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friends

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It’s become clear to me lately that I need to start reevaluating the way I choose friends and whom I choose to keep close to me. Looking back at this summer there seems to be a few huge examples of this and I’m finally becoming aware of it. I get comfortable too quickly and give too much too soon. I ignore red flags about people, or feel like I’m too deep to get myself out once things go south. I assume that just because I wouldn’t treat them a certain way that they won’t do the same to me. I find myself being hurt a lot lately by people who I thought were my friends.

Growing up, my mom was always teaching me the difference between someone who is an actual friend and someone who is an acquaintance. The fact that she told me that there IS a difference was huge in itself I think. I didn’t invest emotionally in people that I felt were not going to invest in me. I could tell the difference. Looking back it seems that I’ve lost the knack for that.

So I guess the question now is, how do I get back to doing that. I’m sick of being hurt and betrayed by people I let into my life. I’m sick of letting the wrong people get too close to me. And with moving to the city getting closer I can’t help but feel that it is imperative that I figure this out. I don’t want to be a totally closed off person, that’s not me. So I need to find the balance between opening up too much but still being a warm, welcoming person. Or maybe I just need to not care when someone in my life lets me down. Maybe I should come to expect it from anyone? That feels so dark though.

I don’t know. For now I think being aware of it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully that will naturally turn into being more choosey with the folks I call friends and those I consider acquaintances.

Craft Day/DIY

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The hotel is dark this entire week which means CRAFT TIME FOR SARAH!!!! It’s pretty exciting I know. I’ve decided that I need to work on at least 1 thing every day this week, big or small. Last night started things off nicely with finishing a hat for a friend of mine. He knows that he’s getting a hat but he doesn’t know what it looks like so I won’t be putting it on here just yet. All that’s left is to tie in the ends (blah).

Today I slept in till 11! Pretty scandalous for me. So it was right to work upon awakening. To get into the swing of things I decided to finally do a DIY from my “future projects” board on Pinterest. Too often I want to try something I see on there and then forget or just don’t do it. So with great determination I went to choosing my project. Upon scanning my pins I knew which one I would conquer.

Just a little large!! Time to fix that!

Years ago in high school I managed to convince this kid to give me a shirt of this that I adored. It’s a men’s XL Tee with a picture of Jim Morrison, of The Doors, on it and the lyrics to People Are Strange on the back. I remember being obsessed with it back then but to this day have no idea how I was able to coerce him to give it to me. It’s still one of my favorite tees but I don’t wear it for much other than sleeping since it’s so big on me. It was time to up-cycle it.

Enter Trash to Couture, the super awesome blog where I found this great tutorial on turning a large t-shirt into a cute dolman tee. As a fan of the dolman tee I knew this was the project for me.

 
Per the directions I went to cutting the sleeves first. Since I’ve worked with T-shirts before I was more than aware of the fact that cotton will curl as soon as you cut it. So I decided it would be better to measure the sleeve in my arm first then sew the diagonals and cut the excess off afterwards. It made sewing it SO much easier!

No curling here!!

I did the same measuring on my hips before doing the gathering portion of the tutorial. I didn’t want to sew it too small or not small enough and have to redo it over and over again. Once i marked how far to sew in I guest-timated that starting 4 inches above the hem would be sufficient.  Lucky for me it was!

 There was really no method here. I simply tucked the fabric as I sewed it. Easy Peasy!

When it came to sewing from the gathering point to the arm I found myself doing a sew-and-check pattern. I would sew it then try it on and sew it again until I thought it looked right. It didn’t take too many try’s to get it the way I wanted.

I switched things up even more by doing the first step in the tutorial last. I know, I’m a rebel. That way, again, I could cut little by little until it looked the way I wanted it too. I like tees that fall off one shoulder so I prefer a bit of a wider neck.


FINISHED!! And I looooove it! This was SO easy to do and I can’t wait to try it on all my other huge shirts!!

There are tons of other really great DIYs on that blog too that I hope to try eventually. That gal is so crafty!

The rest of my day was spent working on a fleece tie blanket to sell on my Etsy page as well as working on a flannel shirt that I had started for myself back at the beginning of the year. Most of the work was already done, it was just a matter of getting the sleeves finished, put on, and hemming the bottom. Such little work yet I’d put it off for this long! Shameful. And even though I wasn’t able to finish it today it’s now much closer to being done and I’m determined to get it done this week. Hopefully I’ll even get to wear it now that the chilly weather is once again upon us.

So there you have it! One crafty Monday in the books! Hopefully the rest of my week will be just as productive!

love interruption

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So I have a confession to make…..I LOVE Jack White’s music. Yup, I said it. There something so dark and raw about his music that really captivates me. His first single from his new album Blunderbuss is one such a song so I thought I’d share my love for it with all y’all.

What makes this song even better is that the female vocalist is Ruby Amanfu, who was a contestant on The Sing Off….one of my fave fall shows last year. Her voice is so haunting and soulful so I’m glad to see her again.

life…at the moment…

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I’m busy still, but not nearly as busy as I was earlier this summer. The hotel is winding down, the show is into rehearsals and November(moving month) is getting closer and closer. I find myself spending more time at home, seeing my family a little more often, having moments of fun with my friends, new and old. My pace isn’t nearly as fast and I’m feeling so much more at ease about everything. I can breath again.

Fall is finally here. Pumpkin things are popping up everywhere and we know how happy that makes me! I’m wearing my comfy clogs and drinking pumpkin spiced lattes often. I feel like my most self….if that makes sense. And being in the theatre contributes to that immensely. It’s amazing the difference in my attitude about work when I’m doing the work that I love. It’s not work at all. It’s where I’m supposed to be. It’s home. I love it.

I have time to knit again! I’ve missed it so much this summer. For some reason I had it in my head that I would have a lot of time to do my craftings while I was working 3 jobs. Wrong. So now that I actually have downtime again it’s been so nice to get into it little by little. And boy do I have a lot of projects to start AND finish. The list goes on but I think I’ll be able to get them done. Hopefully I’ll have some to blog about soon too!

So that’s what my life’s about lately. I’m sure there will be much more going on here as the days go on. 

lightnin’ strikes

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Growing up my family used to go camping every summer with some family friends. All weekend the radio in the pavilion would play the oldies radio station. I loved it. One of my particular favorites was Lightnin’ Strikes by Lou Christie. The minute I hear that song I immediately think about swimming in Lake Erie, making mountain pies over a fire, playing sneaks at night, and drinking orange creamsicles. On this very snowy day (that’s right, inches of snow in April) I could really use some summer and I know I can’t be the only one!

Gotta love a man in a jean outfit with a full beard singing falsetto!

the d word

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diet.

there. I said it.  I shuttered a little. but I said it.

I am on a diet.

My usual outlook on food and fitness is, work out often and eat what you like. And this usually works fairly well for me. But for the last couple months I’ve noticed that it hasn’t exactly been working out, mostly because I don’t get to work out as often as usual. To make matters worse, I have a nasty habit of eating way too much, like past the point of full too much. It’s not good. And I love to snack…and snack…..and snack. All in all I was spending my days snacking, never actually feeling hungry, and of course, eating all the wrong things. And since I continued to eat however I liked, I could start to see the consequences. I wasn’t getting fat by any means, but I could definitely see things starting to change, and not in a way that I liked. 

No Bueno.

So I decided that something needed to be done about it. I’ve done the Special K diet before so I thought would do it again. The idea of having a set plan with certain things to eat really works for me because if given the choice between a cheeseburger or a protein shake, I’M GONNA CHOOSE THE CHEESEBURGER. Simple as that.

Two weeks in and I think I’m starting to see some results. It’s been one of those “one good choice leads to another” kind of things too. My none special k meals each day have been fairly healthy and if they’re not I’m not eating like there’s no tomorrow. I drink a lot of water. And now that my one job is winding down I can get the gym more often. Three pounds in two weeks….I can handle that. More importantly though, I see myself learning to have self control about eating and food and that’s what I really want to gain. So when I feel like I can go off the diet I’m ready to continue the idea of eating good things, and eating in moderation. To me that’s much more valuable than losing weight.

So wish me luck. Lately I’ve been feeling good mentally about it which makes me very vulnerable to cheating and eating naughty things. But I’m determined to stick with this. My body deserves it!!

love. love. love.

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Being a single lady, I’ve decided that Valentine’s Day(tomorrow!! February is moving at a rapid pace!) needs to be more than a day to remind me of my single status. What exactly is the point of wallowing in bitterness over the fact that I haven’t met anyone special enough to change my facebook status for yet? Pointless indeed. So instead of hating Valentine’s Day I’m choosing to take a little love and make a little love.

First, I read this blog this morning and couldn’t help but feel inspired and warm inside. I feel like more people should be finding ways to love themselves…and not just in the ways of shopping or eating their favorite junk foods. I fell like loving yourself can have a lot to do with slowing down and enjoying the little things…finding the things that really fulfill you in a way that nothing else can. And not feeling guilty or selfish for it. I think all too often people are so busy attending to everyone else’s needs and wants that they don’t take the time for themselves that they need to. One of the most important lessons I learned in college was to “take care of you”.

If you don’t love yourself, how will anyone else love you too?

Secondly, I feel like everyone needs to feel a little love, even if it’s from a total stranger. And what better way than in a love letter?? For the last month or so I’ve been hearing about this organization called The World Needs More Love Letters through my friend Francie and The Violet. Long story short, you can sign up to become a writer of love letters or request a love letter for yourself or someone you know who needs one. If you want to write them, each month the site will send you the info for someone who needs one. You write the letter, send it to the organization, and they send it with others to the recipient. So for the cost of a stamp you can send your love to someone who truly needs it, in one of the most personal ways possible. The whole concept really tugs at my heart strings so I subscribed today and can’t wait to be a part of it! And I encourage you to do the same.

So, whether you’re single or not, I challenge you to spread a little love, not only tomorrow but on a daily basis!

Because, in the words on Sir Paul McCartney, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

knitting hiatus…

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…IT’S OVER!! Yaaaay!!!!

I’m so glad I decided to take the month off. I needed a break from knitting. It was getting redundant and almost boring for me. But now! Now after my month off I’m SO ready and excited to get back to it! And I’m feeling so inspired to try new patterns and broaden my knitting horizons!

But as always, there are plenty of projects that I’ve started and I’m determined to finish them first! So yesterday I got back to working on a hat that I had started in December for myself. I wanted to get it done by a certain deadline but wasn’t able to so it got pushed to the back burner.

Unfortunately I spent so much time away from this hat that I don’t remember what pattern I was using. Something online I think since there wasn’t one in the bag I had it in. Regardless I’m not too worried about figuring it out. A hat is a hat is a hat.

And YES it’s Miami Dolphins colors! I was trying to finish it in time for the game I went to back in December but I was only able to finish the fingerless gloves. But I’m still determined to get it finished this time around! That way I can wear it next year if I go in December again.

I’m also thoroughly inspired by the fact that all of my friends seem to be having babies lately!! Which means baby knitting for Sarah!! So far I’ve only made baby sized hats so I’m very very excited to dive into some new patterns!

And speaking of new patterns, I found this book at Joanns the other day!! Now usually when I flip through a pattern book I’m lucky if I find 2 or 3 patterns that I like. Well that was not the case with this book! I think I like atleast 55 of the 60 patterns. And the other 5 I’m sure I could modify to my liking too. I was thrilled when I found it.

So needless to say, I can’t wait to start picking out patterns to make. I have 2 friends who are about to have baby girls so it will be so fun to make some cute stuff for both of them! Now I just need some friends to have boys so I can make cute boy stuff too!!

Yay for knitting again!! I also hope to learn how to crochet this month too. I’ve been wanting to learn and I tried it one night a while ago but I wasn’t’ exactly sure if I was doing anything right or not. I think I’ll have better luck with someone else there to show me what the right and wrong way looks like. Regardless I’m very excited to learn!