I mean THIS PINK!

Yep, I was bored at the hairdressers today - bored with being grey.  So - if I’m going to colour my hair, I thought, why not COLOUR it?!

Pink! I like PINK!

And although the weight loss is still slowed waaaaaaaaay down, I’m feeling better about it and back to counting calories.  I thought you needed to see me posing in front of our suburb’s emblem: the abandoned car surrounded by unmown lawn.  CLASSIC!

AND - I had the NICEST thing happen to me today!  You know I just ADORE our local fabric heaven, Gardam’s, right?  Well, I went in to pick up a layby (pics to follow soon, I promise) only to have the lovely manager hand me an envelope and explain that it was a gift certificate from Mr and Mrs Gardam!  YOU COULD HAVE KNOCKED ME OVER WITH A FEATHER!

Of course I spent it immediately on more yummy fabric, LOL!  Seriously, their store has the best service and fabric - there were some young things in there today making choices for bridesmaid dresses and I promise you, these would NOT be  “Bridesmaid Dresses” - you know, the ones that are so unspeakably awful that you look at the photos and cringe - no, these girls were playing with  gorgeous silk chiffons over some luxe duchess satins - soooo pretty!

And now I must go and retrieve my new fabric from the washing machine - by the time Miss Constance and I get back from our walk, it will be ready to iron, cut out and sew - wheeeeeeeeeeee!! Another iteration of the fabulous trapeze dress from McCall’s 5583, this time in a rayon/poly/nylon blend that has an interesting (almost looks like velvet but it’s not) texture in black - prefect in case I get to go out some evening on holidays.  And now I know that dress doesn’t need a zip, it’s even quicker to make.

The ORIGINAL movie The Women (which, alas, I can’t find on DVD) is one of my all time favourite flicks.  Joan Crawford as SuperBitch.   Rosalind Russell being Rosalind Russell - that is, smart, sassy, and gorgeous. Gowns by Adrian.  (swoooooooooon!)

Can the new one possibly stack up? We shall see…

Simplicity 2981 again!

Proper post to follow - but I thought I’d show you The Dress - sewn yesterday!

Not bad, hey?  The cotton was jsut a DREAM to work with - I will finish the Dress from Polyester Hell, but not just yet.

Do you like my hat?

I love hats!

My hat - made last night!

I was inspired to try the zipper roses by Outsapop Trashion - a Finnish girl who makes gorgeous stuff from zippers.  I bought the shell (?base? the sinamay straw shape thingummy) at Spotlight; covered it with a double layer of black silk organza, and then used separating jacket zippers to make the roses.  A few ribbon leaves and fripperies, some black veiling - ta da!!

Karen, Caity, and Sue at the lunch

And now I think I’ll just go have a little nap - the wine was lovely but now I’m REALLY TIRED!

Burda July 2008

Get over there before November 5 and answer her question, ok!

Happy Birthday, Chriss!!

We were treated to a scrumptious high tea.  Chriss assures us that any food consumed at a birthday party contains ZERO calories, so we all enjoyed ourselves.

High Tea - Calorie Free!

Here we are saying “KIWI!!” in honour of Chriss’s home country, Noo Zillund.

The party was at Platform Nine - which is the Toowoomba Railway Station’s dining room!  They had display cabinets of artefacts from when we had a true passenger service to Toowoomba…(mutter mutter grumble, that’s a post for another time…)

It was the best birthday party ever - and the sweetest pressie from Chriss’s Darling DH.  (altogether now - awwwwwwww!!) She’s also getting A SEWING ROOM!!

Rock on in your 50s, sweetie - the best is yet to come!

But the Beloved TeaBot5000™ isn’t coming He’s staying to look after the wee beasties and other things here. I will be away for EIGHTEEN sleeps - I don’t think we’ve EVER been apart for that long!  Oh NOES!

Dad, as always, told me not to stint - “Pay extra and get a seat on the INSIDE of the plane, dear!” - yup.

The new baggage rules are sucky though - you have to pay for baggage on the cheap tickets (yep, $8 extra per flight) and have only a checked allowance of 23 kilos. Plus a carry on of 7 kilos, with very restricted dimensions, plus a handbag or laptop.  So by the time I take my CPAP machine in its bag, that’s it - no other carry on gear!  SHOOT!  So much for taking my featherweight and doing some sewing…

Back to bed for me now.  I was doing really well with recovering until the dog accidentally landed right in the middle of my tummy this afternoon. (She was chasing a ball.  Tends to get a bit oblivious to anything but BALL!)  Nice cuppa tea and a good lie down, that’s the ticket.

Stop just sitting there and RAIN!

so far for all the darkening clouds, we’ve had about six drops of rain.

The Stitcher’s Dream Day Out was held (as usual) under (in?) a marquee on the lawns outside The Quilters Angel.  There were about 140 women in the tent - and not a whisper of a breeze.  Mostly that was ok - just with my wonky thermostat, I had to lie down on the cool grass a few times.

The projects were gorgeous - remembering that I am NOT a “girly-girl”, and pink really isn’t usually my thing!  Everyone gets a kit with the materials to make one of the projects, and all the patterns so you can make the rest later if you want to. The theme was “Vintage”.

Samples plus more by designers

I was quite happy with the my kit: the design was shown mounted as a wall hanging, but I think it will probably be a cushion: (please note - my photo is wonky, the actually piece does have even borders!) This is “Butterfly Dreams” by Leanne May of Candlelight Creations.

So far, this is where I’m up to:

Um yeah, Chriss and I may have spent more time chatting with each other and the other ladies on our table than actually stitching!

Today I also got to meet up with someone I’ve known online for AAAAAGES but never met face to face before - Carmel!  When she’s had a chance to get home and on her computer, there will be photos.

I’m off for my “nana nap” - you know, the little lie down you have to have after going out? (or just because it’s the afternoon…)

I KNOW I can’t dance.  in fact, I suck so baaaaaaaaad at dance that I even have trouble with the moves on my “Dance Workout for Dummies” Fitness DVD - in the slowed down TUTORIAL section!  However, I adore watching dance, and have huge admiration for dancers’ discipline and hard work.

*sigh* apart from that, I’ve dived right into the deep end of the Pity Pool, and am currently lazily floating.

It does my heart (and  mind) a lot of good when my very sweet readers (you know who you are, kisses to you, MWAH! MWAH!) share their hysterectomy stories and/or send good wishes.  I’m hoping the post-operative pain will be far less than what I’m going through right now (and for many of you, that seems to have been the case.)

That’s about all my sitting up time for today… I may even have to invoke the “too sick to move” rule and *gasp* watch tv from BED tonight!!  I’m missing out on most of your blogs, but hope to catch up once the lovely Mr Beloved has brought Teh Interwebs to my bedside.

Had a lovely night out with the girls on Saturday night - dinner at a Thai place (Thanks, Sue, for bringing wine - yum!) and then off we went with several THOUSAND other women and a few intrepid blokes to see Menopause the Musical. Fun, but LOUD!

I have spent the last two days entirely in bed - Mr Beloved wakes me up and makes me eat stuff, and feeds me cups of tea, but that’s all the energy I’ve had. Pathetic.

Tried to sew a dress to wear for the big night out and it was even more DISASTROUS than the last attempt!! At least now I know that long full sleeves with elastic at the bottom make me look older than my grandmother…. and that the weight of knit fabrics makes a HUGE difference to the alterations I need to do- which I spent AGES on - and which were then TOO BLOODY BIG.

BTW: I HATE THE F****KING CONTRACEPTIVE PILL. It was supposed to suppress ovulation and therefore the pain - NOPE. after some research, did you know that every kilogram heavier you are than 70kg makes the pill less effective? Great. I’ve had 4 migraines and feel like I’ve had PMT all month and THEN been run over by a garbage truck. And the diet? That’s just a loss right now - I think if I even walk PAST food I’m putting on weight, I don’t even have to eat it. I am NOT looking forward to seeing the dietician tomorrow.

Right, that’s about enough whinging from me - I’m off to make a last cuppa tea for the evening and watch CSI:NY.

Best dress? Ooooh, such a choice! The rose dress. DEFINITELY the rose dress! Not the shape so much (cos bubble dresses on bigger bodies= CIRCUS TENT!) but the print - I am sw0ooooooooning for the print!

Also? Tomorrow, I’m getting my hair cut. OFF.

Yep, you heard me - OFF!!

See, there’s this dyed LINE in my hair (from when I gave up getting it dyed) that looks totally BOGANish, and since I refuse to start smoking Winnie blues and wearing flannie shirts, the only other option is to REMOVE IT. WITH SCISSORS.

My hairdresser doesn’t know yet - except that I changed my appointment from “Trim” to “Style Cut”….

In other news - tonight I decide whether to attempt to pull apart the Domino fabric dress and re-sew it smaller. Cos - this “sack of unsmiling potatoes” look? BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!

I can’t believe I just blogged that picture. Have I NO SHAME at all?

Well, since I have…. should I attempt to unpick it? Or just give up??