Lesson of the Day: Know your pass-codes

Today, I learned the hard way why:

a) You should know the pass-code to your lock before you clamp it on a locker.

b) Why you might as well keep the code on your person at all times.

Allow me to explain…

I have been out of town for a few weeks so hadn’t had any need for my lock. But I’ve had it for so long I didn’t think anything of it when I headed to the gym today and used it to seal up my locker. An hour and a half later I returned to the change room only to discover that the code had completely slipped my mind. I tried a variety of sequences that seemed right for 20 minutes — to no avail.

I then gave up and headed to the front desk to ask the staff for help — only to decide at the last second when the kind gentleman looked up to help me that — I had it! I didn’t. I did, however, scurry back to the change room only to discover I was still the forgetful mess I thought I was. I slinked back to the desk and this time stuck it out while the gentleman paged a variety of people in an effort to get someone to cut off the lock for me.

After a good chunk of time, a women came by, grabbed a heavy-duty looking pair of lock-cutters and we headed to the change room. After 10 minutes of her attempting to cut the darn thing open, she announced it was not possible. She disappeared and returned a few moments later with a smaller pair of cutters. They (unsurprisingly) did not work. She then announced she would need a man.

As I sat there staring at my mangled old lock that had treated me so well I heard the woman booming into the locker room “MAN IN THE CHANGE ROOM. LADIES, THERE IS A MAN IN THE CHANGE ROOM. WE HAVE A LOCK TO CUT!” I turned down the aisle to see the woman leading a man through the change room with a towel over his head as women all over stared in my direction. The towel-clad staff member managed to cut my lock free, my purse was returned to me, the towel was secured once more and he was lead out the door.

In their rush to scurry him out of the room, however, they left the array of lock-cutters behind. So I had the grand honor of walking through the change room with lock-cutters in hand as the-girl-who-needed-an-army-to-get-her-purse-back.

Oh, and did I mention this was my first time at this gym? Yup. That it was.

Well, lesson learned. I will absolutely be writing down the pass-code to my next lock. I figure I would rather run the risk of someone finding it and breaking into my locker than having to ask towel-man to come to my rescue once more.

Treating yourself to something you really need

You know what’s a beautiful moment? When you finally decide to invest in something that you really really need. Like when you’ve been walking around in a pair of shoes with a hole in them for months and then finally take the plunge and buy yourself a new pair. Or when your hair is getting so long that it’s a tangled, frail mess and you manage to make it to the hairdresser for the cut of a lifetime. For me, the luxurious purchase I made was a brand new bed.

After sleeping on a single-sized half a century old bed for three years I finally took the plunge and bought myself a glorious new one. It’s a double, it’s pillow-top and it’s 100% magnificent. I can’t help but get into it at night and feel a little bit of joy wash over me (and perhaps a note of relief that my years of sleeping on a board are behind me). Granted, I am still in need of a headboard as lacking in one has caused a slight kink in my neck. But still – this is one investment I know I will be reaping the rewards of for years to come. So if there’s something you’ve been meaning to buy but have been putting off – quit it! Get out there and treat yourself!

Free organizing!

What do I love?
Organizing.
What do I love more than organizing?
Being granted the ability to organize absolutely free of charge.
And how does such a wonderful thing happen?
When your workplace is ridiculously awesome and gives you these perfect jars (worth 25 dollars apiece) for free!

Aren’t they pretty?
And I have some oats and bulgur just dying for a home so hopefully I get granted some more soon!

The Game of “Phone Stack”

For a while now I have had this hope that one day I will be in a place in my life where I can wake up every morning and sip coffee while reading the morning paper. Granted, this vision for my future probably means I will have to have an actual house for the paper to be delivered to and likely be unemployed as what working stiff is able to sit around in their PJs reading at 10 in the morning? So my dream might not take place until I’m in my late 60s. In the meantime I satisfy my goal by reading the free 25 page subway newspaper every once in a while. But due to a fortunate series of events I managed to grab a Globe and Mail from my work yesterday and then had today off so I could sip my morning coffee and read the paper.

In doing so I came across this wonderfully poignant article on a new game called “Phone Stack”. The game is simple. When you go out for dinner with friends, everyone has to put their phone face down in the center of the table. The first person to pick theirs up to answer a call or check a text message has to pick up the bill for the table. As someone who is constantly irritated by friends that pay more attention to a teeny tiny screen than the people they’re with I find this idea absolutely genius!

I think this is a fun, new way to remind people to live in the moment and focus on those they’re with rather than what’s going on somewhere else. Games of any kind are great for helping us learn new things about friends so why not bring this concept into the modern age? It’s the modern version of playing table games at camp to decide who would have to clear everything. And since it isn’t really ideal to play freeze or nose-spoon balancing in the middle of a classy restaurant, this seems like a really nice alternative.

So whether or not you decide to give the phone stack a try – I definitely encourage everyone to play more games and really focus on interacting with those they’re with!

Doing New Things – Item #1: Highland Dancing

I mentioned a few days ago that I was going to finally put some well earned money aside and sign up for highland dancing classes. Well tonight was my first day and it was awesome! The teacher is so helpful, the other students are absolutely lovely and it’s so nice to feel like you’re learning something totally new. And if all that isn’t enough awesomeness for one day – I paid for my 5 month enrollment with my tips from the restaurant so as far as my bank account is concerned – that money never even existed! And I haven’t even mentioned the best part yet…There’s a recital! Yes that’s right folks, a recital. You know that thing you got forced into doing at the end of months of choir practice in the 3rd grade? That’s what I’m going to be doing! It will be slightly nerve wracking but I’m sure my skills will have greatly advanced by then (fingers crossed).

I hope your new years resolutions (or even just general motivation) lead you to some cool new activities this year! And if you have any pass-times to recommend – please let me know as I am always in the market for something cool to do!

Doing Activities With Family

For my race training I had to do 16km today which I’ve been nervous for all week. My work keeps my on my feet all day so I’ve been running a lot less than I should be because of leg exhaustion and an old injury. And it certainly didn’t help things that I woke up to a forecast of rain for the entire day and a high of 8 degrees. Fortunately fate was on my side because my sister happens to be in town and kindly volunteered to do the painful trek with me. So instead of doing a miserable, cold long run all by myself I got to do a humorous and entertaining one with my sister. My ankle was throbbing, my shoes were squishy with puddle water and my face was being stung by raindrops but I barely noticed because of the entertaining chit chat! Just goes to show…any activity is more fun when done with friends or family. Having my sister around turned a chore into the highlight of my day. My legs might be sore but I’m all smiles!

Relaxed & Flowy Shirt

I really love the summery style of having a flowy, slightly see-through shirt that you wear over a tank top. So I was really excited to come across this pattern, and then even more excited to come across this knit fabric:

That whole process is incredibly simply and shouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours. Here are the steps I followed (though you might have to make alterations depending on the fabric you use and how you want it to fit):

1. Buy 3/4 of a yard fabric and thread of a matching colour.

2. Fold fabric in half so it creates a large square. Then move the trim of the top half up so it is about 5 inches shorter than the bottom half. If you are shorter or just want a shirt that isn’t too long, trim off a few inches of the fabric along the top (meaning you will be cutting off the fold). If you are tall or want a long shirt just cut directly at the fold. You should end up with something that looks like this:

3. Pin pieces together along the top edge. Sew halves together, leaving hole in middle – this hole will become the collar so make it as wide or as narrow as you would like the shirt to be. I made mine quite wide because I like the fall off the shoulder effect but you can also make it high neck if you would like.

4. Lay the fabric flat on the floor again. This time pull the top piece down so the bottom edges of the pieces line up. Beginning at the bottom left corner start pinning the two pieces of fabric together from bottom to top – you don’t need to go all the way up because you will need room for arm holes. Repeat on right side.

5. Stitch pieces together while leaving 8-10 inches on either side for arm holes.

6. I was lucky in that my fabric was already closed off at the bottom but if yours isn’t you may want to zig-zag hem to make sure it doesn’t unravel. I also zig-zag stitched the collar and arms just to make sure my shirt would last.

7. You’re all done! When I finished mine I discovered a few fabric related issues like the collar not hanging right but they were quick fixes. So if you try this out and it doesn’t come out quite how you wanted just let me know and I’ll be glad to help out! Here’s a look at the final product:

I find it makes your average tank top and jeans just look so much more dressed up so I really hope you get a chance to try it out! Happy sewing!

Learning a new language

I would say that I’m one of those people that constantly needs to be learning – and I think a lot of people are like that. If you’re like me and don’t like to ever be bored, I have a new way for you to get your brain going: learn a new language. It’s nice because it’s a hobby that you can do alone or with people. If you want to do it on your own during your down time – that’s great! Or if you want to pick up a class or start a language learning group with your friends – that’s wonderful too!

Right now I’m using an old Spanish textbook I had kicking around to rekindle my linguistic skills. If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a beginner’s language book lying around your home, you can easily find one at your local library. There are also lots of great free podcasts on itunes so you can listen to the language on top of just reading it. If in addition to all that you can find a friend who you can practice speaking with – you will be absolutely golden.

It’s such a rewarding endeavor because at the end of it you’ll be able to communicate with people you might otherwise never have been able to. And there’s always more to learn and more practicing to be done so you never stop being stimulated. It may seem daunting at first but I really hope you get a chance to try learning a new language. I promise it’s worth it!

What about you? Do you have any hobbies you would recommend? I’m always in search of new ways to enjoy my down time!

Making shorts out of jeans

Wondering what to do with jeans that are too big or too worn out to wear anymore? Turn them into shorts! A few days ago I returned to my parents home and found I had an old pair of jeans sitting in my cupboard. They had once been my favorite pair but are now too big to wear as pants. But as shorts there is less fabric weighing them down so they fit quite nicely with a belt. Here’s how I did it if you want to create your own pair:

Things you’ll need:

- 1 pair of old jeans

- thread

-sewing needle

- scissors

- sewing machine

Lay the jeans flat on the floor and cut them in a straight line 2.5 inches lower than the actual length you want them to end up. The extra length will be necessary for the folding you will be doing later.

Turn the jeans inside out. Fold up cut edge to around  1cm and pin in place all around. Do the same for both legs. Sew folds using sewing machine like this:

You should end up with something along these lines:

Turn the jeans right side out. Fold bottom of leg up by over two inches and then top of fold down by over an inch. This should create a fold all around the bottom of the leg that is a little over 1 inch.

Pin trim in place.

When you are finished pinning the outside should look like this:

And the inside like this:

Using a needle and thread hand-sew trim in place. Come at it from the inside and only catch the bottom layer of the trim so it cannot be seen on the visible side. Do one line of sewing along the top of the trim and one along the bottom like this:

And here is the final product:

This way of doing it creates a nice, clean look which can be worn in a lot of different settings. I hope you get a chance to try this out and that you find my tutorial helpful. It was a lot of fun to do and only took a few hours to complete. My only challenge now is figuring out what craft to do with the bottom portion of the jean I cut off!

It’s sewing time!

My happy happening of the day/week/ month is finally getting a sewing machine of my very own! I have been a sewer for over 10 years but up until a few days ago wanting to sew meant having to find my way back to my mom’s place to use hers. But no more! My incredibly wonderful family got together and bought me a sewing machine for my birthday. Greatest present ever! I can’t even describe how excited I am. I have already put it to good use and created a clutch for all my necessities. I have desperately needed one for months but couldn’t find a cheap enough one that I liked. But now I have this lovely creation:

Total price = 0$ because it was all scraps I had lying around
Total fun had = a whole heck of a lot!

I must also send a big thanks to the blog that inspired my clutch creation. She breaks down the steps really well so I hope you all get a chance to give this pattern a whirl as well!