Chicago ASG Fashion Show

     Here are a few photos from the fashion show on October 13th.

I am modeling a dress from a Simplicity pattern that was one of ASG's patterns for the year.  I also wore this at the ASG conference in Houston for 'Wear Your ASG Pattern' day.  It is made from a cotton fabric that I bought on vacation years ago and I added a lining of tencel that I had in my stash also.

     Here are a couple of my students  modeling their outfits.  Meghan made her dress from a beautiful floral cotton blend.  Doesn't it look so cute with the belt and jacket?  The pattern had a fabric belt but Meghan liked the idea of a skinny belt in a contrasting color.  I think it looks great that way.

     Katie is wearing the peasant blouse and ruffle skirt from Kids Can Sew patterns.  The black skirt has a ruffle of 3 dimensional roses on a netting background.  It looks so cute when she walks as it swishes out. It worth the effort and the extra day she came so she could finish it to wear at the show.

     Many thanks to Julia's grandma for taking these photos for me.  Unfortunately that means I have no photos of Julia.  She wore her round neck blouse and shorts from the Kids Can Sew book.

     I am hoping that a few more girls will participate next time.

Busy October

Table Rock Lakeshore Trail

     After our race weekend, things have been kind of hectic here.  The weekend after the race, my husband did a 2 1/2 day training for citizen emergency response.  It was Friday evening, and all day Saturday and Sunday.  Sunday we had our family dinner at our daughter's house.  Unfortunately my mom wasn't feeling up to it and our daughter-in-law had to fly east for a friend that needed help.

     Our son helped our son-in-law get things moved to a storage place so we could get the baby's room set up.  We pulled up the carpeting in the small bedroom and then started to remove the old flooring tiles.  It was very slow going as it was breaking into tiny pieces as we were trying to remove it.  I got hold of my hubby (just finishing his day of training) he borrowed a heat gun and other tools from a neighbor.  Well that did the trick.  We heated those tiles and they just pried off.  It left a sticky mess though on the floor.  It turns out that wasn't a problem as the new flooring they bought had a soft underlayment that had to go down before installing the bamboo floor.  A neighbor of their's helped with that and it looks great from the photos I have seen.

Table Rock Lakeshore Trail

     Wednesday morning we then left for a small vacation in Branson, MO.  It was a 10 hour drive so we didn't get there until after 7.  It was so nice though to be staying at a Wyndham resort because we had a kitchen.  So as he unpacked the car, I started some pasta, heated up some homemade sauce and threw together a salad.  We sat down to a nice leisurely meal with a bottle of wine.

Branson Landing

     The weather was nice in Branson, had a little rain but not much.  Didn't find many places to ride our bikes but we did find great places to hike.  We got in a couple of runs, a little biking and an afternoon of hiking.  Also saw a show and did a little shopping.  And of course we visited a winery and bought a couple of cases.  Peak color for the leaves was probably in another week though we did see some great vistas on our drive.  On Saturday it was warm enough that I was able to sit by the (closed) pool and get some sun for an hour.

     On Sunday we drove home and we had enough time to unpack, get laundry started and watch the Packers game that I had recorded.  On Monday I sorted through the emails and mail and taught in the afternoon.  Tuesday and Wednesday I attended Windows Palooza that was put on by the Chicago WCCA group.  I learned so much again, my head is just spinning.  Now I am trying to get caught up with my sewing and yardwork.

Christmas Cardinals Tempting Table Runner

     I am working on getting together detailed instructions for a class that I will be teaching next week.  I took photos of the steps as I made another sample and have been editing them.  Next up will be the writing.  This is taking longer than I thought it would.

Silver and Blue Christmas Tempting Table Runner

Race Weekend

Finishing strong

     This past weekend my husband and I both raced.  He did his on Friday night in Matt's Mile and 5K, a run to benefit 12 Oaks Foundation.  The race is held in our neighborhood.  What started as a joke on our homeowners' email list turned into my husband raising over $1500 for 12 Oaks.  Not only did he have a good time but he ran his best 5K ever.  Here are some links to his story:  http://grayslake.patch.com/articles/matt-s-mile
http://grayslake.patch.com/articles/m-8fd3a0af

Coming around the bend the first time

Getting dark on the second loop

Running with coach Matt

     My race was on Sunday.  I ran my first marathon.  I did the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.  I chose this one versus Chicago as it is a much smaller race.  For my first one I didn't want that huge crowd.  The course was flat, mostly, with lots to see.  The leaves were gorgeous colors which really helped to not think about the pain.  

     I didn't do as well as I wanted but only by about 5 minutes and I felt good at the end which I think is even more important.  I will probably do another but it is a lot of training.  

Sunset

Sunset

     Now time to recover and get ready for the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot and our duathlon in San Antonio in December.

Family Fun in September

A freezer full of good food

     This past Sunday was our family dinner day.  Our son from Iowa was able to come in and my mom was feeling well enough to come also.  That made it eight for dinner.  

    We started out by assembling freezer meals that will go in the crockpot.  I had spent most of Saturday chopping up meat and veggies.  I had everything in labeled containers.  Before my daughter and daughter-in-law arrived I set up an extra table in the eating area to hold the extra ingredients.

   My daughter who is on modified bedrest with her pregnancy I had sit at the table on a bench so she could put her feet up.  My daughter-in-law took over the countertop in the kitchen.  We then spent a couple of hours browning ground beef,  chopping up onions, red peppers, apples and meat.  We then bagged the different ingredients and labeled the bags.  I took them downstairs to the freezer after we finished each one.  It was taking longer than I had anticipated so we had to break for dinner.

     Dinner was a meat sauce made with two different sauces that I had made earlier and froze.  I added ground beef, Italian sausage and zucchini from the garden.  I served it over penne along with a salad with tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden and some garlic bread.  We then celebrated my and our youngest's birthdays with an ice cream cake and cayenne cocoa cupcakes from Wildtree.  

     Then it was back to work putting together the last of the meals.  By this time my daughter was quite tired so I did the rest of the meals for her while she sat on the couch.  We were watching the Packers beat the Saints as we finished up.  My daughter and daughter-in-law both went home with 16 meals that they will be able to just throw in the crockpot in the morning and have a healthy hot dinner in the evening.  The best part was I got to use a lot of produce from the garden.  We used green peppers, carrots, zucchini and celery that was all grown organically.  Next year I might have to try onions as well.

      It was a fun day even though it took me most of Monday to get everything cleaned up.  This week we are going to try the Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches.

Maple trees out my front door

A visiting heron