DIY: Home is Wherever I'm With You Pillow

Sad news. My best friend, Kim, is moving across the country. :( For three years at least. It makes me sad. To be fair, I did move halfway across country to Arizona two years ago, so I guess we're even? 

No, seriously, I am so happy for Kim and her hubby, Jake, to embark on their next adventure. I can speak from experience when saying moving to a far away place can be scary, but also an amazing growing experience with fun new adventures to be had!

We had our farewell dinner last week at this amazing little restaurant in Seattle called Pasta Freska. You are seated and then the Chef comes to your table and asks you if there is anything you can't eat, don't like, etc. I said no fish, Kim and Zach said not too spicy and Jake said bring it on! No menu, no prices listed. He just brings you a bottle of wine (and a Raspberry Lemonade for the prego) and the first course begins! Such a cool experience and everything was so delicious. Brought us all back to Italy! I think in all we had about 7 courses including dessert. It was a little spendy, but well worth it for a nice dinner out to celebrate awesome friendships! 

So, back to the pillow. I wanted to send them off with a sweet going away gift and have always loved the "Home Is Wherever I'm With You" quote from this song. Further evidence here that I love it and how relevant it was to us when we moved to Arizona (and to Kim and Jake now that they are moving to Charlotte.

Luckily, I had everything on hand for this project, it was just a matter of putting it all together, which was super easy!

Supplies:

Fabric

Felt

Fiberfill

Embroidery thread

Scissors

Needle

Sewing machine with matching thread

Step One: Print out your quote in the font you want. Cut out the paper letters individually first.

Step Two: Cut out your fabric in two square pieces the same size. If you are using fiberfill, you can make it any size you want. If you have a pillow form, measure the form and cut accordingly. I made mine about 17 inches square.

Step Three: Cut out the felt letters. 

Step Four: Play with the placement on your pillow.

Step Five: Start stitching! I started with the bottom row to make sure there was enough space along the bottom. I used a simple running stitch on each letter with three strands (half) of the embroidery thread. 

Step Six: Sew the pillow together using a straight stitch with your machine. I used navy thread that blended in quite nicely. Make sure to leave a good 5-6 inch gap at the bottom so you can stuff your pillow. 

Step Seven: Turn the pillow inside out and stuff with fiber fill. Make sure to get into the corners really well. I didn't stuff it too full because I wanted it to be comfy and soft. 

Step Eight: Sew up the pillow using a hidden stitch. I used the navy thread and didn't have to be that careful since it blended in. 

Don't you love it? Modern and simple. Perfect for Kim's style - and she loved it too! Such and easy project, I think it took me two nights while watching TV. Not bad at all. I kind of want to make one for myself now! :)

We'll miss you Kim and Jake!!!

PS see more of my pillow projects here!

ZAGAPALOOZA!

I'm headed to Gonzaga today for alumni weekend (aka ZAGAPALOOZA!). I'm going with my girlfriends, Blair, Lynn, Kelly and we are meeting Kristy in Spokane (she lives there). I'm so excited to spend time with some of my favorites! In fact, I thought I'd take a little trip down memory lane... so here's a little flashback of the five of us over the years...

2007

2008

2011

Birthdays, Weddings, Friendsgiving, and now... Babies (Lynn, not me. Sorry, Mom)! I've loved the adventures that we've had throughout the years and I'm so glad we've stayed close. I'm so thankful for you guys! Here's to another great weekend!

What are you up to this weekend? Hope it's great!

Golden Gardens + Paseo

On Saturday after an unexpectedly loooooooooong day at work we went out with our friends Mykell (she was my Maid of Honor) and her bf John. We had such a great time! First, we stopped by Paseo - this amazing walk-up Caribbean restaurant in Ballard. Mykell claimed that they had the BEST sandwiches ever. I was a little skeptical until she said it was cash only. If I've learned anything, cash only restaurants are usually pretty tasty. And she was pretty spot on. Both Zach and I got the #2, which we highly recommend (apparently #1 is the other really good choice). 

We took our sandwiches to go and went on down to Golden Gardens. I had never been before, but heard a lot from Mykell about how much fun it was (and how pretty). It's a really sandy beach and has a lot of fire pits where you can bring your own wood to have a bonfire! We brought stuff for s'mores but didn't get there early enough to grab a spot. Instead, we just laid out our blanket, popped open some brew-skis and ate our glorious sandwiches. They were so messy, but that's how you know they are so good!

We watched the sunset and then it got chilly so we went back to Ballard to Cupcake Royale! We each got something different and they were - you guessed it - delish. 

Clockwise from top left: "The Kate" - Chocolate with Vanilla (Pink) frosting; Chocolate with Mint frosting; Tiramisu; Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel. 

I can't wait to go back to Golden Gardens! I love the beach. Especially when there are bonfires involved. And s'mores. 

Have you been to the beach lately? Had any cupcakes? What's your favorite cash-only restaurant that you just know is the best place to eat?

Gettin' Our Bob Ross On

We had a blast painting one of our favorite landscapes last weekend - the Seattle skyline (although it didn't have any trees or little squirrels). Painting, combined with wine (and healthy appreciation for mustaches - ahem, Colleen, ahem) made for an awesome night at Canvas! - a paint & sip studio in downtown Kirkland! I'd been wanting to go for a while now and even though I'm not the best artist (I'm no Bob Ross - definitely far from it) I love being crafty and creative. 

We had Thai food before we went and then wandered down to the Kirkland waterfront for a quick photo. Sutira turned me on to Thai Iced Coffee! Have you had it? You MUST try it. It. Is. Amazing. I already decided I have to order it every time I have Thai food from now on. It's that good. Think sweetened (and strong) coffee with a dash of heavy cream on top (I never said it was the healthiest thing on the menu).

I really hope that is not a cat on a leash behind us in the above photo... kinda looks like it, no?

On to the wine and painting! It's a little spendy coming in at $40, but Sutira found a living social deal that ended up being about $27/each for a party of four! The deal included two bottles of wine between the four of us and painting, so it wasn't a bad deal at all. Plus, it's more for the experience, right?! And I'm all about experiences. 

We were the first ones there at 6:30, which meant we got the best spot with a view of the instructor. They had very light appetizers (think chips, salsa, grapes, cheese + crackers, pound cake) and a bar with beer and wine. Since we had wine included in our deal, I'm not sure if you have to pay extra to get a drink or not beyond the $40 regular price.

They give you four paintbrushes in various sizes, then you fill up on all your paint. The instructor then teaches you step by step how to paint! It's like a grown up paint by numbers. Pretty awesome. And as you can see, all of our paintings turned out pretty darn amazing (ifidosaysomyself).

Getting our paint on! Colleen is not impressed...

Ready to paint!

The sweet set up (Rule #1: Don't mistake your wine glass for the water glass to clean your paintbrush).

I don't remember what was so funny... but we sure had fun!

Here's a bigger and more elaborate version of what we were painting.

On all the walls they had inspiration of all the different painting they teach. You could actually paint whatever you wanted, but we all figured it would be better to just stick with the instructor. :)

Me and my masterpiece! Yes, my space needle is ginormous (that's what he said?). I just wanted to make sure if was the focal point... totally planned it that way. :)

Sutira and Colleen.

Colleen's masterpiece (can you spot the mustaches?).

Sometimes you just have to turn is upside down.

Ellie's masterpiece.

And here's Sutira's masterpiece already up on the wall at her place!

The whole group!

The whole process went surprisingly smooth since the instructor gives you each step. When you layer all the different pieces like they show you, it's actually pretty easy! Although, with two doctors-to-be and an accountant in our group you probably won't be surprised that we were the last group to finish up our paintings (perfectionists, much?!).

We had a blast, and I would highly recommend going if you want something fun to do with a group (and have the bones to spend). There was even a bachelorette party painting right next to us! I know there are a few other similar places around the Seattle area, too.

And one more time because we did so awesome.

Have you ever been to a place like this? If so, what did you paint? Did you find it easy? Challenging? Frustrating? Do tell!

Regina Spektor

Happy Monday! I had such a great weekend with my husband home! We didn't do anything too exciting (we saw The Campaign. It was OK... and watched the Seahawks! Yay football!). We just got back to our normal selves, which was awesome. The pups loved seeing their daddy too. But now he's back in Pendleton for the next week and a half to two weeks. :( So... anyone want to get together?! :)

Last Thursday night I went with my friend Kim and my sister (in-law) Jenn to see Regina Spektor in concert at the Paramount. It was the third time I have seen Regina, and the third time I have seen Regina with Kim. Our love of Regina stems from college when we first heard her song Fidelity. We immediately loved the music video and the catchy tune and every time we see her it brings us back!

The first time we saw Regina it was in Seattle at the Moore. She was so shy and cute. She even forgot the lyrics to one of her songs and the audience had to help her remember! It was actually pretty funny!

The second time we made a trip out of it and went to Portland. We stayed at this fun boutique hotel in the Pearl District and did some shopping and ate lots of good food. We realized that the opening act for her in Portland was Fun.! You know, of the We Are Young fame. Before they were kind of a big deal!

She's just so good. I would see her a hundred more times because she is so talented. Her opening act this time was this guy from the group Only Son, but it was just him on stage with his guitar and his ipod. We found out (after some hard core google stalking in between the opening act and Regina) that he and Regina are married! Pretty cool!

If you haven't listened to her, I would highly recommend it if you like indie/pop/raw talent kind of music!