RWL: Wedding Time!

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 | leftylex

As I mentioned yesterday, my brother-in-law is getting married on Friday. I suppose that I’ll forgive them for barging in on our anniversary month (wink wink). M&T live in Chicago where it is currently freezing, so they were so smart to have the wedding here in San Diego where it is (almost) always sunny and lovely. And I figured that since this is a once and a lifetime event (hopefully!) I would dedicate this week’s Rainbow Wish List to the wedding and other lovey dovey mushy stuff. Enjoy folks!

Red: This darling little ring bearer’s pillow is original. It’s not white satin and lace with the expected silky ivory ribbon. Nay, this pillow makes a statement! It’s bright, bold, and red; the heart shape just adds to the fun.

Orange: I love table numbers, they truly are one of the unsung heroes of weddings. Just imagine the confusion that would arise at the beginning of a reception without table numbers! I remember how long my own took to make, yikes! My table indicators featured seashell names, not numbers… which is probably why they took so make. But who wouldn’t want to sit at the opihi table? Anyway, I like the fancy flare of the table number above, the imperfect, hanging hearts are right up my alley. Good design!

Yellow: These little peg people are cake toppers… and they are adorable! M&T’s wedding colors are yellow and grey so this actually fits their theme quite well. And what initially drew me to this topper is that it looks as though it was custom made for them. M has dark hair and tan skin (well, he did before he moved to Chicago) and T is a Nebraska-born blonde. This really should be gracing their cake!

Green: I am a giant fan of this boutonniere! Even though Husband wore a white rose boutonniere at our wedding, I now much prefer a groom’s boutonniere to be a bit more masculine. And this little greenie says formal, but not girly. It is perfection; masculine perfection.

Blue: If you search for “something blue” on Etsy one million items pop up! Literally, one million. I went back and forth on different blue finds but finally settled on this lovely hanger because it’s frickin’ awesome! I love the shade of blue that the actual hanger is and I am in awe of anyone who can bend wire like that. I always have a difficult enough time untwisting wire hangers when trying to make smores!

Indigo: Okay, I might have cheated a bit on the “indigo” this week, but I only did that because I really, really like this tank top set. I wish that my bridesmaids and I would have worn something like this on my big day. I like the designer’s use of lace alongside the cotton. Clever, clever.

Violet: The card holder! Um yah, I forgot to buy (or make) one of these for my wedding. This bird cage card holder is a vast improvement over the traditional gift wrapped shoe box! I adore the simplicity of the extras added to the cage; the designer definitely understands that less is more.

Just in case you wanted to know what M&T look like; this is them. I’m positive that you’ll be seeing much, much more of their wedding around here over the next few days. I’m gonna have my first blonde sister!

And I would venture to say that if I had let them select the items in the RWL, these two little gems would have most likely appeared. They are giant Norte Dame and Nebraska fans! And I am now wishing that I would have thought of buying these for them at an earlier date. Oh well!

Weekend Wrap Up 3/16-3/17

March 18, 2013March 19, 2013 | leftylex

This was the absolute epitome of a low-key weekend. With good cause, I suppose. Last week was pretty busy with anniversary ongoings , so a change of pace was welcomed. I knew that I had only two tasks this weekend: 1.) complete commissioned stitching, and 2.) find a dress for my brother-in-law’s wedding! My BIL is getting married this Friday and (despite several tries) I had yet to purchase a dress for the big event. Gasp; the pressure was on!

So, after teaching my aerobics class on Saturday, I made the weekly trek to Michael’s for some needed embroidery floss before heading home and gettin’ stitchy.

I truly thought that I would find a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, but no such luck! However, the floss colors that I needed were actually in stock; so I suppose that was treasure enough.

The next several hours were spent with me sitting on my caboose with a sketchpad, pens, needle and thread… and my iPad (that thing is never far from reach!). The outcome of this session was the completion of my first Mothers’ Day Collection piece (is that not the cutest?) and another hoop which I am not yet at liberty to reveal… but these were the colors used.

There is this documentary about international adoptions and the current failed system called Stuck, which I have been highly anticipating. And while stitching Saturday, I decided that I could no longer wait for the Stuck tour to reach San Diego and I downloaded the documentary and watched it right then and there. This is not just a movie, not just a documentary. This is powerful. I can’t remember the last time that I was truly shaken to my core as quickly and as drastically as I was while watching that film. I will not pull my soap box out of the closet for today’s post, but know that this will be a very well highlighted topic in posts to come. In the event that you are now intrigued and want to know what exactly Stuck is all about then visit https://bothendsburning.org/ or have a quick watch here:

I am using all of the willpower in my body to continue on with the planned Weekend Wrap Up and not to turn this post into a Stuck platform! Everything else that I am going to write about seems so disgustingly trivial in light of the information that I learned through Stuck, but proceed, I must.

Sunday was fabulously lazy. The day began with worship and an excellent sermon by guest preacher Dr. Dennis Johnson. I love my church, it isn’t the fanciest place in the world (clearly) but it is one of my favorite places.

After church, I had a scheduled lunch and shopping date with sister Dee. Oh, and just in case that you haven’t yet met her yet, this is my only niece (dog niece), Ellie! She is an almost 4 year old Boston Terrier and she is an absolutely excellent pooch. I decided that we should play on our little grassy knoll to get some green shots for St. Paddy’s Day. You can’t tell by the photos, but I am holding a little green hoop featuring tiny little puppies, but this genius misplaced the hoop before photographing it up close. Sometimes I truly am brilliant!

Dee and I headed to a little outdoors, Mexican lunch. You know, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and all.

Then it was time for the dreaded shopping! Arg, I hate dress shopping under pressure and my sewing skills are not advanced enough to whip something up for myself. I have to take Dee shopping with me when an important event arises, because she has better fashion sense than I do and she’ll usually push me out of my cardigan, cotton dress, leggings bubble that I’m usually trapped in. After a few shops, I was quite sure that I would be attending the wedding naked. I tried on way too many dresses and I could tell that Dee was getting restless.

And just then, the heavens parted, bird started singing, bells started ringing and a giant glow lead me to this dress. (Insert the sound of heavenly hosts singing Amen in unison).

Dee turned to me and literally said: are you saying ‘yes’ to this dress? How could I argue against it! It was quite a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I do love it! And it’s a great dress for twirling around because it has a small layer of tulle near the bottom. Yes, a party dress has to have a good twirling rating in order for me to purchase it.

Post shopping, Husband and I spent the rest of the day lounging around in our Paddy’s Pub shirt. Yes, I am shockingly enough a fan of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It is crass and some of it does go a little far for my liking but the show is hilarious! And I picked these shirts up at Target after St. Patrick’s Day last year for only $2.90 each!

And we had to bring Jack into the shots because he’s orange and white, so he complete our Irish look perfectly. Note: he does not like the camera. Not one bit.

And that’s it folks, I’m now well rested and fully prepared to tackle the upcoming week. Wedding in four days!

Find the Hidden Mickey

March 14, 2013March 16, 2013 | leftylex

I woke up bright and early yesterday day morning, very excited for our Disneyland adventure to commence! I am an early bird, Husband is a night owl. So I figured that I’d wake up at my usual time (5AM), get dressed, make breakfast, and wake him up at 6:30AM. We finally left our house around 8AM. And just in case you’re wondering how long it takes to drive from San Diego to Anaheim in morning traffic, this is how long…

Before I left the house only half of that Mickey head was stitched. Our drive was long enough for me to stitch the other half, stitch the Mickey lettering, and stitch everything that you see on that lovely green hoop.I remember the days when I absolutely could not stitch in the car without making a mess of things; I’m glad that period is now behind me! And I found that it was actually easier to stitch in the car as there were far fewer distractions.

Anyhow, after the four longest lines (parking lot entrance, parking shuttle, ticket booth, park entrance) we finally made it in! Ah, the glorious sight of Main Street! There is nothing that transforms you into a child quicker than the sight of the castle (and being surrounded by life size versions of the Disney characters).

Although Pirates of the Caribbean is usually the first ride we hit, we opted for Star Tours this time. I love C3PO and R2D2, they’re just too cute!

We tried to get fast passes to Space Mountain next because that line is always insanely long. (Word to the wise: always hit the fast pass machines for Space Mountain and Indiana Jones as soon as you enter the park because these lines can be absolutely brutal!) Unfortunately for us, SM was closed at the time so we headed over to the new princess area; I don’t remember exactly what it is called, but it is adorable and I saw dozens of little girls dressed up as the princesses smiling from ear to ear. So cute!

We took a peak at the Royal Theatre production that was going on. Somehow, I don’t think that we were the targeted audience here. Generally when Husband and I go to the theatre, we are the younger patrons (by far!) but this experience was quite the opposite. We stayed for a few minutes then booked it over to Frontier land.

We hit two of our very favorites, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean. Note: the line to Pirates always goes by super fast no matter how long the line might appear to be. The ride has about 1 million (yes, I counted) carrier boats going at a time, so the waiting process goes by quickly.

We played in Pirates Lair (something I’d never done before) and took some time for lunch. While my lunch was not the greatest, I did have the fortune of having ducks eat sweet potato fries out of my hand. They were not shy in the least bit. Then we visited the Winnie the Pooh ride… no laughing!

Space Mountain was next. I LOVE THAT RIDE! I love it enough that I will forgive how terrible it made my hair look once the ride was over.

Like our photo?

Of course we rode all the kiddie rides: Small World, Snow White, Pinocchio, etc. My feet were killing me by this point and it was nice to take the long Small World cruise and give them a break!

I rode the Disneyland train for the first time in my life… or so I think. The best part of the ride was that adorable little boy below! He and his family were not American, so I couldn’t understand a word they were saying but he kept staring at me, playing peekaboo, and laughing hysterically. He made me laugh the entire ride. I truly cannot remember the last time my face has hurt so badly from smiling.

The train continued through the Grand Canyon and through a few dinosaur scenes; I was distracted by that little toddler so I wasn’t really paying attention. We rode Pirates twice more and Haunted Mansion once more before being caught in the parade traffic. They shut down Main Street for the parade, so you’re pretty much forced to watch it. So watch we did.

We played around in Pixie Hollow (think that’s what it’s called) where Tinkerbell and her friends live. I sort of felt like I was in an embroidery hoop in that second photo. Wouldn’t that be delightful?! Then we took a quick browse through the Main Street shops and headed on our merry little way home.

I just so happened to find a window featuring crafting items and another with both of Lea Salonga’s characters next to each other in one of the shops. How delightful for me! And no, I did not stage this!

Well, that’s it in a nutshell. Our 2013 Disneyland trip… can’t wait ’til next year!

So did you find my hidden Mickeys?

RWL: Disney

March 13, 2013 | leftylex

Very early tomorrow morning Husband and I will be trekking up to Disneyland. Woohoo! I love Disneyland. We go each year for our anniversary and it’s something we always look forward to. With this trip just a short 24 hours away, Disney is hard on the brain right now. I suppose I’ll just have to whistle while I work to make today go by extra quickly! Without further adieu, may I present to you, my Disney Rainbow Wish List.

Red: That red little pendleton coat shown in the first photo is actually a vintage piece sold in Fontierland back in the 1960s. How cute is it? Even thought it isn’t overly obvious that it’s Disney, if you use your imagination I’m sure you can picture Minnie Mouse strolling down Main Street in it.

Orange: Keep Calm and Cruise On. This combines two of my all time favorites: cruises and Disney. I have long told Husband that as soon as we adopt, we will be taking our kids on a Disney cruise. Don’t the commercials always make it seem like an absolute blast full of magical Disney goodness? Seriously, how cool is it for a little girl to be able to eat with the Princesses?

Yellow: In case you didn’t catch the immediate Disney connection to those cute little maryjanes, they are painted to look like Snow White’s apple. I’m pretty sure that if we had a daughter, she would be rocking those little kicks tomorrow, they are so much fun! Now, if only they came in women’s size 10…

Green: Okay, I probably should not have selected two Snow White inspired items but I adore Doc. Doc has been my favorite dwarf since I was a little girl. Why? Well, I guess I identified with him since he seems to be the big brother of the group and I am the eldest child in my family. He seemed to be the ring leader and the one who looked out for the others and I suppose that’s how I viewed myself. I love the artist’s take on Doc, brilliant!

Blue: This Aladdin thermos brings be right back to 3rd grade! I’m almost 100% positive that one of my classmates had this. Although I find Robin Williams rather annoying now, he was dynamite as the Genie. And which little girl did not want to be Princess Jasmine and fly on a magic carpet? Little did I know at age 8 that I would meet the real voice of Jasmine at age 28. (See how I sneakily incorporate Lea Salonga in nearly each of my posts? So sly!)

Indigo: I love this Walt Disney quote. Let’s face it, the man was a genius. I’m convinced that my sister (Dee) is in love with him. She did some type of biographical report on him when she was in middle school and has been enamored ever since. I will admit that I too have watched at least 3 film biographies on the man. And no, I do not believe that he is frozen somewhere.

Violet: Disneyland is the only place that adults are encouraged to wear goofy looking hats! It’s awesome! Where else can you walk around with mouse ears on your head and not get mocked? Nowhere! I have my own pair of ears (with my name stitched on the back, of course) and I wear them every year. It’s too fun not too. However, this little Alice in Wonderland inspired hat/fastener is a more elegant take on the alternative crazy Disney hats. This hat says mad, but not too mad.

Now, if only I did cross-stitch I just might tackle these princesses. Well, that’s this week’s RWL my fine folks; now more excited to go to Disneyland than I was earlier!

Wait, what was that? You wanted to see the behind the scene clip of Lea Salonga as Princess Jasmine? Well, okay…

Weekend Wrap Up 3/9-3/10

March 11, 2013March 12, 2013 | leftylex

Well, this weekend marked our 7th anniversary of being man and wife! SEVEN! Although those 7 years feel as if they went by in a blink of an eye, it also feels as if we’ve been married forever (not in a bad way)!

Let’s start out at the beginning. Saturday was pretty uneventful. I taught my aerobics class, as usual, did some household shopping, and tried to relax (as best I know how). All day Saturday I wore my Wicked jacket in protest of Oz the Great and Powerful; childish perhaps, but I felt that it was necessary. While in my protest garb I did some supply shopping at Joann/Michael’s and took a little stroll down the yarn aisle, which I haven’t done in quite some time. I absolutely fell in love with these skeins, the colors are adorable. I’m working on getting my 82 year old neighbor to crochet a cute little Afghan for me. We trade craft/bake projects every now and then. She is amazing and always downplays her skill but she is extremely talented.

I came home to the lovely sight of my husband preparing green chile. This is his art form. And just to fit in the theme of our anniversary weekend, he indulged me by creating a heart-shaped chile.

Yum, yum, yum!

I finished the day up with some celebratory stitching. What do you think? I actually had a lot of fun making these two. That photo on the left has to be one of my favorites from our wedding; we look so young! Two little babies who thought that they were all grown up!

Sunday marked our actual anniversary. We took a long drive up to the Welk Resort in Escondido where we saw a wonderful performance of South Pacific. This is the first time that either of us had ever seen South Pacific (on stage) and we know the gal who played Nellie (the female lead) so it was extra special!

Welk Theatre San Diego is an intimate theatre without a bad seat in the house. Unless, that is, you happened to have our seats. We sat immediately behind a group of six senior women who kept talking; the one on the end must have said ‘I don’t know what’s going on’ about 3 times. We sat to the right of a group of Japanese tourist who nearly took my toes off while walking to their seats. The woman behind us had the audacity to make not one but two phone calls in the middle of the performance! Notice that I said make, not take, she actually made two outgoing calls! Apparently theatre etiquette was beyond these people. The cast was great, but that was the worst audience that we have ever been a part of.

The star of the show was the lovely Hannah M. James. She was absolutely endearing as Nellie Forbush particularly in I’m Gonna Wash That Man. I would love to see Hannah play Ellen in Miss Saigon; I think that she would nail it! Her fellow cast member, Benjamin Lopez would also make a pretty good Chris but one production at a time, I suppose. South Pacific runs for one more week, so if you live in the SoCal area, I would highly recommend that you give it a visit.

Our theatrical outing was followed by a scrumptious dinner at Fleming’s downtown. Our food was phenomenal! We had sear ahi tuna and crab cakes appetizers which I could have easily eaten as a meal in and of themselves. Then I ordered the swordfish and Husband ordered a rib eye. Add in sauteed asparagus and mushrooms and we had the makings of two overly stuffed bellies.

We ended the night with a couple of cheesy photos and with our annual viewing of our wedding photo slideshow that my BFF’s husband made for us shortly after our wedding. I like this tradition; I think that it’s a good reminder of just how much we loved each other on our wedding day. But I honestly believe that we love each other much more now that we did those seven long years ago.

I am not going to sugarcoat our lives and say that every day for the past 7 years has been a magical unicorn ride full of hearts and sparkles. No, marriage is work. It’s give and take on both sides, it’s learning to live with and accept your partner’s quirks. It’s pressing through, not giving up, when things get tough. In our throwaway society, it’s easy just to walk out when it’s no longer convenient, but that is not what marriage is. Sure, Husband and I have had our moments, but we’ve made a lifelong commitment to each other to each other and we intend to uphold that commitment ’til death do us part. I feel so blessed to have had him as my #1 cheerleader for the past 7 years and I look forward to many more!

I Will Send Poppies!

Video | March 9, 2013March 9, 2013 | leftylex

Let’s start by saying that I LOVE the Wizard of Oz! Love it. One of my earliest childhood memories is watching it with my Nana. It has long been my go-to answer whenever I’m asked what my favorite movie is. Therefore, one might think that I would be ecstatic to see Oz the Great and Powerful open this weekend, right? WRONG! Why? Because the prequel to the Wizard of Oz has been done before! Hello, anyone heard of a little thing called… Wicked?!?!?

Wicked is a book written by Gregory Maguire; which I’ve ready (of course).

Wicked is a musical which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year!

I have seen this fabulous musical thrice! Twice here in San Diego and once on Broadway.

That’s me on Broadway with my playbill just leaving the Gershwin. And the other photo is in front of the San Diego Civic Theatre with my mom! And yes, I’m holding a wand; brought one for each of the girls that I saw the musical with that day. Adults can still pretend to be kids when watching Wicked.

I own the soundtrack and have had every song memorized for nearly four years now. If push came to shove, I’m pretty sure poor Husband could sing each word to every song as well, that’s how much I listen to it. I will not spoil the musical for you if you have yet to see it, but indulge yourself the slightest bit by watching this clip. Even this short snippet will show you that you have no idea what actually happened before Dorothy’s house fell out of the sky!

In closing, will I cave in and see Oz the Great and Powerful out of pure curiosity? Absolutely not! And God help you if you go and see Oz this weekend! I will send the poppies! And we all know what happens then…

What is a Ramin Karimloo?

March 7, 2013 | leftylex

So just what is a Ramin Karimloo? A spicey food; an exotic destination? No, he is the third cast member of the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert that I am going to see perform live! On April 21st, Husband and I will be driving up to North Hollywood to see the incomparable Ramin Karimloo perform his the first show (of the US leg) of his Broadway to Bluegrass tour! Woohooo, I am so very excited! I’m going to restrain against my instinct to share a clip of him performing Les Mis and instead let you listen to him perform the best song from Love Never Dies (the theatrical sequel to Phantom of the Opera). Have a listen:

I could listen to that song over and over again! Ramin is Iranian by ethnicity, Canadian by nationality and has been living in London playing in both The Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis as the lead roles. He also originated the role of the Phantom in Love Never Dies in which he starred opposite the very lovely and talented Sierra Boggess! Sierra is probably my favorite American musical theatre actress; she’s brilliant. And the two of them together were absolutely dynamite!

Look at that passion…yikes! There is a whole #TeamRierra movement happening among theatre junkies, but I’m straying off topic. (But I’ll indulge myself by sharing one photo…!)

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’ll remember that I declared my theatrical admiration for Mr. Karimloo back in January: https://leftylex.com/2013/01/20/do-you-hear-the-people-sing/ so I am highly anticipating his upcoming concert.

Wanna know a secret about him? This is hiding underneath his costumes! Crazy, right? A straight man with a wife, two kids, and abs like these actually excelling in musical theatre…wow!

If you’ve stuck with this post long enough to reach this point, I guess I’ll show you my little stitched nod to Ramin & Sierra… watch out, super geek alert!

RWL: Lucky Seven

March 6, 2013 | leftylex

In five short days Husband and I will have been married for SEVEN years! Seven! I can hardly believe it. And for some strange reason I am more excited for this anniversary than I have been for any other. I’m not exactly sure why, it’s not the big 10 year quite yet, but I’ve been anticipating it nonetheless. So with seven on my mind this week, I present you the seven inspired Rainbow Wish List. Enjoy!

By taking a quick look at this RWL you can tell that it’s a bit different than most. Most of the items are strictly number sevens so there isn’t much desiring of any of these items, but I would love, love, love to have the lovely yellow item: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers!

Have you seen this musical? It’s amazing! It’s a very sweet story, the choreography is awesome, and the costumes are bursting with color. I have yet to see this on stage, but one of the high schoolers at my church is going to be in a performance this spring so I’ll have the chance to see it then. I’m sure that she is going to knock it out of the park! Here’s a snippet if you’ve never seen it:

And my final plug for why seven is an awesome number… dialogue from The Seven episode from Seinfeld:

“I defy you to come up with a better name than Seven.”
“Seven Costanza… You’re serious?”
“Yeah. It’s a beautiful name for a boy or a girl. Especially a girl… Or a boy.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What, you don’t like the name?”
“It’s not a name. It’s a number.”
“I know. It’s Mickey Mantle’s number. So not only is it an all-around beautiful name, it is also a living tribute.”
– George and Susan, in “The Seven”

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Weekend Wrap Up 3/2-3/3

March 5, 2013 | leftylex

It was a lovely weekend to be in sunny San Diego, California! It was in the 80s on Saturday, then a bit cooler on Sunday, but only light cardigan weather. The weather could not have been better to kick off the 9th Annual San Diego Cruisin’ Quilter Shop Hop! What is the SD Shop Hop? Why it’s when all of the old lady quilters of SoCal and I go from quilt shop to quilt shop to see the latest wares out there. Seriously, I am always the only person under 50 doing this! More info on the hop here: http://www.cruisinquilters.com/html/default.asp

A few years ago I hit all 13 shops with a vengeance, but this year I am not going to kill myself if I miss a shop or two. I was able to leisurely hit 4 shops… and boy were they packed! Here are the shops that I went to:

1. The Country Loft: rustic, charming, incredibly crowded (!), and my new go-to shop for felts when I’m in dire need and can’t make the trek to Fat Quarters.

2. Rosie’s Calico Cupboard: lovely staff, large book collection, absolutely enormous, carrier of all new Moda collections, 2nd favorite shop in SD.

3. Cozy Quilt Shop: offers loads of classes, large Bernina machine collection, loads of quilt patterns available.

4. Fat Quarters Quilt Shop: the best shop in SoCal!!! My love for this shop cannot be accurately measured. I will not gush again about this store just yet, but click here if you want to read a previous gush: https://leftylex.com/2013/01/06/shop-highlight-fat-quarters/

The weekend was not filled entirely with shop hopping. Saturday was also my little brother’s first swim meet of the season.

That’s him, my baby brother, super tall and skinny.

And although I love my brother dearly, swim meets are somewhat tiresome and incredibly long! I was there for over two hours and still left before his final two races…geez! And you can imagine how Mom’s puppy felt about the whole situation…

Later that night Husband and I had a lovely date night at Seaport Village!

I love Seaport Village so much! Only, in my childhood recollections, I do not remember so many homeless people rummaging through the trash cans.

I do however have found memories of the carousel! It’s just as lovely now as it was those 20+ years ago. Only now just watching it spin around is enough to make me sick!

And we decided to eat at the Pier Cafe, how cool is (literally) eating right over the water? The floor consists of old wooden planks that are not perfectly aligned, so I could actually see the water beneath my feet! The food wasn’t too shabby either. And the company, as always, was superb. It was a fabulous ending to a busy Saturday.

Sunday began as it always does, bright and early with worship.

This was followed by a failed attempted to visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields. We drove at least 40 minutes to get there and (although it was opening weekend) there were absolutely no flowers!!! What a bust! Oh well, we’ll try again in a few weeks. Now time to face Monday… bring it on!

leftylex

stitches on a mission

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