I made my sister's dress!!

Yes!! Saturday I was super productive and made my sister's maxi dress. When I went to the fabric store on Friday, I forgot to buy a zipper for the dress (of course) so after I cut my fabric and had it all ready to go, I walked to Chinatown to get my zippers. On the way I stopped at Boloco for a Mango Passion Smoothie. It was so delicious and perfect to beat the heat.

I didn't completely finish the dress, it still needs to be hemmed and I need to adjust the zipper a bit and had a hook and eye.

I had so much fun making it and felt so good after I finally finished.

So happy with how it came out! Of course there's a few rough areas, but they'll only improve and go away as my skills improve. But for my first garment, I'm pretty proud of myself. I strayed from the pattern a little bit but I like how it came out.

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!

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

Anxious...

So last night I actually had trouble falling asleep because my mind was racing with what should I make first? what else can I sew besides clothes? what fabrics/materials are best for what kinds of clothes? and endless other questions that are probably easily answered, but no so much for me, the beginner. I was planning on going to Winmil Fabric in Chinatown, but their hours don't work out for me since I work a full time job. So, I'll have to wait for the weekend :( But Ben's parents are coming in this weekend and I'm sure Laurie would like to join me in the fabric store while Ben and his father, Bruno, are looking in collector's and antique shops. It would also be nice to have some company and it's another bonus that Laurie actually knows what she's doing and in my eyes, a professional haha.

There are some things needed.. or wanted... for purchase! The list...

• Umba Box gift subscription for Lauren, Ben's sister   CHECK!
• Famous Frocks pattern dress-making book from the Ruche website (except it got bad reviews on Amazon. meh. maybe I'll do a little searching...)
• D.I.Y. Dress-up E-course from Red Velvet / A Beautiful Mess blog    CHECK!
• This Oscar de la Renta fabric and this Marc Jacobs fabric from the Mood website (so pretty!!)

 Exciting things!