The Cup of Fortunes: Week 13 (March 23-29)

I love a two fortune week. Sometimes the fortunes go together and it feels like they were meant to be together forever in embroidered loveliness. Sometimes, like this week, the fortunes are the exact opposite of one another. These weeks are equally as enjoyable, usually because I have such a strong reaction to one or both of the fortunes. 

The first fortune of the week reads like something a horrible motivational speaker would tell an audience who paid a large sum of money to be talked at for an entire day (or several days), only to emerge at the end of the event with a completely disorienting feeling, a headache, a strong dislike of continental breakfasts, and less money than you had when you started. I've been re-watching movies from the late 1990s and 2000s, and recently re-watched Up In the Air. If you're not familiar with this movie, it came out following the 2008 recession and focuses on a man, played by George Clooney, who works for a company that other companies hire to lay off their employees. The film employed a large number of extras in the film who had lost their jobs as a result of the recession. It's such a sad part of the movie, but I also think it's one of the things that made it such a good movie.

Anyway, in addition to being the dude incredibly mediocre dudes hire to fire people when they can't do it themselves, Clooney's character is a motivational speaker. He has this whole speech about loading all your stuff and people and things into a backpack and then setting the metaphorical backpack on fire. His entire backpack thing makes me want to throw something. Sadly, real motivational speakers do the same thing and scam people out of so much money. When people at work ask me to recommend business or leadership books to them, I honestly can't do it for the same reason I'll never be in a cult. I ask too many questions and I don't believe dudes who try to sell me things...unless those things are cheese, tiny art, or have glitter on them. 

The second fortune was my favorite of the two. As I've been sharing over the course of this year's project, I'm trying to find joy, however small the amount, every day. This does include planning fun days for myself even as the horrors persist. In the next few weeks I'm going to:

• A baseball game during opening weekend 
• To the Richmond Zoo to see Poppy, Virginia's own pygmy baby hippo
• To a Hello Kitty themed night at Nats Park (yes, there is also a baseball game)
• A day of record shopping for Record Store Day
• Celebrate my mom's birthday

That's a lot of fun-filled days in a short span of time. I also have to go out to the new winery I joined in January to pick up my wine, which means I'll get to drink some delicious wine and enjoy nature. Or at least in the type of nature I like; controlled and involving snacks. 

Here are this week's fortunes and lucky numbers.

March 23

March 24

March 25

March 26

March 27

March 28

March 29

Weeks 1-13

WIPs, Plants, and Other Moments of Joy

I've been working on another kit from Savage Stitcher and finally finished the stitching part. It's a monochromatic piece; I've never done one before. It's currently drying after removing the stabilizer. Here's an almost finished picture:

The photo does not do the color justice.

My March meetup was last Sunday and I started working on another Scream. This inspired by a few things I've been seeing lately describing us all as "bits of stardust" or "shining lights in the dark." I'm going to use metallic and glow in the dark thread to create tiny French knots around the heart. The fabric is painted; I used metallic watercolor paint. It's coming along nicely.

My little lettuce babies have leaves! It's been so exciting to watch them sprout this week. It's going to be a little while before they're ready to eat, but I just love watching them grow. 

This is the one that's the most sprout-y (sproutiest?). 

Is anyone else spring home improvement project planning? I've been thinking about refreshing my bedroom. I ordered some samples of peel and stick wallpaper to see if I like that as an option. I may do one wall with the wallpaper and paint the rest. I also want to see about refinishing the furniture I have and painting a few Ikea items to clean them up.

I've also made a few changes in the studio. I decided not to paint the wall where the 2021 stitch journal was hanging. I knew it would take me to long to pick a color and then I'd be annoyed that it was taking me too long, so I just started hanging the pieces that needed a home. It's coming along nicely. 

Another addition to the studio: finally making an ort jar out of this crystal ball I got at Target a few Halloweens ago. When it came out, a bunch of people did this and I thought it was so pretty. And I have so many ort bags, so it made sense...and then I never did it. This thread is from the 2024 stitch journal project.

I hope you're finding some joy in this early part of spring. Maybe some random daffodils on the side of a highway (how do they get there?) or maybe the cherry blossoms are at peak where you live too. Get a little sun, drink your water, and remember we're all just plants with more complicated emotions.