date night

[same_sky]

Once upon a time, when we were newly married, M and I went to Walmart on a Friday evening. M was perplexed at the sheer number of people at Walmart at eight pm on a Friday night. Young people! At about that time, a teenage couple walked by holding hands, and I explained--date night. Life in a small town means that you may have to take your date to Walmart in lieu of anything else to do*. It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek sort of comment but it stuck, and we now often talk about date night at Wally World. We were not motivated enough to go to Walmart on our date tonight, but we did go to a yummy Mexican restaraunt and my taste buds are still zinging with joy. M and I, we have stopped with the eating out, mostly. We went out a few times while his parents were here, and there have been a few special circumstances that have required us to eat out, but I've been cooking almost every day lately. We eliminated eating out from our budget, and created a rule that any money spent from that category would have to be covered by spending less in the "fun" category. (It's sad to say, but we almost never spend everything in the fun category anyway so it works out.) Anyway, this particular dining out experience was in order to celebrate me quitting my job. We've been putting that off for a long time now, and we finally made it out. Of course, by now, it felt not so much like current events, that whole not working thing. But still. It was good and it felt special again, to go out just for fun. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about anyway?

Guess what I did today! I sewed a baby carrier! It's a Ball Baby Mei Tai knock-off, created using the instructions here. I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I LOVE it, so far at least. It's so comfortable! And she feels so secure in it! I made the straps much too long, though, and I'll need to cut them down.. they're ridiculously long. Evelyn seems to like it. I walked around with her for half an hour or so after I finished it, and she seemed content. I spent a total of eight bucks on the fabric, and still have a little over a yard left, so it was certainly cost-effective--compare to eighty dollars. :) It's even kind of cute--I bought it because it was the only thing on the sale table that seemed sturdy enough, but I wasn't in love with the print. It looks better now, though. :) I do love the crafty.

*Or, probably, to be a bit more realistic--date night starts at Walmart for those who put things off til the last minute.. ie, buying some friendly accessories for the evening's activities. Better to get prepared late than never to get prepared at all...

Comments

[dbrus.livejournal.com]

Go you! We have a BabyHawk Mei Tai. If you can come up with a good original design, you could sell them! Hmmmm. I am envisioning you in business selling custom dipes, wipes and carriers.

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

That's what M said. This is the only mei tai I've ever tried, though, so I'm not even sure where I'd go about changing it. Maybe. I like the idea of selling custom stuff, though! We'll see how it pans out. I might get bored with it before I come up with my own patterns. :)

[reebert.livejournal.com]

I've always been a little scared of the mei tai type carrier because it looks so easy for the baby to slip out the sides of it. I'm assuming that's not actually the case though since so many people seem to love it. Those are great instructions, it makes me want to make one. haha I can't wait to see a pic of yours in action. And also, good on you for sewing so many things!! :)

[same-sky.livejournal.com]

You should! It was fun! I am enjoying the sewing. It's so fun to be able to look at something and say, "hey, I could make that@" I should try to work on learning how to sew in general instead of just figuring things out as I go along. I think I reinvent the wheel a lot. I will post a picture as soon as we've taken one. :)

As for slipping out the sides, the pouch sort of makes a little seat for the baby, and the straps hold her in place nicely. I thought the same thing at first. But.. I don't know about how it works with a tiny baby--Evelyn holds herself upright by now.