Customs

Well, I do most of my fabric shopping online on Sew Mama Sew or other US shops. It's cheaper, even after paying for the shipping costs, and there is a lot more variety and novelty. Some fabrics are not available in Portugal or they take a few weeks to get here.
Until today, everything worked out for me. But now, with the new government policies, for the first time I had to pay a customs fee. Just to think that someone was opening my package - I know it's just fabrics but even so - is really upsetting to me. And then having to pay a tax on top of what I have already paid... I mean... C'mon!!!
So, sad and upset and frustrated, from now on I'll be looking for an online shop in the UK, so that it's considered an import from within the European Union market and it doesn't go through customs. Anyone has any ideas?

Another thing: I went on macculloch-wallis' shop site and tried to order fabric but... in the Cotton menu alone I had like a gazillion types of fabric to choose from: puppytooth crepon, swiss cotton jacquard, birdseye pique, scoured cambric, warp stripe herringborne, floral lawn, regency stripe... just to name a few. I'm so confused!!!

Seal of approval

For all those cat owners out there... here goes to show that my lab also enjoys the batting stage :)



(Baby H. quilt is finally coming together!!! More pics coming soon!)

Date night

We are leaving baby H. with my parents and going to have dinner and a movie. A date night!!! And the fact that i haven't been to the movies in over a year (due to bedrest and then because of nursing the baby) makes it all the more special.

Time

I've had a project in mind - it's a gift for my friend - and it implies finding out each member's favourite colour. I'm finally going to start on it on Monday and I remembered that when I had the idea I wrote her an email asking her for the inside information... 2 years ago.

So, I've been thinking about doing this for 2 years and only now will I have the chance to finally do it.

Isn't this crazy???

Friendship

When I was pregnant and confined to a bed, I spent most of my time online in a site for pregnant women to share experiences. There I met a bunch of girls who were all going to have their babies in March like me. We used to complain about the normal pregnancy aches, share ideas to decorate the baby's room, tell each other our daily adventures, the problems with the husband or the mother in law or the boss... Everyday, for the main part of my day, these girls kept me company and we formed a very beautiful friendship.
Now our babies are out in the world and although time is more limited we still talk to each other on a daily basis. Now it's "what vegetables to put in the baby's soup", "diapers are on sale on the supermarket", "my baby is already teething", "look how my baby is already crawling" and typical proudest-mom-ever stuff like that.
We consider each other's babies are our nieces and nephews, we are worried when one of them is ill and proud when one of them achieves a new development stage. We live across the whole country and some of us are even living abroad but we managed to have a national meeting in the summer and several local meetings have also been held.
This group of friends means a lot to me. I talk to them about stuff that I don't tell my other friends, either because they don't have babies yet or because their children are older than mine or because I don't want to bother them about the same subject. With these girls that is not a problem, all we talk about is our babies!!!

One of them has sent me an amazing gift by mail and she has been ill, so to think that she took the time to send me this has even more meaning. I can't thank her enough... You know how I feel about buttons!!!
See, like my group of "Moms of March" with whom I talk about baby stuff, YOU are my group of friends with whom I talk about sewing stuff. Noone else would get my buttons crush... So, thank you for your friendship as well (and I'm sorry if lately I've been so out).







(doesn't it look like CANDY??? hehehe)