I'ts An Obsession I Tell You

My, oh my, where does the time go? It's spent on Facebook. Go find me there.

Happy Halloween!

My, oh my, where does the time go?

In a Ticket Frenzy

Maybe it's withdrawal from not going to any shows for years, but lately I've been getting tickets to see all of my favorite acts- I preordered my Henry Rollins tickets and yesterday I bought my tickets to see Raul Malo at the end of the month in Ann Arbor. That man has the sexiest voice I've ever heard. I've even gotten my heavy metal-listening husband into his music. If you've never heard of him I highly recommend his 2001 album "Today". When it first came out I wore out my CD, it's that good.

We've also heard that Cheech and Chong are getting back together and going on tour. They are suposed to be in Detroit at the end of September. It looks like we'll be going to that one for my husband's birthday.

I Pre-ordered My Tickets

I pre-ordered my tickets for the Henry Rollins Recountdown Spoken Word Tour this fall in Detroit. I can't wait!

Garage Sale Find of the Day v.7.26.08

The Partridge Family Christmas CD.

Getting Behind on Blogging, or rather "Here's What I did Back in June"

After weeks of trying to figure out where we were going to go on a much needed "quick getaway", my girlfriend and I decided to stick with our original plan of attending the Semi-Annual Fiestaware Tent Sale at the Fiestaware Factory in Newell, West Virginia. And what a fabulous time we had! Without boring you with too many details, here's a quick recap of our activities-

On the way through Cleveland we stopped at the World Famous Westside Market where we picked up some fabulous food for our camping trip. The Irish bakery was my favorite-

On our way into West Virginia we stopped at a couple of roadside attractions. My favorite was the World's Largest Teapot-

As soon as we reached the sale (the evening before) we got in line and set up camp. (We were #4 and #5 in line.) By midnight there were about 200 people in line. We met some wonderful people including a teacher from the only school within the Grand Canyon as well as people from all over the states. It was thundering and lightening all night long but we still had fun.

The morning of the sale they announced if you had brought some canned goods you could drop them in a box for a drawing to win the highly-coveted, limited-edition, anniversary color Marigold Baking Bowls that are retail valued at $189.99 and only available for 75 weeks. I looked at my girlfriend and said "This is a raffle I actually want to win. Let's go to the gas station and buy our raffle tickets, er, I mean 'canned goods'." My friend thought I was being ridiculous and I would never win, but guess what? I WON!!!! They called me the day after I got home and said they would be shipping them the next week. They finally arrived and are perfect in every way-


*Sigh* Receiving those bowls made the entire trip worth it.

Meanwhile, I dropped loads of cash and somehow convinced my friend she needed Fiestaware, too. She got a whole set.

We really weren't ready to go home yet, (did I mention we had a fabulous time?) so on the way home we stopped in Cleveland once again but this time it was to see the The Christmas Story House and Museum.-

You can kind of make out the leg lamp in the window-


Then we headed home. That's it. We were bummed to go home but my girlfriend has already promised me that she wants to do it again next year. We are thinking on our next trip to the sale we will head into Pennsylvania and check out some roadside attractions there, including the The World's Only Drive-Thru Strip Club.

Quilt Update

The baby quilt has been completed and placed in the care of the soon-to-be parents. They really seemed to like it. I never know the reaction I'm going to get when I go to one of these baby showers toting something I made myself. (A few years ago I was accused of buying a quilt I had made at a store. By a "sewing teacher" no less. I think she was bitter because my quilt blew away her quilt;-) Above is the Mom-To-Be holding the quilt.

Here's a picture of the back-

I had originally planned to keep the back black but thought that was too much black for a baby quilt. So I took some left over squares and whipped up a backing. When she opened it everyone thought this was the front.

Next project? To complete a "patriotic" baby quilt and/or wall hanging for my family reunion in August. I've finished a few other things in the last few weeks but that will have to wait for another post, eh?

Back From Vacation

And what do I spy with my little eye when I pulled into the neighborhood from vacay? Sonic, Baby! Within a half mile from where I live. I'm so pysched- I love their fruity, flavored drinks and will probably be down there at all hours to get one.

More about my mini-trip coming soon!

Gas Card Giveaway

My brother has been in a band for years. Decades, actually, but he really wouldn't appreciate me telling you that. They may be losing a band member which means he'd be taking the copy-righted band name with him. I saw my brother this week and he spent a lot of time flying new band names by me. My absolute favorite? "Gas Card Giveaway." In times like these who wouldn't show up for something like that?

Know of a good digital camera?

My crappy digital camera finally crapped out on me. Of course it had a ton of pics on it when it died. Ugh. I guess I need to break down and actually buy a decent camera. Anybody have any suggestions?

I'm also on the hunt for an mp3 player as well as a decent sewing machine. Any personal reviews would be appreciated.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

Has it really been that long since I blogged? Geesh, I've got to get with it, don't I? Since I have nothing new to blog about, I'll update you on the old.....

-my star quilt is coming along nicely. I should have the top done today or tomorrow. I will post a picture when it's done.

-I'm lovin' my new job. Did you know that the absolute busiest day of the year in the restaurant industry is Mother's Day? Makes sense but I guess I assumed it would be Easter or Christmas or something like that.

- I've decided I work in the second happiest place in the country with first place going to Disney World. The other night one of our elderly, strolling accordian players busted into "Proud Mary" and sang it really well, too. I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time.

-I'm making plans to go to the semi-annual Fiestaware tent sale in June. If anybody wants anything specific get your orders in pronto.

That's it. I'll blog again real soon, I promise.

Garage Sale Finds v. 5.2.08

I found the mother of all garage sale finds. I found an actual Astrolite with all it's pieces, practically mint-in-box. What's an Astrolite, did you say? An Astrolite was a toy made by Hasbro my brothers had in the early 1970's that I only recall playing with a handful of times. I thought the light shooting up the plastic pieces was beautiful and have always thought of the Astrolite with very found, psychedelic memories. I have no idea what happened to our set. Yesterday I came across one at a garage sale. I didn't know what they were called and had never done any research on them but when I saw the box my heart skipped a beat. I bought the whole thing for very cheap and came home and set it up for my husband to see. It's beautiful but not as vibrant as I remember. There's even an instruction book with directions as to how to build different scenes. I'll post more pictures soon.

What else did I find garage saling? Not much. Some books (Holly, I picked up some "kilt lovin' " historical romances if you want them), some men's silk ties for future projects I'm planning, some men's shirt's for the same reason, some piano sheet music as well as an Oreck vaccum cleaner. (It's the cheaper, smaller model but I've wanted an Oreck for a very long time....have you ever used one? They are wonderful...)

I have to work all weekend. It's my make-it-or-break-it weekend where I work two long shifts two days in a row. It's also my last two days of training. Wish me luck.

Current Events

Yesterday my parent's and I went to the 32nd Annual Sauder Village Quilt Show in Archbold, Ohio. It was definately worth the drive to see some fine looking quilts. I'll have pictures posted on flickr on Friday. My digital camera is completely worthless- the flash refuses to work for me. So I took tons of pictures with my dad's camera. When I go over to his house to go garage saling on Friday I'll upload them for all the world to see.

Speaking of Friday....remember that Native American funeral I went to a few months ago? Well, this weekend is going to be the 3 day ghost fire for the deceased. Friday night is the memorial potluck and starting of the fire. Anybody got any ideas for a passing dish?

6 Blocks Down, 14 To Go....

I hope I can get to done before the baby is due....

Employment is a Good Thing

I really like my new job. I say that now because who knows how I'll feel in a few months. I did the math today and so far I've made more money per hour than I have at any other job I've ever had. And that's a good thing. In case you're wondering, I'm a waitress at a very touristy, high-priced theme-type restaurant. Everyone I've told about my job seems to know that I should make a lot in tips. We are only allowed to work 38 hours per week. With that being said, one of my fellow waitresses made $100,000 last year, and she's not the only one who did. Needless to say I aspire to be her.

Leave me a comment if you're dying to know exactly where I work. I'll tell you, I just don't want to mention it here.

Any tips, tricks or suggestions are greatly appreciated. My brother has already given me a list of things that servers do to drive him nuts. Give me your list, too.

My Stars

I started my new job today. I think I'm going to like it. Ask me again in a couple of weeks and I'll have a better answer. In fact, in 3 weeks my training period will be over so I will write a big old post about it then. Promise.

Here are some pics of a couple of trial squares for a quilt I'm working on. I originally found this and havn't been able to find a pattern for it anywhere. So I'm winging it. Here's my first try, notice the black lines don't really match up-


My crappy sewing machine feels like it needs a wheel alignment (it keeps sewing to the left) and since you could tell just by looking at this square I switched the machine out for a newer, cheaper model I had. (I need to just save my money and buy a really nice, plush model.) The new machine is slower and extremely quiet. But it sews in a straight line which is all I'm asking for.

Here's my second attempt with a bigger square-


This one went much better. (Not perfect, but better.) My goal is to make 20 freehand stars just like this one with bright vibrant colors. The border and back will be black. I have a name for the quilt all ready, but I'm afraid I'll curse myself by naming it too soon.

Thursday Update

I was actually offered a job this week. I start Monday. I'm kind of torn about the whole thing. I'll be working in the service industry in a very touristy town. On one hand I'm not thrilled about going back to the service industry but on the other hand I'm kind of intrigued about hustling people for their money. We'll see how it goes. (I recently read Candy Girl and am currently reading Hotel Babylon. Try reading either one of those books and not be intrigued by working in the service industry.) It will be a change of pace but I think that might be exactly what I need.

A Weekend Treasure Hunting

I honestly thought we would have a nice, quiet weekend at home but that wasn't the case. A good friend of mine called last week saying he and his family would be in town for the weekend and that we should make plans. Boy, did we ever. Saturday my friend and his family picked me up and we went to two local museums- one to see a pirate and treasures exhibit and another one because it was extremely kid friendly. After the museum visits the kids were dying to try a Flint Style Coney Island. Apparently my friend had done loads of research on the difference between Flint Coney's and all others and now his kids were way pumped up to try them. So we went to a local coney place to eat.

The following day my husband and I went to my friend's parent's house where he was staying and hooked up with all kinds of friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was a fabulous day with go cart rides, rocket launching, fort building, food, friends and family. Good times.

No News Should Be Good News I Would Think...

Not much going on in the lilac household. I'm looking for a job and actually had an interview this week. Gawd, I hate interviewing. I've been through enough that I don't get nervous anymore, it's just that every single one of them is completely different and I never know what to expect. This interview was basically a litany of reasons why I wouldn't want to work for them. (Crappy hours, low pay, etc.) Err....I'm here, right? I wouldn't have applied if I didn't want the job.

I'm trying to get started on a friend's baby quilt. It's going slow because I can't find the exact pattern I want so I'm trying to wing it. Everytime I think I have it figured out I run into a problem. I'll post more about it when I have something to show.

Happy Easter And All That Stuff

Yesterday I went to my brother's house to help his kids decorate Easter Eggs. I think Easter Egg decorating is becoming my thing- I like to find different and unusual ways to decorate them. (Remember the silk tie dying of 2006? I'm still collecting ties to do that one again.) Somewhere I read about layering color on the egg by adding and removing rubber bands. So that's what we did and they turned out tres chic. The funny thing is that I never hear about these inventive ways of decorating eggs until the day of or the day after. For example, on my way to my brother's house my mother calls me to see if I'm watching Martha Stewart. She's showing how to color eggs using lace. I guess I'll plan on trying that next year.

In case you were wondering, yes, that is snow under the Fiestaware bowl. Fresh from last night.

My Grocery Store Has a Sense of Humor

I hate grocery shopping. I hate it so much that I have gotten into the habit of making a very specific shopping list according to the layout of the store, that way there is no backtracking and I am in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. I think my hatred for grocery shopping stems from the days when I wouldn't bring a list and I'd walk out of the store with $100+ worth of condiments. I definitely need a list. Oh, and a meal plan. Like I said if I didn't do these things I'd come home with a whole lot of nothing to eat for the next two weeks. For some reason in preparing for my grocery trip this weekend a few things my store did made me laugh out loud. What?? A grocery store that has a sense of humor? I kind of like that....

In preparing for my grocery shopping extravagandza, I always look at the sale ads online. A lot of times I'll plan my meals according to what's on sale. This week I noticed something odd with the ads. Oh, snap! It's St. Patrick's Day this week, isn't it? That must be why EVERY PRODUCE ITEM ON SALE LAST WEEK WAS GREEN. (See picture above.) I took this screen shot late last night before they removed it from their site today. Sorry for the bad pic, but I had no idea how to show this to you otherwise.

The other thing that made me laugh out loud was when I was standing in the Mexican aisle. (I really need to get back in the habit of taking my digital camera with me EVERYWHERE so I can show you how truly funny this was.) You know how they have little add-on's in front of the shelves? You know, little items you forgot you need so they handily put some at eye level in a completely different aisle? So I'm looking for some enchilada sauce and corn tortillas (my husband makes some killer enchiladas) when what do I spy in mass quantities hanging off the Mexican food shelves? Antacids. Tons and tons of antacids. There must have been 50 bottles completely framing the Mexican food shelves. I laughed my ass off at that one.

I know. These are small little trival things but anything that makes my grocery shopping trip better gets kudos in my book.

My Latest Celebrity Crush

A couple of weeks ago my girlfriend was in town from Las Vegas. We were spending some time catching up when I told her about an episode of "Ace of Cakes" that I couldn't get out of my head. (It was the episode where the housekeeper at the hotel stole their cakes and ate them right before they were suposed to be delivered to the U.N. for Roger Moore's UNICEF birthday party.) That episode stuck in my head for a really long time because my mother was a professional cake decorator when I was growing up and I COULDN'T IMAGINE having that happen to her. So my peep from Vegas and I were talking and funny, but we both have huge crushes on guys at Charm City Cakes- my personal fave is Duff while her hottie of the moment is Geoff. It was quite the realization actually. Of course she would like the skinny, quiet, deep guy while she "should have guessed" I'd like the Duff type. Funny how our crushes still fall that way 20 years later.

Back to Being a Loser

I was officially "let go" from my crappy part time job yesterday. I knew it wasn't going to work out from my second week there, but I never saw it coming this week. The job wouldn't have been all that bad except for the passive-aggresive control freak boss. Oh well. Life goes on.

Anybody know of any place hiring? Yeah, right, this is Michigan......

I'm Not a Loser After All

Yesterday I received a voice mail from the historical museum my quilt is at. The voice mail said I had actually placed and that my prize is a book that they will mail to me this week. So there. I guess I'm not such a loser after all.

I Got Nothing

Yup, I called the museum and I didn't even place. That's OK, it was my first quilt show and I'm glad to have it over with. The more I told people about my approach to the "Great Lake Nautical" theme the more people thought it was probably a bunch of 80-something year old "old school" quilters who couldn't grasp the concept of something new. So that's what I'm going with. I've already started on my next one......

"3 1/2 Order Fresnel Lens"

The quilt is finished and waiting to be judged at the Midland County Historical Society Museum in Midland, Michigan. You have no idea what it took for me to get it there. Besides the fact that it was snowing really hard all day and I was stopped on the highway for over an hour due to a major accident, oh, and a detour later on....it's a miracle it got there.

While I was registering the quilt I found out I was only the fifth entry. Wow. I might stand a chance of winning something. Probably nothing for workmanship but execution of theme would be nice. Oh yeah, there was a theme. And size restrictions. Here, let me explain....

The historical museum in Midland is having an exhibit this summer about Great Lakes Shipwrecks. To go with the theme, the local quilting guild set up an quilt contest with a similar theme- "Great Lakes Nautical". "Nautical" would be easy peasy, but "Great Lakes Nautical"? Now I'm intrigued......another stipulation is that the quilt can be no bigger than 30 inches by 40 inches, which is basically a wall hanging. So, a wall hanging with a Great Lakes Nautical theme. Hmmm....I love a good theme. And because I'm a history geek, I may have gone overboard. Here's what I came up with-

I found these pictures of a fresnel lens. (Fresnel lenses are the prismatic lenses used in lighthouses to project the light out and across the water.) The picture on the left is of the Bonita Lighthouse in California. The picture on the right is a 3 1/2 order fresnal lens which was made specifically for the Great Lakes.



So I combined the two to create this-


Here's an upclose view of the quilted lens-


I know, I know, they are crappy pictures but they are the best I could do considering I finished the quilt that morning. I took a prismatic, sheer fabric and sewed it on top of a light yellow fabric to create a kind of 2D prismatic effect. I'd like to say it worked but you couldn't tell from this picture. It's suposed to look like a framed picture, the brown border around the quilt is wood grain fabric. I have the same fabric for the back, too. Here's another "Great Lakes" touch I added for bonus points-

I ran some shiny copper fabric throught the rock cliff in the background. ;-) (For those out-of-staters, copper is found all over upper Michigan and Lake Superior.)

Here is the text from the label I made for it-

“3 ½ Order Fresnel Lens”
by vintage lilac 2008
This “portrait” quilt is an up close view of a 3 ½ order Fresnel lens. Fresnel lenses are the prismatic lenses used in lighthouses to project the light out and across the water. They range in size from 1st order (used in rivers and canals) to the 12th order (for use in large ocean harbors and bays) with the 3 ½ order designed specifically for the Great Lakes.

So there you have it. My first entry in a quilt show. Judging takes place on Thursday night and all quilts will be exhibited through the end of August. I plan on going back over the summer to get better pictures of it. I'll let you know if I win anything.

The End Is Nigh

Sorry for not posting (I promised myself I wouldn't do that!) but I've been trying to finish my quilt for the quilt show which is due on Friday. Pictures and details to come. I have less than 48 hours to finish plus my birthday falls right smack dab in the middle of that. Go figure. I'll be back over the weekend. Promise.

A Book I Can Relate To.

I just picked up this book from my local library. It's called "Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume". I think I'd have to agree with that. I'll let you know how it goes.

Movies, Movies, Movies....

I heard they've started showing movie trailers for the new Will Ferrell movie "Semi Pro". I tend to avoid his movies but I think I might have to see this one. It takes place, was filmed and is about a semi pro basketball team from Flint, Michigan. (My birthplace.) There was a lot of talk on the news last year when they were in town filming but from what I hear they don't show much of Flint in the movie at all. (Why would they? It's pretty nasty...) The ironic part is the team is called the "Flint Tropics" and we just had 15 inches of snow drop on us the other day. Hmph.

Ira Glass Rocks, as does my co-worker.....

Ira Glass was in Ann Arbor over the weekend signing copies of his new DVD. A Co-worker of mine was planning on going and I would have gone, too, except that I didn't want my co-worker to think I was stalking him. So guess what my co-worker brought me today at work? The bookmark above, but on the back was this-

Awwww! Ira wishes I was there. It was so very cool of my co-worker to get that for me.