by Stephanie | Feb 5, 2014 | blog
My husband was a marine. He is so structured and scheduled and I, well, am not at all. not one bit. We make it work. I think we balance one another out quite well. Recently we were suppose to go out of town and I wasn’t up for it. It was freezing cold and he had meetings all day which would have left me with these two littles in a hotel all day. I don’t think that would have been much fun. I like my bed and I love to have the washer going cleaning clothes. I am weird. I know. Me and laundry are friends. So I said the day before we needed to leave that I didn’t want to go. I offered for him to go without us. He said no if you don’t go I won’t either. He was then mad for about an hour and then said you know what I am relieved like a weight has been lifted off of me. He was so backed up at work and this would give him the uninterrupted time he needed to get caught up. We had a great weekend that was way less stressful for everyone. I was so proud of him for not going. For canceling at the last minute because it wasn’t the right thing for us as a family at that moment.
This past weekend we had SUPER nice weather. Like in the 70’s in February. We have season passes to the zoo that is about 45 minutes from our house. I suggested with such nice weather we take the girls that morning and have a fun day outside. My oldest LOVES animals so I knew she would be up for it. THEN…. THEN… I did it again. The kids were at a birthday party from 11-2 on Saturday. The weather was amazing. So I suggested we pack a bag and find a decently priced hotel and go stay the night in the town of the zoo. We could go out to eat and see the water, the river in this case I was hoping for the beach, and have a fun time. He thought about it and said he thought it would be fun. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? Have I inspired my husband to be a little less scheduled?!?!?!?! I was all smiles.
I dropped off the girls at the party, it was an art party (another one), and the mom I trusted. I let her know what we were doing and that I needed to go pack real quick. She was so excited she said GO! We packed the bags and made a reservation and well the husband made a plan! He had to have some kind of plan. I laughed but took what I could get. He was being spontaneous which was awesome. We picked the girls up from the party and didn’t say a word. We got all of the way to the hotel, about an hour drive, before they even asked about what we were doing. We laughed the whole way there because they were clueless.
When we told them we were at the hotel to stay the night they were so excited and surprised. We checked in and then started towards the river. The girls wanted to go on the water taxi. So we walked and then got on the water taxi. We made our way to a park and let them play, got a snow cone, and the museum of science and history had free admission so we did that too. After all of that adventure we got back on the water taxi and headed to an irish pub. We had the best time. THE BEST TIME. The girls played and played.
We went to the zoo the next day and had a great time. We really smiled driving into the driveway. I think we were all proud of the adventure we had and that we are a team. With the youngest getting old enough to do things without a lot of stuff to take and she understands that she has to go with the flow a little more. It is nice to be in this season of life as parents. I really love our little family unit. The girls make me a proud momma.
by Stephanie | Feb 4, 2014 | blog
Sometimes I feel like man I wish I had some mad photography skills. If I only knew how to work photoshop. If I only had good lighting in my house. I don’t really have any of those but what I do have is my heart in my sewing this days. I want to make. I want to be creative. I sit at the computer this morning thinking how much of a blessing it is to have emails in my inbox from people I admire saying they will chat with me on the podcast. I have fell back in love with Instagram, now that my phone is not crashing every time I use it, and that helps me to see me. I may have too many pictures on my feed but I don’t care because that is a memory album for me. Something that helps me see my blessings. I don’t post to brag or show off anything but for myself to see my blessings. I have them, blessings that is, all around me. They may be wrapped in a cry from my three year old about something that is not fair but they are there. I know she just has to learn to see them too.
I was dropping off my youngest this morning for half day pre-k and another mom from my oldest’s school was there talking to a mutual friend about open house tonight. She was selling why she should come check it out. My heart felt so happy. She is a mom that loves my child so much and our children go to the same school. We have the same beliefs. We have a similar parenting style. We are a lot alike, well she is happy all of the time naturally, but most of all we want our kids to know they have us. We love them. The little school is such an easy sell. It is full of teachers that care and full of old school teaching. I have watched my daughter bloom this year in kindergarten, but not too much, just enough. She is still a kid and I don’t want to rush that. The kids at her school aren’t allowed to wear makeup, crazy hair, they have uniforms, and they have structure. It is a place to learn and not compete. It is not a school for everyone but man it is the best place for our kids. I thank God daily for the blessing of my child being there. So it was an easy sell. I know the mom we were inviting and I know her heart will love it there. Blessings. They are all around.
I try to make things or send a little something to my guests on the podcast. Sometimes it is some wash tape that is super cute. Sometimes it is a handmade item. Sometimes it is a little something I bought with that person in mind. It is something. I think getting something in the mail you weren’t expecting is so much fun. I always include a thank you. I want to send joy and love to those that I surround myself. I want others to know they are special to me and that they have something to smile about. On instagram there are so many groups that do snail mail trades – you send something to someone via snail mail and they do the same. Isn’t that so much fun?!?! I want Modern Sewciety to be that in some way. I feel like those who we admire need a pick me up too. They work hard to design fabric we love. They work hard at balancing a job with having a family. They work hard at being on all forms of social media to grow their business. It is so fun to send them a thank you. I really do thank each and every one of them. I love chatting with them and sharing them with you.
So my blessings are all around me. I sewed this week with that in mind. I wanted to say thanks to so many people. My thanks included me making things to send out to them via snail mail. And some are to be given to teachers who touch the hearts of so many children daily. Life is good when we look at it with our heart in the right place. Sometimes that is hard. We can always make someones day by dropping something in the mail to say hi. Try it today.
I will be back to show you what I make:)
by Stephanie | Jan 15, 2014 | blog
You know it is funny… sometimes I think I am so not worthy to share who am I on this blog. I don’t have projects to show all of the time, I am not one of those people who makes it my job to post something everyday, I am not so interesting, and I surely am not a very strict person when it comes to life or blogging. I want this to be my space but man sometimes there are so many things to compare yourself to. I mean how do so many people fit all of that into their life and really enjoy their life? I guess for them that works but for me it doesn’t. I love my life and I really love my space here on Modern Sewciety. It has been a struggle of what do I really want this space to be and how I want to handle it in my life.
me and my baby girls
Well we just got back from a family trip to Ohio. I am a warm weather girl to the core. I don’t like to be cold and I seem to always be cold. Weird I know. I would much rather sweat than not be able to feel my feet due to the cold. SOOOOO I was so worried. What do I pack for me and the girls? Yes I pack three people when we go anywhere. We are still in that stage with our kids and I don’t mind because at least I know they will have what they need. I put out a message on Facebook, yea you can always count on FB to give you a helping hand when you need one, for some snow clothes. I know several of my friends have kids around the girls age and they go skiing. So lucky for us there were two friends that came through… even I got a snow suit which was a super nice Columbia suit with boots. I was so happy to not have to invest in clothes for one trip. So I set out packing for layers and I think I did a great job. The girls never complained about being cold. We all played in the snow and had a great time. But wanna know a secret? Well we went to visit family, which we have visited before, and asked if I could do some laundry at their house while we were visiting. Yea I did. I am a laundry girl… I like me some clean laundry like a lot. So I did three loads and man that made my trip. I loved that I didn’t have to pack as much knowing we would have some clean clothes half way through the trip. It was great.
TRUE STORY:: I love doing laundry!
So I thought a lot about what inspires me and what I want in this little space of mine. I really enjoy chatting with people. I actually interviewed two people before I left and I am going to post one of those interviews tomorrow. I am so excited. I get excited because I think there are so many people that are oh so inspiring out there that I know you guys want to hear from. I know I do. I love hearing people speak about their passions. I sat many times over that break with no computer (we didn’t want to lug our computers with two kids, a stroller, two carry on bags, and two BIG bags) and the iPad wasn’t working great thinking why did I forgot my pad and pen. Why did I forget something for my thoughts and ideas? I needed that. And there it was. I needed to write. I needed to think on paper? I am feeling that so much more these days. I need to be me no matter who listens but I need to share me on paper or on the blog. I need to write about things. I felt so broken without my things that help me create. I am a creative person and for so long I stuffed that in the back of the to-do list because I left like to be a better mom I needed to have those other things checked off first. I think this trip I realized it makes me better at those other things to make sure I fit being creative into my life daily somehow. Sewing, writing, blogging, photographing, dreaming, cooking, planning, or cleaning something that will make my life better and happier. Yea that last one makes me laugh. I do though. I need to say no more to say yes to the important things to me right now. I read that on A Holy Experience, Ann Voskamp’s site, and it really hit something with me. I don’t say yes a lot but I do sometimes and think why did I do that. So I want to be more present in this space for me. I have some really exciting guests coming on the podcast. I can’t wait.
me and my baby girls
One thing before I go. Do you like having featured blogger posts? Or would you just like one and then maybe a giveaway?
Talk soon,
Stephanie
by Stephanie | Jan 1, 2014 | blog
I wanted a place to air out my resolutions… really for me to put it all out there for my accountability. I am not good at routine and sticking to things. I get side tracked. I want to have something to look back on and see what I have crossed off and what I haven’t at the end of the year.
::the blog and podcast::
I really want to continue to do the interviews with me one week and a featured guest the other week
find more home, cooking, and non sewing related blogs to sprinkle in with the sewing blogs
so some tv series talks – like downtown abby for one (oh and let you know my other series I like on Amazon Prime), project runway is another (maybe get someone to do a weekly chat about them on the podcast)
projects that I tackle – I want to share some of my personal projects around the house and in the sewing room
some patterns and other products from me
::me::
to keep up with my MS planner – I need to share how I hacked my MS disk bound planner to fit me
do the couch to 5k plan on my phone (we walk daily but I want to try to enjoy running currently I don’t:)
stay off social media and blogs and focus on me and my family more – or find a happy balance (deleting social media apps off my phone was step one)
try to write more personal notes to mail to friends and family letting them know how much I love them (it is a joke with my friends that I am the only person that still sends snail mail and they all love it)
keep up with us more – I got a project life for Christmas and I really want to finish this one and not give up half way (I may have had that happen in 2013)
::Sewing::
to make at least 12 things – quilts, bags, clothes, whatever
to make some quilt as you go quilts like Maureen – I think it would help me not dread the quilting step
also to make more original stuff or patterns but with my own twist on them
finish my big heart quilt for the girls room
make something with my fresh cut stash to put on my bed
::house::
go through the before and afters of my house (we speed renovated our house in 2 weeks and did some amazing stuff)
to paint my china cabinet (that is huge) emerald green with some silver-ish accents
work on a solution for a upper kitchen cabinets
organize laundry room and perhaps get some cabinets above the washer and dyer
a new rug for the living room
paint the porch columns white
::family::
more awareness of the NOW
continue to do things in the church that involve the girls (vbs, family night, and christmas pageant)
volunteer at both girls schools to help when needed with their teachers
get our garden BOOMING this year
try to get some chickens (aka talk my husband into it or talk my dad into building me a coop and just surprising John:)
having some parties with our friends whether formal or informal (okay more likely the later!) but have friends over more
Okay… that is a lot but I know this will help me. I will like looking back on this at the end of the year. So do you make goals and plans for the New Year?