Back to School

So, I'm back in school.
Free time just went down, stress level just went up.
It's amazing how when I was on break, I still didn't find time to work out or finish many of the projects that I have started and now that I'm back in school, I have to be much more organized and cognizant of how I spend my time. After dinner last night I was just laying/zoning out on the couch watching some show that I didn't even care about for like 15 minutes before I finally said, hey wait, what am i doing?? So, I had to jump up and finish my homework due today.
My classes -
Silkscreening
Fashion Drawing 2
Portfolio
This will be an intense semester because drawing is not my strong point, but something that I want to feel more comfortable doing, so that my ideas can be translated to others more clearly. And Portfolio will be intense because I have to have a kickin' portfolio so that I can get a JOB!!! And silkscreen will be fun and creative, but it's a very technical process also.
I hope to still be able to blog (during work) but if I don't you know it's cause I am home drawing and preparing collections for my portfolio!

Have you ever seen a cuter cowgirl/boy?

Me neither.

You will be missed

Our beloved prophet passed away on Monday. He was an amazing man. Many others said kinds words about him here here, and here. I had the opportunity to be in the same room as him when I was about 15. I don't think I have ever felt a stronger spirit. He is the kind of person you wanted to just stand next to. You felt compelled to serve and to be a better person under his tutelage. He will be greatly missed on this earth.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

This year the holiday fell on Cathy and Kelly's birthday!! I am so fortunate to have been able to spend their birthday with them this year because of Kelly's cute husband, Dave, who orchestrated an amazing girl's weekend for us. Don't worry I will blog all about it, because it was seriously the best!

Back to MLK, Jr.---

What a force! I can only imagine what would happen if he were still alive today. When I think of what he did to lead the Bus Boycott, I wonder if I would have had the courage not to ride the bus. What if I was wearing uncomfortable shoes and just wanted to slip on the back of the bus unnoticed to get relief?

When I think of how his every action was calculated to thwart the Jim Crow laws, I think, would I have had the courage to stand up for equality? What about if my family was being threatened and the FBI was wiretapping my home, would I still believe in nonviolence? Would I have marched alongside King for the right to vote and other basic civil rights?

I look at my life now and see all that I have been able to achieve. I doubt the same opportunities would have been offered to me, if Mr. King had not been the man who he was.

I would encourage you to re-read his famous I have a Dream speech he delivered in Washington, DC in 1963. When I lived in DC and I would visit the Lincoln Memorial, I used to try to envision what it must have felt like to be standing there and listening to him deliver this speech that has become one of the most famous American speeches in history. Would I have been fidgeting or would the magic of the moment, quieted me to stand still?

I think of now how I can embrace both parts of my heritage (black and white) and how back then since I wasn’t 100% white, I would have been scorned from that community. I may have been scorned from the black community too since I wasn’t 100% black. Even though racism STILL exsists, it’s not nearly as bad as it was.

“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
I have a dream that… [we]…will one day live in a nation where [we] will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.… When we allow freedom ring…we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

I wonder if he is looking down and is satisfied? My guess is no. We still have a long way to go. I think that sometimes, during the hustle and bustle of life, we forget how hard those before us fought! Not only MLK, but countless others. The world isn’t perfect, but I believe Martin Luther King, Jr. was inspired and I believe that he made a difference in my life.

Project #2 - Aprons

Finally I can post these!!

I made a few of these for Christmas and for January birthdays for friends and just distributed the final ones. I used a vintage pattern that I bought on ebay and fabric I bought from purl.

Hopefully some yummy cooking will be done in these!

Mirror, mirror...

Remember this.
It is now this. I can't remember if I ever posted on this or not. But here is the finished product. I didn't do anything cool, just sanded and painted. I kind of ran out of steam...oh well!

Serious Pet Peeve

Everyday, most days more than once, I will see people that still have the X stitch on the back of their coats. You know when you first purchase a coat or jacket, sometimes even certain skirts with pleats and there is a stitch holding it together and then once you buy it, you are supposed to cut the stitch out, so the pleat can move freely. Do people not know you are supposed to cut it? It's stitched on the outside so it's easy to see. It's so annoying and I am not even sure why. I am going to start carrying a pair of scissors in my bag and make myself useful snipping away at people's coats and jackets.
Isn't that weird, or is it just me?

DC

Last weekend I went to DC overnight to see the girls. There is nothing better than being with friends you love, eating delicious food, and shopping!

Danette & Keysia


Gloria and baby Sofia
This was my first time meeting Sofia and I am convinced that we are going to be great friends!
Me and Michael Lewis (Gloria's oldest son). He's clearly happy to see me too! Everyone!

Thanks again ladies for the laughter! It was so much fun!

Project #1

I have been working on a few projects during my break. Here is the one that is most nearest to completion. Just a casual, comfy, navy cotton sateen dress (with a bit of stretch). It was a pretty easy design - didn't take me long at all to drape it. It's basically a combination of a few different pieces that I have had my eye on.















Here is the front view.






Details: side pockets (kind of hard to see but almost my favorite part) and pleating in the front






Here is the back view. Sorry, it hasn't been pressed.

Here is how I would most likely wear it.

More to come later...

It's freezing

I know it comes every year, I should expect it, but then when it starts dipping below 30...and then the 20's and then the teens, that's it! I become a shut in. I may even develop rickets from my lack of Vitamin D absorption. I go from the apartment to the shuttle (across the street) to work (there is an entrance to the subway outside my building), try to eat something nearby or bring my lunch and then reverse it on the way home. There is no hanging out after work, or stopping by to see what this or that store has. Then I get home and curl up on the couch and read. Or watch tv. Or watch Dereck cook. Or sleep. But the point is I hardly see the light of day.

Yesterday was the coldest, it's supposed to "warm up" over the weekend. I am ready for Spring already! Or for snowsuits to be instyle then I could just wear one of those all the time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

(Dereck and I had creative differences about which picture to post. I wanted the one above, he wanted the one below.)

But, from our family to yours, hope you have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2008!