San Francisco scares me.

It’s no secret that San Francisco has a few ‘hills’.
Biceps and I grabbed our bikes from the bus, excited about a leisurely ride around the bay area and a lunch by the ocean. What I failed to compute was that in order to get from our hotel to the ocean, I had to bike down several of San Fran’s famous hills.

That is me at the very top of the hill-a tiny speck on the left hand side. This means Biceps has already made it down the hill successfully. He is now consumed with photographing my inability to let go of the brake.

Why had I let Biceps carry the camera? He loves to document way too many things.

I gave up trying to make my body do what my mind told it not to do and walked my bike down the hill. I was passed several times by natives immune to the decline.
I hung my head just as a fourteen year old passed me on a skateboard.

Biceps and I biked down this zig-zag road; enthusiastically cheered on by honking motorist.
I think they appreciated my cautiousness and my concern for safety as I rode the brakes the entire length of the road.

We stopped at the bottom of the zig zag hill to wait for our lungs to catch up. Several friends that were on the same tour sailed past us on the trolley, wishing us well. They moved on without a care in the world.

And why would they want to ride a trolley when they can bike down this? Pansies.
My calves still haven’t recovered. (Moo).

The Big Girl Playhouse-Part Three

The last couple of weeks, Biceps and I have been building a fancy schmancy ‘shed’ for some good friends of ours that we have begun calling ‘The Big Girl Playhouse’.
The picture below is where I left you in Part Two.
(If you would like to read from the beginning, here’s Part One.)

The roof is up, the stringers are on and our backs are sore.
And throughout the entire process, we have been tormented by the ridiculously cute dogs the homeowners own.
Or is it the other way around?

The next step in building the Big Girl Playhouse was to install the windows and nail up the siding.
We found eight diamond pattern windows at a recycled materials store and snatched them up.

Ohhh! Pretty blue paint. Rebekah likey. The windows were transformed with this lovely shade of blue.

Our army of blue windows were ready for action.

The Big Girl Playhouse front is almost entirely made of glass.

We found cedar siding at another recycled materials store in a quaint little town outside of Tulsa. And the best part was that we found it for a third of what the big box stores wanted to charge us.
Boo yeah.

Once the cedar siding was up, not only did the shed look stinkin’ awesome, it smelled stinkin’ awesome.
Much, much better than we did.

Close your eyes and pretend you are somewhere deep in the Colorado forest. Place your nose near your computer screen and…take a big whiff-I bet you can smell the cedar.
Or maybe not. I think the 96 degree weather is warping my brain.
Next step-we’ll be installing the doors and finishing the rest of the siding.
Stay tuned and pray for my sanity…

Vintage Pillow Case Dress

I was minding my own business one day while shopping at a thrift store, when out of nowhere, a pillow case shouted at me from amidst the sheets. It ordered to be taken home and ‘re-purposed’ into something grand. It wanted a second chance on life. I noticed its lovely yellow hue, its vintage pattern, its affordable price and took the stranger home with me.

For 79 cents, the pillow case became mine forever to do with as I pleased…and it pleased me to make a dress out of it.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own Vintage Pillow Case Dress:
Extra Long Pillow Case
Scissors
Seam Ripper
Thread to match
Iron & Ironing Board
2” Ribbon-2 feet or more
Tape Measure
Sewing Machine
Straight Pins

First things first, cut the closed end (the bottom) of the pillow case off. This will be the bottom of your dress.

Fold the bottom of your pillow case up to your desired hem length. I chose to have my hem land at the top of my knee, taking it in 4 1/2”.
Iron and pin your hem.

Sew up your hem, using a blind hem stitch. I learned how to do a blind hem stitch by watching you tube videos.
What is this world coming to?

My pillow case had been apparently designed to house one gigantic pillow.
I had excess material and decided to give my dress a pleat down the front, rather than cutting out the excess and installing a zipper.
I measured out 3 1/2” from center on the left and the right, and pinned where I wanted each pleat to begin.

I folded the 3 1/2” of material under on each side and ironed the pleat flat.
Sew your pleat into place.

Using your 2” ribbon, measure an equal distant from the center of the dress on the front and the back and pin a strap on either side of center, approximately 3 1/2”.
I recommend trying your dress on and making sure the ribbon will cover your bra straps and double checking the length is enough to go over your shoulders comfortably. I used Biceps’ help for this one.
Sew your straps into place.

The backside of my dress looked boxy, so I decided to add pleats on the left and right side of my spine.
I measured the center of the back of the dress, and marked about 3 1/2” out on either side.

I started the pleat 4” down from the top of the dress. I began the pleat width at 1/8” and expanded it to be 1/2” at the small of my back, stopping just above my derriere.

Here is the front of my cute little number. And below is the back.

I can’t believe this cost me 79 cents. A girl can’t even get fries for that.

Get yer motors runnin’ in Sturgis, SD

Touring with my musician hubby has opened my eyes to so many wonderful places.
But, by far one of my favorite places would be
the Sturgis bike rally.
I saw things that I never wanted to see, smelled things I never wanted to smell and just in general, reconfirmed my desire to not ever attending said rally.

Leather reigned supreme. Cows everywhere shudder when they hear that the Sturgis ‘get together’ is just around the corner. I felt quite awesome in my Vans tennis shoes, plaid shorts and tank top. Really awesome.

Streets were blocked off and labeled, ‘Motorcycle Only’. Motorcycles ruled and cars drooled-buses with long haired hippy freak musicians were the worst droolers of all….I saw butt chaps (don’t ask), halter tops and several near misses on the highway between chopper and automobile. Here are a few examples of what you can get into trouble for at Sturgis:
Ordinance Code & Bond Amount

Indecent Exposure
#12.0802 $111.00

Deposit of Filth (one of my favorite infractions)
#12.0601 $86.00

Dog Running at Large
#1.0209 $56.00

Use of Sound Amplification Device:
#13.0116 Court Appearance Req.

Driving on Bike Path / Sidewalk
#14.0303/16.0216 $111.00

Exhibition Driving
#16.0225 $66.00

Carrying pistol or revolver without a permit
#22-14-9 Custody Arrest

Illegal Handlebar Height (probably my favorite infraction
#32-20-3 $20.00

taken from (http://www.sturgis.com/police.html)

At any given point, a group of cool bikers can/will stop in the middle of the highway for no reason whatsoever, causing the sissy autos that are traveling 65 m.p.h. to screech and swerve recklessly. The day we were there, there had already been 16 deaths.

Everyone converges here, happy that they made it alive. Where I come from, a buffalo chip is not a place you want to hang out at. To each his own….

And if you get bored of biking, there are many ‘family-friendly’ activities that you can participate in.

I don’t even know what to say.