Wild Bougainvilliea

My mom came out to visit me for a week. Mom's like to buy you things. I explained to her that I was doing this whole not buying new things for a year thing and her response was, "well I can buy you new things". Not the point Mom. God Bless her. We went thrift store shopping together, certainly  not out of the ordinary for her, but she does love that Ikea, and she went without, for my sake. They don't have Ikea in Iowa, where she lives. The point is, she helped me see the possibilities around me! Wild Bougainvillea's grow all over my neighborhood. The day my dad was flying in to join us at the Emmy's... this is what I awoke to...

even in my bathroom

They grow wild everywhere around here! I totally took them for granted. People plant them and only get to enjoy them for a few months in the midwest, and I get them all year long... and yet I hadn't appreciated them, until then. 

Instead of feeling as though not being able to buy fresh flowers is a sacrifice - I'm now more aware of the world right outside my backyard. Something I think we all forget sometimes. 

Thanks mom. 

The Sassy Six

Every year six of us from college go on a girls trip. They're inevitably ridiculous, hard to plan, and even harder to explain to the free world. Regardless of what actually takes place during the weekend, I tend to be the sap who wants to make traditions, get all sentimental, and usually write a long love letter explaining how much they all mean to me, which I usually end up reading out loud, and crying (I worry they wouldn't get the inflection right if I didn't read it the way it was meant to be heard)...

And then they're are the gifts. Not "gifts" like presents, but meaningful treasures. At least that's how I imagine how it all plays out in my mind. This year, with my nothingnewforayear idea I started looking through the cupboards.

In the midwest we're raised that any situation can be made right or better with food. Preferably homemade, with real butter, and if baked, delivered warm. Ok, well we were all flying from around the country and so warm pie wasn't going to make it this time...
-However I could ensure some "cheerio" dispositions with some Fruity Cheerios I had in the pantry. Delish.
-Expressing how much I "care"d for them was easy with Care Bear Gummies. (random I know-from TriRock Annapolis care packages)
-To ensure we had plenty of "Power" for the weekend some PowerGel Blasts with caffeine. (Thank you triathlon training)


Throw in some Trader Joe's paper bags and here's what you get...

The snowflakes were actually part of the decor on the bag. The adornments were cut out of a magazine. Ribbon was leftovers. This was just one of them. The fun thing about using what you have is that no two are alike :)

Swim Cap Dress

So my official start date for this project is June 1, but I was thinking about it back in May when I made this dress... Thought i'd share anyway

I like to make things from nothing. Well not, "nothing", but you know what I mean... As I was working at the TriRock triathlon in San Diego last fall I saw a box of "extra" swim caps. They looked so colorful and exciting as they sat under the box beneath my table. I wondered what happened to those extra swim caps, and so I inquired. They were in case people forgot theirs, or had the wrong color, one broke, etc. After the triathlon was over and everyone successfully finished and the swim caps weren't needed anymore - I asked if I could have some of them. My co-workers have learned better than to ask why, they just figure I'm crazy and it's better to just smile and nod. Taking the box of swim caps home that night I immediately sat down and started planning. In my "craft"/junk drawer I found some ribbon. Leftover from a present presumably, it was neon green. Perfect. I started laying out the swim caps to figure out how they could fit together and a few hours later... i had a skirt! I ran into the other room to hold up as I looked in the mirror, and was disappointed. It didn't look right. It needed more oomph. A few days later I headed into AMVETS and bought a poofy underlayer for a wedding dress. Cutting it up and making a tutu out of it would surely make it pop... nope. now you could only see the tutu and the swim caps were lost in the ruffles. I eventually settled on a very simple skirt, not gathered, no tutu. I packed it up and headed to TriRock Annapolis where it would have it's debut. I wore a TYR swimsuit underneath (official sponsor of the race), and running tights (it was cold and rainy) and my signature crazy socks. Luckily I had found this awesome old school bathing cap that really made the outfit come together.

To everyone else, it was a hit. But it wasn't what I had originally envisioned... A few days after the race I ran into the CEO of our company. Someone asked him what he thought of the swim cap outfit... he looked at me and gave me his honest opinion... he thought it was going to be "more". He was disappointed, and so was I. I went home that night determined to turn that frown upside down. 

It's a little heavy, and smells a lot like rubber, but it finally became the swim cap dress I had wanted...

The smell of latex and the disbelief in everyones eyes... proof that "disappointment" was dead.