Saturday, January 26, 2008

A New Thing For Me


Yesterday, after I totally rearranged my studio, I rewarded myself by making this sewing machine cover.
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I matched it to my chair, as you can see.
So now the question I'm asking myself is: why haven't I made one of these before?  I'm so thrilled with it, and my sewing machine will definitely be happier without all the dust.  I guess it just took the right impetus, i.e. a clean studio.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Small Things


It's the little things that make a big difference, sometimes. My friend, Janis, mentioned to me that she had heard this great idea: get a mouse pad to put under the accelerator (because I forgot what it's actually called) of your sewing machine to keep it from slipping around.
Well, you and I both know how easy it is to go down to Staples and just pick one up, $2. But I don't live in the states. Singapore doesn't have any Staples. But I wont go on and on about that.
I found this rubber pad, intended to keep things from sliding around or off your dashboard, and thought it would work great.
And it does! Not only is my pedal stationary, but it seems the sewing machine runs smoother. Probably all in my head, but there it is.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Organization is Contagious

Somebody else gets into the action.

I showed my daughter my nice, neat, organized clothes closet, and she got inspired!  Seen here is a portion of those clothes she weeded out.  Man, she had a lot of clothes!  She filled 4 plastic shopping bags with her clothes, neatly folded.  (I only filled 3.)  And then, our Portuguese neighbors stopped by to inform us they would be moving out in the morning (they're going to Long Beach, California - lucky!) and they wanted to say goodbye.  My daughter whispered to me that their daughter (several years younger) might like to inherent some new/used clothes.  I hesitated, new clothes are not good to get after everything is packed, but the mom was agreeable.  My daughter brought the 4 bags over to their apartment, and was gone for an hour.  I just know the little girl was so thrilled to be paid the compliment of receiving clothes from my daughter, and I was a proud mom.  

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Organization, Part 2


My bedroom closet, after...

Well, I didn't take any before pictures because I didn't actually plan to clean up my closet this morning.  I was just going to change the sheets on my bed.  But I keep the sheets, the bath towels, the kitchen towels, the beach towels, the wash cloths, and the placemats in the same cabinet that I keep my clothes.  And it was a terrible mess and over stuffed.  In a fit of something or other, I dragged everything out, spread it all out on the bed, refolded things, discarded other things, found new homes for some items, and wound up  with a much better looking closet.  My folded shirts are categorized by color, my hanging shirts are organized by color and sleeve length, and my folded bottoms are grouped by length: shorts or pants.  
You can see the spare bedsheets in the lower right hand cubby, and the cabinet above (not pictured) now has our towels, neatly collected.

Much better.  I feel so rich.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Organization!

The closet in my studio, before


And after, phew!



Here is what I threw away.







And here is my favorite part: my wonderunder is stored on the closet bar, making it really easy to unroll just as much as I need.
Taadaa!



Now please don't judge this messy closet as pack-rattishness. It's not that. It's just that we are living in what we know to be a temporary situation, and it's so hard to buy furniture (like shelves for the closet) when we know we will just be leaving them behind. But I bought the two bins knowing my stuff could be moved in the bins and I won't have to leave those behind. The shelf came from my daughter's room - she didn't need it anymore. So there you go.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Yummy


Chicken stir fry with carrots, celery, onions, broccoli, green bell peppers, snow peas, peanuts and a sauce of orange juice, soy sauce, teriyaki marinade, garlic and ginger.

My husband and daughter also got noodles with their meal, but I avoided them so as to stay on the diet. So nice to eat fresh food like this, healthfully and deliciously prepared, and to know I'm being good!

Family Time


Yesterday, my husband, daughter and I went and took a short walk in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It being winter, whatever that means in a tropical zone, we didn't see too many blossoms, but it was still a nice time to be together. It was my first time going in at this particular gate - the park is quite large.



One of the few blooms we saw. No idea what it is.



Ditto for this one.