My Grandmother Turns 96 and She is Full of Energy

I can't believe it's been a week already since I last posted. Time does fly :)

Well, tomorrow, October 2, my beautiful grandmother is turning 96 years young. Can you believe that? She has more energy than me :-) The last time I went to her birthday, she was 85. It was a huge party! Relatives from all over the world went. I couldn't make it to her 90's birthday either. But, I will not miss her 100th birthday for anything. We are all looking forward to celebrate that. My great grandmother (her mother) died when she was 105. I know my grandma still has many years to come. It's really a blessing to have her!

When I went to Dom. Rep. last month for a weekend, I was able to spend a few hours with her. We had a good laugh remembering how she used to send our dates (my sisters and I) away when we were in high school. We used to get so mad. Now, we just laugh about it.

Here are some of the pictures I took went I saw her recently.

Bad hair day, lol. I think she still looks beautiful!

I love this picture!!!

If you want to have a laugh. Take a look at her dancing. I told you she has a lot of energy.



This picture is in the roof of her house. She is trying to get some avocados from the tree.

I just couldn't help to take pictures of all the plants and trees she has in her front yard.

Here are some plantains.

Pomegranate

Sugar Cane- I had a big one and it was so sweet.
Avocados-The best avocados I ever tasted.

These are "limas" in spanish. I have no idea what's the name in english. I've never seen them here. They are a family of the grapefruit, lemons, etc...

Feliz Cumpleaños, mama!!!! Happy Birthday, grandma!!!

My adventures in sewing

I just couldn't wait to post this! I'm so excited! I can't even believe I made it! You know that sewing is totally new to me, but when it comes to learn a new craft I could be very stubborn :)

Last week, I bought this pattern on sale for $0.99. I didn't know anything about patterns and skill levels. I just thought it was cute. As soon as Gaby got back from school I showed it to him. He immediately asked me to make him a dog in orange. I was up for the challenge. That night I cut the pattern. Of course, I didn't know anything about notches and markings so I skipped all that, lol. Man, did I learn a lot with this project. I spent the whole day on Friday (that is since I dropped him off at school that morning until it was time to pick him up in the afternoon) sitting in front of the sewing machine trying to figure out the pattern.

When I thought I finally got it, I started putting the pieces together. My first attempt to stitch the nose and the needle broke. Great! I had no idea how to change the needle. I looked in the manual and I figured it out. I also found out that I needed to use a different size needle for the fabric I was using, duh! I did all that and continue with the project. I was going nuts trying to figure out the head piece. It just didn't make any sense to me. I decided to put the head to the side and work on the rest of the pattern. I was so frustrated with that head piece :(. On Saturday afternoon, I brought my project to the Knit Knuts meeting and Aura and I went thru the pattern together. I insisted that there was a mistake with the pattern. So, when I came home that night, I decided to go with my visual eye and try again. I did it my way and it worked. There is a mistake in that pattern. There is a part on the head piece that says to stitch it together. Well, you are not supposed to stitch it because that's the part that you'll attach to the body later one. Anyway, I'm glad I figured that out. It was really hard to put the whole piece together. I ended up doing some hand sewing because some parts had to many layers of fabric and couldn't get them to go thru the foot. I even tried raising the foot all the way up and lowering the teeth of the machine.

Anyway, here is Hobbes. That's how Gaby named him.



Isn't Hobbes adorable?

I love his nose!


Gaby kept saying, "Wow, I really like it. You did a great job!" He is so happy with his new pillow! I guess all the frustration was worthy.

Zumbathon 2009

Last night was our two hour zumbathon. We had a blast! Here are some of the video clips my husband made.

I'm sure you'll figure out which one is me because I make the most weird and funny faces when I dance, lol.

Here we are doing a song by Paulina Rubio. Jatrine is the instructor. She is awesome!!! I go to her class twice a week.

This is a Cumbia. Koh is the instructor and I think she has trained all the instructors here. She is unbelievable! I take her class twice a week.

I'm already tired here. This instructor, Irina, is from Ukraine. She has so much energy. I take her class once a week.

Ok, I think that's it for now. I promise to put pictures of my trip to DR and from my sewing adventures on my next post.

I finally finished my tote bag

Well, I'm back from my really short, short trip to Dominican Republic. I had a great time with the family and some friends. The play was awesome. I was very impressed with their performance. I will post pictures from the trip and the play at another post. I think it deserves a post of its own :).

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you my tote bag. It's all finished! I'm so proud! I mean, it's not perfect. I made a few mistakes but you can barely see them.

Here are some pictures:

Front view

Side view

Inside

For my next project, I'm thinking about making this dress. It seems very easy to make. We'll see.

I'm so proud of myself!

I've been playing around with my sewing machine at home. It's been so much fun that I think I'm addicted now :). I made the black apple doll. It turned out so cute! It's my first softie and I'm so proud. It's definitely not perfect, but you can barely see the imperfections. I still need to sew the top of the head. I was thinking about adding some black yarn for more hair. I will also make her a scarf and add some buttons.




I also made a headband. It was very easy to make. I think I'm going to make myself a whole collection :)





So, what do you guys think? To be a newbie, not bad at all right?
I haven't finish my tote bag though. I've been working on that in class. Since I missed almost half of the class last week, I haven't been able to finish. I think I'll finish it on my next class. I already sewed the handles and iron the interfacing. Now, it's just a matter of putting it all together. I can tell you that it's looking very nice :)

I need to start thinking what my next sewing project would be. I want something more advance so I can learn as much as I can. Any suggestions?

Anyway, I should probably start getting ready for my trip tomorrow. I have so much to do today.

Our Weekend

Warning: a lot of photos

Yesterday we went to Matthews Alive. It's a festival that the City of Matthews in NC does every year. They have tons of activities for the kids, music, food, art exhibit, crafts, free stuff, etc...

This picture was taken when we got there. The only way Gaby would pose for the picture was if we let him make silly faces.



There was a quilt exhibit. We were so impressed by the amazing work done with those quilts. I love to see them but I don't think I have the patience to make one. Way too much work for me :). Nothing that will take me more than one or two days.

Here are some pictures of some of our favorites. It was really hard to pick a favorite, but I voted for this one.



This one, By The Sea, was Gaby's favorite.


This one was made by a little girl, about 10 or 11 yrs old. She told me it took her about a week to finish because she did a lot of hand sewing in the back. This is the 3rd one she makes. I was impressed by her talent.



Right by the quilt exhibit they had a small children's museum. We spent some time there looking at toys from around the world. And, of course, we had to try the masks.



We also got to see a preview of Les Miserables at Matthews Playhouse. They are just starting to put the show together. They will present it on April of next year.

Gaby spent some time at the Discovery Place station. He was practicing how Astronauts do things with gloves. Can you believe that one of those astronauts suits has 7 layers and weights over 500 pounds? The suit costs over a million dollar. The one below if not a real one, of course.


Usually, what people enjoy the most at this kind of festivals is all the food. Well, we are not too crazy about junk food so we ended up going to Chipotle. Gaby's second favorite restaurant. His first favorite is Wolfgang Puck.


After that, we went to Marshall to look for a small luggage for my trip. While there, Gaby and John were just acting silly trying things on.


Today, I just went to Hancock Fabric to get some buttons that I needed for my neck warmers. It was my first time at that store. I really like it! I have to go back without the family so I can spend as much time as I want browsing thru everything.

Four more days before I go to the Island. I have so much to do before then.

My blog has been totally neglected

I really don't know where time goes. If I could only add at least ten more hours to my days...

I haven't done much with my sewing. I got up with my left foot yesterday, lol. I was late for my sewing class for half an hour so I couldn't do much. I was only able to do the straps for my tote bag. Then, I had to go to a chiropractor's appointment right after.

I've been trying to focus on organizing my knitting classes (application, policies, lesson plan) and I have totally neglected my blog and etsy shop. Next weekend I'm going to the Dominican Republic (yeah) so I have a lot to leave ready before I go. Planning to start my knitting classes the week of the 21st. BTW, do you guys know how to add a tab to the layout so I can add a session with info about my knitting classes?

The good news for this week is that my amigurumi panda was sold. Whooohooo! It was sad to see him go though. He is such a cutie!

I wanted to share with you a scarf that I made for my mom when she was here. I love the way it turned out! Perfect for the upcoming fall season. I think this is the first thing I've knitted for my mom. I'm not a bad daughter, :). She is just too picky, lol. This time she was able to select the yarn from my stash.




I started going back to the gym last week. It feels good to be back to my routine after not going for most of the summer. How I miss my zumba classes!!! I am exhausted today. I went to two zumba classes. I was planning to go to a third one but my legs couldn't take. We did a lot of high impact today. Great work out!

Good night everyone!