Just Purchased ...

Just purchased these two shirts from teefury.com. Both shirts are designed by Karen Hallion.

"Adventure Awaits"
Belle and the Doctor :)

"Come Away With Me"

Cinderella and the Doctor

I absolutely love her designs and have 2 shirts already by her - these new ones will make 4. These are my previous purchases of her shirts:

"Witch in the Fireplace"
Hermione Granger and the Doctor

"Meet the Missus Tea"

The worm from The Labyrinth

As you can see, I am a nerd. I love the movie The Labyrinth with David Bowie and Jennifer Connolly. It's one of my favorite movies, after Grease of course. And I'm on a Doctor Who kick at the moment. Been watching it on Netflix. I started watching it a few seasons back, with Matt Smith as the Doctor, but then I stopped. But my friend is obsessed with it now so I figured I would restart and start from the beginning - the beginning of the newest doctors not the old doctors from the 60s. I'm also a huge Disney fan! She has other shirts with the doctor and Disney characters - Elsa and Anna, Merida, Snow White and more. Anyways, enough of my nerddom. Time for bed. Can't wait to receive these shirts in the mail. :)

Looking Forward To ...

A mini vacation back home to good ole Massachusetts - I'm just really hoping it's not going to be snowing. I'm already used to the Florida weather that I may just curl up into a ball and cry if it snows when I'm visiting family and friends. Alright, I probably won't be that dramatic, but it is April and though I know it's New England, my poor New Englanders have had enough of the cold. Bring on the sunshine!! Hopefully it will follow me north.

I have plenty to do when I visit and hardly enough time. I need to see the newest addition of my friend-family, baby Violet. I still can't believe that my best friend of almost 20 years is a mother! I also need to go dress shopping/fitting for two different weddings. The first wedding is in September (another trip to MA :) ) and the second is June 2015. I'm excited to see two of my best friends get married and thankful that they chose me to be a part of their special days. It really means the world to me. I'm not really planning much for the first one, though I try my best to put my two sense in from miles away. But the second one I've been helping plan from the get go (I was there for the first date and engagement so it only makes sense). You may think that I use the term best friend a lot, but I have about a handful friends and they are all my besties. Alley I've only known for a couple years, and yet we are so in sync it's uncanny. I feel like I've known her forever. And then my girlfriends, two of which I've known since grade school (one just had a baby and the other is her sister), and the other three have grown close since we've grown older and more mature, but we've known each other for about 10 years or so - going back to working at camp. Just reminiscing about camp and summer and clubbing puts a smile to my face. A lot of memories. And there wasn't Facebook proof back then, but there are plenty of pictures stacked up in a box somewhere to be put into a scrapbook somewhere along the line - I know I'll get to it eventually - the life of an organized procrastinator.

Anywho, next week is much needed. Though I have made a few good friends down here in sunny Florida, it's always good to go home and catch up. I like Facetime and all, but you really can't hug through a phone. Also, you can't devour the best seafood and Portuguese food through a phone either. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Fried Clams. Clam boil. Portuguese Steak. Massa. Malasadas. Yum Yum Yum. Get in my belly. Seriously I can't wait. I also want to try and see a Sox/Yankee game. I'm definitely going to try and make time.

On a lighter note, I've been living in Florida for a year. I moved at the end of March 2013. I was in Florida when the Boston Marathon Bombing occurred. When it happened I felt so helpless. I had just moved. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't hug my family and tell them it was going to be okay. I had to do it through the phone. Luckily, none of my family or friends were injured, but many were. My heart goes out to them. The survivors give me hope because they have persevered, have not backed down, and kept on fighting. The people of Boston have done the same. Boston Strong is the outcry. We will not back down. It felt to me, like 9/11. Americans stood united then, and they stand united now.

A video made by Dear World showcases a letter made by some of the survivors. There is also a picture project of the victims returning to the finish line. It's absolutely beautiful and they give me hope. They have persevered. Continued to fight. Continued to wake up every morning and live. They are amazing.

Here's the video:

And the link to the photo project:  http://projects.dearworld.me/boston-marathon

"Instead of letting tragedy break us. We made a simple choice. To keep running."

Boston Strong <3

Favorite of the Week

Over the weekend I came across some HILARIOUS youtube videos from Jimmy Fallon. I don't get to watch his show because of my day job and my bedtime being 930 p.m. so I catch up on youtube and he rarely disappoints. These are my favorite videos this week, they may be old but they make me happy, especially the one with Idina Menzel singing "Let it Go!" Sheer awesomeness! Also, pretty sure Paul Rudd is my new man crush <3. For serious! ENJOY! :)

Wedding Planning

First, let me say that I am not getting married. But...one of my best and closest friends is!!! I was there when they first met and when they got engaged - they first met at a bar and I introduced them and they got engaged in Hogsmeade at Universal Studios - we are both HUGE Harry Potter fans and we were there for the Celebration of Harry Potter that they had at the end of January. We met (well we actually saw them a few feet away) Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Fred and George Weasley and Seamus Finnegan. We were rather excited. But what made it even better was that he proposed to her in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - her dream come true. I am one of her bridesmaids and have been helping her plan her wedding for next June 2015. She has some great ideas - blending her geekside to her chicside :).


She wants to incorporate all of her favorite fandoms into her wedding. I told her that there is a way to do it that will look cute, as long as it's done right. And thanks to Pinterest, I think I found it!
 These are some of the ideas that I found:





Famous couples names instead of table numbers:
The Doctor and Rose
Ron and Hermione Weasley
Belle and the Beast
Han Solo and Princess Leia
Mickey and Minney
...and whatever other couple she wants

Using characters/mini figurines inside a lantern with flowers as the centerpiece.














A sign that says "Pick a seat not a side as many worlds become one." Similar to ones that say "Pick a seat not a side as two families join together."

These are just a few ideas that I've come up with, and I think it's going to turn out awesome! Her wedding isn't for another year so we still have plenty of time to prepare. :)

Crochet Baby Booties

My best friend just had a baby girl and so for the shower I went crazy with crocheting little things. :) One of the things I wanted to make was booties but none of the online patterns were free. But then I found this really cute yellow yarn and on the back of the wrapper was a pattern for "baby shower booties." I followed this pattern to a T and got the cutest baby booties in about an hour or so!
The yarn is Bernat Baby Coordinates in lemon custard - I didn't use the yarn for the booties but actually for the flower on the headband. Here is the pattern:

SIZE: to fit baby size 3-6 months




MATERIALS: 1 ball of any type yarn
Size 4 mm (U.S. G/6) crochet hook or size needed to obtain gauge


GAUGE: 16 hdc and 11 rows = 10 cm


ABBREVIATIONS:
ch = chain
hdc = half double crochet
rs =  right side
sl st = slip stitch


INSTRUCTIONS:
Note: Turning ch 2 does not count as hdc
Ch 29
1st row: (RS) 1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook. 1 hdc in each ch across. 27 hdc. Turn.
2nd - 5th rows: ch 2. 1 hdc in each hdc across. Turn.
6th row: Sl st in each of first 6 hdc. Ch 2. 1 hdc in same st as last sl st. 1 hdc in each of next 16 hdc. Turn. Leave remaining 5 hdc unworked.
7th - 11th rows: Ch 2. 1 hdc in each hdc across. Turn. 17 hdc.
Place marker at each end of 9th row.
Do not turn at end of 11th row.
12th row: Ch 1. Working from left to right, instead of right to left, work 1 revers sc in each hdc across. Fasten off.
Finishing: Fold bootie in half with RS facing each other. Join yarn with sl st at marked row and work 1 row of sc through both thicknesses to join seam down remainder of cuff, around toe and across bottom of foot. Fasten off. Turn bootie right side out. Fold down cuff.


I didn't make a tie but you can to go around the bootie around the cuff.
Tie: Make a chain 12" (30.5 cm) long. Weave through 7th row of cuff.


Other items that I made for the baby was a bunny hat and a headband with a flower attached. I'm going to make more things and will post as I make them :) I'll also try to post the pattern or links to patterns that I used. Happy crocheting :)

Dreaming

I love the way you feel, cuddled up next to me. All warm and toasty under cotton sheets. Your fingers entwine in mine as we ponder the next step. We've been friends for over five years. Friendship that turned into a crush for me from the very beginning, it took you a little longer. I gave you a million nudges but you finally took the bait. After years of waiting, frustration, determination, we finally explored new territory.


All my wildest fantasies disappeared in that one first kiss. It came so suddenly and unexpected that I almost pushed you away, until I realized what was happening. You waited for the perfect moment, when I was so distracted by my surroundings that when you came up beside me and gave me a kiss on the cheek I was shell-shocked. I looked to you as you stood there with a smirk and I asked you "what was that?" like I didn't already know. You had finally made the first move.


I firmly believe that a girl has a right to make the first move, but I was always too shy or scared to do that. Instead I await patiently for a kiss that may never come. But it did this time. My patience won out and I finally got the green light for what was to come.


We had been talking about the possibility of an "us" for months via text messages in late night conversations. But I never actually thought there would be an "us." I just thought it was me reading too far into things. I had taught myself not to get my hopes up because it only leads to heartbreak. So my expectations of our hangout was not to end up in bed. But I was pleasantly surprised that it did.


Now we lay together in post-coital bliss, all I can think about is the next step and where do we go from here. Maybe this is one big dream that I'm in and one day I'm going to wake up and we'll be back in our non-committal/flirtatious/endless friendship. I want more. I want this. I want us.

I Don't Even Know Anymore

Why do you do this to yourself?
You have a good job
A family
And yet you sit there depressed ruining your life.
There's no more words left to say.
You have to fix yourself.
Make yourself better, stronger
I don't know how you came to be this way.
I thought maybe me being here would change things
But I was wrong.
I was oblivious before
But now I'm a front and center witness to your own destruction.
I don't know how to talk to you
To get through to you
Because I don't even know if you're still there.
You look like you
You talk like you
But you say things we want to hear.
You've already been sent away to make yourself better.
Do you want to go back?
Or worse...
I can't even think about it.
You're my brother.
My little brother.
What happened to make you like this?
If I was around more
If you could talk to me
All those years ago
If I wasn't so oblivious to my surroundings
Would things be different?
Maybe so.
I can't blame myself though.
I'm here now.
Have been for years.
Though I was miles away
I answered when you called
Spoke to mom and dad constantly about what was going on.
I couldn't do anything then
I can't do anything now.
I feel so hopeless
And yet, you must feel that way too.
But I still don't understand why.
Why do you do the things you do?
We all love you.
I know you know that.
I hope you know that.
We don't know what else to say
Or do
To fix the situation.
Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall.
You say you understand
Then you go and do something totally different.
I wish I could talk to you
I wish I could make things better.
But only you can do that.
I love you.
Good Night.