2007 April archive at Filtering Life

Archive for April, 2007

Ho-Hum

Published by Kelly April 28th, 2007 in Confessions. 18 Comments

That is my blogging yawn. My posts have been less than interesting the last week or so….I am just not feeling it…you know…feeling funny, witty, inspired, ready to wow you. I refuse to start prattling down my days to-do list, no offense, those who use their blog for that, unless I really know you well…that is about the last thing I feel like reading. I feel like I need to come to the table with something amusing. I have been a total slack when it comes to reading others blogs. I pull up my bloglines, feel a great sense of being overwhelmed and quickly click out of it. I know the golden blogging rule, you scratch my back and I scratch yours with comments…but man…it is just a burden sometimes. Does that sound incredibly rude? I haven’t even taken pictures of Chloe lately…I know, I know, don’t call psyche ward yet…I am not losing it here…..just, I don’t know…not feeling it.

Well let’s see what I can come up with (blows dust off fingers, cracks knuckles).

I did have the pleasure and not pleasure of going bridesmaid gown shopping last night with my old roommate, Kristie, who finally got engaged….YEAH…about stinking time, and my friend Sarah, who is also in the wedding. While I still desperately cling to those 9 extra baby pounds, plus my 8 extra wedding pounds I put on before getting pregnant…lets just say, I am less than enthused about dropping some chump change on a bridesmaids gown that will sit in my closet until I sell it, give it away or Chloe is old enough to play dress up with it! You usually try on the size you hope you fit in…no dice, then go one size up to what you think you are…still no dice…then you finally admit the mirrors aren’t bowed, you really do look like that and get the size that makes you want to cry. I liken this experience to trying on bathing suits while you are pale and out of shape, except with gowns you drop 3 to 5 times as much money than you would on a bathing suit. Yes you cover up more flesh, but back rolls, flabby arms, and ample bosom aren’t exactly on the menu of hotness either. So with my best happy face I could muster, I zipped and squeezed my way into a few gowns until she found one she liked for us.

It is exciting to watch your close friends get married and to be apart of it and I have to remind myself that nobody really cares what I look like, they care about the bride. My husband will think I look great no matter what, he is just that cool. This is the three musketeers! We have about 20 of this exact shot over the last 8 years of friendship.

Sweet bang split Kelly….can we say dirty hair!

I did finish another little decorating project around the house. I have been keeping an eye out for frames to go on sale and wouldn’t you know it, Target pulled through for me again. They had an end-cap full of white frames with mats already in them. I have been meaning to frame some material and using them as wall decorations. Here is the finished product in my living room.

and this is above the bed in the guest bedroom. We still haven’t painted the walls in this room, so you have to imagine the walls being a mushroom/taupe color….got that in your head…good…now look at the pictures.

Cheap and easy way to decorate a wall and put some splashes of color around the room.

We interrupt this interesting blog to make sure Charlotte is comfortable.

Yeah, make yourself at home Charlotte. You might want to be more of a lady than that. Men like a little mystery.

Alright, it is time to bring on some Chloe pics. Here are some of my favorite 6 months shots. The rest are on my flickr.

Over kill? Nah…one more for the road.

Anyone else counting down the days?

Published by Kelly April 25th, 2007 in Confessions. 13 Comments

Harry Potter and The deathly Hallows

Okay, call me a nerd or a loser…I don’t care! I am so incredibly excited about the two….not one… releases of Harry Potter this summer. A book AND a movie….oh man oh man….LOVE this series. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. If you haven’t read it, realize the first 2 books are a little more kid geared and then it really takes off by book three. Before you know it, you will be a member of the Harry Potter cult equipped with your own striped scarf and wand. The books are, by far, one of the best series I have ever read. You won’t be disappointed unless you are like some of my friend that would rather pull their nose hairs out than read a book….just stick to the movies then.

If you haven’t seen the trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...by all means…help yourself here.

To pre-order the book, go to Amazon.com. I know…double nerd. Just when you thought I was cool and all…silly you!

The great unveiling

Published by Kelly April 23rd, 2007 in Our Biz-Nas. 12 Comments

If you saw smoke billowing from our house over the last 7 days, then you saw the affects of Ryan burning the midnight oil to finish redesigning our business site. Yesterday, we ran a booth at a bridal showcase in town and needed to get all our ducks in a row before going. Ryan loves to give me a mini heart attack when we are under the gun by taking his time, thinking things through, sizing up his options, also known as PROCRASTINATION!!!!! I try to be a patient wife…I try…I can’t say I am perfect…you can literally hear my butt getting tighter as each approching day to our deadline arrives and I am still waiting on him. Of course he explains to me a million times that designing a website is easy and fun….making it work is time consuming and boring….so when I look at a site and it LOOKS like nothing has changed, I don’t realize all that goes into the back end. At least that is what he tells me to save face from my beefing at him. All in all, the night before he stayed up till 3:30am and was back up by 7:15am and was able to finish by the time we left at 11:30. So please, if you can all stand and give him a round of applause….enjoy the newly redesigned Kellen Studios site with a greatly updated portfolio by my beloved husband and I. More sections to follow over the month. (Engagement, Bridal and Family)

I would show you a picture of us at our cool little booth, but like all great photographers, we forgot our camera….so you will just have to imagine us in a sea of black, white and pink. It never ceases to amaze me the apathy some people have at selling their products. There were so many booths where the people never ever left their seats BEHIND their table. The girls across from us were representing a spa. One had the tiniest jean skirt you have ever seen with a ribbed tank top and the other girl had painted on shorts and skin tight vest. The picture of professionalism. They never once got up from their chairs to approach anyone. I am not saying you tackle people as they walk by, but for heavens sake, put a little effort into being friendly, shake hands, introduce yourself, hand them something! I guess it makes us stand out even more just because we are personable.

So we will see what comes of this event. I am blown away by how many people are getting married 14-30 months from now!!!! Ummmmm….what is the hold up ladies? I would go postal if I had to have a long engagement…that ain’t me! I know some people have no choice due to extenuating circumstances, but others just put it off.

That’s all I got on a Monday. You can just about see through us right now as we have been worn out with lots of guest and so much to do…May is looking a little more promising for some relaxation. Fingers crossed.

Pillows 101

Published by Kelly April 19th, 2007 in Sew Smart. 8 Comments

Okay, those of you who commented and emailed. This really is the most basic thing you can make with a sewing machine, yet adds some real spice to your couch, chairs, or bed. I recommend using napkins if you aren’t comfortable with measuring and cutting fabric yet. Although…..I know Targets dirty little secret. You ready? Lean in close because I am going to whisper……”Their napkins aren’t perfect squares” Yup, you heard it here. I have yet to have any of my squares line up perfectly…it really doesn’t matter because you can’t tell in the end, just don’t freak if every side looks like there is some slack before you turn them rightside out. The key is a steady hand while sewing a straight line and using the guides on your machine.

Step One…cut a hole in the box……Step Two…put your…….KIDDING those of you who know what that is…..

Step One:

Put the right sides of the napkins facing each other and pin along three edges, leaving one side open. The great thing is you have a ready made seam that is about 5/8 in. with the hem of the napkins (Yes I realize these napkins don’t remotely match, but it is so you can see.)

You then need to sew up those three sides by sewing along the seam that the edge of the napkin created which should line up on the 5/8 line on your sewing machine guide.

Once you have sewn the three sides, turn your pillow inside out so the right sides should be facing out and the edges are on the inside.

Make sure you iron your pillow so the edges lay flat.

Stuff your pillow with batting or if you have a plain pillow insert,put that in.

Because I don’t know how to put in zippers next, I had to sew my pillow inside the cover. This can get a bit tricky trying to shove all the pillow guts to the back and sew up your last side. You will be an official pillow wrangler by the end of it all.

With the last open side, fold/flip in your napkin edges and pin. You are now going to sew along the very edge of the pillow, so go slow on the pedal to keep your seam straight and so you can get as close to the edge as possible. If you screw up, seam rip that bad boy and start again.

On two of my pillows the stuffing was smaller than the actual cover. So after I sewed the pillow in, I then pinned all the way around the pillow 5/8 of an inch and sewed to create a lip.

Wave your magic wand…presto chango….and pillows!

Can’t touch this….I am moving on to designing pillow covers now….(kisses tip of pointer finger and points to ample behind with sizzle sound….HOT!) So I will put some of my masterpieces or disasterpieces online for you when they are done. Although I admire so many of my friends who make all sorts of things with yarn and material…I need to find my own niche and I love home decorating so I think curtains and pillows will be my outlet. I want to see some pics if any of you end up doing this (cough, cough…HOLLI!) If one of my instructions was unclear, leave a comment or email me.

As far as the the little dress is concerned…that is from a pattern and there is no way I am qualified to explain that. You can go to my flickr for some pictures of the pattern and cut outs.

For better ideas…visit my friends who craft.

Getting Probed

Published by Kelly April 18th, 2007 in For Kicks and Giggles. 12 Comments

No this is not an IBS story related to my colonoscopy. One of my cyber chic friends, Sarah, a.k.a. Whoorl, very cool and sassy mama, ( who also breed the cutest little boy giant mate for Chloe) was offering to interview her readers but there are rules to this little blog game…stay tuned at the bottom if you want to participate.

Ahhhmmmm…let me clear my throat.

1. How many states have you lived in and which was your favorite?

Let’s just say I was really really familiar with an 8 month long winter growing up my first 9 years in Battle Creek, Michigan and then from age 9-18 in Syracuse, NY. I have been in the Blue Ridge Mtns. of Virginia for the last 13 years and LOVE the “normal” 3-4 month long winters, although I wish we got a little more snow during those few months. By far, Virginia is my favorite state I have lived in, beautiful, 4 amazing seasons, love that the moutain view is everywhere around here, you are only 4 hours from the ocean, 3.5 hours from DC, and a nice midway point on the East Coast. I have been to 37 out of 50 states (sorry mid-west states, you haven’t convinced me to visit you yet!) I would REALLY REALLY REALLY love to move to either an oceanside city or up to New England (Boston for my husband). OF course the cost of living is about 5 times what VA is…but a girl can dream can’t she?

2. How many times do you normally wake up at night?

Oh lawd….cue violins. I didn’t need to be pregnant or have a newborn to be sleep deprived. I can do that on my very own, thank you very much. I will spare you all the mundane details. Bottom line, I have some pretty severe spinal degeneration (thank you gymnastics…so NOT worth the lifetime of pain, you don’t see any gold medals on my wall…) So since I was about 19 years old I have never slept through the night. (small tear) Not even doped up on muscle relaxers. I am up a minimal of 3 times a night sometimes as many as 20. Anyone feeling sorry for me yet…you should! You have no idea what a gift it is to have uninterrupted sleep. You are blessed I tell ya…BLESSED!!!! I have come to grips with this, even though a few times a year I have a total meltdown about the pain and sleep deprivation. Again, I am married to the worlds best sleeper, so it is only all the more cruel. He always apologizes….which is actually funny…why should anyone apologize for sleeping good? I guess it is his only way to console me or get me to stop whining. Anyone want to donate to the California King mattress, Sealy style for Ryan and I? Taking donations.

3. What is your dream career?

HANDS DOWN….I would love to be a travel critic. Travel the world seeing the most amazing places, shows, restaurants, local dives, meeting people, experiencing different cultures, holidays and celebrations all the while documenting my travels through the lens of my camera. Man, my heart is racing just thinking about this. Why couldn’t I have an old, decrepit, but rich relative that is going to leave me millions so the three of us can get on the road and explore this amazing planet? Are you rich and want to put me in your will? Email me, I promise to dedicate my travel book to you and name my next child after you.

4. What is your favorite flower? Why?

This is kinda hard, because flowers are definitely like art, the colors, patterns, shapes, they all speak to me. Ryan knows better than to ever show up at my door with red roses. They have their place in the flower world, but are completely unoriginal (sorry if I offended anyone with that) I love bouquets because of the eye candy of sight and smell. I am a huge peony fan because they have the most amazing smell, the blooms are huge and romantic looking. I would love to grow some peonies. Gerber daisies make me smile, hydrangeas are pretty amazing with their blue, purple, pink and white hues. I don’t know if there are many I don’t like unless they smell like butt crack…I will just appreciate them from a distance.

Last but not least on our mind blowing interview….

5. Only one for the rest of your life - brownies or ice cream?

Geez! That is like picking between Ryan or Chloe…are you kidding me?! Both bring such goodness to my mouth and keep me in my current size of jeans. If it really really came down to it…..brownies, no ice cream, no brownies…yeah brownies. Turtle brownies. Chocolate and caramel…..can’t regret that.

Thanks Whoorl, I wish I had Taylor Hicks here to sing, “Do I make you proud”…but I don’t.

Okay ladies and gents…..here are the rules. Listen up, pencils down, please pass your Scantron to the left.

Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me” or just comment about my rapier wit.
I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. No promises that they will be mind blowing, earth shattering or even original.
You will update your blog with the answers to the questions and link to me.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions and thus the merry-go-round of laughter and tears goes round and round.

For those of you who asked about the tutorial for pillow making…it is coming, I promise. It is like the freshman seminar of sewing, not even college level….you can do this novice sewers!

Please visit my husband’s blog. He only blogs about 4 times a year and we like to celebrate this monumental occasion by pretending we have been waiting on his wit and comment. He did come up with a stunning discovery sure to evoke shock and awe. Way to go Ryan!