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My parents were visiting this weekend, and while they were here my dad wanted to pop into the camera shop to check out a few accessories for his camera… I tagged along and started poking around the sale items. I occasionally check out the DSLR prices; not because I’m in the market, but more as a frame of reference for when I win the lottery. But seriously, it’s always fun to dream. I noticed a clearance Sony A200 in the case and it was a phenomenal price. As a comparison: three years ago I bought my point-and-shoot Sony H2 for about the same price.

My parents saw I was eyeing the case and told me if I wanted it, I could have it for Christmas… Not really a tough decision there. However, I wanted to go home and check out reviews. Long story, short: I am now the proud owner of my first DSLR. And while it’s entry-level, I really don’t need anything too complicated or high-tech. So Christmas came A LOT early this year, but it doesn’t bother me one bit!

I definitely have to get used to using a more robust camera, but I’m getting the hang of it. For practice I’ve been taking a bunch of pictures around the house and my most interesting subjects are the cats. Here are a couple of my better shots.

After having such a good time camping with L & P a couple of weekends ago, Mike and I decided it was high time we went camping on our own. We only needed to borrow the screen tent since it looked like there was going to be rain in the forecast. We waited way too long to reserve a site, so our first choice, Letchworth State Park was all booked up. I poked around reserveamerica.com, and found Lakeside Beach.

Without going into a blow by blow reenactment of the stuff we did all weekend, I’ll just say this: I’m so glad we chose this site, and I think we’ll be going back again. Despite some rough weather on Saturday, we managed to stay relatively dry, and when the rain cleared up, the view from the beach was spectacular.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip.

Listen to the cannons going off in the background. Those are to break up any hail that might hit land and ruin surrounding farmers’ crops. Weird!

After the rain cleared we went down to the water.

Obligatory self portraits.

The best meal ever: balsamic chicken with roasted rosemary Brussels Sprouts! YUMMY!

Sunset over Lake Ontario – Some major cloud formations blowing inland.

Sunset over Lake Ontario – Mike gazes toward the horizon.

Sunset over Lake Ontario – This is by far my favorite picture of the whole group!

Or you can check out the entire set on Flickr.

With all this free time on my hands I’m catching up on various craft projects I’ve wanted to do for a long time! Here’s the low-down on what I’m doing.

I bought some clearance fabric at Jo-Ann at least a year ago, and have been too busy lazy to make anything out of it until now. I picked up a simple pattern —Vogue #8495—, and made this cute blouse. I also used it as an excuse to become better acquainted with my serger; a device that is pretty complicated, yet utterly fantastic. I used it to finish off the blouse’s side seams, and I think the whole thing looks pretty darned professional. Despite the fact that the blouse wears like a maternity shirt, I’m very happy with the final result.

Next up is this adorable yellow checkered hankie with crocheted edge. I inherited a bunch of vintage hankies from my Grandma (the pink one in the picture is hers) and I’ve been using them for a while now. I’ve started to phase out paper tissues as much as possible because, as I learned, “a total of 300 million tons of tree fiber from virgin forests in the US are used to make its paper products each year.” At any rate, some of Grandma’s hankies are very delicate and I’d rather not ruin them, so I decided to make some.

I want to point out the purple magnetic pin catcher… it is one of my favorite things in the craft arsenal. I used to lose soo many pins, but now, I can just run it over the floor and grab any rogue pins that may have escaped. Sorry, that sounded like a commercial! But anyway, on to the hankie!

First, I used the serger to create that beautiful rolled hem, and then I tried to copy the crocheted edge that my Grandma did on the pink one. I will say this about the crochet: while it’s cute and feminine, I won’t be doing that again too soon. The super-fine thread and tiny needle made it blinding work and it took me about a day to do. Also, as you may remember, I only have a very limited knowledge of crochet, so I spent the first few hours on the internet re-learning my stitches. For the rest of the hankies I plan to make, i’ll do something simpler, like just the rolled hem. That way, I can have a hankie done in 5 minutes as opposed to one a day.

I suppose enough time has passed since the last remodeling debacle for the sheer frustration of the whole thing to dissipate and for us to even think about undergoing a new phase of remodeling: the master bath.

We moved in more than 5 years ago, but one room we vowed to change the moment we stepped foot into it was the bathroom. It’s a tiny 5′ x 8′ space, but never mind the size; the first thing that screams at you is the color. Built in the 60’s, colored fixtures were al the rage and typically of houses of this era often feature pink, green, blue, beige, etc., but my bathroom… MY BATHROOM has lavender! And by that I mean: toilet, sink, tub and tiles. It’s so attractive! One aspect I’ve since “band-aided” was the black linoleum tile on the floor. I simply added some neutral peel-and-stick tiles for a quick fix.

But we are officially sick of the purple, and as of this winter it’s changing forever. The only difference is we’re working with our friendly neighborhood contractor, Brian Otto. He’s done a few other projects for us: kitchen backsplash, kitchen and bathroom solar tubes, our roof, gutters, and bamboo fence! Needless to say, I like working with him!

He’ll probably be starting in the next month or so, and I couldn’t be happier! We’re not going to rip down any walls to make the room bigger, partly because I can’t bear to be without my walk-in-closet on the other side of the wall, and mostly because we’re doing it on a budget. Also, I’m trying to utilize materials and manufacturers that are slightly greener than your run-of-the-mill, and that often comes at a price.

Lavender bathroom before! YIKES.

The awesome tile we picked.

The goofy scale drawing I did showing the new materials we chose.

Check back to see the progress we’re making, or go to the full photo album.

Phase one of “Operation Crappy Tat Cover-up” is complete. Words can’t express how totally thrilled I am with the result! Jet at Love Hate Tattoo did a fantastic job incorporating my vision while still covering the old ink. On Friday, Mike and I arrived at the shop at 12:30, and Jet sketched it up right there, and with a couple of tweaks I was under the needle around 1:30. By 4:00, he had all the outlines, some gray shading, and all the green leaves done! Super fast. While the pain sucked, everyone said I handled it with ultimate toughness. That’s right; I’m badass!

Mike even got himself an awesome Japanese dragon. He started his ink around 5:45. Unfortunately, I had to run out to meet some woman who wanted to buy my table from Craigslist. She was supposed to be at the house at 6:00, and when I called her at 6:20, she told me she had been reading and lost track of time. How unforgivably RUDE! I told her we’d have to reschedule and rushed back to the shop! I had missed most of Mike’s inking for NOTHING! Grrrr. I still got some really good shots.

Check out the full photo set on flickr.

I can’t wait until we get the rest of the color, but I guess I’ll have to. Unless we can be squeezed in if someone cancels, our next appointments are in November. Bummer.