stroller wars
I was reading a quilting magazine (Mark Lipinski’s Quilter’s Home) today and there was a survey asking, “should strollers be allowed in quilting stores and at quilt shows?” I have to say, I was a little incensed at this question. As a stay-at-home mom, who’s husband works from sun up until sun down, it’s either use a stroller or go nowhere. You try carrying an 18-month old who isn’t walking yet everywhere you go.
I would have to say that the problem isn’t so much the strollers, but the people pushing them. I’ve played my fair share of chicken with women pushing humongous strollers. I always seem to be the one that veers off course to avoid collision - often muttering “excuse me” with a mix of sarcasm and disdain. Some people just think they own the universe. They are totally unaware of their surroundings. These people are the ones who should be banned from all stores - stroller or no, and from all roads for that matter.
You know who I’m talking about. We’ve all played chicken with them. Just once, I’d like to ram ‘em.
But, I would be super pissed if the quilt stores I go to said I couldn’t come in with my stroller. I’d say, “well, I guess you don’t need the $100 I was about to waste on fabric I don’t need.” I doubt that it will ever happen, but I don’t think the survey should even be out there.
Opinions?
I encourage all mom’s with strollers to log onto the Quilter’s Home website and “voice” their opinion!
blogging istockphoto: bosco CSS iconbuffet photoshop snippets and blabbery Stampin' Up! web design
by Blabby
5 comments
Blog facelift…
Well, as you might notice, I’ve dedicated a little photoshop time to my blog. I’m not 100% happy with it yet, but it’s getting better. I especially like how it appears as though I’ve spilled coffee all over the screen - very appropriate for my house :)
If anyone knows how to make my header image a link, let me know. The problem is that it’s a background image on my style sheet. If it was placed there as part of the HTML, I’d know how to make it a link, but since it’s a background style for the header container, my CSS skills don’t quite know how to deal with that.
I removed the php text that was there (blog title and description) because I wanted to use a cuter font, but it was that text that provided the link home. Any suggestions, web smarties?
Credits:
- Fonts are from Stampin’ Up!’s Write Me a Memory CD.
- My head is from iStockPhoto, and I added the glasses in Illustrator. Because I need them to see, of course.
- Book background is stolen off of some book site - can’t remember, but it’s one where you list all the books you’re reading. I stopped going to it because it’s enough work to list all those books here, and I’m waaay behind.
- Textured background (diagonal stripes) I made in Photoshop by creating a pattern, then applying the pattern with very little opacity. There are a lot of tutorials online to do this.
- Cute little turtle is from the best icon-trading site ever, IconBuffet.
- And of course, big props to Solostream Webstudio for the free Bosco 2.0 Wordpres theme. I hope they don’t mind my mods.
Bravo fox reality tv so you think you can dance Top Chef TV: hok kathy griffin My Life on the D-List on the lot pirate master reality check
by Blabby
8 comments
Reality (TV) Check…
I decided to comment weekly on the various reality shows. I’ll keep it kind of short, even though I really have pages worth of opinions on some of them…
So You Think You Can Dance
By far, my favorite reality show ever. Although the judges are a little annoying, the dancers really are so talented. And how awesome is it for this country to have a renewed interest in dance - and not just booty-shaking, dirty dancing, but real choreography. (Not to say that dirty booty-shaking isn’t choreographed, but I’m glad to see a little variety on my TV screen.)
So here’s what I think so far. I wasn’t sad at all to see Ricky and Ashley go. They looked pretty crazy doing the Argentine Tango - she did look a lot bigger than him. I don’t understand why she was in such high heels. The emotion on Dominic and Cedric’s faces when they were in the bottom three was a little heartbreaking - I will hate it when one of them eventually gets voted off. So far, my favorite guys are Cedric and Hok - because of their tryouts. We’ll see who stands out during all the different styles. I still think Hok is such an amazing entertainer - I can’t take my eyes off of him, even when they have him being the dog (which I thought was terrible.)
As for the girls - I have to give props to my hometown girl, Jessi. She said she was from Rockledge, FL, and then the announcer said she was from Cocoa Beach. It’s all Brevard County, so I automatically like her for that. Plus, she’s pretty awesome. But I have to say my most favorite is Lacey. I hope they stop playing up her brother, and start focusing on her talent - which she has in spades. I also like that she doesn’t have a perfect dancer’s body. Some dancers look great because they have fabulous long legs even if they’re not the best. Lacey doesn’t have those blessings, but you don’t even notice when she’s dancing - you just see her performance.
Pirate Master
Haven’t even watched it. Seems like a lame Survivor knockoff in time for the new Pirates of the Carribbean movie.
On the Lot
I’ve been kind of watching this one, but I have been really underwhelmed. I love Carrie Fisher and Garry Marshall, but that’s about it. The spokes-model/host is super irritating to me, but I think her awkward hugs/kisses/crashes with the contestants are always funny.
Top Chef
So far so good - I liked the first episode. I already like Tre, Hung and Sandee. I already hate Joey. We’ll see what they cook up.
My Life on the D-List
Kathy Griffin is the best. I HATED her on Suddenly Susan - I thought she was sooo irritating. But I started watching D-List in the first season, and watching her comedy shows on Bravo, and she’s hilarious. Smart, quick, honest…I love her. If you like pop culture stuff, you should check her out. Even if you’ve always thought she was irritating. She really grows on you. But watch out - she has a serious potty mouth. I think it’s part of her charm :)
I think those are the only ones I’m watching…I can’t think of any more right now. Leave a comment if I’m missing a good one!
So Cal Quilt Run
The Southern California Association of Quilt Shop Owners (whew - that’s a mouthful) is hosting the Quilt Run on the 2nd and 3rd weekends in July. I don’t have anyone to carpool with, but I’m super excited anyway. Here’s a link.
TV: blue flame christie's gene roddenberry History Channel Jonathan Frakes Patrick Stewart Star Trek Star Trek: The Next Generation the inner light Wesley Crusher Wil Wheaton
by Blabby
6 comments
It’s Trekker, not Trekkie
Who knew?
I’m going to let my geek light shine (or as my friend Scotty would say, let my blue flame show) on this post. I watched the best show about Star Trek the other day on the History channel. It was called Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier. It was kind of a 40-year anniversary show where they chronicled the sale of thousands of pieces of Star Trek property from all shows at a big auction at Christie’s. They had a lot of different actors (including my favs Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes) telling funny stories and sharing experiences. It really was a great round up, touching on all the different shows, spotlighting some of the amazing work that’s gone into each series (make-up, costume design) and especially paying tribute to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.
I really only ever watched The Next Generation. Everyday after school (9th and 10th grade, I think?), my dad and I would watch TNG (geek speak) and eat microwaved nachos or banana shakes. It’s one of my best memories. I feel like I grew up with Wesley Crusher. Cpt. Picard continues to be one of my all time favorite TV characters, and the writing on that show is still light years ahead of it’s time (ha ha, it got there by warp speed), even now. No other character driven show has been as good - and if you knew how much TV I watch, you’d know that this is a serious claim I’m making.
My favorite part of that History Channel special was that they highlighted Cpt. Picard’s flute from my favorite (probably, everyone’s favorite) episode called “The Inner Light“. Someone paid a crap load of money for that flute at the auction, and then Patrick Stewart laughed about the exorbitant amount, admitting that the flute doesn’t even play music! Ah, Trekkers. I salute your dedication. I would have bought that flute too, if I was rich. (I tried to find the sale price, but wasn’t able to - sorry.)
Anyway, I truly enjoyed this little special. I think all serious and amature Trekkers will too. And if you’ve never watched any of the Star Trek series, I encourage you to start with The Next Generation - you’ll find it playing on Spike all the time!
More skinny scarves
I finished two more scarves. Same pattern, but I was much looser with the interpretation because of the texture of the yarn. It was really hard to see where the chains were, so I just kind of winged. it. They came out nice anyway, because the yarn is beautiful. Each scarf used one 1.5 oz. skein of Marble N.Y. Yarns - $7 ea.. I really love the colors of these yarns. I’m definitely going to buy more.
A new skinny scarf
I’ve been hard at work with the crafting. More flow than ebb these days. I already mentioned the crochet store I found, but I wanted to talk a little more about it. Any crocheter knows that knitting is more popular. Handicrafts are more and more trendy, and knitting is the latest craze. You can find knitting patterns for almost anything. It’s a little harder to find crochet patterns. That’s why I was particularly excited to find a place called the Crochet Cafe! ( I think she’s just getting started with her website.)
She only opened a month or so ago, but it’s gorgeous in there. All kinds of cool, specialty yarns. Most of them are a little too high end for me - I can’t see myself buying six or seven skeins of special $14/ea. yarn to make an afghan. The whole appeal of crocheting for me is that it’s cheap and fast.
While I was wandering around in there, I chose three skeins of yarn - all around $6. One for me, one for my sister, and one for my friend Mel - my fool-la (fake doula). So, of course, I made my own scarf first - to ward off the chilly Southern California summer :) ha ha. I got the pattern online, but I can’t find it now to give the lady credit.
But this is the jist of the pattern:
Row 1:Ch 270
Row 2:ch 1, sc in each ch
Row 3:ch 3, dc in second sc, ch 1, skip next sc - repeat this until the end
Row 4:repeat row 3
Row 5:ch 1, sc in each dc and ch across
Row 6:ch 1, sc in each sc across, finish off
Add fringe if you want.
Bravo Top Chef: Army Wives CW Heartland Lifetime Monk My Life on the D-List Psych Saving Grace TBS The Closer The Starter Wife TNT USA Veronica Mars
by Blabby
4 comments
Summer TV Season
I cannot bear to have NO TV to watch, so in the summer months, I branch out to the cable networks. So far, I’ve been enjoying Bravo’s My Life on the D-List and this week, the new Top Chef starts. (I thought their little former Top Chef smackdown was kind of lame.)
I was checking around on the different network websites last night to see when their summer seasons start, and I was happy to see that The Closer starts this weekend on TNT. In July, I have two new shows to look forward to - The Heartland with Treat Williams (yay!) and Saving Grace with Holly Hunter (double yay!). So that’s good news. I was sad to see that they canceled Saved. I really liked that show.
On USA, Monk and Psych both start in July. I’ve also been enjoying The Starter Wife - the second episode was a little odd, but I still liked it. And on TBS, My Boys starts in July.
I’ve also been watching Army Wives on Lifetime, and I’m looking forward to their other new series, Side Order of Life and State of Mind.
Then I went to the regular networks to see if there were any shows to look forward to besides Hidden Palms, So You Think You Can Dance and Last Comic Standing and I was SO SAD to see that the CW might be canceling Veronica Mars! This breaks my heart. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that show. No more Gilmore Girls, and now no more Veronica? It’s really too much to bear. (Plus, there’s a war going on.)
So, if you love Veronica like I do, email the CW. Here’s their address:
I don’t know if it will help, but I always prefer to take action rather than simply complain.
Anyway, let me know what you’re watching to make the best of rerun season.
48-Hour Book Challenge Results
More challenging than I thought! Of course, I forgot about the challenge until I saw an incoming link from MotherReader, but luckily, I had just started a new book Friday morning. So here are my big (sad) results:
3 books completed
Book 1: The Quilter’s Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini.
Total pages: 309
Total hours: 7
Book 2: Everything But the Baby by Kathleen O’Brien
Total pages: 273
Total hours: 2.5
Book 3: The Sirens of Surrentum by Caroline Lawrence
Total pages: 196
Total hours: 1.5
Reviews on the way!
Weekend Reflection meme
So I’m trying something new today. I’d like to work my way up to a kick-ass blog party, but I’m starting with this meme to get my feet wet. Basically, I don’t REALLY even know what these things are, but I went on a site called Mister Linky, and I created this widget, so let’s see what it does. Here’s my weekend reflection - I’ll keep it brief. Then you can click the Mister Linky image at the bottom and add your link - creating much linky love for all (I hope).
My weekend reflection:
I already told you all about the great dinner party on Saturday. Sunday, my little family ventured out to Old Town Temecula where I found a stamp store, a quilting store and a crochet store all in one building! There was also a jail - what does that say about crafters? Just kidding - it’s the Old Town Jail - now just a tourist destination. NOT a place for annoyed husbands to put their crazy crafter wives.
While in Temecula, we found a park with an old red caboose-turned Boys and Girls Club. Since my son is a junkie for anything with wheels, and is currently perfecting his train whistle every second (choo choo!!!), he loved it. We climbed all over it and took a million pictures (see flickr widget at right.)
Then, we not-very-excitingly ate too much Taco Bell, and headed to the mall to price low-end sewing machines at Sears. That’s right, I’m in the market. Who knew sewing machines cost more than jet skis? Probably all the quilters knew. So I was looking at the reasonable $300 Kenmores and Singers ($300!!! What? That’s reasonable?) My dream is, of course, the $3500 Bernina with all the bells and whistles - the ones that don’t go choo choo!
Then, sadly, my husband got a call that he had to work on Monday - his supposed day off because he works on Saturdays. So our fun was cut short by bedtime (7:30 pm) because he has to get up at 3:00 am. Yuck.
That’s it! Now click this thing below and let’s see what happens. And tell your friends! Link back to me and tell us all about your weekend.
