Author: Allie Zottola

Cutting My Shirt Into Pieces and Reading As A Couple

On Saturday, decided I wanted to sew Sadie a dress. Never mind the fact that the last time I had instruction in sewing was in my seventh grade home economics class, where the class assignment was to make a drawstring bag. I think my grade on that project was just average.

So, off I went to Walmart to look at fabric, but I chickened out and got totally overwhelmed. I left the store with cat litter. At least I felt confident buying that 😉

Cat litter

On Sunday, I decided I was just going to go for it and make Sadie a dress out of one of my t-shirts that was too small.

It always bothers me that I don’t know much about sewing. I’ve made my own candles, cheese, laundry detergent, sourdough bread, and more. I feel like sewing is a skill I need to improve upon and learn more about. I got to work and had a lot of fun and made a lot of mistakes and still don’t know what I’m doing, but Sadie ended up with a new dress!

Hand sewn dress made from t shirt for toddler

I couldn’t help but add buttons because

  • I have so many from all the button canvas art I’ve made
  • They’re great at covering up bad sewing skills
  • They’re just plain cute

Toddler in homemade dress

Toddler dress made from t-shirt

Time will tell how Sadie’s new dress holds up in the wash, but I think I have a new addiction. I may or may not have started making her another dress 😉

Along with sewing, I’ve been doing lots of reading! Jimmy and I currently reading two books together and it’s nice to be able to discuss what we’re reading and encourage each other.

Books sitting on a ledge including The Purpose Driven Life, A couple's Devotional, and A Midwife in Amish Country

I’m sure you can guess which book I’m reading on my own, LOL! Also, the below links are affiliate links.

My current book stack includes:

Do you know how to sew?

What are you currently reading?

Messes, Meditative Mowing, and Monopoly

Of all the days I decided to throw away dead succulents and soil in our garbage can, Niva decided to dig in the garbage.

Siberian husky digging in the garbage

It was actually kind of comical. I walked into the kitchen and saw the dirt and garbage all over the ground and Sadie’s first thought was obviously hey, I think I should roll in that!

She lost interest while I vacuumed everything up, but was being suspiciously quiet. I found her in the bathroom, casually splashing in the toilet. 

My hands are full with Sadie, Niva, and Malcolm, but my heart is even more full.

Infantino baby carrier

Niva has ate a stick of butter and bag of double chocolate cookies since she’s lived with us. Thankfully the human food hasn’t phased her digestive system one bit! It kinda reminds me of Lola in her prime–digging in the garbage and eating whole chicken carcasses like a champ.

When I think about the craziness of a wild cat, puppy, and toddler, I just think what would I do without these three? Life sure would be boring. The messes and the crying and the garbage digging and toilet splashing? Those are all blessings!

Family laying on bed smiling

I’m thankful for my alone time when I mow the grass, though! Our yard is pretty big, so it takes me an hour or so to cut the grass and oh how I cherish that hour of praying, zoning out, and making the yard look pretty. To me, mowing is almost meditative. I love it. 

Know what else I love? Hanging out with my husband. We’ve been having fires, swinging on our porch swing, and playing board games after Sadie goes to bed and it’s the best. 

Monopoly

We stayed up past 10 (whoa, night owls over here!) playing Monopoly last night and had a blast. My dad, an amazing real estate broker, would have been so proud of me. I owned almost all the properties by the end of the game and was collecting rent constantly 🙂

The fun wasn’t complete without some messiness, though. We left the game in the box on the kitchen table overnight and fed the pets this morning. Malcolm proceeded to throw up on the kitchen table, so naturally Niva jumped onto the table as she’s known to do, ate the throw up, and knocked the game and everything in the box on the floor.

Well, I better get going. I think I have a mess to clean up because Sadie is being a little too quiet while I write this post!

What’s your favorite board game?

What’s the craziest mess you’ve had to clean up?