New New New!

I have added a few new items to my Etsy shop! Check them out! I will try to get a few more new items up this week... stay tuned!

I apologize for the gap in my recent posts. I have been a busy bee lately! I finally got a weekend at home and all I accomplished was laundry and bathroom cleaning (and only one of two bathrooms). This is my last week at Dallas Center Grimes as the sub art teacher. I will definitely miss the kids, staff, and all the people I have met at the schools! I will need to go back and visit to see how the students are doing. I am sure they will be very glad to have Mrs. Duncan back though! I am planning on trying out subbing day-by-day for the rest of the school year... if I am not getting any hits for that, I would like to work at a daycare until I can find full time employment at a school as an art teacher. I have a few leads on art teaching positions in the metro... I'll keep you posted! That's all for now!

Another great weekend...

Another great weekend with girls I love :) I can't complain.... except that we had to leave early due to bad weather. The plan was to head to Minneapolis for my friend Renee's baby shower. The weekend started on Friday with a fabulous teacher-in-service day! Because I am a substitute teacher, I did not have to attend... woohoo! I went shopping in the morning and got my hair done. I needed a personal day to pamper myself a bit. I also made the big decision to color my hair brown! I am now close to my original hair color. I think I like it! It will take a bit to get used to after being blonde for a few years. Anywho.... Mimi came and picked me up and we took off for the Twin Cities! We gabbed the whole way there... we are good at that :) We stayed at my friend Renee's parents house. When we arrived everyone was her sister's play. We decided not to waste time and looked up the nearest Italian joint. We were pleasantly surprised to find this amazing little pasta bar called Broder's. The wine and food was terrific. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the area. After dinner we headed back to the house to meet up with Renee's family. They are such great people! I felt like I was with my own family the entire time. They are so welcoming and loving. I went to bed full of good food, wine, and conversation :) The next day Mimi and I spent a few hours exploring and seeking out fun crafty/art stores. We found an awesome fabric store that I had seen online and always wanted to go to! It was full of my favorite fabric designers and incredibly inspiring! If you are a fabric lover check out www.craftyplanet.com or check it out in person if you are in the area. After the fabric store we headed over to Paper Source in Uptown. Another fun store full of fantastic finds! We headed back to the house and got ready for the shower. The baby shower was from 2-5 at Renee's G'mas house. Her mom had decorated for the shower and it was sooooo sweet :) If I have a baby girl, I would totally hire her to do my shower. It was so sweet and special the whole shower. I always love showers because of the combination of woman that come together to celebrate a wedding or a baby. It does not happen many times in life and I feel these moments should be cherished. I can honestly say I felt blessed to be surrounded by such beautiful, intelligent, and caring women of Renee's life! :) After the shower we had some down time and then discovered the unfortunate weather coming our way. We decided to do a quick dinner with Renee, her sister Bethany, friend Tina, Mimi, and I. We went to a great place called the The Lowbrow. They are known for their comfort food, but done fresh. I had a delicious veggie burger (homemade, not frozen) and fries... mmmm. I think all their food/meat is locally grown. Good job Lowbrow! Again, I recommend this place as well!!! Mimi and I departed around 930 with Starbucks DoubleShots and Cherry Coke in hand. We got home late, but safely. I was happy to be able to crawl into a warm bed with my husband and pups at the end of the day. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but a good one!

Shower time!

I have been looking forward to this weekend for about a month! The time has come to travel to St Joseph, MO to celebrate Emily McAtee's baby girl coming into this world. A couple of my sorority sisters and I have been planning a baby shower for Saturday. It has been so great planning all the details to make it a special day for Em and her baby girl. We left early Saturday morning for MO. Unfortunately, I caught some bug earlier in the week and I was not feeling the best. I have to say, the minute I stepped into Heidi and Justin's house (where the shower was held) I forgot I was not feeling well. It was just SO great to see old friends and catch up. Sometimes I can't believe that my friends are so accomplished. I have to remind myself that we are grown-ups with jobs, spouses, babies, and student loan debt! I had to stop and laugh at dinner Sat night... I turned to a friend and said... are we really talking about insurance on a Saturday night?!?! Oh, where does life go? I can't say I mind though. I am over the party days and it is very exciting to see these lovely ladies become established in their careers, become wives, and mommies :) I feel proud to be surrounded by such beautiful, accomplished, and caring women. And still proud to be a Gamma Phi Beta where it all started! Love in IIKE to my sisters and best wishes for the future!

Sewing, creating, sewing, creating... :)

The weekend brought much creativity for me. I finally got some time to sit down and sew with my new Janome sewing machine I received for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad)! During the Super Bowl I tried out a cute pattern I made for bibs. I am hoping that all, yes I mean all, my friends that are pregnant can try these out for me. I feel like lately just about everyone my age is pregnant or trying (okay, not everyone!). I am looking forward to meeting all the new lil babes!

Tonight I decided to try a new method for making pillows. Last summer purchased some awesome designs that I made into fabric transfers and I never got around to using them. I decided to transfer them on to some basic fabric and create pillows! I thought they turned out pretty shnazzy. I am hoping to get some burlap or other natural fabrics to try. My goal this week is to get a lot of sewing done and update www.urbanecology.etsy.com. Check for updates this week. I will be posting new items on Facebook if you are interested!

Snow day!

Second snow day of 2011. Not the greatest when you get paid by the day as a substitute teacher..... Although, I do enjoy a spontaneous free day! Today I busied myself with cleaning, organizing, and decluttering the pantry. Ben was shocked when he  got home. It is amazing to me how much STUFF we can collect over the years. We have clearly outgrown our home. What I would do for a basement or even an extra bedroom!!! I also successfully completed my job applications to two school districts. Now, if only I could get a full-time job. I am soooo ready. I believe the rest of this beautiful snow day will be spent cuddling with the pups and my hubby over Biggest Loser :) Man, I lead an exciting and fast-paced life... and I wouldn't have it any other way. This is a photo from the front door... LOVELY!