Is that my lung?
Feb. 15th, 2009 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chargirlgeniusWe'd originally planned on picking up some tenderloin and having a nice dinner at home on Valentine's day. Instead, we ended up with hotdogs in the Ikea cafe. S'all good.
We'd planned on getting going early yesterday, but then had to wait for a Lowes delivery person who just could. not. find. the. place. Can't people follow directions anymore, or are they completely dependent upon their GPS systems? And though we're way down here, and not on GPS, it's not exactly difficult. Go 11.3 miles from major highway, turn right at well-marked highway, go about two miles and turn up the BIG hill. That's it! Finally, we had him plug in a nearby intersection on his GPS and met him there.
Ah. Lowes drivers. Brilliant bunch, I'm sure.
We headed up to Ikea, but I wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. I couldn't find curtains for the dining room or kitchen, and I didn't find any art for the bedroom wall. The latter was just a long shot, but we need something for our big wall. I'd like to find something that we really like and can key off of for the design of that room. My Valentine's present was Jeff taking the boys out to the car when they got crunchy, so I could keep shopping in peace. Wonderful man!
We did come away with a Poang chair (yay!) and some barstools (that I bought the wrong version of and have to exchange). I also started looking closely at the Pax and Komplement wardrobe systems for my closet. It would be awesome to make better use of my giant closet, instead of the mess that's in there now. Ikea.com also has a nifty home planner software, which is essentially a simple CAD application with their products plugged in, so you can do all of the designing at home. Very. Much. Fun.
Of course, if I want to redo my closet, I want to replace the flooring in our room first. Is this how little projects turn into big projects? I've been wanting some sort of hardwood/bamboo in our bedroom to cut down on the allergies. But it makes sense to do that *before* the closet. Maybe we'll just do the closet, since the big projects this spring need to be out in the yard.
We spent Friday evening walking the yard, looking at the lay of the land, talking about spiffing the place up. We'd like to lay a sprinkler system, replace half of the lower lawn with wildflowers (poppies, maybe?), put in a stone patio, scrape up the bad dirt and add some good dirt, do some terracing, planting, etc. I think that doing these things now will a) make our yard more enjoyable now, and b) increase our property value a few years down the line.
This post is kind of rambly and all over the place. I blame being sick. I coughed all night last night, and slept in until 11:30 this morning. That's UNHEARD of. Jeff tool the boys to Sunday school and McD's for lunch, and I had the benefit of Vicks44. Yay.
Now, to sit and sew. I don't want to do anything else today.
We'd planned on getting going early yesterday, but then had to wait for a Lowes delivery person who just could. not. find. the. place. Can't people follow directions anymore, or are they completely dependent upon their GPS systems? And though we're way down here, and not on GPS, it's not exactly difficult. Go 11.3 miles from major highway, turn right at well-marked highway, go about two miles and turn up the BIG hill. That's it! Finally, we had him plug in a nearby intersection on his GPS and met him there.
Ah. Lowes drivers. Brilliant bunch, I'm sure.
We headed up to Ikea, but I wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. I couldn't find curtains for the dining room or kitchen, and I didn't find any art for the bedroom wall. The latter was just a long shot, but we need something for our big wall. I'd like to find something that we really like and can key off of for the design of that room. My Valentine's present was Jeff taking the boys out to the car when they got crunchy, so I could keep shopping in peace. Wonderful man!
We did come away with a Poang chair (yay!) and some barstools (that I bought the wrong version of and have to exchange). I also started looking closely at the Pax and Komplement wardrobe systems for my closet. It would be awesome to make better use of my giant closet, instead of the mess that's in there now. Ikea.com also has a nifty home planner software, which is essentially a simple CAD application with their products plugged in, so you can do all of the designing at home. Very. Much. Fun.
Of course, if I want to redo my closet, I want to replace the flooring in our room first. Is this how little projects turn into big projects? I've been wanting some sort of hardwood/bamboo in our bedroom to cut down on the allergies. But it makes sense to do that *before* the closet. Maybe we'll just do the closet, since the big projects this spring need to be out in the yard.
We spent Friday evening walking the yard, looking at the lay of the land, talking about spiffing the place up. We'd like to lay a sprinkler system, replace half of the lower lawn with wildflowers (poppies, maybe?), put in a stone patio, scrape up the bad dirt and add some good dirt, do some terracing, planting, etc. I think that doing these things now will a) make our yard more enjoyable now, and b) increase our property value a few years down the line.
This post is kind of rambly and all over the place. I blame being sick. I coughed all night last night, and slept in until 11:30 this morning. That's UNHEARD of. Jeff tool the boys to Sunday school and McD's for lunch, and I had the benefit of Vicks44. Yay.
Now, to sit and sew. I don't want to do anything else today.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-15 07:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 12:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-15 09:21 pm (UTC)I also wanted to spend today sitting and sewing. That sounds like heaven. I am making fabulous progress on the wool version of the supportive dress. This version is going to be all hand-sewn because I like hand-sewing.
But alas, I am horridly hung-over and am doing online tasks instead of sewing because I don't want to mess up. Boo.
I have been keeping notes by hand on the construction of this version, so I can compile it all into a massive and comprehensive dress diary. I'm going to name this version the Gothest Dress Ever because it's black and theoretically sort of Gothic, historically speaking.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 12:36 am (UTC)I can't wait to see how it goes. You're pulling up the shoulders a bit, right? Want to take pics before you put the sleeves on?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 05:47 am (UTC)I cut this one a bit smaller in the shoulders, and shaved off a tiny bit from the front pieces under the arms. I also left a slightly larger seam allowance there, so I've taken it in nearly a quarter inch on each side but could let it out if that's too much. I also shaved off a little bit from the top center back, which gaps a bit-- though the shoulders being smaller might sort that as well, so we'll see.
I have made the whole bodice sliiiightly smaller overall as well, since the pink one laces right shut immediately, and so as the fabric warms and stretches it gets wrinkled under the bust-- wool is supposedly stretchier, so I want there to be a little bit of a gap in front so it has some room to stretch. I could let it out a little on the straight seam in the back fairly easily if it's too much of a gap, but I think it won't be. (Have only tried it on perfunctorily, since I haven't put the shoulders together yet and just wanted to see if it went around me.)
Anyway. It's fun. I just have to keep fighting my guilt at hand-sewing it-- I feel like it's a profligate waste of time especially for the long skirt seams where it really doesn't show at all. But the point is that I like to do it, so I shouldn't feel guilty if I do it in a more time-intensive way.
It's sort of funny-- I think that standards of ostentation in dress have changed, and so that's why in the SCA you get things Obviously Made Of Linen and Obviously Hand-Sewn instead of, say, things dyed expensive and difficult colors, or made with rare and expensive materials obviously cut in one piece, etc. Reddish purple isn't a status symbol anymore because it's on sale a lot. But decent linen's hard to come by, and hand-embroidery? Holy crap, that's really wearing your wealth, in that you had the time somehow to sit there and do all that fiddly stuff!
Anyway. Funny how things change. Funny how people always find ways of being ostentatious.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 12:28 am (UTC)I was really please with the art we got from them, and their customer service is awesome!!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 12:38 am (UTC)Mostly, I just have NO idea what to get. I've been hoping for inspiration to strike. Yeah, I love medieval art, but I don't know that I want it hanging on my bedroom wall. You know you're in the house of a SCAdian when you see The Accolade hanging on the wall. ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 12:01 pm (UTC)Art is generally really PRICEY at furniture stores, but once you know what you want you can get it anywhere. The exception to that rule was the furniture place on 301 by Dahlgren.... they had a bunch of stuff in nice frames and mats for less than $100 (framing large pieces is what gets expensive! Mom got one or two just for the frame setup).
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 02:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-16 02:37 pm (UTC)maybe you could do the closet now and just pick new flooring for the closet and keep in mind to complement whatever you will pick out for the rest of the room. it would be pretty inexpensive to do a small area and that could cut down the dust in one area. i've also thought about just putting down some hard surface under our bed because that is indeed the worst dust collector.
funny, i've been in a art searching/hanging mood lately.