Experiencing a moment in history

Ameet and I traveled down to DC this past weekend to take part in history in the making. Barack Hussein Obama is now our president! How exciting!! I am exhausted now after a weekend of waking up early and being in the cold, but so inspired by our country and my fellow citizens. The mood in Washington was something I have never experienced. Over 2 million people coming together for a common cause of celebration.

Some highlights from this weekend:

• At 11PM on Monday night my friend Ann managed to get me a ticket to the standing area of the inauguration! These tickets were harder to come by than Super Bowl Tickets. The only down side is that we didn't have another ticket for Ameet.


• Ann and I arrived at 6:00 AM to get in line with our tickets and waited in the cold for 4 hours before the event began. But it was so worth it.


• I got emotional after first realizing the enormity of people attending and celebrating Obama's inauguration. The crowds were so diverse in terms of being all different races and ethnicities, ages, and all from different parts of the country and world.


• I hugged a random stranger after Obama was sworn in. We were all so happy!
  
• I turned around at one point during the inauguration and saw the 2 million people waving American flags in unison.


• Obama's speech. What else can I say?


• Everyone was singing "Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye!" as Bush was introduced at the inauguration. As his helicopter left the city, 2 million people waved in unison to say good riddance!

Back to sewing this weekend...

Etsy Craft Night - Making Your Own Sugar Scrubs

One of the things I love most about living in NYC is that anything you could ever dream of doing is right here. I found out recently that one of my favorite crafty websites, Etsy, happens to be headquartered in Brooklyn. Every Monday night they have a free craft night where volunteers teach a workshop on a variety of crafts. My friends and I decided to check it out last night and learned how to make our own sugar scrubs.

Who knew that the $50 sugar scrub you get at a fancy beauty store is really one of the easiest things to make!

Here's what you need:

A small jar
Sugar in the raw (about 1/2 cup)
Either coconut, grapeseed, or almond oil (or any other oil that you like)
15 to 20 drops of an essential oil (I chose peppermint, but there was also mango, grapefruit, and other scents that I can't remember)
A drop of Vitamin E to help preserve it

Mix all the ingredients together (measure the oil and sugar based on the consistency and smell you like) and voilà! Have yourself a wonderful, relaxing bath. I tried mine this morning, and my skin is loving it.

If you don't live in NYC, but want to check out the Etsy craft night - they have a virtual lab where you can ask questions and learn on your own. Hope to see you there soon...

My delayed hand-made Christmas present

My family was never much into buying presents for one another on holidays - so I just never gained any skills in knowing what to get for friends and family. Shopping for gifts gets me all nervous and frustrated.

This year, in an effort to avoid this frustration, Ameet and I decided to limit our gifts for each other to $20. My new sewing skills came in handy. Since he loves to cook, I made him this double sided apron, that I kinda just winged, and matching oven mits using a tutorial I found online. And he loved them!