Merry Christmas!

cats & christmas

Our cats seriously love Christmas. The boxes. The lights. The sweaters. The treats we bribe them with to get in the sweaters.

Athena had a sweater, too. A red one. Getting her into it was the worst experience. She made awful noises and made out like we were killing her. It was all nonsense. We were so gentle. She won, however. Her nails are much sharper than mine.

Houston didn't get his entirely on but it sufficed. We got the picture and successfully created an White Elephant party gift. He's just so classy.

Another quilt

My manager, Andrea, is having a baby boy in just over a month. It's their first and they had been trying for a super long time and she is so excited that it's finally happening - I am so excited for her!

I've really lucked out in the manager department over the years. I don't think I've had a bad experience with any of the managers that I've had. Andrea is no exception. She's a bit older than me but we're very similar in personality. I always enjoy working with her (even if I don't always love my job). 

She's also been a pretty consistent person in my life since we've moved here. We don't hang out outside of work or anything but if I ever need to talk she's there and vice versa. Really, she's just great. So, when I found out she was finally having the baby she had been dreaming about I decided to make her a quilt. 

The quilt itself is pretty simple. The gray and white stripes are 4" x 36" (making the quilt about 44" x 36"). The backing is just a simple patchwork - the blocks were 3" square. It's my first patchwork so it's pretty wonky. After I quilted it the problems weren't as noticeable (although I would be able to point them out to you if you asked ;) 

They did an underwater theme in his room but her husband loves penguins so they painted a few penguins on the walls as well. When I heard about the penguin love I thought, "I bet I could put a penguin on a quilt." Turns out I could!

This penguin was my first applique experience. I cut the penguin out of wool and just zig-zag stitched it onto the front of the quilt before I put all the layers together. I was a little concerned at first as to how the penguin would turn out but I am so pleased with it! Plus, now I know how to applique. Boom. 

Here's a shot of the quilt in the baby's room that Andrea sent me: 

So sweet!

Nailed it.

This was the first ever pin I pinned on Pinterest. I really though this project was way out of my reach when I pinned it. Surprisingly, it was not that hard. 

I learned a lot during this project. Like, maybe I should know the measurement of the final quilt before I start piecing together the thing (I ended up having to cut more fabric and extend the whole thing so it would fall nicely over our Queen size bed.)

Overall the cutting was the most trying part - it just took a long time. Once it started coming together it was so exciting. I paid to have it quilted by a local woman because the quilt is too big for my little machine (total measurements are 92x96). She did such a great job. I couldn't believe it when it was finished. I could hardly wait to put it on our bed!

Here are some iphone shots of the making process: 

Aaaannnd, the finished product: 

We love it. I can't stop staring at it when I'm in the bedroom. I keep giving myself little pats on the back - I'm pretty proud.

Someday we'll have this and maybe these but for now a beautiful new quilt makes me happy.

p.s. this is where you can find the (free!) pattern

To remember the moments.

Sometimes I wish I kept a real journal so I could document times like this past weekend. There's nothing really stopping me from journaling except I never remember and then it's just sporadic entries that have no relation to each other.

I want to remember the weekend for the rest of my life. It was nothing extraordinary. We didn't go anywhere or do anything in particular. In fact, we cancelled on plans because I was too tired (tired from what is what I would like to know). It was just us.

It's funny, too, because Friday night I wouldn't have thought the weekend was going to be good. I went to bed pissy over a stupid and insignificant thing. Sometimes I get annoyed with him (and usually I blow it out of proportion). So obviously, if Friday was a bust the rest of the weekend would be, too. Right?

Nope. I came home from work Saturday and we cleaned up the apartment a bit - so glamorous - and I worked on some quilt stuff while he put out some more job applications. For the rest of the weekend we just lounged around the house. Made some drinks, enjoyed each other, watched a movie or two. We got romantic with some candles and music. We decorated the Christmas tree. We talked for hours about   politics, life, future plans, religion, and family. We took advantage of the 70° weather and rode our bikes at the park.

It might all sound unexciting and simple but I just enjoy being with that guy and I enjoyed this weekend. I want to remember these moments because things are good for us now. Things have been good for us for the past two years. Sure, we argue sometimes and annoy each other but for the most part it's been a smooth ride.

I guess I've been scared for the future lately - I need to stop worrying about things that aren't here yet - I've been wondering how relationships go bad and if there is anything I can do to prevent it. I haven't come up with any answers yet so for now I just want to store away these moments because if (when) the harder times come I want to remember this weekend and know what we're fighting for.

I love him. And that's pretty much all I wanted to say.

Behold

My disastrous attempt at Bokeh (pronounced buck-oh... no it's not but that's how I've been saying it the past two days for no particular reason).

Some little meme on Pinterest made me believe I could achieve those big fuzzy, out-of-focus bubbles with my camera. They were mistaken. As are so many other Pinterest memes.

I was hoping I would be able to figure it out and have a super cool Christmas photo, but I think we're just going to use one of the from our recent military shoot. Which works for me because they look nice and it's easy.

Which all Christmas cards should be.

Passion Pit.

We went with a couple friends to see Passion Pit (I took a walk, took a walk, woah-oh-ooohh) on Friday. A local radio station, 98.7, put on the show and sold tickets for $9.87. It was pretty awesome and cold. 

We put on about 3 layers each and took trolley shuttles to Battleship park where a HUGE tent was set up for the show. There were food trucks and a beer garden. (p.s. there are so many kids with fake ids in North Carolina! We watched kids who were literally 15 years old get beer - the lady at the table even rechecked their ids because she didn't believe them. They for sure were not 21). 

Passion Pit was so good and the place was crowded. I was surprised to know quite a few of their songs (Thanks, American Eagle soundtracks!).

I did my best band girlfriend impression. It's pretty good. You know, the band girlfriend. The one who looks to the stage with such intensity. Her eyes never leave her leadsinger/bassplayer/drummer boyfriend. He's hers. And he's so talented. She's with him.

It's really not an impression I do with malice I just find the stance so funny. I see it every time. The girlfriend is usually pretty easy to point out if the crowd is small enough. It's like Where's Waldo only Where's the Girlfriend? 

Sometimes I can emulate band members. They are funny, too. Although there tends to me more variation in their movements. One of my favorites is when they talk between songs. They just don't know what to say and are usually pretty awkward, "It's cold, huh? We've never been to Wilmington before... it's... uh... pretty cool. So, you guys... want to dance? Okay, here's our next... song. Dance." 

But seriously, after all that rambling, it was such a fun night. And we stayed out til 1 a.m. ONE A.M. That's pretty late for die hard early-to-bed folks like us. Needless to say we didn't do much on Saturday. 

{Here's Dan. Dead tired. At a bar after the show. What a champ.}