Happy Easter

Whew!  Has it been a busy month or what?!  I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I promise.  I've just been better at reading blogs than updating mine.  Jim has a trade show in Orlando this week and I'm going with him, so the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of work as I try to  prepare for being on "vacation" for a week.  I was a little worried about what I was going to do with myself for a whole week while he works since I'm not really a lay by the pool all day kind of girl and I won't have a car at my disposal (because despite the fact that I'm married, own my own business and am planning on children in the next few years, I am still not old enough to rent a car!).  Luckily, I got my portable machine back from the friend I had loaned it too and so I will be taking it along with a whole slew of patterns, fabric and toys.  I may spend the whole week sewing...for MYSELF!  What a novelty that will be!

Speaking of sewing for myself, while I wasn't able to get my March garment for me finished during March, it was finished by April 2nd and worn tonight to the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil and our Confirmation.  As of several hours ago, I am now a Catholic.  Besides being thrilled to have found a church home that I love and a faith that I am passionate about, I am quite pleased with my Easter dress.  The pleats took a while to get pinned and basted in place, but one that was done, the dres only took about 4 hours to sew together.  And keep in mind, that 4 hours included dancing around the sewing room, petting the critters, talking to myself, and sewing.

Please excuse the rather shiny forehead, I still have blessed oil on it.

It was also nice to finally wear these shoes again.  I wore them to my wedding, so of course no one saw them, but I do really like them.

The hair is a pin curl set I've been playing around with for the last few weeks and have been very happy with.  I have a vintage hairstyling book that a friend got for me and one of the feature 'dos is Ingrid Bergman.  I read the description for the set to get her style and then did my own thing with it.  I'm more of a structured curl girl than a wavy dame, so I don't really brush the curls out when I take them down.  That being said, it's a blissfully low energy 'do once the pincurls are in.  I set them wet and once dry I take the pins out, shake the curls down, finger comb a bit and set with hairspray.  Done!

Today I may have even set a record time for getting the pincurls in.  Since it was Saturday, the bank closed at noon and I needed to make my business deposit and do some money shuffling for the trip.  I got a late start, since it's Saturday and I love sleeping in.  By the time I got out of the shower, I was in a big rush to get to the bank and get on with the rest of the day.  We still had to clean, start packing, figure out what I was going to cook 11 people for dinner, cook the dinner, AND buy Jim a suit to wear to Confirmation.  We did get to the bank (thanks to my lightening fast hair-setting skillz) and made our way over to a very cool consignment shop on Frankfort Avenue to shop for suits.  The only problem?  All of Frankfort was shut down for the Easter parade, which were just in time for the start of.  After trying to wind our way through various neighborhoods, we got as close as we could and then walked 7 or so blocks to the store.  Once there, we found two great suits for the hubs for a grand total of $80.  Once suit (which he wore to Confirmation) fit perfectly and the other just needs the pant hem let down a bit.  Not too shabby, eh?  The next time we're in search of new clothes we'll certainly be going back there!  I tried on a few hats for Derby, but I couldn't really find anything that wowed me.  I'm making Vogue 1162

and may even be so unoriginal as to make it in red.  It's not because I'm actually unoriginal, mind.  I just think this dress looks stellar in red and if I may toot my own horn, I do look pretty smashing in a red dress (toot toot!).  I want a big hat.  Big and vintage and awesome...possibly with some veiling, because really.  It's Derby.  Go big or go home, yes?

Tomorrow, packing, cleaning and probably racing around like a chicken with its head cut off.  We need to be leaving our house by 4 am Monday to meet up with Jim's coworkers that we're driving to Orlando with.

Tired as I am, wish me luck getting to sleep tonight.  When my father and brother left tonight after our Confirmation (which they were so good as to drive down from from Bloomington) they took my little Riley with them.  We has last minute house-sitter issues, so Riley will be spending the week in Bloomington with his grandmommy and cousins, because my mother is a good sport.  I'll miss my little manatee!