Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

My parents are celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary today.  Here's a peek into the past 50 years...

mom with my sister, Desiree
wasn't she fabulous?
my love of boatnecks comes natural, peeps

dad, same sister. man, she's such a camera hog.
she's like, in all of these.

mom, dad
my sister desiree and brother gary
again with the fashionable dress...

Ahhh...there I am.
I'm missing a shoe.
It might be in my mom's beehive.
damn I'm cute.

me again
oh. and those other people.
center parts and shroom shirts for the win!
(and sideburns)

if you don't have a
picture of your 70s gunne sax
it didn't happen.
this happened.
(seriously tho...cute dress.)
(and...PANT SUIT)

oh man...i forgot to send myself the 80s photos.
i've been saved from the humiliation of too-large glasses,
polo collars
and
Farrah hair.

more siblings happened.
and a nephew.
we legit have three different family photos
in this very corner outside this restaurant
i'm wearing floral. who's surprised?

the one without my sister.
my folks, mom & dad.

We're having a big shindig this weekend.  Wish you all could come and party down with us like it's 1999!  (Or, like January 25, 1963, the day these two got hitched.)

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Speaking of weight loss...

Oh I wasn't?  Well, it comes after pie dontcha know?  Yummy pieeee.

Anyway.

I told Shannon I was going to make a chart for my fridge with all of my "rewards" for inspiration.  Blogger works too though.  Ouch.  Reinforcement strategies FTW.

First weight loss goal (in 11 lbs):

Miz Mooz

And, um, since I technically already purchased those... (they pinch my ankle the tiniest bit, which I'm hoping evaporates with that next 11 lbs) the next goal will be an anthro sweater of choice. (I'm rewarding myself at 10 lb increments). I suppose it will depend largely on what's still available, but here are several current ones I LURV:

Cute clothes.  The ultimate motivator.

 

Last, but certainly not lease...  Happiest of Birthday's to my best friend, my sister Desiree...

 

Scrappy.

This is the second half of the birthday gift for my sister, a scrappy patchwork scarf:


I was inspired by the scarves in Denyse Schmidt's Quilts book (which I don't own, but have thumbed through.) My scarf interpretation isn't quite as piecey and elaborate, but still quite cute!


I used 6 Amy Butler fat quarters, cut into 5" squares. Charm packs would be a great timesaver for this project! I just had my heart set on unmatched Amy Butler prints (that still "go"). I seamed the long strip of squares until I reached my desired length. Since I wanted the scarf to be extra long (to loop around the neck with flair), I made this scarf approximately 65" long.


Seams were pressed open, and a long strip of vintage white chenille was stitched right sides together for a backing. Turn & topstitch all around to finish. If I had had more time (I procrastinated just a bit on this one) I would have loved to handstitch an applique initial on one end, a'la Laverne. I also would have done some quilting stitches all along the scarf.

Still, it is awfully cute as is!! One more shot of Lu wearing the scarf before wrapping commenced...


And here's the birthday girl with a coffee filter hat brought out by the restaurant staff while singing the birthday song:


To my sister, who grabbed the nearest Louisville Slugger & chased a bully down the streets of a St. Louis suburb when he made me cry, who took my 5-week old baby home when I was hospitalized for 10 days and mothered him when I couldn't, who keeps a picture of me in her kitchen, me at four wearing a red poncho and crooked little glasses (probably how she will always think of me)...to Desiree. Happy Birthday!