st kitts part 2 - caribelle batik

since we had been to st kitts so many times before
we tried to find some new things to do
so we headed to the caribelle batik and historic romney manor

where they practice the ancient art of batik

whereby they hand-paint wax onto fabric

and then dye the fabric

over and over until they have the most beautiful result

of course we had to pick up some new "hawaiian shirts" for sean
and a dress and bag for me! :)

the batik shop also sits on a historic site
that apparently was once owned by an ancestor of thomas jefferson
and used to be a sugar plantation
other than the building for the batik shop
this station where the owner would watch the workers is the only thing that remains

it also houses the oldest tree on the island
over 350 years old!

and btw...the ride to get to the batik was just as exciting as the batik itself!

day 136

day 134

day 57

day 23

day 20

insta-friday (on saturday)

work trip to tampa - no upgrade, but at least an exit row

crazy tunnel when making my connection - only a few more weeks and then it's back to non-stop trips

"are you ready for some football - it's a monday night party"

50th bday party/bbq for a work peep

boys in charge of cutting the cake

new shoes out of necessity - those of you that know me are thinking "yea, right" but it's true.  both pair of shoes i took on my work trip were broken and didn't come home with me.

two days of junk

maybe it wasn't ALL junk
but seriously, who could tell the difference

but it was definitely a great time with my bestie exploring the antique stores of maine

driving the roads of the semi-populated areas of maine
pulling over to explore people's garages, stores and trash barns
for real - barns of TRASH

all of which had some sort of sign in them like this...

of course there was lots of maine stuff...i mean...it IS maine after all!

yes, that's a real lobster claw!

which also meant creepy stuff...

eccentric stuff...

and...

really???  who would entrust their child in that medieval torture chamber???
i really wish this guy had come home with me
sean - i see a return trip in the near future (you can even get the tacky cute sylvester lawn ornament with the legs that twist in the wind)

wouldn't he be so cute in my garden
i really wish we could do this on a daily basis

can you make a career at hanging out with your bestie driving the streets of america shopping?  i need to find a way!

first monday trade days

Amy came to town over the weekend for a visit.  I've blogged about hitting the flea market in Canton with her before.  That time I only showed you all the great things I found though.  We headed back there this past weekend to see what they had to offer this time around.

We started by hitting an area we usually don't go to - we won't be going back to it - totally LAME!  After wasting an hour there we went back to our usual.  There are rows and rows of shopping - something for EVERYONE.  Some shopping is in buildings (better on cold days like this one)...

and some shopping outside.

Of course there is a lot of eating and the booths that sell food always have samples.

Look at what a professional Amy is - digging through a bucket while scoping out the rest of the table!

We had so much fun but neither really came home with much this time.  But, I will leave you all with this (which did not come home with me).

shopping bags

So I bought some oil cloth almost a year ago in hopes of making my own reusable shopping bags - you know so I don't have to continue to accumulate all those plastic shopping bags.  Amy had bought one in Canton that I really liked the size of.  She so graciously agreed to measure it for me.  I made four and learned some tricks with each.  These instructions include all the "best practices" I learned.  Based on the measurements Amy gave me I came up with this pattern (I had a 1 yard piece of fabric).

A - These are the two bigger sides and the pieces you sew the handles to

B - These are the two smaller sides

C - This is the bottom

D - These are the handles

This is very beginner sewing so if you've never sewn anything before you could totally do this - here's how.  Cut out the pieces according to the diagram above.  It should look something like this...

Sew the handle pieces (D) in thirds and fold under the raw edge.  Run a zigzag stitch down it.  Fold over each A and B piece 1.5 inches and then turn that under .5 inch.  Make sure to pin the handles in place before sewing.  I pinned them 1.5 inches from the edge of the A pieces.

Sew the smaller sides (B) to the bottom piece (C) making sure to put right sides together.

Sew the larger pieces (A) to the smaller pieces (B) and then sew the remaining pieces to the bottom.  Turn your new bag right side out and voila - you have a handy shopping bag ready for your next trip to the grocery store or Target or wherever you want to take them.

Since there's only two people to shop for in this household, I don't think I'll need all four in Texas so I've already placed two of them with the pile of stuff to go to Maine.

girls night!

Send out 6 girls for a night on the town and what kind of mischief do you think they would get into?

Well, of course there was eating...

dessert (to start and end the night)...

drinks...

you may remember this drink from our trip to st kitts

totally tasted like bubble gum...totally!

a vintage fashion show...

an art gallery...

shopping...

and of course what girls night would be complete without a trip to a chocolate store...

What's your favorite thing to do with the girls?  and what kind of trouble do you get into?