Category: http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post

self survey

trostlsa1 Comment

My best came across this little survey the other day here and filled it out in her own blog. It’s a collection of questions meant to help you survey your life and where it’s going. It seems fitting for me as I’m starting to look to the future and what that will look like. So here they are:

  1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? 21 or 22. Still in that middle phase of not being a child but not quite feeling like an adult yet.
  2. Which is worse, failing or never trying? Never trying. If you never try things you won’t know what you’re truly capable of.
  3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? I think it becomes a sense of necessity. People aren’t encouraged enough to find the things they love to do and make a living out of them, so often we find whatever will make us money whether we like it or not. Then years down the road we realize that we are miserable and don’t know how we got ourselves into such a hole.
  4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done? I hope not but looking back at my life currently that might be the case.
  5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world? People’s hateful attitudes. It’s ignorant and pointless.
  6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? Any work involving helping others and spreading some love!
  7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? Settling currently. While I do enjoy my work on some level, it’s not entirely fulfilling.
  8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? I’d start expressing my true feelings more. I would stop being afraid of them and really embrace them I’d stop worrying about my loans and just do what I love.
  9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken? The majority but there have been curve balls along the way that I had no say over. 
  10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? Doing things right. I feel like there is this path I “need” to take instead of “should” be taking.
  11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire.  They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend.  The criticism is distasteful and unjustified.  What do you do? I mention that she is my friend and ask that they kindly stop. I would hope that she would do the same for me.
  12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? laugh as often and as hard as possible.
  13. Would you break the law to save a loved one? It would depend on the situation but more likely than not.
  14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity? Two Words….Lady Gaga.
  15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people? View relationships. I have a pretty old school idea of how relationships should go and I don’t think many people feel the same way.
  16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy? Because everyone’s unique in what gets them going.
  17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?  What’s holding you back? Pack up and travel somewhere without a plan. It’s frightening! And potentially expensive.
  18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of? Yes.
  19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? State- Georgia. It was always where I said I was going to live when I was little. Not too hot, not too cold. Country- Greece. I’ve never been but it seems gorgeous and so natural still.
  20. Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? No. I came to terms with the way elevators are many many years ago. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
  21. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton? Joyful simpleton. Worrying is a terrible disease.
  22. Why are you, you? I’m a product of my childhood and my parents. They set me up with a great foundation that I’ve been building on throughout my life. And no matter what I put on top of it, I’ve always got that foundation that will never change.
  23. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend? I’d like to think so. I try to treat others the way I want to be treated.
  24. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you? Losing touch with a near by friend. If it’s a true friend no amount of distance will effect your friendship.
  25. What are you most grateful for? Living in a country where I’m free to pursue whatever I want!
  26. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones? Lose the old ones.
  27. Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first? Yes.
  28. Has your greatest fear ever come true? Not yet.
  29. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset?  Does it really matter now? No. No.
  30. What is your happiest childhood memory?  What makes it so special? Sunday lunches at my Gramps’ house. It was a family tradition that kept us all close and after my Gramps died we stopped doing it.
  31. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive? When I’m working in a theatre, doing what I love.
  32. If not now, then when? SOON.
  33. If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose? Not a damn thing.
  34. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever? Yes. Those are the best.
  35. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars? Because religions tend to have blinders on their love and they want everyone else to love the same way. There isn’t enough tolerance included in their love.
  36. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil? Yes.
  37. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job? Only to start another one.
  38. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing? More work I enjoy. I’m a much more productive when I’m busy AND loving what I’m doing.
  39. Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before? YES and it’s frustrating.
  40. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in? Too long ago.
  41. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today? My family.
  42. Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous? No. Neither will get your anywhere.
  43. What is the difference between being alive and truly living? Being alive is functioning normally from day to day…just surviving. Truly living is enjoying your life and thriving in what you do.
  44. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right? When it becomes stressful to calculate.
  45. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake? Sometimes even though we’ve learned from a mistake we feel some shame in it.
  46. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? Say bold things. Wear crazy clothes. Fall on my ass.
  47. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing? A few nights ago when I had trouble falling asleep.
  48. What do you love?  Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love? Theatre. Crafting. My friends. Yes Yes and Yes!
  49. In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday?  What about the day before that?  Or the day before that? Probably not. Unless is something specific I wrote about in my blog.
  50. Decisions are being made right now.  The question is:  Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you? More than ever I feel like I’m making decisions for myself. And it feels great. 

What an eye opening survey. Even if you don’t fill it out for all to see, I encourage you to ask yourself these questions. It really makes you look at your life and think about some things you’d like to change or improve on. Maybe you’ll even surprise yourself with some of your answer. Thanks Violet! 

hats upon hats

trostlsa1 Comment

UPON HATS!! I feel like 2011 was the year of the hat! If I had to guess I’d say I probably knit over 20 hats last year. Maybe that’s not a high number in the scheme of things but it’s a lot to me. No complaints here though. When I look at the hats I made at the beginning of the year and the hats I made towards the end, I can see so much progress in my skills. My hats seems to have less errors and little slip ups. It’s pretty exciting. Since most of the hats I made were gifts I wasn’t able to put them on here. (Again…I just can’t ruin Christmas…you never know who’s reading these things!) So here they are, some of the swell hats I made in the last couple months of  2011!

Hats I made for some super sweet chef friends!
Mom’s hat
Man hats for my cousins and me sisters BF
Swirly hat for Charklie
Baby Hat for an Etsy customer
A slouchy hat for a secret santa gift

So many hats!! And I know there were others that I didn’t get to take pictures of. I don’t know how my fingers kept up! So, after all that knitting, I’ve decided that a knitting sabbatical was in order. I needed some time off to reboot and re-energize my knitting. So for the month of January I have not been knitting in hopes that when February rolls around I will be ready to tackle new projects. I really want to start working on bigger items and challenging myself…..clothes maybe? I also want to learn how to crochet! The idea of only having 1 implement is kinda strange to me but from what I’ve hear it’s waaaaay easier and quicker than knitting. So here’s hoping.
My knitting hiatus has also given me some time and energy to work on some sewing projects too which has been very exciting. Again, they are gifts so noooo peeking just yet. One of these days I’m gonna work on something un-gift related!! I promise! Until then, there are still plenty of projects to show you from the holidays! 🙂

a Texas wedding

trostlsaLeave a comment

What a weekend. Phew. Thursday I got on a plane and headed south, to Dallas, Texas. Why Dallas you say? Well let me tell you…

Back in December 2010, my friend Justin (aka Bama, aka Booger, aka Southern Comfort) came to visit me all the way from Alabama! It was a glorious visit and we knew we couldn’t let too much time go by before we got together again. A few months ago he and I were talking randomly about me wanting to take some kind of vacation and the possibilities of that being to Alabama for a visit. Out of the blue Justin said “hey, why don’t you be my date to my brother’s wedding in January”? It took me all of 3 seconds to decide and say “Let’s do it”! A few weeks and a plane ride later and I was in Dallas ready for a great weekend.

I don’t think the word ‘great’ can really begin to do it justice though. Not only was it so fulfilling to spend time with Justin, but his family is one of the warmest I’ve ever had to pleasure of knowing. There are those families who you know love each other but it’s more of an unspoken, not overly expressed type of love. Well Justin’s family is NOT that type of family. Just being in the same room with this group you can feel the love and pure joy that they share by being together. It was incredible and mildly addictive. And the best part? You don’t even have to be related to get in on it. They are so welcoming of everyone, I felt like I’ve been a part of them for years.

And the wedding itself, so beautiful and perfect. I’ve seen plenty of weddings from working at the hotel and none of them have compared to this one. The bride was gorgeous, the flowers beautiful, and the reception was detailed to the T. But more important than all of that was the couple themselves. I’ve never seen two people more in love and truly prefect for each other. It was really awesome to be a part of and I felt so so honored to be there. If I ever find a man that looks at me the way the groom looked at his bride, it’ll be a done deal.

Justin was a phenomenal best man. I’ve know him for going on 6 years now and I’ve been able to sit back and watch this person grow and change and become a truly great version of himself and this weekend only solidified that. He was absolutely in his element and it was awesome to watch. Between his best man speech, that almost had me in tears, and his overall sense of responsibility over getting people organized and ready, he was truly a force to be reckoned with. It was an astounding thing to see. I’m truly blessed to have him in my life and as one of my dearest friends.

To add to all this fun I was also able to spend some time with my own family! My aunt and uncle have lived in Dallas for about 30 years now so we don’t get to see each other as often as my other relatives. Obviously I wasn’t going to go all the way to Texas without spending time with them as well. They were a huge help to getting me around to and from the airport as well. How fortunate I am. Thursday night my uncle and I went out for pizza and beers. It was great. We talked about all sorts of things and he bestowed much Uncle-ly advise on me. Then on Sunday he picked me up from the hotel and I spent the day at their house just lounging, watching football, and drinking wine. It was glorious.

How did I get so blessed?? Before this month I hadn’t taken a vacation in 2 years and I’ve already taken 2 in 2012!! Both were equally crazy and restoring all at the same time. I really needed a break and to get away for a bit. And now, being back home, I feel so rejuvenated and ready to get back to a normal schedule and work. I can’t wait to get back into the gym regularly and watch my Tuesday night shows with my besties and go to Wednesday night trivia and make some regular paychecks!

SO, a huge THANK YOU to my Southern Comfort and his entire family!! You’re cheaper fun than the alcohol and there’s no hangover either! I love you to death and I can’t wait until we are reunited again. And congrats to the happy couple!! I only dream of someday having the same love that you two share.

Hooray to vacation and hooray to returning to a normal schedule.

christmas pants 2011

trostlsaLeave a comment
Fabrics for this year!

I have SO much you show you all!! I actually started on Christmas crafts at a decent time this year so most of the projects I worked on I wasn’t able to post on here. I hate it when Christmas gets ruined!! The project nearest and dearest to my heart are the Christmas pants for my family. If you recall from this post last year I decided to make pajama pants for my family to wear on Christmas eve when we open gifts. Last year I DID NOT give myself enough time to complete the pants in time so it was imperative that I fix that this year. Since Joanns gets their Christmas fabric in October I was able to get what I wanted in the beginning of Novemeber. I went with Christmas fabrics this year and got straight to work. Since I have most, if not all, of Wednesdays off from work it was the prime time to work on the pants while my parents were out of the house. Another little help to myself this time around….NO DRAWSTRINGS.Good Lord I never could have imagined the time and hassle it spared me by just using elastic in the waists. With God as my witness I’ll never use drawstrings again! phew. Now, without the drawstrings I still wanted some way to tie all the pants together. Last year I used each persons drawstring in a different person’s pants. This year the best option I had was switching the pockets. It added such a cute and unifying touch to the whole thing. So with the combination of time and elastic I was able to finish and wrap all the pants by the first week of December. What a relief it was.

The switched pockets

Come Christmas Eve eve I snuck around my dark house placing the wrapped pants outside my families doors with a note that said “Open ASAP. You know what to do!!”. As predicted last year, my step-dad woke up early (he got called into work), kicked his gift, and didn’t think much of it since their door was near the tree. He didn’t have a clue haha. I woke up nice and early the next morning and stayed in my room, trying to listen for people as they woke up. When it seemed like they were all upstairs I went up, wearing my pants, and discovered them awake and in their pants as well! It was glorious. I hadn’t said anything about the pants all year so they had forgotten all about it. And boy did they look swell. I was so pleased that the whole thing went as smoothly as it did. AND I even got proof this year!

our better sides!
Our traditional family “Capt’n” pose.

I’m so happy with how everything turned out. And even more happy with the smiles on my family’s faces. They all loved their pants and wore them for the rest of the day and into the weekend. What a Merry Christmas for all!

a new year

trostlsaLeave a comment
resolution- the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
As I started thinking about resolutions this year I had this overwhelming sense of….realism I guess. I wanted to make my resolutions realistic. Sure I could say that I’m gonna eat healthier, go to the gym everyday, become fluent in a language, and write a book, but I know myself. I know myself well enough to know that while those all sound great in theory, the likelihood of them actually getting entirely accomplished is slim. Really slim. So I wanted to make sure that the things I was committing myself to this year were actual and realistic goals to work toward. I also made sure that they were fulfilling to me personally, things that I’ve recognized in myself that I don’t like and that I want to change. So, without further ado, here it is, my list of resolutions for 2012!
Spend more time on both my blogs. I tend to give this one more attention than my craft blog and I shouldn’t play favorites with my children! 
Do more crafting/how-to’s to add to said craft blog. There are so many new projects I want to try and learn.
Stop using the F word so often/at all. I used to hate the word but college turned me into a bit of a sailor. 
Call people more often. I’ve become too dependent on texting and chat and I find myself missing people’s voices.
Keep reading. This was on from last year and I did a pretty alright job of it so I’d like to keep it going.
Be more optimistic. I find my sense of realism turning to pessimism sometimes and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s pessimism.
 Be more financially conscious. Another one stemming from last year. I find myself going through waves of being really diligent about it and then being totally careless. Not good. 
There you have it. I may come up with more as the year goes on but that’s what great about resolutions, there’s nothing that says that you can only start them on January 1st! Good stuff eh? 
I really look forward to coming back to this blog as the year goes on. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually written down my resolutions so I think it will be a great way to keep myself accountable. And for those of you reading this, feel free to ask me about how they’re coming along throughout the year. Nothing makes you stick to a decision like some accountability. Hopefully by next year I will be the person who is all these things and has a whole new list of things to better myself. 

So here’s to 2012! I choose to believe that this year will be glorious and rewarding!! See, one resolution already in action! Cheers!
 

separate ways

trostlsaLeave a comment

Ok, so I know it’s not a Christmas song but I’ve been rocking out pretty hard to this lately. The lyrics are great and musically it’s so perfect and 80’s rock. I just love Journey and I LOVE this song. I suggest listening to it while you’re at the gym…it’s a great motivator!

Oh and the video’s pretty rad too haha Enjoy!

timing

trostlsaLeave a comment

Yesterday a woman told me the story of how she came about marrying her second husband. It was movie worthy!

As a young girl, Mary (we’ll call her) got pregnant right before her sister was to be married. Being the time that it was, her mother insisted that she marry her boyfriend in order to save face at her sister’s wedding. She did, knowing that he wasn’t the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Three children and ten years later Mary finally was able to get a divorce from her husband. In her words “He believed in not working” and she had been supporting them financially through their entire marriage. Once the divorce was final, her divorce lawyer, we’ll call him Dave, turned out to be someone she was very interested in and vice versa. They dated for three years before her mother became ill and she made the decision to move her children and life to Georgia to be with her. Mary’s relationship with Dave wasn’t meant to be a long distance one so they went their separate ways. Over the course of eleven year, Mary lost her mother and father, her children grew up and went to college, and she found herself at a new start…again…in Georgia. This brings us to Christmas 2010. Mary decides to send a Christmas card to Dave, just a friendly, how is your life, card. He quickly responds and tells Mary to come to Buffalo to visit as soon as she can. Mary does. Mary and Dave married last October and she said she’s the happiest she’s ever been.

Yup, all that at the cutting counter at Joann’s. I couldn’t believe it. She was bursting at the seams to tell the story and her joy was absolutely infectious. I was pretty blown away.

After thinking about the story for the rest of the day I couldn’t ignore the idea of timing. Timing played such a big part of how Mary met and eventually married Dave. If she hadn’t moved and had married Dave when they dated the first time maybe it wouldn’t have worked out. There was a reason they didn’t re-find each other until years later.

I can’t help but think about the ended relationships in my life. Why they ended. Sure there were specific reasons that I could point out. Reasons to call exes mean names or hold bitter feelings towards….like everyone wants to do. But in reality, wasn’t it just timing?

It’s like everybody is on a time line and they’re a different version of themselves as the time line goes on. As they meet people, who are on their own time lines, they are a not the same person as they were a week, a month, a year before. In terms of my relationships, I can’t help but feel like in each of them neither of us were the person we were supposed to be yet in order to make the relationship really last. We weren’t the people we needed to be for each other. Our timelines didn’t match up. Sure some people were closer than others and those relationships can lasted for a while, but they didn’t go all the way.

Timing is everything. No one knows who will enter, exit, and re-enter their life. Maybe when someone exits your life it’s simply because they aren’t the right version of them-self yet. Maybe you aren’t the right version of yourself yet. Maybe eleven years down the road you’ll both be at the right places in your timelines and what’s meant to be, will be. The joy is in the journey.

So thank you to Mary. I wish you and Dave all the happiness in the world!

November

trostlsaLeave a comment

Is it really here?? Already??!!!

What happened to October?? Were there already 31 days of it?
I don’t feel like I had enough of it.

On the other side of the coin though, I’m actually looking forward to the holiday season this year. For the first time in a long time. I even listened to Christmas music last week…something I never did last year. Sure I was excited to spend time with my family and do the traditional Christmas things, but it really just felt like any other day last year. And I know it’s not Christmas time yet obviously but I still can’t help but feel like somethings different this year. I’m different this year. I’m lighter. On the inside. And it feels good.

It feels really good.

Plus it’s No Shave November right?? Hairy legs for weeks!!!    ok..maybe not.  🙂

The Crown Royal suit

trostlsaLeave a comment

About a month ago a friend of mine contacted me about making a Crown Royal suit for Halloween. My first thought was “He wants me to make him a Crown Royal bottle looking outfit”? Lucky for me he was referring to a dress suit made with the colors of a Crown Royal bag, purple and gold. Always looking to try something new, I said “sure thing!” having never made a suit before.
So my friend and I picked out the fabrics and notions I would need for the suit and construction began. The colors were a perfect match and I was pretty excited to get started. For the most part constructing the suit wasn’t difficult. There were the usual flubs though, sewing the wrong sides of the pants legs together making it look like a mermaid tail, realizing that the standard arm length in the pattern isn’t long enough AFTER you’ve hemmed it, sewing buttons onto the wrong side of the jacket opening. The usual. That’s what I get for working late at night but alas, one must use the time she has. The one aspect that gave me the most frustration was the binding for the inside of the jacket because it was made with a lining fabric that proved difficult to work with. It was nearly impossible to cut an even 1inch strip so when I ironed the edges over it made for some very skinny parts. And skinny parts only make it impossible to sew on to a seam allowance. Not gonna lie, it was a pain and I never looked forward to it. BUT the end product was very much worth is because the gold striping really made the inside of the suit look sharp. So here it is, the Crown Royal suit:

 I wish I had taken more pictures during construction. When you get into the zone it’s hard to take a break for anything haha.

the finished suit!

the jacket

these gold buttons really added to the finished product

i looove the way the lining makes the inside look! so sharp!

the back pockets came out prefect!
Tom sporting his new suit when he came for a fitting. I still had to hem the sleeves and pants.

Overall I couldn’t be more pleased with the way this suit came out! And more importantly, my friend is beyond thrilled about it! It fits great and looks great too. With a gold dress shirt and a sweet crown, this will end up being a very unique Halloween costume and I can’t wait to see whatever pictures pop up of it!

slouchy beanie

trostlsaLeave a comment

A while back a friend of mine say me working on a hat at work. His immediate words were “Can you make me one with really bright greens and blues and stuff”, and I said sure! I chose an aqua blue, bright, orange, lime green, and black yarn by Stitch Nation. I wanted some black in the hat to make it a little manlier and in hopes that it would make the brighter colors really pop. I didn’t want to make a regular ol’ striped hat so I decided to intermingle the colors throughout the hat. Little did I know what a pain in the bum this would be! Switching colors so many times in one row made for lots, and I mean LOTS, of ends to tie in. But despite that, the hat looked killer and all the work really paid off. And my friend couldn’t be more pleased. The smile on his face was payment enough for me.

Overall I’m really please with the end result of this hat. It looks super cool and different. And the fit was perfect as well. It even fit on my big noodle!