Royal Wedding Fever!!!

A few weeks ago, Little Miss Can't Be Wrong asked me to do a guest post, and in case you didn't see it, I am posting it here, since it is now ROYAL WEDDING WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So excited. So very excited.

So in case you hadn't heard, there is going to be a Royal Wedding at the end of the WEEK!!! Surely I am not the only one who is really looking forward to this huge event, right? I wouldn't call myself completely obsessed, but maybe mildly intrigued...okay, maybe more than mildly :)

I think that Prince William and Kate have such an amazing love story. They met at university and were flatmates and good friends. They fell in love and managed to keep their romance under wraps for some time. Then, the world watched it unfold, fall apart and piece itself back together again. I think that Kate is so fascinating. You always hear about how "all little girls dream of becoming a Princess," and now she is going to be one! I wonder if she dreamed of that when she was a little girl. Was it in your wildest dreams? She's also so gorgeous and stylish and classy, and has so much grace. People say that she is like Princess Diana, which I think anyone would take as a huge compliment! Also, during their brief breakup, she kept mum and never embarrassed the Royal Family...she just subtly let Prince William know what he was missing out on!

Of course, with the Wedding of the Century happening, Britain is making the most of it, as they should be! Have you seen some of the things they have? Wills and Kate are everywhere! Their faces are on tea sets, tea towels and even refrigerators!

My personal favorite of the Royal Wedding themed items? The No More Waity, Katie nail polish, from Butter of London! Of course, after an eight year romance, the British press gave poor Kate that not-so-lovely nickname, but her patience paid off, as we know!










Pretty, eh? It's a limited edition color, of course, and I am dying to get my hands on a bottle! I'm sure I'll turn to ebay shortly....



Also, Kate has her own beer!







Castle Rock Brewery came out with this Kiss Me Kate as a tribute to the future Queen of England! It is elegant, tasteful and British to the core, says Castle Rock. This is a Nottingham brewery, and I have friends who live nearby....Kirsty managed to find it and is saving some for us to try when we are in the UK this summer!



Also, look at this book, called Knit Your Own Royal Wedding! Knit everyone, including the Royal Corgis! Love love love.

Adorable, eh?

What would you think, if you were Kate, and suddenly, you were everywhere? What if you were her parents or her siblings? I can't even imagine!

Since Britain is five hours ahead of us here on the east coast, it will be on tv at 5am, on Friday. I think I may need to call in sick, so that I can watch it! Of course, there are viewing parties everywhere, and I have heard of people hosting them too. Embassies are having viewing events, as are hotels! How could they not?! When Charles and Diana married in 1981, I was just a baby, so I didn't watch. I'm sure my parents did, though I haven't actually asked them, to be honest with you! My boyfriend and I are going to the UK in July for a wedding, so I'm sure I will be looking for some of these souveniers! Since I collect tea towels anyway, I know that I need a Wills and Kate tea towel for my collection! I don't think I'll get the fridge though....

So, will you be watching the Royal Wedding? Are you excited by all of the hoopla surrounding it? Are you interested in the Royal Family at all? Want to come over and watch it with me?

Friday I'm in love

If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed my excitement over the following retweet a few weeks ago---

(I'm not sure why it is so small, and if I try to stretch it, it gets blurry...can you read it?)

Yes, that is Fred Savage of The Wonder Years fame! I had found him on twitter and tweeted about it, and he replied! Amazing. I'm not sure if I've ever discussed my great love of Kevin Arnold and The Wonder Years, but it is high, high, high on my list of loves, and his reply to me pretty much made my life complete.

I think it is hilarious how I wrote how my life was complete after finding him, and his reply was "it gets better," implying that his tweet improved my life. He's so cheeky! Love it!

Are you on twitter? What's the best reply you've ever gotten? Anything from a celebrity?

ten on tuesday: the bookworm edition

1. When someone asks you for a book recommendation, what is your go-to book?

I recently read a book called The Kitchen House, which I really enjoyed. It reminded me a bit of The Help, for those of you who loved that one. Another recent read was The House at Riverton, which I really enjoyed and could not put down! Another one that I read a while ago but has still been haunting me was Sarah's Key, which is worth a read.

2. Do you buy your books, or are you a library patron?

My mother is a librarian, so yes, I am a library lover! Of course, I do buy books from time to time, but usually just favorites, something like that. If an author I like is in the area for a signing, I like to get a hardback copy.

3. E-readers, yay or nay?

BIG FAT NAY. I will never get one. Never, never, never. Don't try to convince me. End of story.

4. What was your favorite book as a child?

Oh gosh! I LOVED the Ramona books, I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, I loved The Secret Garden, the Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Miss Rumphius...

5. If you could be any character in a book, who would you be?

Ramona, I think :) When I get a corgi, I am totally naming her Ramona. DO NOT STEAL MY PUPPY NAME!!!!

6. What book would you love to see turned into a movie?

While I was reading it, I was thinking that The House at Riverton would make a great movie. It is about the making of a movie!

Synopsis

Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline.

In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they-and Grace-know the truth.

In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties, and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever.

The novel is full of secrets-some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne Du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war, and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history.

Originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, already sold in ten countries and a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with characters-and an ending-the reader won't soon forget.

7. What is your all-time favorite book?

Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Gone With the Wind, Miss Rumphius

8. How many books do you read at once?

It depends, usually two, maybe three and a cookbook :)

9. What is your favorite book genre?

Mostly fiction and historical fiction. I read a lot of cookbooks too, and children's books! I read a lot about the Holocaust (memoirs and such). I don't read a lot of biographies, I don't know why. Maybe I should? Any you loved?

10. Which Harry Potter book is the best? Or haven’t you read them at all?

I didn't read them at all, believe it or not. I know, I know......

a very crafty weekend!

This weekend, I spent a lot of time in my sewing room! I was working on a bee block (more on that later), and then just kept on going!

I have this cute wine-y fabric, so I made a few reversable napkins! One side has wine bottles and openers, and the other is the corks! Perfect for Steve and I, as we seem to be a bit of wine-o's!

I found this cute panel of the ABC's, so I made this little mini quilt. It's only about 10" x 10," but I think that it is fun! The back is just plain white, and then you can see the colored blocks around too- those are reproductions of 1930's prints, and I really like them. Vintage and whimiscal, I think! My favorite block is the bottom right square- the girls jump roping! It's very one-room schoolhouse, in my opinion!

Then, a few babushkas, which as you know, I love and collect! I appliqued them onto the colored squares and then sewed them each together. This is also about 10 x 10, and then you can see the smaller single square. I may send this (the bigger one) to Majlinda, my World Vision child in Albania. Not sure yet!

Finally! I was so thrilled! I was looking through a box of books, and found this big pile of crafty books! On Saturday, I was looking for one book, and realized that it wasn't on my shelf....so I looked around, and, JACKPOT! I will admit, that I am still not totally unpacked from my move in December...there are still boxes of books, as we are in need to shelves. Steve and I each have A LOT of books! Shocking, I know. Regardless, I was so pleased to find the missing books, and I will also adnit that there are a few in the pile that I had forgotten about! YES!!!

What about your weekend? What did you do? Anything crafty? :)

a feeling of longing

Last night, I was watching Survivor, as I always do on Wednesday evening (addicted, I admit it!), when I checked facebook (another frequent occurence). I find it somewhat difficult to keep up with people sometimes, as the "feed" on facebook seems to operate in such a strange way. Random people that I should probably delete from facebook are always popping up, but then two weeks will go by and I don't see a peep from my sister, but then going to her page, I'll see all sorts of things that I somehow missed.

I saw a status update from a good friend's mother (and good family friend as well) and saw that my mother commented, and I noticed at first because she wrote "lexi" in her note. I clicked on her page, and saw a list of, quite literally, about 75 replies, all coming from my mother, my sister and her two daughters, who are very close friends of my sister and I. D and my mother are good friends- D's two daughters, K and K, are each a year older than my sister and I, and all are close family friends, as I said. We all grew up together, spending holidays, birthdays and everything in between together. Some of my best memories involve these ladies. I can't remember what D's original status was, but somehow it turned into a conversation about the six of us all getting together for a weekend. D, K and K are all in my hometown, where my parents still live. My sister (B) is in Boston, and I am way down here, in Washington, DC.

Alone.

Not alone, but not that close to them and I was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of homesickness, so much that I spent the next hour trying to convince Steve that we should move to Boston (for reference, Boston is about an hour and a half from my hometown in NH).

Steve, not surprisingly, is not terribly on board with the idea.

For as much of me that wants to move closer to my family in NH, the same part of him wants to move closer to his family in Iowa. It really makes me sad sometimes, to know that my children will never be close to their grandparents the way I was growing up. Both sets of mine lived in my hometown and they were (are) a huge part of my life. This isn't something new, but something that I've struggled with for the entire time I've lived here in DC. Of course, I knew this moving here, but perhaps part of me didn't think I'd stay here as long as I have. Part of me thought I might move back after a few years. I just wish that I could easily hop in a car and drive home for a weekend, or even an afternoon.

Saudade, or saudades (plural), is a Portuguese language word difficult to translate adequately, which describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return.

(the painting shown above was on the wiki page...I really like the painting and wouldn't mind a copy of it....)

Where did you grow up and do you live nearby there now? What do you do when you are feeling homesick?

a little doll quilt and a lot of thanks

I've recently learned of flickr, which is a website where you can share photos and the like. It seems that quilters/sewers and other crafty-types use it and create groups, where they have quilting bees and little swaps. I'm finishing up one quilting bee right now, and then another will begin in May. I will talk more about that in a separate post, because this one is about the doll quilt swap that I just finished.

I will post a photo later of the doll quilt that I made, but this is the quilt that I received in the swap-

This is the back of the quilt!

The fabulously adorable quilt was made by Chris, aka, frecklemama. Isn't it just so sweet? The fabric is from a new line called Sherbet Pips that just recently came out. People have been waiting for it for months, anxiously awaiting it. How could they not, when it is this cute?! The little girl is just so cute. She reminds me of Ramona Quimby, in a whimsical sort of way. I love the tree swing, and then the scooter and the puppies and scarves everyewhere! Maybe she reminds me a bit of me too...

Here you can see a few of the extra goodies that Chris sent. She sent a few scraps of the fabric she used, and some unicorns, which is from a line called Far, Far Away, by Heather Ross (I think!). She also sent some needles and some ribbon.

I am so lucky to have received this quilt! I saw it in the flickr pool, but never dreamed that it was for me! I plan to hang it on the wall of my sewing room. I have a few other things to hang, so it will go there. Chris, thank you again, I really adore it!

I've made a few other things recently, so I will post those photos too, if you are interested in seeing them! Any crafts for you lately?

check me out!

Hey! One of my blog friends, Little Miss Can't Be Wrong, asked me to guest post for her while she's out of town! Of course, I was happy to, as guest posting is quite fun, I think.

Hop on over and check out my post...it's all about the Royal Wedding!

(how much do you want that gorgeous blue dress that Kate wore?!)

Also, if Little Miss Can't Be Wrong isn't already in your reader, she should be! Please add her and read her blog- she's hilariously funny and posts the loveliest quotes and pictures often!

ten on tuesday (on wednesday!)

I've seen this floating around a few blogs today, so I thought I'd do it too. You should too, of course!


1) What is your ideal best date?
I've always liked dates that involved being outside- the beach, an outdoor concert, something along those lines. I wouldn't consider myself an outdoorsy person, per se, as in, I'm not much of a hiker, but even something as sitting at an outdoor table at a restaurant works well for me!


2) How long does it take you to get ready to go on a date?
oh, probably an hour or so? it depends on whether or not I'd already decided what to wear ;)


3) What would you wear on the date?
that would depend on where we were going, and what time of year it was! if it was summer, maybe a cute sundress, but in the winter, likely jeans and a cute top


4) If you are married, how often do you go on dates? If you are single, when was your last date?
Steve and I aren't married, but we do try to go on dates, at least twice a month. we both like trying new restaurants and seeing things, and we both are always finding something interesting that is going on in DC that we should see or do.


5) What was your worst date?
I can't really think of one that was that horrible, really!



6) Do you (or did you) kiss on your first date? it depends on the guy...I have before, but not always!



7) If married, how long before you knew he/she was "the one?" If single, how long before you know if the person is marriage material?
well, Steve and I have been together for more than six years now, and if he wasn't marriage material, I wouldn't still be with him! I'm not sure when I realized that he was...maybe I did all along, and just never realized it.



8) Do you prefer day or night dates? probably daytime! lots to do and see, I think! one of my best dates ever involved a castle in Krakow!



9) How old were you when you were first allowed to date?
I'm not sure. that sounds silly, yes, but honestly, I didn't really date much in high school, and I never really went on dates. it would always be a group of people.



10) What is the most embarrassing moment you have had on a date?
I can't think of anything truly embarrasing, if that makes any sense!

doesn't everyone cook in heels???

Channeling my inner June Cleaver in nude heels and a Scarlet Threads apron!