Last week was Infertility Awareness Week

Last week was Infertility Awareness Week and the theme was Infertility Uncovered. I visited Resolve's website (the national infertility association) and read a bunch of articles, personal testimonies, and blogs but I didn't write a blog post of my own. I usually do but I didn't feel right doing so this year because I literally have nothing to contribute to the theme. Its tricky for me. As I dig deeper into "infertility", I realize more and more that, not having gone through it first-hand, I can't truly relate one hundred percent. Yes, it is true that I cannot conceive a baby on my own. But, I have not gone through the ups & downs of fertility treatment. I have not attempted to foster or adopt. I have not considered surrogacy or IVF. I want to empathize with my fellow sisters but I feel like a guest in the infertility club; sometimes welcome and sometimes not. I think for this year's theme, I am the unwelcome sort of guest. So I will stay silent on the #infertilityuncovered topic.

Even though I couldn't really participate in this year's Infertility Awareness Week, I want to leave some friendly reminders:
       * One in eight couples is infertile. Please don't ask about a woman's family planning; you never know how hurtful that simple question of When are you going to have kids can be.
       * We all are capable of making informed decisions about the size of our family. Please don't ask Why don't you have kids, yet or tell us You won't know what love is until you become a mother.
Just because I am not actively on an infertility path, I still believe in the importance of awareness. I will remain a cheerleader for advocacy and acceptance.  I send out my best wishes for those couples on their infertility journey. I grieve for women's miscarriages and couples with unsuccessful results. I am the one in eight.

Lastly, a little bit more about myself and my personal journey...   There is the tribe of women who are "childfree" (don't have children; never wanted to have children). There is another tribe of women who are "childless" (went through their infertility journey and ended up without any successful results). I am stuck in the middle... when I was in my late teens/early twenties, I decided that I didn't want to have children; then when I got married, we decided that life wouldn't be so bad with a kid or two but then we found out that I have advanced & extremely severe endometriosis. So then I reverted back to my original decision of not wanting children after all. I'm sort of childfree but I'm also kind of childless. There isn't really a tribe for me. So I continue to forge my own path.

SURPRISE! More craft shows...

I have pillows! I have large stuffed animals! And, I have small stuffed animals (ok, not really small, they're the size I've always offered)!

Guess what, guys? I WILL be having a spring craft show season after all! HOORAY \(^_^)/  As you already knew, Wanderlust Pop-up Shops was my only spring craft show this year and it was cancelled because Oklahoma weather is terrible (100% chance of rain and a high of 40℉ forecast for its previously scheduled date, um... no thanks 👎) The new scheduled date will be Sunday May 5, 2019. While stressing out about Wanderlust, I picked up two more shows, so, you'll have a couple more chances to buy that pillow or stuffed unicorn you've had your eyes on. 😉 I will have ALL of my inventory at these remaining shows (there will be tons of inventory to choose from because I was sewing like a madwoman in preparation for Wanderlust Pop-up Shops)... that means SO MANY pillows, the entire stuffed animal menagerie, plus other fun stuff like tote bags, wall hangings, cell phone and tablet pillows and anything else that is in my crafting closet. This will be my first time participating in these two shows but I've heard good things and I'm sure they will be pretty fantastic.

Arts & Crafts Marketplace

Saturday, April 27, 2019

9am - 3pm

The Station at Moore Central Park, 700 South Broadway Ave., Moore, Oklahoma 73160
https://www.facebook.com/events/2287826001277874/

The "marketplace" will be outdoors on the lawn. I won't have a tent so please pray for good weather. Actually, the event coordinator told me that if it rains, she'll move the entire show indoors so maybe we should all pray for rain. LOL The main goal for this show is to be an artisan marketplace but there will be a handful of direct sales vendors. This show was recommended to me by a fellow crafter, Elizabeth (owner of Zee & Zeus dog treats) so if you come out to see me, please also swing by her booth to pick up some goodies for the fur babies.

I know this is the most generic craft show flyer ever but this is what they posted on their Facebook event page...

Arts & Crafts Fair
Saturday, May 4, 2019
9am - 4pm
American Legion Post 12 - Bethany/Warr Acres, 6101 NW 50th Street, Warr Acres, OK 73122
https://www.facebook.com/events/2348265302058651/

This will be a true craft fair; only handmade items and no direct sales! The craft fair will be held in conjunction with the lodge's annual pancake breakfast (which starts at 7am... vendors are allowed to start selling at 7am but I won't be there until 9am). Breakfast and shopping all in one go! What more can you ask for?

Wanderlust Pop-Up Shops
Sunday, May 5, 2019
10am - 6pm
Wheeler Ferris Wheel, 1701 S. Western Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73109
https://www.facebook.com/events/284402045529166/

I hope you guys can make it out to the rescheduled Wanderlust. I know its on a Sunday, which can be a little inconvenient but I promise it'll be worth your while to come out. It's all local, handmade, Oklahoma artisans!! There will also be food trucks and kids' activities. And, it will be my last craft show before summer break (no shows for the rest of May, and all of June thru September).

Did you know you can frame clothes?

Its spring cleaning time! I've been going through my closet and, oh my goodness, there are a lot of clothes that I don't wear anymore! 😆 Luckily, I can use a lot of it as fabric for RagsReborn pillows and what I can't use, I can donate. On the other hand, I came across a couple of items that I can't use as fabric but I still have a sentimental attachment to so I don't want to get rid of them, either. At the same time as I was trying to come up with ideas of how to re-purpose my clothes, I was also thinking of how to fill some of the empty space on a few of our walls. Then the two collided and I decided to frame a few of my shirts. It is a pretty straightforward process and here's a super simple DIY.

Materials needed: old article of clothing (I used the blouse that I got married in; it still fits but it's become a little too tattered to wear), picture frame, hot glue gun and fabric scissors.

1. Open up the picture frame and locate the piece of paper in between the cardboard backing and glass.

2. Cut out the section of fabric that you want to frame (or, if you don't want to cut into your shirt, fold it to where only the section you want to frame is visible). Make sure that the section is bigger than the piece of paper from step #1.

3. Wrap the fabric around the piece of paper (I wrapped it tightly, like I would a Christmas present) and glue around the edges.

4. Put the frame back together and you're done!

Another thing that I like to frame and decorate with is puzzles. But I guess that's not a novel idea. any suggestions for what I should frame and decorate with next?

RagsReborn's Spring Craft Show Schedule

Howdy, everyone...long time, no blog. How have you been? Good, I hope. I suppose this lack of blogging isn't news anymore since I only blog about once per month now. So lazy! LOL I guess I haven't had that much going on. Or at least not that much that's worth writing about. So onto RagsReborn's spring craft show schedule...

Wanderlust Pop-Up Shops
Saturday April 13, 2019, 10am - 6pm
Wheeler Ferris Wheel 1701 S. Western Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73109
https://www.facebook.com/events/284402045529166/

This will be my third year at Wanderlust. 😎 And that's because it has always been one of my favorite shows to be a part of. The event coordinators do everything they can to ensure that both vendors and shoppers have a great experience. The best part--- all of the vendors are local Oklahoma makers! No direct sales or multi-level marketing companies. Support handmade crafters!! Support local small business!! Support artisans!! And all that jazz...

And that's it. Only one spring craft show this year. I might pick up a small show here and there if a good fit comes my way but I don't have much planned for this spring and summer. *Gasp!* No worries though, I will be doing several shows this fall and holiday season. I already have applied for--and have been accepted to--a handful of shows (which is amazing because I never get my schedule organized this far in advance!) I plan to hit the craft show circuit pretty hard again starting in October. Until then, let me know if you need any custom orders made; you know those are my favorite and I am always ready for them!

Wes & Erica go see LP in concert

I was super excited when I saw the wrist bands because it matched my sweater. Cheetah print for life! 🐱

So here it is, guys, the first travel blog post of the year. It only took until March for Wes & I to find a reason to leave town for a weekend. I found out that LP was coming to Dallas and decided that we had to go. An added plus - Wes likes her music, too! You might not recognize her name but I'm sure you are familiar with her music. Apparently, her songs have been in a several tv shows (I don't know which ones because I don't watch tv) and a few years ago, one of her songs Night Like This was the featured weekly download for iTunes (I think it was also on an Apple commercial but I'm not for certain). We also ventured to Dallas to revisit Malai Thai Kitchen. We went for dinner when we stopped at Ikea last December and saw that they have a really delicious brunch menu. Since the concert was on a Sunday evening, we thought that would be the perfect opportunity to also get brunch. 

The forecast showed winter weather (light snow & some icy spots) for the day we drove down to Texas so we left home super early. By the time we arrived at the restaurant, I was cold and sleepy. The big bowl of congee that I ordered off the brunch menu was just what I needed. Congee, or Chinese rice porridge, is one of my favorite foods. Sadly, the only place where I can find it in OKC is at dim sum. We don't go out for dim sum much so I rarely ever get it. My mom isn't a fan so she doesn't cook it, either. I was SO DAMN EXCITED when the waiter brought out my steaming bowl of chicken, broth, egg, bread, scallions and rice. It was warm and hearty and tasted like everything that was right in the world. Wes ordered the Thai omelette. He liked it but said it was a little too sweet. Oh, and there was zero snow/ice on the roads. Our weather forecasters suck. LOL

I only took pictures of the lobby because the rest of the hotel did not look this nice.

I didn't plan anything else for the day so after brunch, we just checked into the hotel and lounged around all afternoon and into the early evening. Wes booked us a room at the Highland. The lobby looked super swank and upscale but the rest of the hotel wasn't all that great. All other parts of the hotel were Wild West-themed to the extreme. Every piece of decor in our room was cowboy-related and it looked sooooo tacky. And our room had zero amenities. No microwave, no coffee maker, nothing that could be used to make food. They did have room service menus lying around everywhere... hint hint. 😏 I wasn't a fan of our room but what made me give the Highland a bad rating was the valet service. Parking was valet only. And there was only one valet attendant. And he was not very attentive. If you require all of your guests to use valet, then you should probably hire more than one grumpy guy. The valet attendant was never visible when we pulled up and he didn't answer when we called for the car from our room (we just kind of stood around outside for several minutes hoping my car would eventually get parked or pulled around). Maybe I'm too middle class to fully appreciate valet parking.

For dinner we ate at Aw Shucks, which was the second restaurant of the day where I absolutely loved my food (fried oysters and coleslaw) but Wes did not enjoy what he ordered (fried catfish and fries). We usually share the same culinary tastes so this was weird. The place was known for its take on shrimp cocktail. The shrimp was mixed in an avocado, lime, cilantro and tomato relish and poured into a beer mug, which was very Instagrammable but not easy to actually eat. The restaurant was basically an open kitchen surrounded by patio seating. The patio was enclosed in a tent-like structure but it was still ridiculously cold. The staff was super friendly and the security guard complimented Wes's hair (which happens way more often than you'd think).

After dinner we walked across the street to the Granada theater for the concert. I was not a fan of the Granada's aesthetic. I think it has potential to be a really nice event space but it chose to keep its old and dirty look. I guess it mostly hosts indie artists so the building's vibe was very grunge. What bothered me the most was the unfinished paintings on the walls. It seemed as if the artist had original intent for a sprawling mural but then said, "Oh f*ck this", and went home. LP's opening band was a husband and wife duo named Sam & Jim. Wes and I agreed that they were awful. Think of the most annoying, sugar coated, married couple you know. Now think of them on a stage singing. That was Sam & Jim. I think they only played for 45-minutes but their cutesy anecdotes and songs about their life together seemed to last a hellish eternity. 

All tickets were general admission and we didn't get there super early to be in the front so my pictures aren't that great. Sorry.

LP finally took the stage and she was everything I ever wanted in an artist, and more. Her performance was sooooooo good. Her vocal range is amazing. She is the only person I know who can rock out on a ukulele and make whistling sound sexy. This was one of the few concerts where I felt, wholly and genuinely, the intent of the music. I actually felt sad when she sung a sad song. I felt truly joyful when she performed a happy song. She performed mostly from her latest album Heart to Mouth and barely any from Forever For Now, which is my favorite and the album where I discovered her. I thought she sounded better live than on the albums but Wes disagreed. His favorite song she performed was Recovery, which she did acoustic. I liked every song she performed and I got a kick out of her cover of Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire. She didn't talk to the audience much but she did interact a ton with the front row. People were handing her cell phones so she could take selfies and record herself singing. Fans also handed her letters and signs. At the beginning of the show, someone threw a bouquet of white roses at her. They didn't throw the roses to her but at her. Another concert goer threw their phone at her. Who does that? So rude! She took it all in stride and kept on performing. 

This is usually where I end day #1 of the trip and save the second day for another blog post but we didn't do much on day #2 of our trip so I will just keep the two days together for one journal entry. We had lunch at the Original Market Diner. It had good reviews online but neither of us enjoyed our meals. I think the restaurant survives off its regular customer base who have been eating there for so long that they don't realize that the food is not good and over priced. Wes got the raisin bread French toast, which he said tasted like bargain brand bread you get on sale at the grocery store. I got their blue plate special, which was meatloaf on Mondays. I love meatloaf and have never had one that I didn't like... until now. The "meatloaf" had the texture of SPAM and it tasted like fast food hamburger patties. It was all filler and preservatives. Instead of ketchup or barbecue sauce, they poured this runny tomato broth (with soggy vegetables) on top of the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It tasted fine over the meatloaf but it completely ruined the mashed potatoes. 

Our last stop was Buc-ee's. There's a new location in Denton now!!! So we will for sure be stopping in every time we go to Dallas. LOL Buc-ee's is the best convenience store in existence. We always meander around for  way too long and buy too many snacks but its a good thing. I always want Buc-ee's merchandise but we're trying to keep our house minimalistic. But, man it was hard to resist that stuffed animal! Besides the hotel and lunch, I thoroughly enjoyed our first mini-vacation of 2019. I am really glad that I saw LP live. She is one bad ass rocker chick!

My very first pop concert...

Well... I guess this wasn't my first pop concert; I saw George Lam at the Hong Kong Coliseum several years ago but that wasn't a "traditional" pop star's concert. I loved seeing George live, don't get me wrong, but he didn't have back up dancers, rotating stages, wardrobe changes and everything else I think of when I imagine a pop concert. I've seen all the TV concert specials (New Kids on the Block, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncė, etc) and I've always wanted to be there. Being right in the thick of it seems like it'd be an amazing spectacle.

This is the best picture I could find from the George Lam concert. It was in 2011 and phone cameras weren't that great.

Last year, Justin Timberlake's Man of the Woods tour announced that they were making a stop in Oklahoma City and there it was-- my golden opportunity! I've loved Mr. Timberlake ever since N'SYNC (speaking of N'SYNC, which one of them is the Rabbit on The Masked Singer TV show???) and Man of the Woods is one of my favorite albums by him. I purchased our tickets in March of 2018 and actually forgot all about the concert until I got an email reminder from TicketMaster. Saturday January 26th finally rolled around and the show did not disappoint. Totally worth the wait! I read an article stating that the concept of the show was to "bring the outside in," and boy did they! 😍 The stage was ah-mazing!!! I enjoyed the stage/props and lighting displays more than the actual concert... Justin Timberlake put on one hell of a show but it could have been anyone singing on that stage and I would have still loved it because the production was just that good. LOL

Let me try to describe it for you: the large main stage (where the band was set up) was situated toward the back of the arena and it lead out onto a winding catwalk lined with faux trees. The show was at the Chesapeake Arena, which is round, and Justin's creative team made sure that everyone sitting anywhere could get a good view of the performance. The winding stage ended at a round mini-stage that had grass that sprouted out from underneath the stage. All along the catwalk were trap doors that produced back up dancers and microphone stands. There was also a small campfire scene, some ramps, and a large projector that showed outdoorsy backgrounds on screens that hung from the ceiling. And LASERS!!! So many lasers!!!! I've decided that my favorite part of any concert is the laser light show. I've also decided that if reincarnation is indeed real, I am going to study theater and production in my next life (assuming I come back as a humanoid) so I can work on the artistic team of a large production because my favorite part of any concert, Broadway musical and movie is always the set design. Well, that and costumes.

The concert supposedly started at 7:30pm but we had to sit through two hours of DJ Freestyle Steve before Justin Timberlake came out. DJ Freesyle Steve was supposed to hype up the crowd and he sort of did--but I found him mostly to be annoying. He kept repeating the same things over and over... it was "OKC are we ready to party?", "Gurl I see you!", and "Where my die-hard JT fans at?" on a constant loop. We also saw Francisco Yeats. He is a Canadian singer and a pretty famous song writer (I had never heard of him so I Googled him as he performed his set). He sang a bunch of cover songs, but after discovering that he's a pretty prolific songwriter, they're probably songs he co-wrote, so not actual covers. He did a lot of Prince- and James Brown-inspired dancing (although I thought he looked more like Jimmy Fallon doing his silly dances) and he put on a Thunder jersey with Westbrook's number. That got the crowd to like him! Smart kid. And after all that, the stage cleared and we still had to wait another 45-minutes for the real show to begin. I thought it was a little weird because the opening acts wasted all their time pumping up the crowd just to have it pewter out during the long wait. By the time Justin Timberlake came out, everyone was playing games on their phone, scrolling through social media or just milling about the hallways. 

I remember really really enjoying the concert but I don't remember anything specific... except for that awesome stage. Justin Timberlake performed songs from each of his solo albums and I liked Mirrors (the projection screen showed a kaleidoscope of several Justin Timberlakes) and Morning Light (the stage turned into a campfire scene) the best. His Man of the Woods logo and surrounding lasers was absolutely mesmerizing. The choreography and back up dancers were also super entertaining (every time I see a concert or music video I always look to see if I can recognize any former So You Think You Can Dance contestants; I did not see any this time). Justin Timberlake wore his Russell Westbrook designed Nikės and at one point, incorporated "Boomer Sooner" into his lyrics. Oh and at the beginning of the show, the large projector showed a video of The Tennessee Kids singing Thank God I'm a Country Boy (John Denver). I already knew I would enjoy the concert, but surprisingly, Wes did, too. He even said he liked Francisco Yeats! LOL So that was the first concert of 2019. We'll be seeing LP in March and possibly Ozzy Osborne in June.  Get ready for more travel blogs! (And less craft show blogs.. we'll talk about that later...)

RagsReborn's 2018 Review

It is currently 11:35am on Tuesday, January 1st, 2019. Happy New Year, y'all! 🎇🎉(that second emoji is supposed to be a "party popper," but it totally looks like a taco or some sort of food to me, LOL) I decided to use the #2018bestnine app yesterday to generate my highest liked pictures of the year. Some good ones came up - endometriosis awareness, the dress I designed and made for American Sewing Guild contest, the Kesha concert, my drastic haircut, I gained Excel certification, endometriosis awareness (again!), Athena with Santa Paws, Crazy Rich Asians, and sadly, only one craft show picture. And even worse, there weren't any pictures of my sewing process or finished products. Well, that just means I need to work harder this year.

Earlier this morning, I tabulated all of my craft show information (items sold per show, expenses, and all that boring accounting stuff). I only participated in sixteen shows--which is still a lot but I think I did over twenty the year before. I spent most of my time (and money) on growing my sewing skill set. I took a sewing class that spanned several weeks and totally immersed myself in American Sewing Guild. Oh, and I also bought a ton of new stuff for my sewing room. So, 2018 wasn't the best year financially for RagsReborn. That being said, I still had a handful of marvelous craft shows. The top one being The Santa Market, closely followed by Wanderlust and Sleigh Bells Market.

I opened my Etsy store in late November of 2014, just in time for the holiday shopping season. I told myself that I would give it three years to decide if being a small business owner would be a viable option for me. My three years are over and I've decided that nope, being a small business owner is absolutely not a good career choice. Dude, I totally suck at sales! While other vendors are chatting up everyone who walks near their booth and making $500+ at craft shows, I'm over here being socially awkward. That used to make me feel so horrible (and jealous). Something happened last summer... a complete switch in mindset. I was still the quiet girl who politely greeted customers and let them browse while I sat in the corner of my booth and read... but I noticed that I was still making sales. I only gabbed with a few customers per show but I was having real conversations with those that did stop and talk. I made friends and gained repeat customers. Most importantly, I stopped comparing myself to other vendors. I finally realized that RagsReborn Gifts is not a job, and I don't want it to be a job or a career. That's too much pressure.  I will never sell $1,000 at a craft show, like the "successful" vendors do. My products will never be picked up to be sold in local boutiques. And that is just fine. All I want is to create in my sewing room and then show off all my awesome talent. RagsReborn is a hobby, a hobby that I am really passionate about. I'm actually proud of myself and I don't need sales to justify that feeling. All that matters is that I bring top notch quality items to each and every show. For 2018, that is exactly what happened. I hope to keep that positive momentum going for 2019. I'm taking a few months off to experiment with new inventory (I will be sewing unicorn shaped stuffed animals...for all of you who keep asking if I have unicorns 🦄) and restocking everything else. I look forward to putting my spring craft show schedule together... I hope to see you soon!