Hello and Welcome to my very first ever Blog! If you would have told me I would be doing this I would have said- NO WAY! I will be blogging (lol) every 2 weeks. So, you will hear all about me and things happening in my life- so get ready for a crazy, exciting ride!
I thought it would be kind of cool to title my first one – Do What You Love- because that’s just what I am doing. Life is way too short to NOT do what you love… Let me tell you a little bit about what brought me to this place, and I’m sure as we go- i will be filling it all in. I don’t want to give away too much all at once…
Born on November 21, 1963… had a pretty average life- great mom and dad, I was the oldest, and I have a younger brother, Brian and a younger sister, Cathy. I grew up in the restaurant business- so it was natural for me to follow in the same footsteps… I bought my first “diner” in september of 1987- I was 23! Wow- when I think of that… now… 32 years later, a couple more diners and now in partnership with my dad- (Yikes!), a couple of husbands, My son, Tyler, daughter, Dawn, and granddaughters, Raury and Alex and grandson, Dominik!- OH and I can’t forget my dogs!- Molly, Charles and Stuart!- oops- and husband, Darryl!
So- you are probably asking… what does this have to do with- The Sober Sewist? That’s a good question- Well, in a nutshell, I started taking sewing lessons about 5-6 years ago. My teachers name was Doris- I LOVED it– The first thing I learned was sewing pillowcases! Oh man– I think I made well over 500! EVERY single person that knows me has one to prove it– My favorite part was matching the colors and patterns– it gives me chills thinking about it now.
One thing led to another and then another– My first machine was my Babylock Sofia 2! I still have it and LOVE it. It does embroidery- just a small hoop, so I figured I would try a class on embroidery– Oh boy!!! I made this snowman mug rug! I just could not believe you could do something like that- I was completely 100% Hooked! REALLY BAD! Well, it didn’t take me too long to figure out I couldn’t really do a whole lot with that small hoop- so….. Yup- I started upgrading my machine— after my first “exchange” – I figured out quickly, I needed to have 2 machines so I could do something while the other was embroidering– so I quickly raced back to see Ruthie and bought my babylock back! Then I kept going to different embroidery classes and I kept upgrading my sewing machines– I was into Pfaff’s– and got as high as the Pfaff Icon- but I just wasn’t feeling it- and recently I traded that in for my now, Babylock Solaris!!!! I am in love- Im a “babylock” girl! I am very fortunate with my “diner” business over the years, so I have a lot of time to be home and be in my amazing sewing room- sewing! My brother once told me that I sew “abnormally”- that’s definetely for another blog…
I will end with 2 things, first, the “sober” part of the Sober Sewist…(short version) August 4th, 2018, I had what you would call an intervention-and I went to a rehab for 30 days in Tucson, AZ I was very depressed, isolating a lot, and was really really enjoying my wine– way too much. There, is where I learned I was an alcoholic. This was much harder for my family and friends to accept, than myself to admit. I left Sierra Tucson and came home, scared as Hell, but also equipped with lots of tools for me to tackle this new life of mine!
The second thing is this– Do What You Love- which is exactly what I am doing! My life is awesome- yes, of course I have struggles- who the heck doesn’t? I just started a new business, a new website, a new blog- and it’s ALL about Sewing! WOW! How lucky am I??? And there is one thing for sure– never ever could I do all this NOT being sober.