Some of you may have heard of mint.com. It’s brilliant! It tracks your finances, both through your bank and credit cards, and even keeps tabs on things like retirement plans (like 401k plans) and just about anything else financial that you can access through the Internet. (Depressingly, it also keeps track of the value of [...]

This has been a very busy month already, and there’s more to come. This past weekend was Katie’s bridal shower. I managed to strong arm two of the other bridesmaids into getting Katie a sewing machine. I’d feel guiltier about it, but Katie really needs a good sewing machine right now. And now she has [...]

First off, when idly browsing through the listings over at Auto Trader, my dad and I stumbled across a listing for a 2003 Toyota Matrix XRS. That’s the sportier model, with the 172HP engine, the six speed manual, the premium stereo, and many other little amenities. The mileage was low (27600) and the price was [...]

So I finally got off my butt and finished my Maya Fey costume. For real this time. I just need to close up the holes under the sleeves (by hand, unfortunately) and press it so that it’s not a wrinkled ball. Sadly, my new sewing machine balked at sewing through ten layers of broadcloth, but [...]

Mmm, this weekend was a productive one. I had this vague idea that I would do something like: Fetch cat from parents’ house and drop off old sewing machine to be returned. Shop around to see what sewing machines were going for these days and agonize about all the machines that I couldn’t afford. Return [...]

The Week Before  To begin, let’s discuss the prep. The first obstacle that I had to overcome is that for most of the past week, since Tuesday actually, I have been feeling rather rotten. First it started with a sore throat, then a headache and lightheadedness, then it quickly moved on to coughing, congestion, and [...]

You know, when going through the stats for my website, I’ve noticed that I keep getting hits for “dice bag patterns.” I’m not quite ready to divulge any of my crochet dice bag patterns, as they will (hopefully) contribute to my livelihood, but I’m more than willing to share a basic recipe for making sewn [...]

Well, I’m back from Tekkoshocon and getting ready to reenter the real world (work, etc.). My costume was well received, the skits were great, and all in all, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we had a great time. We’ll definitely be trying to come back next year. My [...]

While I’m preparing for the upcoming weekend home invasion (some gaming enthusiasts are descending upon me sometime on Friday or Saturday for, well, gaming), I can’t help but want to slip out of the house to avoid the rounds of cleaning. Not that I should, since there really is quite a bit left to do, [...]

I know perfectly well that pattern sizes and retail clothing outlet sizes have nothing in common. So why, oh why did I grab the extra small pattern set? No matter how much I wish it, I am certainly not an 8 or a 10. I’m somewhere between a 12 or a 14 on top, which [...]