recapping random fun

since we got home from vegas we've done all sorts of fun stuff.  one morning, i got to have fun mimosa brunch with a few of my mom friends from school.

later that afternoon, the bean and i went to the local bowling alley with the old lady and her special friend for some friday fun.  i'd forgotten how much fun bowling is, and it's a pretty inexpensive activity that everyone enjoys.  well...everyone but the hub, who opted to stay home and hang out in the back yard while he got some work done.  i guess it was easier for him to crank some stuff out with us out of the house, too.

on st. patrick's day, we headed out to south pasadena to have some brunch at the raymond.  we were shown into the bar area to wait for our table to be ready, where the bartender talked us all into having one of their irish coffees.  okay, it didn't take much convincing, but his enthusiastic description of the fresh coffee with irish whiskey and housemade irish cream sold us pretty hard.

we shared one of their homemade cinnamon rolls:

and a dutch baby pancake, because it sounded so good.

i had the italian baked eggs, which was super delicious with prosciutto, potatoes and mushrooms baked with tomato and parmesan cheese.  talk about morning comfort food.

and when the irish coffee was all gone, i ordered up a bloody mary which turned out to be so spicy i ended up with heartburn not too much later.  such an old lady.

we capped off the day by firing up the spa for the first time in months.  it was a beautiful, warm day and soaking in the water with the jets on high was wonderfully relaxing.  stevie would come over and check on us from time to time before scampering off to play with the bean, who'd oddly decided not to join us in the water.

then we were invited to a surprise party for our friend's 50th birthday, and i was asked to make some cookies to add to the sweets table:

and they went perfectly with the rest of the goodies in the candy buffet.  there was a jar of gumballs marked "50 blows," lollipops for "50 sucks," hershey's kisses that said "50 can kiss it."  you get it.

there was a fun backdrop for taking pictures:

and still, this was the only picture i got with the hub.

the bean was having such a good time with her friends that i never even got a single picture with her at all.  oh well.

the hub's 40th birthday is next week, and we're going to spend the whole weekend celebrating.  this should be good.  just wait.

sew much fun

it seems like i haven't been able to do a ton of sewing lately, which is kind of sad.  i have a huge stash of fabric that i'd love to put a dent in, and a whole bunch of fun patterns i'd like to sew up for me and the girls.  plus with the change in season, i can start focusing on warmer weather wear again.  i'm not super excited for the heat, but it will be fun to sew up some fun dresses and swimwear.  and this year it doesn't even matter if i screw up any of those swimwear pieces because we have our own pool now!  woohoo!

although i was finally able to use up a cute fabric panel i'd been holding onto for a couple of years.  and with the bean getting ready to bridge from junior level of girl scouts up to cadettes in a few weeks, this really was my last chance to use it.  and so one day while she was at school i sewed up a quick raglan top that she put on for that evening's cookie booth:

i'd committed to participating in an activewear capsule challenge with one of my favorite pattern designers, and of course i ended up putting it off to almost the very last minute to be able to make my pieces.  the requirement was pretty easy - only 3 pieces - and i managed to eke them out with a few days to spare.  i tried out a new workout leggings pattern using some solid black supplex and some disney floral fabric i'd been hoarding for a couple of years, and while they're far from perfect they're pretty comfy and i love them.  plus, pockets!  i tested them out at an orangetheory class and was really excited that they held up just fine.

this was my official entry into the contest - a tie-back tank using some athleisure fabric i'd found at joann's, plus another new pants pattern that i ended up liking much more than the first one and a new sports bra pattern that my friend amber swore by.  it's a pretty easy pattern with great results, and it looks a lot like something you'd pick up at lululemon or athleta.

i decided to experiment with some color blocking for this top - something i don't typically do because i'm lazy, but i do like how this one turned out.  this is a basic raglan top with the sleeves pieced together and a matching neckband:

oh, and a trip to home goods with the hub ended with me taking this home to hang up in the sewing room...because it's totally appropriate.  the bean just shook her head when she saw it.

my embroidery machine got some love in the last few weeks too.  and of course, they're both things i plan to use at disneyland.  look at how fun this water bottle holder keychain is:

yes, that most certainly IS a pacifier holder...but it also works perfectly for holding a water bottle.  that's going to go onto whatever backpack i take to the parks this summer.

and this one is such a great idea, i bought the file as soon as it became available.  there are plenty of times when the girls or i will wear some super cute ears to the park and get tired of them after awhile.  this will hold those ears pretty snugly and attach to a bag easily...genius.

the actual piece looks like this:

and oh, by the way...that tote i have it attached to in the photo?  well, about a week after molly passed away i got one of those promo emails from kate spade with new arrivals.  one of the items was that tote bag - called the "molly" and available in several colors, including white and pink.  while a white handbag probably isn't the smartest idea in all the land, with a little nudge from the old lady i ordered it and now whenever i carry it around it will be like having my doggy with me.  awwwwww.

speaking of doggies, i just downloaded a pattern for a dog t-shirt that i can't wait to sew up for stevie. i have so much fun fabric i can pick from, and it looks like a super easy sew.  

stay tuned.

quality friend time is good for the soul

one of my favorite things to do is to get together with a handful of my friends from high school, whether it's for brunch or a local hike.  we've been doing it sporadically for a few years now, and it's been really fun to reconnect with them and be present in each others' lives.

it just so happened that one of our planned dates fell on the day after we said goodbye to mollydog.  this made for great distraction and a little extra comfort from people i love.  it was a hiking hangout at nearby monrovia canyon park.  our last hike was here, but this time we were taking it easy and doing the quick 1.5-mile trail to a waterfall.

we got so much rain this winter, and everything was green and there was actually water rushing by during parts of our hike.  the sun was out, it was cool and crisp, and it was a pretty perfect day.

it didn't take us very long at all to reach the waterfall, and lots of other people had had the same idea. it was pretty crowded up there, and we had to wait a good bit before we could get a decent photo.  because if you don't take a picture, did it really happen after all?

on our way back down the trail, we came across the perfect spot for a shadow picture.  and because we're dorks, we definitely stopped for the photo op.

charlie's angels pose!

it also made for a really beautiful backdrop for another group photo.  we flagged down a nice man we'd chatted with at the waterfall, and he was happy to take this for us.

we made our way back to the car and headed into old town monrovia, where we stopped to grab some post-hiking breakfast.  one last photo op for the day:

there was lots of laughter and reminiscing and catching up, and it was a fantastic way to spend a sunday morning.  hopefully we can squeeze in at least one or two more hikes before it starts to warm up too much.

easy like sunday morning

so because i'd gotten so much damn sleep the night before, i found myself wide awake at 6:45 on sunday morning.  this also happened to be around the time the hub finally rolled in from playing poker all night long.  at least one of us was a vegas party animal.

after he got a few hours of sleep, we got ourselves packed up and checked out of our room.  we dropped off our luggage down at the bell desk and headed back over to the cosmopolitan for a second shot at trying to score some breakfast at eggslut.  again, it was super crowded with a long line but this time the hub decided to wait in it while i headed down to starbucks to get us our caffeine fix.

the line moved fairly quickly though, and by the time i got back upstairs with the coffee he was already ordering our food.  we even managed to score one of the fun tables with the egg-shaped chairs.

it was an "alice in wonderland"-themed area, so we had this leering down at us from the ceiling.

our sandwiches were tasty, although i have to say...nothing special.  what am i missing here?  did we order the wrong thing?  they were just basic breakfast sandwiches with a long ass line.  i thought maybe because it's a fairly inexpensive grab-and-go thing, but every time i've been near an eggslut there's always a ridiculously long line.  i don't get it.

as we walked back to the aria to grab our bags and catch a ride to the airport, i tried again (in vain) to talk the hub into doing some form of this giant waterfall in the back yard.

back at the airport for our quick flight home.

the hub had coughed up the cash to get us seated in the emergency row again, which makes for a fairly comfy flight with all this extra legroom.

bye, las vegas!  thanks for another fun weekend!  see ya again in may!

on a totally different planet

you know what's fascinating as hell?  visiting a dispensary in vegas.  oh yes.

we'd seen lots of ads all over the place for several different places, but we heard the most buzz about a newish place called planet 13.  and after doing some shopping while the hub spent some quality time at one of his favorite cigar lounges, we decided to hop into a cab and head over there to check it out.

when you walk inside, the first stop is the front desk where staffers check your ID and hand you a ticket that you then insert into a turnstile that allows you into the main store.  i took this on our way out, so this is actually the opposite view from the front door, but you get it.

it was so interesting just looking around at all the people in there.  folks of all ages (well, over 18 anyway) were milling about, browsing all of the wares displayed in glass cases.  there was all sorts of stuff in there, things i'd only ever heard about but never actually seen in person.  i had no idea that there were so many different edible items available.

there were lots and lots of different varieties of marijuana to choose from.

and a bunch of different vaping accessories, both disposable and refillable.  there was a really pretty rose gold one that caught my eye, because i'm a basic bitch like that (i didn't actually buy one, in case you were wondering).

with so much stuff to look at, we decided to ask for help.

and then we headed outside to catch a cab to take us back to the aria.  bye, planet 13!  thanks for the education!

and so that's how i ended up spending our last night in vegas for our date weekend getaway passed out cold in our room.  i was so drowsy that i slept right through dinner, missed out on gambling, cocktails, clubbing (hahaha, i don't club).  damn.  after i sent him off with a limp wave, the hub managed to rally and got himself up to hit the poker tables and grab some grub in one of the hotel's restaurants.

i guess it ended up being okay that i didn't have anything left to wear anyway.  ha!