December 27

The last present I unwrapped on Christmas morning was a letter from Josh. Along with his expressions of love and gratitude and other things too lovely for me to repeat here, he ended with a poem that sent me off to look under the soap in the bathroom.

There, I found another clue leading me outside under the tree in the front yard ... where I found another note telling me to look in the trunk of my car. There, I found a new sewing machine!!!!!!!!

We had such a frugal Christmas, because of Josh and I both losing our jobs earlier in the year. But he got a surprise bonus last week, and allocated all of it for a new machine for me. He made it clear that he had no idea what model I'd really like, so if the one in the box wasn't totally to my liking, we could exchange it. Which today I did.

I am now the very excited owner of a Brother Innovis NX-450, my first ever electronic sewing machine. It totally rocks!

I immediately whipped up a silk scarf (something my old machine would not have coped with). Goofy Josh decided to model it for me. He wished he had a pipe (and maybe a beret) as a prop but had to make do with spectacles.

Lauren did a slightly less comic modelling job, showing off the complementary brooch. I can't wait to sew some more!! I am so lucky!!