Favorite Pants

Overwhelmed...cheap...I couldn't decide what to title this post.  It all started a few weeks ago.  I was hunting around on-line and found some pants, my all time FAVORITE pants, online at the Gap.com site and they didn't have my size.  Drat.  So I went to ebay to see if anyone had any NWT.  They did.  I ordered a pair of Gap Hip Slung Flared Trousers in Denim (normal Gap price $54.50, bay price $26.00-Score! or so I thought).

When they arrived, they were perfect.  I heart this pant.  I had (at the time) 3 pairs in my closet that I had found on sale over the years and I only bring them out for church, going to fancy dinner, etc.

Then, I noticed that every single seller of Gap products NWT that I wanted to buy stuff from was in Cincinnati.  Strange.  So I Googled Gap Clearance Cincinnati and guess what?  THERE IS A FREAKING GAP CLEARANCE CENTER near Cincinnati, not an outlet, but a CLEARANCE CENTER.  I found this out last weekend while surfing the net.

All week I've been trying to decide if I should go to the mother ship.  Should I drive an hour...maybe an hour and a half to go shopping?  Are there really good deals there?  I should be saving my money.  Etc.  I flip flopped all week on if I should go.

Then, I realized that my new pants didn't fit.  They were a size 10 and guess what?  I've lost ten pounds and they are too big!  Woot!  But bummer, new pants don't fit.  I psyched myself up this morning and convinced myself that since I haven't really spent money all Spring Break week long and I needed new pants maybe I should go.  And I did.  With two kids and a purse full of candy for Bubba.

We got to the Gap Clearance Center and found out that they have Banana Republic, Athleta, Pimperlime shoes, Old Navy, and all the Gap brands at this place.  H..O..L..Y crap.  Two hours later Hannah, Bubba and I walked away with...

2 boys Gap summer shirts (Bubba)

1 women's Gap jean short (Hannah)

1 women's Gap sweatshirt (Hannah)

1 women's Old Navy Swimsuit (Hannah)

1 women's Banana Republic shirt (Me)

2 women's Gap tank tops (Me)

2 pairs of women's Gap shorts (Me)

2 pairs women's Hip Slung Flare pants! (Me)

4 pairs Banana Republic earrings (Hannah and Me)

1 matching Banana Republic necklace (Me)

1 pair of boxers

1 yo yo (Bubba)

1 sparkly giant bouncy ball (Bubba)

1 beach paddle ball set (Bubba)

All for the budget conscious grand total of $100.  Seriously.

Sure there were a ton of things in the store that needed to be washed, needed minor repairs or should have been trashed, but the majority of things were in great store worthy shape.  Sure it was so overwhelming that you started to hyperventilate when you walked in and saw the size and sheer possibility of it all, but it was pretty well organized and all the sizes and prices were well labeled.

If you go I recommend that you look everything over for defects or stains, and you try everything on since some of the things could be mis-sized.  It is amazing!  I bought a beautiful silk BR shirt (retail $69.50) there for $4.99.  My Hip Slung Trousers?  $6.99 each!  My trousers were Tall's, but I'll pay $6.99 each and hem my favorite pants!

Non Fiction

I've been on a non fiction kick lately.  I think it may have all started with Wade Rouse a few months ago, I'm not quite sure, but I've been reading non-fiction exclusively.  Currently I'm reading some David Sedaris, Benyamin Cohen and JUST finished the above book, Little Princes, by Conor Grennan.

I picked up Little Princes yesterday off the library hold shelf.  It had FINALLY come in after a month or so of waiting.  I gobbled this book up today (started it this morning and finished it before dinner).  It was a tear jerker and such a lovely story of a caring man doing some amazing work in Nepal.  Think Greg Mortinson, and Three Cups of Tea, except this book is far less documentary feeling.  I highly recommend it.

I do have some sewing projects to show, but we hosted a 10 year old boy sleep over last night and I'm a little exhausted.  The boys didn't go to sleep until 5 a.m.  So early to bed tonight, maybe a little vegging on the couch too!  It's 6 p.m our time, and David and Bubba asleep on the couch!

I also picked up the Wade Rouse book Atleast in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream yesterday at the library...maybe I'll start that one tonight.

My Worst Nightmare

During the day I like to hit the CNN and ABC tabs on the toolbar on my computer.   It may be because they are there, or it may be because I don't want to be the moron at the water cooler or in the grocery line and hear that a tsunami has hit Japan.  I want to be able to have a conversation with my husband and hold my own.

Yesterday I noticed the headline "a poisonous cobra had escaped the Bronx Zoo."  Does this constitute headline news?  Only if you live in the state of NY.  I DO NOT want to hear this.  I DO NOT want to know that there are any snakes loose anywhere in these continental United States.  Can you tell that I am a little phobic?  Frankly if you gave me an all expense paid trip to the Bronx today I would not accept it until that snake is recaptured.  I realize that this may seem irrational, but I personally think that calling a snake a "pet" is irrational.  

A few weeks ago I came home from school on a Friday afternoon very proud of myself.  As we ate dinner I shared with my family that I had a child with a live snake as a show and tell.  I managed to A. stay in the room without tossing children out of the way as I climbed on top of the computer cabinets, B. make intelligible sentences while the parent was describing how she constantly looses the snake in her home, C. watch from a few feet away as this 5 year old takes THE SNAKE OUT OF THE flimsy plastic box, and D. managed to thank the parent for bringing in her albino whatsy-whosy. This particular snake owner actually let mice loose IN THEIR HOUSE at one point to entice the snake to come out of hiding.  Once the snake dropped down out of the doorway ON TOP OF HER HEAD after being missing for weeks.   In my mind this parent's IQ dropped 80 points in my mind the moment she shared these "anecdotes" with me.  

MY WORST NIGHTMARE.

More Sewing

I sewed one of these cuties this morning...pattern courtesy of Dear Sukie (above photo courtesy of Dear Sukie).  Dear Sukie (see the etsy site) was on Martha Stewart and showed Martha how to make these super cute paper and vinyl wallets.  Find the pattern and directions here.

I won't show you my project because my bobbin thread got all wonky during the last top stitching.  Argh!  My sewing machines give me fits. I am raising a fist in protest.

Basically this is the scrapbook'er and sewers dream.  You sandwich scrapbook paper between clear vinyl and do some very easy sewing.  I am not really great with written direction reading sometimes, and there is one step in this process that I almost busted a neuron on (#7).  I think it all stems from my bad experience during SAT taking.  Anyway, my pattern changes would be these: pop your vinyl in the dryer for a few minutes before sandwiching and cutting because it makes it a tad easier to manipulate...my other tip? use a thinner vinyl than I had on hand.

My mind is spinning with the possibilities now!  Vinyl wallets...vinyl and paper...love it!

Lyrical

In my nightly blog searching I came across this site that produces music lyric posters, and I'm in love.  I must have quite a typeface print obsession since I am drawn to this style after I recently bought my Seattle poster?!

You Can't Always Get What You Want...is a theme in our house.  Either David or I will start singing the lyrics to this Rolling Stone's song when something is being begged or whined for.  Maybe I'll buy this one?

Then again, the Beatles are always a classic.  Maybe it would be better if I instilled this into my kids heads.

I would love a row of these down the hall to my kids bedrooms.  Classic lyric posters.  

Then there is the other Art attraction of the week.  Samantha French, a painter that studied at the U of Minnesota.  Being a high school swimmer, and a beachy vacation lover I have a strong attraction to this painting...

Vacations, ahhh.  Wouldn't you be thinking about your last beach vacation each time you walked past this painting hanging on your wall?

The problem isn't that I don't know what I want.  Now where did I put that Mega Millions lottery ticket?

Pant Legs

I got this book the other day (as part of one of those cheesy craft book of the month clubs, don't worry, I ordered all my books, bought my one requirement, then proceeded to quit).  I like Amy Butler's fabrics, and made one of her skirt patterns *the Barcelona* last year, so I thought I'd try out her bag patterns.

I chose the "Tear Drop" bag and decided that I would keep true to my bargain with my sister and use up stuff I had before buying anymore fabric.  I decided to use up some of those pant legs from my post yesterday, and an old skirt of Hannah's, and try to make a purse/bag.  I cut it out today, and I'm pretty sure I have everything, including interfacing, except the magnetic snap.  Oh well, maybe I'll make it with a button or something.

Next week is Spring Break, and I'm off work the entire week (WOOT!) so I will be (hopefully) making purses.  Lots and lots of purses.  That is the plan.  I want to use up my fabric stash and try out some patterns, so they won't be super Amy Butler cute...more trial and error of ease of pattern making.  I'll show my results as they trickle in.  Maybe I'll reward myself with some super cute fabric to make one of the purses for realsies.

Incredible Hulk

The weather turned nice (65 degrees) and rainy, so shorts and capris are on Hannah's agenda.  Yesterday Hannah came downstairs in last years jean capri's and it was a bad episode of the Incredible Hulk.  She was POURED into those poor pants.  They could not have been comfortable.  We were going to have to cut them off.

You have to understand that we haven't bought clothes up until now, since my niece has always given Hannah her beautiful hand me downs.  Well, my niece is 18, a senior in high school, and at 5'3" a size 0.  Hannah has now surpassed her cousin.

I've been  keeping my eye open for spring sales, but with Hannah's crazy growth spurts I wanted to buy myself some time.  So today I went to the Goodwill.  I strolled the ladies jean and pant aisles and narrowed it down to 6 pairs of jeans and pants with labels like Gap, Aeropostale, American Eagle and Wet Seal in Hannah's sizes.  Tiny, skinny people (size 1 and 2) must not shop at Goodwill, that's all I've got to say.  There was a plethora of tiny name brand pants.  I went with the big name labels because they were there and the same price ($4) as the non-big names.

I brought the pants home, washed them, and had Hannah try them on.  She marked the length, varying each pair a little, and I cut them all off into shorts and capris.  Here are a few of the done pairs.

What do I do with all the unused pant legs?  A quilt maybe?  For $25.00 (with tax) Hannah has 6 new pairs of shorts!  Woot!  Does this mean that I can go spend some clothes money on myself?

Strange Job

It's Spring, so of coarse I am sick of my job.  Right before Spring Break each year I think I am thrown into a "this job sucks" mode.  So I start to daydream...what to do?  What to do?

What type of things do I like to do?  Hmmm.  I like eating.  There is always sleeping.  Hmmm, watching t.v.  I like to bake (not to clean up).  I like watching movies.  I like surfing the net.  What kind of job could I get with these mad skilz?  I like looking through other people's crap.  I like photography.  Is there such job as junk sorter?  Picture scanner' for people who need help with their stuff sorting, like after a family member passes away.  What would I call myself?  How could I market myself?