Tell the World Tuesday!

I have another exciting feature for you today! This week's feature comes from Valerie at Threads and Thoughts and Things I Love. This amazingly beautiful and talented lady was introduced to me again by my friend Sam, and I'm so glad that I decided to follow her blog! Her blog showcases a lot of her sewing talents, and it makes me wish I was as talented as she is! But now I'm blabbing on, I'll let Valerie take it away!

Valerie (middle) and her whole family drinking butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

1. First things first, tell me where you blog and a small paragraph about your blog.
I'm Valerie and I blog at Threads and Thoughts and Things I Love. I have been sewing my own clothes for about 4 years now, and I was getting tired of sending e-mails with attachments of pictures of my creations to my mom, grandma, and any of my friends who cared. So I decided to start a blog and post my sewing there instead! My mom and grandma are two of my most loyal readers :) The sewing community actually has a huge presence in blogworld as well, and several sewing blogs I read on a daily basis inspired me too. I knew I didn't sew enough to be able to blog ONLY about sewing (I've got a full-time job, after all!), so I also like to throw in tidbits of daily life with my husband Scott or things I find around the web that I like. My blog name basically sums it all up: I write about threads, thoughts, and the things I love!

Valerie and Scott at Central Park

2. Give me 5 words you use to describe yourself:
Seamstress. Wife. Christian. Friend. Laugh-lover.

3-picture collage of a recent sewing accomplishment

3. Do you use a real alarm clock or your phone? If you use your phone, what tune do you wake up to?
Alarm clock! Nothing like an annoying BEEP BEEP BEEP first thing in the morning, right?


4. What (or who) inspires you most?
When it comes to sewing, I easily get inspired just being at my sewing machine. I love to just be there, stitching along, getting lost in creating a piece of clothing from what was previously just fabric and thread.

Valerie's sewing space

I am always staring people down on the street, checking out what they're wearing, trying to figure out how it was made, and then bringing it back to the sewing machine and really trying it out.

Valerie and Vanessa, her dressform

5. Do you read for fun? If so, what are you currently reading; or what is a book you recommend?
I was an English Education major in college and taught middle school Reading for two years, so YES, I definitely read for fun! I loooooove to read! For myself, I am currently reading a young adult novel, part of the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, called Fourth Comings. For my book club, we are currently reading Bossypants, Tina Fey's memoirs. For our next book club meeting, we're going to visit the Upright Citizen's Brigade, where Tina herself occasionally shows up!

Valerie's book club

6. What is something you've always wanted to do?
Be on Dancing with the Stars. I have no idea what I would possibly do to be famous enough to be on that show, but perhaps being featured on Mallori's blog is a good start? :)


7. What is your favorite part of the day, and why?
Every day after work, I come home and immediately make dinner (as my husband is always absolutely starving by 5:00 PM). It just happens to always work out that I get finished making our meal just in time to bring the plates to the couch, sit down beside Scott, and watch Tosh.O on Comedy Central. Somehow that became our dinner-eating tradition, and I love it! It's the signal of the real end of my work day, and I know the rest of the evening I get to relax.


8. Where is the favorite place you traveled; or Where is a place you would like to travel?
I spent a semester abroad in college, living on an American Air Force base in rural England. Every weekend, the group of girls who were there with me would set off to a different country - it was an experience I am so grateful to have had! I can't choose just one place as my favorite, so I'll choose two: the west coast of Ireland and Florence, Italy. In Ireland, we spent a whole weekend just driving around on dirt roads in the countryside, riding horses through green Irish pastures, and spending the day at the Cliffs of Moher - absolutely breathtaking. Florence feels like a city frozen in time. We really immersed ourselves in Italian culture there - saw tons of art, ate tons of carbs, and climbed the steps of the Duomo. I haven't been back to Europe since (that was four years ago!), but I would love to go revisit some of the places I've already been, and see some new sights as well.

4 girls in Florence, Vaness on the right

Sitting above the ocean on the Cliffs of Moher

9. What is your guilty pleasure (food, TV show, etc.)
I'll name this one because I know most people would classify this as a guilty pleasure: I am abnormally obsessed with the Backstreet Boys. Like, still. To this day. As a 26-year-old woman. I've seen them live twice in the past year, and have tickets to see them again with New Kids on the Block in June!


10. Give your favorite inspirational quote, photo, or both!
"When it's all over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms...
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world."
-Mary Oliver, from the poem "When Death Comes"


11. What is one thing you want to Tell the World today?
Find something you love to do, and be passionate about it. Do it all the time. Tell people about it. Be proud of it. Share it. Don't let it get put on the backburner. Whatever it is, do it big.


And here are some more photos she sent me:

Val's and Scott's smooch at their wedding!

Valerie and Scott with their friends Heidi and Marshall, who will be getting married soon!

Valerie and her besties on top of a mountain they climbed in Arizona

What she has to tell the world today is something pretty powerful! Make sure you follow your passions! Now head on over to Threads and Thoughts and Things I Love and spread the love to Valerie! You won't be disappointed, and you'll most likely be inspired to start sewing projects (because she makes it look so easy!).