Weekend Wrap-Up: 3/30-3/31

April 2, 2013April 2, 2013 | leftylex

I hope you all had a very lovely Easter weekend.

I woke up at about 6AM on Saturday morning to the adorable (note the sarcasm) meow of Jack. God only knows what this cat wanted other than to ruin my sleep on the only day out of the week that I can actually sleep in until 8AM. Blasted little beast! I figured that since I was awake I might as well work on completing and packaging a few orders before I headed out to the YMCA to teach my aerobics class.

Here’s a snapshot of a 5-piece set that commissioned for a Dr. Suess themed nursery. This was my second commissioned order of the week which I think is pretty cool because commissioned pieces always seem to push you out of your regular little comfort box and allow (or force) you to create something you never would have otherwise. I rather like the finished product! (If you have a particular design or theme you’d like to have stitched, drop me a line and I’m sure that I can work something up!)

And just in case you ever wondered what my YMCA looks like…voila!

After I finished teaching my aerobics class I noticed that I received a text message from one of my dearest friends, Lorraine, that read: “Excited to watch A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with you today! Hope it’s a good one.” What? Had I completely forgot that I was going to the theatre today? Apparently so! And thank God that Lorraine sent that reminder to me or I would have missed the show altogether! Now I had about an hour to drive home, shower, get dressed, and high-tail it over to the Old Globe! I was instructed by the theatre to pick-up my tickets at Will Call no less than an hour before the show began so I was under an extremely tight time crunch.

By the grace of God I was able to find parking easily! This absolutely never happens during the spring and summer months as the Old Globe is located in Balboa Park which is one of San Diego’s most visited tourist hot spots. Isn’t it lovely though? This has been my favorite place in all of San Diego since I was a little girl; it gives you the feeling that you’ve just been transported to Europe (with the luxury of SoCal weather!).

Once I picked up my tickets (early as instructed) I now had an hour to kill before the performance itself began. I decided to take a leisurely stroll through the Mingei International Museum gift shop. I love this gift shop because it shows that literally each culture that roams this big blue planet creates beautiful and unique art of its own. And I love the quote that appears immediately outside of the shop: Art Belongs to Everyone.

Once my hour to kill had expired, I met Lorraine and her lovely husband Ed for the performance. I was the third wheel at the particular event. Husband had work to do so he was not able to join us (boo!). I believe that this was the fifth theatrical performance that I had seen with E&L. We tend to be theatre junkies together; it’s always better with partner’s in crime! And fittingly enough, we were about to watch A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

The set was enchanting, the story engaging, the music inviting, and the performers divine! I had no knowledge of what the musical was going to be about, thus I had no expectations; however it was fabulous! One of the cast members, played a total of eight characters! He was genius, I absolutely adored him! I will not give away any of the details of the play other than it includes love and murder. Go see it!

Once the performance was over I headed home and the most wonderful news awaiting me in my email inbox…. I was selected as a vendor for the next Queen Bee Market! Woohoo! I was so, so, so excited to read “you have been accepted!!”. It felt like my senior year of high school all over again, just waiting to see if I had been selected to by my college of choice. Well, maybe not that exciting, but pretty exciting none the less. I immediately began doing the happy dance in my living room, giving Husband about one million excited hugs, and made a prompt call to Mom to let her know that her assistance would be much required for the next several weeks. How anyone can participate in a craft fair without the assistance of his/her mother is entirely beyond me. I would have died a terrible death at my last fair if it were not for my Mom! Seriously.

The rest of my day was spent taking inventory of my finished products and drafting up lists of things that need to be finished between now and the May 4th fair. It’s going to be a busy few weeks over here in Lefty Lex land! But a fun busy few weeks. I love this stuff! For more information on Queen Bee Market, click here: http://thequeenbeemarket.com/

Sunday was Easter, in case you didn’t know. So after church was over we headed over to my parents’ house for some good ole family fun. By the time I got there Sister Jeri had already left as she had to work, but being able to spend time with 4 out of my 5 siblings wasn’t too shabby. Now, you may find this funny (or ridiculous) but I think it’s awesome… Mom still makes all 6 of us Easter baskets every year! Yes, I am 29 and I still get an Easter basket! Actually, she makes 7 baskets, because Husband gets one too.

This year the highlight of the baskets were bottles of Middle Sister wine that accurately reflected each sister’s personality. They were as follows:

Mine: Goodie Two-Shoes. I found this funny that even my own mother would identify me as a goodie two-shoes. I am not an angel (well, not entirely) but of the five of us girls I am definitely the one who has most played by the rules my entire life and never really fought against my parents growing up. Let’s say this much: I attended a private Christian college immediately after high school, graduated four years later, was married seven weeks prior to graduation, subsequently went to grad school, etc., etc. I’m rather a homebody, I don’t really drink…I suppose you would call me goodie two-shoes!

Dee: Rebel Red. I found this one debateable I’m not quite sure that I would lable Dee a “rebel”. At this stage in her life she’s more along the lines of a free spirit. She’s just enjoying life according to herself. She’s definitely changed a bit over this past year, so perhaps that’s where the rebel is coming from.

Jeri: Forever Cool. Jeri is a musician; so by default she’s cool. This chick kills it on the electric guitar, how is that not cool?

Sam: Wild One. Well selected, Mom. Sam was definitely the devil to my angel growing up and we bumped heads like mad! I’m seven years older than Sam and we did not have a good relationship when we lived under the same roof, but we have become very close over the past two or three years. She is the only sister that I actually have 4 hour long FaceTime conversations with. Yes, out longest conversation was 4.5 hours!

Andi: Sweet & Sassy. Andi is definitely the quietest of the five of us and can definitely lost in the shuffle at times as a result of this. She’s our baby girl so, of course, she’s sweet but I’ve been told that she can have a bit of sass when it comes down to it. I don’t think I’ve seen that side of her, but the others have told me that it does exist.

(Mom was getting so mad that we would not take a serious picture!)

And we must not forget my brothers… Vince and puppy Bosco!

Hope your weekend was lovely too. That is all good people, go forth and conquer Monday!

Weekend Wrap Up 3/21-3/24

March 26, 2013 | leftylex

Wedding recap! I’m going to include Thursday and Friday in this week’s weekend because I took those days off so it felt like the weekend to me. Although, neither of these two days were anything close to being leisurely!

Thursday: Rehearsal time! After deciding on wearing my adorable red Hello Betty Bow (which can be purchased here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/hellobettybow, yes I am plugging this shop hard!) Husband and I headed downtown, to Hotel Solamar, for some wedding practice. The hotel was lovely and the view from the rooftop deck, where the wedding took place, was phenomenal It was merely a few blocks from Petco Park (our baseball stadium) which seemed only appropriate as the groom (my brother-in-law) played baseball and is a giant fan.

That’s Micah, Husband’s littlest cousin. He made the cutest “ring bearer” I call him this only loosely because he was actually a sign carrier as he did not truly bear any rings. Micah was only 8 months old when Husband and I were married and every time I see him I am always amazed at how much he has grown! Due to the giant age gap between him and the other cousins, he’s really more like a nephew than a cousin and I have adored him since the day he was born.

The rehearsal went off without any visible snags and we headed over to the rehearsal dinner before calling it a night. Once home, I attempted some stitching before falling asleep on the couch.

I woke up bright and early the next morning but the day quickly became caught in a whirlwind. I finished the Bride and Groom hoops, went for a run, dropped Husband off with the rest of the groomsmen (they had a fun bowling trip planned to release pre-wedding jitters), had my hair done, had my make-up done, came back home to get dressed and quickly booked it to the hotel to precisely meet my 4PM arrival deadline.

Now, I truly could kick myself because I did not charge my camera the night before! Subsequently, I had no camera to take with me to the wedding! Luckily (I suppose) I always carry my iPad with me, so I was able to snap a few shots, but the lighting in the reception area was very dim, making it very difficult to get good shots without my Nikon. The wedding was divine; full of loads of yellow and grey and fun personalized touches.

Most importantly of all, however, we gained a new sister-in-law and my bro-in-law became a very happy man!

Saturday morning began with teaching my aerobics class very quickly followed by a post-wedding family brunch at Bub’s.

We ate, chatted, and said our goodbyes to all of the friends and family who were flying back to their respective States later that day. But we figured that since we had already paid $10 for parking, we might as well get our money’s worth. So we began strolling the streets downtown. Husband was in need of new Pumas, so it appeared that some shopping was in order too.

We ventured to World Market where Husband fell in love with this couch and I found my much desired Hawaiian salt! More on this later on in the week, but let me tell you that I am salivating just thinking about what this salt will be used for!

We continued galavanting downtown and stumbled upon the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. We thought we’d give it a visit and just so happened to arrive at the exact same time that they were opening a new exhibit. It was a little more than we had originally bargained for because before we knew it, we were ushered into an hour long presentation on Medical Missions in China from 1927-1949. It was interesting, but not what we were expecting. Post presentation we were allowed to wander freely among the exhibits. Some of of the items that the (two part) museum holds are truly amazing.

Sunday was, as usual, fabulously lazy. It was of course Palm Sunday; so a small stitch was in order. And after church and a much needed trip to Target, we spent the remainder of the day unwinding from the wedding ongoings. Our unwinding included some iPad reading (I finished a book called Honor Thy Daughters, which I recommend), eating a yummy dinner, and watching Mulan.

It’s the 15th anniversary of Mulan’s release so Disney let it out of the vault. Of course, my primary interest was to see if Lea Salonga’s lovely face and voice would appear in any of the behind the scenes footage. Lea appeared and she did not disappoint! If you’re new to my blog, then you don’t know about my crazy girl crush/theatrical obsession with Lea Salonga; but a browse through other posts will quickly enlighten you!

That’s it fine folks! I hope your weekend was just as enjoyable (and even more restful!). Onto another week!

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!

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!