Mama Gunn

Hey, remember the jacket?

Yeah I would have loved to forget about it too.  Everything was going along great.  At the end of this post I had the front and back together.  The pockets were even lined.  Everything was going great until I got the the part where I had to connect the back facing and collar and lining and wha???  Mind you these are all things that I've done before but for some reason I just couldn't wrap my head around the pattern instructions.  On closer look at the pattern I realized the company that manufactures this particular coat pattern is Simplicity.  What a deceptive name for a pattern company.  Their methods for assembling garments are idiotic.  It took a collective brain trust led by my personal Tim Gunn (my mom, she who can "make it work") to finally get everything sorted out with the facing.  After that I finished the jacket with no problems.

As you can see I'm particularly proud of the lining.  So much so in fact that I neglected to take a picture of the RIGHT SIDE of the finished jacket.  I'll be sure to get a picture once I start wearing it which should be soon since autumn has finally arrived.  Hallelujah!  Like many people this is my favorite season and there's no place better to enjoy it than the northeastern part of the U.S.  I love living here.

After finishing the jacket I started making a dress and was once again stumped when I started working on the collar.  Guess what?  It was another Simplicity pattern.  NEVER AGAIN.  My sewing mojo is currently on hiatus so I have no idea what I'll be working on next, except for a commissioned piece.  And Happy Get Marry.  And House Hunting.

Knowing You're Over It

Bachelorette weekend was a blast.  It was lovely to finally be able to connect faces with names I've been hearing for six years.  We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Old City which I was hoping was haunted.  Actually, I'm pretty sure it was haunted because the key to our room would only work for Chambers.  Spirits, I tell you!  Spirits!

We had an amazing dinner at Cochon followed by a night out with the boys.  We'd spent the day just walking around the city enjoying the gorgeous weather.  It was surreal walking blocks I had walked most days for four years.  And the caliber of the homeless has improved.  One man asked me for change and promised to pay me back.  How nice of him.  You don't hear that everyday from a panhandler.

Sunday was spent shopping at the mecca known as King of Prussia, dinner for eight at Max Brenner (chocolate martini anyone?) then out again with the boys.  That was when things got interesting.  We found out that my best friend's ex was at the bar we first planned to go to so we went somewhere else.  Personally I would have loved the opportunity to smack his ex (I promised to use an open hand!) but really?  It wasn't worth it.

See, the person who gave us the heads up told us the ex was wasted and had just learned my bff had defriended him on Facebook and he wanted to know why.  The dude is none too observant because this defriending happened A YEAR AND A HALF AGO.  Really?  Really???  Wow.  Look, Facebook is a nice way to stay connected but that's taking it way too seriously. 

We were talking about the situation and my friend was saying that yes, the ex is rather demented but if he hadn't had the relationship he wouldn't have met a lot of the people he's close friends with today.  And that, my friends, is a classic case of knowing you're over someone.  When you can look back at ended relationships, whether they be romantic or platonic, and see the good that came out of it, you know that you're well and truly over it.

It's a really nice place to be.  I've been thinking about it ever since it happened on Sunday.  Thinking about past friendships and relationships and genuinely hoping that the person in each situation is happy.  Because EVERYONE deserves to be happy.  And if they couldn't find happiness with me, then I genuinely hope they are or were able to find the happiness they deserve with someone else.  Holding grudges is pointless.  It's EXHAUSTING.  Sure it takes time to get over things and there's no timetable dictating when you should be over something or someone.  But eventually you have to let it go.  Because, as we say,  everyone deserves La La Land.  Their own happy ending.  Probably you won't know if it ever happens for them but you can always hope.

Bachelorette It Up

Happy Get Marry! is in full swing here.  I'm so happy to report that the mother of the groom and mother of the bride have purchased their dresses.  Catastrophe diverted.

This weekend is party weekend with my Witness.  Or Man of Honor if you will.  My BFF.  My Bestie.  Use whatever vernacular you want, it makes no difference.  I'll be meeting up with my best friend in Philly to celebrate and I can't.  freaking. wait.  Its been six years since I worked in Philly and I haven't been back since I left.  In the intervening years I've said many times that I'd visit, but it never happened.  Life, you know.  And its been months (a year?) since I've seen my best friend and I'm so excited to see him.  Twelve years have passed since we met at the beginning of grad school.  I'm pretty sure he's gotten over his initial hatred of me because I had walking pnuemonia when we started an epic assignment.  Of course I got over my initial judgement of him as a slacker because I had my parts of the project done when he didn't.  But then we bonded when we found out we had a mutual opinion of the third party in our assignment.  I have no idea how to handle seeing him TWO MONTHS IN A ROW.  Swoon.

So this weekend will be packed with friends and celebration.  Plus a swanky hotel stay and I'm sure a ton of reminiscing.  It's funny where life takes you and the people you meet along the way who come along on the ride.  That jumping on and off of their rail car which you can miss for months but once you're aboard it feels like you never stepped off.  And going to a city that has changed but hasn't and going to old familiar haunts as well as new ones that I know will be comfortable as well.  Because it's more about the company you keep than where you keep it.  And I will be in the best company.  And for once I'll be the one traveling the greater distance, though he does have to endure the drive up from D.C.

Though we aren't shopping for a Maid of Honor dress.  There's no way that b***h is going to look better than me.  :)

Happy Get Marry!

My favorite engagement congratulations card came from Charlie's nieces.  The eldest started her message off with, "Dear Uncle Charlie and Future Aunt Sabrina." She also included drawings of us clearly labeled with the initials U.C. For Uncle Charlie and F.A.S. for Future Aunt Sabrina.  In her illustration we're both blondes with blue eyes but hey, sometimes you just have to work with what Crayola gives you.

The younger niece drew us a picture and wrote us a note which was translated by her mom.  It said, "Happy Get Marry!" much like Happy Birthday.  We've been saying that randomly to each other ever since.  "Happy Get Marry!" Happy indeed.  This is also the niece who should be the poster child for what can happen when a child has too much sugar.  We were at an event and there were cookies.  She was told to only take two but I'm pretty sure she had a few more.  This led to an impromptu serenade from behind a chair.  It went like this:

Sabrina is...a pillow!
Sabrina is...a squaw!
Sabrina is...a handle!
Sabrina is...a headlight!
Sabrina is...a backpack!
Sabrina is...everything!
Sabrina is...MEEEEEEEE!

That's the abridged version.  Hers went on A LOT longer.  It was hilarious.  She needs her own floor show.