No, no I’m not already preparing for Christmas 2009–though I wouldn’t be surprised to see decorations in stores soon. It seems they start putting them out early and earlier.

Corset–check. No new weekend duties–check. Finishing all workouts–check, check. Yep, I did it!

Peace,

^_^ Katy

First off, Alabama Chanin recently posted the upcoming dates and locations for future workshops. I highly, highly recommend making it to one of them if you are able.

I really enjoyed the entire weekend. Even the 6-hour drive there and the 6-hour drive back. Since I made it through 4 states, it really felt like I had accomplished something! Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama if you are curious.

Friday Night Reception~Friday night there was a cocktail reception. It was low-key and laid back. We got to meet Natalie, Angie, and the other participants. I took one picture that night. Here’s a coffee table spread from the evening with flowers made from fabric scrapes. Yes, they are that gorgeous in person. The gossip that night was Billy Bob Thorton was in town. I tried to go see him, but the venue was full. I enjoyed my walk around the downtown. It was really cold and even managed to snow on Friday night!

The Stay~While in Florence, I stayed slept at a Bed and Breakfast. I say slept, because I spent very few waking moments there. The time I was there was great. Their breakfast was fabulous, the room was spacious and clean. And it was walking distance from the main few streets in Florence and The University of North Alabama. I got to make the first footprints in the snow that dusted the campus on my Saturday morning run. I love B&B’s but must say I felt slightly odd staying there alone. It is definitely less awkward going down to breakfast if you have someone to go with.

The owner said her daughter called the room I stayed in the treehouse room. I think it must have been added on to the house at some point. It was so restful there. I really did feel like royalty.

Saturday~Saturday was one very, very long day. Not in the terrible it wouldn’t end way, but more in the oh my gosh, I got to do what? And for how long? With really cool people? Really? Wow!

Everything happened at GAS Studios. It is gorgeous. And the owner and his family are gorgeous too–and saying they are hospitable, is a major understatement.

So Saturday and Sunday we worked on our projects and chatted and generally just enjoyed the process and people. We were also spoiled silly by the cooking workshop participants. The food was just amazing and steeped in Southern tradition.

Here’s a ton more photos. These are food related.

These are sewing related.

And here is my finished corset! Yep–it is done and I’m wearing it as I type this.

So all in all I had an amazing time.

Peace,

^_^ Katy

In the NYT today, there is an article on the getting a “runner’s high”. Explain why when I cut my workouts–it is usually with running. Is it because I’ve been there, done that? Yes, I’ve completed a marathon, but I have lots of room for improvement. I’m not pro–my 5 hour 25 minute time will attest to that. Crazily enough, last Thursday I was looking forward to and completed an 85 minute run. Although there were difficult times, it felt really, really good to finish–the runner’s high perhaps? Is it because I get greater pleasure from trying something new and mastering it instead? Hrm. I think in some strange way this phenomenon of not finishing things, like sewing projects, is related. Hrm..

Also, there is an article on Bottega Veneta. I loved, loved, loved their dress from last season–in fact that is one of my UFO dresses. After reading the article I have a lot more interest in finishing it! I think for me, fashion moves too fast. I want to keep up with it all, but I just don’t make time to sew that quickly. So I stop that project and hope like hell I’ll finish the next one before a new idea comes to me. The Alabama Chanin corset is definitely teaching me the joys of slowing it down, and hand-sewing. I wonder if I can hand sew some of that silk–would that even help?

Well, there you have my musings for the day.

Peace,

^_^ Katy

I sewed a stitch or two on the corset–I hope to be well on my way to sewing up the side seams and other finishing touches really soon. I stitched a bit on the unfinished shower curtain.

I also worked on the back for my Balenciaga inspired shirt. I can say that I hate working with silk. I don’t like cutting it. You can see that the back center seam is off kilter–I don’t like ripping it out and re-doing it. I don’t like how it frays. So–I am thinking I’ll actually re-cut the back as one solid piece and work on draping on top of it. Maybe?? Or I can shove it to the back of the closet until I take a draping class.

I really just want to burn it all–but I’m not because silk stinks when you burn it. Darn natural fiber.

Don’t you think that Maud’s butt cheeks hanging out are cute?

Peace,

^_^ Katy

We did laundry yesterday and we didn’t lose a sock. We didn’t even gain a sock! Since we use a laundromat–this is monumental. Here’s Scotch with the proof.

After my swim this morning, I was rinsing off. Two other ladies, fellow swimmers, were chatting about the people in the pool this morning. They were talking about the guy that did the erratic breast stroke. The other person that didn’t stay in their lane, etc.

Then they started talking about this young college girl–in reality me. They mentioned that she was in the slow lane, but wasn’t that slow. So it looks like I’ve graduated to the medium lanes. Wow, I’ve come a long way in the past few weeks–especially since I had not swam much or with proper form before mid-February! I love encouraging gossip. Plus they assume I’m in college–I’m not, but I take that as a compliment that I still look/act youthful!

Today it is supposed to be gorgeous. I’m looking forward to it.

Peace,

^_^ Katy

P.S. Going at a steady pace it took me about 10 minutes to swim 450m. I could push that up a few notches.

First off, this post is way overdue. Second, if I overlooked you–please, please, tell me. It was just a silly human error, everyone’s donations are amazing. Thank you all.

Karen–a fellow swimmer and triathlete. She has done a relay tri with my mother in law.

Debbie and Billy–relatives, friends.

Andrea –co-worker, quiet but always listening. Very kind.

Tracy–co-worker, lots of inside jokes. My favorite joke–I was complaining about my high-water pants. She said, oh that happens to me when I gain weight. And we’re still friends after that.

Nicki–co-worker. She likes to laugh and is always patient to answer my many, many questions.

Donna–friend. Her husband died of leukemia in December 2005. I dated her son in school for a bit, but broke up with him because I was scared of boys.

Jodie–friend. Her daughter and I goofed off a bit in high school!

Laura and David–friends. He was a student at the school Eric is at now. Fellow Texans!

Aaron and Jill–friends. Both college buddies of ours. Swing-dancing fools.

Tony–friend. Crazy beer-loving, mead-making, liberal, but he’s still a very dear friend.

Peace,

^_^

So I was working with some watercolor pastels on a project for work. Yes, I realize that I’m extremely lucky to have a job that allows occasional watercolor time. I’m trying to feel out a design that has been requested by a buyer. It is lots of fun to do, but comes with a unique hazard. My water cup for painting is right next to my cup of iced tea. I’ve almost grabbed the dirty paint water to drink several times. Silly Katy.

The iced tea has a lid.

In other news, I’d lost 3 of those pounds I’d gained over the weekend by this morning so no worries. Plus I can see and feel the muscles forming from my training on my arms, back and legs. So I realize that I’m not totally going nuts gaining weight, but I still wish the scale would go the other way too. And I know that my being a bit more disciplined it should.

I was able to fit one last hurrah in with my mom this morning. I took her to spin. I’m not sure if it was her thing, but it was fun to introduce her to something new. And, since Eric has the day off from school and therefore no night class we’ll get to have some fun tonight. Normally I go to “group spin” on Monday nights. But since I went this morning, I’m resting tonight!

On the agenda tonight is either watching another episode of Band of Brothers. I love the series–and was surprised I enjoyed it. After much asking over a significant period of time–months, years maybe–I finally agreed to watch an episode. The backstory is I have had some awful history teachers so I took as few history classes as I possibly could. Which means I generally feel kind of slow when people talk about historic things. I have trouble differentiating WWI and WWII. The sad thing is I really, really enjoy history. I loved visiting chateaus in France and hearing about the history. I enjoy it a lot.

We could also play some Wii or work on an Illustrator project. Time will tell. Of course I have some other Katy-only projects to tackle as well. Since I got less than 5 hours of sleep last night–and I normally am content with 8, but more often 10 or more–it could be an early night.

In closing here are a few pictures of Scotch, well being Scotch.

Peace,

^_^ Katy

UFOs are UnFinished Objects. I have a lot. My goal is to work on UFOs and finish a bunch before starting something new. Last week, I wore one of my favorite shirts. Until last fall it sat in the UFO pile. I picked it up and decided to go on a whim with design changes and completed it with maybe 4 additonal hours of work.

Here’s the shirt.

So here are my UFOs in the order I’m currently planning on finishing them. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.

1. Alabama Chanin shirt and photos/thoughts about the weekend organized.

2. Khaki shirt that has the same pattern as the one in the photo above, but different styling.

3. Blue tonal striped shirtdress.

Wish me luck!

^_^