The message is too true:
Dance, nothing left for me to do but dance,
Off these bad times I’m going through just dance
It’s so simple.
DANCING=HAPPINESS
I can’t NOT dance when I hear this song! Enjoy xoxo
you win
My white flag is flying
I’m walking away
You’ve made it quite clear
That you don’t want to stay
So I won’t keep trying
No I’ll no longer fight
My best foot put forward
But you’re far out of sight
So am I the loser
Since you won the war?
I can’t help but feel now
The same as before
I knew your name
And recognized your face
I was on my own path
Running at my pace
Now I’m back on that path
Blowing with the breeze
My love being spent
On whomever I please
So yes, you’ve won
But I didn’t lose
At the end of all this
You made a great muse
Dear Frogs,
I would just like to take a moment to apologize….
Later this week, I was driving home from work in a serious rain storm. We were having tornado warnings (in WNY?? madness!) and the rain was coming down harder than I’d ever seen. It made driving nearly impossible.
Now, anyone who knows anything about frogs knows that they loooove to hop their little frog legs across the road when it’s raining. Being someone who loves nature and animals I usually do what I can to avoid said frogs, still making sure that I’m not putting myself in a ditch in the process.
This particular night…my hands were tied. Well…more like glued to the wheel..but you get what I mean. As I was driving I could barely see the road in front of me, let alone the frogs as they hopped across. Sadly I could see them just as went under my car.
So, I’d like to apologize to the frog husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, whose relatives I accidentally ran over. It was nothing personal and I promise to try my best to avoid the rest of you the next time it’s raining.
Your froggy friend,
Sarah
the weight of a word
Last weekend I ran into an acquaintance whom I met 2 summers ago through a friend of mine. This person and I rarely see each other but when we happen to we say the usual “hello. how are you” and that’s about as far as it goes. Which is fine for both of us.
On this particular night I was standing with the friend and said acquaintance came over for the usual friendlies. We had our usual side body hug, said the usual hey, and then…something unusual happened. Instead of going with the flow into the ‘how are you’ portion of the conversation, the acquaintance said “You’re looking skinnier!”.
You’re looking skinnier
Now, let me explain some things. I’ve never been a girl who was obsessed with my weight. I never really needed to be. My entire life has been filled with outdoor activities and sports that kept me in pretty good shape. I was also surrounded by people who loved me unconditionally and somewhat sheltered me from things that would influence my self image{all things I am eternally grateful for}. In college I gained the usual “Freshman 15” but it filled me out in a good way, more than anything. I still stayed pretty active but it was much more of an effort once college came. I knew that if I wasn’t conscious of my weight, it had the potential to get out of control. It still wasn’t something I really obsessed over though. If i skipped a day at the gym it wasn’t ever a big deal to me. And of course there are things that I wouldn’t mind having…a flatter stomach, thighs that don’t touch, smaller feet…but over analyzing these “flaws” seemed somewhat pointless in the long run. I’m not fat but I’m not a toothpick either. I’d like to think I have an athletic build.
After college was when I started to notice some bad weight appearing on my body though. I didn’t have the same gym access and wasn’t participating in sports anymore. These factors combined with being introduced to beer(I just love the stuff) and my Italian love for food–therefore being able to eat even after I’m full–made for some unhealthiness. At my worst point I had gained 6ish pounds since college and over 10 since high school. Now, this doesn’t seem like much, but I’m only 5″4′ so it’s pretty hard to hide weight gain like that.
Last summer I moved back home and around Christmas time decided enough was enough! I asked for a gift card to a local gym for as a Christmas present and was pleased as punch to receive one! I hit the gym and I git it hard. I knew I couldn’t be lazy about working out if I wanted to feel healthier again. And it paid off. After almost 2 months I had dropped 10 pounds and couldn’t feel happier about it. Mainly it was nice to know that I could make it happen.
–>So…back to the acquaintance: I met this person the summer after I graduated from college and before I started my theatre internship aka got lazy and gained the weight. At the time I wasn’t really keeping track of my weight so I ate whatever I wanted and didn’t go to the gym. I hadn’t reached my heaviest though.
–>Fast forward to this past weekend: When I heard him say the comment, I laughed and made a joke about it, not really taking it into consideration. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I started to dwell on it more, and it’s been coming up ever since. I’m sure the person meant it as a compliment and when I think about it, I don’t really have bad feelings towards it or him. I guess it’s really the ‘skinnier‘ that really gets me.
Three little letters….ier. If he had said “you’re looking skinny” I don’t think it would have stuck with me like it has. But he didn’t say that. He used the word “skinnier” which implies that I was once not as skinny. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little effecting by it.
We don’t always think about the weight of our words….and particularly the words we choose in certain situations. Three letters can change what would have been a wonderful compliment into a thought provoking review of my bodily form over the past 6 years. It makes me think about the words I have chosen in the past and if they have effected people in the same way. Being the talkative person that I am, I’m sure it’s happened more than once.
So I will make an effort to 1) compliment people more often and 2) make sure I say what I mean to say in the most wonderful way.
my favorite things
it’s that time again….
- having a sewing station set up in the new house!
- breathing in fresh, country air again
- getting back into the gym!!
- feeling inspired lately
- going to see Bridesmaids with my 2 guy friends
- being a mark. rep!
- not feeling so stressed out
- being able to have my legs show again!
new skirt!
A many of you know, or may not know (who knows!), I work part-time at Joann Fabrics. This is truly dangerous as all my paychecks just end up returning to Joann Fabrics! It’s a great way to support my craft habit and a terrible way to keep my bills paid. I digress.
So a few months ago I spotted a bolt of fabric in the clearance section that was a thick striped navy and white. INSTANT LOVE. (FYI, I LOVE all things navy….and pumpkin flavored for that matter…anywho). At the time that I found said lovely fabric I didn’t really need it nor did I have a plan for it, so I hid it among the other fabrics hoping it would still be there when finance and inspiration crossed paths. About a month later the fates aligned! I decided a skirt would be the best plan of action for my beloved fabric. And boy was I right!
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| note to self: mirrors make for crappy pictures! |
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| i still love it though |
Originally I wanted to have the stripes going sideways but with the pattern I used it was pretty impossible to get the panels to line up. Regardless though, I LOVE the way it turned out. It’s a bit piratey but I don’t mind, and paired with the right top it looks less piratous.
I have some other clothing projects rolling around in my noggin so hopefully I’ll be able to start getting the gears running on them. The beautifully weather is inspiring for some reason so here’s hoping.
love this
Breaking News:
I’m a hopeless romantic.
And here I thought this only happened in the movies.
what a lucky girl
home.
They say that ‘home is where the heart is’; but what do you do when your heart has been taken from your home?
This week I moved out of the home I spend my teenage years growing up in. My parents have built a new, and gorgeous, log home, out in the country and since I live with them, I’m moving there too. Now, even though this new house is only 20 min away from the old one, it might as well be a different continent to me. I love my house. I knew every creak in the floor, the way the walls curved, how the old wood felt. I did so much growing up there and have so many memories, good and bad, from over the years.
And now I’m moving to a new house. A house that’s foreign to me. A house that has no memories or familiarity. A house I don’t even have a bedroom in yet. I’m far away from my jobs and my friends and part of me would rather have paid the rent for an apartment I couldn’t really afford. So what’s a girl to do?
Make do, of course. As I always do. But will my heart ever make this new house my home? I’m not entirely sure. A small, stubborn part of me hopes not….so I don’t get too comfortable in this new house; so when I do get back on my feet and move on to the next chapter of my life I don’t have to feel sad about leaving again. Another part of me wants to love this house though. It’s where my parents are. It’s where we will be making new memories and celebrating holidays together.
So, time will tell. And until then I will be unpacking and trying to make things work; hoping I can at least find a way to feel good about living in this new house.
back on track
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| photo courtesy of Patty Illingworth |
My frequency in posting has been shameful and I apologize. I’ve been pretty busy lately but luckily that hasn’t totally killed my crafting progress. SO to catch things up I’ll tell yous about the Spring quilt retreat! What a success! I didn’t get to spend as much time at this retreat as I did in the Fall but I felt like I was able to accomplish so much more! I was able to make HUGE progress on the Double Irish Chain for my mom and step-dad; even after messing up an entire row. It felt so good to really see my progress and have it start looking like an actual quilt, instead of a few rows sewn together. And what’s even more exciting was that the momentum from the retreat allowed me go home and finish the entire top the week afterwards. My mom adores it! Now I just need to make the back and have it quilted. yay!
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| finally some REAL progress! |
At each retreat one of the ladies will teach anyone who’s interested, a quilt pattern. The Spring quilt just happened to be a T SHIRT QUILT!!!! Now, some history: Throughout high school I ran in track and attended an invitational every weekend. At each invitational the school sponsoring it usually sold t-shirts. Of course I had to have one from all the meets! {duh} SO needless to say, between the meets I went to and the team shirts we got each year, Sarah had quite to collection! Towards my sophomore year in college I decided that it was time to start packing these tees away to save for a quilt someday. Over the years I kept my eyes open, in search of a t-shirt quilt pattern that I liked, with little luck. So between not having a pattern and not really having the time, my shirts sat in boxes, awaiting their time to shine. Fast Forward to the Spring retreat and you can only imagine my excitement when I saw the pattern for the quilt being taught this year! It was perfect! Mix and Match sized shirts surrounded by 2 inch squares of whatever fabrics I chose. I dug out all my tees and chose the ones that would be put into the quilt. (What a walk down memory lane) My high school’s colors are blue and gold so before the retreat I bought a bunch of fun blue and yellow fat quarters to surround the shirts with. After being taught the process to make the quilt it was all I could do to NOT work on only it for the rest of the weekend. Luckily I didn’t take ALL my shirts with me. But I’m super excited about the fabrics I chose and I can’t wait to work on it more regularly.
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| my strips of fabric and some t-shirts |
It felt so good to have the time and space to get some real work done for once. And of course seeing the ladies that attend. They are all so sweet and supportive and I can’t help but feel good after being with them. I’m so looking forward to the fall retreat and my sister and I have been considering doing the early bird so we can get up there sooner and have more time to work.
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| CLEARLY we are related… |
And not to worry, this WILL NOT be my only post to catch up! I promise! 🙂
what a difference the weather makes
Spring has truly sprung and I couldn’t be happier! My shorts, t-shirts, and I have been outside as much as possible lately. I’ve also had my camera along for the ride…thanks goodness!
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| My poppop has always had the best garden! |
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| I don’t even know where he finds these things |
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| I fell in love with these mason jar glasses at this restaurant! |
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| the boy I nanny picked my dandelions. love. |
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| the little girl I nanny |
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| Emmy, Ringo, and Rocket |
I’m sure there will be many more photos of sunny times to come. It just feels so invigorating to be outside again.
