I need some R&R

I'm not sure, however, that I should take Dr. Spaceman's recommendation for rum and ritalin. Any other suggestions?

Home hair removal

I am one of those people blessed with coarse dark body hair and pale pale skin. You may think I am being sarcastic when I say that I am "blessed", but I'm actually serious and it is because I have recently discovered that light-based hair removal techniques work best with this particular combination. And I'm all for anything that promises to make me look less like a sasquatch!

A few months ago, I purchased a groupon for 6 laser hair removal treatments for a small body area. I chose my underarms, because I'm tired of shaving them and you can still always see the hair under the surface of my skin, my epilator still hurts a great deal in that particular location, I've given up on home waxing (just too messy and you have to let the hair grow out sooo long), and hair removal creams have never worked -- they just burn my skin and don't remove the hair. After two treatments, I'm already seeing patches where there is no hair below the surface of the skin anymore. My third treatment was this morning and I'm looking forward to those hairless patches growing.
My legs are the other area where I'd really like to not have to worry about body hair. Another groupon recently popped up for laser hair removal at another salon, but while debating whether to purchase a more expensive package to take care of my legs, I happened to visit Costco and see the BellaLite home hair removal package for sale. After going home to read the reviews and noticing they were 98% positive, I bought it, figuring that it would be easier to do this at home than schedule appointments at a salon across town. AND I can use it on whatever body parts I want (perhaps the bikini line too?) and get more treatments out of it in the end than a groupon would allow. I am also a huge fan of the Costco return policy, which will let me get my money back if I don't see any results within a year. So, to help me document my progress, I took a picture of one leg after shaving in the bath and before my first try with the BellaLite:

Yes, that is my leg immediately after shaving. Those are not freckles, that's all hair that is still visible below the surface of the skin. Hopefully that will now begin to change! If not, you'll definitely hear about it here. Oh, and if you don't really know me and have somehow stumbled on this blog, I am in no way compensated for using or mentioning this product. I have no idea if it will work or not, but I'm hoping it does.

Here's someone else who is much cuter covered in hair:

Look at that happy kitty smile! This is how Cal spends her days. What a life! I could use a few days like this myself.

FO: New Look 6643

So, I actually started this dress on 28 March, before I left for Italy. However, it required a lot of thinking and refitting before I was finally ready to say it was done. I finished the final adjustments last night (28 April), washed and ironed it, and proudly wore it to work today with my tall black boots and a black cardigan to cover my shoulders. I am really happy with it, even though it's far from perfect (especially the zipper in the back -- I'll need to try an invisible zipper next time).



The fabric is a green, burgundy & white Glenplaid rayon/linen blend from Fashion Fabrics Club. Total cost (including its part of the shipping and handling) was $8.91 for 2.5 yards. The only reason this pattern calls for 2.5 yards is because it has self-fabric bias strips for the neckline and arm holes. So I have quite a bit of this fabric left over. It worked all right and was certainly comfortable to wear, but isn't as easy as cotton to work with because it's harder to press a nice crease in the fabric. This was only a big problem when trying to iron the little flap for the lapped zipper.

I used thread and a zipper from the stash I brought home from my last visit with my parents. I cut a 10 but graded up to a 12 for the waist. I had to take it in at the side seams on both sides a bit, take up the shoulders by 1" on front AND back, shorten it by 4", and add a small pleat at the neckline on the front because the neckline was gaping. I consider this my wearable muslin, since I used it to figure out all my fitting issues. My next version of this pattern will hopefully go much faster. This is a great pattern for dresses that are appropriate for work, so I expect I will make at least a few more versions. Especially since the kinks are mostly worked out now!

Big Questions: Interesting perspective from Roger Ebert

Apparently this will be a column that pops up here when the occasion warrants...

Over the weekend, I ran across a blog entry by Roger Ebert (yes, that Roger Ebert, the one who reviews films). Unexpectedly, he was writing about his perspective on the universe and the place of humans within it. I think this blog entry really caught my attention because one of my students, who happens to be a Religious Studies major, had turned in an essay on Friday for an extra credit event and had also been talking about his own perspective on these big topics. Both my student and Roger will never be experts in astrophysics, but they have both obviously thought deeply on these subjects.

Just as I don't agree with all his movie reviews, I also don't agree with everything Roger Ebert writes in his blog post, but it really is a fascinating look into another person's attempt to find his place in this vast universe. I hope it inspires you to think about these big questions, as it did me.

Click here to read it.

Frustration Buster

Q: What can make a frustrating afternoon all better in under 5 minutes?

A: This video of a baby polar bear playing with a blue plastic bucket at the Aalborg Zoo:

FO: Simplicity 5914

Before leaving for Italy, I was able to finish my Simplicity 5914 skirt. I used a 1 3/8 yard beige twill remnant ($4) from Fashion Fabrics Club made from 97% cotton with 3% lycra for a bit of stretch. I cut a 10 graded up to a 12 at the waist. I had to adjust the fit a bit but was quite happy with the end result. I took in 1/4" on each of the seams on the front panel about 4" below the waist. I also had to shorten it by 2.5" in length. Next time I'll make sure to shorten the pattern before the flare begins to keep more of the tulip shape. I'm really happy with how the fit turned out after my modifications, and I'm already planning additional versions (black linen would be really versatile).

I'm also wearing my Apple Blossom Blouse (the Paloma blouse from
French Girl Knits) in the photos. I finished this blouse in October but have only worn it a few times because of the cold weather over the winter, and never got any pictures of it until this morning. I haven't yet bought a silk ribbon to wind through the neckline, but plan to do that at some point.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with my outfit today, and the fact that I made most of it myself by hand. :) It was weather and work appropriate for a weirdly warm and humid spring day. And yes, we have beautiful flowers bursting into bloom all over Atlanta, which is fun to look at but wreaking havoc with my sinuses. Thank goodness for allergy medications!

Milan, Italy

Apparently it's been a while since I've posted. I had a lot to get done before I left for Italy, and then I was in Italy for almost a week, so I have some catching up to do.

Italy was great! The buildings were beautiful (not even just the "special" buildings), the food was great, and the company was fantastic. Many of my friends and colleagues were at the conference as well, and most of us managed to find rooms at the same hotel, making it easy to go out to dinner and spend time together. The stress I was under to finish up several things before leaving was gone shortly after I left, and I felt so much better after returning.

Sadly, there were no tickets left for the opera at La Scala. It would have been fantastic if we could have gone, especially given the opera they were performing while we were in town:

But we did get to tour the opera house and that was amazing in itself. You could just imagine the women in their opera gowns with their opera glasses, spying on the comings and goings in the boxes across the theater from their own.

By far, the vast majority of my photos feature Il Duomo, the cathedral.



I had just gotten a new pocket-sized camera before leaving, and I'm still amazed at the level of detail it was able to capture:


I can't even imagine how many people it took to carve all that marble...

Other fun shots of Milan include this arch:

And the medieval castle of the ruling family, where Leonardo da Vinci worked for many years:

A statue of the man himself:

The best thing I saw during the entire trip was da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper. I was traveling with two colleagues from my institution, and the three of us took a tour of Milan the afternoon we arrived. The tour was the only way to see the painting since the viewing slots were sold out and the number of people allowed to view the painting each day is strictly limited. The dining room at the monastery where the painting resides is now encased in a humidity-controlled room to slow down its deterioration as much as possible. It was truly amazing, but no pictures are allowed, so I can't share my experience here other than to say it was the highlight of my trip, and if you find yourself planning to go to Milan, make reservations to see the painting as far in advance as you possibly can.

Just to prove that I was behind the camera, here's a shot of me spinning on my heel on the Torino Bull for good luck:


And here's the bull himself, with the mark of many tourists left behind:The particular part of his anatomy that is now worn away through the spinning of countless heels apparently has to do with the original meaning of the spinning, which was to ensure a safe pregnancy. Luckily, since I'm not pregnant and not planning on it any time soon, the meaning has now changed to just generic good luck. :)

That's probably enough photos for now. I have some catching up to do with other posts too, so I should be posting fairly often in the near future.