One Man's trash is My Treasure

This last Saturday I had my first dumpster diving experience. I was throwing debris away from our planting at a dumpster by my office. I opened the lid and there it was looking up at me. I could tell it was sad because it was thrown away. No, it wasn't a little puppie, but a dress form. Just what I needed! I jumped in and pulled it out. It was in three pieces and it wasn't dirty, just worn a little. It might be smaller than I am, but it will do for now until I make a duct tape one. With a little love and help from Bert I know that I can "make it work."

I have been pretty busy lately and I haven't done any sewing since the temp dress. I have some ideas on the brain though. I will share those soon...

Doing Diego...Random thoughts

When I'm in San Diego staying at my parents I like to take it easy, this includes going to bed at a reasonable time. My parents usually stay up pretty late. So last time I was here it was 11 pm and I wanted to go to bed. The computer is in the room I sleep in and my Mom was on it. I announced that I am tired and want to go to bed in the nicest way I could conjure up, as a crabby sleepy person. She told me that she had to stay up and farm on Farm Town. "So I can't go to bed because you have to do what?" I said. This is when I was introduced to her farm which was actually pretty nice. At the time I ragged on it. "You have to stay up and farm on an imaginary farm," "You won't let your daughter go to bed and get her beauty rest," "If the amount of time people spent on this was put into them really farming no one would starve," etc. etc. But now looking back I know that I waste a lot of time on the Internet (i.e. facebook, this blog) and I shouldn't have ragged so hard. Long story short my parents are not doing as much farming these days so I was able to get on the computer to write this and go to bed at a reasonable time. Sorry Mom.

I'm in San Diego this weekend. The weather is beautiful! I had to rip off my boots and jacket as soon as I landed. It takes a little getting used to such warm weather. It feels good to get some Vitamin D on my pale skin. Saturday I went to a fabric store in Oceanside. It is called Maisonette and is the cutest store.
I bought a few yards of a fabric I have been eyeing for an upcoming project (green below for skirt) and I impulsed bought the blue one. I am not sure what I will do with it, so it will just go into my fabric stash. As you can see they are both big bold flower prints. Too bad for my resolution to not use big printed flowered fabric. Oh well.



I have lived in Northern California for over 11 years now. So when I am in San Diego I never really feel that I fit in. Whether it's my fashion, culture or personality. I still like visiting though. I would describe my style as eclectic, bohemian, colorful, retro-modern, thrifty and fun! I thought about how I would describe San Diego fashion? This is what I came up with.

• southern California surf/skate style
• punk rock
• laid back-comfortable

San Diego also has a lot of Palm Trees. Palm trees are not actually trees. Trees are dicots and palms are monicots. Which basically means that they have different leaves, stems, root systems, etc. We actually rarely plant palms in San Francisco because we only get funding for trees. I like palms and they are very iconic for Southern California, but the thing that I don't get is that they don't provide much shade. For such a warm climate why aren't large shade trees planted more often?

Those are my random thoughts...

My last day as a Temp!

Caption reads: Here Sally Bentz is wearing a Burda dress designed by Sally Bentz herself from her label Sew Sally Sew. It has cinched sleeves, a round collar and two front pockets.

Caption reads: Susan Bentz is wearing a white 100% polyester knit by Enka. It has short sleeves and set in pockets. The red, white and blue silk scarf slides through self-fabric loops on the shoulder and is worn with Navy blue accessorises from Montgomery Ward.

Yesterday was my last day as a temporary worker. It has been over a year this time around. To celebrate my last day I wore the dress I just finished to work. I really like this dress and it is really similar to my Mom’s. On my lunch Svetlana did a photo shoot of me. Thanks Svetlana! I am leaving the downtown financial district and will be working at the Presidio. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is beautiful and picturesque. There are things I will miss about the Financial District and things I will not miss!

Miss:
*Meeting for lunch with Svetlana
*Specialty’s cookies and sandwiches
*The Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building

*AB class with the cute instructor (Sorry I don't have a picture of this)

Will not miss:
*Tall buildings
*Hustle Bustle

*Uppity people
*$10 for lunch

Tomorrow I officially start my new job with the local non-profit Friends of the Urban Forest as a Planting Manager. I will be organizing and managing monthly tree plantings in different neighborhoods through out San Francisco. I will be working in an office, but also out in the field. I like getting dirty. Not only will I be greening San Francisco and making the urban environment more livable, but I will be able to create community. I am extremely excited and ready to start making a difference. I have waited 6 years for this and I can't wait for my job to be my passion. If you want to find out about the organization you can go to http://www.fuf.net/.

Good bye old life...