calling for me to stitch for me to keep dragging my feet with this one. 

Here's the latest progress pic...

Round about Christmas, I began giving serious thought to how I was going to finish the edge.  The longer I stitched, the more perplexed I grew.  So, I phoned a friend.  :-))   She made a couple of suggestions that got me thinking it would be much easier to finish if it had straight sides, like a hexagon or octagon.  The more I studied, the more sense it made to convert my original circular shape into anything with straight sides.  So, I've set about re-stitching the edge in order to extend certain areas, converting the curved border into a straight one.  And, it is working - MY LAST NERVE..

In hopes that I'll abandon my bad attitude and "Just Do It" already, I've challenged myself to work on it an hour a day.  That seems to work so well with so many of you who find yourselves in similar situations.

I also plan to post updates more regularly, thus forcing me to stitch so I have something to talk about!

Until then, friends, Keep Calm and Stitch On!

All work and no play..

***

All work and no play makes Marnie a dull (and cranky) girl.. 

Trying to spark some creative juices lately by cruising Pinterest, stitchy blogs, crafty mags, but alas I think work and winter have plunked me into the seasonal (post-Christmas) blahs..

I have been fiddlin' with PicMonkey lately and have made some cute print-outs for Valentine's Day.

Here's one free for the taking:

Enjoy!

It's a New Day!

***

Good Morning, 2013!!!!

Holy Moley - another year closes and a new day dawns.  Isn't the concept of "a new year" fabulous?  I mean, really, it's just another day, right?  So the big blue marble encircled the giant fireball again, big whoop.. right?  But, the idea of New Beginnings, Fresh Starts, Clean Slates, even the dreaded Resolutions... the whole Happy New Year enchilada is 100% brilliant, isn't it...?  It's almost like free therapy (stay with me here)--- the calendar, random people on the street, your friends and family, the teevee, radio, newspaper all proclaiming in one loud voice:  "Hey You!  Here's your New Year!  Throw out all that old year garbage (and bad habits) and make yourself/your home/your life new again."  What an awesome message, and you know what's more incredible than that?  The WHOLE WORLD celebrates the "New" Year.  Think about that.  The entire world celebrates this moment in time, a new beginning.  I find that to be amazing in and of itself.

I like it so much, I think I'll have two in 2013!  :-)

So, what have I been up to since my last post?  A whole lot which is why my blogging time shrunk to zero.  I was so busy, I didn't even have time to miss it but it does feel great to be back here today, catching up with all of your happenings over the holidays.

Year in Review:  2012 had two main themes - travel and my sweet Carmen. 

Hubby and I enjoyed visiting Italy, Greece, Turkey, Colorado, and Las Vegas this past year.  Since we both still work full-time, (and aren't spring chickens anymore) we nearly wore ourselves and our suitcases out! 

And, as you might remember, we lost our precious 12 1/2 year old canine daughter Carmen in August.  It took months to adjust to an empty house.  The sadness was overwhelming.  My distraction of choice was reorganizing everything that wasn't nailed down. When I ran out of stuff of my own to reorganize, I reorganized my sister's kitchen and pantry.  Hubby took to his workshop.  In our grief, we were not fully capable of comforting one another so the Universe reached out to us and brought a totally unexpected new bundle of love, Kitty White Socks, into our lives. 

While we know absolutely nada-zip-zilch-zero about cats, she has helped us find our silly side again.  After months of sadness, tears, loneliness and grief, we smile and laugh and act like goofballs again.  Do pets have this effect on all people or is it just us?   It's nice.  :-)

After Thanksgiving, I thoughfully packed away all the fall decorations (in their very own new storage totes) and gleefully set about decorating for Christmas.  I love combining the old stuff with some new, just to keep it fresh.  This year was no different. 

The new-ish nativity I love so much...

The old stockings were hung...

The table was set (with new and old)...

And the Jolly ol' Elf was watching...

On the stitching front, I used the electrified sewing machine more this past year than I ever have.  Using some of the prettiest fabrics I've collected over the years, I made about a dozen of these fun shoe bags for family, friends and self...

Carolyn's shoe bag

...and several bean-bag style eye pillows, again for family, friends and self. 

Jamie's eye pillow

As for handwork, I will be reacquainting myself with my tartan tea coaster today..

Happy New Year, friends.  I hope you find joy, inspiration and hope for good things to come in 2013.

Vay-cay wrap-up (photo heavy)

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Well friends, our week in sunny Las Vegas is rapidly coming to a close but hubby and I have had a marvelous time.  The weather has been fabulous (for me).  Most everyone else seems to be freezing to death but high 60s and low 70s feels like Paradise to me...

The hotel is amazing.  I highly recommend staying at the Venetian / Palazzo if you are planning a trip to Sin City anytime soon.  Although they do not have an "All you can eat buffet" here, the food is very reasonably priced and prepared to perfection. 

Exhibit A:

salmon piccata    (so good, I ordered it twice!)

at Grand Lux Cafe, Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas

 

hubby's breakfast sandwich  -  YUM!

at Grand Lux Cafe, Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas

real gelato!

The interior design and decor is like nothing I've seen outside of the Papal apartments at the Vatican.  I mean, just imagine the Ritzy-est of the Titzy-est and you'll be in the right zip code.  Gold plate that and you'll be in the right ball park.  Throw in more Italian marble, mosaics and hand painted murals and you'll have the right pew.  Then sprinkle with fairy dust.  It's dazzling. 

Exhibit B:

just a random hallway from the main entrance to the casino area

 

 

the rotunda

ceiling of the main entrance area

(sorry for the blurry shot - I was trying not to gawk)

Grand Canal and gondola rides - on the 2nd floor  - hear that?  2nd floor..

and this canal, it goes for a long, long way...

your view onto "St Mark's Square" as you top the escalator from lower level

this area connects the two hotel properties (Venetian and Palazzo)

encircled with bistros and boutiques

Oh, did I mention the shopping?  Yeah - they got some stuff...

the "Principessa"

 

for him, for Carnivale

 

for her, for Carnivale

 

Faberge style eggs and boxes

Etc., etc., etc., etc.


They do this all while being very welcoming (no matter what you happen to be wearing).  The staff is always busy cleaning everything.  The guest services people are here to make your stay the best experience it can possibly be.  They seem to delight in pleasing you..  Seriously...  It just sparkles and shines and smells like uber-rich Italians.

Yum. 


In addition, the health club (Canyon Ranch) is like nothing I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of health clubs.  This one takes the cake.  Forget that the equipment is plentiful, and so state-of-the-art that it will be years before I ever see another treadmill like the one I've fallen in love with.  Forget that they have Smoothie Happy Hour from 7-9am.  Forget that they have 3 very nice restaurants, in the health club, that serve fresh, organic, "affordable yet artistic" health food all day everyday.  Forget that they have several friendly exercise physiologists just walking around, looking to talk to you and advise you about anything you want to ask about, for free...without appointment.  Several boutiques full of cute workout gear.   Shoe store...  Salon...  Forget all that. 

I want to talk about the hallway you walk down to get to the 'big gym'.  This hallway is long and windy.  It is broken up into several brightly painted corridors lit with these ethereal light towers and simply decorated with amazing art here and there.  The colors are so vivid and the lights are so ethereal, it has captivated me.

lime green hallway

 turquoise corridor with peacock feathers photo

magenta corridor with black and white triptych 

white corridor with waterfall photo

art in lime green corridor

There are more color segments, but I was trying to not be kicked out.. If you can't tell, I'm in love with this hallway.

I told hubby that this hallway was surely exactly like what my "tunnel of light" to heaven will be.  I wish I knew if the colors corresponded to 'chakras' or whatever..  I don't know about that stuff, but this hallway rates 5 stars in my book of Cool Stuff.

Okay - enough about the hotel.  We also took in some great exhibits and shows, like:

• Monet at the Bellagio
• Dancing Fountains of the Bellagio
• DaVinci - The Genius at the Venetian
• America's Got Talent LIVE at the Palazzo (included the Olate Dogs, Lightwire Theater, Sand Artist Joe Castillo, Escape Artist Spencer Horsman, comedian Tom Cotter, Earth Harpist William Close, and the Recycled Percussion boys)
• Criss Angel: BeLIEve at the Luxor
• KA by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand

Needless to say, the week has flown by and we'll be home quicker than I can lose $20 at the roulette table.

 

 

Hope you all are having a wonderful week and are looking forward to Thanksgiving next week.  I know I am!

 

 

 

November??? Really???

***

Good Saturday Morning to you Friends!

Despite my best intentions, I have been neglecting this here lil blog o'mine but not for no good reason.  It's FALL, which means I've been out stomping thru the woods taking a few foliage pics, spending copious amounts of time decorating and re-organizing everything that isn't nailed down, and more general futzing around than any one person should be allowed to futz.. 

  dining table in her fall colours

Even though I'm closing in on finishing this teacup coaster, it has taken a back seat to other projects lately:

 

Royal Hunting Stewart tartan plaid teacup coaster

I've even done a bit of sewing on the electrified sewing machine (insert prayer of mercy here)..

 

new draft dodger for sun room

But if I am 100% honest, I'll tell you that the past few months have been spent trying to recover from losing Carmen.  Hubby and I have both busied ourselves with 'tasks' so as not to have to sit still for too long.  It's been a productive time, but I can't say that either of us were actually doing any 'healing' until this little thing just started showing up at our house about a month ago:

 

 

Her real family lives not far from here and keep coming to pick her up, but she keeps coming back.  She really likes Hubby, whom she calls "Bob".  His name isn't Bob, but her name isn't Kitty Sox either.. so I guess everyone is even... Even though Sox and her real family are moving out of state today, she was a sweetie girl to have around for a month and I do believe she has opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming a 'cat person'..  (and as I utter the words, I can hear all my dog friends gasping)..

 

 

Hubby and I are off on a short vay-cay today (to sunny Las Vegas Nevada) but I'll pop back in whenever possible to check on all of you.  Thanks again for all the sweet emails, cards and messages about Carmen.  It's been a tough few months, but I think we are about to come out of it. 

 

Have a great weekend friends,