Even though I don’t have a ton of photos, I’m going to post what I have (aside from “project” photos, which I do have full intentions of posting separately). I’ll start with one project photo, however, because I *love* how it turned out. Remember my corduroy coat, the one I loved so much that I wound up with three different sizes? When I had gained quite a bit of weight, the coat wouldn’t fit me anymore (it was a medium that fit on the small side). Thanks to Poshmark, I found it in a large and extra-large.

I wore them for a season or two until I lost the weight and they’d been in a bag in the garage ever since. I love to make things out of old or unworn clothing, so I decided to turn the coat into a bag. I used the faux fur to make cat beds, and then used the corduroy for the bag. I also used a men’s dress shirt for the lining (and outer pocket). I had never sewn piping before, so I decided to give it a try as well.

And this is the bag I made from it!

Isn’t it cute? Jerry totally fell in love with this one and I think it could be pulled off as a “man bag” to use as a carry-on. (Jerry got the position at work he was really wanting, and it will likely involve international travel).

Speaking of sewing, I now have a brand new sewing machine! To take full advantage of credit card cash back, we put literally *everything* on a credit card and then I pay it off a couple of times a month. We never carry a balance, but we get 1.5-5% cash back on everything (including the bills that I pay with the credit card). I’ve always thought of this as my “bonus” money for taking care of the finances and paying bills on time, etc. I let the cash back build up and then “buy” something that I really want, without feeling guilty. (I know I shouldn’t feel guilty for buying myself something, but I think it’s ingrained with being a mom.)

Anyway, I had a little over $1,000 in cash back waiting, and I decided to get a sewing machine. I did a lot with my old machine and it worked well; but because I’ve been sewing so much lately, I wanted a machine that would make it easier to go through multiple layers of denim and interfacing. I was torn between two opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to the machine I wanted–either a super basic “workhorse” straight-stitch machine, or a digital machine with embroidery and all the bells and whistles.

As you know, I like simplicity, especially with electronics. I decided to go for the basic workhorse machine. One of the things I *really* wanted was a large space between the needle and the machine; I hated always trying to squeeze projects in that space while sewing. It was really overwhelming, trying to choose a model.

After reading a million reviews, I ended up buying a Juki TL-2000qi. (I bought it from Ken’s Sewing Center online and I would absolutely buy from them again–great customer service, some bonus accessories, *and* the lowest price.) The machine was “only” $700 (I put that in quotes because my budget was $1000, not because $700 is cheap! ha), so I bought some accessories to go with it (presser feet, throat plate).

Isn’t it beautiful?! 😉  I almost cried the first time I used it because I could not believe the difference! It’s like sharpening your kitchen knives–you know how you don’t realize how dull they’ve gotten until you  sharpen them and you realize life is just better with sharp knives? Yeah, like that. It’s like the difference between cutting an apple with a butter knife versus a sharp paring knife.

The table/cart that I have it on is nothing pretty, but I put that together one morning because I was worried that I was going to drop my sewing machine if I kept carrying it around. Several months ago, I’d bought a couple of table leaves from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore; they were were solid oak and I got the two of them for $5. So I ran them through the planer and glued them together to make the table top. Then I just made a frame with some 2×4’s and castors for movability. It’s not pretty, but it’s perfect for my sewing machine!

Anyway, enough about that. I’ve been using it all the time and I love it. 

The craziest thing happened a few houses down from us, and our neighbors caught it on video. The dike on the street separates the marsh from the road, and it’s pretty tall (and very steep, although it doesn’t look like it in photos). Well, an intoxicated woman flew down the road in a truck, straight at the dike, and basically took out half the dike while she crashed into the marsh. (Did I mention she had three kids in the car? They were not seriously injured, thankfully.)

There are kids that play on the street there ALL THE TIME. Not to mention people walking dogs and riding bikes, etc. This happened at around 3:00 in the afternoon, so she’s very lucky that she didn’t hurt anyone else.

Noah and his girlfriend went to IKEA one day and she sent me this picture saying, “They have plant-based meatballs at IKEA!” I was so excited that they’d actually ordered them (Noah and Rose aren’t vegan). They said they were “amazing”; I always feel happy when people enjoy vegan food. And especially when they are open enough to trying new things like that 🙂

Eli gave me the most beautiful flowers for Mother’s Day. I’ve always said that I’m not a “flowers person”–I don’t want anyone spending money on something that isn’t going to last–but the fact that Eli even acknowledged Mother’s Day all on his own made me feel good. And the flowers *are* very pretty!

Eli went “urban exploring” with his friends at an abandoned factory and said it was really cool, so he went back with Jerry and Noah. I’m too much of a “rule follower” and I chose not to go, but their pictures were really interesting. There were tons of personal items that were just left there when the place closed.

This is a tote that Ken’s Sewing Center sent me for free with my machine–I didn’t even know that they were sending it! It’s a really nice tote on wheels. Chick and Duck like to be pushed around in it, hahaha.

Every time I finish a bag of some sort, the kittens like to get inside of it. It happens immediately. (This patchy bag was actually a sort of practice for the *real* patchy bag I wanted to make.)

These are a couple of photos I took before Eli’s prom. I love this one! He and his friends were standing in between poses when Jerry said something about looking like a proposal was about to happen, and it was like they were totally on cue–one of his friends pretended to pull out a ring and propose to Eli while his other friend looked shocked and excited. They didn’t even know I was taking this picture. So funny!

Kids these days have no idea what this is. Jerry and I had to explain!

With this one, I thought it would be fun to go for a Beatles cover-look, but when they said, “What’s the Beatles?” I gave up immediately. HAHAHA

And this was taken by an *actual* photographer for Ava’s prom 😉 

I will end with this stunning photo of Phoebe looking like a cat goddess. Noah’s girlfriend sent this to me to show me Phoebe’s new collar. (Phoebe is so quiet that it’s easy to trip over her, so they got her a collar with a bell.) She’s still doing great and I know she is happy there. I went over to cut her nails last week and I actually saw her eat a whole container of wet food!

And that’s all I’ve got for now. Have a great weekend! xo