Laundry improvements

We've been planning, for quite some time, to enclose the laundry room, which means relocating the back door and the machines. We're still working on some details, but we're excited to contain the mess and noise and add some much-needed storage to our tiny home! That's the 'before' on the bottom.

It's not easy being green

I passed the LEED AP exam last Thursday... I'd been completely bogged down with studying the intricacies of the credits, synergies between credits and the process for weeks. The scoring is weighted somehow, with 80 multiple-choice questions and a maximum of 200 possible points. A score of 170 is needed to pass and I got a 181. DH took it a couple of days before and scored a 194, the jerk. So now it is back to house projects, cooking and sewing!

I passed the Pre-Design exam!

The letter came in the mail Monday. What a relief! Even though I finished the exam with an hour to spare, I was still sweating it a little. Studying for LEED is going well, although I (obviously) didn't take it the original date of May 11. Two weeks, especially with two nights out of town for work, is just not enough to learn all the details. I rescheduled for May 21, but DH couldn't get that date so he's taking it on the 17. Fingers crossed for both of us...

New Plan!

So after a fun-filled weekend of birthday celebration and LEED studying, I realized that I have a lot of frustration about my body. Part of it is recovering from some allergy/cold thing that causes sinus headaches and part of it is being tired of sitting and studying. I've just been in a funk about myself. I do what a lot of people do, I resort to eating junk because I'm bored... fat because I eat and eat because I'm fat. I found a link to a program called Shredded for Summer that I decided was worth a try. I'm following the beginner/intermediate at-home/no-gym fat loss plan and so far, so good! Tomorrow is a rest day, Yay! I might even get to feeling like I can throw in some "advanced" workouts, we'll see.

Refashioning - learning from mistakes

My first 'major' refashion was a fun project, but not exactly a success. I had collected a small pile of things from my closet that weren't quite what I wanted them to be. A quick trip to Good Will during a lunchtime walk yielded a couple of interesting ties and, once I took a good look at everything together, a lavender v-neck top and a purple & green tie were surely meant for each other. I decided the top would be better with a deeper 'V' and so set out to recreate it, based on a little faux wrap top I have.




It was a great chance to play with techniques, hidden stitches and mitering (is that term even appropriate for sewing?) corners. I love the colors together, still... but my fatal flaw was not taking into account the fact that the top was a little short for my preference in the first place. I could have done a better job pinning (and should have basted) the pieces together. I ended up with some puckering in spots due to the differences in the way the fabrics stretch.





I don't have a photo of myself in it, because I wore it once (with a cardigan over top) and then started taking it apart... trying to figure out ways to reuse pieces, but especially the tie fabric. No big ideas yet, but the bottom of the lavender top has been added to another top... helping to make up for the 'too' short thing somewhere else!

It'll be a busy few months!

May 1 is a big day for me... I'm taking the Wardrobe Refashion pledge for four months starting today! I explained the whole thing to DH last night, during our break from studying for LEED. He thinks it is pretty cool. My first round of refashions will be from completely my own stuff... clothing that doesn't quite work and some sheets and other scraps as well. I also have a couple of refashion projects with stuff my friend, Jules, gave me but those are for for her or her little girls. I'm pretty excited to learn to make cute girly clothes for my favorite little blondes!

I'm also starting back up with my exercise routine. Three summers ago I lost about 20#, and I've maintained it since, but I'd love to be more toned and comfortable in summer clothes, especially if I'm going to be making cute skirts! So I'll be cutting out the soda and cutting back on bread and sugary stuff. Last time I kept a diary and counted calories, which really worked and helped me re-establish my sense of portion sizes, but unless it becomes obviously necessary I'll skip that part. I'm more interested in building muscle, so will focus on what I'm eating and less on how much.