Back from Vacation

I was fortunate enough to spend the past two weeks on vacation. DH and I packed up the car and headed north to Cape Cod for a few days and then even further north to Maine. This was our first trip to Cape Cod and unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. During the 5 days we spent on the Cape, we had 4 1/2 days of clouds and rain. The sun finally came out the afternoon of our last day and of course it was out in full force the day we were packing to leave.

Fortunately we headed to Maine and the weather was absolutely beautiful while we were there -- blue skies, a few fluffy clouds now and then, no humidity and temps in the upper 70's, low '80's. I have been to Maine before and I have to say it is one of my favorite states that I would go back to again and again. And although I love the beaches of the Jersey shore, there is something peaceful about watching the waves crash against the rocky shores of Maine. It one of the few places where I completely relax and put aside the daily worries.

I did manage to see (not necessarily visit) 33 lighthouses during this trip. A few of the ones in Maine I had been to before (Portland Head Light (my favorite), Pemaquid Point and Cape Neddick). We even walked two miles out and two miles back along the Cape Cod National Seashore to see the Race Point Lighthouse which is at the very end of the Cape. After we arrived at the lighthouse we saw 4-wheel drive vehicles parked on the beach most of whom were surf fishing. Turns out we could have bought a permit and drove my SUV to the lighthouse! Not to mention I could have drove on the beach!

Somehow I don't think our vacation next year will involve lighthouses --- DH is a bit tired of them. Guess it might be a good time to visit Nashville . . . .

In addition to playing travel agent (planning the trip / booking hotels, etc.) one of my roles is to navigate from place to place. DH does all the driving when we vacation. And although we probably covered about 1500 miles during this trip there wasn't much time for handwork. I did manage to stitch up both of these towels which will hang in my kitchen during the summer.

Bon Jovi, Jimmy Buffet and Cross Stitch . .

My oldest DS won a VIP package to the Bon Jovi concert on Monday night. I must have raised him right because he took him mom! He said he didn't know anyone else who was a bigger fan. We had seats that were center stage about 10 rows back. Not only did we get to go up on stage for 3 songs, we also received a $100 web bucks good for Bon Jovi merchandise. This week marks the 25th anniversary of Bon Jovi -- they were the opening act for ZZ Top at Madison Square Garden 25 years ago. Bon Jovi's opening act for this show was The All American Rejects. Okay so I am showing my age as I had heard of them but really didn't know what genre they were. Turns out they are a punk rock band and Monday night was their first gig at Madison Square Garden. We had a great time and Bon Jovi puts on an awesome show!! He is even cuter in person!!

Between yesterday afternoon and this evening I flew to and from Toronto for a few meetings --- the flights were actually on time which is unusual for the Newark / Toronto route. During my flights I was able to read the newest book by Jimmy Buffet "Swine Not". It is an easy read about a pig that lives in an apartment in Manhattan. It is a good summer read :)

I even managed to find time on Sunday to finish stitching the top of a mattressbox pincushion. It is done in counted cross stitch and all that is left is the assembly. I will post pictures once it is complete.

Not bad for the start of the week - floor seats for Bon Jovi, having the time to read a book and some time to stitch.

Market Tote Bag

As mentioned in a previous post, below is a picture of the market tote bag I made just before the trip to VQF. What I love about this tote is the drawstring top. I picked up a toggle to easily open / close the drawstring. This one is going to my LQS as a class sample. Hmm guess I need to make a second one using some of the fabric I picked up in Vermont.

VQF, 4th of July, etc.

Bet you are wondering if I made it back from Vermont. I did make it back. However, I came back to work just in time to deal with month end and half year reporting which is almost as intense as year-end reporting. Some days I wonder why I chose finance but then I remember that my full-time job supports my hobbies as well as other necessities in life :)

The festival was wonderful and a great time was had by all who went. It is so inspiring to see the quilts on display and browse through the vendor booths. At the show I picked up a book on the quilts at the Shelbourne Musuem. I was able to see some of them on display when we went to the museum. In addition to the quilt exhibit there was a handbag exhibit. One of the handbags was made from a rubber rainboot. Another was made from flip tops from aluminum cans.





Haven't had too much time to quilt the past couple weeks but I have picked up some of my handwork in the evening. With the longer days I enjoy sitting outside and stitching. The lighting couldn't be better and it is nice to spend some time outdoors after being inside all day.

I have joined Caryn in her pincushion mania. We met on Saturday afternoon at a local needlework shop to look for cross stitch patterns. We both picked up some patterns, fabric and threads. When I got home I started working on one of them. DH made the comment "so you are starting that again". I just smiled and said "yes dear". It could be worse -- I could be starting an entirely new hobby and need to invest $$$$ to start . . . .

Happy Stitchin'

Back Online

I am finally back online with my own PC. Since my existing laptop was almost 5 years old and the hard has crashed twice in the last 6 months, I thought it might be time to purchase a new PC. So far I am quite happy with my new purchase :)

One would think I had more time to quilt since I had no PC to distract me with surfing the 'Net. I did not accomplish as much as I had thought but I did manager to start and almost complete a "seasons" embroidery. I will post pictures as soon as I take them :) I also made a tote bag using fabrics from my stash and a pattern I purchased at our local quilt show earlier this month. I felt very good about using fabrics from my stash.

I am busy preparing for a trip to Vermont. I am joining Megan and the sisters in their "Invasion of Vermont". Should be a fun weekend --- good friends, quilt shops, a quilt show, lots of wine and food, Ben & Jerry's . . . what more could a girl ask for?

Quilt shows, friends and PC update

I spent yesterday with the Posse at the Quilt Show in Edison. We had decided to take a day off from work and go see the show. Lots of nice quilts and vendors. I picked up a few more fat quarters for my CWD blocks. As Megan mentions in her recent post, I tempted her with my fabric selection -- obviously Megan has a bit more restraint than I do when it comes to fabric shopping. Of course, it didn't help that I had my friend Sue with me who is very good at spending other people's money.



On the PC front, I haven't made much progress. I need to call the company who manufactured the hard drive and see it if is covered under the warranty. I should really look for a new PC. In the meantime, I will just have to sneak onto DS computer when he is not home so I can surf the Net and post updates on my blog.

Yikes!!!

Hello fellow bloggers -- I can't believe it has been two weeks since my last post. I can't even remember what happened during the past two weeks except that DH was on vacation last week and threw a monkey wrench into my entire schedule! I love the man dearly, even more so now that he is back at work and I have my evenings to myself.

Unfortunately this post has to be quick as my personal computer is not working AGAIN and I am borrowing one to post this update. For some unknown reason Windows has decided not to start on my PC -- not even in Safe Mode. My oldest DS has promised to look at it as soon as he has the time.

I hope to be back online again soon and in the meantime, maybe I can get a little sewing done.