#36: Colorado and Cupcakes

I'm currently sitting at the University of Denver after two days of programs and interviews for the Higher Education Master's program.  There are about 40 of us here but the program is split into 3 tracks so its hard to tell who my competition is.  DU (yes, they call it DU when it would make sense to be called UD) was not high on my list of places I wanted to attend.  I didn't get in to Colorado State- Fort Collins for the second year in a row so when DU came calling, I was on board.  I can't go here unless I get the assistantship that will pay for my full tuition and the only assistantship interview I had was in residence life which is so not what I saw myself doing when I went back to school.  I guess its only a two year program and then more options will be available to me but right now, I just don't know what to do.  They may not even offer me acceptance into the program after the interview I had this morning.  I don't interview well.

The way I see it right now, DU is just a way to be in Colorado.  Colorado has been calling my name for years but has been especially intriguing since Poppa died.  I associate Poppa with Colorado so being here right now is kind of like a pilgrimage for me.  I'm driving out to Buena Vista tomorrow to see the old chalet and the home he built.  I'm excited for the drive by myself to reflect on his life and the direction mine is going.

I don't want to be here anymore.  I am so fickle these days.  Not being in school has been the best and worst thing for me at this point in my life.  It was great because it made me realize how much I want to go back to school.  It was bad because I don't feel like myself anymore.  During my undergrad, I was busy 24/7 and that's the environment in which I thrived.  I was organized, I had a system, I knew what to do and when to do it.  Now that I've been home, I feel totally lost.  I am no longer the "organized" that people expect me to be.  I am complacent.  I pretty much don't care that I'm here.  Everyone is asking questions and socializing with each other and I really just want to go home.  Currently I'm sitting away from the group typing this.  I don't know when I became this person but I don't like it.  I am very out of it and I'm not quite sure what will bring me back to normal "Mary" behavior.

I'm tired.  I feel like all I ever do anymore is complain and I hate being that person.  I'm lucky to be where I am right now with a full time job and benefits and living at home and being in a loving family.  I'm just not happy and that is driving me crazy.

I want to open a cupcake shop.  I've been musing for a while that if I don't get in to grad school, I'll just quit my job and attempt to open my own business.  I think it would really make me happy, doing something that I love and that makes other people happy.  Although the people at my current job are trying to find ways to make me stay and I told them I'd consider their offer, I don't think I can handle it.  I just want to bake cupcakes, make people smile and volunteer for causes I believe in.  Is that so wrong?  Now is the time I should be doing this kind of thing, right?  I can go back to school whenever.  I can work full time in the medical field whenever.  Right now when I'm young and single and need something truly rewarding and ambitious- opening a cupcake shop just makes sense to me at this point in my life.

Hopefully I find some clarity and direction on my drive through the mountains tomorrow or Sunday.  I'm just looking for answers and who knows if I'll find them here.

#35: Belly Bean

I'm excited for my best friend Allison and her husband Phil to have their first baby this spring.  I'm excited to have a baby in the "family" that I can spoil rotten because, let's be honest, that's what will happen.  It will be adorable and I will love it.  I started spoiling it with an amazing baby shower for Allison today!  She wanted a "retro" themed party but then I found the most adorable invitations with a baby in an ACORN.  So we kind of went with a retro color scheme (avocado, burnt orange, teal, etc) and a woodland creature theme (mirroring that of the nursery).

I sent the adorable (Australian) invitations with a white onesie for people to decorate and bring to the party as a surprise for Allison.  I got the invitations from this Etsy shop.

We had the party at the Uptown Cafeteria and Support Group to tie in Allison's want for a "retro" theme.  The Uptown Cafeteria is a cool old-school cafeteria restaurant and we reserved the Teacher's Lounge for the gathering of 16 people (I didn't want to try and have everyone over to my house so a restaurant seemed like the best idea).  Below is the entry hallway to the Cafeteria- its covered in lunch trays!

I used many Vera Bradley bags to transport gifts and other fun things to the party.  Love these three bags.  I also gave Vera Bradley as prizes for the games.  Someone said they were the best baby shower gifts she'd seen.  Awesome.

The first thing us non-pregnant people did?  Had mimosas!  We were there for brunch and it was perfectly tasty.

Also there was a guestbook where everyone could write advice for Allison, Allison & Phil or for the baby.

We played a bunch of games like the baby food tasting game:

And a game where you're blindfolded and try to pick out the tiny safety pins from a bunch of rice:

Then Allison opened so many presents.  This one is my favorite because of the loving way she is looking at that box.

And then I took pictures of everyone and their decorated onesie with Allison (the pictures will go in the guestbook and be used for thank you notes).  Here is Allison and me!

And perhaps one of my favorite pictures from the party is this one of the hanging onesies and my dear sister Liz who hung them up for us.

Everyone got these lovely sugar cookie party favors.  Sugar cookie decorating with royal icing is trickier than I thought but look at the great finished product!  Woodland creatures!

All in all, it was a great morning spent with friends and celebrating a very exciting milestone in my best friend's life.  Like I said, I cannot wait for the baby to arrive!  Little Eleanor or Gibbson will be my favorite baby in the world.  :)

#34: Keep Me Cozy

I've been working at Vera Bradley since November.  Originally, I was hired for the holiday but I love what I'm doing and they love me so they hired me on into the New Year.  I will most likely never see a paycheck but its so fun to be around things I love all day.  I love Vera Bradley and love to share the colors and ways to jazz up your life with everyday staples!  On any given day, I most likely have 5-8 pieces of VB in my bag (which is obviously, Vera Bradley).  I'm a walking advertisement and I love it.

This winter, a guest (customer) made something for one of my coworkers for helping her in the store.  It was an amazing idea which I then attempted myself.  It's a little bit of work but its worth it for the adorable COFFEE COZY you'll have at the end!  I'm going to send one to Fort Wayne this week (Vera Bradley HQ) to share the love.  And because every piece of VB has an adorable name, this little cutie is called "Keep Me Cozy" (thanks to one of my coworkers, Marie, for brainstorming with me).

What you'll need:

VB quilted placemat, canvas in coordinating color (I found mine at JoAnn fabrics), big button, coordinating hair elastic
Not pictured: coffee sleeve from Starbucks or equal to use as template, sewing machine

Step One: Take apart your coffee sleeve and trace it on a piece of paper.  Add about 1/2 inch around the edges for a seam allowance.

Step Two: Use the template to cut out pieces of the placemat.  I found that you can cut about 5 out of one placemat by stacking them on top of each other like a tower (if you have the placemat the "portrait" way).

Don't do it like this because you won't get as many cut out of the fabric.  At first I was worried about the border but you can just cut through it and remove it with a seam ripper.

Step Three: Do the same with your canvas.

Step Four: Pin the hair elastic to the edge of the placemat on the RIGHT side of the fabric (the side you want on the outside).  Use your sewing machine to anchor this (its tricky because of the bulk of the elastic but it can be done with some persistence).  

Step Five: Place the canvas fabric RIGHT side down on top of the RIGHT side of the placemat.  Sew around the edge, leaving 1 to 2 inches on an edge to flip the thing inside out.

Step Six: Flip the cozy right side out!  Its a little tricky but you'll get the hang of it and how much of an opening you need to leave yourself to make this work.  I used the end of a paintbrush to poke out the corners once I had it flipped so they're not stuck in.

If you sewed your elastic on correctly, it should pop out and be on the outside now that the cozy is flipped.

Step Seven: Sew a top stitch around the entire outside of the cozy to close up the hole you left to flip it as well as "finish" the edges.  

Step Eight: Place your button and sew that on the opposite side from the elastic.

VOILA!  Your "Keep Me Cozy" Vera Bradley coffee cozy is now complete.

How cute is this?

I hope this inspires you to create all sorts of adorable things this year!  I'm excited to have finished this (its on my list of things to do before I turn 25) though I only finished 4 or 5 and have about 25 sitting downstairs to work on... the sewing machine and I do not get along so its a struggle for me.  :)  I just love carrying around my coffee when its all beautified by this cozy and want to share with my coworkers so I have a lot to do!  I hope Pat and Barb (the co-founders of Vera Bradley) love them too!