On Earth Hour, Michaels, and Other Tomfoolery.

My weekend....in Six Morsels.

(Since you're in on my six obsession now, I'll be randomly posting with six morsels. Yum, morsels.)

1. A China-free shopping trip to Michaels craft store left me frustrated and angry. With a 25% off coupon in hand, I eagerly skipped into the store, determined to get some adorable goodies.

I left 45 minutes later, with this:

I spent, like, $3. At least this no-more-Made-in-China extravaganza will make me spend less money. Sheesh.

My 45 minutes in the store went a little like this:

At first...

Lah lah lah. I love pretty things. Oh, look! Martha has some adorable baker's twine. Yay!...Oh, silly Martha, it's made in China. Well, how about this cute adhesive ribbon? Hmm...more made in China. Oooh, cute paper tags! PleasedontbemadeinChinapleasedontbemadeinChina... Boo! More China.

Later...

Darn you, Martha. You're so great, why would you source nearly EVERYTHING from China or Taiwan? You make me sad. Well, how about some scissors? Fiskars!...are all made in China. Great. Why did I decide to do this? No one will know if I...no! Ashley! Stay strong! Fiskars, how the heck can you charge $13 for a tiny, tiny pair of scissors from China? They probably cost you like 30 cents to make, you little thief. I shake my fist at you, Fiskars.

Finally...

Time to check out. All I have are these pins. Made in Malaysia. Whatever, at least I've lived in Malaysia. And it's not China. Wait, let me dig through this pile of adorable ribbons...China...China...China...(x 1,000)...Finally! Brazil. That will do. Here you go, cashier, your stupid store should be called Michael's Stuff from China. I hate life. Bleh. Oh, wait - a 40% off coupon? In that case, I'll be back next Saturday - plan on a frustrated and frazzled Ashley.

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2. For my grandpa's birthday, we went to an Italian dinner put on by the Sons of Italy. Combine Sons of Italy and Knights of Columbus and you get a lot of adorable old Italian men named Guido who have the secret recipe to the sauce.

One of my 3-year-old cousins took a liking to photography, leaving me with dozens of shots like this:

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3. We participated in Earth Hour, an hour when people all over the world turned off their electricity for one hour. I love candles, so I was all about this...

Using a camera doesn't count as electricity does it? Shoot.

We sat out on the front porch, Mike playing his guitar and me with my feet propped up on the railing. Drinking up the 60 degree weather and enjoying his music - it was a perfect opportunity to savor spring.

Until...the rat sighting.

Yes, apparently that's why our basement literally smells like crap. There are rats living in the space between the first floor and basement. And they crawl in under our front porch. Awesome. Reason #483 I'm glad we're not homeowners. Someone else can figure out how to get those little suckers out.

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4. We watched nearly the entire third season of How I Met Your Mother. An excellent, excellent show if you've never watched it. So much like my favorite show, Friends, only there's a YOUNG MARRIED COUPLE. (!) Unheard of on most sitcoms, they are so adorable and my favorite part. I dismiss all the crazy amounts of casual sex on Friends - but it's kind of awesome to see a couple that doesn't have to be depressingly unhappy or slut-faces or whatever. Just complete and total adorableness. Plus, the rest of the show is hilarious. And filled with slutiness, so you can still get your fix if you like that sort of thing.

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5. Two hours in Urgent Care on Friday (a long, weird, night guard-swallowing incident - something that would only happen to me), and I left with an order to suck on cough drops. Or go to the ER. It was my choice.

I chose cough drops, obviously. It was a happy ending.

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6. Sewing has officially taken over my life. I blog less, I cook less, I read less, I see Mike less, and I dream about fabrics now. I have half a dozen sewing books checked out from the library. It sounds sad, but I've never been more excited to get home and work on my projects. Between that and my Photoshop class, all my downtime is spent creating. Which I love. Putting my creativity to good use has been a gigantic blessing this year. I can't explain how happy it makes me to be able to create and share.

While it makes me really sad that I haven't quite figured out how to balance this with blogging and personal life, I'm working on solutions. Maybe getting a part-time instead of a full-time job would be a possibility - leaving me with, *gasp* free time once again. Stay tuned and remain patient with me.

Meanwhile, check out my latest sewing obsession - little card wallets!

Available (or soon available) in my shop.

I have been using these myself, and am in love with how small and convenient they are. We went to a pub on Saturday, and I just threw my ID, a tiny bit of cash, and my credit cards in there. Better than sticking it in my back pocket an hoping it doesn't fall out. (Let's face it - I have every reason to be afraid of things falling out of my pockets!)