Ahnalin's Very Own "Special" Vintage Bedroom

This is Ahnalin's very own room.

A girl's very own room is always special,

but this room is Extra Special!
And today, I finally finished it.

For the first four years Ahnalin

was in our family,

she slept in our room.

 Because she had Anxious Attachment,
a form of Reactive Attachment Disorder,

we felt it was best to keep her close to us.

When she turned 5, 

she moved into her sister's bedroom

and loved it!

But now, she has her very first,

very own bedroom!

When I was looking through my fabric stash,

I found many, many wonderful fabrics

that I could have used to make her room special.

But when it came down to it, she and I 

decided that she wanted most of the things

in her room to be "special".

To Ahnalin, "Special" means it 

came from someone she loves,

or a family member whom

she never got the chance to meet.

This curio secretary came from my 

grandmother's home and belonged

to my great grandmother. 

The angel playing violin is 

from her Nana and Papa.

The darling picture of my niece is from my brother 

and sister-in-law.

The antique doll cradle was a gift from my great aunt

but the quilt is Ahnalin's blue ribbon first 

quilt she entered into the fair last year!

The hand painted dresser is a vintage piece from

my sister-in-law and niece.

The dollhouse is from my friends Tika and Susan. 

The faded floral pictures were from my grandmother.

The rocking horse was made by

my grandfather for India, 

when she was a baby. 

The braided rug was made by my mother

when she and my dad were missionaries in Jamaica.

The bunny teapot and cup are

part of a set given to Ahnalin by 

my dear friend Melissa and her daughter Katie.

The Bible is from Don's parents.

The quilt and quilted sham were made

by my mother and me for my dorm room,

before I went off to Bethany University.

My mom embroidered many, many hearts

all over this quilt, 

reminding me that I was loved at home.

The bed skirt was one I had made for

India when she used this quilt on her bed 

at the same age.

The pillows belonged to India,

my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and me. 

I made the double ruffled Euro Sham for 

India when she was 6.

This is a piece of Chinese art called "The Wedding Party"

that my Daddy gave to Ahnalin. 

The "Happy Cats" are from Ahnalin's Aunt

and the dolls are from Don's 

parents and some from us. 

This little daisy is actually only about 

1/4 of an inch tall. 

My cousin painted 

it for MY dollhouse when I was a little girl.  

It now lives in the girl's bedroom 

in Ahnalin's dollhouse.  

Now these are some of the only things in 

the room that I actually sewed for

Ahnalin. 

I bought this Laura Ashley cotton sateen

about 14 years ago at a garage

sale for 50 cents a yard! 

And the blackout lining was in my stash too. 

The rabbit lamp in the pictures 

is something I ordered for Ahnalin

when we were waiting for her to come home.

And the Calico Critters Dollhouse

and furniture has been part of 

her presents for birthdays and Christmas

since she was 3. 

My friend Sheri gave Ahnalin the 

pink jewelry box this year for Christmas.

The darling pink crocheted pig purse

was a gift from our friend Melody.

And Ahnalin wanted to have 

her favorite Mama smocked dress

on one of my dress forms. 

The Baby Dumbo was a gift from

her big sister India,

and the little mouse Huxley was a gift

from Daddy on the day we moved here.

The much loved Bunny came with us

to China when we adopted her!

  

I almost forgot to show this! 

I bought this Bunny Jo wallpaper border

15 years ago, when I was 

an interior designer for Laura Ashley stores.

We were trying desperately to have

another baby at that point,

and I bought this border on faith

that someday we would have another child.

So of course, it HAD to go in Ahnalin's room!

Ahnalin LOVES her new room!
In it, she is surrounded by love.
She is surrounded by things that
were owned or given to her
by loving, creative, giving,
faithful people. 

Very, very Special indeed! 

Now, I had better get back to my sewing.
Ahnalin wants to dress up like Laura Ingalls
for Book Day this week!
Happy Sewing!

 

My Romance

Tuck and Patti are a husband and wife duo who originally recorded
this song on their 1988 album
"Tears Of Joy".

Just pretend that guitar player, Tuck, 

is my Hot Rockin' Hubby, Don.

And then pretend that the singer, Patti, 

is me. 

This is the version of "My Romance" that Don and I performed during our wedding ceremony way back in August, 1988. 

Yes, I sang at my own wedding, 

and Don played guitar.

My Romance was originally written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the Doris Day movie "Billy Rose's Jumbo". 

It has been performed by thousands over the years.

But it is "Our Song".

Happy Valentines Day everyone.

And to my very own valentine,

I love you!

Happy Blogaversary To Me - OR- Trying To Climb Out of My Funk

I know I have been pretty absent lately.

Yesterday was my 2 year Blogaversary.

And I missed it.

In fact, I haven't blogged for 2 weeks.

I have to admit to being in rather a bit of a funk.

I have not been feeling really great
due to a broken tooth that I ignored
far too long.

And January is always really a hard month for me
emotionally.

And I think all the emotions and changes from our
move were taking their toll.

And I really miss India.

I mean, I KNEW I was going to miss her.

And while I was so happy she was getting to
go live her dream,
I was dreading her going.

 I kept trying to start sewing projects,
to get motivated.

But I just could not climb out of this funk.

So last weekend,
I told the Hot Rockin' Hubby that I NEEDED
to see the ocean.

I NEEDED the ocean air.

And since we live less than an hour away from
the ocean, here in Sonoma County
we hopped in the car and drove!

We parked at Doran Beach
 and Ahnalin immediately took off her socks
 and boots and started running.

It was COLD!!

 OVERCAST!!

And COMPLETELY WONDERFUL!!

The town of Bodega Bay was celebrating
Chowder Day,
which meant we got to sample 10 different
chowders and vote for our favorite.

Our favorite was Spud Point Crab Company,
who also happened to be the winners of the contest
yet again.

Yes, Ahnalin's ever present jump rope
came with us.

She jumps everywhere.

We had a great time.

And it helped.

As to my tooth,
 well, I made an appointment with a dentist
in our church for Valentine's Day.

Her office called yesterday and said they had
a cancellation and I should come in to the office today.

So, I went, after freaking out all night long.

And now I feel better.
She did a temporary fix on my tooth until I can afford
to have a root canal and crown.
She could not believe I was so calm in the office,
because the tooth was so badly broken.

But it felt so much better than it had for the last several months!
Quite miraculous actually!


I am still not finished with my sewing chair.
Right now I am working on Ahnalin's curtains
for her bedroom.
I put up some vintage
Laura Ashley border that I had been saving for years.

I want to get the curtains done and then do a new
duvet, bed skirt and sham for her room as well.

She is having a tea party on Saturday for some
of her new little friends at church,
so my goal is to have her room done by then.

I am trying hard to climb out of the fog
right now.

I am so very grateful for all the wonderful things
in my life and family.

I guess that just a lot of change all at once
was harder on me than I thought it would be.

And I guess I am trying to be a little
more gracious and merciful to myself as well.

I hope to have something to show for myself
in the next few days.

Before I Get Back To Sewing Dresses and Aprons.......

Something HAS to be done about this!

I mean REALLY!!

How MORTIFYING
and DEMOTIVATING!!!

Now, some have asked me why I do not just throw 

this chair away and get a NEW chair.

My parents have offered me some of their office chairs.

But I like THIS chair.

I custom ordered this chair when I was working as an interior

designer at a furniture store in Nevada City, while

waiting for Ahnalin to arrive.

It fits my body. 

And, as you can see, it has been my companion through many a

cup of coffee (yeah, I know it is really stained!)

So, I started by sewing up the torn cushion. 

The fabric is really, really worn.

But, since I am making a slipcover, 

you will not be able to see this.

Why am I making a slipcover instead of 

completely reupholstering it?

Well, I know I am going to be just as hard on 

it this time as I have been the past 6 years. 

And I prefer cotton fabrics, which tend to show dirt

and wear out quicker than nasty artificial fibers.

And once I make one slipcover,

I will likely make more as my mood changes.

For this first slipcover for this chair,

I pulled out some of my decorator fabric

from my stash.

As I am having to be very, very frugal,

and have a stash that may qualify me for "Hoarders",

I am choosing to use fabrics that have been 

my friends for several years. 

Yes, they are probably rather dated looking,

but I still love them. 

So, I cut the pieces for the slipcover

and decided to embroider my name

on the seat back.

Now......I have to make the piping and

sew the whole thing together.

More pictures to come tomorrow. 

I hope to have it done by then!

I Got "Inspired to Sew" By Bari J!!

Guess who I met yesterday!!!

I MET BARI J!!!!

I hope I did not scare her by my stalker fan excitement!

She was so nice and pretty and friendly 
and so were her hubby and daughters!!

I LOVE her Garden Tunic! 

The pattern and how-to are included

in her book.

And it is JUST GORGEOUS up close!

The Tree Of Dreams Wallhanging, 

on the wall behind us, 

is SO AMAZING!!

It has little bits of all kinds of

fabric and even a little ballerina dancing

amongst the leaves and flowers.

Oh I LOVED IT!

And she had lots of the beautiful projects in the 

book, right there to show.

Oh, wait!

I did not tell you WHERE I met her!

Wooden Gate Quilts in Danville, CA

is just the most adorable quilt shop.

I will definitely be making the drive back there for classes

and fabric purchasing. 

They hosted Bari's book signing and had her

fabrics on sale too! 

Look!! 

Bari autographed my book for me!!

(Sorry, grammarians, this post

really does demand all of the exclamation points!!)

And I bought some of her lovely Country Lane prints.

I wanted to buy more, but let's just say 

that I am trying to be good about

my fabric purchases this year.

At least I made it until the 22rd of

January before I bought fabric this year. 

So, I am dying to start sewing

some of the gorgeous projects

in this book.

But I have to wait until I finish my 

online traffic school course that

is due this week.

Bleck.

You can buy your very own book

signed by Bari 

here.

You will be INSPIRED!!

Happy Sewing!

Taking India To The Disney College Program-Part 3

Sunday night was supposed to be 

the first night for India to sleep 

in her apartment. 

I will be very honest and say that I was

dreading leaving here there.

So during the fireworks show at Disneyland,

I was thrilled when I received a text message

from her roommate.

She said that she was spending her last night

at her mom's hotel room.

I was NOT going to let India

sleep in her apartment alone! 

I mean, she is STILL my baby!

So, we took her back to Jana's to stay 

with us.

Monday, we went to Walmart

and stocked her up on healthy groceries.

You know.....carrots, apples, milk, cheese....

Mac and cheese, Cocoa Pebbles, 

Top Ramen, Chef Boyardee Ravioli, etc.

She is, after all, a college student!

We went back to her apartment

and unloaded her groceries.

I hugged her about a million times,

trying desperately not to cry. 

India needed to take a shower and get beautiful

for the Welcome Party.

Jana saw that I was having a hard time leaving.

So, she said 

"Time to rip the bandaid off, Mom!" 

Translation:

It is going to hurt either way, 

so it is best to just say goodbye and go. 

So, we took a last picture, 

and India walked us out to the car. 

And we left. 

Ahnalin and I cried. 

We drove back to Jana's and
she treated us to a yummy dinner
of Mexican food.

She is experienced with having
a grown-up-on-her-own daughter,
so she helped me to calm down.

Then we went back to her house,
packed up and set alarms for our early wake-up.

We had to catch the Amtrak bus at 5:45
Tuesday morning,
so we would be able to catch the train in Bakersfield.

Ahnalin was pretty sleepy and very quiet,
for the first few hours.

Then she played Mahjong on my phone for awhile.

Then, she WOKE UP!!!

So, every time the bus or train stopped
at a new station,
I made her get out and
RUN!!!

And RUN!

Capes are magical for running and flying!

After nearly 12 hours on buses and trains,
we arrived home in Santa Rosa.

Daddy picked us up at the station
and
took us out to dinner,
where Ahnalin fell asleep!

We got her home
and put her to bed
because the next morning,
she was to start her NEW SCHOOL!

I had asked her if she wanted me to make her a new dress
for her first day at her new school.

She said no.

She wanted to wear
the dress I made her for her first day of first grade.

We waited with her.

The bell rang.

And there she went!

She loves her new school.

And now,

I have to get used to a
new "normal".

Hopefully, I will get some sewing done now!

I have talked to India several times.

She is doing well and
loving the program.

She has been homesick and I have
been missing her so much.

If you have a prayer to spare,
please pray that God would
keep her healthy.

Pray that she would grow in grace
and wisdom.

Thank you so much.
Hopefully there will be sewing in my next post!

Taking India To The Disney College Program-Part 2

Sunday morning dawned bright and early

with India applying her Maleficent lipstick

from Mac's "Venomous Villains" collection.

Perfect!

India and Ahnalin snuggled in the back seat of Jana's 

car on the way to Anaheim.

Ahnalin told me that she will miss holding hands

with her sister in the back seat,

so India held her hand the whole way.

We arrived right before 8:00 so India was one of 

the first students to check in.

Jana, Ahnalin and I walked over to Starbucks 

while the students had a brief housing meeting and 

received their apartment assignments,

got their keys, and a few forms filled out.

India called us a few minutes later and

told us what apartment to come to.

Because there was a parent orientation in a few hours,

Jana took Ahnalin over to Disneyland so that I could stay with 

India and help her move in.

The furnished apartments are REALLY NICE!!

This is her living room.

India wanted to bring her bedding from home,

so I made up her bed and got it all cozy for her.

I think the bedding is looking rather tired, so 

I still want to make her a new set.

Her roommate has not arrived yet, 

so she is alone in her bedroom.

This is the dining area in 

the living room.

The bedroom on the other side

is where her friend Tiffany and two other

soon-to-arrive girls will sleep.

This is the beautiful, brand new kitchen

in the apartment.

Do you see India's Star Wars toaster on the counter?

This is from the dining area looking into the kitchen.

India's roommate, Tiffany, was unpacking

too but I somehow forgot to take a photo

of the girls together. 

But she is really cute and nice and 

I know the girls will have so much fun together!

Tiffany brought these cool plaques and I just love them!

I took India to a local restaurant, 

so we could eat some lunch before the orientation.

She refused to stop making goofy faces so I could take a good picture!

At the orientation, we learned about

what is and is not acceptable in the DCP 

and it helped me feel comfortable,

knowing how strict they are.

After the orientation, Jana and Ahnalin

came back and picked us up and we headed back to 

Disneyland!!!!

This was India's last time visiting the park before 

being an actual cast member!

When we went on "It's A Small World",

we were thrilled to see that the Christmas overlay

was still up!

Yep, that would be the Goosegirl!

Ahnalin did not wear socks that day, so Jana

bought her these red and white polka dot Minnie Mouse socks.

CUTE!

Jana treated us to Mickey Mouse shaped beignets

in New Orleans Square.

YUMMY!

I refuse to ride on the Mad Hatter's Teacups ride,

but Ahnalin and India rode it together.

 

We rode a few more attractions and 

then got settled in for the 

"Remember, Dreams Come True" fireworks show.

I always cry during this show, but

this time was even more bittersweet. 

This time, we were here because 

India's dream was actually coming true!!

After the fireworks show, we took in one more ride.

Ahnalin is finally tall enough to go on 

"Indiana Jones And The Temple Of The Forbidden Eye".

She was a little nervous but agreed to try it.

She liked it and is so proud of herself for trying it!!

Both of my girls are growing up!

"Taking India To The Disney College Program- Part 3" coming later 

today or tomorrow.