Refashioning or not?

It's cutting off bulky sleeves so I can wear a shirt (that I haven't worn in a few years) under a sweater without it looking goofy.

Heart garland

It's as easy as it looks. You cut out hearts and sew a garland. That's it. [I keep a needle separate for sewing on paper.]

Excuse the plastic on the windows. It's what we New Englanders do to try to keep the cold from creeping through our drafty old windows.

Newest kid in the ward

Meet Blake. He's six days old, six pounds and adorable.

Google: Antique stores Portland Maine

This is one of the sites that pops up: Portland Architectural Salvage. My friend Elisabeth and I went to Maine today. We met a friend for lunch at the Miss Portland Diner. Stopped at Portland Head Light. Visited a quirky fabric store (it might have been 8 feet wide). And did some antiquing. Portland Architectural Salvage is a very interesting store. They sell architectural elements, antiques and decorative accessories (12,000 square feet of them). I saw some really cool things -- lots of cabinets with drawers (from printing companies, post offices, libraries, etc.). I found some vintage cook books, a cake stand, and some old pinking shears at two of my favorite antique shops. We stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream parfait (even though it was bitter cold) which reminded me of where I met my friend Jean. It was a good Maine day.

Happy Birthday, Raggedy Andy!

Love, Raggedy Ann.

Van Nuys Third Ward Road Show, August 1977.

Red thread

For as much as I:

a) sew
b) love red
c) think I'm so organized

Why did it take me 15 minutes to find some red thread?

Late dinner with Five Guys

Before leaving work tonight I mapquested directions from Needham to Five Guys in Dedham and Diana and I stopped in for a late dinner. Five Guys makes a mean burger.

From blog stalker to buddy

I've been reading (or is it stalking?) Erin Cobb's blogs for over three years. Recently she posted that she would be in Boston and asked if people were interested in having their kids photographed. I left a comment on her blog that I didn't have kids to photograph but would love to meet her for hot chocolate. She emailed me back and we made a plan!

Fast forward to tonight. My coworker Diana and I drove to Needham after work to meet Erin (we felt like we were meeting a rock star!), her friend and another Boston blogger. Erin is delightful and fun and now I feel like she's my real friend. We all had a really fun time talking about our favorite blogs and our lives. And I've got a few more friends on my bus.

Erin's family blog
Erin's photography blog

Erin and Diana took photos; I'll try to post one tomorrow.

Visiting

It was all my idea. When I got called to be the RSP I suggested that we do some visiting instead of sitting in meetings every Sunday. So once a month the leadership of our ward divides and conquers and visits new people.

I went to see two sisters on Sunday with one of my counselors. The first woman, Mildred, was 90 years old and lived in my town. I expected she would live in a rest home/senior citizen complex but when we drove up it was a single family house. We parked. Walked up the driveway. Knocked on the door. A woman answered. I asked if Mildred was there and immediately it was clear from the woman's angry face that our visit was over. She said, "She is deceased."

The woman never opened the door so our conversation was through a thick glass screen door. I was embarrassed. It was awkward. We thanked her and left.

I knew I needed to clarify things (not to mention apologize) to Mildred's daughter (I found the obituary which listed her children and one of them lives in Lexington and whitepages.com confirmed the address was the same). [Note: Mildred died in June of 2007.] I didn't want her to think we were the Avon ladies. I mailed a letter to Mildred's daughter yesterday letting her know that I was the president of the women's organization in the Arlington Ward of the LDS Church and that we only wanted to meet Mildred and welcome her. And, I apologized for not explaining who we were on Sunday and offered sympathy for the loss of her mother.

I feel like if this ever happens again, I'm prepared to handle it better than I did on Sunday. It's part of the RSP learning curve.

Note: I didn't tell Mildred's daughter this, but I had a similar experience when I called to cancel my brother's Sports Illustrated subscription. The guy asked me how I knew my brother wasn't interested in receiving the magazine any longer and I said, "He's dead."

Another note: We were told by the upstairs neighbor of the second woman we tried to visit that she had moved over a year ago. I've got issues about our church record keeping. :)

Minty cookies Made at Midnight

I saw this recipe on a blog and have been carrying it around in my "DO" folder. I finally made them tonight. I didn't intend for them to be so PINK. I was hammering candy canes around midnight. They are easy and really tasty. Especially if you love peppermint like I do. Someday I'll open my bakery!

Keep it on ice

Last night I got home at 8:30pm and ran inside to change so I could pick my friend up for a movie. When I got back in my car (Bluebell) and tried to back up I couldn't. I was stuck on the ice! [It kinda reminded me of my recent adventure in Vermont.] I called my friend and asked if she'd be willing to pick me up (what friend wouldn't?) and we went to the movie (and Sonic, just for the record).

This afternoon, at the suggestion of a condo board member, I used some of the ice melt pellets (my condo fee at work) and scattered them around all of my tires and on the fourth try I was able to back up and carry on with life.

Life...ups and downs and twists and turns and ice...that's life.

Extraordinary Measures

My friend and I went to Extraordinary Measures last night. It's inspired by a true story and stars Harrison Ford and it was really good. I recognized the NIKE headquarters in the film! My brother Chuck works there and I've had lunch at "the campus".

It's not 50

Yesterday someone said, "It's going to be fifty degrees tomorrow."

Really? I took this photo this morning while scraping Bluebell's windows. Clearly it is not fifty degrees.

Out to dinner

My friend Christina is moving to Mesa in a few weeks so we went to dinner the other night. She suggested Tupelo (as in Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis was born) which was a great choice. We tried the pan fried catfish and braised beef brisket--both were delicious. And those cheddar grits? Yum. I ordered key lime pie for dessert which I had for dessert and for breakfast the next morning. I'm definitely going back to Tupelo. The food was delicious and the service was good.

Note: A few years ago I found out that one of my coworkers (in a different department) was from Seattle and I suggested that we go to lunch since we had The West Coast in common. While at lunch she asked where I went to college and when I told her BYU she said, "Christina went to BYU." After lunch I went over to Christina's office and said, "Sister Davis?" We've been buddies ever since.

EP's got an Etsy shop

Bear with me as I try to figure this whole Etsy thing out. I'm starting out by selling some Valentine photocards. If you click here (or on the picture of the cards to your right) you should end up in my shop. So you can shop. Til you drop.

California kids

This picture of Chuck and I was taken in Salt Lake City while visiting our Pitchforth grandparents. I love our red boots!

Icy and snowy branches

Another blessing

This is my friend Claudy and her handsome son Stanley who joined her on December 20th from Haiti. We are all very thankful that Stanley arrived when he did. Blessings to their friends and family in Haiti.