The Royal Wedding...I know I know

I'm jumping on the proverbial horse-drawn carriage because I CANNOT CONTAIN MYSELF ANY LONGER. 

I could barely sleep last night.  The excitement was just buzzing through me. Mr. ST came home at 4:00 to find me still in bed.  He was shocked.  But a few minutes later I was out of bed and glued to the 'telly'.  I made myself some tea too. 

 Yes I really got up this early to watch all the shenanigans.  :-)

 The tea unfolds in the hot water... YUM!

It's rather delicious.  Mr. ST even joined me for a bit to oogle over all the hats and fascinators.  Kidding.  He did join me for about 10 minutes before he made some cheeky remark and went to bed. 

Ok, I'm going to just write....

The Dress Secret - I'm glad that it's been kept a secret.  It's special, I wouldn't want my future husband to know about it just because the media are nosy buggers.

The Avenue of Trees....I mean, really?  I see how it makes the Abbey more "rustic" and brings in a sense of "country garden" but it's sort of silly.  Then I think about how insistent I am about my centerpieces and I'm glad the couple have gone with this detail.

The Hats - Oh SWOON.  I wish hats were more popular in the states.  I love them.  I want to wear a fascinator every day.  The artistry, the drama, the colors, feathers, flowers, dangling bobs and ribbons. I could continue on and on.

William - He just arrived at the Abbey.  My first thought - wow he's balding something fierce.  Then I realized that was a bit 'naughty' to think like that.  He looks so calm, happy, and ready to begin his life with his love. Drooooool.  Swooooon. 

Carol Middleton - What a lovely mother of the bride.  Her greyish-blue outfit was stunning.  It was a designer that Princess Diana wore often.  Brought a small tear to my eye. 

The Queen - She's wearing YELLOW!  Go Queenie!  What a strong color for her to wear on this special day - so happy.  I hear that wearing pastels is "traditional" for wedding wear in England.

Tradition - To hear that Kate will not be using the 'obey' in her vows makes her all the more dear to me.  I understand the marriage is a union, but it's an equal union now.  I vaguely remember hearing what the vows are late last night, but I cannot recall now.

KATE!!! There are lace sleeeeeeeeeves. Oh, how delicate and lovely.  How slow the car is moving.  I would be so anxious to get there!  MOVE ALONG driver - I want to get married!!! She is so elegant and modest -two traits I have in small quantities.  I can almost hear the screaming and jolly good time across the pond.  The dainty tiara is perfect for her, and her hair is half up and half down - I wish she wore it all up!  Alexander McQueen!  Perfect. 

Oh....just lovely.  She is so beautiful, so timeless.  She is very Grace Kelly.  I am loving the GRIP she has on her daddy's hand.  All smiles - oh swoon.  Pippa is so beautiful too and in all white! 

I cannot wait to see William's face when he sees Kate... that's my favorite part of the wedding ceremony.  I do have to make it a point to make sure someone gets a picture of Mr. ST when I first step out.  It's such a lovely moment.  He didn't turn around!!!  Harry did, and made some cheeky remark I'm sure based on the smirk on his face.

Too much singing for me.  Get this ceremony started! From what I understand, the "you may now kiss the bride" is an American tradition.  There was some speculation that the couple would include it...I wonder.

Not gonna lie, I did cry just a wee bit when they said their vows.  So lovely. The crowd cheering outside was fabulous. 

Kate's brother is a fantastic reader.  His inflection and tone are magnificent and he is reading at a lovely speed too.  Just my two cents from an English teacher nerd.

I love the little looks they are giving each other and smiling.  They really and truly love each other.  SO SWEET. 

I've been speechless for the last hour.  It's been amazing to watch all this pomp and fan fair going about. I'm just waiting for the kiss on the balcony.  <3

Painted Rug

I've been at it again today.  My plans got changed and I ended up with some free time so I tackled a project I've been DYING to get to all month.

I follow the super amazing blog UCreate and each month they have a "Craft with Me" project.  This month was PAINTED RUGS.  The pictures she posts are amazing.  Swoon-worthy craftiness all over rugs.

I knew I wanted to get my craft on and paint a rug, but I was also alarmed by the thought of PAINTING A RUG.  lol.

I didn't take any before pictures because I didn't really know how it would turn out, but here's the finished project:

I took the grimy, old rug that was in the house when me moved in and painted it the color of our living room. HAHA Mr. ST I got my own set of tools out, opened the gallllllon of paint, painted a rug and YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I DID IT! :-P

I used my Cricut to cut out the flip flop template and I pined it to the rug to keep it in place.  I then used a cheap-o foam brush and stenciled in the flops with some regular old craft paint.

I also used the Cricut to cut out the Welcome letters from the Life's a Beach Cartridge.

The rug was missing something so I also added some starfish that, again, I cut out with the Cricut.

This was a RIDICULOUSLY easy craft and one that EVERYONE can do.  

I can hear what you're thinking... 'Great, amazing, fabulous rug and all, but this has nothing to do with weddings...' YOU ARE WRONG!  Think about painting a personalized RUG to use in the ceremony, or for the reception during cocktail hour.  SWWWOOOOONING.  I've got some Wedding Rug Ideas already flowing! 



Running, or gasping for breath while flailing my arms hopelessly

I hate running, no I loathe it.  Running in an evil exercise that is designed to make the majority of the population feel inadequate. 

                                                     Ewwww. Running. Eewwww

Now Mr.ST loves to run.  He still holds some records at his high school for the track team. Welll... GOOOOD FOOOOR YOU!!!

Needless to say, he convinced me that we should do a 5k a few years ago.  I agreed and found a great program to download and follow online.  We went to the gym all the time and I was psyched to do my first real "run" with him.  The week before the race I was at the gym one Saturday morning and I went through my usual routine.  I love to stretch, so I was enjoying streching after the run and POP.  Something in my right hip just went wrong.  I cried and almost coudln't get up.  I made it home and had intense pain for about a week and finally went to the doctors. 

At first I was just given cortizone shots.  That didn't help.  Then came an MRI and it was confirmed I had a severe case of Bursitis in my hip.  GREAT.  Physical therapy followed and all that really gave me was a permanent bruise on my hip. Gross.

 According to SportsLink this is what Bursitis is:

Hip bursitis

What is Hip bursitis?

Hip bursitis is a common problem that causes pain over the outside of the upper thigh. A bursa is a fluid filled sac that allows smooth motion between two uneven surfaces. For example, in the hip, a bursa rests between the bony prominence over the outside of the hip (the greater trochanter) and the firm tendon that passed over this bone. When the bursal sac becomes inflamed, each time the tendon has to move over the bone, pain results. Because patients with hip bursitis move this tendon with each step, hip bursitis symptoms can be quite painful.

                                                                        Yea...it's not fun

It still hurts 2 years later.  I still have time when it pops and aches and is painful.  It's not something easy to make up either.  You can tell right when I walk if it's a good or bad day.  There is also a permanent "bump" on my hip where the main pain comes from.  I've finally gotten back to walking almost everyday and riding my bike is enjoyable again. 

So, my point.  Bridesmaid TM and I were G-chatting today.  I had just gotten done a walk/very small jog and she had jogged earlier in the am.  We started chatting about the 5K program and how much we liked it and eventually decided we MUST do a 5k in October some time.  I am all in. She is all in, and BM CV is all in too! YAY!

I told her I would train and work at it but it may take me some time because of how careful I need to be with running and my hip.

The bursitis also makes walking in heels uncomfortable - yay for heels at the wedding.

Monday Funday Quilt and Easter Wrap-up

So I've been a bit light on the postings this week.  It was spring break and you all heard about the drama when bridesmaid LC came to visit (dog pee + cell phone + washing machine = too much drama). Plus I had an unscheduled AMAZING craft-outside-weather-day and painted my wedding shoes which turned out AWESOME. 

I finished some last minute Easter crafts, and I've also been busy finishing up craft projects for my FSIL's baby shower this coming weekend.  So here they are:

Up first, some mixed media Easter bunting and fleece PEEPS! I had seen the Fleece Peeps at Dandelions and Lace and decided I MUST do them for Easter gifts.  The first one turned out not so great, so it went to Matron on Honor NM's two huskies (who I love sosososososo much). 

This is Bandit.  He's my favorite.  Kiera would not sit still long enough for me to take a picture.

 He was enjoying the bunny.  It's hard to see, but it was a hot mess of a bunny.  Yuck.

 After some adjustments and various sewing techniques I got that little Peep done.  I only made two - one for my mom and one for my Grandmother. 

Next: the bunting.  It was easy - I used my Chick Peep template and the bunny one from Dana MADE it Both patterns here.  I added two plastic eggs that I covered with various materials. Then a paper fan and a saying I cut out with the trusty Cricut.

 These eggs were my favorite - covered with BUTTONS!!!

Onnnn to the Quilt.  This was a labor of love for my future niece.  I had started to knit a blanket and then scrapped the idea because it just wasn't good enough. So I was back to square one.  I was going through my stash, saw some of this material together and was inspired. 

I like when Quilts are three-dimensional.  Babies especially like this because it's like built-in toys to play with.  So I added fleece butterflies and crushed velvet yo-yo style flowers.

Finished quillllllt!!!

Close up of the yo-yo style flowers.  Mr. ST's mom gave me a large tin of buttons a few years ago.  They belonged to Mr. ST's Bachi (grandmother in polish) and he was SUPER close with her.  I decided to use the bottons on the flowers to share something of Bachi's with our future niece Gabby. 

Three dimensional butterflies.

I am very happy with the way it turned out.  I hope that my FSIL likes it too.  It's just the right size to go in the crib, plus it's pillow topped so it's UBER warm and snuggly. 

I just wanted to share one more craft - my mom made everyone Easter themed flower yo-yos.

I chose the one on the left - with the blue background and the light blueish button.  Good job Mom!!!

Hope everyone had a great Easter and Spring Break!!!