LIVity

I haven't done an official I'm What's Happening update in months, but this one still seems premature because I just played catch up in my first post of the year. Which I just wrote two weeks ago. And now I'm hanging my head in shame because it took me almost two months to write my first post of 2016.

So anyway, to recap, I've been working on learning the guitar. I haven't had my next lesson yet, so I'm still working on playing the Eagles' Hotel California.

Oh yeah, as far as reading, I started reading The Missing Kennedy: Rosemary Kennedy and the Secret Bonds of Four Women.  Basically, it's about the life of Rosie, the third child of Joe and Rose Kennedy, who was mentally disabled - slow to learn, but nonetheless leading a vibrant life with her family. She was kept with the family until a doctor convinced Joe to let him perform a lobotomy on her. It was a new procedure and the doctor botched it, so Joe decided it was best to house Rosie in a medical facility for the remainder of her life.  The story is told by compiling oral and written histories passed down from Rosie's mom and the author's aunt, Rosie's primary caretaker.


I heard about this book while skimming headlines when something about a hidden Kennedy grabbed my attention. "Hmmm a scandal within America's royal fam, huh?" Everybody likes a scandal lol This combined with the fact that I love anything having to do with women bonding and mental abnormalities made it a must read for me.

That's about all, but if you haven't gotten enough of me for the week, please make sure to read my short story The Talk. It's a peak into living with depression, specifically how it is to wake and face the day. Leave me some feedback!

Until next time...

Wow, it's been about three months since I've written a summary on what I've been up to! Last time I closed with a teaser about news, but I didn't want to spill the beans.  By now, you may have figured out that I was referring to the writing retreat I attended last month in Costa Rica.

I didn't want to give too much information at the time I wrote my last I'm What's Happening post because although I knew I wanted to attend the retreat, I was still in the process of figuring out the ins and outs of making that happen.

Still, the prospect of going was enough to get my creative juices flowing and I started writing a couple of short stories. But because the retreat was intended to be a holistic getaway - caring for our entire being but putting good stuff into our minds and bodies so that good writing came out - I became more disciplined in my home spiritual and physical life as well. Not only was I praying and meditating every day, I also changed my diet and began working out every day. By the time I left for the retreat, I was feeling focused and creative.

I'm not going to go into the entire experience again because you can read about it either in my Reinspired...Again post or in detail on my travel blog. But in summary, while there, I was able to nearly complete a piece I had been struggling with for almost seven months!

So yeah, the past couple of months haven't left any time for crafting. But, taking the subway to work every day does give me time to keep up on my reading. And last month, I read James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It reminded my of an in-depth profile, but while the main character's artistic progression was believable, the way he interacted with his world was not. Overall, I didn't love the book. You can read more of my thoughts about it in my review.

Since finishing A Portrait, I moved on to another profile piece, The Picture of Dorian Gray. So far I'm liking this one a lot better. Some of the language is a little fluffy for my style, but because Oscar Wilde, the author, wasn't overbearing in his philosophies, it's much more bearable than Joyce's novel.

And last but not least, after about five years, I decided to pick my guitar back up. I've been teaching myself for a little over a week and have learned six notes and the beginning of Bob Marley's Redemption Song.  But I have some questions about technique and I know the Type A in me won't let me feel like I know how to play unless I know how to play correctly. *shaking my  head* I know. Anyway, I found an instructor whose philosophies sound great - most importantly to me is he'll teach me how to continue teaching myself. We start working together later this week - I'm excited!

That's all, so until next time!
❤

Okay, kind of throwing this together because I am not prepared for it to be September already!
Until next time...

So, I know I had a lot to say during my check in, but believe it or not, I have more to catch you all up on.

I finally finished the project I was working on months ago, the one whose hand sewn lining inspired me to buy my sewing machine.

Okay, well until next time...

~ With ♥ from Halima

     

Okay well, my plan to create a craft room kind of, sort of morphed into me painting almost my entire house. So, I haven't done any work on the skirt I'm sewing since my last post.  But, on the flip side, my house is getting pretty lol Picture time!

Giselle sitting at the desk guarding her space lol

Here's the second bedroom, the craft room that started it all.  I went with a very light green instead of the bolder green that made my heart flutter.  I love this choice though because the space is Caribbean inspired, so I want to keep it airy.

I'm making a field trip to Ikea to look at some shelving within the next couple of weeks.  And the plan is to sew some storage baskets to place on the shelves.  I'm also planning on sewing curtains for this room.  And my most major purchase, which I'm still up in the air about, will be replacing the desk wit a sewing table.  We'll see about that though, if I do, it will happen a little way down the road.
I already posted this picture on my Facebook page, but I'm showing it off again to give the full effect because this is the bathroom that's attached to my second bedroom.  The color is Peach Blossom and was lighter than I originally intended, but ended up being perfect for this space.


The rest of my painting was hallways, stairwells and my foyer. They're now a sandy, neutral color, so not too interesting, but I'll show this pic because I finally got my wall sconces up.  I've had these in my garage for about four years!!


In other news, I finished reading 'The Red Tent.'  It was so good I not only reviewed it, I also added it to my recommended reading page.  So, I won't got too much into it here except to say it gives voice to the women the Bible brushes over.  It's a very interesting fleshing out their stories while lightly relating them to Biblical history from a female point of view.

And on to the next one. I'm currently reading 'The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings' of James Baldwin. Let's just say my recommended reading page will be receiving another title.  I mean, almost every line is underline-worthy. 

So, that's about all I've been up to.  Until next time...

~ With ♥ from Halima

     

Sooo...this past month I really dove into my pursuit to learn how to sew. 

I found a couple of basic patterns on Craftsy and also took the suggestion of a friend and checked out Mimi G.  I was really excited about her because she has free, online classes which walk you through patterns.

This led me to my first trip to the fabric store. Where I spent three hours.  In my defense, not only did I have no idea what I was doing, but I had to touch all the gadgets I never knew existed. 



Don't mind the three-day old wash-n-go. Was going to do something cute, but was migraining for four days prior to this pic and suddenly it didn't seem so important lol

The first project I decided to try was a vintage headband.  Simple, right?? Just sewing in straight lines.  The first night I worked on it things moved slowly, but I walked away feeling confident I could pick this craft up in no time.  I printed and cut the pattern and fabric. Then I created the main seams.  Sat back to admire my handiwork and noticed the pieces looked a little shorter than the pattern's picture, but thought maybe it was the angle from which the photo was taken.  Or maybe because there were two pieces that needed to be put together, the length would work itself out.

The second night started off bad.  I sat down with all the confidence in the world, thinking all I had to do was spend a couple of minutes putting the finishing touches on the headband.  I started sewing and part way in, had to add more thread to the bobbin.  No problem.  I'm a pro at this now, didn't even need to consult the machine's manual this time.  Rethreaded the machine and it didn't take me two hours.  Not a single problem. Until, I got to the automatic needle threader which would not budge.  I'm not too proud to break the manual out again, even re-watch the YouTube video on how to work it.  Ok, I'm doing this right why won't it move?? Pushed it again, the plastic lever snapped off.  So, I threaded the machine needle by hand.  Inconvenient because now I had to check the machine's warranty and call Singer the next day, but one monkey don't stop the show. 

Infant baby turban

Finish the headband and it's infantile. By this I mean, if anybody needs a vintage headband for their newborn baby girl, I got you.  My first instinct was right, the pieces were way too short.  Re-consulted my pattern to see where I could have gone wrong.  The only thing I could find was a sentence that asked for the pattern to be placed on the fold of fabric.  When I was cutting, it didn't really make sense because the pattern called for two strips of fabric and I thought it'd be neater to just cut two separate pieces.  So, I took "fold of fabric" to be interchangeable with "edge of fabric."  But after making a teeny, tiny headband, I decided to Google and discovered the technique of folding fabric before you cut it to keep it symmetrical for designs that call for you to fold and sew them later. 

This story does have a happy ending though.  Luckily, I bought twice as much fabric as the pattern called for, so I was able to make a new headband that night.  And I spoke with Singer two days later and they've agreed to ship a replacement piece for the broken threader lever free of charge.

I've already moved on to my next project and am hoping my next 'What's Happening' post will be less lessons learned and more me showing off all my pro sewing skills.

In other news, I finished reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I still think everyone needs to read this, but I do think it's target audience is extroverts that have a desire to better understand introverts and introverts who may not understand or be completely comfortable with their nature.  You can read my full review of it here.


And lastly, I started reading The Red Tent.  I'm going to hold off on giving any feedback because this post is already insanely long. 

I've gotten word that I should give progress updates on my craft projects, so stand by for that.  It'll let me be in touch  more, but it'll also keep my 'What's Happening' posts from turning into epic novels lol Also, you can get more updates from me on my Facebook page.  Or if you really need to know what's going on with me from moment to moment, I'm @midnytebloom on both Twitter and Instagram.

Until next time,

~With ♥ from Halima

     

It's been a while since I've written and I've definitely missed publishing, but I've been taking time to write for myself. Aannnddd...I've also been taking time to work on my crafting.  So, without further delay, here's what I've been up to in my absence.

Fabric lining complete

Okay, sorry for the big build up with no real reveal. But I've been working on a crochet project that keeps encountering little bumps in the road and I don't want to say what it is until I can show off the finished product.  But I will say, this is the first time I've ever lined a piece of work with fabric.

I did it by hand and it took way more time than I wanted to spend on that part of the project. So, I promptly decided I need a sewing machine for future projects.  I did some research and ended up with this pretty girl.

Now let me be clear, I have no idea what I'm doing here.  It took me about two hours, the instructional DVD and about three YouTube videos for me just to figure out how to thread this thing.  But now I'm pumped to maybe pick up some sewing projects.  Which led me to rediscovering Craftsy.  Not only do they have online classes, but they also have about 20 free sewing patterns. I'm about to be spending a lot of time there.

And last but not least, I'm currently reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Listen, whether you're an introvert, extrovert or ambivert, this book is a must read.  It explains quiet leaders all the way from why they are how they are to the ideal leadership situation.  As an introvert, I definitely see a lot of myself in this book, but I'm also learning a lot of new, scientific information and am thoroughly enjoying the case studies.

Until next time,

~ With ♥ from Halima

So, because my blog is supposed to be about my crafts and reading list as well as my random thoughts, I thought it'd be fun to start the new year with regular updates on what I'm up to in those areas.

This month, I'm reading The New Kings of Nonfiction. Those who follow my Instagram account know I've been working on this book for far too long. I thought it'd be a perfect match for me, being journalists telling nonfiction, short stories, but I'm not feeling it as much as I thought I would. I don't know what's up with that, but it is giving me inspiration for some writing I've been trying out lately so it's not a complete waste.

And as far as crafts, I recently finished this hooded scarf for a very special co-worker. She asked me to teach her to crochet a while back and a hooded scarf was her first project of choice. But because of life circumstances, she hasn't been able to work with it like she'd like. Anyway, this isn't the pattern she picked, I didn't want to take that from her, but I thought this one was pretty as well.

That's about it. I'm thinking of starting a handbag, which I've been trying to make since I started knitting and crocheting, but I haven't decided if that will be the next project.

For more book recommendations, check out my Recommended Reading page which also contains a link to full reviews of some of the books.

Until next time.

~With ♥ from Halima