Eating Out(side)

At the beginning of every summer I get the urge to create a summer bucket list. All of the things that I should do during the summer to truly enjoy the long days, warm weather and general happiness that comes in stark contrast to the month of February filled with lake effect snow and frigid temperatures (please, ask me how I feel about February). 

I'm still putting the 2012 list together (and possibly writing it down this year so I don't forget!) but I know there is one thing I've already started trying to do more of: eating outside. 

We have a nice patio in the back of the house, with a door leading directly onto it. With a wrought iron table and chairs set that is also quite nice. So there's no reason that when the weather is this gorgeous (look at that sunshine in the background!) that I'm sitting on my butt in front of Netflix eating pizza rolls. Summer calls for sitting outside, with SALAD (I hope the MomCat doesn't pass out when she read that), and with Caprica the Computer so that I can catch up on blogs. Huzzah for Summer!

Huzzah for Summer!

I know I've been lax about posting when BabyBrother starts to send text messages requesting a blog update. Thanks, BabyBrother, I didn't realize you cared so much about my quilting and crafting! You're the best! ;)

Although, to be fair, BabyBrother has a valid point. I got super wrapped up with the rest of the Momcat's visit after our grand Paducah adventure that I didn't even finish posting about that. Top that off with our second craziest time of the year at work (leading up to graduation, second only to the mind numbing chaos that is new student orientation), beautiful weather and lots of travel and I'm just a bloggity blog fail.

Thus we kick off the first full week in June with a(nother) attempt at getting back on the blogging bandwagon. So for all of your faithful readers out there (which seems to consist solely of BabyBrother), thank you for hanging in there.

American Quilter's Society-Day One!

The Momcat and I left South Bend bright and early this morning to head down to Paducah, KY for the American Quilter's Society Annual Quilt Show! This is our fourth time going down to this show, and I think we've FINALLY gotten this whole adventure down to an art form, leaving bright and early and stopping at the Outlet Mall for a few hours for mid-afternoon break. After driving a few more house and checking into our hotel, we headed into Paducah for our first stop at Hancock's of Paducah!

I'll take some pictures of the inside tomorrow (so you get the full idea of the craziness), but needless to say we found a few things! 

These are our happy "we love fabric!" faces. 

After our first shopping adventure we headed to Texas Road House for dinner. It's become one of our traditions to go here each year, and this was the best night in our schedule to do so.

One of my favorite things is how so many of the businesses welcome the quilters with special signs and banners! Yay for quilter love! Last year there was a lot of tension with the local community and the quilt show because of evacuating from the flooding, so I'm hoping we'll see more of a welcome this year.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel where I photographed the damage for the day:

Mondays are for Muggles...or Moms!

Holy smokies that weekend was FAST. Luckily I only have one day of work this week before the Momcat and I head off to Paducah for the AQS show! [insert ridiculously happy and muppet like dance here]

This last week was highly unproductive, in part because I was super busy trying to catch up from being at a meeting last week, and in part because I just had other things to do. Like accompanying friends the Apple store, because clearly my supervision was required.

I did however:
-Work out two times
-Host book club on Monday night
-Have a good time at the craft fair on Saturday with the Momcat

-Feel like we're almost-kinda-sorta ready for our trip

Not bad for a busy week with lots going on.

This week I will:
-Have a great time with the Momcat!

Seriously, that's all I want us to do. Have fun, be safe, and buy lots of fabric! This show always reinvigorates our love for quilting and give us lots of new ideas. Our hotel has wifi, so I'm hoping to post as we go through the week this year with updates from our adventure.

Festive for Friday...Paducah Time!

This Friday is especially festive as the Momcat has now arrived for our fourth annual trip to Paducah, KY for the American Quilter's Society Quilt Show. She decided to drive out this year, so after unpacking the car we headed to Rocco's for pizza and beer!

Needless to say we're both SUPER excited! We have a busy weekend planned before we head down south next week, with a lot to get done here before we go!

On Saturday we're setting up a booth as Prairie Sewn Companion at the Great Cloth Diaper Change event at Concord Mall in Elkhart. Even though we don't have kids yet, the N-boy and I would really like to cloth diaper so I'm really looking forward to being a part of this event. And even more excited that I get to wear the new vendor apron that the Momcat and her friend Christina made! It's a little hard to see in the picture from Audrey the iphone, but Christina embroidered "Prairie Sewn Companion" on the top pocket! It's so festive!

3...2...1..Liftoff!

Houston....our Etsy site has liftoff!

We actually launched it officially a few weeks ago when the first listings went up, but now I've added a few more things and feel like it's possibly on its way to becoming an actual shop. It's also been fun to spend more time on Etsy exploring the site and looking at other people's shops. There are so many cool things to look at, that I'm pretty sure I could waste A LOT of time just browsing around.

The Momcat and I are super SUPER proud of the work we've put into this little adventure, and excited to see where it takes us. I think we're going to get to do a craft show after she arrives this week (for the grand Paducah Pilgrimage-more on that to come!) and I'm excited to have the chance to talk to people about Prairie Sewn Companion when she's actually there, instead of just describing our collaborative efforts to people.

So if you're reading this (which likely means you're related to us or I've cornered you in the office) take a minute to check out our Etsy site! Here are a few of my favorite things that we've posted.

The Momcat has been working super hard on drafting some new patterns, too, so I'm excited to see what she's come up with when she arrives TOMORROW!

Mondays are for Muggles

So...awesome weekend. I'm super proud of getting that PR for the 5k on Saturday. And for limiting myself to only one bowl of marshmellowy deliciousness this morning.

It's a BUSY week for me. Work is ramping up like crazy. We head to Paducah in just over a week. I still haven't finished the Challenge Quilt for this year. And I'm hoping to be doing another craft fair on Saturday at the Great Cloth Diaper Change at Concord Mall in Elkhart. The Momcat and I were contacted through the the Michiana Team we joined with our Etsy Shop, as they are looking for vendors who support a green lifestyle. Although most of what we've been focusing on is not baby related (although the Momcat is whipping up a few flannel baby items), fabric bowls, table runners, vases and napkins most definitely support a green lifestyle! So I'm sending in our information today and keeping my fingers crossed that it works out!

In the meantime, may I present the recap from last week and the goals for this week:

LAST week:
- Work out two times [completed 1/2]
- Run 5k on Saturday! Try and PR! [Rocked this.]
- Inventory and organize items from the craft fair [Major fail]
- Post three items on our Etsy Shop [And again a fail]
- Finish Bel Canto for book club [Done! Book club is tomorrow!]
- Three blog posts [Done here, here and here!]
- Two items of correspondence off my never ending and ever growing list [1/2]


THIS week: 
- Work out four times
- Submit materials for craft fair on Saturday
- Inventory and organize items from craft fair
- Three blog posts (including this one)
- Two items of correspondence
- Finish prepping for our Paducah trip!
- Host book club on Monday night


And I leave you with this festive image. I can't believe it's almost time for our trip again! Happy Monday everyone!