there's no place like gnome.

… when I talk incessantly about the joys of confirmation. This year will be no exception. These kids are rock stars.

#weekendestatesale #newvintagepyrex #comeoverandIwillmakeyouacasserole

Because that’s what I really need, right? It won’t be started anytime soon and it will have a huge learning curve … but it’s there when I’m ready.

This:

I’m going to reupholster a chair.

I’ve dreamed of this moment for the last couple years. I’d always been on the lookout for a chair in need of a makeover … but even if I found one, I never had any way to haul it. Enter a boyfriend with a trailer.

We were in Rochester yesterday with the trailer, Dave needing to pick up a piece of furniture himself. We stopped at the Goodwill just in case there might be a chair for me … and by golly gee, the chair was there. Calling to me. It said, “Pay $30 for me. Now is your chance. Make me pretty.”

I hope I won’t let you down, chair. Like I mentioned, it’s going to be challenging. New skills, new tools, NEW POLKA DOT FABRIC. At least that’s what I’m thinking right now. Polka dots.

Polka dots are always the answer.

I came back from vacation with one new book and a hankering to get my hands on a second.

First, an adult coloring book. I bought it in Frenchtown, this little town on the Delaware River in New Jersey. James and I explored, popped into a few shops, and I found The Secret Garden. An adult coloring book. Seriously.

It’s beautiful and intricate and therapeutic. It sucks you in and won’t let you go. I spent hours coloring at the airport and on the plane ride home. I didn’t really care who was judging the 30 year old with crayons. They were probably jealous and wanted the same book on their lap.

Second, Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. My friend James has experimented with this method of bread making home and I was intrigued. We talked a lot about it while I stayed with him in PA. I came home, checked out the book from the library and have been cooking fresh loaves of wheat bread from my dough bowl in last week. It really is pretty fun and easy. Will I do it ALL the time? Probably not. But come colder weather and soup, it will be perfection. Here is one loaf resting on my counter. In about an hour, it will be thrown into a steamy oven and emerge in a delicious state.

National sewing machine day, of course.

After our first night of confirmation, I spent some quality time with my baby.

I have two weeks to finish two baby quilts and while it might be a bit of a push, I’m happy it’s ‘forced’ me to get back on the (sewing machine) pedal.

First up? Scrappy binding for quilt #2. Next? Quilt sandwiching and quilting.

I will have to tell you about the close of my vacation sometime soon. I also have tales of coloring with new crayons and building a fort out of couch cushions but that’s for another time too. (Okay, so sometimes Dave and I like to pretend that we are five years old.) For now, this:

There was an art festival in Austin a few weekends ago. We saw glass blowers and kids painting an old school VW bug. There were lots of artists and exhibits to meander. I made one purchase – the print above. It’s by Brian Andreas of StoryPeople which is based in Decorah. (Oh, beloved Decorah.) Today it was framed and hung on the wall.

And, oh my. How it fits my current life. Life it pretty good, but not necessarily in the way I ever really expected. Everything does seem to be falling into place perfectly, as long as my expectations of perfect and place aren’t set in stone. It pretty much goes for anything in life, right? Attitude and expectations and adjusting for life’s twists and turns. Allowing for life’s surprises.

Leave it to StoryPeople to perfectly explain one of life’s great truths once again. (There are many more stories told with awesome illustrations. Look them up!)

James and I went to the Crayola Experience. Little did we know that we would be the only people there not with small children in tow. It wasn’t awkward at all. (She says only lying a tiny bit.)

We participated along with the children – naming our own crayons, watercolor painting, and making art with melted crayons. We watched as crayons Scarlet and Turq, along with a human crayonologist, showed us how crayons are made. Loved it. (PS Crayonologist? How do I sign up for that job?)

Then we went to the gift shop. Where my arms literally became overcome with goosebumps at the WALL OF CRAYONS sorted by color. Both James and I filled a collectors tin with our choice of colors before leaving for lunch and an adventure to Frenchtown.

Tomorrow: Philadelphia and all things independence.