Costume College 2020

Hey Sweeties,

It’s always been a dream of mine to go Costume College, for as long as I’ve known about it.

If you’re unaware, Costume College is a weekend long costuming convention held every summer in California.  The theme this year is celebrating the beginning of Women’s Suffrage.  Any way, Costume College has a neat website if you want to check it out for yourself.

There are classes about different aspects of costuming, making, selling, content creating and even publishing.  Costume College has pool party, a social event, a ball ad dinner, and a tea party.  There’s even a Marketplace for buying supplies and a bargain bin for getting things for cheap! Basically, the event caters to all kids of costumers but there seems to be an emphasis on historical costuming specifically.

That works out perfectly for me because I have always had a desire to get into historical costuming.  Lucky me, right?

Anyway, I talked to Mr. and he said that Costume College is something we can do next year.  He’s even willing to travel and stay with me in California so I don’t have to be by myself.

But, if I’m going to Costume College I want to go all the way with it.  I have been watching vlogs of others’ experiences and one thing I have gleaned is I NEED COSTUMES!

My plan is to be a different character everyday of Costume College.  In 2020 the convention is Thursday to Monday but I think Monday is just a travel day so I will have 4 days worth of characters: Storm, from X-Men, Tiana from Princess and the Frog, Harley Quinn from Batman the Animated Series, and a truly historical Gibson girl.  The fun part, I think, is that I’m going to put these character into a time period, except the Gibson girl, she’ll stay in her place in history.

I’m starting with the hardest, and probably the most time consuming projects, my Saturday clothes and ball gown.

Here’s a clue for the who and when of that project:

 

DeeDee

P.S. If you want to support me in this project, you can buy me a coffee over on Ko-Fi.

Stay at Home Mom Life

Hey Sweeties,

It’s been a while since I updated you about how life goes, so let’s catch up.

I think I mentioned that the boys and I moved to North Carolina to live with Mr. Boyfriend.  So, that’s been an adjustment.  Living with someone is hoot, learning their schedule, mixing your stuff, trying to integrate your quirks with theirs, but all in all I can’t complain.  I like co-habitating.  There’s a certain freedom in being the lady of your own house, with you family.  I think not being at my parents house and trying to meet their expectations has taken a lot of the pressure off of being a mom, and just life in general.  It’s wild the psychological strain we put on ourselves.

But, I digress.

This is supposed to be about being a stay at home mom, not my psychological issues.

But, not gonna lie, this stay at home mom situation is giving me new and even more interesting issues.

As you may remember, I recently graduated from law school and I’m trying to be a lawyer, so you may ask, why are you a S.A.H.M.?

And, long story short, I haven’t found a job and the Mr. has a good enough job to support us until I find something.  Plus, I have been taking the time to really engage with my kids,  When Master was an infant I was in law school so I really couldn’t take the time off to spend with him.  With Majesty, I’m able to disconnect from work and spend the time with him and I really want to.

That being said, I am kind of struggling.

Let me set the stage.  Mr. works everyday, 8-4.  Fat Fat (my oldest) is in daycare from 7:30-6. Long Bean (the baby) and I are home together.  Since the Mr. works, I take care of stuff around the house, cooking, cleaning, housewife stuff.

I always thought I would enjoy that life, keeping house, raising my kids and taking care of my man.  It’s starting to look like I am not.

Things that are probably a regular part of S.A.H.M life are so frustrating to me.  Like I clean up in the morning after the big boys leave and when they get home everything is messy again.

How do you keep from getting discouraged from that?  When you do thing all day and when you go to bed at night everything you did is undone.  It’s really tough.

I think one of the things about being a Type-A personality and having been constantly driven to succeed my whole life is that I need to feel like I’m accomplishing something, if that makes sense.  I need a reward for my efforts, something that legitimizes what I do.  When you have a job, you make something, something is produced, at the end of the day you can point to what you have done all day and have evidence that you worked.  I don’t get that as a S.A.H.M.  If I put away all of Fat Fat’s toys during the day while he’s at school, she’s just going to throw them all around the house when he gets home.

It’s hard to not be discouraged when at the end of your day you have nothing to show for all your efforts.

I hope this doesn’t come across as whining.  I recognize how lucky I am to have the option to be a S.A.H.M, to be financially secure, to have a supportive partner.  And I am grateful for it.

 

My problems are my own, in my own head.  And I’m working on them.  I have been taking time for myself, little things like showering and doing a skincare routine.  I have been giving myself some slack, I think I was holding myself to an impossible standard.  It’s ok if there a dishes in the sink when I go to bed, if that’s what I need to take care of myself.  I have been making time for my hobbies, knitting and sewing and planning an

 

 

I haven’t quite come to terms with my stay at home mom situation, I think it’s something I will be struggling with for a while, but that’s ok.

 

 

I don’t know if anybody else is living the same life, or just feel frustrated and overwhelmed by the life that their living, but I’m right there with you.  Keep your head up and keep struggling on, and I’ll do the same.

DeeDee

Vlog Series

Hey Sweeties,

How are you?  I hope all is well and I pray you have been being super productive as we get towards the end of the year.

I recently stepped out of my comfort zone to do something new and exciting over on YouTube.  I launched a vlog series on my channel.

In case you were unaware, let me be the first to tell you, I have YouTube channel.  It is DeeDee’s Lifestyle Cute.

I have had the channel for a while, since before I had kids, but I just recently started being an active content creator over there.

That being said, I started a series on the channel called Mom by Law.  It is my weekly vlog series.  It’s more relaxed and informal, there is a lot about My kids and the Mister.  I think I want it to be a more intimate look at my everyday life instead of the carefully curated images you see here and on Instagram.

Anyway, there are already some Mom by Law videos up on the channel and more to come, as well as other content not vlog or family related.  So, be sure to subscribe if you want to see more.

DeeDee

July Monthly Plan with Me

Hey sweeties,

Yesterday I posted about some planner printables that I made for the month of July.

You can see that post here and the printables are available through my Planner Printables page.

I used the monthly printable to set up the July calendar in my Recollections spiral planner.

The July monthly printable is 1 sheet and includes two header covers, 4 full boxes, 4 half boxes, 8 quarter boxes, a decorative sidebar, four pay day stickers, a holiday sticker for Independence Day and date covers.

I use my monthly spread for both future and memory planning.

I fill in what I know at the beginning of the month and as the month passes I add important events and things I want to remember to the calendar.

At the end of the month, I’ll be back to show how the spread turned out, once I have it all the way filled in.

 

If you want to see this spread come together, you can watch the Plan with Me video on my YouTube channel, Lifestyle Cute.

I hope you enjoy.

-DeeDee

Summer Lovin’ Planner Printables

Hey Sweeties

Summer’s here and the living is easy!

Who else is saying Hello July and welcoming summer with wide open arms?  I’ve spent the last 3 months as a school teacher so I am over the moon for a little break.  I was so excited, in fact, that I made some new planner printables that you can download for free on the Planner Printables page here at pretty.black.&.nerdy.

I drew all of the art in all on the kits.  It’s all beach, pool, mermaid cuteness.  There’s a monthly kit and two weekly kits and the papers for A5, Personal and B6 inserts.

I hope you enjoy them.  Have a great summer and happy planning!

-DeeDee

Knitting for Baby

 

Hey sweeties,

Yesterday, in the post about the cardigan I FINALLY finished, I mentioned that I have to get to work on the new baby’s blanket.  I had the big boy’s blanket done before he even got here and I haven’t even started a blanket for the new one!

 

No point in whining over what I don’t have though, right?  So, I was looking for a pattern for the new baby’s blanket and of course I got distracted by all the other pretty things I could make.

Both of my boys are pretty young, my oldest won’t be two until August, so I have patterns for the new baby, the old baby and things they both need, because I’m a glutton for punishment.

All these patterns are available for free from Ravelry so be sure to check them out there if you’re interested.

 

 

 

• Baby Bear Hat
• Cabled Baby Hat
• Marshmallow
• Little Chestnut Hat
• Mommy’s Cupcake
• Button Band Hat
• Football Hat

 

• Which Way Is Up
• Short Sleeve Perfect Baby Jacket
• Little Charlie Baby Jacket
• Keep on Truckin’ Baby Cardigan
• Little Chestnut Jacket
• Wee Baby James
• Vest for gutter som vosker
• For Little Gentlemen
• 7169
• 7161
• Textured Pullover
• 24A Cardigan

 

• Baby 20-10 Knitted Pants
• Truly Wooly
• Happy Days
• Boo Blue Pants
• Cable Snooze

 

• Hideaway Nappy Cover
• McDreamy Booties
• Baby Blanket
• Wood Sorrel Baby Blanket
• Junior’s Bib

 

Also, in case you were wondering, I did eventually pick a pattern for the new baby’s blanket: the Kerry Baby Afghan.  I’ll be using the suggested yarn and needles but since I just started that project I don’t have too much more to tell you.  Check the project out on Ravelry to follow it in real time and search #sundaynightknits for weekly progress

 

–DeeDee

Planner Set Up: A5 and Personal

Hey sweeties,

So, this is another planner thing.

Now that I’m back to life, I’m back in my planners.  I said in a post at the beginning of the year that I was going to limit myself to one planner, the Recollections spiral, until I figured out what else I needed.  But, since I haven’t been planning I don’t really have a firm idea of what will work for me.  So, instead of continuing to wait I decided to pull out my A5 and personal sized planners and start using them to see which, if either, is functional for me.

I did a planner set up in each using the planner set ups I will be offering as free printables in July.

 

In my A5, I used the mermaid in the pool papers.  In the personal, I used the girl on the beach papers.

I printed all of my papers at OfficeDepot.  I print my dividers on what I thought was 80lb high gloss cardstock but it’s not as heavy as cardstock, it’s actually the the paper flyers are printed on.  That means the images show up really nicely but the paper is too thin for dividers so I backed it with white cardstock from JoAnn’s.  The “acetate” sheets are also from OfficeDepot and printed on transparencies.  That, at least, turned out exactly how I wanted it to.

I printed the dated July monthly, week on 2 pages, hourly, and meals inserts and the budget, goals and notes inserts.  

My inserts, in both planners, are from my shop, Creative Blerd Paperie.  I offer printable inserts in my shop, you purchase the file and print your inserts at home.

I’m going to use these two planners for the next month to see which one I reach for and use more often.

I’ll be doing weekly plan with me videos on my YouTube channel, Lifestyle Cute, in whichever of the two planners I’m using the most that week.  Those will be posted on Saturdays, if you’re interested.

-DeeDee

Meanwhile in Real Life …

Hey sweeties,

Long time, no see huh?

The last time I was active here was in January, which feels like it was just yesterday and feels like a lifetime ago.  But that’s just the way life goes.

I took another extended hiatus from, pretty much everything.  Back in December of 2018 I graduated from law school, yay!, but I was not in a super great place personally, or emotionally or mentally, if I’m honest.  My son was living with my parents while I finished school, so I was missing him.  If you remember, I had a baby August of 2017 and he spent what I thought would be my last year of law school with me.  I ended up failing some classes  and having to repeat them, and my parents, my son’s father and I agreed that my parents keeping the baby would be for the best, all around. So, I had that weighing on me.

Then I was “preparing” for the bar exam in February and I put it in quotes because I was going through the motions of studying and telling people I was preparing but I, probably, most like, was not doing enough, and would not have passed it the exam if I had taken it in February.  So I had that too.

And, while I was living in Louisiana I had been existing on student loan refund and whatever money I made as a teacher’s assistant at my law school.  When I had to do the extra semester I didn’t get the student loan or the teaching assistant job, so I had no income.  My parents supported me through that semester, thank God for them, but I came out of it with nothing, no job offers, no prospects and no plan.  And, of course, that was weighing on me.

So, long story long, I ended up moving back home in late January, around the time I stopped posting here, to reset, recharge and start over.

And then I got other exciting news!

I was pregnant again.  Another little boy who was born in June.  Awesome, wonderful, amazing, not in the plan but a miracle and a blessing nonetheless.  However, the bar exam is in July and I’m supposed to had a baby in June, yikes.  And all this time, since I moved back home, I was working as a school teacher, well a teacher’s aid, we call them paraprofessionals now but whatever.  So I have a very physically taxing job, did I mention I was in a class with 36 3-year-olds, while heavily pregnant.  For those of you scoring at home, for me to be due in June, that means I came home 4 or 5 months pregnant, wow!

That being said, I haven’t done anything, I haven’t sewn, I haven’t knit, I haven’t planned.  I have been going along to get along for the last few months just trying to keep my head above water.  But, I’m finally in good place, mentally and emotionally.  I feel less overwhelmed and more capable of handling my situation and conquering my life and that’s why I’m back now.

I guess I just wanted to update you on how my life has changed and let you know how we got here.

Just pray for me sweeties!

-DeeDee

Social Media Sewists

Being that I am the only person I know who sews I really rely on the online sewing community for inspiration and encouragement.

If you’re in a similar predicament allow me to introduce you to the Instagram, YouTube and blogging sewists that I follow.  These are their Instagram and YouTube handles so you can easily find them on your social media platform of choice.

Who do you follow?  Anyone I haven’t listed here?  Let me know.

DeeDee

Make 9 2019

This is my first year participating in the Make 9 challenge.  If you haven’t heard of Make 9, you can read up on it here but basically Make 9 encourages makers, and especially sewists, to create 9 new objects that they are passionate about over the course of the year.

Often sewists post the 9 patterns that they want to make during the year but I don’t have patterns, or fabric, or deadlines or occasions or plans.  I just have 9 things that I really want to make.

I really like the idea of Make 9.  It gives me an opportunity to expand my handmade wardrobe, first of all.  And, I get to make more things that are practical and useful.  I don’t have many handmade things and I want to grow that.  It’s one of my goals for the year.

Work Clothes Collection

Now that I’m a grown up I have to start dressing like it.  I have had, in my pattern stash, a Butterick Lifestyle Wardrobe pattern that inspired me to make a whole collection of “lawyer” work clothes.  I don’t wear pant suits but I think a skirt suit, dress suit, dress and undershirt would be really useful, and completely practical.

50s Wiggle Dress

Every part of me is obsessed with the 1950s housewife aesthetic, like the waistlines, and the fabric and the delicate beauty of the everyday.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be a 50s housewife, but I want to dress like one.

Eevee-lution Hoodies

Don’t know if I’ve mentioned but I have a pretty big family with siblings and children of siblings and we like to go to anime and gaming conventions together.  And, I thought it would be cool to make us all themed hoodies to wear for more casual cosplays, and for daily wear, let’s be honest.  (I’m sylveon, I don’t care what those other bums want.)

Mommy & Master Easter Outfits

How cute are Mommy & Me pictures?  I don’t know about you, but I have a genetic predisposition to matching family outfits.  My mama used to dress herself, my 10-years-older-than-me sister, my 3-years-younger-than-me sister and me all the same.  So now I want my son and I to have some coordinated outfits.  Not necessarily like the one in the picture, because again I don’t wear pants, but it’s a good reference.

Vintage Playsuit

I have been working on, planning, patterning, trying to make a vintage playsuit for FOREVER, summer 2015, at the very least.  I know my sewing idol Gertie has recently put out a pattern with her pattern company, Charm, for a playsuit-like situation but I will NOT be defeated by this.  I have to self-draft the pattern and make a cute, fitted outfit for when the family takes its cruise this summer.

50s Tea Dress

Umm … see 50s Tea Dress, I guess.  I jut want to be an adorable, well-dressed pinup housewife.  Can you blame me?  Also, I own this pattern and I love the redingote (the little sheer coat doodly over the dress) so much.  Is it practical, probably not.  Do I want it, without question.

Tailored Coat

I have never, in my life, owned a real coat, even though I have lived in places where it has snowed and I think instead of buying one I want to make a professional tailored coat.  I have been seeing quite few of the sewists that I follow on social media tailoring.  This will be a mad educational project since I have no formal sewing training but I look forward to learning.

Graduation Gown

I didn’t do graduation photos or send graduation announcements but it is something I want to do.  I have a lot of friends and family that I don’t see often and want to share the news with them, but only if I look FABULOUS.  So I will be doing a Beyonce, Cardi B, over the top photo shoot and I need an equally over the top gown.  I’m talking gold velvet, off-the-shoulder, long sleeve, slit to my hip, train in the back gown.  This is another pattern I want to self-draft and I don’t think I will be done until the end of the year because I want to take my time and do it right with all the couture techniques.

Christmas Pajamas

It’s only fair, since I’m making a matching outfit for my son and I that I make something for my son’s father so he can match with us.  So, he can have holiday pajamas that match ours.  All I know is I want to do full body onesies with hoods, and maybe footies too.  I’m a big fan of onesies and how cute would they be with little reindeer ears and horns?

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And there we go, my Make 9 plans for 2019.

What do you think?  What are your plans?

DeeDee