One of the few things I regret not having to learn earlier

Not learning to cook is one of the few things that I am regretting not started earlier in my teens. Have I mentioned this earlier in my blog? I believe I have mentioned this earlier.

As the holidays come closer and family get together on my husband side have always have home made food to bring to pot luck dinner get together. I am the one who, for the past few years not have any home made food to bring along. We do take out from some bakery or of some sort. I sure feel guilty about it. I need to step up a little more on the coming year and get some home made food ready.

sewing projects - continue (2 reusable sandwich wraps and a fleece hat)

sewing projects continue - chair covers, cover for basket and dust covers

So much to do, so little time.

more sewing projects - aprons and bookends

This was my first sewing project. I made an apron for myself by coping the pattern from an old apron using the fabric from the sheet set. It turned out not bad. I later, used another old sheet to make an apron for my toddler.











Bookends I made out of random left over fabrics from my parents. I got the patterns from a book that I took out from the library. I already returned the book to the library so I do not know the title of the book. It's something "25 projects..." The bookends are filled with rice. There were stencils of a happy face and a face with touge sticking out. I didn't do the stencils because I don't have the tools to make them and I don't want to invest too much on it. Thus they are plain. They do look cute with ears. Good enough for me.

I also made some window draft dodgers and a door draft dodger as well. They are not filled because I do not have enough rice. I will fill them up before we need them in the winter.

Here are 2 of my sewing projects

A sling to carry stainless steel water bottles with sports cap. I think this is a 25 or 27 oz bottle. This is actually my second project. My first project was an apron. I'll post that later.
















I purchased a yard of polyester fabric and cut into smaller than normal size napkins. I have some 9" x 9" and some 8"x8" and maybe some 10"x9" because I cut them by scissor and not by rotary cutter. It's more manageable to hand wash with smaller napkins.



The orange napkin is the orange napkins which I purchased in Century 21 Department store a while back and they were too big (20"x20") so I cut into quarters and make 4 napkins out of one large one. It's a lot more manageable to hand wash. They are about 8"x8" to 9"x9". They do not look like you buy them in stores but they do the job at home.

More project pictures to come later.

Sewing Projects

It’s been a while since I last updated my blog. I’ve been busy working on sewing projects which I found myself passionate about. It’s been hot and humid and sometimes have some nice weather in between, we did have some family outings. With a toddler, time is a very limited resource.

As I said, I found myself passionate about sewing. Well, it’s not just any sewing project. There have been things that needed to be fix around the house for a while. I did not have a sewing machine at home at the time so everything have to taken over to my parents place to be fixed because they have an industrial sewing machine at home. With a toddler, I don’t have the time to go there. Plus, their place is not child proof. It makes these projects forever not able to do.

Hence, we invested on a basic home sewing machine. With my lack of knowledge on different fabrics, I’ve been reading clothing labels and feel the different fabrics before buying any for my projects. I spend a few hours one day in Joann’s fabric store just to look through the different fabrics.

I’ll share some of my finish projects later.

Long Beach Island, NJ over the weekend

One of the few exciting things happened to me over the weekend. My husband and I left our daughter with my mother and we went to a private beach, Long Beach, NJ upon invitation from family as a family reunion location this year.

It’s been a while since we were on vacation. Last time we were on vacation was in September 2009. It’s almost been a year but it seems a lot longer when you are home with a toddler.

There are actually two Long Beach in the east coast, one of them in Long Island, NY and the other one in NJ. The one in NJ is private. I’m not sure about the Long Island one where a recent 12 year old who drown happened in Long Beach, Long Island, NY during a class trip. A heart-felt sympathy goes out to the victim’s family and friends.

Long Beach, NJ is about 2 hours away from NYC - 100 miles from Brooklyn. I don’t know if there are public parking around but there might. Our family reunion was in a private house which one of the distance family members has for the weekend. I’m not sure if it’s rented or it’s from someone related. All those houses have three floors. The floor has nothing because it’s close to the water, it’s intended it might get flooded. The second floor has bedrooms and bathroom(s). And then the third floor has a living room, office space, a bathroom, a kitchen and a patio with BBQ grills. It’s overlooking the ocean. It’s absolutely beautiful when the sun sets.
This house equip with an elevator. My husband was curious and we got on it for a ride. We couldn’t find the switch for the light inside the elevator so we were riding in the dark from the ground floor to the third floor. He got it kick out of this. And when we finally got up there, he looked for the switch and he found the hidden switch.

I overheard one of the family members that he’ll be coming back to this beach because he got invited by someone else (in a different beach house of course) and he said the houses right next to the beach costs about $12,000.00 for a week. When I got home, I told my mother about how much those beach houses next to the water costs for a one weekly rental, she opened her mouth in surprised. When I heard it, I was in shock how much it costs too. I know it costs a lot but $12,000.00 is A LOT.

We had a great time there. I love the part when a driver stopped for us and had his/her hands out to have other cars behind him/her to stopped for us when we cross to street to go to the beach. It’s courtesy that you do not see in NYC. From the many books that I’ve read about the rich, it’s very common for the rich to be courtesy (not all). And I believe that’s one of the many reasons they are where they are.

When I was younger, I used to love going to the beach and get burn. As I get older, I do mind getting burn. I don’t mind getting a little tan but sitting under the sun and getting skin cancer. I don’t like that anymore. Do I still dream of one day owning a house by the beach? I don't think so. I might prefer something/somewhere else.