Valeria Out Loud

Hey everyone!

Happy New Year! How are you guys? Feels like I have been flat out since the new year started. And now we are in the midst of our political crisis coming to some type of head.

Good times. 2021 can only redeem itself from here, right?

Of course… it’s a new year, so I made some resolutions because that is what we do. This year, however, instead of picking something like ‘lose weight’ or ‘stop swearing’, which I fail miserably at; especially, the swearing one where I lasted thirty-eight minutes. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I decided to make a list of resolutions I want to do this year to enrich my life. Things that will inspire me to learn and grow, destress and things that I can most likely finish this year. 😂

My list:

• Get organized- update tv room closet w shelves and clean out accessories drawers
• Learn embroidery
• Hike on Sundays again or just more
• Learn to make sour dough and focaccia- 2021 let’s eat more bread!!🤪
• Garden new spot- create plan don’t just plant whatever wherever
• Paint and update (my fifteen year old’s) room
• Dance in the kitchen more
• Make Jack an upholstered shelf in bedroom window
• Put phone down more often

There’s my list. Not too shabby right?

And if you know me, you know that I made this list and was itching to start. Sooooo! This weekend I started on two items, and I can cross one off the list!

✅ The closet in the TV room is done. The closet was filled with my husband’s old coats, an old Dyson, and lots of paper bags waiting to be up-cycled. Since it was built in 2007, we just used it for what we needed it for at the time and never changed it. I honestly don’t know why. So. This Friday during lunch break I emptied the closet; so many old coats! So many paper bags! Then on Saturday evening my husband and I got to work. Well, he did most of the work haha. Now I have a clean new spot for our everyday pantry items in there, and Jack’s cat food!

Hmm, maybe I should add home upgrades to my lists more often??

How do you like it?

The other resolution list item that I started on and I am most excited about is learning embroidery. I know, add embroidery to my love of gardening, cats, documentaries, and ..well, I am rippening into quite an old lady. 😉

Last week online I picked out two embroidery pattern kits -they come with material, design, needles, hoops and colored floss. They both are varying degrees of what I think is hard, which is I chose these to start on. One design is more intricate than the other, but I want to learn how to make each of the stitches and flowers in both. It actually took me thirty minutes to psych myself up to buy them. 😆

And here I get to why I chose embroidery to learn.

Embroidery is something that intimidates me. I love being creative, but I am imperfectly creative, if that makes sense. I have great intentions and ideas; I know how to do a lot but sometimes the execution looks like a toddler did it. This goes for everything I touch except makeup. Sad truths about Valeria. In choosing embroidery, which looks tedious and perfect, I figure it will help me break out of that shell in order to focus to create something ..pretty. Not perfect but something I made on my own. It takes finesse and patience, and steadiness and the repetitive motion seems anxiously relaxing. 😆 I am looking forward to my journey this year.

This Saturday night, after we finished the closet, I started on the first embroidery project. It was a cute, minimalist design about coffee. Because #coffeeislife. I finished it last night then this morning added some glass beads that weren’t a part of the design because I like shiny things. This project took me somewhere in the ballpark of 5 hours over two days to finish. I learned six different stitch types, which weren’t terribly difficult but weren’t all that easy either.

I also learned that I bleed pretty profusely after being pricked by a needle in the same spot on my middle finger on day two. But in all seriousness, I took my time and enjoyed the focus a tremendous amount. Though it’s riddled with mistakes, I think my first project came out pretty cute.

Well, I have to go so I can grab my girls from school. They started back hybrid, in person today, since being out of the building since December 18. One was excited to be back and my other one was not so excited. I just hope they had a great day back in!

Talk to you guys soon about more resolutions coming off my list! Wish me luck on my next… bigger embroidery project! Gulp! 🪡 🧵

Xoxoxo