Photo a Day July

I am so excited to be participating in my first photo challenge! This challenge is part of Photo a Day month challenges, hosted by Fat Mum Slim.  I was especially intrigued (you have no idea it took me to figure out the spelling of that word!) after reading her post 5 Ways Photo-a-Day Will Change Your Life for the Better, even though I had already decided to do the challenge anyways!

 

I am by no means a expert, or even an amateur photographer, but I think I have a fairly good eye, and ever since I saw my first photo challenge, I thought it would be an interesting way to gain perspective on how your day really goes. So join me in the challenge, it takes a little bit of your time, but rewards you too.  I'd love to see your entries, so leave me a comment below.

Belly Dance and Crochet: Last Barefoot Sandals (for now)

Well lets see what is on the agenda.  Lots of laundry, lots of packing as we make our way from the East Coast to the West Coast.  My last set of footies are made, washed, and ready to be given to Zabel at my last belly dance class on this coast *sigh*.  I'm taking one more class with Melina of Daughters of Rhea tonight, and I have my last sewing class this Saturday where I hope to finish my first circle skirt.  We leave in one week (!) to visit my husbands family, and then we are heading to Colorado to visit my family.  Then it's off to our new home in the Pacific Northwest on July 2nd.  I will be blogging less during that time.  However I do have plans for the future.

1. Update these tags.  They need to be smoother around the edges.  I like the embroidery though.
2. Find a dancer to study under.
3. Find a sewing class.
4. Find a house and a room to rent.  My husband and I will be in separate states for the first year since his new job (!) requires a lot of travel, and I will be staying in my hometown while I undergo treatment for depression, anxiety, and a major phobia of illness (desensitization therapy can we say fun...) so I can have the support of my friends and family.
5. Get my crochet items displayed somewhere or set up a shop online.  I will need to do a lot of research on this before I decide which direction to take.
6. Share the pattern for these sandals for my fellow crocheters because it's good to share you know.
7. Raise two kids.  Enough said.
8. Finally have some freakin' fun.  It is well deserved!

More than enough to fill the time for this summer.  I can't wait for vacation. 

Belly Dance and Crochet: Barefoot Sandals (or Feeties or Footies)

Zabel modeling a size regular in Twilight

http://zabelbellydance.com/

Six sandals ready for sale by Crochet by Shannon (me!)

I just completed six footies for sale at A Day for the Bellydancer this Sunday, June 10th.  If you are in the Boston area, and are interested in more information click here.  I will be helping Zabel out at her table where she will be vending her creations and mine.  I am so excited!

A Large Update and What I Am Doing

First off an explanation.  I named my blog "An Imperfect Woman's World" because that is what I am.  I will NEVER be the best woman, wife, mom, cook, employee, lover, house cleaner, friend, pet owner, blogger, gardener, crocheter, runner, dancer, seamstress etc...etc......

And you know what.  I'm ok with that.  I realize that where I excel in one area of my life, another area is lacking.  To find balance I have to give up the idea of perfection, and realize that a little bit in each area everyday is the way to find harmony.

With that in mind here is a very large update of what is going on in my life right now:

Update

We are officially being discharged from the Coast Guard at the end of June.  We will be leaving New England, and returning to the Pacific Northwest.  I was hoping to return to my hometown, but it looks like that is not in the cards right now.  At best we will be two hours away from it.  This is heartbreaking, but I am trying to look on the upside that at least it is closer than we are now.

Family

I don't like to post about my children because although I have ideas about the kind of mom I would like to be, each day is a different struggle.  Also, I like to keep my children off of this blog, and really I have no idea of what KIND of parent I am, if you can even classify parenting into a category.  My husband and I were relying on the military to schedule our move, however it has been decided that a do it yourself move would be more beneficial.  This is putting a lot of stress on us right now.  We're talking, and trying to roll with the punches as best we can.

ME

I have never really talked about this on the blog before, but I am still battling depression, panic disorder, and an extreme phobia of illness (even minor ones).  I made the decision in February to finally start fighting after 17 years of suppressing, and at best it has been a roller coaster of emotion, and self-examination.  The move is definitely getting in the way of my recovery, as is the worry of a lapse in health insurance, and the putting off of desensitization therapy, which I was really gung ho about getting started.

Food

Honestly I have been on a bit of a cooking strike since finding out we were getting out.  Maybe that will change before we leave, or maybe there isn't much point right now with everything we have going on.

Dance

Following a long stomach virus, severe weight loss, treating the anxiety, and a long recovery from a rib injury, and an emergency surgery that my dance instructor had to go through, I am finally back to dancing regularly.  I am working on a choreography with the wonderful dancer Zabel, interpreting my struggle, and recovery from anxiety.  The experience so far has been very empowering.  I also have two punches left in my card with the talented Melina of Daughter's of Rhea in Waltham, MA that I need to use up.  And starting July 9th I will be resuming classes at Yoga By Donation in Portsmouth, NH until the date we leave.

Crochet

I mentioned in my last post Belly Dance and Crochet that I had finished 4 dance belts. I have been crocheting hip belts using only natural materials, for the lovely Zabel, in exchange for private lessons.  I am starting on another set of those belts, and have been researching different crochet stitches online to change things up.  Zabel will be vending my belts, and possible barefoot sandals at belly dance events, and I am very excited to be working with her, and getting my name out there.  I'm not sure where it will go from there, but maybe it will mean displaying my work at another dance studio where we move to, continuing to work with Zabel through Skype, and PayPal, or even starting an Etsy shop.  For more information about my belly dance inspiration, and crochet inspiration click on the Pinterest link above, and for more information about Zabel in New England visit http://zabelbellydance.com/

 

Regular Barefoot Sandals and Medium Fun Belt Modeled by Zabel

Gardening

I gave away all of my seedlings to my neighbors on base except the tomatoes, and eggplant which will be going today or tomorrow hopefully.  The snap peas; which I planted 32 of outdoors, have yielded 12 plants, and the romaine; which I planted 12 of, have yielded 5 plants.  I am not sure if they will be ready for harvest before it is time to leave.  I plan on starting over next year, with my leftover seeds, and also planting a few new seeds, and starting some seedlings indoors as well to supplement those that don't take.  It has been the beginning of a learning experience, and I will miss seeing how this year would have turned out.  Other than that I have given away my potted plants, and have been deadheading, and weeding the flowers in ground until the time we leave.  I have been paying special attention to this shrub:

which I planted on the day of my Dad's death in remembrance of him.  It bloomed with the prettiest, tiny white flowers, and was a great comfort to me.

Sewing

I will be finishing up a six week sewing class this Saturday, and hopefully will finish my first article of clothing on that day.  I hope to continue learning to sew, upcycle, work with patterns, make alterations, and mend at the next place we live.

Blogging

I gave the blog a makeover into a simpler, and prettier template via Blogger.  I think the paint splotches really highlight the blogs theme, and while pink isn't my first choice, I do think it has a cleaner look now.  I hope to revamp the blog, learn more about HTML, and working with GIMP or Picasa, and gain more readership at a later date.  Now I am sharing my projects with my friends on Facebook (which is private) and on Pinterest, and have been pleasantly surprised at a few repins!

Health

I downloaded the C25K app on my Iphone, and will be doing Day 3 next.  I also walk my dog once a week for 2-3 miles with a friend of mine, and there is also the belly dancing.  I hope to in the future to quit smoking again, and eat healthier since I would still like to lose about 15 more pounds.



Belly Dance and Crochet

I did it! I made 4 belts in all the sizes needed.  I really hope they get sold.  I might really get into this!

I guess it's my first time playing around with digital scrapbooking, or collage work in Picasa, or whatever you call it.  

Make Do and Eat: Lemon Bread Pudding

Our family has a lot of bread crusts. Like a whole freezer full. And stale bagels, that one hamburger or hot dog bun that doesn't get eaten, you know what I mean.  Since we are in the process of maybe moving soon, I figured it was time to start clearing out that overstuffed freezer.  You know planning ahead just in case.  To my knowledge there is only two things worthy of leftover stale bread (well frozen leftover stale bread; I forgot about French toast).  Homemade croutons (delish!) and bread pudding!  I chose the second.  I was inspired by this pin:

via Pinterest via http://bijouxs.com/2012/04/15/meyer-lemon-bread-pudding/

So I came up with my own with a little help from Alton Brown.  You've probably figured out that he is my all-time favorite cooking guru by now.  Here's what you'll need:

• Lemon Curd made a day or two in advance; recipe used below. Buy some if you really have to.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lemon-curd-recipe/index.html

• 18 oz. of stale bread (any kind but if you want to get fancy get a french boule, challah, baguette, french loaf, if you want to get really fancy cut off the crusts)
• 2 lg. whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 cups half & half (I made my own with leftover heavy cream and 2% milk in equal parts, whole milk and cream would have been closer to real half & half)
• 1 cup whole milk (again made my own, but kind of winged it so that it looked like whole milk)
• 2 fl. oz. lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• butter to grease the pan
• Powdered Sugar to garnish if you must

Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes.  Then basically you throw all the ingredients except the lemon curd in a blender for a short time.  I blended too long and made some mutant form of whipped cream, but I knew a night in the fridge, and the heat of the oven would settle things down.  Grease a large casserole dish with some butter, toss in your bread cubes, spread (or in my case dribble!) the lemon curd over the bread. Pour you blender mixture over the bread and curd, and let sit between 2-8 hours to soak up the blender custard you just made.  Cook in a 325 degree oven until the temperature is 170 degrees about 45-55 min.  Rest 15-30 min.  Cut into squares and try not to eat so much crispy, eggy, moist, lemony, caramelized goodness that you almost throw up (happened!)

Enjoy!

The Importance of the Test Swatch

Above is a test swatch I made for a belly dance belt I am going to crochet.  Not only does test swatching help you practice gauge (I found out that I have more tension in my stitches than in my rows hence the rectangular shape), but is a great way to test for bleeding.  Recently I made a shawl that the rose color bled into the mint color.  I went to the yarn shop and found out that:

1) I don't have to block with warm water, cool water reduces bleeding
2) Soaking the article in a solution of 8 parts water to 1 part vinegar should set the colors
3) Test swatches are a great way to make sure you don't use colors that won't work together before you spend all those hours making that handmade gift

Another benefit is finding out how your natural materials will react to washing.  If you know a pattern will fit you in a medium, you wash your wool, and the water makes the wool shrink or loosen you can adjust accordingly.  Great for garments especially.

It's coming along.....

We Got Seedlings Coming Along

When You Walk in the Garden......

Starting plant seeds indoors.  I am starting my first vegetable garden this year.  Between this, crochet, private belly dance lessons, and my family I have more than enough to fill my plate.  Better make sure I don't take on anymore.

So far I have started Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Eggplant, Cucumbers, Zucchini, and Summer Squash indoors. I used peat pots because the decompose, and made markers with skewers, masking tape, and a sharpie.

Next up: Planting Sugar Snap Peas and Romaine in the actual garden patch...........

and this is why I am starting them in a dog crate.

MENU SATURDAY?

My, what a past nearly 5 weeks it has been.  I have decided to confront some demons from my past, and boy has the process been much rockier than I EVER anticipated!  That being said a lot of what I thought was important has been put on the back burner, and a lot of what I thought wasn't has moved its ugly head front and center.  Right now the focus is to work on being the best ME I can be.  So that means simplification in other areas of my life.  I do love food blogging though, so here is a pared down version of this weeks menu.



IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

Chicken Quesadillas with Salsa, Guacamole, and Fruit

Meatloaf, Homemade Mac and Cheese, and Steamed Green Vegetable (probably broccoli)

Meatloaf recipe courtesy of

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-meat-loaf-recipe/index.html

Whole Wheat Spaghetti, Quick Tomato Sauce, Green Salad with Vegetables, and Italian Garlic Bread

Tomato sauce recipe courtesy of

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pantry-friendly-tomato-sauce-recipe/index.html

Mock Pot Roast, Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream, and Ginger Ale and Chili Powder Glazed Carrots

(I don't want to deal with buying a whole hunk o' beast so I'm just making Beef Stew minus the potatoes and carrots)

Beef stew recipe courtesy of

http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/eating-well/beef-stew.aspx

The CORRECT way to bake a potato explained here

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/the-baked-potato-recipe/index.html

Glazed carrot recipe courtesy of

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/glazed-carrots-recipe/index.html

The rest of our weekly menu will be determined by what we need to use up in our pantry and freezer.  I should take an inventory of what we have in there within a few days.  Again I say SHOULD.  Doesn't mean I will.  Please refer to blog title.  Hope everyone is well and happy.