Has the jury reached a decision...?

Yes we have, Your Honor.   haha!

Finally!  After 3 days of boring testimony, evidence, objections, head shakes and dirty looks, we were finally able to deliberate this morning and express our opinions about it all.  We had to reach a decision on 4 separate counts.  And after 2 and 1/2 hours of discussions, votes, and one bathroom break- we decided for the plaintiff.  Even though that was the right decision, I still felt a little mad at him, for wasting my time on something that could have been avoided by a little more diligent bookkeeping and a signed contract.  It's just good business, people!  Look at your bills when they come in the mail!  Know what you are being charged for someone's services before you utilize them for a YEAR!  Make sure the contract gets SIGNED.  (PS- lawyers can be sooo catty)

Ok, venting over.   Jury Duty over.  I seriously feel free.  For at least a year. 

The Earth started shaking...

I was sitting in the jury box in the middle of cross examination when the building started shaking. Since our courtroom is on the 6th floor, we felt it for quite a while.  I guess around 25-30 seconds.  No one moved.  I couldn't believe it.  The judge made a joke.  I raised my hand and asked if I could get under his desk.  He laughed.  I said- seriously.  The room stopped shaking.  A comment was made about aftershocks being possible.  AND THE TRIAL RESUMED.  It took me a minute to realize that the shaking I was still feeling, was my legs trembling!  But as a juror, I tried to focus again and take my notes with the shaky hand.  But within a minute the announced on the loudspeaker that they were evacuating the building. 

Most exciting part of my jury duty thus far...

Jury Duty... and a purse

Today, I had to report downtown for Jury Duty.  By lunch, I was done for.  Selected for a jury.  I am not at liberty to discuss the case, but let's just say it is unfortunately boring.  At least I am out of work for 3-4 days...

Anyway, here are pictures of a crochet purse that I made for my cousin Lisa's birthday.  It was about four months late, but my very first crochet project ever.  I am really happy that I learned on a pattern of a large project and didn't just make a shapeless scarf.

The hook was really small, so it took quite awhile, but still much faster than knitting!

Caleb and I got inspired Sunday evening to clean out our closets and got rid of sooo much stuff.  Note the wheel-less skateboard deck that CB got free 2 1/2 years ago... hmmm...

After this picture was taken, I separated it out into a pile to take to the regular thrift store, and a different pile of just my clothing to donate to the battered women's shelter.  It made me realize that I dress like a teenager.  Hopefully the women will like some of it.  

Elise's Baby Shower!

Yesterday, we held Elise's baby shower.  It was a lot of work, but I think she had a good time, so it was worth it.  Congratulations, Elise!

Elise with her spread

Diaper cake I made for decoration

The lovely ladies (and one charming boy) that were in attendance

Jasper and his turtle shirt I made him in May

These are a bib and burp cloth that I made Elise for one of her gifts. 

This party goer did not RSVP- If you look closely you can see the coyote's tail!  Yikes!  They stayed pretty far away from us people.

AND IT BEGINS!!!!

Season 5 Project Runway is off to a great start. Kirsten is the best for letting us all get together and watch at her house every week. I have never been so excited for a television show before.

Here are the winners (and ultimately the ones I thought were the best) from the first two episodes.

This design is eye catching because he took what he was given (the models bought the "green" fabric this week) and made it different and soo much more inovative. I have to admit, my first glance at what he was doing, and I was worried- all the strips he was cutting with the rotary cutter reminded me of quilting, and the tulle... well, that could go very badly in a cocktail dress. BUT I LOVE the finished look. Suede is one to watch for after all.

The first challenge was to design a look using items found at the grocery store. I think Kelli showed the most creativity by actually ALTERING the items she got. She used bleach to DYE the vacuum cleaner bags that she used to make the skirt. She burned a design into the coffee filters for the top and used push pins to make a studded belt. The most genius of course, was her disassembly of the notebook to make the hook and eye closures for the back. I think this look is very wearable, due to the embellishing and dyeing she did. You absolutely can not tell that this look is constructed of vacuum cleaner bags... but all those tablecloths- well, they still looked like tablecloths.

Yummy cake

I am still preparing for next week's baby shower that I am throwing for my friend, Elise.  I am assigned to bring strawberry cupcakes, and I found a recipe on howtoeatacupcake.blogspot.com

The frosting is a whipped mousse cream cheese frosting that I added a few drops of red color to to make pink.  It is a delicious cake, so I'll be using this recipe for the cupcakes that I bring next weekend.

Bib

I made this cute bib using a template on Purlbee.com.  I didn't have any bias tape, so I made my own!  It was my first time using the bias tape maker that I bought a few months ago online, and it was really easy.  The ribbon for the bow, I just happened to have and it almost matched perfectly!  I gave it to my work friend for her granddaughter, Lila, who was born this week.

I tried it on my old bear, because it looked really small, but it fit him well.

I will definitely make more of these.

It ain't easy going green...

It all started with Al Gore...

CB and I are really trying to embrace a more environmentally friendly outlook. But it sure isn't easy.

We have tried a couple of those CFL lights in our lamps at home. We try to have the air conditioner set to "energy saver" whenever possible and keep the temperature at 75 degrees. We used to try not to use it at all... but man does it get HOT in our little apartment (plus we just can't do that to our poor cats).

We share one car, partially by choice of simplicity and partially because we can't afford to replace the one that was stolen 2 years ago. haha This both makes us waste and reduce, sometimes forcing us extra trips when both need the car, and sometimes forcing one of us on our bike. We ride bikes together on the weekend to run errands when possible. Caleb takes the bus pretty often to band practice.

We have totally switched to organic milk, but cheese is a bit harder. We try to buy organic meat and veggies when possible, but it is really raising our food bills.

Awhile back, I was reading a book called Garbageland. The author would go through her trashcan everyday and detail everything she'd thrown out. I can't even imagine doing that. Even though we recycle our plastic, Caleb and I throw out soooo much each day. I realized that we fly through paper towels and thought maybe that's something we could reduce. So I bought some kitchen wash cloth/dishrags and announced, these are for cleaning the counter... this towel is for drying the dishes... this towel is for drying our hands... these cloth napkins are for using while eating. That lasted about 3 days and I was back to the paper towels for hand drying, then for napkins. geez.

What a Weekend!

This weekend Caleb and I finally got away to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.

We went to Malibu Saturday morning and hiked in Malibu Creek Canyon. We had packed a picnic lunch and ate it beside a rock pool. After eating (and waiting 30 minutes-haha) we decided to cliff jump into the water. Caleb did it once to test it out, and then I joined him. He went first so that he could wait in the water for me. It was WAY more intimidating than I thought, poor CB was treading water for a couple minutes while I got up the courage. After a couple false starts, I finally jumped in! There is no video of me, but here is one I took of CB's jump. Note the foot grab.

After the hike and cleaning up at the hotel, we went out to a fancy dinner at a restaurant called The Sunset. Our table was at the window and overlooked the beach with of course a pretty sunset. Here is one of the pics we took while waiting in between courses.

Finally!

In the last week, my blogging had been stifled by my work's sudden and
unexpected blocking of blogger. But Yay! It's back in full use again.

Here is a picture that Harmony just sent me of my nephew Oliver, wearing his duckie shirt I made him. He really looks adorable in it (and always!). I like that it is a "muscle tee" or it probably would be too babyish for this boy. I made him the duck, because big brother Mason informed me that it was Oliver's favorite animal. Thanks for the tip, Mason!

PS- We gave Ashton and Tawny the monkey bag for Dave last night, and I think it was a hit! Haven't heard Dave's reaction yet.

Here's Johnny...

I went to set at 2am on Monday for a 1930's call on a new movie.  

I went pretty much with the hope that I would get a glimpse of Johnny Depp.

My coworker, Tony brought his daughter (also a big Johnny fan) along to the set.  We finished checking in all the background actors around 6am.  Johnny's makeup call was 7am.  We wandered around the racetrack, killing time and then headed to basecamp to stalk, er... wait, for Johnny to arrive.  

Of course, when the time comes, I miss him (due to my attempt to "look casual, non stalkerish"), and alas... he is in the makeup trailer for at least another hour.  We go to set.  Set call was 8am.  We wait on set. and wait. and wait.  FINALLY... 9:30am he shows, walks up looking incredibly cool in his 1930's look (which after working on the Changeling last year, I am super obsessed with).   I nonchalantly scope him out from the balcony for about 5minutes until he walks to the other side of the horse paddock for the next shot.  I figure, well, saw Johnny CHECK, I should go home, after all I've been on the clock about 8 hours and I haven't even gone to the office yet.  So I say goodbye to Tony and Samantha and take off to go home and sleep for a few.

  

I WAKE UP TO THIS PIX MESSAGE ON MY CELL... 

Not only did she meet him, but she got a picture and he put his arm around her!  Johnny may be a super rad guy on screen, but he is also very nice and accomodating to his fans.  I would've only had to wait 3 more hours on set for this!  haha!  That's what I get for going home to sleep...   

Sewing class results

Recently, I took a sewing class. We could bring whatever we wanted to make. I had bought this pattern in IL and wanted to make the monkey backpack for our nephew Dave for Kindergarten.
This class was at Sandbox Rebel, a cool store in Valley Village that sells edgy and modern children's clothing. I learned some new techniques for applique, while making this monkey face from felt. I chose a stiff cotton plaid for the body of the backpack.


There is a zipper that goes across the top from ear to ear, so it opens really wide and is fully lined.

I took am earlier sewing class back in May at Pintucks in Pasadena. Jennifer, the owner/teacher, is more by the book than the Sandbox Rebel girls, so I had a full pattern brush up. We marked every dot, made every notch, pressed every seam. Here is the result:


This dress had darts, facing, a zipper, and ended up needing to be brought in a few inches- so I learned alterations too. All in all, I don't really like the dress too much, but i learned a lot in the class. The fabric was cute, until I cut it into a dress shape, then it seemed like too much. (Note- that awesome sheep painting is one of Caleb's creations.)
I plan on making more of these cute backpacks, but probably won't make another one of these dresses.