Kick your butt Flu

Hello! You all may be wondering what the heck happened to me because I have not posted anything lately, I had a really terrible flu or cold or something. It was just awful! My throat hurt so much I couldn't talk, I couldn't eat solid food, I was going through 2 Kleenex boxes a day, which means I had no skin left on my nose. My lymph nodes in my armpits were even swollen so it hurt to have my arms at my sides. I could go on, but you really don't want to hear about this... Normally I would think if I was not going to work, I would have even more time to blog, but I did not even feel up to that!

But the good news after 2 weeks of communing with my Hello Kitty humidifier I am doing much better! So now I feel up to writing about all the quirky things I notice about the world...

My new sewing machine!!!

Well I went to an estate sale yesterday because I heard they had 2 sergers for sale and I have been thinking about getting one for awhile... They also advertised great vintage fabrics and lots of notions so that all sounded good. They also said they had one sewing machine for sale which I did not even give a second thought to because I already have a sewing machine that I LOVE... Well I got there took one look at the instructions on how to thread the serger and I was already lost! I decided I am probably better off waiting and saving up money to someday get one that automatically threads. So I spent some time digging through the farbic and found some real wild pieces. Someone else was asking about the sewing machine and the seller said oh it's a Bernina. Well then my ears perked up so I asked, Really?! What model is it? They said, oh it's the 930, we're asking $350 for it. I was so excited, because that is the EXACT model I was originally looking for originally!

2 years ago my sewing machine broke (it was a Singer and while everyone I know is like oh, I have heard of them, they are good right? Well no, they are pretty awful, I only had mine for 2 years and this was the 2nd time it broke!). So I went to my backup (it's a 30-year old Kenmore) and it broke too! I decided it was finally time to fork over real money and get a real machine. My friend had a Bernina 1030 which I really really loved, she said that the 930 was the same but slightly better. So I called around to all my local shops looking for one, then I went looking on eBay. They go for about $800 on eBay. I noticed they had a 1630 on eBay for $750 "but it now" price. The 1630 is 'fancier' then the 930, it has a computer and you can program it to do simple embroidery stitches! The 2 things the 930 has going for it is that it is more durable (it has all metal parts) and it sews just slightly faster. In the end I decided to go for the fancy bells and whistles of the 1630 (which I admit I have hardly used!!!). I have been 100% satisfied with my 1630, but when I saw the 930 at this sale for half the price it should be (and then they went down to $300) I knew I had to have it! It still had the original carrying case with accessories box, 16 presser feet, 28 bobbins, the knee lift, instruction manuals, and the clip on table thingie!
Well the only disappointing thing is that while they said it definitely still worked and they had just used it to sew a pillow last week it is unfortunately partially broken. It does sew in a straight line, so yes you could make a pillow and think it worked, but the zig-zag stitch does not work. Also the knob to select other fancier stitches is broken, so right now sewing is a straight line is the ONLY thing it can do. Well as soon as I have some money saved up I guess I will bring it into the rapir shop and see how much fixing it will set me back!

Sale Alert

Mervyn's is having a clearance blowout today only! All clearance is buy ONE get TWO free. Last week when they had the 2/4/6 sale (all clearance that was 12.99 was now $2, everything that was 124.99 was $4, ect) I bought 33 shirts! Damn, that is a new shirt everyday for over a month, I also got a pair of shoes, pants, a skirt, 7 pairs of cute socks, and 2 sweaters for Trevor and I only spent like $230!!! Well now that it is buy 1 get 2 free if it was $4 on clearance, now it is $1.33 essentially! Damn!!! I am heading out now to do more damage to my credit card!

Crafters Needed!

The North Park Craft Mafia wants you in our Line Up -- the Spring Line Up craft event! Vendor applications are being accepted until February 22nd. Sign up now! Go to: www.sandiegonorthparkcraftmafia.com

Well, purple IS my favorite color...

Well apparently the cats did not like this toy... Or maybe they realized the fake mouse was dead and were trying to give it a burial at sea... Well it doesn't matter how it happened, all that matters is we now have proof that cat toys are not colorfast! And oh my, what a strange sight to walk in on!

They sure don't make it easy...

So I was shopping at my local Ralph's grocery store on Mira Mesa Blvd. here is San Diego when I turned the corner into aisle 11 and I noticed this sign.
So you might be saying gee, that's nice, that looks like a normal grocery store sign to me, so why are you bothering to post this on the internet??!!! Well, look again more closely....Wow, I think that is kinda messed up. The diet food is all on the right side of the aisle, and right behind you the candy is on the left side of the aisle.... I would really think that the grocery store would be more considerate than that. Then I started to wonder, ok was this just a complete oversight on their part? Or are they doing this on purpose to try to 'tempt' the poor dieting customers? Either way it does make me a bit mad... I am not on a 'diet,' but I am a rather, hmm.... let's just say 'curvy' girl, so I do totally try to make good decisions about the food I eat. When I grocery shop I very carefully turn over every item I buy to read the nutrition facts and I don't count carbs, but if something has an obscene number like 40 carbs then yes I put it back. I have made some interesting discoveries this way. For instance a rice crispy treat is actual healthier than a Quaker granola bar! The rice crispy treat has less fat, less calories, and the same amount of sugar.... I find this funny because rice crispy treats are marketed as a bad for you snack and granola bars are supposedly 'healthy.' What a sneaky world we live in!

Asian Inspired Quilt

So I laid out all of the really cool Asian inspired fabrics that I bought at the Ontario Quilt Show to try to see what my quilt will look like. As I mentioned I am using the "County Lines" quilt pattern so it is a pretty easy one to try to visualize. I am happy overall with all of the fabrics I picked out, but I think I went a little further into the purple end of things then I meant too. (what me? I bought too much purple, no, never...). Obviously purple is my favorite color, I am an absolute purple fanatic but the very first two fabrics that started this whole fiasco were teal!

Well, then I said hey, I could make a teal quilt but throw in a few purple accents, that would be cute.... And then suddenly purple had taken over! So I guess it is back to the quilt shop to spend more money, ~sigh~.