Some Assembly Acquired: Yikes!

...words that strike fear into me. In 31 years of marriage, I have never assembled anything that I can remember! In fact, I seem to remember our wedding vows going something like, "...to love, honor, and handle all correspondence till death do us part (me)--and Randy responded with the same only to do all assembling. Well, here I am having to put my big girl panties on and do stuff around here since Randy has returned to Mongolia. Sigh. OK, there really are lots of other things I miss about him :) Anyway, here are my success stories of yesterday and today! One, my sewing chair and two, a little bistro set for out back. I'm so proud of myself! Next, a set of little table and chairs for the munchkins. Stay tuned :)

Here are my new best friends: 1) the power drill that Randy bought me before we left for Mongolia. This was an ill-conceived period of my life where I attempted to be handy. Not pretty. 2) my grandfather's tackle box that I've used for my tools, screws, nails, etc. However, as of this summer, I have outgrown it; so, Randy bought me 3) my shiny new (red!) craftsmen toolbox. Isn't it great?! He's the best. When I look at it, it feels he's here rooting for me :)

...and hey, what do you think of my former Post Soviet patio now? Looking a bit better I think--I love to have my quiet time out here in the mornings.

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Much Needed New Winter Robe - Vogue 9232

Last spring I chucked my 20-year-old bathrobe, giving me no choice but to replace it come winter. Granted, I never took it to Mongolia, so it only got worn when I was home in the US. But still. For summer I made several light weight robes, but I knew I liked the style of my old RTW one. When I saw reviews for Vogue 9232--on PR (all 3 of them), I knew I'd found my pattern. Interestingly enough, the pattern is actually for a caftan-type dress; but all 3 reviews were done up as a robe. Sham's review in particular had great tips. On a trip to Colorado Fabrics in early summer I spotted a beeeuuutiful pink sweatshirt type fabric. The outside is more like a thick knit and inside is dreamy soft. And it's baby pink! Which is hard to tell in the pics as we in Colorado have had lots of rain and no sunshine. And OK, I'm no photographer. But seriously, this is like stepping into a pink cloud. ...

Travel Duds

As I've probably whined/stated before, the trip to and from Mongolia involves about 30 hours of travel spread over 3 flights, Incheon Airport, South Korea the long leg being 11-13 hours. For almost 10 years I've resisted wearing anything closely resembling sweats. I know, I know. Call it an anti Ugly American thing. About 5 years on, I had to ditch jeans with any kind of buttons on the back. Finally, the knobby seam joint of the back yoke got to me. Never mind having to unbutton midway through. Sigh. I finally caved into wearing comfy pants (hereafter referred to as Happy Pants) on the long leg of my international flights last September. These were made up in my favorite yoga pants pattern, Laura Lounge Trousers (I'd made 3 pair for Pilates already :) by Maria of Denmark (her Kimono Tee pattern is another one of my go to's!). In purple stretch velour. Still, I couldn't bring myself to hang out in the airpo...

A Stitch Sisters Kimono for Dubai

My husband had meetings come up quick in Dubai and of course I tagged along! We were going to be there a week and I wanted a lightweight kimono-type pullover for the pool and getting out of the shower. I had snagged a gorgeous white linen/cotton (guessing on this) here in UB that was perfect. My inspiration came from Lisa's over at Lisa's Carolina | Handmade . I'm not good at pattern drafting and this was a quick FREE measure and cut tutorial of Stitch Sisters--find their Patternless Pattern Link here . I'm so happy with this! It basically took me an afternoon. The directions are great--and they include 5/8" seam allowances--yay!--as I wanted to turn under and top stitch them since I don't have a serger here. I left off the ties. Shapeless worked for this. I also raised the neckline by about 1.5" The neckline was a little trickier as I didn't have any bias on hand and there is no "running out" anywhe...

Scenic Route

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