As much as I wanted to be productive this weekend...

I wasn't. Sigh.
It was more of a

• sleep
• relax
• be with friends
• prepare
• and clean

sort of weekend.

Friday - I worked while Ben went out catching butterflies with his friends. Luckily, I was able to leave at lunch time! So while Ben was out and I was home alone, I cleaned the bathroom, hallway, and tidied up the kitchen. I then rewarded myself with a much needed nap! I woke up around the time Ben came home. Then our friends came to visit! We all went out to the Cheesecake Factory. No one ever cares about the bill and we all just order whatever sounds good and share. It's the best time. We always plan on dessert after but everyone is always beyond stuffed. We got home pretty late and I crashed.

Saturday - Ben had lots of homework! He was in the last stretch of finishing up his portfolio (Ben studies Industrial Design at Wentworth. Last semester he had a Co-Op at Puma! He's so good, I'm so proud of him) but since no quality print places were open, so it was okay if he finished his work on Sunday, Ben and I hung out. We filled the day with Dexter, darts, and relaxing. I did a little shopping! I went to Utrecht Art Store to get some supplies. They had a big summer sale going on, and I really wanted to start making my own wall art and experimenting and getting crafty. I bought Utrecht's version of Mod Podge, a couple of different sized canvases on sale, and a brush! I started my first project that day, but got side tracked...That night we saw Savages. It was pretty good! We got home pretty late that night too and, of course, I passed out right after.

Sunday - Ben's Dad, Bruno, came to visit for lunch. We went to my favorite place to eat, Victoria's Diner. They seriously have the best breakfast, EVER! And, I have a big love for diners since New Jersey is filled with them and they were a common meeting place for my friends and I back in the day. Ben worked on his portfolio while I relaxed. I really wanted to clean my room and rearrange our pantry (that sounds so sad but seriously it's a mess and there are just boxes of food all over the shelves, in no order whatsoever... and it drives me crazy!) and sew and do one of my canvas projects, but I really have just felt so spent lately I just needed the weekend to relax. I thought about what I wanted to do with the canvases, though!!! That's good enough.. right????

So now, I left myself with a ton of things to do for this week. I feel overwhelmed, but as Ben as told me, "don't stress! these are personal projects, you're doing them for you. Take your time and do it how you want it and when you want it. Stop rushing and trying to get all of these things done." It was good advice. Obvious... but what I actually needed to hear. Ben has been slaving away on his portfolio, and he just kept telling me how he was jealous he couldn't work on any of his personal things because he he had so much work that he needed to do. That made me realize I'm very lucky to have an open as a schedule I have (despite my 38 hour work week). He was right! It made me take a breath and kind of put my projects into a different perspective.

My room is a mess, and each corner is evidence of a different project. Today I NEED to clean my room and organize all my little to-dos.. Then I need to finish all my half done projects. I don't have the space to work on multiple things at once and need to concentration on ONE until I'M DONE.

new motto? one until I'm done?
Hmm....

Cape Cod

Yesterday, Sunday, I spent the day in Cape Cod with my boyfriend and two of our other couple friends. Our friend Marie lives in Orleans, and her dad has a Charter boat. He took us out on the ocean and we went fishing for striper. I caught the biggest one!! All by myself!! It was 31 inches. I was so happy. After, we pulled up Marie's Dad's lobster pots and got 16 lobsters! After this, we took the boat to an island only accessible to people who have their own boats and grilled on the beach and walk around and explored.

I have some pictures from the trip, but Ben has the best ones from his camera. Whenever he gets those to me I'll update the post and add them, but for now, here are some of my pictures from our trip :)

My Benjamin

Brian fishing

Tony's fish

The line covered in baby clams

This is a pregnant lobster. Ew.

Sand dollar that got caught in the trap :)

Before the cooler was full

Found this lil baby crab on the beach :) It's dead though :(

Seriously had the best time yesterday. Can't wait till I get Ben's picture and I could post pictures of my holding my fish!!!!

Personal!

I feel like I haven't had time to myself in days! So I need a little venting time. This is a Victoria post :)

Since Ben and I spent the weekend away, it's been hard to get back into the swing of things. Monday and Tuesday I had little motivation to do anything because I was so behind on sleep and I actually had so much to do around the house that it just made me want to do nothing.

I work until 5 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays, so after I get home, I usually make something to eat for Ben and I, we watch an episode of whatever show we're watching (currently we're on Season 4 of Dexter, Ben has never seen it, ah!) and then I shower, get my things ready for the next day, and then it's 9:30ish and the last thing I want to do is start a project or start cleaning the apartment. When I work on things I like to spend as much time as I want on it, with room for breaks for regrouping and inspiration. I like to go to bed early, too.

That's the other problem, I'm the morning person and Ben is the night owl. So usually, we spend the time between chores and bed hanging out and bonding because he could stay up after I go to bed and have his time and do his homework and take care of his little projects. It's actually kind of nice, cause then on the weekends, I could get up before he's totally awake and clean and shower and relax and have my coffee at a more reasonable 10 AM instead of after noon.


Yesterday being Wednesday, I finally got to clean. Since our other roommate, Jack, was away for the entire week of 4th of July, and it was just Ben and I until the weekend, the apartment stayed pretty clean until we all came back on Sunday. And, since I spent my free time cleaning yesterday... I had no time to work on projects. Sigh. It's okay, I have tonight, tomorrow night, and Saturday night. But not Sunday!

Sunday Ben and I were invited out on a boat with friends. Our friend lives in Cape Cod, Mass and has a boat. She invited us with her boyfriend and another mutual couple out for a fishing trip and out to hang out on an island for the day. I'm only used to the Jersey Shore so I can't wait! Ben also loves to fish so he's excited. I'm also happy I could spend some time with some girls and catch up on my tan. Sunday should be so much fun.

Well hopefully I'll have some crafty news to share in the next coming days :)

xx V

P.S., On Monday, I got my first UMBA BOX!!!! Yes!! I got Ben's sister and I both subscriptions to Umba Box. Seriously best idea ever. We got homemade bracelets and stationary. I already sent my mom a little letter and have been wearing the bracelet. Can't wait for next month!!!
               Edit: Click here if you would like to see the July Umba Box reveal!

Monday again!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great 4th of July! I also hope you had a long break like I did! I was lucky enough to get Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off and paid! But now it's back to the full work week and being productive (after I finish this blog post...) Which I can't lie, I missed the routine. Doing tons of nothing gets to me. But I'm glad to get back into the swing of things.

So I haven't updated since last Monday, ahh!! I've just been too busy.

Tuesday - My last day of work for the week. I was able to leave at lunch time. So I went home and ate with Benjamin. Then I just cleaned, hung around the house, and started on a pair of shorts from some fabric and a pattern I had! Benjamin and I were having a sort of rough patch the past weekend so it was nice to spend the extra time with him. He knew we were both being difficult and I was a little homesick, so my baby surprised me with some much needed delicious desserts. I'm so lucky :)

I got TWO!! of these little fruit tarts. Soooosososo good!

I also got two chocolate truffle mousse cake things. Which I think were more for Benjamin. We shared this but it was still so good! The fruit was my favorite, but I'll take either any day :)

Wednesday - 4th of July!!! Though, Ben and I will be doing our celebrating at his house the following Saturday. His sister flew in from Chicago the night before (Tuesday) and her boyfriend was flying in on Friday for the family party. So Ben and I kept cool in the house all day and then went to the movies to see Prometheus. It kept us entertained, to say the least. We don't feel it explained anything... just left you with more questions...

Thursday - Ben's parents drove his sister, Lauren, to our apartment in Boston to spend the night by us. We went out to eat at Victoria's Diner (my favorite! and not just because we share the same name) and then Ben's Mom, Laurie, Lauren, and I went thrifting at a giant Goodwill which Ben and his dad, Bruno, went to a card shop. I got a skirt (which I'm wearing currently at work!), a dress from H&M, and some vintage plates, saucers, and teacups! I decided I'm going to collect a mismatch dish set with teacups. I absolutely love old plates and all the floral and how it's decorated. I also love mismatch. Now I just need some girlfriends to have a tea party, yay! Then Laurie and Bruno headed back to their house while Lauren, Ben, and I hung out. Lauren had a few of her friends over from high school who live in the city now. I told them about sewing and fruit dehydrating and just chatted and we had dinner at Tasty Burger. Seriously, best burgers EVER. I got the Kahuna burger. Mmmmm :) Should of taken pictures. Oh well, it was dark. Then we headed back to our place and chatted some more before we called it a night.

Friday - Lauren and I woke up early to go on a coffee date. A local coffee shop I have never been to that Lauren and I were planning to try was closed, so we just walked to Starbucks. It was so hot! I couldn't wait to have my iced coffee and petite vanilla scone. We were there from 9:30 AM -12:30 PM!  We just hung out and talked. I don't have a lot of girlfriends, and the ones I do don't know Benjamin very well so it was nice to be able to talk about my relationship to another female who actually knows Benjamin. That might be the most difficult part of being away. Having almost two different lives filled with completely different people. The people from home just don't know the people in Boston or even think similarly, and vise versa. Slowly my Boston life has taken over my New Jersey one, but that's life.  I'm so grateful for my new life and am so glad I followed the path I did that got me where I am today. After we got back, we hung around the house until Ben's Mom picked us up and brought us back to their house. Ben and I hung out with friends while Lauren and Bruno got her boyfriend, Josh, from the airport.

Saturday - Ben's family party! It was so nice to see all his family, and spent time with his sister. She went to school in Savannah and now lives in Chicago so no one gets to see that much of her. His family is truly my my family as well so I felt comfortable and welcomed. Lauren and I felt we needed sun hats for the party and being out on the boat, so we got some at T.J. Maxx's the day before. Best decision ever. I only have a few photos, but here they are :)

My colorful and huge hat and my Benjmain

Captain Ben on the boat!

Lauren and I and our hats :)

and I was lucky enough to go on a romantic canoe ride with my love, and I didn't have to paddle

Sunday - We woke up early and went to a giant flea market a couple towns over from Ben. All I got was some natural raw wildflower honey from Maine. My life goal is to have my own beehive on my property when I have a house. I want to be a beekeeper! And make my own honey, chapstick, beeswax, and whatever else. After we got back, we just slowly headed back to Boston. Ben and I watched Machete and I went to bed early.

It was such a perfect weekend!

Farm Life

I had such a good weekend! I was able to spend time with Benjamin, his family, and friends. His friend was having a graduation party so we were able to spend some time out of the city. Ben and I are both from small towns (his much much smaller than mine!) so we enjoy the getaway from the city. His friend's family has a farm so the graduation party was there. We celebrated, ate fresh fruit, enjoyed the beautiful weather and the simple life.

I can't believe Ben will be graduating this year and me the year after! Almost in the real world... but for now..

 

 

We took an ATV tour around the farm, so beautiful!

1. The farm
2. Benjamin standing in the bed of the ATV
3. Adam grabbed these flowers for me as we were driving :)
4. Going up the hill...
5. The top of the hill. Such an amazing view!
6. Going to the cows...
7. Loved how the just stared at us :) 

Caught frogs...

Saw some animals, the sheep were so fluffy :) Clearly they were my favorite. I didn't take any pictures of the cows, pigs, or chickens in their pens.. whoops! :P

 

and some of the fruit we had! They had trays of fresh fruit and then there were bushes all around the property of wild fruit. The first bush of blueberries we found weren't ready, but then when we found the ripe ones, we ate them all before I could snap some pictures. But I did get to pick cherries straight from the tree and bring them home :)

We got home so late I wasn't able to work on any of my projects :(

BUT! My room was in pieces and a complete disaster from all my new goodies that I cleaned and organized instead. Can't wait to post a picture of my space when I finish it all up :)

The Sewing Has Commenced!

Such a great weekend so far and it's not even over! I'm being productive and also spending quality time with friends and family.

So hmmm!!! What could this be?!?!

The sewing adventures have started! My little station is all set up in my room...

Thanks to Ben's Dad, Bruno, he got me a desk to set up my sewing machine (we only have high tables and chairs in our apartment for some reason) I can't wait to personalize this space and making it my own. I want to get a floor lamp so I can maximize the space on my desk. I also want to make a backboard so you don't see the white wall or wires behind. Yay! Summer Project right there! :)

I also got some fabrics! I absolutely fell in love with these two prints. I could of gone crazy with prints, but I also wanted a solid color to make everyday tanks and stuff like that... so my fabrics..

AHHH!!! the first fabric, the pink one, is going to be a pair of flow-y shorts and a summer dress. The mint green is to be tanks and other things and the last fabric is for a pair of a more fitted short. They're from the same pattern so if I could do one, I should be able to do the other.

I got a girl children's top and romper pattern for a dollar at the store. Laurie and I thought it would be good to read a pattern and adjust its size on something I don't care about. Thankfully I'm pretty small so we didn't have to adjust a child's size 6 that much (only had to add 2 1/4 inches to the width of the pattern) It's more of just a practice run I did on Laurie's old fabrics she doesn't need. She brought me a bag full of scraps to mess around like that and she also brought me a bunch of squares and fabrics to learn how to quilt and to try and make my own.

So far, it's frustrating. Once I get down the technique of holding the fabric, pinning, ironing and overall just how to handle the fabric, I feel like I'll be unstoppable with sewing. Right now I just take a lot of "breaks" because I get a little aggravated with myself when I just can't get a step right or when I just can't get the fabric to feel comfortable in my hands. But, every time I start on my new step and sew the next piece, it comes out better than the last. Sewing is the easy part. The hard part is everything else. I can't wait until it becomes natural to me so I can bust out some work.

Today Ben and I are going to a friend's graduation party. After that, it's sewing time! Hopefully I could get another post in today about my progress :)

Yay! Take Care.

xx V