Wait - I need to tie my shoe.

We were walking into the Hunter House (a great old hamburger stand in Michigan), when the manfriend says, "Wait, I need to tie my shoe."

And then he kneeled down in the parking lot and asked me to join him in the most exciting adventure yet.

The diamond is a family heirloom - it was his grandmother's engagement diamond which she bought at an estate sale in 1942. The setting was custom made in Jeweler's Row. And it's beyond perfect.

Me: So... what kind of wedding do you want to have?
Manfriend: Oh my god. We have to plan a wedding.
Me: You brought this on yourself.

Special K Challenge: Week 1

Sunday marked the end of Week 1 of the Special K Challenge.

Alas, I tried to find a fun image (for about 10 seconds), decided it wasn't worth it, and moved on. Y'all know what that big red "K" looks like.

For anyone who doesn't know: the Special K Challenge lasts for 2 weeks. Challengers (i.e. me) eat some combination of a shake, a protein meal bar, or a bowl of cereal with milk or yogurt for two meals plus two small snacks plus a "well-balanced" dinner for two weeks and ka-blam! 6lbs down!

First of all, my reasons:

• I've been feeling squishy. I'd lost most of the holiday weight, but before the holidays I was already carrying around a few extra pounds.
• It's winter. I don't like running when it's this cold and the sidewalk is covered in ice. I barely get off the couch when the heat isn't blowing. I don't do cold well. I should probably rethink living in Chicago...
• I've been eating a lot of crap (aka. Pizza Rolls) and needed a kick in the butt to get back on the healthy eating track.
• I need to sweat more.

So how did the first week go? Pretty well! I'm not a huge fan of the shakes - call me crazy, but I prefer to eat my food - but I have two left, so I worked them into my plan for this week. I have rediscovered a love of granola and cereal, especially with fruit. I'm actually surprised how not hungry I've been. I've been intentionally keeping busy and trying to keep to an eating schedule, so I think that helps. I'm also tracking the food in my calorie counter to keep from eating too few calories and throwing my metabolism into crisis mode.

I didn't work out as much as I would have liked (when I say "work out," I mean, "yoga"). It was a busy week and I'm hoping to make a habit of eating better before working the exercise component in. By the beginning of March, I want to be in a place where getting back into running and training for an 8k in April isn't going to completely kick my ass.

The absolute best part about this is the new meals I've discovered! My biggest downfall is eating healthy all day, getting home starving, and just eating whatever comes to hand first. Usually cookies. Frequently Pizza Rolls. I'm not proud. And I'd fallen into a rut. Of cookies and Pizza Rolls. During Week 1, I had a steak salad, a veggie burger with side salad, chicken with chop suey veggies over brown rice - and all of these things took about 15 minutes to make. Quick, easy, delicious, healthy. Can't beat that combo. Dessert every night has been light whipped cream with strawberries and I couldn't be happier about that. But I think the biggest accomplishment of the week was kicking my soda habit. I ran out of soda about half way through the week and just didn't get any more. No caffeine headaches! I have coffee in the morning and I'm good. I drink water the rest of the day and I think that's helped a lot too.

Oh - to go back to one of the themes of this blog... I be poor, yo. How did I afford all this fancy Special K food? Aldi. They have knock off versions of almost everything Special K has, so that saved me a ton of money. I did buy a couple things name brand, but having the Aldi versions of most of it helped a ton.

Week 1 Results: I've lost 3lbs and 4 inches overall and feel like I've generally deflated. I'm looking forward to the Final Results.

Go forth and craft!

Once upon a time, I had to return some snaps to JoAnn's. That was all I had to do. Just walk in and return. the. snaps. But then... I didn't have any other plans that night... the manfriend was working late...  one thing lead to another... and I left with about $30 worth of fabric and lots of new projects percolating in my brain.

Found this on a shelf at JoAnn's. Seriously.

I love shopping for fabric. I love walking down the rows of bright colors and prints and glitter, thinking about what each one could be used for and letting the fabric inspire the project. I love getting to know a fabric by feel - and sometimes passing judgement if it's cheap and gross feeling (I'm looking at you, rayon). Cotton fabrics just make my heart go pitter patter.

Sewing is in my bones. I spent most of my childhood in a fabulous (now closed) locally owned fabric store called Baer's. First of all, there was a huge Plexi-Glass box of random buttons that I could play in for hours while my mom was getting her fabric cut. I can still remember the button wall, the cutting tables, the bridal area on the first floor; the paper dolls, the remnant room, and the apparel fabric on the second floor, and the third floor - oh, the third floor - was entirely devoted to home decor.

I come by my fabric addiction honestly. I watched my mother buy yards and yards of fabric. In an attempt to break the cycle, I try very hard to not buy fabric unless I know what it'll be used for. So, when Court drunk texted and asked me to make her a quilt, I about passed out from excitement. She's all about fun, bold colors and geometric patterns, which means really fun fabric shopping:

I also try really hard to not start too many projects at once or they'll never get done. So here's what I've been working on or have waiting to be loved on:

a tunic made from some crazy pseudo-Lisa-Frank-on-acid knit fabric:

It's hard to be this fabulous.

a navy blue tailored sweatshirt top:

In progress!!

a gray blazer lined in a bright blue:

Totally not in progress yet.

and a birthday present:

Pot holders for Amy!

And an apron.

One of the Hancock's in the city is closing at the end of the month, which means super cheap stuff. And one of the few times I allow myself to buy fabric without a specific project in mind. I got an adorable teal fabric with big white polka dots. I'm having visions of a 1950s style summer halter dress thing. And probably ric rac. Because duh:

See? Adorbs.

Don't get me wrong: it makes me so sad to see fabric stores - especially Hancock's - close their doors. When Baer's closed, it was an Event in our family. It means sewing is a dying art. It means that the craft-fabric combo stores are winning. It means shopping for fabric online, which terrifies me. And it means higher and higher prices elsewhere since there's no competition.

That all being said, I'm poor. I hate shopping for fabric at JoAnn's, but I'll take my fix where I can get it. I will go to a closing store to get the things I need (and the things I didn't know I needed) at a price I can afford. I will use the coupons I find online, the coupons they send me in the mail, and the coupons available on the mobile app. And I will sew. It might seem weird or obsessive that I spend all day sewing for other folks and come home to continue to sew, but it makes me happy. I don't know what else to do to keep these stores from closing, other than to carry on and give them business and encourage as many people as I can in their sewing (and yes, crafting) endeavors.

Happy place.