Strange dream: Includes Jay Leno

The topic of my post is really weird, I know, I know. Tonight, I started going through an old spiral notebook from college. I used it for school and also as a journal. I just came across an old dream I had written about:

This dream must have been back around 1999 or 2000:

The other night, I dreamt I was on vacation and Jay Leno's mother was my grandmother (I guess that would have made me his daugther or something like that). She lived in Paris-I guess we were both in Paris and Jay Leno just happened to stop by her flat. He left his Gucci bags on the curb and went up to her flat. There was a fire and the windows blew out - sort of like an explosion. He rescued us and then went back to the curb, only to find his bags had been stolen.

What's up with this dream? I can't believe I wrote this down.

Easy dinner: Kung Pao Chicken

Last night, I cooked Kung Pao Chicken for dinner. This delicious dish was finished and ready to eat in less than thirty minutes.

Ingredients:

Two chicken breasts (if you don't like chicken, you can use tofu, shrimp-basically anything you like)-cut your chicken into cubes
Half of a yellow onion or scallions if you prefer
One red pepper
One jalepeno
Two cloves of garlic
Dry peanuts (I purchased mine in the bulk section at Whole Foods)
Tsp. of honey
Kung Pao seasoning
Soy sauce
Jasmine Rice

Take a fairly large wok type skillet and heat some olive oil in the pan. You'll also need to start another pan for your Jasmine rice. You can prepare your veggies while your oil is heating. Once the oil is hot, you will take you onions and red pepper and sautee those in your oil. Next, add your jalepeno's and garlic. Next, add your honey, Kung Pao seasoning and peanuts. Let all those items cook together for a few minutes. Add your chicken to the mix and cook with all of the other items. Once the chicken is cooked, you are ready to add to your jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Vintage pattern series: Great 1930's Simplicity pattern

This vintage pattern is the second pattern I've chosen to acknowledge in my vintage pattern series.

This particular pattern is not dated however, it's most definitely a pattern from the 1930's, as you can tell from the hair styles and the styles of each dress. This pattern is by Simplicity and the pattern number is 2021. The dress can be sewn with short sleeves and a yoke cut in one. You can also style the dress with a cape-like collar over sleeveless armholes. The skirt is obviously straight and there are low-placed pleats at centerfront.



All my patterns noted in my pattern series are for sale, as long as the price is right. I hope you enjoyed this one!

This I believe: The personal philosophies of remarkable men and women

At Christmas, my friend Will gave me a book called, "This I believe: The personal philosophies of remarkable men and women." I was familiar with excerpts from this book because I've listened to them on NPR.

I'm not a huge reader, but this book is so excellent. I highly recommend it! I read quite a bit of it last week while visiting my parents. One of the stories even made me cry.

Life and death: It's a fact of life!!!

I'm not sure about you, but I am terrified of death. I really love living and all life has to offer. I take the good with the bad however, the good typically seems to outweigh the bad, at least for me.

My father retired when he was 50 years old and he and my stepmother have been full time RV-ers for about the past seven years. They've been staying out near Marfa, Texas for the past few years and decided to drive over to Del Rio, Texas last week. Dominic and I drove out to Del Rio last Wednesday and stayed until yesterday. The reason I am bringing all of this up is because I was listening to NPR or National Public Radio on my drive home yesterday. They always have really interesting radio programs on NPR, most of which I really enjoy listening to.
The progam I listened to yesterday was called A good death. The show was basically about how the topic of death is something many of us don't traditionally discuss, even though we all know it's going to happen to us sooner or later. This show really intrigued me because I am terrified of death. I am a person of Christian faith however, the thought of dying and leaving my loved ones here on earth petrifies me.

If you want to listen to the show I listened to yesterday, please visit A good death.

Vintage pattern series: Favorite vintage patterns from my collection

I'm going to start a vintage pattern series...vintage patterns from my very own collection that I can't for some reason or another let go of. In all honesty, I'm a vintage pattern hoarder and I know I need to let go of some of the patterns, but I just can't. If any of my readers ever see a pattern I post and you absolutely love it, just contact me and I may be willing to sell it. Within this series, I will try to post two or more patterns a week. I hope you enjoy them!

This particular pattern is from the (early) 1930's (I'm assuming from the garment details however, the pattern's not dated). The pattern is by Du Barry. I love how very elegant this dress is. You have the option to sew with long bishop style sleeves or short sleeves. The pattern features numerous pleats, just below the yoke line.

Sleeping angel: My Dominic

He'll fall asleep anywhere when it's his naptime:

Cute handmade Valentines day cards: Mattie Reid Chicago

Here are a few Valentines day cards I made last night:
I'll be listing these and others online at Mattie Reid Chicago and at
my Etsy store within the next week. They cost $4.00/card. I also offer a bulk rate of $2.50/card if you order 10 or more cards. Most cards are OOAK (one of a kind). So what are you waiting for? Share some love this Valentines day and send a handmade greeting card from Mattie Reid Chicago.

Scrapbooking supplies: Try the red dot aka Target!

For those of you who are into scrapbooking or making your own greeting cards, you need to visit the $1-$2.50 bins at Target if you haven't already. Target has bins at the front of all of their stores and the items in the bins range from bath stuff to calenders to scrapbooking stuff to basically whatever. Nothing costs more than $2.50. Yesterday, Dominic and I visited the bins at Target and I found the following Valentines (and other random items) day scrapbooking stuff (each item cost only $1):So, if you are into this sort of stuff, go save yourself a few bucks and buy your supplies at Target.

Facebook: Old school reunion!

I can't remember if I've written about this before, but Facebook has become somewhat of an old school reunion. Over the course of the past few months, I have come across people I knew in grade school, junior high, high school, college and beyond. It's sort of weird running across people who you have not spoken to in more than twenty years-people who were your best friends at one time or another. Life's strange when you stop and think about it.

Smashbox cosmetics: Just smashing darling!

In my last post, I commented about how I absolutely adore Smashbox cosmetics. It's been a long time since I've replenished my entire cosmetics collection, not that I wear a lot of makeup, but I do like to look presentable at times. A week before Christmas, I visited Ulta and they had some pretty amazing holiday gift sets for sale. I came across the Smashbox section and instantly fell in love with their products. Here are a few of the things I purchased from Smashbox:

This gift set can be seen here

This concealer can be seen here
I also purchased a foundation primer that's not listed on the Ulta site. It has a sheen to it. It gives your face a slight glow. I love it!

Napa leather and vinyl Cynthia Rowley handbag: I love it!!!

I found the most amazing handbag a few days ago by Cynthia Rowley at T J Maxx. The original price tag was $365 and the original T J Maxx price was listed at $165, but it had been marked down to $119. I decided not to purchase the bag the other day, but couldn't get this stupid purse out of my head. I went back today and lo and behold, the bag was still there.I know, I'm bad, but I really wanted this bag. I couldn't get it out of my mind. I rarely find bags I like and when I do and they are this cute, I can't resist. It's from this season, as you can tell by looking at this bag.It's made of soft, supple black napa leather and has panels of shiny black pvc or vinyl. I love, love, love my new bag!

Tomorrow, I'll post about some new cosmetics I've recently purchased by Smashbox. Their line of cosmetics is one of my all time favorites!

New year = clean slate

I know that 2008 was a bad year for many people. I personally, had an okay year. I don't have much to complain about. I did not lose any money because I had none invested (you can't lose what you don't have, right???). 2008 brought many great things to me. I am thankful to have a beautiful son who is healthy:I've had a chance to reflect on my life over the past few weeks and know that I want to do something exciting and challenging in 2009. Now that my vintage clothing collection is gone, I can now place my focus on designing. I whole heartedly want my collection to be amazing. I was going to focus on infant/toddler wear made of organic cotton however, with the new Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, I apparently will be required to peform costly testing on all children's clothing items, which I unfortunately cannot afford. I'm not giving up, but I am thinking that I will shift my focus to women's wear-things that I like to wear, but can never find in the store. I'll keep you posted!