Domesticity Fabric Store

Hi!

An adorable fabric store opened in Baltimore called Domesticity and they offer classes there! The owner, Christina, is just the nicest, and so are all of the teachers and people who work there. They sell the most adorable fabric, including Rifle Paper Co., a brand that I have loved for years!

I grew up doing sewing projects with my aunt, but I really haven't sewn by myself before now. I was so excited when I saw that Domesticity was opening and would have sewing classes!

I've taken a few classes there, bought a lot of fabric, and gone to a couple of their Sewcials. Oh, and that's also where I bought my sewing machine!

The first class I took was Let's Get You Sewing. We learned all of the basics of the machine and sewing and we each made an adorable linen tote bag.

Here I am using my cute bag last week!

Next I took a Mini Quilt class. I'm terrible and haven't finished mine yet (oops) but I will and the quilts we made are so cute! They are the perfect size for a little wall hanging.

Here is everybody's cute mini quilt (before adding on the binding around the edge).

Now that I think about it, I need to finish it asap and hang it up near the baby's area in our room!

There is a quilt-along going on now and anybody anywhere can participate. The name of the quilt is the Riptide Quilt. At the beginning they sent us a worksheet to help us decide how to arrange our colors/fabrics. I used my iPad Pro to figure out just how I wanted mine to look. We also got a schedule to keep us on track (which I didn't stick to, but that's ok!). I bought all of my fabric, the quilt book, and a clear triangle ruler, used to make all of the blocks/rows, from Domesticity.

The pattern is for a very large quilt and since it's my first one and it's pretty complicated, I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would make mine smaller instead. I had three of the rows done at the original width, so I shortened those and made the rest in the smaller size. Seven rows, each with seven of the non-background triangles. I finished my quilt top last week!

Since a lot of people are participating, there is a hashtag:
#riptideqal (check it out on Instagram and Facebook!)

It's so fun to see how everybody's quilts are turning out! Looking through them is what helped me decide to make mine smaller. Someone who had already finished theirs made it small and it looked so adorable I had to copy!

If you live in Baltimore and you like to sew, or want to learn how, or just need to buy a bunch of super adorable fabric, you should def visit Domesticity! Here's a cute pic from the last Sewcial I went to.

Thanks for reading!

A Workshop of Our Own

Hi!

A year or more ago, a workshop "for women and gender non-conforming furniture makers" called A Workshop of Our Own (WOO!) opened right by our apartment. They did an Idiegogo fundraiser before they opened and I donated and received class credit in return so I could take classes there!

I was FINALLY able to take one last week and it was so much fun! I took the Carve Your Own Spoon class, a three-hour class offered there monthly. It was taught by Sarah Marriage, a furniture maker and the founder of WOO! It's close enough to our apartment that I could have walked but I'm really glad I didn't because there was a huge thunderstorm that started the second I got inside!

The workshop is huge! Alex and I had walked there once when they had an open house to check it out but this was the first time I really got to look around. I also found my name on the wall! They wrote everybody's name in the shape of "WOO!" who donated to their fundraiser and I'm in the exclamation point, which is perfect!

There were three of us in the class and our spoons all turned out amazing and different. After Sarah taught us about the tools we'd be using and showed us some examples of spoons she and other people had made, we started with a block of wood.
  

We drew and carved the bowl part of the spoon first, then drew how we wanted the handle to look. We used a band saw to cut the sides to the right shape, and then we used it to trim off the bottom.
  

After that, we used files, small knives, an electric sander, and sand paper to get it smooth! I think this was my favorite part. I love smoothing things out haha :) At the end we put cutting board oil on them.

I made a spoon! Can you believe it??
  

I love it so much!!
  

  

Here we are with our finished products! I can't wait to go back and take another class there! I grew up building things with my grandpa and in high school I took wood shop, but it had been a really long time since I'd made anything with wood. Especially while we live so close (and before the baby comes!) I want to take more classes there! If you live in Baltimore and you haven't taken a class there yet, you should!!

Thanks for reading!

I'm back!

Hi!

Wow! It's been almost exactly two years since I last wrote in my blog!! I didn't mean to take a break, but I guess I've been pretty busy for a while!

So many fun and exciting things have happened since August 2016! Here are some updates:

- I'm pregnant! We are having a baby in December and we're sooo excited!!
- We moved to another apartment in Baltimore about a year ago and we love it
- Alex is working on finishing his dissertation and he has recently gotten to testify twice for bills about gun laws!
- I've been an extra on some more episodes of TV shows, I was in a Volkswagen commercial, and a place where I volunteer got a makeover on a TV show
- Alex has run two half marathons and is signed up for his third!
- I work at the desk at an amazing fitness studio and I get to take super fun classes there every week
- I am still working as a Standardized Patient, now at two schools in Baltimore instead of in DC which is much more convenient 
- Family and friends have had engagements, marriages, new babies, big moves, new houses, and more!
- We've gone on some great trips!
- I've taken sewing classes at an adorable new (since I wrote last) fabric store and I'm working on making my first quilt right now!
- We have both read a ton of good books 

Here is a random assortment of pictures from the last two years :)

I'm going to try to write more consistently like I used to about all of the fun things that are going on! I won't get caught up, of course, but I will probably write some posts about things we've already done, too.

If this is your first time reading my blog, welcome! Feel free to read older posts to see what kinds of things I like to write about and do! If you've been here before, thanks for coming back!! 

Thanks for reading!

Modeling on the News

Hi!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Thea (Styled by Thea) asked me to be one of her models for a fashion segment on FOX45 news in Baltimore!

There were two other models, Arissa and Alex, and we did two segments.  One was about how to wear white after Labor Day and the other was about bringing fall colors into your wardrobe.  It was so much fun!

We met at the news station around 7am and Thea had outfits for us to try on.



We wore clothing from a local boutique, Colour me Chic, and from Fly Nerd, a fashion line by local designer Mimidre.  Our jewelry was by JaNee Bartley ViVi Jewelry.  All three of them have been vendors at #theexchangebmore!

Jezmin Bowling did our hair and she did such a great job!  I got so many compliments on my hair the days after she did it (I made it last a long time!!).



For my first outfit I wore a white dress with black details, black tights, and black heels.  During the first segment, the news anchor asked Thea questions and Thea talked about what we were wearing and ways that people can break the "No White After Labor Day" rule.



Arissa wore a cute black and white dress with a really cool denim vest over it and Alex wore a plain white button up with jeans.



Then we changed into new outfits for the next segment and I wore a long plaid shirt dress unbuttoned with a belt, a tank top, jeans, and boots.  Thea talked about incorporating fall colors into your wardrobe during this segment.





Arissa wore a cute dark red zip up sweater with a leopard print skirt and Alex wore a Fly Nerd sweatshirt with jeans.



It was so fun to get to see behind the scenes on the news and to get to model some cute clothes!!

Thanks for reading!

Volunteering at Planned Parenthood of Maryland

Hi!

Today is #PinkOut day so I thought it was a perfect time to write about volunteering at Planned Parenthood of Maryland (and to write in my blog after an accidental over-two-month-long break!).



This mural is on the side of the PPM building, and all over Baltimore, thanks to the Baltimore Love Project.

I started volunteering at Planned Parenthood in April and I love it!  I started out as a Patient Greeter, which meant that I sat at the entrance, let patients in, and told them where to go if they hadn't been there before.  I would set up the table next to me with coffee and tea for people to have while they waited and was around in case people needed help finding anything!  I really liked doing that because I got to interact with people coming and going.  I also got a lot of reading done!

Within the last month or two I've started doing administrative work behind the desk and I really love doing that, too!  I help with whatever they need - copying, pulling files, etc.  Everyone that works at Planned Parenthood, in the clinic area and upstairs, is so friendly!  I've met so many nice people while working there.

There have been several events that I've participated in or helped prepare for since I've become a volunteer there.  The first was the Baltimore Women's Classic, which I did with Nell!



It's the largest Mid-Atlantic all-women's 5k, and Nell and I got to be on the PP team!  Here's a group pic taken by a PP faculty member before the run!

Visit their Facebook Page for more pics! This was so much fun and I'm so glad Nell asked me to do it with her!  The weather was perfect and the route went through some really cute neighborhoods that I hadn't seen before!

I also helped make posters and safety kits for Baltimore Pride (which we were out of town for) in July.  That was a lot of fun!





I met some of the other volunteers, both from the Baltimore location and other locations in Maryland.



I saw pictures from the event and I loved seeing people holding my poster!

A couple of weeks ago, Alex and I were able to go to a screening of the new movie Grandma at The Charles, a movie theater on our street.

PPM had a meet and greet in the lobby before the movie and afterwards there was a Q&A in the theater with Dr. Amina Chaudhry, the interim president and CEO of PPM.



It is such a great movie and the talk afterwards was very interesting.

I have really enjoyed getting to volunteering for this wonderful and important organization!  Here is my #PinkOut selfie for today!

If you're interested in volunteering at a Planned Parenthood clinic near you, visit their volunteer page for more information!

Thanks for reading!