I’ve neglected this blog – partly due to microblogging. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up.  Who knows? I can’t keep it up forever.  I’ve actually got things to do in life than to report my daily thoughts, interactions, activites, and what nots.  But because I’ve started, I’ve got to reach some type of goal.  Sort of like FB’s application of Farmville…it’s addictive at first.  Then after awhile, there is no point to it. But you keep playing for the heck of it…because you know it’s there waiting for you…unless…you’ve got a goal. With microblogging/twittering/what have you, my goal will perhaps be a 1 year mark or maybe I’ll try to make it to 1,000 tweets…whichever comes first. And then I’ll stop.

This doesn’t mean I will stop my regular blog. I still like to speak my mind, sometimes reflect, and most often share with you the things I find interesting.  So let me start of this year’s blog entry with my annual resolution list. But before I make my list, I have to address my 2009 resolution list.  I’ve completed all but 2 on my list (actually, I should add a third).

• #4 Organize my sanctuary–> it became disorganized again. Don’t know how it happened but the mister has designated it a disaster zone.
• #7 Sell my books and other junk–> do the college kids still even need my old genetics textbooks from undergrad? It’s probably outdated but it doesn’t hurt to try. This will have to be low on my priority list.
• #9 Make a beanie, scarf, mittens, and socks under Stephanie’s tutelage–>I was fascinated with what my friend, Stephanie, can do and all the clothes she had made that I wanted to try my hand at this. Alas, I never got ’round to it. Does making a baby quilt count?

Well, the 3 old resolutions have now been “rolled over” onto my new list. And here we go with my list of 10 for 2010:

1. Read my 1650 page textbook by the end of the year. I’d like to maintain my knowledge on matters pertaining to my career.
2. Run in a 5K/10K possibly building up to a 1/2 marathon, if schedule allows. A 5K would be easiest, though.
3. Relearn manual driving. I’ve learned a handful of times but I’ve never driven stick shift unsupervised. That would be my goal…for the mister to trust me enough to drive his car without him watching over my shoulder.
4. Try rock climbing. Anybody want to come with?
5. I hate guns but I’d love to go to a shooting range or shoot clay.
6. Play guitar more. More specifically, learn 3 songs by year’s end. I’d play more piano but there’s no room at our place for my baby grand. Too bad I sold my upright years ago.
7. Improve mi espanol para el trabajo.
8. Organize my sanctuary.
9. Sell my books and other junk.
10. Make a beanie, scarf, mittens, and socks legwarmers under Stephanie’s tutelage. I get better use from legwarmers than socks.

Let’s see if I’ll actually get to complete my list this year.

Having put on a few events and attending other events in the past, I have seen the gamut of poor to successful functions.  So I’d like to help those out who don’t have a clue on how to throw an event or putting on an event for the first time.  I have made a list of things I would like all hosts to know in order to put on a successful event, casual or formal.

When you are hosting an event…

You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to have a successful event.  Just make sure your guests needs are taken care of.

For those who love making lists or checklists like I do, I came across this Martha Stewart’s party planning checklist the other day.  Might come in handy.

Boy, oh boy!  My first foray into the world of quilts.  I can see this becoming another hobby of mine.  I do not enjoy the whole process of quilting.  It’s more the art of perfecting something gives me reason to keep trying.

Around the same time of receiving an awesome handmade reversible kitchen apron from my dear friend, Stephanie, I was invited to a friend’s babyshower a little less than a month ago.  I was completely inspired by Stephanie’s gift to try and make a gift for the baby shower. So I decided on a baby blanket.

First step was to choose a style baby blanket.  I decided on a simple baby blanket with free-form pattern.  Next step was to learn how to use a sewing machine.  I turned to none other than the creator of my fab apron, Stephanie, for some help.  After a half hour tutorial on how to use a sewing machine, she trusted me enough to turn me loose with it.

To my dismay, I learned I could not have done a free-form pattern without a special foot attachment.  Those puppies cost a pretty blinged out penny.  I didn’t realize how much a sewing itself can actually cost.  It can fetch upwards to 9K!!! Hmmm…keep both my kidneys or sell one on the black market for a top of the line sewing machine that can do everything you want?

Back to my project…Now I had to choose another pattern that I wanted to sew and with the help of the mister, I decided on a simple diamond pattern.  What step are we on now?  Oh yes…step 3, buy baby blanket materials.  I went to Joanne’s to make use of their coupons Stephanie had given me.  Once there, I found myself extremely disappointed in the baby fabric selection.  There was nothing I really liked but with a time crunch I ended up getting a fuzzy bear baseball themed print with a matching baseball and glove backing.  I also bought another fabric for the binding, thread, and 2 Warm & Natural Needled Cotton Quilt Batting to double up and make the blanket a little cushier.

Step 4, I ironed out the fabric and batting.  Step 5, I sandwiched the batting in between my 2 fabrics.  Beyond that, I didn’t have the least bit idea what I was going to do next.  After flipping through a quilting book, I figured out I needed to keep my fabric from shifting while sewing my diamond pattern by thread-basting.  Step 6, I chose to thread baste an asterisk from the center outward.

Step 7, sewing my diamonds took a little longer than I anticipated.  I had to be sure my lines were straight and evenly separated.  I recalled an episode from Martha Stewart where she used tape the guide her.  Easy enough.  I snatched painter’s tape from the mister and started taping them on.  Step 8, I machine-quilted the entire blanket.  It was starting to look more and more like a baby quilt.

Step 9 took a little bit more time than anticipated.  I thought the binding would be easy but it slapped me in the face and said, Hell No!  I basically followed an online tutorial that used straight grain binding.  I cut out my strips of fabric, sewed the pieces from end to end and ironed it out.  The only thing I didn’t do was to follow the measurement guidelines of how far I should be sewing the bindings from the edge.  Big mistake.  After I sewed on half of the border on one side, I had to pull out all of the thread and redo it because I didn’t have enough fabric to fold over to the other side.  Once the one side of the entire border was complete, I had to finish the rest without hand-stitching as the book instructed.  Hand-stitch?  I had no time for it.  From here, I threw caution to the wind and just sewed the binding to the rest of the border.  It was very sloppy and uneven.  The thread on the other side was veering onto the fabric instead of the other side of the binding itself.  With zero minutes to spare, I said “To Hell With It,” wrapped it up and gifted my friend with the handmade baby blanket.  Later on, I looked up a better way of sewing on the binding but with a bias tape.

I hope my friend liked it, even though, it didn’t have clean lines that other store bought blankets have.  So here, I have a picture of my first ever baby blanket (for a boy) replete with all the novice mistakes you can find.  My next quilt will be much much better. 

You can see to the left my binding was uneven =(

I’ve been slow to join the band wagon.  Let’s just say updating my Facebook status seems very very very similar to twittering.  The only advantage to Twitter is you can silently stalk a person without having to be their “friend”…in a way.  But I’ve joined and I will try to update on a daily basis.  If you haven’t noticed, I have twitter updates to the left of the blog.  So follow me if you like @n9squared.

I’m into making lists of things.  It helps me organize my crap.  I have a list for a lot of things: all time favorite movies, a list of my DVD collection, a list of favorite restaurants, etc.  One of the things I’ve made a list for a long time ago was for packing a suitcase to certain destinations.  The first list I made was packing for Vietnam.  Soon after, was packing for short trips to LA (because I was visiting my ex-bf at the time).  My last list was for snowboarding trips.

Well, it was time to pull out my list of things to pack for Vietnam.  No, I’m not going to Vietnam.  I should change my list to ‘Packing for Trips Abroad’.  I’m actually on my honeymoon as you’re reading this.  I brought my computer to upload photos from my camera.  Anyway, I think having a travel list is extremely practical because without one, there is always something important I forget.  If you don’t have one yourself, you might find mine useful.  Next to each item, I find it helpful to write down the quantity.  And for each trip, I always edit my list depending on the destination. (more…)