Goodwill

I went to the Goodwill Outlet on Saturday. I'm not sure exactly why the Goodwill has an Outlet or if they have them everywhere, but there's one in Tacoma. They sell most everything by the pound and the heavier the item the less you pay per pound. So I got an entire shopping cart of clothing items for $22.00! Seriously, my cart was full and I only went down two isles. I mostly bought stuff that I could make bags out of, but I also found a jacket and dress that I'm going to wear. And I found this awesome shirt that I hope one of my nephews can fit into. I bought two pairs of brand new jeans that I'm going to turn into skirts. The jeans are extremely large. So large that by cutting off the legs and opening them up, I'll be able to sew them together and it will fit around me. So, I'll have two new jean skirts. And the jeans still had the tags on them!

This is what I found: three vintage pillow cases, a striped full size flat sheet (great for the inside of bags), two pairs of huge jeans, a jacket, a dress (brand new - still had the tag), a shirt for one of my nephews, two kids shirts, a black velvet jumper (that will be amazing as a bag), two wool sweaters, two men's button up the front shirts (insides of bags), a batman sheet (for Stacy at work). I think that's it, but I could be missing something.

If you live in Tacoma, it's at S 27th & Yakima - right before you go over the new bridge over I5. Really you should check it out. But you do have to dig. Everything is in bins.

Zippers

So I took the plunge today and cut my sweatshirt right up the middle. Since the sweatshirt was orange it was difficult to find a zipper that matched so I went with white. Most of the American Apparel sweatshirts these days have white zippers.

I should have taken a before picture, but it just looked like an orange hoodie.

If you look closely you can tell the two sides of the pockets don't line up, but I'm not super disappointed for my first attempt!

I also worked on a new skirt today that I don't love. I'm not sure if it's the fit or the pattern. I'll give it a go and see. If and when I wear it I'll try to remember to take a picture.

Cookies

Last night Waymond had a meeting so I made chocolate chips cookies while he was out. As I was thinking what recipe I would use I thought, "Cooks Illustrated!" I had never tried a cookie recipe from Cooks Illustrated, but everything else I've ever tried has been amazing! I have an online subscription to cooksillustrated.com so I can access all of their recipes (which I would HIGHLY recommend). I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is super tasty. And, one of the crazy things is that you melt the butter, but the cookies don't turn out flat. Oh, they were good. I put oatmeal in half. If you're on cooksillustrated.com they are called Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The skirt

So here's me in the jean skirt I made. Not the best picture, but it was after work and I was ready to put some pajama pants on! You get the picture. The skirt is super comfy, but I wore tights and they are never comfy!!

Breakfast of Champions

Here's Waymond's breakfast of champions this Sunday morning!

I made a cake yesterday from a cookbook I checked out of the library, Organic and Chic. It has some great recipes in it. She makes a chocolate cake Twinkie. She developed the recipe one day when her son wanted to buy Twinkies at the grocery store and she thought she could make a tastier version.

So this morning as I was heating water for tea and Waymond said, "I think I'm going to have a piece of cake for breakfast." And, I said, "I thought you would."

It's nice to have a husband who loves food. I bake a cake from scratch and he's happy for days! :o) And, eats on it for days! He'll probably have coffee and cake for breakfast tomorrow too!

It's a good relationship, I love to bake, Waymond loves to eat what I bake! It's good!

Coffee Lovers

I'm more of a tea drinker these days. One of the reasons it's so good to have a husband who is addicted to and LOVES coffee is that when I have a hankering for a latte he's right there making me one (and himself an americano).

















The finished product. He's learned a lot over the years with my five years baristaing and all our friends who are/were baristas. His foam skills are amazing now. He's been practicing for years. I love some good thick foam on my lattes.


















This is Waymond's set up. We go to the Business Cost-co for syrup. It's so much cheaper!!

The evening

So after dinner Waymond got a hankering for some of my Grandma's shredded apple pie. And, being the capable guy he is, he whipped TWO up! What a man, what a man!























































































































And, while Waymond was hard at work, I was making myself a cup of hot chocolate and got the movie ready that we watched tonight. The pie is tasty!!

Next project

We were watching the new Harry Potter movie a couple of weeks ago (thanks to Waymond's mom - great Christmas present), and on one of the flashbacks/memories Dumbeldore is wearing this scarf thing and I was inspired to make one out of the cheap flannel I have. I've been wearing it today, it's nice and toasty. I had to take the pictures myself because Waymond's speaking at church tomorrow so he's been a bit busy preparing. Not horrible pictures I guess!












































I think my next project is going to be making a zip-up the front hoodie out of a current hoodie I have, but don't wear much. I bought it a couple of years ago at Old Navy on clearance. I figure since I don't wear it much if I ruin it I won't be too sad. I bought a zipper today at JoAnn's. We'll see how far my skills extend!

If you want to hear Waymond's preach tomorrow go to our church's website, www.ncctacoma.org and click the podcast link. And while you are on the site, please admire Waymond's handy work - he created the site.

Been sewing

Here's my latest creation - Pajama Pants! I bought the flannel the day after Thanksgiving when JoAnn's had it on sale for $1.49 a yard. Stacy, at work, suggested I use a favorite pair of pj's as my pattern and it totally worked! I am wearing them now and they are so soft and comfy!























This is my first time with button holes. I read up on how to in my sewing machine manual and I practiced on a scrap piece of material. Not too bad, I think a bit of beginner's luck!
















The flannel is space monkey's and little aliens in rocket ships. Very cute! I have some left and am trying to decide what else to make.

The newest

I've been wanting to try my hand at a skirt, but haven't found the time. Waymond gave me one of his old pairs of jeans to play around with. And, after browsing at a few blogs this is what I created today. I'm going to wear it tomorrow to work and hopefully my handy work will hold! I'm going to try it with my new fancy boots I got for Christmas!

I have to admit it was harder than I thought. I kept putting them on and trying to figure out the best way to bring them in a bit and add some length. I'm excited to see what I come up with next. I'm going to try to master a button hole and zipper this year!

Ice Cream maker

Waymond broke in our ice cream maker last night. He made some Orange Dream Ice Cream from our Ben & Jerry's cookbook.

Resolutions

I've never been big on New Year's Resolutions. However, a couple of years ago when we were still in KC I worked with this guy who didn't make resolutions either, but he liked to evaluate his life. And, I thought, that's a good idea. So I've been doing a bit of evaluation lately. I'm going to be a bit less busy this year. I have a bad habit of filling ALL my time. So, I'm going to try to be a bit more relaxed in the scheduling department and use my free time well! Being sick for the first week of the year has really helped! I read The Alchemist in two days! I might have been able to finish it in one day, but all the breaks for blowing my nose took a good part of the days!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all! I started the New Year sick, but am feeling much better today!

Here's a few pic of us from Christmas. We got many more amazing gifts, but too much to put all pictures in:

Waymond got this awesome "interactive" journal:

















Waymond also got a DS. He's been enjoying figuring it out:

















Leigh got a nice light right rain jacket, (Waymond's fancy photography skills):






















Leigh got some new boots! They are so comfy and warm!