Shalini's Sewing Space

Angel of Love update There will be a detailed post tomorrow but for today, here is my Angel of Love progress. I picked this up after a 4 month break! This is after about a week's worth of stitching. For comparison purposes, I'm adding the last WIP photo I have (not much was done after that). November 25th WIP and March 25th WIP (exactly 4 months!) Beads Closeup. Holy Moly! There are so many of them. Good thing I like beads. Or if I am Mehul, BEANDS ;) Credits: Design: MLI Angel of Love Fabric: Silkweaver - Days Gone By Jazlyn Floss: DMC Floss and Mill Hill beads. Design Variation: I have started adding beads to the bottom of golden threads in the cape. There weren't enough beads in the design, so I decided to add some more. LOL! Come on, what's a couple more beads?

Nails I have a love-hate relationship with my nails. I love the when they're properly shaped and looking nice. I don't like the grooming part, but I like the look. So I procrastinate until they become insanely long and start getting into things. Then I cut and file them. I tell them to stay nice for a month. They never listen and start growing the next moment. Sigh. They grow too fast. Do you have that problem? A co-worker keeps telling me they're really nice and that her nails don't grow and that I should exchange them with hers. I'm happy to do that if she could tell me how to do it. 2 weeks ago we were at the mall (Fair Oaks, if you must know) and there was this guy at a stall. He called us as we were passing by and asked me to show him my nails. I hid them, naturally. Thinking how'd he know that I hadn't cut them in more than a month? Reminded me of school assembly time, really, when we had to show the PT teacher our nails so she could make sure we weren...

Status of Running So, I have mentioned here that I can run/walk 5 miles now. I didn't say how long it takes me but what's the point in hiding that number? I'm not a seasoned runner. I have never been a runner. I started running more seriously in the beginning of this year and one of my resolutions was to run 5 kilometers i.e. 3.1 miles. I can do that now, even though I still walk inbetween, but I'm assured by a fellow runner that many people do marathons this way. I find that walking every 5 minutes or so lets me recharge a bit and keep going. It takes me 75 minutes to run 5 miles distance. Oh, and another fact that I have not mentioned here is that I now own a Treadmill! This one right here This is why I am able to spend so much time running. Earlier I used to run in my lunch time at the gym at work. The whole process of changing/exercising/showering used to take 45 minutes and exercise was only 25 minutes. This is so much better! I can watch Mehul while running and...

Another boring Weekend Recap So, we started the REAL potty training this weekend. That means the diaper is OFF. I have mentioned before that we're taking it slow with Mehul as we don't want to pressure him. Another good reason is that we don't own a Steam Cleaner and we have lots of carpet ;) We started training him because, well, we don't have much to do rightnow! LOL! It's true. No home improvements, nothing exciting, really. Plus, I want some good stories for scrapping and blogging. LOL! M is usually very good about telling us when he has to use the potty for poop (sorry if it's TMI). He doesn't tell us about the waterworks, but that's because he always has diaper or pull-ups on. For the non-US residents, pull ups are really just like diapers but are easier to pull up. They function like diapers and can hold really well. They're supposed to train the kids and give a wet feeling. Except that it doesn't really work that way and parents start tr...

Movies So, in the past week we've watched 3 movies. Shocking, I know ;) I'm not big on movies but these were recommended by friends/collegues. I had a chance to pick up my stitching while watching! Go, me! 1. Borat - Hilarious. Disgusting. Hilarious. That pretty much sums it up. We were laughing out loud in places, and making puke faces the rest of the time. I'd watch it again if it was on cable. 2. Kabul Express - Loved it! It's a Hindi movie by a new director. Two Indian and one American Reporter go to post-war Afghanistan to interview a captured Tabilan member. The thing I liked about this movie was that they picked the cast according to the country they're supposed to represent, including an Afghan driver and a Pakistani Talib. It revolves around a sensitive subject but is so funny at the same time. Like the comment that America takes away the oil from countries and puts coke instead. LOL! The movie was shot in Afghanistan. 3. Stranger Than Fiction - Eh. It w...

Weekend Recap Friday (yes, the weekend starts Friday evening): Ran some errands while returning. We were carpooling that day so I picked DH up from his office and then picked Mehul. Did I mention here that I have bought a new Juicer! We are loving the fresh juices on the weekends. I don't like the taste of any of the juices on the shelf, plus they add sugar and/or preservatives. I have tried so many brands over the years and not found a single juice I love. Plus I thought Mehul would really enjoy fresh juices as well but soon I found out that he doesn't like drinking juice from the sippy cups. Normal cups are ok for water (spills happen) but not for juice. He loves drinking from the juice box with a straw. I wanted to look for a cup with a straw. And I found them on Target. Yay! He finished a complete 6oz fresh juice for the first time this weekend! Then, we went to Cosi for dinner. I had the TBM Sandwich (Tomato-Basil-Mozzarella) and DH had the Tandoori Chicken in a flatbread...

More sickness.. Can we please just fast forward to April? I'm tired of being sick and taking care of sick ones. Thankfully, the 2 guys are now on a mend, but I'm still not. In fact, I had to go home early yesterday because the sinus pain was unbearable. And I didn't have any medicine at hand. The right side of my head, sinus cavity and teeth was hurting. Today it's a little better. DH gave me night-time sinus medicine around 4, and I slept until 8. He woke me up for dinner and I watched American Idol. These night time medicines make me loopy. I don't like them. Anyhow, I have to say Fiona's comment made me laugh. I'm telling you, the day this boy turns 17 (or heck 16), I'm going to keep a stick handy. To ward off all the girls. LOL! When he was younger and had a lot of hair, people used to think he was a girl. I was tired of correcting everyone. But one day I realized it's better than the other way round. My friend M has a GIRL whom people confuse fo...

Cupid! Fresh out of Photoshop. Introducing - Cupid. Credits: Miki Ferkul's New kit Ancient Celt coming out this Sunday at Scrapbook Elements Hearts - Miki's Hearts Afire Wings - Paper Moon March Madness

Nothing like a Challenge There is nothing like a challenge to get my butt kicking. I did 5 miles this morning. Yeah! My longest run/walk ever! Don't ask how long it took. It's not pretty, I'm working on it. :) I do know that M is in his THIRD year, not Second. Corrected below. Reminds me of the time when we went to get Life Insurance for both of us, the agent mentioned me being in my 31st year of life and I was caught off-guard. I had just turned 30 a month ago! I am NOT in my 31st year. LOL! Ok, I am. Yeah, it's one of their tactics to get people feel awful about how old they really are by bumping it up one year. I made soup and salad for lunch today. There was some lemon-grass stock I had made earlier in the freezer. Quick recipe - Heat oil. Add ginger and garlic. Add thinly chopped carrots and mushrooms. Add stock and greens (I used raddish greens). Then I added thin wheat noodles. Turn the gas off when the noodles are done. Add salt and lots of lemon juice. It's...

Ha! The queen of 'I Have Excellent Immunity And I Don't Get Sick' is officially sick. Boo. I hate being sick. My brain is in a fog. Nose is stuffed up and I'm sneezing every 5 seconds. I have had an insane amount of caffeine in the last couple of days to try to focus for work. It's not helping at all, and now I have acidity as a result. Guess I'll have to resort to a cold medicine tonight. I don't take medicine unless it's bad. My cold generally clears up in 7 days by itself so I don't feel the need to treat the symptoms. DH, on the other hand, has been diagnosed with Sinus issues. He saw the doctor today and is taking an antibiotic, along with Sinus OTC medication :( In other news, my scrapping mojo is back! It had gone into hiding for the last week but now it's back! I did 2 layouts last night. I have been itching to start stitching again too. Maybe it'll happen this weekend. See the number on the right? It's 40 miles. Sigh. I really do...