Craft Weekend: Back from Kansy-Pants

Alright, so Jessica and I made it to Wichita.
In one piece.

And the lovely Kimberlee picked us up at the airport.
At 11pm.
Like a saint.

We headed to Meg's house, where we were greeted with what seemed like 534 smiling faces and big giant hugs. The girls there empathized with our airline dramz, and welcomed us west coast girls to the giant craft party!

It was time to get our craft on.

First order of business?
Ruffled apron.

First instruction - pick out your fabric.
The options were lovely.

Second instruction - iron said fabric.

I just about fell over at iron.

I. Dont. Iron.

Last time I ironed was several years ago, it was a church tablecloth that I took home to wash.
And melted onto my iron.
I was mortified to let the church ladies know what had happened.

I bought a new iron, and it is still in its shrink wrapped box to this day.
I was traumatized.
I feel like I'm good with housie things. And I melted a tablecloth.
Onto an iron.

But, I was here to craft.
So iron I did.

And then I sewed.
I actually did better at the sewing machine than I thought.
My stitches aren't exactly straight.
But I got the pedal to the metal.
I also was able to rethread the machine and the bobbin.
Yeah, I know. Mad skills.

Meg's home is beautiful.
Thank you for welcoming us into it.
Each bed had an antique quilt.
I am pretty sure we all were tempted to smuggle them home in our suitcases.
Unfortunately it was bigger than a breadbox.
So it wasn't gonna fit it in my suitcase.

Saturday morning I crept down the servant's stairs, and joined Kimberlee for a cuppa coffee.
We caught up on a little bit of life, and it was so fun to just hang out with my Kansas friend.

After the rest of the house was up and dressed, we piled into the vans and headed antiquing.

Kansas, you do antiques right.
Rock....chalk....vintage stock...
I wanted it all.

In fact, I wanted to ship the entire Bearly Makin' It Antiques shop home in a big giant crate.
Sadly, stamp rates went up last week, so it wasn't gonna happen.

I came home with a few treasures from the shop - a metal bird, a couple small items for my sister, and a gorgeous tin cake tray.

And back to the vans and down the road to the Barn.

The entire front field is rows of "junk piles".

But all organized.

Bikes. 

Porcelain sinks.

Old fashioned Singer sewing machines.

Radio Flyer wagons. 

Piles and piles of rusty, tetanus-y goodness. 

You gotta bring your vaccination card to craft weekend.

Inside the barn were lots of wooden treasures. 

And chairs. 

Shutters. 

Doors. 

Street signs. 

I found a peachy/pinky/tan colored breadbox. 

And an old sewing machine drawer.

I tried to decide what color the breadbox really was.

One of the ladies declared it "band-aid". 

I'm pretty sure that is the exact color.

I already know it's going to be Pantone's color of 2013. 

You watch out.

I'm a trendsetter like that.

A quick stop at Sonic and you had one happy cuppa.
Not having Sonic on a road trip meant I could get a Route 44 size DCL without having to worry about the proximity of the next pit stop.

And then it was back to crafting.
I had some serious catching up to do.
Ruffles to be made.
Bunting to be cut.

My master of disaster skills were in full effect.
My bunting looked like it was cut by edward scissor hands.
But after a little encouragement from the girls, I used the granny handle and trimmed up those rough edges.

Ashley Ann's craft for us was a free for all canvas. We had fabric, paper, ribbon, mod podge, and she whipped up stencils and fun letters as well on her Silhouette. I think this was my favorite project...
Although at one point, my canvas looked like the flag for an obscure Eastern European country.
Thankfully, I added a few more embellishments and I was no longer the national flag bearer for the 2012 Olympics.

Kimberlee cooked us a feast, including the most delicious chicken enchiladas.
SO.
AMAZINGLY.
GOOD.
Who knew you could get such great mexican food in Kansas?
They even had a little kick to them.
And by a little, I mean a lot.
I think Kimberlee brought the spice to the party.
Because the rest of the night was hilarious.

We had some InstaGram lessons.
A dance party with Waffle.
And hysterical tears of laughter on the couch.
Before we knew it, 2am had rolled around, and it was time to head to bed.
Where, the Read-Roomies and I were up giggling for another hour.
I mean, with California, Texas and New York in one room - we were gonna save the world.
It was an electoral college powerhouse in there.

Sunday morning was more coffee and delicious breakfast.
Peach bread from Georgia.
Uh, yeah.

Super sweet gifts from Washington...

Our crafts had a little photoshoot of their own.
Followed by a ruffly apron photoshoot as well.

I wore my plaid flannel, I like to call it Country Chic.
City Girl meets Farm Girl.

I packed up my breadbox...

and I said my goodbyes to Waffle.
It's my secret hope that maybe he'd be interested in being Mylie's long distant boo.
I'm gonna see if I could set them up on a Skype date.

And sadly after that, it was time for the Delegates of Crafts to head back to their constituents in Texas, Tennessee, New York, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Washington, and New Hampshire.

A quick bite to eat with Miss Alabama, Miss Tennessee, Miss Georgia, Miss Texas, Miss Kentucky, and Miss California at Wichita Airport's hottest spot, The Landing Bar, and we were on our way.

A much quicker stop in Texas on the way home, Dallas this time.
My first words off the plane were, "I need to find a Starbucks. And a power outlet. Pronto."
Thankfully, Gate 29 had two Starbucks, a Dunkin' Donuts, and plenty of charging stations.
Dallas, you speak my love language.
We charged up, literally and figuratively, and before we knew it, were back in the Golden State.
There really is no place like home.

Craft Weekend was fantastic,
I made some hilarious new friends,
Tried to convert a few to the iPhone cult,
Encouraged some new blog endeavors,
Refined InstaGram skills,
and have some killer bunting to show for it.

Thank you for a fantastic weekend Meg and Kimberlee.
You sure know how to throw a craftastic adventure!


PS I also want to give a super shout out (holler, you may now collect your prize) to one of my new favorite people JupeMom aka Amy Jupin - she had the giant honor of being my 100th follower!!!! Now, carry on! As you were!!!

Hello, Houston, you've got problems.

Big problems.

United Airlines, the artist formerly known as Continental, PROBLEMS.

Serious, first world, delayed flight, computer technical difficulties, miss your connection, whine about it for 15 hours, and eat your way through George Bush airport, problems.

United we standby.
A LOT.


Hello, 5:45am schnuttle service.

Hello, Houston airport standby line.
Hello, food voucher.
Hello, lunch on the airline.

Hello, only corner of the gate with outlets.
Hello, bay area girls needing iPhone recharging sitting in said corner with water storage.

Hello, standby line take two.
Hello, not getting on the flight.
Hello, crazy orange Texas sky.

Hello, second set of food vouchers.
Hello, Blue Bell ice cream.
(two scoops, because the lady thought I said "I'd like a scoop of cookies & cream, when I said, "I'd like a scoop of ice cream").
Hello, only charged for one.

Hello, crazy amount of boarding passes, food vouchers, and luggage claim tickets.

Hello, juicing up the iPhones again.

Hello, last flight of the night.
Goodbye, Houston!

and...

HELLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 11pm ARRIVAL IN KANSAS.

Hello, amazing weekend full of crafts, fun finds, food and new friends.

Now that I got that whiny, venty,  complainy stuff out there, I am so excited to tell you all about the fun that was had at Craft Weekend.

It was a good one.

MORE SOON :)


Linking up with Lisa Leonard who gifted us Craft Weekenders with some swagalicious goodies ;)
Thanks so much Lisa!!! <3

An Ode to Adventure.

I have an entire category of posts entitled "Adventures".
I will classify almost anything as an adventure.
But typically, for me, adventures include getting in the car and going somewhere.
Usually with fun people.

Like Monterey and Carmel.
With my parents and sister.

Most of my adventures are in beach towns.
I'm not really that into swimming in the ocean, at least around these parts.

Have you been to a NorCal beach? It's cold up up in here. 
But I  love a good view.
So does my mama.
Her and my dad got married and honeymooned in Carmel.
Our family goes there a lot.

I also love those spur of the moment, pulling the car over, kinds of adventures.
Where you never know what you will find.

Like artichoke cupcakes. And catching the sun setting over the field of unharvested 'chokes.

 (Also, I love artichokes).

Or a day in Santa Cruz with my parents.

 I love shopping and food.
Coffee shops and Ice Cream shops usually abound on my adventures.
Santa Cruz adventures have a mandatory requirement of stopping at Marianne's.
She has probably almost 100 flavors to choose from.
I think I found my perfect flavor.
10-20.
Next time I might pair it with a second scoop of Burgundy Cherry.
On a waffle cone, ALWAYS.

Drinking Diet Coke as the sun shimmers on the ocean?
Yes, please.
Always.

Fungus Fair?
No, thank you.
Never.
Not sad I missed that.

Snuggly, chubby sea life?
Always. Always. Always.

Tomorrow, Jessica and I are headed off on our next adventure. 
Craft Weekend.
In Kansas.
There are no beaches involved.

There is no real clear way to explain WHY we are going to Kansas.
To make crafts.

Except to say it's going to be an adventure.
And going to Kansas has been on my bucket list since I was a little kid.
(Weird, I know, but it's true.)

So, if it seems weird to you.
That's okay.
I hope you'll accept the ADVENTURE reasoning of the explanation.




And don't worry, much to Jessica's dismay, The Pajama Jeans are coming with me.

Wordless Wednesday: Letting the Freak Flag Fly

Oh, yes I did.

 

Linking up with my equally freaky, and just about equally obsessed with As Seen on TV products friend

Angry Julie.

PinterTest Kitchen: Bad Friend Edition

So I'm a bad friend.

Jessica hosts the PinterTest Kitchen each month.

And I fully support it.

Except this month I was a slacker.

Got a case of the Januaries.

And got lazy in my blog posts.

Even though I was an overachiever
and basically completed my pintertesting immediately after December's Pintertest post.
But never got around to writing the post.
Until now.

I made THIS deliciousness:

Source: mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com via Kim on Pinterest

And it was SO GOOD.

Emily hosted her seasonal Crafts & Crap night - which was SO FUN. 

Holiday Edition.

I asked my sister to help me find something on my pinboards 

that I could whip up quick style for the evening, with ingredients I already had.

She found the coffee cake recipe. 

The only thing I needed that I didn't have in my kitchen was Eggnog and Sour Cream.

We were headed to CVS to return the Rug Doctor and pick up an ornament for the craft anyway 

- and they had both.
Bam.

When I got home. I immediately got to work.

Don't tell me you don't like eggnog.

Who wouldn't love a cute happy face like this!

Apparently I even had Rum Extract in my cabinet!

Who even knows why.
But, a girl should always have rum (extract)
in her cabinet.

Things were going smoothly.

And then I got to the part of the recipe which said "Refrigerate for at least 8 hours".

Party in two hours.

One hour baking time.

Um, sister-fail.

So much for a quick style recipe.

But, I threw the batter in the freezer for one hour.

And in the end, everything turned out peachy.

Does anybody know why a recipe like this would require chilling for so long? Or at all? 

Best part of this recipe by far was the glaze.

I added my own step and pin pricked the entire coffee cake before pouring the glaze. 

Which allowed it to soak in deliciously.

So I give this recipe a 10.

But I think my taste testers may not have.
Those who actually tried it loved it.

But it didn't go very fast.

Which probably had to do with the abundance of other treats and goodies.

And people's prejudice of eggnog.
(Haters.)

But I think if people didn't know what was in it,

they'd love it.

So make it.

And lie.

Call it Nutmeg Coffee Cake.
Or Christmas Spice Coffee Cake.
Or Don't Be Such a Hater Coffee Cake.

They'll never know the difference.

Linking up (late) with Jessica:

Hello Lazy Monday Morning

Hello Monday.

Hello Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Hello sleeping in. (Til 7:30).

Hello waking up slowly.

Hello Schnoodle climbing all over me.

Hello breakfast of champions.

Hello quick walk while the oven preheats.

Hello hot and delicious.

Hello seat and blanket stealer.

Hello Bible in a Year. (Nehemiah is incredible. The book and the guy.)

Hello post-breakfast nap.

Hello Linking Up with Lisa.