Brie's Personal Book of Job

It's official- Baxter made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I'm getting hired permanently at Baxter in Los Angeles. This means benefits, paid vacations, but more importantly: no more job searching. I mean, after my three month probation period.

The plant here in Los Angeles works with human plasma to create hemophilic treatments and immuno-therapies, although Baxter focuses on a number of treatments in plants all over the world. So there's a lot of opportunity to further my career and get trained in multiple areas. For the time being I'm working in the Quality Department- making sure everyone else is doing their job correctly.

The one thing I never thought I'd feel about a new job? Judged.

I've worked at quite a few different contract (read: temporary) positions since I graduated from UCSD three years ago. I didn't mind because Mr. E and I didn't know where we were going to end up, so putting down roots into a job didn't seem like the best idea until we moved to where he would need to work. The first job I found out of LA seemed great- good commute, interesting company products, I liked the people... But the work itself was repetitive, slow and the training vague. I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere in that position, in the department or in the company. So when Baxter called I jumped at the chance.

Here was a homogenous mixture (read: equal) of temps and permanent workers. Kids right out of school and employees who had been with the company for 35 years. We rubbed elbows. We relied on each other. There's a lot of communication and teamwork between all three shifts for our 24-hour facility.

And yet, when I was offered my position (yes, Yes, YES!) I was asked repeatedly by the younger crowd, "Are you going to take it?" As if I had something better in mind. As if I was better than this job. As if a decent-paying position with upward mobility, international locations and paid holidays was something I wasn't interested in.

Let's be clear: I'm not going to school anymore. I have no dreams to be a doctor or an anything-ologist. I don't want a Masters or a PhD. The most I was contemplating was phlebotomy but that's more of a certification anyways, to be honest. So why the well-meaning condescension?

Here's another reminder that I'm not in the same place as my peers. There's a generalization that if you majored in science you're going to continue in science education- because a well-paying job means years of study.

There's a generalization that if you married young you're going to have kids ASAP and focus on family first because marriage and families go hand in hand. Or at least that's what the internet tells me in yet another list.

I tread that line between them- where all I want to do is work. And earn money so my husband can make movies (read: finance his short films until someone else can). We'll add kids in there when we're not eating peanut butter for the month to keep our budget down because that's our choice to prioritize our life that way.

So why the judgement? Next time someone tells you they got offered a job, and their voice has suspiciously climbed six octaves, muster up a little excitement for them. There's no need to squash the sprouting dreams of a new hire. There's plenty of time for corporate politics to do just that.

Juicing Over.

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that I'm not juicing anymore. I joined my coworker in an effort to challenge myself- to see if I could do it, to see how my body responded to the absence of processed foods and wheat, and to potentially gain more energy.

Boy, was that a lie.

By day two I knew it was sort of working- I was cleansing alright. As in right through. But I didn't feel bad. There was no sick-to-my-stomach-feeling or indegestion or cramps. And to clarify, I was never really hungry (as long as I ate all my shakes). Frankly, I was drinking so freaking much that I couldn't think about much except peeing ever 2.4 seconds. Multiple bathroom trips meant multiple hand-washings and by the end of the week my poor hands were cracked and dry because of the heat and the soap. But I've never seen such clear pee!

The shakes were much better than that first day- sure, the first and last shakes of the day tasted like dirty lawn clippings (that would be spinach, lettuce, cucumber and celery, ya'll) but the other ones were passable. Lemon-lime coconut with avocado for good fats? Yes, thank you. Ginger-carrot-miso soup? Another serving. But that supplement water? Literally tasted like bile.

I made sure that Mr. E tasted all of the shakes. Even if he wouldn't do the cleanse with me I wanted him to know what I was going through when I sat back and complained about them. He was pretty smug sitting in his "Chew Only" camp, and he didn't even think my supplements tasted bad! What a weirdo.

The best part was the fact that if I added water to my shakes, I was able to chug them a little easier. This is super professional, especially when your supervisor happens to walk by.

The negatives:
I had a small sore throat almost every day. I'm not sure if this was because of a post nasal drip or allergies or my shakes, but juicing sure didn't help.
My hands are SO dry from washing them so often.
I never got more energy.
I was so bored by Day 5 that we decided to cut the cleanse short and only go 6 days- also partially because I didn't want to juice and have leftovers from my 3 serving shakes.
I missed fruit. A lot.

The positives:
I was never once achy. I certainly wasn't working out any more than I normally do (lots and lots of walking) but I wasn't sore or crampy, which was awesome.
I never had to think about what I was eating the next day- I always had a shake or two in the fridge.
I wasn't energetic, but I had a clearer head. I went through the entire week without coffee and never once missed it. I was able to get my projects done at work without that fuzzy "out of it" feeling.

So would I do it again? Probably not.

But if I did, I would add fruit. Lots of fruit to give that liquid coleslaw shake some flavor.

This is what I ended up eating on my last day- carrot fritters!

This. This is Good.

It's been two weeks and I think that makes it official: I'm working and I love it.

After the run-around with the interviews and the employment agency and the phone calls, I finally started my position as a Product Surveillance Coordinator with the Cardiac Rhythm Management Department of St. Jude Medical.

Essentially I analyze and assign priority to complaints from the field about St. Jude's medical devices- namely their pacemakers and associated accessories. Sound interesting? Because it is! When a customer (or a sales rep) calls in a complaint, there are all these forms they have to complete for it to go through our system. As a Coordinator, it's my job to make sure the paperwork is filled out thoroughly and correctly, and then to assign a complaint code- something as simple as "Error Code Displayed" to "Loss of Sensing/Pacing" or even "Device Caused Death".

Every customer explains things differently- or sometimes not at all- so it's essential to follow up and keep all of the information clear and understandable on all of the many forms and databases we use to communicate between ourselves and the FDA.

I'm loving the organization to it- like a many armed machine, each arm with its own purpose but everyone coming together, united in a single goal. Everyone has a place and a job to do, but we all depend on each other to get the job done and presented in a way that positively reflects our company's values.

Give me a few months here and I'm sure that I can tell you all about how awful the system is and how frustrating my coworkers are, but right now I'm in the post-job-search honeymoon phase.

Plus we have a cafeteria that serves kick-ass breakfasts and lunches every day. The downside is that I'm exhausted when I get home so the house is only tidy and not clean and we're down to our very last fresh vegetable in the fridge...That bell pepper is being put on just about EVERYTHING.

Mr. E's job front is looking up, too! After finishing Wish I Was Here, he was rewarded with a much needed week-long vacation. Apparently that's the system in the industry: work hard (12+ hours every day) for a few weeks to a few months and once the project is done you schedule a short break for yourself to take care of things (dentist, doctor's appointments, vacation) and jump back in to the next one!

This project is a pilot TV show called Love, Death & Bowling and Mr. E will be working Sound instead of Production. Although Sound isn't necessarily where he wants to end up, Mr. E has a lot of experience with the sound equipment, as well as mixing and adding sound post-filming, so it's all about making contacts and networking right now. We have a busy holiday season ahead of us!

Instructions on How to Move

Now that I'm all unpacked (say whaaaaat?), here are my tips. From a self-proclaimed pro with too much time on my hands.

Moving isn't easy, whether it's down the street or across the state (or country), but there are some pretty simple rules to follow to keep the stress levels down at a manageable level. Think "Eat my Feelings" vs. "Pull my Hair Out"

1. Move alone
That's right, first rule of thumb is move by yourself. In fact, the more selfish you can keep this act, the better. Not only do you know where everything is, but you KNOW EXACTLY WHERE EVERYTHING IS. Who needs a detailed box-by-box list of what is packed where? Only you can be blamed for breaking that family-heirloom deviled egg platter you've never used.

The best way to do this is to make sure that your significant other is working 60+ hours a week, driving an hour to and from work so that he (or she) is really tired when they get home. That way you're both so exhausted from working (you're packing and they're job-ing) that the SO physically can't help. At least that's what he said.

2. Wait until the last second to paint
Come on. You've been staring at those walls for weeks now, knowing that they need to get done, but nothing burns the fire under your butt like working on a deadline. Put all of those procrastination skills to use so that by the end of your six-coat work out, you're STILL able to see the blue glow on the wall- and it's not the reflection from your smelly tarp/dropcloth either.

3. Make sure you watch the entire season of something
 It doesn't matter what it is. Anything. You need something on in the background while you "pack"- by yourself. So dig deep and watch that show that you've never seen all the way through. My personal favorite was Charmed- good grief those ladies can't act.

4. Move on a weekday
Tetris-skills can be used in everyday life, folks! So when your current landlord has a fumigation appointment on the first but you can't hire a truck or corral people to help out until the third, that's when you've got to get puzzle-solvin' smart. Figure out which of your things are the most important and pack your new car with those things.
The rest can sit out in the fumigated garage.
That has an unlocked half door entry visible to the street.
Awesome.

5. Lose your momentum
No, really. Lose it. Lose it like your middle school diary. Lose it like that first pound of the new diet. Lose it like your cookies on a roller coaster. Because there's nothing better than wallowing in the middle of a paint-scented room, knowing that the carpet needs cleaning, the clothes need to be packed and all of your foodstuffs need to be mobile in 36 hours. That's the best feeling in the world.

FYI, someone needs to come up with that sarcastica font, ASAP.

We're Alive. Barely.

Okay, more than barely, but it felt a little touch and go in the last week.

Mr. E has been busy as a bee, commuting from Orange to Burbank (85+ miles/day on our new car!) and dreading every minute. But he loves his job and he loves the people he works with, so he was happy to make the sacrifice. I've never seen him as confident and easy-going as he is now that he's in a real job.

I had three days to pack/clean the three bedroom house and boy let me tell you. My fingers felt like they were permanently twisted around a mop handle, my spine ached from carrying everything out into the garage and I never want to paint again. Ever. Please, someone hold me to this.

Thankfully all those years wasting time playing Tetris have paid off. Who said you wouldn't use video game skills in real life? I had moved all of our boxes and some furniture into the living room (unused once we moved the TV to the air conditioning) but later realized that because the first falls in the middle of the week, we couldn't actually MOVE our stuff until Saturday. Aaaand the landlord was fumigating. So it became a mad rush to move all of our things into the garage (to wait out the tenting) as well as eat ALL OF THE FOOD because we didn't have a fridge in the new place.

Spoiler alert: we made it. We're still throwing away most of our refrigerated food but you can't have everything.

And the apartment! We moved from a three-bedroom house (though we only used two bedrooms) down to a one bedroom apartment. Personally, I'm excited for the change. Mr. E and I love the location, the rooms are spacious and we're right next to downtown Burbank. Ripley? Not so much. She paced the apartment for 16 hours yesterday without stop- no sleeping, no resting. When we couldn't take it anymore we took her to the car in the hopes she would settle.

Here's the apartment (with some lovely photobombing). Can't wait to move in and decorate!

THE BEDROOM

THE HALLWAY

THE MOST AMAZING BATHROOM

FROM THE FRONT DOOR

THE DINING AREA

WE'RE COMING UP ON THE KITCHEN NOW

OH LOOK. THERE IT IS. FRIDGE-LESS.

VIEW OF KITCHEN IF YOU WERE A CREEPER

VIEW FROM THE DINING AREA

OUR ENTERTAINMENT WALL

Pack Pack Pack

This week was busy. Busy. Busy. Busy.The big news? Mr. E has his first job as a college grad! 

I want to do cartwheels and back flips but I'll just settle for raising my cup (of coffee) because I've been packing and cleaning the house in preparation for moving, so my energy is zilch. He's working as an Office Production Assistant on the new Zach Braff movie "Wish I Was Here". Such a good jump for his resume because it's very well-known and looked-forward-to in the industry. Here's the Kickstarter webpage; it has a very well-written concise explanation of exactly what making a movie means, what it costs and how you get all of those kittens herded into the bathtub while rolling it down a street in New Orleans made to look like LA. 

This means that Mr. E left the house before I did this morning- SO. WEIRD. We've been operating within our norm for quite some time now and this has kind of shaken things up. New sleeping schedules, I can't ask him to take food out to thaw for dinner, the dog's at home all day...Very strange.

Missing her morning snuggle buddy

I have two weeks left at my job and after that I'm floating free. Casting my net wide, here, applying to anything and everything I can get my hands on, hoping that the more resumes I send out, the sooner I'll get a bite. As great as it is that Mr. E's working, it's still project-based, meaning that he's working on this project which has a run time of approximately 9 weeks, and after that he's looking again. Which is how you do it apparently- constantly networking and keeping an eye on the date of "un-employment". Ugh. It creates a very stressful working situation, but we are so lucky to have two working adults: it makes things bearable! I can't imagine having to jump into the industry by yourself.

We're still looking for an apartment after a few hits (and misses). It's tough to find our price-range or our size, so we're jumping at every opportunity. Almost signed papers for a two bedroom in Burbank (PERFECT?) but stopped at the last minute because really the kitchen was so. small. And since I don't have a reliable job-lead yet it just seemed a little premature. But those days are ticking away!


Just to keep things interesting, Mr. E and I took a trip to see how the other side lived: visiting friends in their new loft apartment in the fabric district of Los Angeles. It's not just in the movies, people. They've converted a loft apartment into a four bedroom bachelor/bachelorette pad with a STUNNING view of the city. We fell into over-sized off-color couches and scoffed authentic LA Mexican food while watching the sun dip behind the twinkling skyline through giant industrial windows. Not only is it refreshing to catch up, but it's reaffirming to know that there are other people that are going through the exact issues that we are. We're not alone!

So while our energy is sparse and our attention spans are filled with budgets and job applications, we are still SO excited to be moving on. We need to stop fighting the change because come August this will all be over.

Asparagus

You know what they say about asparagus? 
The tips are the best part.
Also, it makes smelly pee.
As in, why does the dog smell so awful after we just gave her a bath and she's on the other side of the door? Oh wait...that's me.

In my effort to add more veggies to our diet (vitamins! healthy! it'll make you feel good!) I found a recipe from the googiemomma (no, really) and I HAD to take that jump. She raved so hard about vinegar and feta I thought she must have been talking to me.

So Mr. E and I found ourselves at Ralphs, staring blankly at bunches of fuzzy-tipped branches as I tried for all the world not to think of eating Archibald Asparagus.

Mr. E was skeptical, but I figured if I could put on a bright face and convince him feta solves all taste problems, we might have a shot. And we did. For a while.

We washed and rinsed, then broke off the more woody parts from the stalk, just like googiemomma told us to- hold both ends and bend: wherever it breaks is good enough. This worried me that we would be getting much smaller stalks than what we bought, but when you get right down to it we didn't eat all that much anyways. 

Feta Vinegar Asparagus

one bunch of asparagus

1-2 Tbsp olive oil (I would rather have crunch so fry 'em up!)

two cloves chopped garlic

lemon juice

honey-ginger balsamic vinegar (make your own with honey. and ginger, duh)

pepper

crumbled feta (at your own leisure)

Preheat oven to 425F. 

Break asparagus stalks and rinse. Coat in olive oil and add chopped garlic. Add lemon juice and vinegar, pepper to taste. Lay on baking sheet in a single layer and cook 10-12 minutes until desired brown-ness. Top with feta, push back in for two minutes to allow ample melting time, then enjoy.

We drizzled in olive oil and garlic, then made our own vinegar mixture. Small difference here, which I think diverged from the recipe a little too much, we used apple cider vinegar (plus honey and ginger) because it was all we had. I really think that balsamic would have been a better choice (a much different flavor in retrospect), but I am all about using what you have.

Not too crazy about the smell through the house as these bad boys cooked- reminiscent of those nights when my mother was trying to cook healthy dinners and I had to sit in anxiety because I knew I wouldn't like it- but when we took them out of the oven that vinegar smelled HEAVENLY. Top with feta (much more than we thought we should do) and melt a little before eating.

The first few bites were tolerable...getting used to the new texture, the unusual taste and the smell. Again, the vinegar should have been balsamic, but all in all it was something I could definitely eat with the rest of my food. Mr. E was NOT crazy about it at all and insisted that we didn't have to try this recipe anymore. Even if the tips were tasty.

So, lesson learned. I like asparagus more than my husband. But he did suggest we try something like this with green beans (and I think we might try brussel sprouts this way too!), so all was not lost. Tasty, but potty breaks for the rest of the night were done by holding our breath.

Roll Out!

We've been on a little bit of a "What is Wheat to Me" kick lately. Which has been great as far as reminding us to take a closer look at the foods we're ingesting. I've never really been one for diets or food restrictions and I'm down to try almost anything (check chicken feet off that list!). I know this was a huge hassle when I was growing up since I preferred chicken fingers and Mac and Cheese...but I've grown up now! Really! I make my own enchiladas and pesto and spinach lasagna!

So trying to assess what has and doesn't have wheat has been a pain. There is SO MUCH that we consume that includes wheat or wheat products. Not just obvious things like bread and cakes and flour-full things, but canned products and pastas and cereals and sauces. Basically, if it's processed, it has wheat of SOME sort in it. And regardless of whether or not we have a medical condition against wheat, that's a pretty scary thing! 

I'm not sure how far we'll go with this wheat journey, but educating ourselves and working to eat more raw/simple foods is a big step for us. We're young. We just graduated so we don't have a lot of money to be spending on fruit/veggie diets. I'm the only one who cooks consistently since Mr. E relies heavily on his grill...eating unprocessed foods is a challenge! But there are definitely small steps that we've taken.

First of all has been home-made breads. Maybe not the biggest step considering we're still using that pesky flour, but they're made from scratch with wholesome ingredients and they taste much better. I definitely plan on substituting my flour at some point with something a little less gluten-y, but for now I enjoy (or don't enjoy as the case may be) making loaves and crusts and tortillas. Most of all tortillas. 

If I had known how easy tortillas are to make, I would have made these bad boys years ago. I actually really dislike store-bought flour tortillas, but Mr. E likes flour better than corn, so we were at a bit of a conundrum buying-wise. Thankfully, homemade tortillas only have 5 ingredients, take 30 minutes tops and leave me with a huge stack of left overs!

Flour Tortillas

3 cups flour 

2tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

4-6 Tbsp shortening or lard...or butter.

1 1/4 cups warm water

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in butter until it kind of clumps when you squeeze it together. If clumpy, add more shortening. If it's a hard ball, add more flour.

Add water all at once and mix quickly. Knead a little bit to make sure it's all together. You're looking for a soft dough that isn't sticky. Cover 5- 10 minutes. 

Pinch of 1-inch pieces, kneading small round balls. Flatten these into disks with your hand, then roll out (Autobots?) on a floured surface. Make them as thin or thick as you want. I prefer mine thinner, but I'm having trouble laying them down nicely in the pan, so I opt for a little thicker- more like naan.

I cook the tortilla dough on my cast-iron skillet. This has worked so well that I haven't used any other pans or griddles, so I can't say from experience how well that works. I would imagine as long as you have even heat (good pans/good burners) you would be okay. Watch for the air pockets- it only takes about 30 seconds on each side. 

Also, don't drop any flour. Because then you get a dog who's learned to beg.

We primarily use these for tacos (fish or beef) but I've been known to whip up a batch for enchiladas, too. Stuff those suckers with beans and cheese, add olives and chicken and salsa? Mr. E are in Americanized Mexican heaven...

Thrifty

I love a good thrift store find- in fact, many of my furniture pieces are from thrift stores! I'm drawn to the originality of the furniture there. Need a king size rattan bed? Check. Giant dresser in shocking purple? Check. There's so much life to these things that a little spray paint, elbow grease and a lot of love will bring out!

Case in point: our entertainment console. Mr. E wheeled that baby off the street. It fit the TV I brought with me from college as well as the gleaming hunk of metal Mr. E drools over. Also known as our new TV. We store our video games here, and display some of the things we've picked up on our travels. It also (semi) works for storage. Ideally I'd like to stain it a little darker, but we've stayed our hand since it might not fit when we move. 

We're also crazy about chairs from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I was drooling over a comfy wingback when Mr. E spied this one. Faded blue, good condition- it had my name written all over it. 

Then we found these hospital chairs. They're not terribly attractive to look at with that awful fabric, but these are SO. COMFY. Someday I'll have enough time/money/skills to make slip-covers. Or re-upholster. But until then, they don't smell and that's good enough for me.

So when my lab partner confesses his love of thrifting, count on me to suggest a little lunch-break trip! I haven't gone too crazy, considering we're moving and April was the month for FINISHING my projects, not attaining new ones. 

But I just couldn't put Abraham Lincoln down. Look at this face! Does that say stern disapproval or what?! This is actually a two-material-ed cologne bottle (with cologne still), but every blog I follow has a bust or two somewhere. Apparently busts are in. So I took him home, cleaned him off and spray painted him a monotonous soft gray! Ugh, those cheek bones. Jealous...

Of course, it's hard to stop there. Especially when you have rows and rows of fabric/pants/skirts/shirts just waiting to be re-fashioned! Since my little pants-to-shorts event, I picked up more pants (for myself and Mr. E). My pants worked out perfect- they're black corduroy (as pants? shudder) with a really cute waistband. Couple hours on those bad boys and they're shorts too!

Mr. E's were not so easy. I grabbed two pair (8 bucks each, thankyouthriftstores) and while the first pair fit fairly well (we've relegated them to "set pants") the second pair had...a lot of room. 

A LOT of room...below the fly.

 So that's how gangsters do it... 

Here I am, thinking I've GOT this: while Mr. E was on set, I set to work. I felt pretty proud of myself too! Nice straight seams, sewed the crotch together again, yadda yadda yadda. And then Mr. E tried them on and I realized I cut almost ALL of the crotch out. 

He looked over at me with such a pained expression and said, "Baby, you've made me an Abercrombie model."

Oh, well.

My most recent thrift find? Hidden among the pottery and porcelain was this gem: We'll call him Georges. And I love him. Because, you know, I don't have enough stuff on my walls...and while downsizing to move it's almost always acceptable to upsize with cute ceramic cows, right? Right??

Apartment Hunting

I have to let go to move forward.

Why is that so difficult for me? Why do I question and worry and stress about the inevitable? Because I'm human. And imperfect. And constantly striving to be better, but sometimes I fail miserably. But that's okay because I learn lessons every time I fall. I have found a thousand and one ways that don't work.

We're moving and this stresses me out. I've moved 12 times before: from house to house following my dad to Naval Stations, out of my parents house and into the dorms, from apartment to apartment, carried over the threshold of our first house as a married couple. But this time it's intangible. 

We're moving for work, because Mr. E needs to be closer to LA, Hollywood, the studios. Because personal assistants or production assistants or any job that will hire a fresh graduate needs immediate availability. As in on-call be-here-now. And that begs for a smaller commute. 

So we packed ourselves and the dog into our car for a family trip to scope out neighborhoods and dog parks and Costcos (priorities. We have them). 

Mr. E has been doing a lot of shoots lately in the Burbank/North Hollywood area so he was better acquainted with the streets and shops there. We have a little scheme between the two of us for road trips: Mr. E drives to all the new places and I am the navigator, juggling the dog (who MUST be half-way out the window), the GPS, the snacks, the phones and the music. This is the optimal set-up because otherwise I get terrible road rage, especially in LA where blinkers are a novelty and merging onto the freeway is about as long as your stride. So stressful.

We hit Burbank first (beautiful), then Van Nuys (not so great) and North Hollywood (has bits of both...but mostly not so great). Mr. E and I are on the hunt for a neighborhood that feels welcoming and away-from-it-all, not just an apartment. Goodness knows I can create a calming space to call our own just fine- but if we're stressed out getting to our apartment then we're not calming anybody.

Dichotomy of the day? Driving through run-down cheap neighborhoods with giant billboards for The Great Gatsby oozing oppulence and extravagance. Good idea, Hollywood.

The day wasn't a total loss, though. We found many MANY good apartment complexes in areas we liked, so the Listy McListerson in my head was sated. Now if only we didn't have a mad case of the grass-allergies to deal with...Any home remedies?

Pillow Par

I have pillow fever!

All the tips and tricks I've heard around the blogosphere repeat that pillows are excellent ways to 1) add color, 2) change things cheaply, 3)tie the room together ("It really tied the room together, man"). Cheap? Have they met my budget? Sorry, but $40 for a case (not even the pillow!) is a little eensy bit out of my price range.

The flip side is, buying fabric (and pillow forms) aren't that much cheaper. womp womp

BUT. If you buy fabric long enough ago that you don't remember how much it was and your husband doesn't remember you buying it THEN it's basically free! Right?!

I bought a few fat quarters from the local fabric store (support local!) and sat down to sew my little heart out. I loved this fabric- the little yellow anchors just made me smile- but it was hard to turn down the purple/beige animal print too. They were both so small that I wasn't crazy about putting them together. But, I'm young and I live on the dangerous side- so if I didn't put them on the same side together, I thought it might work.

I think it did.

I am loving the trend of having some sort of graphic on your pillow, and I feel that I'm pretty well-versed in painting fabric. Over time, though, paint cracks, fades, peels, transfers, etc. And I didn't want that on a pillow. So I tried a little simple applique.

Using some felt I had inherited (thanks Grandma!), I free-handed a little Ripley silhouette. It was the right color, she has the cutest head and I'm just a little smitten with my fur baby. I cut the felt out and laid it on right side of one of my fabrics- just an arbitrary choice at this point. I pinned and sewed the tiniest seam I could possibly make, ensuring the needle was inserted in the fabric each time I had to make a corner. It was much slower going than making a straight seam, but in the end I think it was worth it. The felt only puckered a little bit, but it wasn't necessarily a wrinkle, thus I thought it was worth the hassle.

I faced the two fabric pieces, right side to right side, and pinned along three sides, then sewed a 1/4" seam to allow for some wiggle room. Once I turned the case right-side out, and inserted the pillow form I had, I manually sewed the last side together because I have a lot of embroidery thread, I don't like zippers and I make a mean small stitch. Good enough for my couch!

I was so pleased with my Ripley pillow that I carried it through the house, to the bedroom. Our new duvet cover is fairly blocky and geometrical and our throw pillows are slightly floral. So I needed something with the right colors with some sort of pattern between them, ideally with a personal flair. I've had this gray fabric for a while and though it's slightly floral, it's pretty faint so I figured Mr. E wouldn't have a problem with it. 

I executed the same idea as the felt Ripley silhouette- I traced the outline of the state of California in white, then cut a small green heart and pinned and sewed it on Southern California. Both Mr. E and I love Southern California: We met in La Jolla, had adventures all over San Diego, have family in San Marcos, Oceanside and Ramona, live in Orange, will move to LA, etc etc. It was just the perfect tribute, no matter where we may have to move to.

Again, I hand-sewed the last side of the pillow, once the form was in and all. The next pillows I do I'll have to insert a zipper, just to shake it up a little bit!

Link up! Wow us Wednesdays, Wow Me Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday , What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Inspire Me Tuesday