When I walked out the door this morning, jacket on and tea in hand, I couldn't help but notice how perfect the weather was. Yeah there were clouds in the sky and rain in the distance, but there was a briskness to the temperature. Not to warm, not to cold, but just right to be comfortable in my light jacket. It was so Fall.
Being in Florida for 5 years I never realized how much I missed Fall. Even though I was here last year too I don't think I took enough time to really enjoy it. I was too busy being hurt by the situations in my life and trying to deal with them. Now, a year later, I find myself really looking around, breathing in deeply, and looking at the leaves as they change color. It's truly beautiful. I don't think I ever want to live in a place without Fall again, for an extended period of time at least.
yay Fall!
9.30.2011
9.29.2011
fall fest
Last weekend was one big fall celebration! Chautauqua Institution has it's annual Fall Fest/Quilt Around Chautauqua which is basically a quilt show combined with a number of other vendors and food carts to be had. There was kettle corn, and pumpkins, and crafts galore! I only wish I had had more time to see everything and really enjoy it. Alas, I was working all weekend. I did however get a chance to visit some of the quilt vendors with my sister after work on Sunday. It was so nice to have a few hours with her just to be silly and enjoy each other. Here is more about the quilts I liked on my other blog.
Before I wrap things up take a look at these!
One of the girls I work with does these! Aren't they just incredible?! I love the Jack pumpkin. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies!
Before I wrap things up take a look at these!
9.27.2011
Childhood
Gosh I just love Pumpkin things! Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmm!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Quilt Around Chautauqua
This past weekend the annual Quilt Around Chautauqua/Fall Festival was held at Chautauqua Institution. Since I work there I couldn't wait to spend the weekend surrounded by quilters and their gorgeous creations! And boy was I not disappointed. The quality and craftsmanship that was on display was like nothing I'd ever seen. And there were SO many! The Festival was spread throughout the Institute in 10 buildings, each dedicated to a guild or two. The hotel I work at fed nearly 300 people per meal and housed 250! I've never been around so many quilters in my life.
It was impossible NOT to feel inspired by the work I saw. The patterns and color choices and variations of different ideas; truly awesome. My sister and I literally walked from quilt to quilt doing the "oohs and ahhs" and pointing out the ones we loved (my sisters boyfriends followed along, putting his input in from time to time. such a good sport). What was even more fun was running into a lot of the ladies that we quilt with, many of whom knew our grandmother. It's always a pleasure to chat and catch up with them. Cassie and I aren't sure if we'll be able to make it to the retreat this fall so we've already decided that if we can't we'll just have our own retreat and visit the ladies at the camp. It will be fun regardless.
So here are some of my favorites from the show. I hope your enjoy them and are inspired as well!
It was impossible NOT to feel inspired by the work I saw. The patterns and color choices and variations of different ideas; truly awesome. My sister and I literally walked from quilt to quilt doing the "oohs and ahhs" and pointing out the ones we loved (my sisters boyfriends followed along, putting his input in from time to time. such a good sport). What was even more fun was running into a lot of the ladies that we quilt with, many of whom knew our grandmother. It's always a pleasure to chat and catch up with them. Cassie and I aren't sure if we'll be able to make it to the retreat this fall so we've already decided that if we can't we'll just have our own retreat and visit the ladies at the camp. It will be fun regardless.
So here are some of my favorites from the show. I hope your enjoy them and are inspired as well!
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| a wall of fall! |
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| on of my favorites! I SO want to make a Halloween something! |
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| tooooo cute! |
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| PUMPKINS!! yay |
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| My Friend Kim and her friend made these! | They bought one cut of each fabric and divied them up! |
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| these colors are to die for and I LOVE the snail trail pattern. |
9.22.2011
loans
would anyone like to pay off my school loans?? I would really like to live my life to the fullest. But instead I'm being held back by a mountain of loans that I probably won't see the end of until I'm 50. Yes, 50. Depressing isn't it? And somehow working 2 jobs barely covers it. How is that even possible?
So maybe when I'm 50 I'll be able to get out there and use my degree again or maybe even move out of my parents house.
A girl can dream.
ok...vent over. thank you much.
So maybe when I'm 50 I'll be able to get out there and use my degree again or maybe even move out of my parents house.
A girl can dream.
ok...vent over. thank you much.
update
I know I've been pretty sparse in my posting lately but it's for good reason! I've been working on a few gifts lately so I can't go posting pictures of them for all to see! That would ruin all the fun. BUT I will say that I'm almost done with them so once they are given I will be able to show them off here.
I haven't been a total waste of space!
In other news, my sewing station has been all packed up for my moms house warming party this weekend I simply can not wait to get it all out next week and work on some projects. I've been over flowing with creative ideas lately that I'm thrilled to finally try. It should be good stuff.
So be patient and stay tuned my loves. I promise as soon as I can show you the goods I will!
I haven't been a total waste of space!
In other news, my sewing station has been all packed up for my moms house warming party this weekend I simply can not wait to get it all out next week and work on some projects. I've been over flowing with creative ideas lately that I'm thrilled to finally try. It should be good stuff.
So be patient and stay tuned my loves. I promise as soon as I can show you the goods I will!
latest web discoveries
Lately I've been wanting to do nothing more than to spend time exploring the internet. I'm not really sure why.
But in my current online cravings I've come across some pretty sweet things!
The first site I found was Pinterest. Now at first glance I had trouble really seeing the different between Pinterest and Polyvore. Both seemed to be places where one could create collages of things that inspire them or pique their interest. Upon further investigation and some help from lovely facebook friends, I've come to really enjoy Pinterest. Even more than Polyvore. It's more diverse. You can pin photos from more sites. I find myself using it more and more and really enjoying it. But at the start of using it, I kept seeing peoples great pictures and wondering how they happened to stumble across all of them! Which leads me to my next great find....
...STUMBLE UPON. Oh man. I could use this site all day. It's simple. Sign up (it's freeeee). Choose some interests from their list of topics. Click the "stumble" button. Basically it will shoot awesome sites at you based on the interests you've chosen. It's basically the bomb and I'm addicted. AND it's a great way to find random videos, pictures, and blogs that I wouldn't have found otherwise. It's grand. Check it out.
Let's talk about blogs baby! If you enjoy keeping up with blogs and have about a million of them bookmarked on your computer, let me introduce you to Bloglovin'. It's a wonderful little place to keep tabs on all your favorite blogs, no matter what domain they're from. It was so liberating when I was able to clean up my bookmarks by getting rid of all the blogs I had been keeping up with. Now they are all in one place where I can read them daily. It's pretty much great.
AND last but not least, whilst in my stumblings I came across a gem of a website called Craft Gawker. I'm a HUGE crafter (see other blog: Craftiness is Happiness. told ya.) so when I found this site it was like heaven to mine eyes. It's a collection of DIY and crafting projects from all types of websites and blogs. There are SO many great ideas and how to's that you can't help but be inspired and want to try most of them! And what's even better?? Maybe crafting isn't your thing but food is? Or weddings perhaps? Or maybe even interior design? There's a Gawker for that! In the top left corner of the craftgawker site there are links to foodgawker, dwellinggawker, and weddinggawker. Super totally cool awesomeness. basically.
So that's what I've been up to lately. I highly encourage you to check out all and any of these sites. And let me know if you enjoy them as much as I do! And not to worry, I do take breaks from my interweb explorations to join the real world. I'm not a hermit just yet.
But in my current online cravings I've come across some pretty sweet things!
The first site I found was Pinterest. Now at first glance I had trouble really seeing the different between Pinterest and Polyvore. Both seemed to be places where one could create collages of things that inspire them or pique their interest. Upon further investigation and some help from lovely facebook friends, I've come to really enjoy Pinterest. Even more than Polyvore. It's more diverse. You can pin photos from more sites. I find myself using it more and more and really enjoying it. But at the start of using it, I kept seeing peoples great pictures and wondering how they happened to stumble across all of them! Which leads me to my next great find....
...STUMBLE UPON. Oh man. I could use this site all day. It's simple. Sign up (it's freeeee). Choose some interests from their list of topics. Click the "stumble" button. Basically it will shoot awesome sites at you based on the interests you've chosen. It's basically the bomb and I'm addicted. AND it's a great way to find random videos, pictures, and blogs that I wouldn't have found otherwise. It's grand. Check it out.
Let's talk about blogs baby! If you enjoy keeping up with blogs and have about a million of them bookmarked on your computer, let me introduce you to Bloglovin'. It's a wonderful little place to keep tabs on all your favorite blogs, no matter what domain they're from. It was so liberating when I was able to clean up my bookmarks by getting rid of all the blogs I had been keeping up with. Now they are all in one place where I can read them daily. It's pretty much great.
AND last but not least, whilst in my stumblings I came across a gem of a website called Craft Gawker. I'm a HUGE crafter (see other blog: Craftiness is Happiness. told ya.) so when I found this site it was like heaven to mine eyes. It's a collection of DIY and crafting projects from all types of websites and blogs. There are SO many great ideas and how to's that you can't help but be inspired and want to try most of them! And what's even better?? Maybe crafting isn't your thing but food is? Or weddings perhaps? Or maybe even interior design? There's a Gawker for that! In the top left corner of the craftgawker site there are links to foodgawker, dwellinggawker, and weddinggawker. Super totally cool awesomeness. basically.
So that's what I've been up to lately. I highly encourage you to check out all and any of these sites. And let me know if you enjoy them as much as I do! And not to worry, I do take breaks from my interweb explorations to join the real world. I'm not a hermit just yet.
if you want to find me on Pinterest my account name is sarahashley13. :)
9.20.2011
9.16.2011
the best place on earth
or one of them anyways.
The Tree House.
That's right, I said the Tree House. Back in high school I ran track with this great guy, Geoff, who just happened to have a man-made tree house out in the woods. Now when I say tree house, it's not the Swiss Family Robinson type of tree house. Instead of being built in the trees, this cabin was built around the trees, more amongst them. What's even more impressive is that Geoff's dad and 2 brothers all built it themselves. Too cool.
Besides its architecture, it's very much like a Swiss Family Robinson home. There are 2 hammocks, both of which hang over ledges (one outside, one inside), a swing that goes over the deck, a catwalk over the main level room, and a crows nest at the very top with a balcony. The heavy wooden doors have submarine port holes for windows. The inside is decorated with ornate objects from the family's adventures around the country. Did I mention that the whole place has electricity?? So just in case taking in the nature isn't enough, you can curl up, listen to some music, or watch tv, while you pop some popcorn. No big deal. Oh and there's a pond as well, with a high dive AND a zip line, of course.
Can you see why I love this place so much??
My pictures can't even begin to do it justice but I wasn't sure that anyone would believe me otherwise. I'm so thankful to Geoff for sharing this place with me so many years ago and for letting me revisit it now. It's such a wonderful escape from real life. And it's so gorgeous in the winter time too. The wall sized windows behind the wood-burning stove just make for the perfect winter setting. It's perfect.
1. a view from the deck. look closely and you'll see the crows nest up above. 2. there's a creek that runs below the cabin...like its own little gorge. 3. Geoff swinging on the swing. 4. the deck. behind that picnic table is a hammock. 5. the sunset from the high dive. 6. the catwalk. 7.the view from above the first floor 8. brother Jer playing us some tunes next to the stove.
The Tree House.
That's right, I said the Tree House. Back in high school I ran track with this great guy, Geoff, who just happened to have a man-made tree house out in the woods. Now when I say tree house, it's not the Swiss Family Robinson type of tree house. Instead of being built in the trees, this cabin was built around the trees, more amongst them. What's even more impressive is that Geoff's dad and 2 brothers all built it themselves. Too cool.
Besides its architecture, it's very much like a Swiss Family Robinson home. There are 2 hammocks, both of which hang over ledges (one outside, one inside), a swing that goes over the deck, a catwalk over the main level room, and a crows nest at the very top with a balcony. The heavy wooden doors have submarine port holes for windows. The inside is decorated with ornate objects from the family's adventures around the country. Did I mention that the whole place has electricity?? So just in case taking in the nature isn't enough, you can curl up, listen to some music, or watch tv, while you pop some popcorn. No big deal. Oh and there's a pond as well, with a high dive AND a zip line, of course.
Can you see why I love this place so much??
My pictures can't even begin to do it justice but I wasn't sure that anyone would believe me otherwise. I'm so thankful to Geoff for sharing this place with me so many years ago and for letting me revisit it now. It's such a wonderful escape from real life. And it's so gorgeous in the winter time too. The wall sized windows behind the wood-burning stove just make for the perfect winter setting. It's perfect.
1. a view from the deck. look closely and you'll see the crows nest up above. 2. there's a creek that runs below the cabin...like its own little gorge. 3. Geoff swinging on the swing. 4. the deck. behind that picnic table is a hammock. 5. the sunset from the high dive. 6. the catwalk. 7.the view from above the first floor 8. brother Jer playing us some tunes next to the stove.
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