fancy bag

i finished my real bag! it's so sturdy and thick and heavy... it really sits up like that on its own. it's got two pockets on the inside. :)

bag lady - *UPDATED*

our fabric shopping trip was fantastic. we went to four stores that got progressively larger as the day went on and blake was a trouper. not unfamiliar with the fabric world (his mom sewed a lot while he was growing up), he enjoyed looking at all the crazy patterns and amazing handmade quilts on display. plus, there were other stores to visit in the various shopping centers. trader joe's was a big hit.

upon my realization that standard patterns now cost $12-16(!) i decided to go with a cheapy pattern ($3) and practice with some remnant pieces i found in my mom's basement. once i get a feel for what i really want, then i'll start on the real thing. and with fabric at $9 a yard, i want to make sure i know what i'm doing first!



i started sewing monday night and found that it all came back to me pretty quickly. the pattern is pretty easy and i'm about halfway finished (will post pictures soon). the fabric i found at my mom's house is pretty ugly (70s polyester at its best), but they were of the few larger pieces she had. i've already noticed places that i should have been more careful in the detail (the pockets don't line up on the sides), but that's good info for my next bag.

kitty was also a very big helper. when i layed out the fabric or pattern to cut, he layed right on top of them. when i opened the instructions to read, he layed on top of that too.

etsy day

have you been to etsy.com? it's a place to buy/sell craft supplies and handmade items. so, if you make afghans or jewelry or crazy tissue-box covers... you can sell them here. or if you want to find a hand-made quilt/dress/necklace... you can buy them here. plus, you can buy/sell craft books, fabric, and anything you could think of old or new.

so there's a seller who hand-makes beautiful reversible bags and my friend, laura, asked me to help her pick out fabrics for the one she'd order. the process was so much fun, that i decided to look through all the fabric choices (read: nearly any fabric from any seller) and order my own bag.

laura's bag:


then, i was looking through the fabric pictures so much that i thought: what's more fun than picking out my favorite fabrics for someone else to make me a bag?? picking out fabrics to make the bag myself! so, i've mapped out a route to some local fabric shops and i'm going to see what i can find. if i don't find what i want at any of the stores, i can order fabric and a pattern online and go from there.

here is some fabric i like (but not necessarily all together):

chubby teens

At work, I've been working on the same study for the past 3 1/2 years (read: I schedule the meetings for the actual researchers). It's called the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. There is a large network of researchers who have been studying the same 1,000 kids for 17 years and they write many papers about all sorts of different topics based on the ton of data they've collected. The findings of one of their recently released papers has been covered in the news.

Here is CBS's coverage.

and USA Today.

most major news outlets have covered it this week.

For a rainy day

One of the hallmarks of youth is impulsivity, at least it seems. The stereotypical youth spends money as soon as they get it (or runs across a "must-have" gadget), rushes to experience life as it happens, and rarely expresses the patient restraint exhibited by elders. I tend to be fairly patient when it comes to life decisions, transitions and purchases, but I do think I have a lot to learn when it comes to actually preparing for the future instead of just experiencing it as it happens. One way this has come to light this week is in thinking about retirement. To date, I am 27 years old, and honestly, I would guess that most of my friends and associates (who aren't under a workforce-mandated plan) don't have any kind of retirement. It's just not something our age group thinks about. How many U-30 year olds want to think about decisions they'll need to make when they are 70-75? How many want to purchase life insurance or justify putting away a percentage of their income each month to make sure that life after 60 is as much fun as life at 25? In truth, I know several people I've worked with who were over the age of 40 and still had not thought seriously about retirement.

So, in an effort to take responsibility and avoid potential pitfalls, we've started talking about our retirement/investments. I don't know that we need to get into all the specifics of what we have and what we need, but what do you guys think? How do young people take responsibility for their finances and justify putting money away when there are so many cool things to do with our money right now? What do you use to help you exhibit restraint or what are things that have helped you grow money slowly? Do any of you avoid investments entirely? What type of plans should we seek out?

horse!

when we were visiting blake's family in wyoming, i played with blake's cousin's daughters, ebony (2 1/2) and kierce (1 1/2). they are super cute and we all know i love babies. when blake was speaking in sunday morning church, kierce sat with me and we explored the contents of my purse. i couldn't believe she sat quietly with me for the whole service - what a sweetie. then we all went out to lunch for chinese food and ebony sat with me. she doesn't talk much, at least not to me, but she sure does love her dad's horse, sonny. we colored the paper place mat with all the chinese zodiac animals on it. i pointed to the animals and asked her what they were.

t: where's the puppy?
e: silence
t: where's the chicken?
e: silence
t: where's the horse?
e: Horse!
t: where's sonny?
e: Horse!

so, ebony knew the word horse and which one was the picture of the horse, but apparently didn't care much about any of the other animals. now, blake and i still laugh when we answer "horse!" to any question. and the joke has taken on a life of its own.

t: what do you want for dinner?
b: Horse!
b: what movie should we watch?
t: Horse!

and that's the story of "Horse!"




oh, here's kierce eating with chopsticks, because it's funny and cute:

In the beginning ....

Welcome to our new collaboration, the blog of Blake and Tiffanie. In this we will highlight and explore the curious happenings of life, and we welcome you to join us in thoughtful introspection. Enjoy.