i'm sew not crafty

I’ve always so admired crafty people like Katie, Sarah, Michelle, and Melissa.  People who can take a piece of felt and a glue stick and create a masterpiece.

I’m not a crafter. In any sense of the word. I can’t sew myself out of a corner.  The only time I’d ever use craft to describe me, would be followed by the words mac’n'cheese.

I subscribe to no less than 50 craft, design, and fashion blogs, wide-eyed gazing at the posts in my Google Reader like a little girl would tear through a Tiger Beat issue. It’s sad, yes. But I am an admirer of crafty design, not a possessor of the skills required.

I usually find that when I get something in my head, it won’t get out ’til I satisfy it. And for months I’ve been determined to find a stress relieving hobby that does not require me staring at a computer for 20 hours a day. However, I never expected to summon my crafting desire at midnight on a Tuesday in a 24 hour Kinko’s in Katy, TX.

If you are a reader of this blog, you’ll recall that this year I am attending 15 weddings. Four of those which I am either in or helping to plan.   Over the next 10 weeks alone I will be hosting 2 bridal showers, organizing 1 couples shower, planning 2 bachelorette parties and attending 3, 2 bridal luncheons, 4 rehearsal dinners, and attending 5 weddings.  And that only takes us up to August 31st. Then begins fall wedding season. I’ll spare you the details. Plus, I’ve gotta leave something for you to read in the book I’m writing about all of it!

So takes me to Monday night. Sitting at dinner with Amber talking about the upcoming 3 weeks of wedding festivities upon me. I had searched all day for bridal shower invites for a shower I am hosting in a few weeks.  I really needed to get the invites out stat, and couldn’t find anything I was looking for. Amber suggested Michael’s and I immediately perked up. I had been searching at every stationery store I could find in Houston. (Actually have a later post planned on this, found some great places!) But nothing had what I was looking for color and budget-wise.

The thought of going to Michael’s always intrigues me. Much like things normal people do, like grocery shopping, when I am in Michael’s, I feel like part of a society of crafty people. “Ah, yes, can  you point me in the direction of the paper mache aisle,” I could hear myself casually say. Or exchange jovial beading tips with whoever happened to be standing on the bead aisle. (Did you know there is a whole aisle of beads?!). Dreams, all dreams.

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Tags: arts, bridal shower, craftiness, invitations, shower, weddings

It can't all be smooth sailing

What is it with me and bathroom posts? Here’s the second in a row. Potty mouth.

Had a little scare from back home yesterday. While I was on the plane from KL to Perth, a friend was checking on my apartment. Apparently, the basket in my shower fell off the wall and turned on the facet for the hot water. Which may have been running for days and days. Matthew arrived at my place to find a virtual sauna, paint peeling, wet sheet rock, and the ceiling dripping.

He called my mom, and they tried to get a hold of me, but i was high above the Indian Ocean. When i finally landed, i flipped on my phone to frantic messages from them both to call ASAP. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest I couldn’t get off that plane fast enough. I was thinking the worst possible thing.

I finally got in touch with Matthew and he told me the news. It was very upsetting to hear that something was wrong, and i was thousands of miles away, helpless. I think he didn’t want to tell me how bad it was, he could probably sense the hysterics in my voice, which was mostly due to the fact that i didn’t know what went wrong until i talked to him.

After calming down, he told me that it would need to be repainted and possibly re-sheetrocked. It wasn’t the end of the world, and I was glad that he was there to take care of things. My mom and my landlord went by in the morning, and assessed the damage. I think there are still fans in there to dry the place out, and it looks like the sheet rock will be ok, just needs repainting.

Thank you Matt, Mom and Daddy for taking care of that. I know you guys have it under control.

As the Aussies say, “No Worries!” (some times easier said than done.”

Tags: family and friends are awesome, shower, travel, water