Buns and Braids

Started the day out doing something creative with my hair now that I've decided to just grow it out (because I'm too undecided about what haircut I'd want).  Just twisted, coiled and pinned it. I couldn't find any bobby pins so I just used these colorful barrettes that went with my green shirt and purple scarf.

Purple and Green - and wearing earrings made by my friend Vann. :)

Now for my actual project - a braided t-shirt necklace. I took an old t-shirt and cut it into strips, then braided them together. The strips were a little short for a necklace so I just tried together two strips to make it longer. I made 4 braids and then knotted them together with a bow. In the original inspiration, you're supposed to sew something around the sections that you connect to hide them, but I like the texture of the fringe so I left it. This took about an hour and I'm a fast braider. But it can be done while you're watching TV or whatever, and you only need an old tshirt and a pair of scissors.

And there you have it!

A pretty pillow and lobster for lunch

Today is the first day of 30 days of creativity. I was so excited to get started, I actually forced myself to not do anything new yesterday so I could save it for this month. Yep, I did that. 

I decided to make the little flowers today out of soft yellow felt. I made 4 of them in varying sizes and sewed them onto an old pillow. The pillow is still soft and in good condition but I've gotten sick of staring at it. Now, it's cute! This took 15 minutes.

 I decided to get creative with my lunch too. I made home-made lobster ravioli... which means I took the lobster ravioli out of the package and made it in my home. HAR HAR yeah I'm hilarious. Basil pesto cream sauce from a jar and a piece of toast, garlic bread style sprinkled with Italian seasoning and basil. (entire meal only about 350 calories)

30 days of creativity starts June 1st

I love this and I'm definitely doing it.

30daysofcreativity.com

I already have some ideas of things I want to make and do. 

I'll post each day here whatever I come up with.

Sneak Peeks of what I have planned...

Bud

I never knew my grandfather Van. He died before I was born. I've only heard stories about him from my grandma and my dad, some good, others not so good.

We hope that after we die, people say only wonderful things about us. But it's probably the un-wonderful things that people tell that make it more real that we were actually here. Like they say, nobody's perfect. And our imperfections that lead to misguided actions may not always be justified or warranted, but they make us who we are just as much as the good things we do in life.

I used to wish I didn't know the bad things about my grandfather. But he's been gone for a long time and I don't even have my own memories of him. So instead I try to piece together the picture of a man who was just doing his best the only way he knew how. And did at least two very good things in his lifetime, one of which was marrying my grandma, and the other, well, making my dad of course.

In the few pictures I've seen of him, he was very old and not smiling. He was apparently not an affectionate or demonstrative man with his family. But there's something about a smile on a man's face when he's not the type to freely give one up. It's a precious moment where I get a little glimpse of a grandfather I never knew, when he was a young man, full of life...with a friend who wore a bow tie.

His friends called him Bud.

Bud, on the right, with friends.

Birthday Party time was fun yesterday. Watched the kids play laser tag, ride go karts and run around like maniacs. Ash rode one of those kid version rides of the Tower of Terror. Loved it.

Met Winston for lunch at On the Border in Rancho Cucamonga which means I don't need to eat today. We went there for the queso and I'm still full.

Stupid things I keep thinking about: 

• I have $100 in spa/salon gift certificates and still need to use them. 
• I also need a haircut. I think.

Last day of school is June 9th and I'm going to sign the big boys up for some kind of Karate type thing. Maybe gymnastics for Lucas. I'm thankful we have a pool so we can go swimming a lot. I think it's going to be a good summer. Cue Will Smith, Summertime...

Garlic Edamame, I can't get you out of my mind.

Had a 4 hour lunch with my friend Luong yesterday. Had forgotten what it's like to have lunch with a friend without being interrupted by my 3 kids and however many kids the friend may have too. Although I've come to enjoy the chaotic meals and random kid conversations at a table full of children because for me that's what my life is all about. We had some yummy sushi, a tofu dish and seaweed salad which surprised me with it's yumminess, and garlic edamame! Besides the conversation, this was the highlight of the meal.

Today we're going to Holden's friend's birthday party where there will be laser tag, go karts, arcade games and Ash chasing (my least favorite party event). 

Then off to Victoria Gardens to have lunch with Uncle Winston.

So far a great start to a nice long weekend.

Living to write and writing to live

I started a blog 10 years ago which I wrote in pretty much every week, sometimes more. In the last two years since twitter and facebook took over, and also 3 kids, I've blogged less and less. I've pretty much abandoned my original blog and sparsely updated this one. When I read my old one, I'm nostalgic. This blog may never be what that one was to me but every day I'm breathing I feel like I need to be writing. Not every post has to be epic, tragic or inspiring. But I must write. (inspired by Attic24, shared by a dear blogger friend)

Today I'm going to get sushi and a mani/pedi with a friend I've known since 2000. We met through work in Maryland which seems sooooo long ago, before I was even a mom which is such a very large part of who I am now. Since then, I've moved to Germany, California, Arizona, Florida and back to California. She was in DC but is originally from Montreal and moved to San Francisco at one point. Now she's married with one kid and a bun in the oven and ended up moving within an hour drive from where we are right before we moved here. Pretty amazing how life brings people together, can separate them and then bring them back together again.

I knitted her a blanket this week for the new baby.