bill murray, you nailed it.

I recently read this article and it has been giving me so much inspiration. I use the quote from the first sentence on almost a daily basis, to remind myself it’s important to relax, that relaxing isn’t something we do, it’s something we make ourselves do. It’s just as important a chore as the other things that need to get done. No, it’s more important. So I’m gonna start doing it, instead of doing some other things, that didn’t really need to get done after all.

In a great interview with Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times, Murray was running late so he dragged the interviewer with him into the limo and then onto the stage where he was set to speak, completing their talk in front of hundreds of people.

Some nuggets:

 

The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with your enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself.

 

You have to hope that (good things) happen to you. That’s Pandora’s box, right? She opens up the box, and all the nightmares fly out. And slams the lid shut, like, “Oops,” and opens it one more time, and hope pops out of the box. That’s the only thing we really, surely have, is hope. You hope that you can be alive, that things will happen to you that you’ll actually witness, that you’ll participate in. Rather than life just rolling over you, and you wake up and it’s Thursday, and what happened to Monday? Whatever the best part of my life has been, has been as a result of that remembering.

 

Who hasn’t woken up thinking, “God, nothing good has come to me in a while,” right? When I feel like I’m stuck, I do something — not like I’m Mother Teresa or anything, but there’s someone that’s forgotten about in your life, all the time. Someone that could use an “Attaboy” or a “How you doin’ out there.” It’s that sort of scene, that remembering that we die alone. We’re born alone. We do need each other. It’s lonely to really effectively live your life, and anyone you can get help from or give help to, that’s part of your obligation.

 

It (improv training) pays off in your life when you’re in an elevator and people are uncomfortable. You can just say, “That’s a beautiful scarf.” It’s just thinking about making someone else feel comfortable. You don’t worry about yourself, because we’re vibrating together. If I can make yours just a little bit groovier, it’ll affect me. It comes back, somehow.

guest blogger: black label’s DIY heart tee

❤❤❤ Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody! ❤❤❤
As my valentine to you, I’ve got a special guest here today, Ange from Black Label, who’s going to show you how to make your own gorgeous heart tee!
(She also has the honorable distinction of being my first guest blogger ever!) Without further ado, here’s Ange to tell you more about the project.

Hello Readers –

I’m Ange & I blog over at Black Label...What a lovely honour to have the opportunity to guest blog here.

I sew for a variety of reasons but one of the things I love most about sewing, is that it gives me the opportunity to make something uniquely { ME }. So even when it comes to sewing basics like tees, I try to customize them to make them unique to me. I’ve had so much feedback from the New Look 6150 white tee I made last year, so I decided to give you a quick little ‘tut on how I did it with some tips along the way.

This time around I’m using the Deer & Doe Plantain Tee for variety but you can use the NL 6150 or any other basic stretch knit tee you’d like.

{ Things you’ll need }:

* Fabric – stretch knit enough for the pattern & extra for the applique

* Thread (can be same colour or complimenting shade)

* Pattern – Deer & Doe Plantain Tee { its a free download }

* Creativity – necessity

* Double stretch needle – optional

* Some paper & a pen for sketching

{ STEP ONE }

Pin & cut your pattern with all pieces ready for sewing.

{ STEP TWO }

Sew your front & back pieces together as well as your neck band & then set it aside.

 

{ STEP THREE }

Position the patches onto the sleeves (wrong side of patch to right side of fabric) & pin to secure them. You can sketch a design onto the patch before you pin them down, I didn’t though. I love sewing without a plan when it comes to applique & having it develop as you go along.

If you’ve decided to use a complimentary thread colour, then you will need to change your top thread now.

{ STEP FOUR }

Sew the patch on in which ever way you want to. I usually use a normal thread length.

Sew slowly to avoid clumping, bunching & if your machine has an automatic presser foot up, then engage that because it will help you to even out the fabric when you stop.

Once you’ve done the first one, try to sew a similar pattern to your second patch.

 

{ STEP FIVE }

Attach your sleeves to your tee & finish up the tee as per the pattern instructions ie. hems etc.

{ STEP SIX }

Now comes the fun part…

Sketch out a design you want. For my NL 6150 tee, I knew I wanted to do a protea so I just sketched until I liked what I saw. Bear in mind you dont need to necessarily sketch the entire applique from one piece. With the protea I sketched the flower & then cut the leaves seperately.

Once you have your design sorted, cut it out & then trace it out onto your fabric & cut those pieces.

When you are cutting, don’t stress over accurate cut lines. Once the fabric has been washed once, the edges with fray up nicely & you won’t even see any little crooked edges – it’s all part of the charm.

So, in the spirit of Valentines Day, I chose to add a big heart to the front of my Plantain Tee. I used the same navy knit, & chose the same green thread I used for the elbow patches because I absolutely love navy & green together.

 

{ STEP SEVEN }

Pin your fabric shapes to your Tee. Remember that applique doesn’t just need to be on the top, it can be on the lower part, lapped over two seams, on the back, on the sleeves – be creative about where you place your applique….also, may you want to do more than one area. 🙂

Tip : Put your Tee on & then fit the design for the perfect spot. By seeing the Tee on your body (or dressform) you will have a better idea on what it will look like once it’s sewn on.

One question I get asked regarding my appliques is how do I get them to look so soft & not like a badge. Well my dears, I pass on the step of interfacing them before I sew. When I first started doing these I used to use interfacing but I found they did exactly that – made them too stiff & rigid. Some people iron the interfacing on the applique, some people iron the interfacing on the inside of the garment. I pass on both!! But, if I need a little stiffness for sewing then I spray a little starch on & then sew. The starch makes the fabric just stiff enough to manage but washes out.

 

{ STEP EIGHT }

Get sewing that sucker on. Go slow & take your time.

I like to sew mine on in one fluid stitch ie. no stopping & starting on new areas. I use my presser foot up function to swivel the fabric under the needle when I need to change direction.

{ STEP NINE }

Once you’ve finished, give everything a little press & stand back to admire your work of art.

{ STEP TEN } Optional

Send your Tee through the wash to soften up & fray those edges I spoke about earlier. Also, when I press, I avoid pressing my edges down too much because I like it when they crinkle & look like edges of salad…but I’m weird like that.

 

Ok, hope you’ve enjoyed the ‘tut guys.

I’d love to see your versions if/when you give it a try.

Thank You so much to Rebecca for hosting me for this little Valentines Day Edition guest blog post. I had so much fun putting this together for you guys & hope to do it again sometime. Happy Sewing & Happy Valentines Day xx

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book feature: grub

If you’re interested in cooking local, organic, nutrition-packed healthy meals that also happen to be more delicious, here’s a great book for you!

The first half of the book is all about organic, local food and why it’s better than grocery store food in about a billion ways. I read it at the start of the summer, and it got me excited about starting new eating habits. I haven’t looked back since!

The second half of the book is all recipes. This cookbook portion is unique because the chef designed the menus to go along with favorite music albums for soundtracks to the meals, and even toasts that can be read by guests or the host. I haven’t actually cooked any of the meals because I borrowed this book and ran out of time, but the authors convinced me that I could have just as much fun—more!—eating healthy local fresh foods.