Girl's Night Out: Pool Night

My friends Jenny, Grace and I are the organizers of our church's Girl's Night Out group, which is open to all the ladies in our church, as well as any community ladies who would like to join us.  At a local biker bar, they have free pool, so we planned a Pool Night for the day after Independence Day.  My mother-in-law Jill came along to show off her Pool Shark Skilzz.


Jill taking a shot; Jenny striking a pose


Lisa H. with her fierce Competitive Face on


Jenny and I entertained everyone with our New Improved version of pool


Because I'm so terrible at regular straight shots, I thought I'd try to pull some tricks


Jenny trying to play the punching bag




Socializing -- the most important aspect of the night!

Monogrammed Pillowcase Baby Dress

Embroidery.  I've been on a crazy embroidery kick lately, and there's no help for it.  Also, remember that appliqué rabbit-hole that I promised I'd fall into?  Behold:

Best Friend Becca (or BFB as we like to call her) is due in September with Girl-Baby "C".  Sunday afternoon was her baby shower, so of course I waited until Saturday to make this little dress.  (OF COURSE.)

Becca on the left, and on the right is the fabulous host of the shower, Jenny (a.k.a. Wanna Be Derby Girl)

I monogrammed the dress (Heat 'N Bond ironed onto the back of the "C", then stitched onto the garment with zig-zag on my machine), and hand-embroidered two little owls playing among cattails around it the letter.  The owls from the "Woodland Creatures" page in Amy Ray's Doodle Stitching: the Motif Collection.  I free-handed the cattails, because I wanted them to look organic to the the design.

This is the project I was working on in yesterday's Roller Derby post.  (TOTALLY appropriate.)  (YES, I got some funny looks.)  (Also, I do realize that if Baby "C" ends up as a Derby Girl, they will absolutely blame ME.)

I'm pretty in love with how this came out.

I made this a 3-month size, and since the straps tie and the top is stretchy, this will be able to grow with the baby into a tunic top.  It's also machine washable (incredibly important!), since the fabric is simple cotton sheeting.  There are not many things sweeter than a tiny girl in a simple white dress.  It seems impractical, but the truth of it is: if there is a spill (and there will ALWAYS be a spill!), it can be very simply bleached out.

Here are the specs I sketched out for this size (posted here for posterity, since I am sure that I will need it again for future baby gifts):

Now I want to monogram some skirts and dresses for Lavella too.  She's learning her letters, and would be thrilled to find "her" letter on her things!

I'm sure Becca will blog her shower more thoroughly, but here are a few more shots:

Rachel and I

Lisa R. and I



Jenny, our Very Favorite Party Planner (VFPP)

Becca opening the Pillowcase Dress with LOTS of help

You can click through any of these pictures to see more of the shower!

Roller Derby night

On Saturday, the last night of my in-law's visit, we took them to see some Roller Deby.

Rachel and I dressed almost identically.  Oops!

We stood in the 102° Texas heat to get into Roller Derby (we always try to get there 45 minutes before doors open so that we can get good seats),

I brought my embroidery with me so that I could finish up a baby shower gift (due the next day!)  I got a few strange looks, but hey!  It's Roller Derby, so anything goes!

And it begins at last!

We've started making it a tradition to leave at halftime to go get dinner somewhere -- Roller Derby is fun, but after about an hour, I'm ready to do something else!

We went to the strip of food trucks on South Congress ("SoCo"), and got some fantastic crunchy/sweet/spicy chicken and avocado in paper cones with coleslaw and spiced french fries.  We love The Mighty Cone!






View of Austin from SoCo at night

We stopped at Amy's Ice Cream for dessert, but Rachel and I were so full that all we could fit were ices.  I got Spicy Watermelon, which had the salt/lime/chile seasoning from Mexico that is popular around here.  A perfectly refreshing end to our meal.

A birthday party for a wanna-be Derby Girl

On Tuesday, I arranged some of Jenny Hart's Roller Derby designs from Sublime Stitching, traced it onto fabric, and started stitching a birthday gift for my dear friend Jenny P.  I had to leave the house for her birthday party at 5:30PM on Friday, and finished the last stitch on her gift at 4PM. (!!!)    I quickly set it in a simple wooden frame, wrapped it in red tissue paper, and tied it up with a bit of vintage white rick-rack.  So relieved to have finished it in time!

Jenny is known for her reckless crafting, rock 'n roll style, which she attributes to a sickness known as "Jennyitus".  She and I like to imagine that we will be Derby Girls some day, and of course Jennyitus will be her name.  I have yet to come up with my Derby name...

Most of the party guests ordered these "Jennyitus" shirts to wear in support of our favorite illness:

(Graffiti letters designed by our friend Mike, screen-printing arranged by Lisa H.)

Through a collaborative effort, we managed to scout and book a great restaurant, plan the guest list, and then completely surprise her as she walked into the room!

(Photo courtesy of Rachel E.)

Alicia had asked Jenny to go out with her for dinner that night: truly the Champion Secret Keeper. (Photo courtesy of Rachel E.) 

Rachel and Deb  (Photo courtesy of Rachel E.)

Lisa and Kitara (Photo courtesy of Rachel E.)

Angela and Alison  (Photo courtesy of Rachel E.)

Me and Becca (Photo courtesy of Rachel E.)

The birthday girl is gluten intolerant, so I had planned to maker her a special cake that she could actually eat, but suddenly there was a snag in the plan: the restaurant we were holding the party at doesn't allow take-in-cakes unless it has been made in a commercial kitchen.  My friend Alicia elaborated: "I'm pretty sure that just means your home-made cake just needs to be in a bakery box..."  I was terrified of getting caught out, but I was determined to make Jenny's cake.

I went to our local HEB (grocery store), and asked to purchase a round plastic cake box and a gold cardboard circle to set my cake on.  While the bakery girl had her back turned, I started quickly picking off the price sticker on the cake nearest to me on the rack, which just so happened to be a "1/4 sheet Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting".  The bakery girl turned back to me while I was still removing the sticker (just below the counter, a tiny bit out of her line of sight), and saw me staring vaguely into space.  "...Is there anything else I can help you with?"  (and the sticker came off the box with a pop!!!)  "No, no, that will be all."  (surreptitiously hiding the stolen sticker in my sweaty palm as I took the cake box she was handing over)

In the past, my cakes have never been known for their looks, but with the pressure of the Bakery Cake Look Alike, I gave it my best effort and turned out the prettiest cake I've ever made.  (Nope, I'm not going to be modest about it.  Most of the time my cakes are ugly, so I am pretty damn proud of this one!)

I used this Cracked Earth Chocolate Cake recipe, which turns out a moist, fudgy cake with a cracked top, and frosted the top with a simple stabilized whipped cream, topped with artfully arranged strawberries.  (This whipped cream sets up really nice and firm once it's been chilled, so if you use this recipe, be sure to frost your cake with it immediately, and set any decorations into it right away as well.)

The waitstaff never questioned the "red velvet" sticker, or the fact that it was supposed to be square and not round (!), and the birthday girl enjoyed her cake.  Success!

(Please excuse the chipped manicure...)

So tell me: what is the most shady thing you've done in the name of love?  What's the closest you've ever come to a deadline?  Also, what would your Roller Derby name be?  What should mine be?

Discovery Center

Greg had a 4-day-weekend (for Independence Day), so on Tuesday we all went to the Jeanes Discovery Center in Waco, TX.

Sitting over the casts of dinosaur bones




For lots more pictures of our day-long adventure, click through to the Flickr set here.