A new day is dawning

Do you ever get just overwhelmed by all the things you can do if you just decide to do them? I do. And I want to do it all, especially when it comes to making things.

This afternoon I took a stroll downtown to Auntie's Bookstore and headed straight to the second floor where I know they stash their crafts and hobbies books, found the corner and plopped myself down, criss-cross-applesauce style, and perused the second shelf from the bottom: Sewing Books. Then, voila, found it - the most fun-looking book filled with inspiration and patterns for the modern-day beginner seamstress. After examining it closely and wondering if my mom would approve, I took it down to the counter for purchase, and then skipped nextdoor to the Liberty Cafe, got some soup and read the first chapters carefully.

Over lunch I learned that I'm going to need to manage my time and money very carefully this year because I could definitely get lost in this sewing mayhem. Other competing interests include knitting, writing, cooking, movies/my Netflix subscription, reading, the presidential race, exercise, impromptu social gatherings, regular social gatherings (including Game Night, Friday Fundays, dancing, Double Dutch club), visiting Chicago, discovering new music, and of course, hanging out with family.

But what I liked about my new book is that it told me I have plenty of time - years, even - to build my sewing stash, but there are some essentials that I'm going to definitely need right off the bat. So blessed am I that my parents gave me the most essential part - the machine. And, as if that weren't wonderful enough, they also gave me a Christmas stockings-worth of notions. So all I needed were a few little odds and ends, like thread and shears. So I made a short list and headed over to JoAnn's.

I share similar symptoms with my mom whenever we enter clothing and craft stores - I think it's from the combined feeling of endless possibilities and overstimulation from "stuff" - and we find we need to run to the nearest restroom.

That's kind of what happened to me when I walked into the fabric store this afternoon. All the colors, textures, sequins, notions, sounds of 'snip, snip, snip,' created a crafty wonderland illuminated by the magical glow of fluorescent lights radiating over the echoey glimmer of the tiled floor of JoAnn's...it's a wonder I wasn't popping the Tums right from the start.

So, ta-da! I'm almost 100% ready for Mom's visit next weekend (still need to clean the bathroom) when she shall bestow upon me all of her wisdom and launch me into perhaps the craftiest year of my entire life.