Choose your own adventure Book Club!

Happy New Year everyone!! The New Year always brings with it exciting new adventures and is always riddled with possibilities and plenty of room for growth and self improvement. I have been wanting, for some time, to join a book club. I love to read and adored the idea of sharing that passion with others who enjoy a good book. My only issue with book clubs is that I was not super keen on potentially having to read books that I had no interest in. I began to think more and more on the idea and kept getting stuck with no real solution. Last week, to my absolute delight, a blog I follow posted my solution!! I therefore present, and invite you to officially join....The Sew it Seams Choose your own adventure Book club!!

Here's how it works! One of my favorite blogs Modern Mrs. Darcy (is that not the most awesome blog name?!) recently shared her 2017 Reading Challenge. She offers 2 options: "Reading for Fun" and "Reading for growth". Each list has 12 categories.  The categories range from things like "a juicy memoir" to  "a Pulitzer Prize or National Book Award winner" and YOU get to choose a book that fits into each category to complete your list! You can choose to complete one or the other list (that's one book a month) OR a combination of both OR....BOTH!

So, here's how you join! I have created a private Facebook Group where we can share our awesome choices. Every month, sometimes twice, I will post the book I have chosen and what category it falls into and if you join you can share yours as well. Hopefully this will help us each get ideas or maybe turn us on to a book we haven't heard of before. We can share, comment and give thumbs up or mini reviews as we read. Best part, YOU get to read WHATEVER books you want!! 

I am so excited to get started! If you follow the link to the 2017 Reading Challenge, you can join her challenge to get an email that will give you a free download for her 2 challenges in both bookmark and half sheet sizes. I took my two bookmark sizes and pasted them into the back of my 2017 calender for convenience and a reminder of my progress.

I took the half sheet sizes and pasted them inside a composition notebook, so I can make some notes for myself on the books I read.

I shared the extras with a couple of the FIRST members of my book club. :) I really hope you will join us for this fun year of reading! I wanted to start you all out and give you a sneak peek! I will be starting out 2017 by checking off the first box in my "Reading for Fun Challenge". I chose a book that falls into the "a book with a reputation for being un-put down able" The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer.

Just in case you didn't believe me that this book is "un-put downable" I included the slip cover which claims this is a "gripping page turner". Stephenie Meyer is the author made famous by her epic Twilight series (which I have also read, and really loved actually). I read her stand alone book, The Host, when it came out and secretly hoped she would write more in that series, but alas she did not. :( The Hubby and I were at Costco a few weeks ago and as we walked past the book aisle this jumped out at me and I shouted "WHAT??? I didn't know she wrote another book!" and I bought it right then and there!  Come join my book club to find out how I liked it and share in the reading fun!!! Happy reading everyone!!

An afternoon with Pirouette Paper

About the beginning of this year, I decided to start learning calligraphy. I started out with some really great tutorials from The Postman's knock and was absolutely LOVING it! Its stress relieving, beautiful and fun. I absolutely love creating beautiful things!  However, I was really feeling like I should take a hands on course with someone who could really help me focus more on technique and help really elevate my skills. So, I started looking around for someone who did local classes. I found quite a few people but most had classes on days that I worked. Bummer!! I finally came across Kaylyn from Pirouette Paper. Her work is absolutely gorgeous and from what I could tell from her Instagram page and Facebook, we had TONS in common! We share a love/obsession with FRIENDS, both love Star Wars and all things Lavender! She seemed very light hearted and sweet and I decided I needed to take her class! PLUS she taught BOTH a calligraphy AND sign lettering class at once! So fun!!!

I sent her a message asking if she was having any local classes in July while I was on vacation, since my schedule would be more flexible then. Initially, she was planning to have one out in Murrieta and I was happy to drive out to get some in person teaching. Plans fell through for having the class out in Murrieta so instead, Kaylyn generously offered to teach me a private lesson at a Cafe Lucca at the Orange Circle. Heck yeah! One on one teaching?! How could I pass that up?  Sunday morning I headed out. Kaylyn set us up at a table in their front, indoor patio area. Its a charming little Italian villa style restaurant with beautiful glass paneled doors and murals all over the interior walls. When I arrived, everything was all set up and she had ordered me a wonderfully refreshing iced tea.

Let me just tell you, Kaylyn knows her stuff! She has such a heartfelt passion for calligraphy and it is palpable in her teaching style. We started off with her Modern Calligraphy for beginners class. We went over all the tools for calligraphy and the basic strokes involved and how it all works. She had me do some practice on tracing paper first. First we practiced hairline and down-strokes to get a feel for the nib she was having me use. Then she helped me with my pen placement and how to hold it just right. It was exactly what I was hoping for! Kaylyn was so patient and encouraging!

Once I got the hang of that, we moved on to actual letters. This is where the tracing paper came in handy. I followed along her sample letters for a bit until it was time to move on to real paper! Eeek!

But before that, we ordered some delicious brunch! I had the sunrise eggs Benedict. Yum! I have such a soft spot for eggs Benedict and have a hard time passing it up whenever it is available, especially since, with my hours, I don't get to have "breakfast" very often. It was so yummy!

We had such a great time chatting, sharing stories and experiences. We learned how each other got into calligraphy, shared stories from our time employed with Disneyland etc. After brunch, and chit chat, it was time for real paper practice!

After that, we took a little break to have some of the, to die for looking gelato they offered inside. We both got a scoop of the chocolate covered banana flavor. SO yum!

It was back to business/FUN, after we finished our treat. Kaylyn set everything up for part two, her Sign Lettering 101 class.

How stinkin' adorable are her personalized pencils?? SWOON!!

She had several super fun exercises set up for practicing sign lettering. Again, she went over tons of tips and tricks and her recommended tools. We started out setting up a favorite quote into a shape.

Then we moved onto writing on a mirror, something I had never done before. She had me use different fonts and taught about the key words she recommends making bolder or drawing attention to.

This was a really neat activity, but its very hard to photograph. It looks pretty cool in person at least.  :) After that, we moved on to Chalkboard signs!

 Kaylyn provides these gorgeous, rustic looking chalkboards and easels for everyone to use. Did I mention that you get to take home ALL of the supplies?! Awesome!! 

I got to make up my own bar menu, using all of the techniques She taught. I could have used a little more attention to my spacing, but I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt.

It was an absolutely wonderful afternoon! Kaylyn has so much experience and passion for her art to share! She is a patient, encouraging and very friendly teacher who loves sharing what she loves with others. I learned SO much from her and am SUPER psyched to practice what I learned and develop my skills. Kaylyn does many classes throughout the year and she is also open to doing private lessons if you contact her. Check out her webpage and Etsy shop for more details. I cannot recommend her class enough! If you are interested in dipping your feet into calligraphy/sign lettering, or just want to take a class to get some in person guidance on your skills, take her classes! You will have so much fun learning!   

I could not leave this wonderful experience without having a little piece of Kaylyn's beautiful creations! She offers this gorgeous letterpress print in her Etsy shop and I just fell in love with the sentiment behind the quote. I bought myself one and hung it up in my sewing room. It so perfectly captures and reflects my own thoughts and sentiment behind my joy of creating, plus its just sooooo pretty!!

Such a wonderful afternoon with Pirouette Paper! Thank you Kaylyn!

What happens in Vegas-Our 1 Year Anniversary Celebration!

This past week, The Hubby and I headed off to Las Vegas! We were meeting up with a couple of his old Army buddies for a mini reunion, and we decided to head out a day ahead of the others to celebrate our 1 year anniversary! The Hubby did quite a bit of searching before we left and had gotten us quite a few Groupon deals for new things to try. We arrived in the early afternoon and had made reservations for dinner in the evening. After checking into our room at the Excalibur, we got ourselves fancied up for our celebratory dinner and took a cab down to the Venetian to do a little window shopping before our reservations. I just LOVE walking around inside the Venetian! They have a little shops area and it has raised ceilings with clouds painted on it and makes it feel so nice and pretty. MUCH better than the 110 degree weather outside!

As we were walking around, we saw some people taking Gondola rides around the little canals they also have inside the shopping area. The Hubby decided we should take a romantic Gondola ride before our dinner since neither of us had ever been on one. We had a shared ride with another nice couple from Utah. Our Gondolier was from Columbia. He had a very nice singing voice and even sang "Thats Amore" for us. It was really fun!

After our ride, we made our way over to The Paris Hotel for our dinner. Our reservations were at the Gordon Ramsey steakhouse inside The Paris.

We ate there a few years back on our last trip to Vegas and it was seriously THE BEST meal we have ever had! No joke, this pace is the best! WELL worth the money! So, when we decided to come out here, we knew we had to eat here for our anniversary.

We ended up being a bit early for our reservation, so we checked in and went inside and had a drink at the bar. As we were walking in I saw this man standing at the entrance and told The Hubby I was pretty sure it was the host of Who wants to be a millionaire. As soon as we sat down, I of course, googled him and sure enough Chris Harrison it was! Celebrity encounter #1 for this trip!

Here is a better picture of Chris Harrison

We were seated at our table shortly after. They put us on the second floor balcony at a small table and pointed out their unique light fixture in the center of the room. Its a neon light that is supposed to reflect the hand movements of Gordon Ramsey as he makes his famous Beef Wellington.

We started out our meal with Foie Gras appetizer. It came with some puffs filled with goat cheese. It was like butter! Delicious, duck flavored butter! Yum!

For our entrees, The Hubby got the Rib eye and I got the rib eye round which was AMAZING! Our waiter said it was the favorite and most recommended cut by all the employees. The Hubby even said that mine tasted better than his, which was still REALLY good! Not a drop of steak sauce required! Just delicious, melt in your mouth, tasty yummyness!

You order sides a la carte, and we went all out! We shared the fingerling potatoes which are cooked with truffle and Parmesan, and the steamed spinach. The Hubby had been eyeing the bone marrow side as well since neither of us had ever tried it. We decided to go ahead and give it a try. It was very good, but we preferred the Foie Gras over that type of organ type dish.  All were soooo good!!

As we were wrapping up our meals, I got up to use the ladies room and the waiter told me he would escort me downstairs. When we started walking down, a lady in a chefs jacket started walking along with us. She turned to our waiter and said "I can go ahead and escort her down." My waiter told her that it was ok, he had to grab something downstairs and would take me. She turned back to me and said "Oh look we are fighting over you now. Enjoy your evening!" She carried on where she was going and the waiter turned to me and said "Do you know who that was?" I said no and he informed me it was Chef Christina Wilson, winner of season 10 of Hell's Kitchen! I totally made The Hubby jealous when I got back to the table! She actually ran into me again downstairs and jokingly asked if I would like to be escorted back up to my table. She was so nice! Apparently the winner of Hell's Kitchen gets to run this restaurant. Chef Wilson has apparently since been promoted and works directly with Gordon Ramsey, but still comes back to check in every once in a while. How cool!!

We did not get dessert the last time we came and decided to go for it this time! We got the Warm Toffee pudding. This came highly recommended by the staff and definitely did not disappoint! It was a sort of warm butter cake that was topped with warm British toffee syrup and served with a side of browned butter ice cream. I HIGHLY recommend this dessert! We ate every last bite! This was definitely just as awesome as it was last time! If you want a really nice, amazing, good to the last bite dinner, I highly recommend a stop here!

After dinner we went to cash in the Eiffel tower experience tickets The Hubby got on Groupon. Basically, you take an elevator up to the top of The Paris Eiffel tower and get to hang out on the observation deck. I was a little nervous, due to my fear of heights, but it was a fully enclosed observation deck and, really, how romantic! We made our way to the top and the view was spectacular!! Total 360 degree view of the city at night!

We, by chance, had timed it perfectly and even got to watch the Bellagio water fountain show from above! It was pretty beautiful!

Having never tried it in the daytime, I would still have to imagine that the night time view is the best. However,  I would HIGHLY recommend grabbing yourself a cold water or two BEFORE you go up! It is really warm in Vegas and it is not air conditioned. Due to a minor, almost passing our experience I had waiting for the elevator to take us back down, TRUST ME-bring water! :) Other than that, it was a really cool thing to do! Note that the elevator only runs every 4 minutes so there is a bit of a wait to go back down.

We did some more walking around, sightseeing and people watching after. The next morning, The Hubby had looked up places that serve afternoon tea, one of y favorite things! How awesome?! So we headed over to the Ri Ra Irish pub at the Mandalay Bay shopping center. 

It was neat! The pub decor was really awesome and pretty! We shared a pot of Barry's Gold tea. A very popular Irish black tea. It was good!

They brought over our tiered food tray. The bottom layer had Soda bread sandwiches with Irish cheddar, Egg salad, Cucumber and Ham and tomato. The cucumber and the egg were our favorites!

The  middle layer had Raisin scones with freshly whipped cream and jam. The top had the desserts!! We split a Neapolitan, eclair, a fruit spiral pastry and a coconut macaroon. We both agreed that the Neapolitan was our favorite. I was so excited that we got to have Irish Afternoon tea!! AND The Hubby didn't hate it! Haha! It was a wonderful way to help celebrate our first, wonderful year of marriage together! I look forward to the rest of our lives of adventures together!!