What I did this summer (on the west coast)...

Wednesday, we returned to Massachusetts after 6 busy weeks on the west coast. Even though our time there was so busy that we didn't have time for many of the outings we'd looked forward to (walks in Sebastopol, blackberry picking, etc.), it was still really satisfying to see what we *did* get done! Monday, before we left, I gave a research talk at the lab, and I actually started to feel a story coming together from my PhD research. Interested? Read the research segue below...

Every week we were in CA, these 72 little tanks (half of them pictured here) held PVC plates with a different species of sea squirt or bryozoan at 3 different temperatures. By taking pictures of individuals before and after the week-long experiment, I can calculate how much they grow. Interestingly, for the 3 species I've looked at so far, they grow faster at higher temperatures, and invasive species tend to grow faster and/or survive better at higher temperatures than native species.

Our west coast trip wasn't 'all work, no play', as we went on a special 1-week trip up to my in-law's home in Petersburg, AK that we'd had scheduled for almost a year. My parents came with us - their first time there - and one of the highlights was an amazing whale watching trip on Matt's dad's boat. It was also really wonderful for Caden to have a week with ALL 4 of his grandparents! And, in CA, I've been holding off on reporting on my one larger-scale crafty pursuit as it's not quite finished yet (and a surprise gift) - more on that in a future post ;)

Back to MA...

Transitioning, again, from CA to MA actually hasn't been too difficult this time, especially because we've returned on Labor Day weekend giving us a chance to catch up on sleep and family time. Hopefully I can stay motivated, research-wise, to get my experimental results analyzed and written up here in my next few months at the computer. In my free time, I have lots of plots and plans! First, I am doing my first big festival craft fair in no less than 2 weeks!!! Arian and I are going to share a booth at the Melrose Victorian Fair, and I am scrambling to build up my inventory. I'll certainly blog with pictures of my progress and would love suggestions of what to make with my limited time. Second, I have had my invitation to be a tester of Spoonflower (a design-your-own fabric company) in my inbox for a while now, knowing that if I so much as open their site, I will be hooked. Third, Halloween is just around the corner when you're a mom with a 2-year old's costume to make - yikes! and finally, once this craft fair is past, I'll have to revisit my new year's resolutions to see what I've forgotten. In the meantime, must. focus. on. craft. fair.!

First Pattern

I continue to be a very busy bee keeping my research experiments going here in California - plus preparing for a lab seminar on Monday and to head back to Massachusetts on Wednesday. I haven't had much time for my fun pursuits over the last 6 weeks, but I did manage to cross one of my new year's resolutions off the list: I completed my first sewing pattern, for my Mylarkey Lunch Bag! Before we left, I photographed all the steps of lunch bag construction, and I had time to write up the 'protocol' right when I got to California (when I was waiting for all of my research supply orders!). I also listed the pattern in the shop before I had actually completed it. Once it sold, that was some real motivation to get it finished (since I agree to email it within 48 hrs)!

I've also started offering do-it-yourself kits for the lunch bags - which include the pattern and all of the necessary materials - because a few of the materials are somewhat specialized (especially the Insul-Bright insulation and wide velcro). And guess what! The 'do-it-yourself' kit was featured by Etsy on their daily 'Etsy Finds' email called 'Lunch time!'. This daily email apparently goes out to a list of about 14,000 Etsy-ans! That was quite flattering, and business was hopping that day! Here's the text from the email (there was also a photo of the lunch bags):

August 13, 2008
This fall, say goodbye to boring brown bags, take-out containers and the small mountain of sandwich bags you use every week, and say hello to handmade totes, lunch sacks, and other unique food receptacles on Etsy.

Complete Do-it-yourself Kit - Mylarkey Lunch Bag

Get crafting and make your own lunch tote with a kit by cascadelemonade, $12.

I've been saving up ideas for blog posts, so hopefully you'll find me updating more frequently from here on out. For now, I'm headed back to working on my talk...and maybe I should get some shut-eye to prepare for another ~7 hours looking through a microscope tomorrow!