Pet Marker

Today I was in my front yard taking some product pictures for Bourgeois Baby.  This was the first time I've used my front yard as a back drop but noticed that there was a perfect spot off to the side under some trees.  I took the products and other props for the pictures and set up near my property line.  Immediately, this flagstone caught my eye.  It was the first time in the 8 years I've lived in my house that I have ever seen this stone.



A marker, with only the year 1989 visible.

I got a small hand shovel to help uncover the rest.

I easily uncovered the rest of the marker, and also found the edge of a wooden box, the one visible screw closing it up had begun to pop out.  I swept the spot to get a better look, and immediately the sun made it's way through the trees and down on the marker.

How fitting this pet, who lived from 1978 to 1989, was named Sunshine.

 And finally, one last look before I began taking product pictures:

A loved pet. I wish I knew if it was a cat or dog.

Interfacing

If you are new to appliques of any kind, whether sewing by hand or machine, the inside of the garment will have stitching exposed.  When machine embroidering, a stabilizer is used, but not all appliques require a stabilizer.  There are all sorts of ways to approach appliques, and I've come across many sites, tutorials, and sewing magazines that say you MUST do things exactly as they describe.  As soon as I see the word "must" or similar, I wonder, "Really?  I think I've just been offered a challenge!" and so I set off to see if I can find another way to complete the project.

So I have done a lot of playing around with appliques.  There are two ways I've found I like best when applying an applique to a clothing item, which I will talk about later.  And both ways leave the inside stitching exposed.  This I didn't care for because I was always afraid of unraveling and it didn't have a professional look.  Many children's ready to wear clothing that has some sort of applique embellishment has an inside interfacing covering that stitching. 

Enter Pellon Sheer-Knit fusible!  Love, love, love this stuff!  It is super easy to use, and gives that professional finished touch.  It is very light weight and the right side of this fusible is very smooth on the skin, making it the perfect interfacing for this application. I buy it off the bolt, and it's not very expensive. (I believe it is around $4/yard at my local Joann, and a little over $2 a yard with their weekly 40% off coupon!)  There are also precut pieces available at some stores, but I think pricing by the bolt is better.  Another name for this type of interfacing is Tricot interfacing.

Instructions come with this, but I found that I needed to have a very damp cloth and apply my very hot iron for quite some time (like 30 seconds or more, depending on how damp the cloth is).

The picture also gives a very quick instruction, but basically just do this:

-Cut your fusible to cover the inside of the garment's applique stitches with a bit of an allowance past the stitches. 
-Place the ROUGH side down.  The SMOOTH side should be facing up.
-Using a damp cloth over the interfacing (I use a washcloth) and a warm to hot iron, press down and use a gliding motion to cover the entire interfacing.  The instructions state to press on the right side of the fabric, but I press directly to the damp cloth.  I found this to be more effective, but it may be just because of the thicker fabrics I use.
-Allow to cool for a minute and check to make sure that your interfacing is completely fused.  I do this by rubbing my fingers lightly across the edges.  If they begin to lift, I repress. 

And that is all!  If you haven't used this, give it a try.  I'd love to know what others use on their appliques.

Underwires, You Suck

These suckers are bigger than my head! *Mustache added for comic effect. It's not real. Seriously.

Another thing I hate?  Underwire bras. 

Even when I was thin, I wasn't crazy about them, but when you wear an "average" size (I was previously floating between a 34B-36C in my thin days) the actual underwire is proportionate to your rib cage and breast size.

Now, in a 40DDD or 40H/F (depending on the brand), an underwire is a torture device that is literally larger than my head.  The makers of these torture devices are under the false notion that when you gain weight OR wear a larger size, your rib cage must be equally large. 

Let me tell you: when you gain weight, your bones don't grow.  Sure, all of my circumference measurements grew with my weight gain.  But let me repeat: MY BONES DID NOT.  My breasts may have grown to be as big as my head, but they still are attached to a rib cage that didn't enlarge in itself.  I gained some padding around my back, hence the increase to a size 40 band size.  But really, if you lay out the underwires in a plus size bra, they are much too wide.

So, these wires will poke and dig.  The dig down in my chest and poke my underarms continuously.  They will literally rub my skin raw if I have to wear them longer than 5 minutes.

Recently I bought a casual bathing suit, and I had no choice but to buy a top with those damn wires.  I wore the top with the wires in it a few times and looked like a fool fussing with it.  The top fit perfectly fine, but those damn wires were ruining everything. 

It dawned on my after a few torture sessions in the pool that I could take my snips and carefully remove them!  And, let me tell you!  What a freaking relief!

This opens up a whole new world of bras for me!  I haven't yet bought an underwire bra yet, but when I find one I like, and fits with the exception of the wire, I now know that I can just snip that damn thing out, and enjoy a nice bra.

Mt. Washington Resort and Spa Excursion

Back side of the hotel, which overlooks the mountains

It was not long enough, let me start by saying that. 

Kirsten and I went for a night to the Mt. Washington Resort and Spa for some child free pampering.  If you haven't been and love a calm, beautiful, and pampering type vacation this is the place.  But they also have tons of activities as well, so if you like hiking, zip-lining, golf, etc, this is still the place to go.






From the lookout deck, which is above the spa

 

The main staircase

Small detail of stairway

Looking through the main lobby

Antique Books

 

Antique door knob

 

Stained glass

What is an extra bonus about the resort is that it is reportedly haunted.  I first learned of the haunting claims from the show Ghost Hunters, with the episode back in about 2008 that has incredible electronic voice phenomenon (EVP).  I knew then I had to go, and my first trip was with my husband.  I had my own little experience when I was there in what is called the Gold Room.  I was looking over the displays of historic ephemera and the like, waiting for my husband to return from where ever he was.  I heard him enter the room and come over to me, and without looking I started talking to him.  But it wasn't him.  The sense of a presence was strong, although I was the only person in the room.  This time, the Gold Room was part of their renovation in progress so all of the historical trinkets were gone. 
This time Kirsten and I had no personal paranormal experiences.  Everytime that we entered the hallway to our room, Kirsten would comment on how much like the movie The Shining it looked like.  You know, the scene with the twin girls down the hall.  So I decided to capture a picture of the hallway to show my family.  I've included the pictures of the hall, which were taken in succession in under 2 minutes.  You can make of them what you will. Absolutely no editing was done on the following three:

Picture 1 

 

Picture 2 

 

Picture 3

Me, performing in the Grand Ballroom

The hotel has kept it's late Victorian era charm.  The architecture and details are not at all this exquisite in newly built resorts.  As soon as you are in the lobby, I can just picture as clear as if I was one of the Ladies of Leisure dressed in their afternoon promenade finest strolling through.  The ballroom speaks of entertainment done with orchestras and live entertainment while well dressed couples waltzing.  It is now used for weddings.

 

 

The best part of my stay is the spa.  Seriously, I could live this life of the rich.  Cater to my every need or just whim?  Yes, please!!  I got an awesome pedicure, and also spent (not enough) time in the ladies lounge.

Unfortunately, the cloud cover did not allow for any decent shots of the mountains, but that didn't take away from the beautiful scenery.  The entire resort building has a wrap around deck (in which you can order anything you want for food and drinks) with lounge furniture so you can just soak in the views.

(And if you are wondering, the Moose doll wearing a bib is part of a marketing promo Bourgeois Baby will be doing soon!)

 

A Word I Hate

Panties.

I hate that word.  Really.  Even typing it makes me cringe.

Growing up my underwear was called, well, underwear.  Or undies for short.  My mother never called them panties and so when I heard others say it, it sounded funny.  When I got older and able to choose my own underwear, the types that could be classified as "panties", I still called them underwear.  No one ever pointed out that I only referred to my underwear as underwear.  Except my husband, who loves to taunt me and try to get me riled up ready to go on and on why I can't stand the word.

It wasn't until I was well into my 20s that I realized why I hate the word.  Panties is sexualized.  It seems anti-feminist.  It's also used in the colloquialism, "Don't get your panties in a bunch"; basically a derogatory way of telling a woman to calm her irrational feelings.

When I hear mothers say to their young daughters, "Make sure you have clean panties with you" or something like that, I cringe.  I feel like it is prepping young girls to feel like they need "cute" and then as they get older "sexy" underthings.

I've watched many true crime shows in which rape and or rape/murder is the topic, and the victim's "panties" are used as evidence.  The use of the word panties in this context seems to be an ever so subtle nod to the woman having some ownership to the assault.  Perhaps this is because I can't stand this word as I see it charged with sexism, but none the less, I cringe at lawyers talking about the victim's "panties".

When you see a picture of a model in underwear, the catalog or advertisement has the word PANTIES pasted all around a young woman with her butt cheeks hanging out while seeming to find herself in some innocently exotic pose.  You know, that subtle marketing to tell you that you need those "panties" to feel sexy and good about yourself.

If you see an advertisement of good ol' cotton "briefs", all you see is a crop picture of a modest pelvis swaddled in waist high, low cut thigh underwear.  It shows you the product.  And that is all.  For me, that is all I need.  But I don't need panties.  I wear underwear.  The kind that covers everything, is comfortable, and practical.  Just don't call them freaking panties, because I am not ever in panties!  I am a human being that wears underwear; just like men.

Just Back

Today I returned from a very short but sweet trip with my good friend Kirsten from the Mt. Washington Resort and Spa.

Holy cannoli, it was awesome and when I say there was not enough time in just a one night stay, there is just not enough time.  I took a lot of pics, and will post them soon. 

Swimming

I've recently got myself back into the pool.  As a kid, you could have confused me with a fish with how much I loved being in water.  I took swim lessons until I was about 10 (when my mother pulled me out because I was told my lap times required me to stay back and repeat a class, to which she replied, "Well, you did learn how to swim" so that was that even though I wanted to keep going and try out for the swim team).  I had a pool through junior high and high school that I used every single day.

Then I gained some weight.  And more weight.  And I was unable to find a bathing suit that I both liked and fit in a regular store, so I gave up.  I decided I was an adult and no longer had either the time and desire to go swimming or even spend some relaxation around a pool.

But I was really just fooling myself.  My fatness was keeping me from swimming.  Finally I've come to realize and admit this to myself.

My daughter and I go to our local YMCA several times a week, and I take her into the pool.  She loves it, and so do I.  But initially, the process of getting me into the pool took some psychic cheerleading.  First, I would have to invest in a bathing suit, and one that I felt would adequately cover me in public.  I joked initially that I needed a swim burqa (there are such things for Muslim women) to look socially acceptable but settled on long board shorts and long tankini top.

First time swimming in this suit felt weird because I was being self conscious and I really didn't like the feeling of shorts to my knees in water.  But I didn't feel like anyone at the pool was staring at me in any obvious way or whispering behind their hands about the fat lady in the long swim shorts, blah blah blah.

And the more I got in the pool, I started to shed my self consciousness.  So much now, that I decided to take up lap swimming for my exercise.  Previously I had been using the track to walk a few miles and use free weights, etc, but I recently went off my medication that helps control my joint pain (I have a chronic connective tissue/rheumatology disease- yes, yes, I am one of those people) because the side effects were just intolerable so walking and what not was not as enjoyable on my body.

But the pool felt awesome!  And with my rekindled love of swimming, it only made sense to start lap swimming again.  Good on my joints, awesome cardiovascular exercise. 

Except those board shorts and tankini top were just not going to do for laps.  I went online and bought myself an athletic swim suit.  Basically, a traditional tank suit meant for actual real swimming.  I also bought some awesome goggles and as soon as they arrived, I couldn't wait to get into the pool!

By this point, I had really begun the mental shift in my head about my size separate of this decision to go back to lap swim.  What fully emotionally liberated me was posting this other post, which I have to admit I am surprised has not received much feedback at all.  I mean, it's a pic of a fat lady.  It's one of the most controversial images in the American culture.  But, I digress...

I put that bathing suit on, strapped those goggles to my head, and strut out to the pool for lap swim with my head up.  Seriously.  Whether I walk in to the pool area with my conservative pool shorts or my traditional tank suit that shows all of my cellulite and hugs all my abdominal rolls, people can see I'm obese.  And if they are going to judge, they will do so no matter what suit I wear.  There was one occasion that I walked by a group of parents who were watching their kids in a swim class that was going on, and one father was making no effort to cover his disgust at the site of me walking by.  But I looked him in the eye as I walked and smiled.  I so wanted to say, "Yes, I'm fat!  I know! But can you swim laps for an hour without stopping?"  My guess is probably not.  And I didn't say anything, but there was no way his obvious repulsion at the sight of a fat woman in a bathing suit was going to stop my love of swimming and showing up in a regular suit.






And on that note, a picture that inspired this post!