Oh Goody!

I certainly haven’t been blogging lately, but want to know what I have been doing? Well spending some time getting to know this little lady!

My Brother PE-770 of course!

To say I am ecstatic to finally own an embroidery machine is a massive understatement. I’m over the moon!

She played hard to get for a little while, but with the help of an expert friend I was able to get her rockin and rollin!

  

I kind of a little bit jacked up my very first shirt, but seeing as that was also the very first thing I’ve ever stitched, it all worked out and I was pleased! And knew what not to do the next time.

First product!

After the first one I jumped right into the second, a much easier non-applique monogram.

Oh em gee love them.

  

Then Kimbo came to town shortly after I got it and of course we had to make her one too. Love!

Oh, and I see you trying to peek behind at my AWESOME TABLE that I made with my own two hands. Really, you can make one too. Easy peasy. And do it while your husband is out of town like mine was so you can say you did it all by yourself. Actually I didn’t have to make much but I did get to put it together.

It’s huge and a knockoff of the Pottery Barn Bedford Table. For a cool $1,049.00 I knew she’d never be mine, so thanks to the people who are smarter than me that discovered a way to knock it off!

Supplies:

Two Closetmaid 9 Cube Organizers $40/ea0

1 Piece of MDF (choose your size) $20

Paint + Primer (on hand)

Step 1: Assemble cubes

Step 2: Cut board to size. I cut mine a little larger than the PB version. I could measure it, but that’d involve me getting up and who wants to do all that. If you really want to know though, let me know.

 

Have your trusty assistant check out the progress and the fit. I wanted a slight overhang.

Prime (with oil based primer), paint, and then poly. Use the polycrylic in a blue can so it doesn’t yellow over time.

Let it cure and then put it together! I could have made a nicer/fancier top but this will do for now. I also bought industrial strength velcro to attach the top the the cubes, but so far the top hasn’t budged so I’m leaving it as is.

The stools are from Target and I love them too! It’s perfect that the table is accessible on both sides so I can prep/hoop on one side and sew on the other.

By the way y’all, hooping? It’s for the birds! Practice must make perfect.

Minnesota

At the beginning of August I attended a work conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. The weather was beautiful and the conference was good, but I sure wish I would have had the chance to explore the pretty state.

The view across from the hotel.

 

Crowne Plaza

View from my room.

We did get to have a little fun though!

 

The Mall of America was seriously cool!

Four floors of shopping anyone?

 

Exploring.

My Virginia counterpart Vickie and I hiked a long way for this gelato and it was delish!

Strawberry + chocolate. Yum.

Conference day outfits don’t have to be drab!

And that’s all I’ve got. Hope to get back to blogging soon folks! Been busier than a chicken with my head cut off.

Saving My Pennies

For what you say? Well friends, an embroidery machine!

I have wanted one for as long as I can remember. And now I’m well on my way to getting one! I wasn’t sure where to start though. So I did what I always do when I need experts on a subject, send out a Facebook status asking for suggestions!

I got a lot of great ones from my friends but it was my friend Lauren who had the machine that I thought best fit my needs and wants. As well as future needs. Hello sweet monogrammed baby clothes! She shared all kinds of useful information with me about her machine and I was hooked. She actually has the machine a step up from the one I’m shooting for, but for all intents and purposes they do pretty much the same thing.

She happened to be in town visiting her parents and had her machine with her. She was kind enough to offer me to come see it in action. And she even made me this super cute monogrammed pocket Tee in the process!

Chevron and FSU colors? Perfection!

I was so grateful for her to let me check out how her machine worked. It was definitely a little overwhelming, but I left there so pumped to start working my way towards my own!

I am planning to get the Brother PE770. Squeal! I’ve also bought everything to make a knock off Pottery Barn Bedford Craft Table. Double Squeal!

In the meantime I’m saving my pennies. I plan to call the machine mine in just a few months. I’m dreaming of monograms galore in the meantime!

People Photos of Late

I have been such a slack blogger lately. Forgive me!

Since I haven’t been blogging, what have I been doing? Shooting people! You know, with my camera. I just wanted to take a moment to share some of my favorites shots from the past couple of months, in no particular order.

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All these baby announcements isn’t helping my baby fever. I cannot wait until it’s our time to make the announcement. One day!

Tampa

Sorry that I’ve been MIA lately. I’ve been on vacation, then a work trip and now home so things have been a little off kilter. But I’m back to share some pictures from our vacation to Tampa!

We visited our friends David & Chloe for a quick weekend getaway. The last time we saw them was at their wedding in March! 

David, David, Chloe

Friday night we went to the Rays vs. Giants game.

The James’. Oh, and I cut off my hair! 10-11” of it. So much nicer in the Summer!

 

We stood around for two hours before game time because David wanted to get Buster Posey’s jersey signed. Buster is a fellow FSU Alumni.

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Then the discouragement started to set in when it didn’t look like Buster would be signing anything that night.

However I was able to get a ball signed by Sergio Romo of the Giants.

Hey Buster…bye Buster. Bummer!

David did however get to meet Raymond the mascot! He wasn’t thrilled. Ha!

The Rays unfortunately didn’t pull out a “W” but we had fun anyway!

Saturday we went to Adventure Land! It was a perfectly warm day for the water park!

DJ Squared.

Saturday evening was spent hanging out at the Johnston residence. David manned the grill and fed us a delicious dinner!

Oh, meet Rex! He was such a sweet boy!

Hey, whatcha doing over there?

 

Such a happy boy!

 

A Lemon Drop for the Hostess with the Mostess!

 

 

The girls annihilated the boys in Cranium. And we let them cheat to catch up! Girls rule, boys drool.

Mid-game snack! Which I obviously don’t need but who can resist the ice cream man?!

New best fwiends!

Thanks so much for having us guys, we had a blast!!