The Girlie Monster!

I will start off slow with this post, I don’t want to put those who know me well into shock.  I have always been the type of person who likes different things. I go from one extreme to the next like it is no business. Almost like a split personality or something. My fabric collection is a sign of that. I have pretty pastels and then I have fabrics that I have dyed the grungiest they can be. I have always been like that in life. Clothes are no exception.  I am just as happy in a pair of ratty, holey jeans and a “Rancid” t-shirt (yeah you will have to look that one up – it is a punk band)  as I am in a pretty pastel shirt and skirt. Well maybe not as comfortable but you know what I am saying. I don’t do my hair, I don’t wear make-up, I don’t get my nails done (probably because I bite those off). But every once in a while the “girlie monster” deep inside of me wants to be heard. This past weekend was her weekend to bug me. I say bug me because I don’t have a lot of pretty things, at least pretty things that actually fit me anymore. So to satisfy her I would actually have to buy something.

We went to the mall this weekend with the kids. It was great. Because of working so much we don’t really have much time to do things together so it was great to be able to do. Alice got her ears pierced. I couldn’t actually get a good picture of her ears – she was getting ready for school and a little too tired. But she is a cutie and in her eyes all grown up with those pierced ears.

We parked outside of Macy’s and had to walk by the handbag department. I am a sucker for bags, not really purses, but bags yes. You know the kind – you can throw everything in it and have room for a lunch and some sewing and maybe a change of clothes (okay maybe not that big). Well, this bag catches my eye, oh man it is pretty (to me). I drag the family over to look at it and I pick it up, it is beautiful and soft and it smells of leather.  I am so sorry animal activists out there – I do love animals and I feel guilty for loving it but we don’t really decide what we love do we? So I “fondle” it just as I would a beautiful bolt of yummy fabric. I put it over my shoulder and model it for the family. They are not in the least thrilled. I put it down and walk away after seeing the price tag. Not going to happen – I think of the fabric I could buy for that price. But I keep looking back at it – wishing for it – longing for it like a forbidden love.

We do our shopping, have a great time. And as we are leaving the mall the girlie monster shows her face again at  the show department.

Here is a little background - Before we had kids my husband and I both made awesome money and we spoiled ourselves. It got to a point where my husband would not let me bring in a new pair of shoes without getting rid of a pair. We just didn’t have the room for them all.  Now it is not so bad, I have my flip flops, my converse, and a couple pairs of work shoes. But mainly for work I wear my boots here:

I’ve had them for about 7 years and they are nice and comfy. So these are mainly my work shoes. If life was perfect I could just wear my flip flops everyday.

I could not find a picture to show you the shoes that caught my eye. Here are some that are similiar:

Crazy cute right?

But I thought – okay I could wear them with my jeans, but I have no shirts that would go, so then I would have to buy shirts. Then that would lead to okay, maybe I do need some pants or a cute dress/skirt to go with them and then that would lead to I should wear makeup and get my hair done, you see where I am going with this. Not going to happen, I didn’t even look  at the price tag.

There were these also, but it doesn't really stay cold long enough here to warrant these:

The two little ones decide they want to ride up and down the escalator a couple times, so my husband takes them over and tells me to go look at the bag. What is he thinking, I know what he is thinking. He thinks there is no way I will get the bag because he knows that I will be thinking about the fabric opportunities that amount of money would give me. So he comes over after the ride and he is like, “Are you going to get it?” Then the sales lady comes over and says it is twenty percent off and since Alice is wearing red it is another twenty percent off of that (they were having some sort of promotion for wearing red). At this point I am sweating – what do I do, this is ridiculous. I pick it up – put it down, hug it, throw it over my shoulder again and again. My husband is like just get the bag, you deserve it. Ah man, he is killing me.  A lady comes over with her two daughters and says she has been looking at that bag for two weeks.

At this point I have my four family members, the sales lady, this lady with her two daughters, they are all staring at me. Oh my what to do, I say YES!!!! I want the bag, and it is done and I feel guilty for a moment, until my husband says not to feel guilty, I deserve it. He is the best!!! So I have the bag, it is great, I love it! The boots would look nice with the bag don’t you think?

So enough about fashion. I did finish up the next redwork block for my quilt. This was a free design from Barbara Parrish.  I used the two strand Cosmo floss I got from Crab-Apple Hill’s web site. Even though it feels like silk I still had a problem with it fraying and breaking.  I use a fusible woven stabilizer for the backs of my stitcheries and I am wondering if that is not the cause of my floss fraying and backing.  I will have to do some tests on that. Okay – I am off to do some dancing with Wii Fit. The kids got this game for Christmas called ""Lets Dance” or something like that, has a bunch of 90’s songs from MC Hammer, Dee Lite, Spice Girls, groups like that. Songs that annoyed me when they came out but now that I am old I think it is pretty funny to dance to them. I played the game for the first time last week and it was a blast. I was soaked with sweat after about 45 minutes of playing it and my body hurt for 2 days, but it was fun. My days of clubbing are over, but I can now pretend I am in the privacy of my living room with the kids at school and the husband at work. No peeking in the windows!