Leap Day: 2016's New New Years Eve!

It's New New Year's Eve! And Leap Day! Which makes this one of the coolest days this year! 

Let's Celebrate!!

In celebration of Leap Day, New New Year's Eve, and the New New Year we thought we'd issue a series of challenges for the week to help us all celebrate together!

You don't have to try to do all of these. You don't have to do them in order. You really don't even have to do them. But we'd love for you to join in with us! These are just little challenges for the week to help us all take back 2016, Leap into the New New Year, and spread some cheer and goodness around us. Want to share what you're doing and see what others are doing with these challenges? Post the photo on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #takeback2016 . 

1. Do a random act of kindness for someone
2. Take a picture of someone leaping
3. Get a picture of you leaping
4. Hug a child (probably one you know...let's not be creepy now). 
5. Take dinner to a neighbor
6. Play a game as a family
7. Dress up your pet(s)
8. Dress up and go reverse trick or treating
9. Pay for the person in line behind you
10. Sing "I'm a Little Tea Pot" in public (doing all the actions!) 
11. Make S'mores
12. Put lemons, sugar, and the recipe for lemonade in a box, label it life, and give it to someone!
13. Give someone a high five
14. Eat something orange, that isn't an orange or a carrot. 
15. Go for a walk, sans technology! Maybe even with another human!
16. Hold hands
17. Try out a Pinterest Pin/DIY project/recipe you've been afraid of
18. Add a new word to your vocabulary
19. Try a nail polish color or a crazy tie that you would never usually wear because it is too "out there"
20. Finally start that book you've had on your shelf forever
21. Have a marshmallow war!
22. Watch your favorite childhood cartoon
23. Reach out to a long lost friend
24. Sing your jam at the top of your lungs (bonus "points" if you do so at a red light with your window down)
25. Take a social media fast
26. Watch a sunrise or sunset
27. Make a list of things you LOVE about your life. 
28. Clean your fridge!
29. Take a nap.
30. Go electronics free for a day!

Let's take back 2016 and make it awesome!! If your 2016 has been awesome already, let's make it more fabulous! 

New New Year is Coming! Are you ready?!

Hello!

Since I talked to you all last lots has happened, and at the same time things seem the same lol

I don't think I ever let the blogosphere know that at the end of January this year my father-in-law suffered a major heart attack and had to have an emergency triple bypass (part of the reason I went MIA for a few weeks). We are so grateful for modern medicines and the great doctors and nurses that saved his life. Since the heart attack everyone is trying to get back to the "new" normal and trying to really refocus and reorganize their lives to be the most successful, happy, and healthy people we can be. Thankfully Chip's dad is doing a lot better and we are so grateful for that! He has a long road ahead of him but we know that for now, he is out of immediate danger.

There is nothing like a family emergency to really force one to look at their life, where they are and what they really want out of this crazy adventure on earth.

After our emergency visit to Arizona we really took a step back and decided that 2016 wasn't going the way we wanted or had intended it to go starting from Jan. 1st. We know that life often (and without warning) throws curve balls that can change everything in a blink of an eye, but we also know that we have agency to choose how we deal with these curves, and agency to choose how we spend our time on this big spinning rock.

I tell you all of this because 1. This is what is happening in my life and this is my space to share with you all just that, my life! and 2. This is what started the whole New New Years.

As of January 29th (and probably before that if I really sat down with a calendar and wrote out my year) life hasn't been going in the awesome forward direction I had intended for this year. I have a milestone birthday this year which has made me hyper aware of what I want/am accomplishing this year and by gosh I intend to get the most out of it! Come hell or high water!

So stand with me Pinstrosipeeps! Take Back 2016! Realign your life with your goals, start the resolution that was never picked up, refuse to allow life's circumstances leave you cold and alone!

New New Years is coming! Are you ready? Cause I sure as heck am.

March 1st, 2016

It's just the beginning.

The Kett Files: Currently in February

For this month's Currently post I decided to use a random verb generator and figure out an answer to the first 5 verbs generated. This was hard, but fun!

So currently I am...

Owing

So so so so so many people. We owe a great debt of gratitude and love to so many people. We have been and are being taken such good care of. It's very humbling and eye opening. It makes me want to do more for people in life. I want to serve more. The love we've been shown makes me emotional and I have to move on now or I'll be the weepy woman sitting in the nicu and I don't want to explain to every nurse that goes by that I'm crying because I'm blogging. :) 

Kissing

Cameron! Well, not this exact moment, because I'm typing. But with Darrow at my Mother's house, Ione with the most expensive babysitters in the world (her AMAZING nicu nurses, we love them so much!), and with Cameron having the week off we'be both been able to be here in the NICU with Ione. Between feedings we have about an hour and a half to hang out, eat, or check out the town. The situation isn't ideal, but having those small breaks in-between with just us has been like a string of mini dates. We're realizing we need more time as just a couple. We haven't been good at date nights ever, but we're seeing just how important and good it is. So with this string of weird mini-dates (weird just because of the whole situation), we've been smooching and snuggling more and I love it.

Heehee. I love him. He keeps me sane and smiling. 

And because he's worried that everyone will think that first picture is his real smile, here is the "normal" shot we took!  He's my favorite!

Framing

This one was hard! But I was determined to use the 5 words I was given and not switch any of them up. Makes it fun that way! I could say I've used the viewfinder on my camera to "frame" pictures when I take them. I'm "framing" crochet squares with edging as I work on Ione's blanket. I'm framing the foundation of future blog posts in my head as each day goes on. That works, right? Nothing spectacular, but at least it's an answer, bahaha. 

Smelling

Baby! This whole room smells like fresh new baby. I used to think it was weird when people said they liked the smell of newborns. But I'm catching on. 

Melting

Ice. With the ice machine just around the corner we have all the ice we possibly want. Now that I'm not craving ice all the time it's not getting eaten as quickly, so we always have a little bit of ice melting in a cup on the counter. 

How I Removed the Medical Tape Residue from my IV

Someday soon I will return to posts that aren't focused on hospital experiences...but this is a lifestyle blog now, and right now my lifestyle revolves a little bit around hospital experiences (Baby Ione is still in the NICU, but is getting closer and closer to coming home...all she has to do is figure out eating!). Sigh. But it's okay! 

Today I wanted to share a quick tip I discovered. 

The medical tape they use to keep your IV in is wicked. It would have to be so that the IV doesn't fall out or move. But it sure stings when it's pulled off (especially if you're part gorilla like I am), and leaves lovely residue that doesn't come off easily.

I scrubbed and scrubbed it with a washcloth and it wouldn't come off. I picked at it with my fingernails and just ended up scratching my arm. I didn't have access to nail polish remover to see if that worked, but that was a thought.

And then the other day in the shower I had an idea. I got my razor and very gently "shaved" the residue off. It worked!

Other options I'm reading about now (but wouldn't have worked then because I didn't have them on hand in my hospitality room) are petroleum jelly, shampoo, dish soap, isopropyl alcohol, and cooking oil. But they all take rubbing it on, letting it sit, scrubbing off, and trying to not get whichever goop/substance you're using everywhere you don't want it. Shaving it off gently while in the shower was so fast and easy!

Trials and Gratitude

This has been an incredibly humbling, touching, faith-building, and strengthening week. I am sitting here feeling completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, support, and friendship we have received this week. We've received comments and messages from some of you, people we've never met face to face, sending congratulations, well wishes, and prayers in our behalf. That blows me away and touches my heart immensely. 

This trial we are going through has already taught me so much, and helped me to recognize so much good in life. Trials aren't fun. If they were they'd be called picnics instead I guess. I wasn't really sure what some people meant when I heard them say "I'm thankful for my trials." but today I feel maybe I'm understanding slightly. 

Our little Ione Siobhan is still here in the NICU. This is a hard place to be, but for reasons I never expected. I've never been in a room that was filled with as much hope, anxiety, fear, joy, despair, nervousness, and love as the NICU. You feel it when you walk in the door. Families have taken babies home since we've been here, and families have lost their sweet babies since we've been here. There is almost always some sort of beeper or alarm going off somewhere, and every time one goes off close by my head jerks up to make sure it's not Ione's alarm going off. I've seen other parents do the same thing. 

The NICU is also a very inspiring place to be, even with the weight of all those strong emotions filling the room. The nurses have all been absolutely amazing and calm. I feel a connection to the other families I've seen in here, knowing we're all going through various levels of similar emotions and experiences. These nurses have made adorable name signs for every baby. Cute little hats just show up. Quilts are delivered to each baby. You can't walk through the room without having someone smile at you and ask what they can do for you. It's a place of bonding, community, and service. 

Cameron and my Mom have both commented that I sound blue or quiet, and I know they are worried about me. And in a way I guess I could say I am a little blue. And a little quiet. It'd be hard to spend a few days here unexpectedly and not. My heart aches for these families with such sick sweet babies. I want to go hug each of them and find some way to fix everything. And I can't. So there is some extra blueness and quietness going on, but I'm also feeling great waves of gratitude, joy, hope, love, friendship, and excitement. Ione is doing great. Her figuring out eating is the only thing keeping her here at this point. 

This trial won't last forever (even though sometimes it feels like it). It's not what I would have picked to go through, but I'm seeing things that I needed to remember, things I needed to learn, and there have been blessings and goodness come out of it already. 

Wanting some sort of visual for this post I searched "trials quotes" on Pinterest and found some awesome ones. This one I'd never heard before, but I love it. I feel like it fits! 

There is a lot of heart ache, many trials, and much hardship in life, but there is so much goodness in it too! We'll drown if we only focus on our trials. We'll suffocate ourselves if we keep our heads shoved in the self pity sands. We have to look up, we have to look for things to be grateful for. Sometimes we have to look really hard to find that something to be grateful for. But it is there! Don't quit looking for it! 

All Hail Deodorant

I'll keep this short and sweet today, but I just wanted to tell you one thing I am incredibly grateful for. 

Deodorant. 

No seriously! 

The plan when I went into labor (in March!) was to get all showered, shave my legs, fix my hair, yadda yadda so that I felt put together and more confident. Well, nothing went according to plan this week! 

My legs were (and still are!) hairy, my hair in a sloppy pony, my makeup worn off (because I'll be honest, I didn't wash it off), my teeth unbrushed (I hadn't gone to bed yet, so that hadn't happened yet), etc. There was nothing I could do about those, we just had to get out of the house fast and get to the hospital. 

But...I could make sure I didn't stink. 

After they told us that I was going to be flown out I gave Cameron a quick list of stuff to run back to the house for and deodorant was the first thing. 

When we re-met in the delivery room he handed it to me, I put some one, and I felt so much better. I'm not one of these women that feels empowered through labor; I feel self conscious to be exposed to everyone who needs to be in the room. Knowing though that I didn't stink made me feel better. I remember smelling my own B.O. when I had Darrow and that made me feel more like an ogre than I already did. 

So today, I just wanted to tell you how much I love that inventor (who's name has been lost to history) in Philadelphia in the late nineteenth century who decided that they'd had enough of smelling B.O. and came up with deodorant. 

G is for Girl.

After blogging at least 3 times a week on here past month, the blog has been a little quiet for about a week. Have we "relapsed"? Are we just being lazy? Nope. We ran away, and then life ran away with us upon our return!

Over the weekend Cameron and I decided to make a quick trip down to my sister's house for their Baby Blessing (similar to a Christening)/2nd Birthday party combo. They were blessing their new baby girl in church and then having a friends and family potluck (NOT illegal in New Mexico, unlike AZ apparently) in celebration of the baby blessing and to celebrate Sharli (their oldest daughter) for her 2nd birthday. We loved being around some of the friends and family we love and miss so much! We ate way way way too much, laughed hard, slept little, and visited long. Everyone there was surprised to see us as my due date was starting to approach, but we figured we weren't too far away and there was still a month left until the due date arrived. No worries! Monday we drove home, visiting more family along the way.

Monday night, 3 hours after getting home, I was sitting on the couch making our new budget, filling out my bullet journal page for Tuesday, and writing me "Things to get done before the Baby comes" list when "adventure" struck. My water was breaking. At 12:30 in the morning. At 35 weeks.

I laugh that one of my first thoughts, after thinking "This baby needs a little more time!" was, "No! This can't happen now! The house is a disaster and people will see it!"

Cameron likes to tell people that when I woke him up (I've been sleeping on the couch as it is more comfortable while I'm pregnant. Those memory foam mattresses just hurt my pregnant hips!) that he calmly got out of bed and gathered things up without panicking. I tell it a little different, but we'll let him have his moment. We grabbed my wallet and a towel, pulled Darrow out of bed, and headed out. My cousins (who have already saved our bacon so many times!) were so gracious to take Darrow at a quarter to one in the morning. I felt so bad, Darrow knew something was up and was bawling as we handed him off in the dark and drove off.

To make a long story short (and very not gory, don't worry!!) after the Winslow hospital confirmed that yes indeed my water had prematurely ruptured, they made arrangements to get me to the Flagstaff hospital, as they cannot deliver babies before 36 weeks. So I got to ride in a helicopter for the first time. I think it would have been more fun had I not been strapped to a board, flat on my back, in a space about the size of a metal driveway culvert. It's definitely way more fun to say I rode in a chopper than the actual chopper ride was.

Flagstaff got and started me on Pitocin at 8am to get contractions going. Since my water had broke, they couldn't delay labor without risking extra infection and problems. So this baby was coming early. Full labor hit around 9am, and at 12:37pm on Tuesday the 16th (that was only yesterday?!) we became a family of four. Baby Girl (finalizing the name decision today!) was born with the cord wrapped around her neck twice and quite purple, but started crying and working to breathe as soon as they got her untangled.

After making sure she was okay, getting her initial measurements (5lbs 7 oz, and 18 inches long) they let me hold her for a minute or two, but then took her down to the ICU to get her on some oxygen (she was breathing but having to work extra hard at it and wanted to get her completely stable as soon as they could) and to give her a full check to see how everything was functioning. With the cause of the premature water rupture unknown, and with the fever I ran through labor, they also wanted to get She-Who-Shall-Soon-Be-Named on 48 hours of IV antibiotics to counter act any infection that might have been in our systems.

We have full access to her "cubby" in the ICU and can spend whatever time we want down there, day or night.

The nurses have all taken such good care of us and have been so sweet. We are sure grateful for the good care we have received! I was down with her last night just before I went to bed and while holding her she started throwing up and choking, dropping her heart rate and oxygen low. They worked fast (and so calm!) and got her airway cleared and stomach pumped and she quickly stabilized again. For a newborn who's supposed to have a marble sized stomach, she had a TON of amniotic fluid in her stomach. The doctors were even surprised.

Once they had her pumped and breathing well on her own again she perked up more than she had yet, looked around for a while, and started showing the first hunger cues. Up until then she'd shown no interest in eating and didn't respond when offered anything (so they were giving her some nutrition in her IV as well), but after getting her stomach all cleared out and waking up she was starting to act like maybe eating could be a good thing. They were going to watch her for a little bit more that night and then try feeding her a bottle and bathing her. After only 36 hours of being awake, I was literally falling asleep in the rocking chair next to her bed, so I took myself back up to my room rather than staying for the feeding and bathing. I'll have plenty more chances to do that and few chances for a good nights sleep in the near future. Here in just a minute I'll get up, get showered, and head down to the ICU to see how everything went through the night and to hold this sweet little girl.

We're feeling so very blessed that everything has gone as well as it has. So much more could have happened that didn't and we are so grateful for that! We're grateful we made it back home before my water broke, grateful for my cousins and their sweetness in taking Darrow on the spot, grateful for my Mom who packed up and drove up 7 hours upon getting the news, grateful for technology, grateful for such amazing delivery nurses, grateful for this baby to be as healthy as she is, and grateful for all the love, prayers, well wishes, thoughts, messages, texts, comments, and kindnesses that have been sent our way already. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude to God and to everyone who has in some shape or from sent us their love and support.

Later today I get to introduce my Mom and Darrow to this sweet girl and I can't wait to see Darrow's reaction. I don't know that he'll get it fully, but this boy is smart...he may surprise me!

So this made me laugh a little. Yesterday was reveal day for Iron Craft Challenge #3, "G is for...". For my project, I made a Girl. I totally think that counts. ;) (I did make a Green and white hat on Monday to count as my project, but I'm totally using Girl as my project instead!)

The New New Year

Sometimes your bathroom looks like this:

                                                                               

And sometimes your bathroom looks like this.

   

Picture taken minutes before this blog was written.

                                                                        

 Why am I showing you pictures of my dirty bathroom?

Because right now my bathroom is a metaphor for my life.

A few months ago I was at the top of my game, exercising regularly (prepping for my third half marathon in 6 weeks), cooking homemade meals every night and eating the leftovers for lunch the next day at work (healthy foods), my house was impeccably clean, like dang...I'm clean, we were hanging out with friends all the time, taking the dog for walks everyday etc.

We were killin' it.

Then my job changed and with it everything else.

I haven't worked out in a month, Chip has been cooking despite his full time grad school load, combine with the last four days of eating out, my house is a disaster (see pic), the dog has been napping more than usual (it's winter and no one wants to be outside right now), we haven't seen friends in weeks, I haven't blogged in a month, and now that I am sitting here typing I can smell that the garbage needs to go out.

Not killin' it.

2016 has started off rough, for just about everyone I know. There have been car troubles, depression, deaths, major breakups, divorce, affairs, heart attacks, anxiety, health problems. You name it, it's happened. And it's only February 10th. Ouch. Rough.

Here's what I propose, a New New Year. We take the rest of February to shake off what's been ailing us and we start fresh March 1st.

And instead of list all the crap that we have going on in our lives we take this opportunity to list the good things we have going on.

I have a full time job that provides for my family so my husband can go to grad-school, we have three amazing pets who bring us joy who are all healthy (and while not walked today) are loved and happy, I have modern technology that allows me to talk to my family and friends who are far away Every.Single.Day. No carrier pigeons! That rocks! While I resent my winter coat (we've become too close this season), my hair is on point and it makes me feel fierce despite my marshmallow cover-up.

Take the things that you feel are making you lose at adulting, look them in the eye and realize that these are all the same crap that everyone is dealing with too and these are the very things that make us into functioning, awesome, caring, knowledgeable, experienced adults.  

So everyone start planning for the New New Year 2016, March 1st! We start fresh and reclaim our lives, re-establish our resolutions and goals, shake off the horrible false start that was January and February and we will be killin' it in 2016!

I am stoked. Now where's my confetti gun?

Lemon Week: Recipes!

We've been having all sorts of lemony goodness the past week. We've tried a few new recipes and pulled out some old favorites. They've all been super yummy! 

First off, when life gives you lemons...make lemonade! 

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (5-10 lemons depending on size)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 5-6 cups water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a pitcher. 
2. Whisk until sugar is completely dissolved. 
3. Refrigerate until cold and enjoy!

Lemon Bars 

Crust Ingredients: 

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 TBS lemon juice

Filling Ingredients

• 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Mix the crust ingredients until it forms a stiff dough. 
2. Press the crust into a greased 8x8 pan. 
3. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 
4. Mix the filling ingredients. 
5. Pour into cooked crust. 
6. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. 
7. Let sit for 10 minutes out of oven to finish setting up while cooling. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Click here for the recipe

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Click here for the recipe

Lemon Crackle

Click here for the recipe

Prickly Pear Raspberry Lemonade

Click here for the recipe

And then...two lemon recipes from the archives that just didn't work out...

The 2 ingredient lemon bars: 

Click here to read more

And Lemon "Puddle" Cookies: 

Click here to read more

Lemon Week: Storing Lemons and Lemon Juice

When life gives you lemons...TONS of them...what do you do?

Okay, now that we have that infectious and awesome song going, let's get on with the rest of this with the proper mood...

If you live in Arizona or have connections to the Phoenix valley, it's likely that you know that it's full on lemon season there! 

Last week a friend and her sister picked over 500 lemons and she brought a bunch home for our church women's group for a lemon night. We all got to take home bags and bags of lemons and have been thoroughly enjoying them. 

So this week I thought I would do 3 posts all about lemons. Today, how to store lemons and the juice to use. Wednesday, 3 recipes with lemons that I LOVE. And Friday, cleaning with lemons. I've learned some new tricks this past week, and am loving all them lemony goodness around the house. 

So first off, storing the lemons. 

At the meeting, it was suggested with the excess whole lemons that you can't use right away to put them in freezer bags and store frozen. Then when you need one, you pull it out and either let it thaw on the counter or microwave it for 20 seconds or so (more or less depending on your microwave). One of the presenters even swears that she gets more juice out of her lemons after they have been frozen than she does with a lemon that hasn't been frozen. I haven't tested this out thoroughly, but the lemons she used in her demonstrations (which had all been frozen) were insanely juicy. Lemons in the freezer generally last 3-4 months. 

Don't have the freezer space, but want your lemons to last longer than a week on the counter or 2-3 weeks in the fridge? 

Before freezers were a common household item, lemons were sometimes stored in jars of water for use within a month. The water helps "seal" the rinds and pores so that the lemon can't dry out or go bad as fast. I've done this before and it really does work! And they look so pretty on your counter. 

If all you're wanting is the juice though, and aren't going to be using the lemon rinds for anything, a quick and easy method is to freeze the lemon juice. Now, you can freeze it in freezer bags, but then you  have to thaw out the whole bag when you need some. I've seen the idea of freezing the juice in ice cube trays and then transferring the cubes to a freezer bag. Inevitably though the cubes end up sticking and you still have to hack off cube chunks. 

One idea that was shared that I thought was genius and used this past week was to get small disposable cups to freeze your lemon juice in. I couldn't find the little paper cups (condiment size or toddler drinking size), but I did find these great plastic storage cups with lids! I poured 2 TBS of juice into each container, put the lid on, and stuck them in the freezer overnight. In the morning they were ready to throw into a freezer bag and now I have "fresh" and real lemon juice ready to pull out for anything that needs it! Super easy and efficient! 

I'm pretty excited about the lemons and lemon juice in my freezer! The lemon flavor and smell is such a perfect pick me up this time of year when we're all starting to get tired of winter and looking forward to the warmth again! 

A Pinstrosity: Dress Dyeing Day

Just in case you thought we didn't have Pinstrosities happen still...

A while back I bought a dress online thinking I could maybe use it as a maternity dress (and if I got the guts up, for maternity pictures) and then later as a nice dressy dress. I fell in love with it online and couldn't wait to get it in my hands!

http://www.sammydress.com/product1898986.html

At the time there were no customer photos to show what it looked like "in real life", so I decided to go for it. It was only $13 after all. 

Well, it came, I opened it and I was quite disappointed. The lace and the skirt were two different colors of white! And this isn't a dress made for bosoms or a long torso. The waist sat right under my bust line, making it look more empire waist-ish than it was supposed to. And the skirt...see through, with a tiny little mid thigh built in slip. And I'm pretty sure the skirt isn't as full as the one pictured. It's flowy, but not that flowy. 

But it wasn't bad. So I put it in the closet and figured I pull it out in a few months and see if maybe I was just being overly picky. 

So I pulled it out this week and my reaction is still similar. Not as disappointed, but still not in love with it. 

And then I had an idea. 

I've been searching for a classy orange dress. Something with sleeves, and bosom coverage. Orange is not a color most think of as classy, and it's hard to make look classy. Mostly all I was finding were dresses designed to be bright, eye catching, and provocative. 

But, what if I took this dress and dyed it orange and added a built in slip?! It wouldn't help the waistline issue, but maybe it'd help make the rest look a little better. I was sure I had a solution. 

So I bought two bottles of Rit Dye and followed the instructions to a T. I couldn't wait to open the washer and see my gorgeous dress, all dyed....

PINK?!

The splashes on the washer lid were definitely orange, but the dress definitely was not. I'd even call this coral. But not orange.

Now I'm not against pink, and this was a lovely shade of pink. But it was like thinking you were getting a big gulp of water only to find out it was clear Kool Aid. Not what you were geared up for or wanted. I wanted orange.

So, I bought a bottle of Yellow Rit Dye and this time did a sink dye, hoping that would turn my pink dress into a lovely shade of orange. 

Well, I now am the owner of a

PINK dress. Which is a lovely shade. But it's not orange. :(

In fact...it's still basically the exact same shade as it was when it came out of the orange dye (below left is after the orange dye and below right is after the additional yellow dye bath).

The yellow dye didn't take at all! 

I'm still going to see what I can do as far as alterations and adding a slip, but this is one project that definitely didn't go how I wanted it to.

Luckily the dye did take evenly and it's not splotchy or weirdly colored. This could have been worse. But I'm still on the lookout for a classy orange dress.