laura brown

okay, folks.

2009-07-19T21:59:00.003-05:00

it's official! if you have a link somewhere that leads you to this blog on a regular basis, you can update it. i am still working on getting things setup over at the new place, but as of monday, july 20, i am going to start posting at laurabrownart.wordpress.com.
wheeee!!!!!

hello, good-bye.

2009-07-17T07:04:00.002-05:00

i have one day left at the job i don't like. and then. . . . who knows?
there was a time in my life when i would have cried at that thought. but today, all i can do is beam. i'm not even kidding! since giving my two weeks' notice, i thought there might be a moment of nostalgia, an "i can't believe i'm not going to be here anymore!", a twinge of regret over the impending lack of funds. but let me tell you something:
the company does not make any acknowledgment of peoples' exits. the official position is that if co-workers want to do something nice, they are allowed, but the gesture cannot originate from anyone in a management position. the exact words of the boss are, "people who quit are dead to me."
nice, huh? it makes it unbelievably easy to walk away from a job where they don't even say, "thanks for all your hard work, laura." (although i will say, i have gotten nothing but supportive, encouraging, and slightly envious words from co-workers--not to mention the cake! the lack of a formal company-approved farewell make thoughtful actions like that even more meaningful.)
not only have i not felt anything but happy confidence about my decision all week long, but i am realizing that there could not be a better time for me to get out of there.
i could go on and on about how excited i am to live my dreams, but honestly, i am tired of thinking about it and analyzing the preaching "why should i wait until the recession goes away before i do what i love?!" business (which i firmly believe). i am tired of anticipating, i am tired of planning. i'm ready to dive in.
i have no idea what will happen. and that thought is thrilling! everything will work out. i really do believe that. i am excited to make things happen and to go after what i want.

speaking of what i want, and the life i am going after, i had a really great time last night at the launch party for local food blog simple, good, and tasty. it was at the birchwood cafe, which was perfect, and i enjoyed some great local food and wine with my friend mc (i met mc and lee, the founder of simple, good, and tasty, at my letterpress class!). i wish i had photos, but yesterday was the one day i left my camera at home. it felt great to be outside, eat wonderful tiny pulled pork sandwiches, meet new people, and talk with a friend about life and art and community. i think we are going back on saturday for some tour de france brunch (brioche french toast, anyone?).
i am looking forward to the weekend, knowing i can freely make plans for socializing since i know i will have time to be in the studio during the week!
did i mention how great i feel about my decision? i am looking forward to the weekend, and even to monday!
i hope your weekend is wonderful!

2009-07-16T06:46:00.007-05:00

i feel like i have been rather photo happy here this week--partly because i can't decide which photos to share with you, and partly to make up for the fact that i am still rather low on energy and don't have much of my own content to show (but it is coming, and i am really excited! as a long parenthetical side note, i just have to say how happy and relieved i am to have a light at the end of the tunnel of the day job. i'm looking forward to some rest and starting to structure my days around what i want to be doing rather than trying--and usually failing--to fit them in around the things i don't value--i.e. my day job).
uh, anyway. . . i have been thinking lately, though, about what i would like to be doing with my blog in the coming months. i like the idea of sharing great arts and crafts that i run across. i found these adorable crocheted macarons by sian keegan over on bakers dozen. i like this little shop, full of goodies created by thirteen artists, in editions of thirteen. the brainchild of australian amy borell, i think this is such a sweet project!

i got curious about sian's other work, so mosied over to her website, where i found more illlustrations, patterns, and stuffed things. because, you know, as much fun as it is to have macarons, it's also important to eat your veggies. the fennels and radishes are my favorites (although i really like the scallions, too! see? it's hard to decide which ones to post!).
sian also posts lovely little things on her blog. and her shop? ack! love it (there are strawberries and cupcakes there! and stuffed animal portraits! see, i'm practicing real restraint here).

totally unrelated: some of you asked about my switch to wordpress, which i am doing for a couple of reasons. i was about to share those reasons here, but i think maybe i will devote a post to that in the next week or so. the short answer is: it's more flexible and allows me to do more. but i'm actually really excited about some new features i have discovered, and the ease with which it allows me to do these things.

what should i wear today?

2009-07-14T23:45:00.011-05:00

kim and i were chatting yesterday about clothes and living cheaply and creatively, and she sent me a link to the uniform project, which i love. inspired by her teen years spent in school uniforms, sheena matheiken has taken a versatile dress, designed by her friend, and made seven identical pieces. she has pledged to wear them every day for a year in an effort to raise money for the akanksha foundation, which works with children in india to give them important education opportunities (you know, like going to school). three months in, she has already raised over $5,000!
i like this project for a couple of reasons. one, i always like anything that helps other people, especially the indian babies. they have a special place in my heart. two, i like the idea of a uniform! i am not the world's most creative dresser, by any means, and my closet is TINY. for some reason, 80% of the time, deciding what to wear is just not that fun for me. last season on project runway, someone asked michael kors about why he always wears a black t-shirt, blazer, and jeans. his answer was basically, "i have a lot of other creative decisions to make, i travel a lot. this is just easier." and i was shouting, "yes, yes!" at the tv screen. i really like the idea of having a basic element or two, and then changing it up with great accessories. as i move into a waaay more frugal phase of life, i am excited to make more of my own clothes, or modify thrifted clothes.
on a totally unrelated note, i am in the process of changing blogging platforms. as soon as i can get all my sidebar information transferred and a learn a few more things about wordpress, i will let you know about my blog's new home. i think i can still direct my laurabrownart.com domain to it, so there shouldn't be too many problems. i will let you know, though, so you can update any links you might have.

blah blah blah.

2009-07-14T08:26:00.006-05:00

i am still sick. i have spent most of the last week coughing. seriously. and i am still exhausted and foggy. i'm not exaggerating when i say it's a struggle to get the minimum done these days. i can't wait to feel better and have my brain back and functioning. getting to work on time is even harder than usual. what are they going to do, fire me?
speaking of which, the boss-man is taking my resignation with all the maturity of a twelve-year-old girl, and hasn't given me so much as a glance since i gave my two weeks'. i'm actually not surprised by this behavior, and i can't say that it makes my workplace any more enticing of a place to be.
the robot boss keeps pushing cough drops on me, since she can hear me hacking away at my desk (this is the woman who didn't really believe that i was sick last wednesday when i called, sans voice, to tell her i was not coming to work that day). i don't want any more cough drops!
on a happy note, a co-worker made me good-bye cake yesterday! two cakes, actually. from scratch, with yummy pineapple frosting.
on an even happier note, look at this unbelievably adorable piglet in a pair of wellies!

(from what possessed me, a blog that has become one of my favorite-favorites with her combination of hilarious writing, appropriately dramatic commentary, and plenty of baby animals. this particular little thing is "a british piglet named cinderella, who won't go in the mud without her boots. " tee hee.)

happy effing birthday monday!

2009-07-13T07:13:00.003-05:00

birthday? yeah, it's my blog's birthday. i can't believe i just typed that, or that i am actually pointing it out (although, my own birthday is right after christmas, and is typically an awkward and sensitive day for me, so why not celebrate the online representation of myself in the summertime?). but when i think about where i was a year ago, when i started writing here, and where i am now, i am just so excited. this seems like an appropriate time to take a look back and a look forward since this is my last week at work (good-bye beige cube! good-bye robot boss! good-bye big fat paychecks!), and i am excited to embark on this new adventure. it has taken a lot of preparation and patience, but now is the right time for me to be stepping out on this limb.
i did a little search for 'balloons' on etsy and found these charming little images by seller aliette! i kind of can't get over them, they are so right up my alley. they are 'automme 1-4' (because she's french! i couldn't not include the whole set!). i think they are beautiful, and she has a lot of other wonderful pieces. if i were not about to walk across the threshold of low-income living again, i would treat myself with the set as a blog-birthday present.
i hope your week is lovely!

weekend!

2009-07-10T07:00:00.005-05:00

my friend meg loves maira kalman, and has totally gotten me hooked on her work in a conscious way (if that makes sense). i really like how playful and full of energy her images are. i also like checking in on her blog, where she writes and illustrates little commentaries on various things--lately they are related to history, democracy, and government. here are a couple of excerpts from a piece about her visit to monticello.
i hope you have a wonderful weekend! i will be back on monday (my last monday in a dreaded beige cube!)

in good company.

2009-07-09T09:24:00.005-05:00

so, as always, i have been listening to the current at my desk this morning, and felt particularly encouraged to know that on this day in 1977, elvis costello officially quit his day job (at elizabeth arden cosmetics--what?) to make music full-time.
now, i am not comparing myself to elvis costello in any way, really. but i will say that i have been a fan for a long time (ever since my sister introduced me to him in high school), and that mostly my criteria for admiration of artists/musicians/writers is essentially a lifetime of interesting and growing work (i have been thoroughly enjoying his new album, secret, profane, and sugarcane, by the way).
what i am trying to say is: everyone has to take the leap sometime. and while there are probably a lot of people who have leapt and not landed so well as mr. costello, i don't know about them, so i can't really dwell on being discouraged by their stories! (nice how that works out, huh?)
does this post make any sense? i have been sick all week and spent what felt like an entire year in bed yesterday. i returned to work today--because to my company, sick is not an option--but still don't feel like my brain is forming coherent anything. . . .

july to do's.

2009-07-06T07:48:00.006-05:00

(two totally unrelated photos from my weekend at the lake: fireworks and baby-cousin graham, 4, who allowed me to photograph him and his glow sticks until he informed me: "i have the hiccups, i can't take anymore pictures" and then ran away.)

how is it that june was another "what just happened to me?" month??? for reference, my june goals are here, although i didn't really do them. i was pretty productive, though. here's one for all my monthly meet-up friends, and what happened in june:
1. i finally got a file cabinet! i also got some clipboards like the one in my june to do list post and i am excited to hang them up.
2. came up with a pricing structure for screenprinted wedding invites (EDIT: i am so not offering screen printed invitations at this point. but i think the pricing structure will apply to what i do want to offer, so that is good).
3. made a set of wedding invitations, for my cousin's wedding, which will be great examples to add to my inventory/example of custom work. this is the reason i am not offering the screen printed invitations. they did NOT go as planned and took way longer to make that i thought, and the whole big long story ended in me buying a laser printer (and loving it!), which sends my work offerings in another direction, one i feel more confident about it. all that to say, the vision has changed slightly once again, and with this change, i feel more confident about offering products i feel good about. anyway, the invitations are done, and ready to go to the bride.
4. look for part-time jobs: i did this! i sent out a bunch of resumes to different places, and have a few more to send out in july. i had an interview just this morning that went as well as i could possibly have hoped, although that doesn't mean i will get the job. and just this afternoon: i put in my two weeks' notice at my job!!!!! i seriously could not be happier (although i am getting sick from all the stress lately). i feel so great about this decision, and confident that everything will work out, one way or another.
5. write lesson plans for community ed classes. hmmm. didn't do this one, but it's going on the list for july.

here is what is on the list for july (as a side note, erin had a really great post about to do lists over on the bakery blog, for anyone interested. she shares some good tips i am going to start using):
1. develop product line, make, photograph and post online (hmmmm, is that too big of an item? i'll break it down). i am excited about this one.
2. decide on an opening date for my shop (which i like to refer to as "the business").
3. take some photos with my new diana! (i did get the film.)
4. nail down a part-time job.
5. contact bloggers/set up some advertising/sponsorship stuff.
6. write lesson plans/proposals for community ed classes.
7. oh, and this should maybe have been #1, but i now need to organize all the stuff in the file cabinet. somehow, my room is still overflowing with paperwork from the move, and it needs to have a home.

good luck to all of you with a to do list!

2009-07-02T06:39:00.005-05:00

so, i am not out of the woods in terms of work and transition, and it is good to take a break from this space (although i actually miss it). i need to focus on some other things right now, but i figured if i were going to do that, i might as will post something really beautiful for you to look at if you stop by during my little hiatus (besides, as soon as i saw these on modish yesterday, i knew i wanted to look at them some more). amy's frantic search for a dress this week (she is going to a wedding tomorrow) led us to a discussion about being prepared for such things with a pretty dress. i think one of these tea dresses from sohomode might just be my choice. and with prices starting at $85, they are just as affordable as any old dress you would find at the mall (without the stress and sore feet), but made by hand out of gorgeous vintage cotton.
i have high hopes of getting to the family cabin in wisconsin this weekend (provided i get my work done and can find a ride), and i hope you have a wonderful long weekend.

2009-06-29T23:08:00.004-05:00

i am feeling really quiet tonight. it's late, and our beautiful new house is mostly dark, and very clean after hosting a party. and quiet. i think i feel quiet because i have to talk about something i have had a feeling was coming for a few days now: i am not ready to open my shop yet. as in, really not ready. yes, i could list a few things, but i did that before and it really didn't feel great. i want it to be coherent and real and substantial.
having said that, i feel i need explain myself. this is not some sort of subconscious "i'm afraid of actually doing this, so i'm looking for an excuse to put it off". that is not it. i am not a perfectionist, and i am anticipating this to be a slow-growing, organic sort of project, so it really is not my need for perfection that is stopping me. i am so emotionally and mentally ready to do this, to take this risk, i can hardly stand it. i have felt lately so much positive momentum moving me forward, i get giddy just thinking about it. this just, apparently, is not exactly the right moment.
and i am okay with that.
which, at this point, is all that matters, i think. i am usually very hard on myself, but really, there is no reason to flog myself over this. i have had a lot of most-nighters lately, and i am running very low on energy. i am working on a big project that needs to finish up this week and is giving me no end of technical difficulties. the transition of moving has been long and kind of hard, but it has been good. the transition of quitting my job is another really big change that is not without its difficulties. to be honest, the only thing that really disappoints me is that i said something that i couldn't follow through on. not following through is one of my biggest pet peeves (the phrase 'pet peeve' is high on the list, too). but even to that, i have nothing to say. perhaps i am just too tired right now (i do not, let's face it, have the energy to put together the selection of wolf-themed pictures to go with this post, as i feel like the girl who cried wolf. i had lots of material for that, but. . . .)
anyway, i am going to take a few days to get my wits about me, maybe get some sleep. i'm going to finish the aforementioned project, and go from there. i haven't quite figured out when a good revised opening date would be, but the news will be here when i figure it out.
that's all. i might be a little quiet on here for a bit. i'm not sure yet, but a break might be a good thing.

happy effing monday!

2009-06-29T07:10:00.007-05:00

oh, wow. a couple of things: it really is a monday (maybe because i had a really great, fully weekend)! we managed to get some very final touches done at our house this weekend (shelves and curtains hung, etc.), i made a crazy-good haul at savers on saturday, i prided it up with my dear friend jack on sunday morning, amy and i threw a really fun housewarming shindig. . . and i will say that all that activity, on top of my efforts to get things together for the shop, i am really tired this morning. oh, and! i can't believe how excited i am about this, but: i have an interview at a temp agency today! the shop opens TOMORROW, which will likely be a more modest opening than i had anticipated, but i think july will be a month full of updates and specials. i have a lot of ideas and projects i want to share, so figuring out how to get all those out there is what i am working on. so, i feel a little bit like i am going absolutely nuts, but in a good way (oh yeah, that makes so much sense). anywayyyyyyy. . . . for your viewing pleasure this morning:
a few weeks ago, erin posted about luke irwin, who designs fine rugs. i had never heard of him, but find his work to be absolutely gorgeous. in the image below, i really like the tiny spots of orange, they are so beautifully balanced. not to mention, they look totally appealing for some good barefoot walking, laying around on the floor with a good book action. i hope you enjoy your monday and your week! i will be back with updates and news about the shop tomorrow.

2009-06-26T07:00:00.005-05:00

happy friday! so, we can classify this under "things i can't stop thinking about/when i finally do get married, i am going to want to remember this!" so i might as well bookmark it and share it with you! there are so so many more beautiful photos of this wedding over at once wed and our labor of love (that site makes me really like weddings!), that i would encourage you to take a look at, but i picked a few (seen first on cup of jo):look at this awesome red truck that transported the bride and her (ten!) maidens to the ceremony! and those clutches! so cool. not to mention the BOOTS. and the pretty j. crew dresses.

beautiful REAL cakes made by a friend and the milk! (i guess i'm feeling pretty exclamatory today.) the MILK, people! i love it.

these might be my favorites: the bistro lights strung up in a field, and the sparkly send-off. so perfect. anyway, i just think these are gorgeous. i hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

my new theme song.

2009-06-25T08:43:00.005-05:00

i'm really excited about stuart murdoch's new project, god help the girl. and, although there isn't a video or player to embed in this post, please go listen to them on their myspace page. pretty much every word of their 'god help the girl' track describes my life. it's true. the rest of the tunes are pretty great, too.

dovetail love.

2009-06-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

my little vacation is over! and it's back to work for me (boo). but! at least there is air conditioning at the office (which i actually feel a little guilty about, since it's putting holes in the ozone layer), and at least i only have THIRTEEN MORE DAYS OF WORK!! i am sending out resumes at the speed of light and hoping for a good little part-time gig. even if i don't land one, something will work out. it always does.
as i'm working on opening up the shop again and, specifically, on a set of wedding invitations (among other things, i will be offering some different lines of custom and semi-custom wedding invitations), i am thinking about giving gifts for weddings and how i never know what to give. i want to give something unique yet universally appealing, something useful, but not mundane. i often think that it would be really easy to just pick a gift to give to all the newlyweds in my life. a signature of sorts. a go-to. a standby. something surprising and wonderful that everyone will love getting. and of course, it is great to support artists i like. and i really like dovetail (this whole post is basically an excuse to talk about them). so, i think maybe my new go-to standby wedding gift will be a pair of dovetail mugs. maybe the bike ones. or maybe the letters. although i think maybe the neighborhood ones are my favorite. it's so hard to decide! but once you do, margaret and josh will send your pair of mugs to wherever you want them from their studio in lexington, ky. you can find a list of shops that carry their work here. and find out more about them here: shop :: etsy :: blog
what about you? do you have go-to gifts that you like to give to the people in your life as they reach milestones? favorite artists or companies you like to buy from whenever you get the chance?

wish list.

2009-06-23T07:07:00.006-05:00

for a long time, i have really liked chakrapennywhistle's moneybag wallets on etsy. but, you know, in a boy kind of way (as in, "i like boys, and i like these wallets!" or, "i like these wallets, but they look like they are for boys." or, "i would love to have a boy to whom i could give one of these great wallets!"). i have even thought about buying one of these wallets and saving it for a (hopefully) future mr. someone (is that crazy? did i just out myself on the internet?)

but then! she was the etsy featured seller last week, and from that article, i mosied on over to her shop to discover: moneybag clutches! wheee! now i can have my own bit of a moneybag in a cool, girly form! how's that for nice? and maybe, if i ever find that mr. someone, we can match. yeah, nice (or perhaps a bit much?).

happy effing monday!

2009-06-22T07:06:00.009-05:00

hi friends! today i really AM happy, because i am waking up at my parents' house in the woods, next to my sister. and i don't have to go to work! last friday, mrs. french posted about these amazing illustrations and i knew immediately that they would make perfect monday morning eye candy (and really, i just wanted an excuse to look at them some more)! so enjoy these lovely illustrations by japanese artist naomi kobayashi. i really had a hard time choosing just a few to show you! i mean, aren't they all so wonderful?!
there is also a really nice little interview with one of my favorite blogger/creative ladies, chelsea of {frolic}, over at auburn and ivory. she has nice, real, encouraging things to say.

wish i was here.

2009-06-19T07:06:00.002-05:00

(from the haystack needle: woolly pocket gardens! they have an adorable blog also.)

and by here, i mean this amazing room! i can't get it out of my mind this week. one of my work survival tactics is to put something amazing and beautiful on my computer's desktop as a reminder that i am working on the life i want. which, really, involves working for myself from home/my studio. more on that later.
i'm escaping to wisconsin this weekend (my sister is there!) and it will feel so great to have a couple of days off, too.
i do want to share a couple of new blog friends i made this week (and by made, i mean found them and said "hi!" because hey, every friendship starts somewhere):
geraniums and potatoes: posts about LOVELY things (and lives in minneapolis!)
the design alphabet: this is a great concept! she posts beautiful art and design things based on letters of the alphabet, one for every day.
and that's me, signing off for the week. i hope you all have a lovely weekend!

hmmmm, intrigue!

2009-06-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

look at that tiny image! it's a hint. it's a hint about my new shop name (and banner), or rather the name i am applying to my various projects. i am excited about the projects. and, while the banner might not end up looking exactly like this, you get the general idea. maybe i'll post another part of the banner another day! it can be like a puzzle.
you might see some other newness over to the right there. it is perhaps a little in process. . . but we're getting there. slowly but surely.
ooh, also! i just looked at my blogspot profile and i'm at 1,000 views (which, since i still can't figure out how to paste my google analytics code into my page code, is my only clue as to how many people may be looking at this)! yay!

new babies, new house.

2009-06-17T07:10:00.000-05:00

the party on saturday was so lovely. it was wonderful to see old friends and the new babies. these are the women who have known me the longest, who inspire and encourage me the most. i never end up taking as many pictures as i intend at things like this, especially when i am hosting, but here are a few, which also give you a little better view of my new house. and, as you can tell, there is plenty of light coming in, which made for slightly weird photos (that might have been the photographer more than anything), but is one of my favorite things about the house.

sara made a wonderful vegetable tart, and i made molly's berry pound cake. everything was so tasty, i would repeat this meal anytime.

okay, it really is funny to make those little people do things they don't know they are doing (or are interested in doing, necessarily)! i think they were close to holding hands anyway. . . .

happy effing monday.

2009-06-15T07:03:00.001-05:00

this may not come as a shock to those of you that really know me, but i am not the world's biggest fan of painting. first of all, i am terrible at it. second of all, i just prefer prints! which is why i am a printmaker, i suppose. i'm sure it came out of some kind of cycle of learning about the medium, and then loving it more, and learning it and then just not really caring if i ever saw anything else in my life. i sometimes get stuck in ruts like that.
however! there are some painters out there that i like. rachel austin, for example. i want to move to portland and be her friend. she is probably the person who i have watched online the longest, without ever actually introducing myself. anyway, so she is great, and she often features other artists on her blog. and last week, when i saw the paintings of kelly neidig, i was so taken with her use of color and lines, and the way she divides her canvas. i think they are lovely.

weekend!

2009-06-12T07:07:00.004-05:00

what are you up to this weekend? i have the meet the babies party, and i am excited to bake a cake! it will be wonderful to see old friends and have an excuse to get the final boxes out of the house and the art on the walls--and then take some real pictures to share with you next week (i think next will be picture week). i am also hoping, as always, to get some art made.
i hope your weekend is sunny and wonderful, summer really is here and i want to soak up every second! have a wonderful weekend!

2009-06-11T06:56:00.001-05:00

get ready babies, you have a sa-weet party coming up on saturday! (although i have to say, jack and emmeline are probably not reading yet*, so they will likely not see this post.)
i have no words (i write this late on wednesday night), but this is one of the many things i did tonight. see those curtains in the background? the chrysanthemums? they will likely become a skirt as soon as i have the white curtains up (i do like them as curtains, but crafty planet is done carrying that particular fabric and, to be honest, i don't have time to scour the internet for more). just call me sister maria.
i really did almost post pictures of the house, but looking at them was really depressing since there is no art on the walls. this weekend, i promise, the art will go up, the photos will be taken and posted! you will likely also see my new hairdo, as requested by my mother.
i guess when i say, "i have no words", i really mean, i have plenty to say, but it might all come out as stream-of-consciousness because i just don't know how to organize the words.
*they are two months old!

2009-06-10T07:00:00.008-05:00

(look at these lovely little letter ladders!--inadvertent alliteration, i promise. i don't know who made them, but they were on the drying rack in the letterpress studio and i found them irresistible.)

letterpress class is over. i have thoroughly enjoyed it, being at the book arts center each week, working with others, and having an assignment again! we are having one very last extra class tomorrow night, since not everyone was able to finish up printing last week. i made a print of some barns (shock!), but am trying to think of some appropriate text that would be fairly easy to set and print. so far, i have nothing and am open to suggestions. i'm also open to no text, although to me, this print does not look finished (i do love multiples, though! another thing i love about printmaking). this is a combination of a linoleum block and a polymer plate made from a scratch negative--a process i am totally in love with now.
what i do have, however, is a name for my business! i have been looking for something appropriate for a long time, and i feel satisfied with what i have finally come up with. as soon as i have my branding done, i will tell you all about it. i think it is also going to involve a change in blogging platforms--i feel a little like i am getting carried away in the momentum i spoke of yesterday--there is so much to do! so much i want to have ready in the next few weeks. so i need to take a deep breath and do one thing at a time. but i think i can say that the shop/new blog will launch by the beginning of july. so there. here we go!

momentum.

2009-06-09T07:01:00.003-05:00

it has been rainy and gray in minneapolis the last few days. i have been enjoying it, honestly (i prefer it to ninety-five degrees and 100% humidity). the sea of chairs sitting on nicollet mall outside the local are gorgeous, and i enjoy passing them each day on my way home from the gym. today they were totally empty.
i have barely been keeping up these days, there is a lot going on here! the house really is magical (i took some pictures tonight and will post them as soon as i can gather the energy), with enough space in my second-floor bedroom to work and sleep. i am sleeping better, i am working more productively (already! it's only been a week!), and in the midst of my low-grade exhaustion, i am energized. i have a lot on my plate, and that's exactly how i like it.
there are some really exciting things in the works, and hopefully i will be able to share some news in the next week or so.
also, i would just like to say that i have really been enjoying decor8 lately. sometimes the layout is a little too busy for me, and i get overwhelmed by all the visual doo-dahs going on. but the content? the writing? delightful! the images? gorgeous! i'm a fan, especially after reading her post on bedside table options.

happy effing monday!

2009-06-08T06:51:00.006-05:00

as i write this late on sunday night, the thought of going back to work tomorrow does not give me the sinking feeling it normally does. i had a restful and productive weekend. i enjoyed my house, baked a thousand cookies, and slept in--finally! i test rode some wonderful bicycles, fell in love with one and fell off another (have you ever ridden a fixed gear bike? yikes! i don't know who would choose to do that! i have some nice big bruises on my right hip to remind me of my spill). i will likely post more bike details later as i am rather preoccupied. now, on to your pretty things (not conventionally pretty, but a little newsy).
i give you one guess as to where this amazing, slightly over-the-top (and rather poorly photographed) chandelier is:

um, did you guess my house? because that would be right. there are actually two, one in the dining room, one in the living room. they are kind of amazing. i will definitely post some comprehensive pictures of the magical house, but not until the boxes are gone and the art is on the walls. this will happen as soon as possible, so be patient (i'm talking to you kim lambright). but to give you a little taste, i give you the chandeliers. and part of our enormous kitchen:

oh, and i found my ring. it is possibly my favorite possession (i made it several years ago at a little jewelry making class), and i was sure i had lost it somehow in the moving process. i was quite ecstatic to find it the other night and haven't taken it off since. it occurs to me that this is a terribly dorky and possibly boring thing to post about, but i can't help it. that's how pleased i am to have it back. i hope your week is off to a good start this morning!

june to do list (this is kind of a long one, folks).

2009-06-05T11:12:00.011-05:00

(photo found at sfgirlbybay. i want to organize my to do list and other workspace information on clipboards like this!)

yay! i love monthly goal meetup!
i had four goals in may. i sort of bombed on all of them. and i am not even kidding. i want to talk about may, though, because a LOT happened in may, just not what i had intended. and i need to start not exaggerating my failure with statements like that second one (i.e. i need to not be so hard on myself). one thing i need to work on in general is giving myself more credit. instead of looking back on my month and say, "i didn't get my four things done, i'm so lame", i need to say, "this is what i did, that i didn't anticipate coming up, but turned out to be really great!" and give myself credit for the things i do, whether they are directly related to work or not (i was inspired about this way by amanda at daily worth, who included personal time as something to prioritize in one of her posts this week). after all, if i am my business, i need to take care of me, and that means all of me.
so, i did some things that i always do, like blogging a lot, and commenting on blogs, which led to more blog friends! i blogged about how much i love daily worth, and that led to some great correspondence and new friends, and to me learning a little more about twitter! also, i made some baby party invitations and sent them out, i finished up letterpress class and made friends with my teacher, i got a cute little haircut. i also got to meet sally and jena.
also, i moved, which turned everything upside-down. it was kind of a long, drawn-out, exhausting process, and only now seems to be drawing to a close. but it will be good! we have a lovely new house, and once we are totally settled and i have a good nap, all will be good. it's a magical house, i can feel it.

okay, so to recap, my may goals were:
1. make things. i made a few things, but not as many as i wanted to.
2. photograph the things i have made. this didn't happen, since it was dependent on #1.
3. really, seriously, get a file box (the paperwork is overflowing, folks). i looked at file cabinets, but they were kind of expensive! i think i can find one cheaper than $50, so i am going to keep my eyes out for one. also, considering my new living situation, my filing needs may have changed. so i will figure that one out. HOLD ON!! as of 7:30pm tonight, friday, june 5, i am the proud owner of a great little beige file cabinet, which i snagged for $10. amy and i went to look at a couch from craigslist and the file cabinet was just there. talk about synchronicity!
4. write up my application for the eileen fisher grant. this was the biggest bomb. i wrote it, i edited it, i had it all ready. and then i moved to a house with no internet and couldn't access the website until the evening of june 1, the due date. and i was too late! they were due at noon. so i just plain old didn't plan ahead. and it's okay. i'm pretty sure it would have been a loooong shot anyway. but i am going to keep looking for grants and other opportunities.
5. look for a new, part time job. i did this! i got my resume all spiffed up and sent it off, but now i am just waiting to hear. and looking for new jobs to apply for.

and looking forward. . . june goals:
1. finish making things! i have some specific inventory goals on my list: thank yous, camping cards, sample stationery sets. i also have an order for wedding invitations, and a set of baby announcements that need to get finished.
1.5 take photos and get etsy site ready to launch (i am aiming for july 1! eeek!)
2. order paper and envelopes!
3. buy screenprinting supplies!
4. apply for more jobs.
5. write class proposals for community ed classes.
6. start contacting bloggers and websites about advertising and possible give-away items (things i want to give away).
7. get some 120 film for my diana f and start taking photos!

i'm sure there are more, but that is a good list to start with. i like loose guidelines and jumping off points (mmmm, docks! summer! vacation! will i ever get one?)

2009-06-04T07:14:00.005-05:00

my favorite part of the creative process is that feeling i get when something i imagined has not only materialized, but turns out to be better than i even imagined. that was how i knew, with the help of a wise professor, that i should choose printmaking over pottery as my medium of choice in college. i loved my pottery classes and working with clay, none of my pottery ever turned out like i wanted--and not in a good way. my prints, on the other hand, never turned out the way i wanted, either--they turned out better (well, usually). anyway, i was reminded of that feeling this week as i painted these little flags.
my friends an i are getting together to meet two new little folks in a couple of weeks and i put the invitations in the mail a couple of days ago. i think the design might just make an appearance as a part of my inventory when my shop reopens (with better photos--please forgive the shadowy lighting. these were taken in the middle of the night). and yes, i guess i am obsessed with garlands lately. they will probably appear in other forms at the party, as well.

garden!

2009-06-03T06:56:00.003-05:00

hurray for pirated internet! (our comcast will be transferred and connected on friday, so i am looking forward to the return of reliable internet.)
and now i am going to show you the part of our house that looks the best, although tonight we made some great progress, unpacking books, breaking down boxes, getting more things put away. i am quite excited about the garden, the beautiful trees, and the backyard in general. also, i have some other exciting things i have been saving up to share (!), and i am excited to finalize some plans for an official launch of my totally revamped etsy shop later this summer (mid-summer, if you will).
anyway, enjoy the flowers. i certainly have been.

eep!

2009-06-01T08:12:00.001-05:00

i wish i had something pretty for you to look at this morning! but after a three-day weekend moving extravaganza, and a new house with no internet, i am a little behind on my blogging. i will be back as soon as i can, i hope you have a lovely day today. i have a good feeling that once i can catch up on my sleep, june is going to be a good month.

how i ended up liking mornings, or: my favorite part of my house.

2009-05-29T07:14:00.002-05:00

shhhh!! i am playing hooky from work today! mostly because i have about a million things to do, and no time to do them. today i just want to talk about coffee (!) and about the sun in the mornings, especially in the summertime--if there is anything that makes up for the forty below in minnesota, it's these looooong summer days. i wake up in the morning and, for a few seconds, think i have been transported somewhere exotic, with all-night sunshine. anyway, about the coffee:
my programmable coffeemaker has changed my life. seriously. every weekday since i received it, i have programmed it to brew my coffee at six a.m. and you know what? it has made all the difference in the world. admittedly, sometimes the coffee sits in the coffeemaker until six-thirty, but for the most part, the gurgling sound and coffee smell are a great alarm clock (i still need my normal one, don't get me wrong). and in the warm months? ah, i love to sit on my back porch and just be in the sun. or write my morning pages, now that i do that.
the mug is one of my favorite possessions, the first piece of pottery i bought in college, and carried all over the world with me (or, at least to norway). and when i say 'possession', i mean, i'm weirdly possessive about it. i can't really handle seeing anyone else drink out of it. i'm not like that about anything else i own.
i will really miss this back porch. but somehow, i think my new back porch, with the private backyard and garden, will not be too difficult to get used to.
i hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

hot off the press.

2009-05-28T07:26:00.004-05:00

i am slowly but surely building up a little inventory. let me emphasize slowly. so slowly it's driving me crazy, every day finds me wanting a new, part-time job more and more. anyway, i was pretty excited about the color that ended up on the inking disc the other night.

and, since i am totally cheap, i often proof my new ideas over top of my old ones, which led me to this lovely color overlap/combo. i don't know if anyone else gets this excited about layers of transparent color, but let me tell you, this is one of my favorite things in the whole world. i think i jumped up and down when this came off the press. soon, i hope to show you an example of this that is more. . . on purpose, shall we say? i really wanted to have my shop re-opened by the end of may, but obviously some other things have gotten in the way. moving has taken a log out of me, and has thrown me off a little. i think will still be shooting for a summer re-opening of the ol' etsy (i just realized i haven't really talked about it that much at all on here. i think it's because i don't like to talk about things, i like to just do them. and since i am not quite ready for the doing, i hesitate to do the talking). i will keep you posted!

blah blah blah, art (and a new artist i really like).

2009-05-27T07:03:00.002-05:00

discovered someone new yesterday, as i dialogued yesterday. it was an interesting discussion, about whether or not the online art world is reflective of the art and gallery scene in the "real" world. it was a discussion that stayed with me all day, and when i went back to see what others had said, i found that most people weren't answering the question, "does the online art community reflect real life", rather they were saying, "the online art community is better than that of real life!" which, in some ways, it is.
but you know what? sometimes i miss real life galleries and art scenes! i like openings, the excitement of preparing for a party, of inviting friends, of the possibility of meeting new ones (not to mention, there is usually free food!). i also miss seeing work in real life, taking in the size and scale, specific details, textures, and colors that sometimes get lost when work is distilled into a photograph and viewed on a screen.
i have been rather isolated in my own art making in the last few years (or in my not making, as the case may be). i have found the online community to be open and accessible. but is it better? i don't know. it is different, that is for sure. after the whole discussion, i feel inspired to get out and get involved in my local real life art scene.
viewing art online is a very private experience--it reminds me of how people used to listen to and perform music in community and that was how it was, but now we all have our ipods and we just listen to our own music and experience it very privately. there is no discussion over images we find online (usually), not much conversation or interaction (and we all know how i like to converse).
but if we are going to talk about the online art community, and how nice it is to stumble across someone whose work you like, then i want to talk about nigel peake. his blog is lovely, with photographs and drawings--mostly houses and structures, which are always good in my book. the photo above is his.

iris. that's me.

2009-05-26T06:47:00.000-05:00

one of the benefits of living with an herbalist is that you learn a lot of interesting things. for example, i am an iris. which is nice, since i have always liked irises, particularly the wild ones that grow in the ditches along the roads near my parents' old house in northern wisconsin. in greek mythology, iris is the messanger, the connection between the gods and humanity, using the rainbow as her vocabulary (iris = rainbow in greek). sort of like an artist.
as plants, irises are the ones that grow wild in boggy, swampy, mucky areas. they send their rhizomes out under the earth, through the muck and, just when you think they are not going to come up, they shoot out through the muck and raise their flags as little bright signs of persistence and beauty. irises are fighters, they metabolize the muck and bloom in the midst of it.
the iris is a gorgeous flower, and i identify with her in so many ways, especially the more julia reads to me.

(images found at the lovely small stump + studio choo. they always have gorgeous photos of their arrangements.)

welcome, summer.

2009-05-25T18:13:00.009-05:00

it could not have been a more beautiful weekend for a move. and by that, i mean: it didn't rain. nor was the weather too hot. we had so many people graciously help us move all of our earthly possessions from one house to the other. now we just have to wait for the painter to finish up at the new house (which is looking great!) and should be able to start settling in next weekend. i am tired, but relieved that everything went so well.

rewind a week: i finally had a chance to upload my photos from art-a-whirl last weekend and realized this was the only one i actually took, from the fifth floor of the california building (full of beautiful studio spaces with gorgeous light). to be honest, i was a little bummed out by art-a-whirl (i was thinking of maybe blogging about it, but i just didn't see much work that i really liked, and really don't want to bring negativity into this spot, especially about art and other artists). however, it was a lovely, lovely day for biking around northeast and being a part of my little neighborhood. i really do love my city in the summertime.

this kills me every time i hear it.

2009-05-22T11:28:00.002-05:00

here goes sharing my first video (and risking the employer-enforced extra-curricular internet watching). i die every time i hear it on the radio.

sleep deprived, week three (and i don't even have a baby).

2009-05-22T06:44:00.008-05:00

you know what people don't usually photograph and upload to their flickr photostreams? moving. it makes sense. it's not that exciting. in fact, it's kind of stressful. i can't even describe how tired i am. there are some boxes sitting in my living room. i haven't managed to make time to pack any of them, but they are here, waiting. tomorrow night maybe? oh, and i mentioned flickr, because when i searched for pictures of 'moving', this was the best option i got (which i happen to love, because it reminds me of the mountains and ghost towns and cowboys):

(photo found here.)

is this post even making any sense? as i write this, it's almost friday (only nine more minutes!) and my mind is not exactly cooperating with me. work has totally fried me this month. i realized this week that the major project i am finishing up at work is the first one of its size, possibly ever, that hasn't made me cry. i kind of can't believe that 'not crying' is a positive assessment of my current job.
but where was i? oh, yes. moving. this weekend. fortunately, my parents are coming to help, and the heat wave seems to be over, so hopefully the weekend will include a little rest (and maybe even a hamburger?!) along with the heavy physical labor.
what are you up to on this lovely three day weekend? i hope that whatever it is involves some sunshine, rest, and being with the ones you love.

thievery.

2009-05-20T07:01:00.002-05:00

someone (i cannot for the life of me remember who) posted this quote several weeks ago. i have come back to ruminating about it since then and i am simultaneously inspired and appalled by it.
what do you think? are we all doomed to recycling ideas? is that such a bad thing? is it possible to tell the difference between innovation and imitation? i would be interested in hearing thoughts. one of the things i miss most about school (yes, these five years), one of the reasons i wish i had a special man-friend (i guess he would have to be the perfect one, obviously, since not all boys like talking about ideas like this) is talking about ideas! and about creativity and about work that is good or not, etc etc etc.
you know. so, even though i would prefer to have such a conversation face-to-face, share them with me in blogland, because that is what is available at the moment.
have a great wednesday. this week is a doozey for me, so i will be really glad when it is over.

i love my daily worth.

2009-05-19T07:15:00.001-05:00

a few months back, jena posted some encouraging words she had received in her daily worth email and i was so inspired, i went right over to the website to sign up to get my own money-related love notes! since then, i really do look forward to them every day. i thought i would share a couple with you, the ones that have been most encouraging and challenging to me. but don't take my word for it, sign up to receive your own! here is a good one to start with:

Waiting Out the Darkness
You've decided that you want something – a new job or career, a particular client, a new house, a move across the country – and you go after it. Here's the catch: It could take days, months, even years. You just have to be determined enough to wait out the darkness in between the “wanting” and the “getting.”

i breathed a huge sigh of relief when i read this. there was some more information at the bottom of the email, with a link to an article, and the words "getting rich slowly". which was exactly the reminder i needed. i will not save all the money i need overnight, it takes time. it takes time to build up a savings account for emergencies or overhead for a tiny business start-up. it takes time to save up for the things i want. and that is okay. it's really all about my attitude, my perseverance, and my patience.

monday morning pretty.

2009-05-18T07:03:00.001-05:00

here is the deal with me and mondays: we don't really go well together (i sure don't heart them, but i am glad some people do). when i finally do quit my job and go out on that limb and start making my own way/living in the world, mondays will not be heavy workdays. or, maybe when that happens, i will actually look forward to them! although i will say, if i ever am able to maintain my ideal balance in life, i will only work four days, four and a half tops. until then. . . mondays=ugh (especially since julia told me about the correlation between heart attacks and 8-9am on mondays: that's when most of them occur! eep!).
here is the deal with me and blogging: i am still figuring out what kind of blogger i am/want to be. i am working on being consistent in posting, i am working on finding things that are worthy of turning into possible 'regular features', i am sometimes rebelling against the idea of 'regular features' (let's face it, i am afraid of commitment).
so please bear with me, especially when the mondays + the blogging adolescence collide.
one thing i am sure of: when it comes to things i don't like (i.e. mondays) and something i am trying to get better at (i.e. blogging), i have learned that it is best to look on the bright side.
be optimistic.
look for the good in the situation.
be positive.
henceforth, i will commence with something i feel good about committing to: a monday morning post that is happy and easy on the eyes. something to make me smile, even if i am not looking at it. when i stare at my inbox as it opens, i will think about what i have posted on my blog and smile (probably with closed eyes. that rapidly filling inbox is something i just can't handle watching).
and hopefully you will smile, too.
these are photos from the lovely sophie cuvelier, whose website and blog are so wonderful. i really like her blog, which is basically a huge collection of photos of everyday things, and then how she transforms those things, through colors, shapes, and textures, into garlands. yeah, it's pretty great. first found on jordan's blog. she's also pretty great.
so there you go: happy effing monday.

here comes the weekend!

2009-05-15T07:12:00.006-05:00

work has been absolutely frying my brain lately. but let me tell you, it really helps when:
1. the client with the crazy deadlines (this is possibly the largest project i have done in the shortest amount of time EVER) is so wonderful to work with
2. i pretend i'm in a tv show or movie about people who work in a boring office.
3. i think about what i'm going to do when i'm not at work--like printing! i have been printing up a storm, mostly the business cards above, but also some more monogrammed cards for amy, and some thank yous.
it feels good to make some progress, although each day i think of another thing to add to my to do list, with not much getting crossed off.
but this weekend! picnic! art-a-whirl! maria's! sunshine! oh, and wrangling some boxes for moving because i am moving in one week.
oh, boy.
what are you doing this weekend?

summery, letterpressy goodness.

2009-05-14T07:12:00.004-05:00

i have been thoroughly enjoying my letterpress class. i learn something new every week, something i am able to take right back to my studio and try out. for example, i ordered this roller gauge from boxcar because they said i needed it (!), so i did--even though i could not for the life of me understand what they were saying in the directions. but then! next week in letterpress class, we learned how to use a roller gauge!
last night was particularly interesting because we spontaneously worked on one of the little tabletop platen presses and i learned some really great registration techniques, which i will definitely start employing right away--it will make my printing so much easier and better.

we created a group broadside to practice setting type, and they turned out so beautifully.

i also really love my rides home. each week the sky is lighter and lighter, and it's always cool enough to enjoy the ride, which takes me past this new park by the river road. the black hulking power line holder-upper-thing and the smokestack-steamstack-pipey things are my favorite part of the photo (and possibly the city? hmmm). i really do love minneapolis in the summer.

bits & bobs (or: maybe i really belong in england)

2009-05-13T06:54:00.003-05:00

i spent the weekend watching green wing on hulu and printing up a storm (photos to come). if you don't know about green wing, you should. it's a hilarious british comedy set in a hospital (think scrubs on speed), and is at the same time outrageously inappropriate (consider yourself warned) and laugh-out-loud funny. it doesn't hurt that it is a good dose of eye candy as well. it makes me want to start calling my underwear 'pants', my pants 'trousers', and using 'oy!' as my new exclamation of disgust, alarm, or surprise.
also, amy and i signed a lease on a really great new place. what a relief it is to have the house-hunting over with. i am excited about 1200 square feet (!) of victorian charm, with a backyard and garden to go with. so only two more weeks in this little tiny place that has been, come to think of it, my longest single home as an adult (just shy of two years). which is a strange thought, but okay at the same time. it is time for an upgrade, and a place where i can stay for several years, if i decide to stay in minneapolis. i'm sure i will share pictures at some point, but a few highlights include: a real oven (no more wedging the cookie sheets in), a dishwasher and full-sized fridge, a giant bedroom on the second floor with plenty of room for work tables, sewing machine, etc. tons of natural light, hardwood floors, a big bathroom with drawers and drawers and drawers for storage. . . . oh, and the backyard/garden. i am looking forward to a lot of socializing. oh! and it is literally only five blocks from my studio. really. it doesn't get any better than that. i think that will make a lot of difference in my getting there.
amy h. is coming for a visit this weekend, and i am excited about art-a-whirl (to be a visitor, not a host--yet), and general springiness.
oh, and i've really been enjoying my hair lately. it looks good and is easy to care for. too bad my stylist moved to texas.

my mom is the coolest.

2009-05-10T11:28:00.007-05:00

(that's my mom on the left. with her sisters last summer.)

earlier this week i had a conversation with my mom wherein she tried to get me confess that i had plans for a surprise visit to her house this weekend. i had to say "no, i wish i did" about five times. because i really wish i had been able to visit her this weekend.
so since i can't be at home with my mother this mother's day, how about i tell you about her, and great i think she is?
my mom is amazing. she teaches fifth grade in wisconsin's best medium-sized school (i did not make that up. her school really was named the best last year).
my mom raised to really great daughters and has been married to my dad for thirty-six years--and i kid you not when i say that my parents just keep getting happier.
when i was a kid, my mom made our ballet class's costumes for our performance as spanish dancers in the nutcracker.
when i moved to san francisco and found myself unemployed and not knowing a soul, my mom listened on the phone every night--despite the two-hour time difference, and sent me money.
when i signed up for 4-h sewing (yeah, i'm not a nerd at all), my mom was sooo patient and helpful and saw me through pretty much every project, even helping me with hours of seam-ripping when i messed something up.
she was always up for letting me experiment in the kitchen, and was always encouraging about the result (i actually can't remember any horrible disasters).
my mom was the one who kept saying, "don't major in something practical, be an artist" when i was deciding on what to study in college.
she has been my biggest cheerleader and supporter all the way, believing in me when i am not sure i even believe in myself--this still happens.
my mom beat cancer, has broken more bones than the rest of the family combined, and less than a year ago, had a heart valve replaced--she really is a survivor.
i hope that i someday get the opportunity to be a mom, and that i create as creative, positive, imaginative, and loving home for my own children as my mom did for me.

summer wheels.

2009-05-08T07:25:00.000-05:00

i never really think about buying a car. i get around pretty well on my bike, or the bus, or i am happy to hibernate most of the winter instead of going out in the -40 degrees. however, when the weather warms up, i start to yearn for a new set of wheels. i long to speed along in traffic on an efficient, beautiful little scooter. but these are merely dreams. and for now, i am okay with that. perhaps someday i will have a little vespa of my own, but until i marry rich, i will just drool over other peoples'. like these, on flickr (they sort of represent the real scooters i see around town).

(pedrosimoes7).

a cute little pink number (ania.havia).

my own talented sister.

what i am most likely to end up with (by sicoactivia).

more lovely vespa photos that i couldn't figure out how to save right here.

clean food.

2009-05-07T07:53:00.000-05:00

mav posted about a great-looking new cookbook out there. i guess i will just have to wait until the fall before i can snag my own copy. she mentions that these are easy, straightforward recipes, perfect for the single girl who likes to prepare her own food, but doesn't like to take too much time to do so each evening. amazon pre-order, here i come!

2009-05-05T07:29:00.001-05:00

as i mentioned yesterday, i am no fashionista. i do not enjoy shopping. in general, i do not look in a mirror to decide whether or not an outfit is right. rather, i think, "am i comfortable? do i want to wear this all day?" i love my levi's and long-sleeved black shirt ($4 at wal-mart. i know! i'm sorry. i won't do that anymore). if i could wear this as my uniform i would. uh, and what i mean is, i basically do. especially in winter. between november and april, i pretty much don't have any interest in looking pretty or feminine. i just care about being warm.
however, eventually spring comes, and the weather warms up, and i manage to unearth my razor and shave my legs. i still don't like putting a lot of effort into it, but i want to look pretty in the summer. i want to look pretty, and i want to be as cool, and i want to do these things with as little energy and daily effort as possible. i am way more active in the summer, i bike everywhere, i am more social, and i sweat a whole lot more.
i have decided the solution to these criteria are a few colorful, comfortable, beautiful dresses that i can easily pull on and wear all day, any day. as a seasoned seamstress, this should not be a problem. with a good pattern or two, some fabulous cloth, and a weekend (or a few weeknights) i should be able to manage some great summer staples. here are some of my inspirations:

angry chicken's beautiful little number.

the gorgeous fiji dress available at modaspia.

monday morning pretty.

2009-05-04T07:28:00.004-05:00

how was your may day weekend? mine was lovely (a bit more low-key than the weekend before). the weather is finally warming up, and the grass is green, the magnolias are in bloom, and there are bright green leaves on the trees. oh, minnesota, how you trick me into forgetting all about the longest, coldest, grayest winter of my life with your beautiful spring and summer.

here are some nice things from my weekend:
some girls have trouble not shopping.
not me. i can hardly handle prying $20 out of my wallet for a little blue top, but today it was totally necessary. i have next to nothing appropriate for summer wear. the shoes, on the other hand, simply irresistible (and totally affordable at $28). i'm pretty sure they will come in handy.

a friend is getting some practice letterpress, as a thank you for the loan of a comprehensive allen wrench set:

a very special new baby is getting a little present in the mail (thanks to this shop, found at craftstravaganza):

get it done in may.

2009-05-01T07:32:00.007-05:00

(these are some pictures i took yesterday as i was STILL trying to diagnose what is wrong with my press. since i couldn't get my head into the tiny spot behind the platen, i stuck my camera in there to take a picture of the offending part to see what the screw thingy looks like. i was so pleasantly surprised to find these compositions on the screen of my camera! i forget how much i love bright, saturated colors until i see them and they just make me giddy! they seem like the perfect driving force for my new line of designs, and i am excited to start working with them).

i didn't quite get everything done from my april to do list. april was not a good month for me, i was sick and out of town (that was good, but not for my productivity) and just off, in general. however, i feel pretty good about what i did get done (considering), and i am ready to go with my goals for may:
1. make things. i have been kind of creatively blocked--or intimidated is maybe a better word--and i need to get making things.
2. photograph the things i have made.
3. really, seriously, get a file box (the paperwork is overflowing, folks).
4. write up my application for the eileen fisher grant.
5. look for a new, part time job.

i think i am going to keep it at five for may, since those are five pretty big ones, and i really want to have them done by the end of may. also, i am going with the theory (it's a new one) that if i can remember the goals in my head, maybe they will actually get done. the bigger end goal is to get my etsy shop re-opened by the end of may/beginning of june. i have been fighting with google analytics lately, as i cannot seem to troubleshoot why they are not tracking my blog--which i am really curious about. if anyone has any tips, i would be so grateful. i still can't manage to get my press fixed, and my frustration is growing.
and in general? i feel a little discouraged. i am having trouble keeping good perspective lately. but may is going to be better!
so there. here we go!

hear hear, keith ellison!

2009-04-30T20:38:00.007-05:00

julia just read to me an article from the star tribune about some politicians who were arrested the other day for protesting the removal of aid workers from darfur. our representative, keith ellison, was one of them. here are some highlights:

Ellison said he and the other members of Congress who were arrested succeeded in bringing national attention to the Darfur crisis that they wouldn't have received otherwise. "I could have sent out a press release, but it would be, 'Yeah, so what?'"

With Ellison representing a Minneapolis-based congressional district that many analysts consider one of the safest Democratic seats in the nation, his arrest is unlikely to affect his standing at home.

"I think that the people of the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota believe passionately in human rights," Ellison said. "They want me to lead from the front. They want me to set a moral tone."

"How many news outlets had Darfur in any of their story lines this morning?" he said. "There are 1.3 million lives that hang in the balance here, and nobody was doing a story on that until this happened."

a short post on monday=a great weekend.

2009-04-27T07:30:00.007-05:00

one morning i look out my window and BAM! the tree across the alley is all decked out in gorgeous white blossoms. happy sigh.

oops, this is not from the weekend, but the type i set in my first letterpress class:

at the last minute, i snagged a ticket to voltage, which was pretty great (although anthony and i agreed that it was not quite as stunningly life-changing as last year's). hands down favorite: lucy michelle and the velvet lapelles, fittingly dressed up like gypsies. i wasn't able to get many great pictures, but here are a couple. i was particularly glad to see some models that looked like fairly normal girls.

also loved: m. ward (always a fabulous show), the farmers' market, a beautiful rainy sunday lounging, cleaning, cooking, and eventually having all kinds of friends over for a lovely dinner. a full, happy weekend makes the prospect of going back to work a little more bearable.
welcome, spring!

hoo-rah, it's the weekend!

2009-04-24T08:40:00.001-05:00

what are you doing this weekend? i have tickets to see m. ward (he is so amazing and beautiful--definitely at the top of my celebrity crush list), the minneapolis farmers' market makes its return, and i desperately want to hit the art crawl in st. paul at some point.
oh, and don't forget that i like you just opened in its new location! it's right around the corner from my house, and i am so excited to have a fabulous handmade boutique in my neighborhood. they are having a grand opening on saturday. treats at 4!
i am so happy that spring is here!

box lunch.

2009-04-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

i haven't been eating a lot of interesting food in my cube lately, but here are a few little items that i have been enjoying.

2009-04-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

if i weren't an artist, i would maybe be a cowgirl. or a chef, a gardener, or a dancer.
or a photojournalist. i have an eye and can take a decent picture (a skill i am beginning to sharpen), but i will likely not ever be any kind of photographic genius. which makes me glad that there are people in the world who are.
i often wish i could hop on a plane and do exactly what photographer lana slezic did when she traveled around afghanistan, photographing and living with the women there. she has an amazing book of photographs, which is now officially on my wish list.
i am really taken with the color and compositions of the photographs, as well as their startling, beautiful content.

(originally found here.)

i am a letterpress acolyte.

2009-04-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

tonight begins a class that i have been looking forward to for a long time. i enrolled in the winter, and at the time april seemed soooo faaar awaaay. but now april is here, almost over even! and for the next six weeks i will be busy learning as much as i possibly can from the experts.
i am so excited!

signs of spring.

2009-04-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

the birds have returned! they wake me up in th mornings (or, at least i hear them), and have officially moved back into their place above our porch light. i am always so impressed and fascinated by their process of completely tearing apart their old nest and constructing a new one. and they are always intricate and perfect. and, they always have babies! baby birds!

poetry club.

2009-04-21T08:00:00.004-05:00

a couple of weeks ago, at a post-church outing, it was suggested that we all learn and memorize a poem to recite to one another. i was assigned anne sexton. although i didn't know much about her before, i was kind of disappointed to be assigned a poet who is, in my mind, rather trendy.
but! then i did some research, and asked the poetry experts in my life, and i eventually found a poem i really liked--a few, in fact, but i barely had the time to memorize one (and poorly, at that).
we all reconvened on sunday night to share our poems and it was delightful. i forget how much i like poetry! and i would like to become a poetry advocate, if there is such a thing. because i think it is a rather under-appreciated medium. so maybe i will start sharing poems with you all. one thing i like about poetry is that it usually takes me a couple of readings to totally understand the poem--and each time i read a poem, or hear it, the more i enjoy it.
anyway, here is the poem i shared with my friends:

Courage

It is in the small things we see it.
The child's first step,
as awesome as an earthquake.
The first time you rode a bike,
wallowing up the sidewalk.
The first spanking when your heart
went on a journey all alone.
When they called you crybaby
or poor or fatty or crazy
and made you into an alien,
you drank their acid
and concealed it.

Later,
if you faced the death of bombs and bullets
you did not do it with a banner,
you did it with only a hat to
cover your heart.
You did not fondle the weakness inside you
though it was there.
Your courage was a small coal
that you kept swallowing.
If your buddy saved you
and died himself in so doing,
then his courage was not courage,
it was love; love as simple as shaving soap.

Later,
if you have endured a great despair,
then you did it alone,
getting a transfusion from the fire,
picking the scabs off your heart,
then wringing it out like a sock.
Next, my kinsman, you powdered your sorrow,
you gave it a back rub
and then you covered it with a blanket
and after it had slept a while
it woke to the wings of the roses
and was transformed.

Later,
when you face old age and its natural conclusion
your courage will still be shown in the little ways,
each spring will be a sword you'll sharpen,
those you love will live in a fever of love,
and you'll bargain with the calendar
and at the last moment
when death opens the back door
you'll put on your carpet slippers
and stride out.

i also found a bunch of other anne sexton poems here.

wash day.

2009-04-20T22:12:00.006-05:00

i should have done my laundry tonight. and by tonight, i mean three days ago. instead, i am just writing about doing my laundry. you know, whatever. i completed step 1* in my very scientific process of getting my clothes clean. keep in mind that i only actually own about a week's worth of clothing. on a recent cleaning out kick, i got rid of all the clothes that i feel gross in. that took out about half of my wardrobe, which was not large to begin with. i also have nothing for spring. let me rephrase that: i have nothing for spring that fits. i had a mean little surprise the other day when i pulled out my summer skirts and dresses (all six of them--i kid you not). let me tell you, they do not fit like they did last summer.
so we can add the diligent counting of calories to my to do list for the next several weeks.

*step 1: pull the heaped-up laundry basket out of the closet, dump out the contents, and sort them. after counting my quarters to confirm that i indeed to not have enough to wash any clothes this evening. this only happens after the laundry has been sitting in the closet, ready to be washed, for about a week, during which i have taken several dives back into said laundry basket for the favorite pair of jeans or a shirt that still smells acceptable.

step 2: drag the overflowing laundry basket out to the living room and let it sit almost in my walking path for one to three days. necessary quarter collecting usually happens during this time and in fact is directly related to the length of time devoted to this step in the process.

step 3: finally collect five quarters, enough to wash one load--but not dry--and dig out the most necessary items from the laundry basket. wash these items and tell myself that this will just "tide me over" (no pun intended) until i have time to wash all my clothes. dry the necessary items on my trusty drying rack.

that's about as far as i ever get. i was never a laundry procrastinator until i moved into an apartment with a horror-movie basement. maybe some day i will share more details about that (cause yeah, aren't we all fascinated with laura's laundry habits?! did i just spend a lot of time and energy telling you about the minutiae of my life? ah, well).
how i dream of a clean, non-coin-operated laundry setup. oh, that will be wonderful. someday.

photo found here. if only i could get away with showing up to work in just my underwear. also, there is an entire blog devoted to the subject of garment racks. who knew?

some high (and low) lights.

2009-04-17T23:09:00.004-05:00

i was told today in my "informal" (read: surprise!) quarterly review that i am perceived to be "unapproachable" by some of my co-workers. it's hard not to let stuff like that get to me, even when i don't give two shakes what my co-workers think of me, and especially when the news is delivered by a condescending robot-boss. but still, somehow it is really hard to shake it off.
must. get. out.
in the process of doing research, i came across a press much like the one i bought, only bigger, more local, and cheaper than the press i bought. sigh. i need to be happy with what i've got. i am happy with what i've got! it's hard not to let stuff like that lead to me second-guessing myself and my plan for my life/career/getting out of my miserable unapproachable existence.
i enjoyed a great night of art show and dinner with kelly, which ended with complimentary cupcakes at the bulldog, apparently for telling the host how much we like it there. loke it, is more like it (i am trying to get used to that word as a possible like/love combo i am seeking. i am not sure yet). but seriously, i loke the bulldog! those burgers are the best burgers! and the cupcakes? i have not ever had a bad experience there. ever. except maybe the one time when the music got really, really loud at nine o'clock, but even that is understandable.
and now, because i worked out in about four different ways and times today, i am exhausted. and i know i will sleep like a champ tonight. a definite highlight.
and! i get to have coffee in the morning!

when it rains, it pours letterpresses.

2009-04-17T10:53:00.003-05:00

last night my friend sarah came by the studio and dropped off this little baby (which makes three for me in the press department--more heavy equipment than this girl ever expected to possess). it came along with five trays of type and a box full of more type, furniture, etc, etc, etc. it's all a bit dusty, and the press needs some real tlc, but i like the idea of learning how to restore a press (hopefully i will actually like learning to restore a press just as much).

somehow a leaf got into the type tray and i thought it made a lovely color combination. does anyone know how to make my photos bigger on blogger? do i need to start with bigger photos?
HA! got it.

summertime! (or something close to it.)

2009-04-16T22:59:00.005-05:00

it was SEVENTY-FOUR degrees in minneapolis today! it felt incredible to ride my bike down hennepin during rush hour to the y--i sort of really like my tough biker side--and back home again. anthony and i headed to albert's for a little dinner and music. i'm not sure i even have an explanation for these photos. something about "we're the roommates of the month, wouldn't we make for a great photo?" which is the same as asking me to pull out my camera and start snapping, of course.

easter weekend.

2009-04-14T19:59:00.017-05:00

this weekend was a lot of good food, adorable children, and many rounds of rumikub with the grandma. i feel really sick tonight (is today tuesday? i am so confused). i never get sick, but i have been more sick in the last four months than i have been since my kindergarten strep marathon (nine times in nine months, folks). and although i don't want to blame my new boss directly, or blame anything really, i would not be surprised if my raging headaches, fevers, and nausea were work-stress-related. i hate being sick. i hate not being able to do things, and being forced to lie on the couch, sweating it out. i have goals to work on, people! and here i sit with time on my hands, and no energy to do any of them. grrrr.
also, we have an ant problem that i do not know how to solve. also, our apartment is being shown this week and i have to keep it clean. i feel overwhelmed by life tonight.
hey, but aren't these kids so adorable? let's look at how cute they are:zoey heads up the composition portion of the afternoon while greta and graham assist. i love the little pink dresses and the feet!

grady is totally fascinated with the camera--seriously, this is the most easy-going baby i have ever met.

annika reads to the older baby-cousins while ava scoots around, reaching for her own book. she is the other most easy-going baby i have ever met. so sweet.

and of course, i love me some good midwestern architecture.

my mom is pretty intent on the game, and grandma makes her power play. she's pretty good at rumikub, especially for a woman who says, "now, how do we play this game?" every time the tiles get dumped onto the table. she still wins.

i am inheriting hands that look like this. i think they are beautiful.

underdog.

2009-04-14T10:31:00.003-05:00

you may have seen this already, but last night julia read me this article, and then we watched the following video and were both in tears.
seriously, people. it's pretty amazing (not to mention, it sort of redeems reality tv in some ways).

oof.

2009-04-13T23:07:00.001-05:00

i had a wonderful, long weekend (pictures to come). now it's late and i am tired.
and i am having a really, REALLY hard time thinking about going to work in the morning.
my throat doesn't feel good.
i might be getting sick.

one more thing.

2009-04-10T13:00:00.003-05:00

phillip toledano's days with my father has been making appearances in some different blogs this week, and it is indeed so touching and wonderful and difficult. i found the format a little confusing at first, but go with your gut and click when you see the little hand and you will find an amazing story about aging, loss, and family.
(i found it originally here and then again here.)

escape.

2009-04-10T08:28:00.006-05:00

when i was growing up in southwestern colorado, i remember a bumper sticker my mother had tacked to the bulletin board in her office (also the laundry room/mud room). it said, "escape to wisconsin", words i learned to read before i understood what they meant. our annual summer trips to the midwest did not exactly feel like an escape.
then we moved to wisconsin and the bumper sticker made even less sense.
now that i am grown up and moved to the city, i have a better appreciation for the beautiful green and rolling hills of northcentral wisconsin. i can't wait to escape this weekend.

i am heading to my parents' house for easter and my grandmother's eighty-seventh birthday. i have to say that i really love easter--when i was a kid, my mom would create elaborate hunts for our easter baskets, with full-on riddles, limericks, and crazy clues that sent us all over the house until we found our treasures. one year they were stashed in the dryer. when i was little, it also meant a new dress and sometimes a hat, a one-time-a-year accessory.
but lately, i am just really grateful for a springtime excuse for our extended family to get together. there will be lots of hilarious children, favorite aunts and uncles, and my mother (and my dad. i love you dad! but you all know about mothers. i am proof that you can successfully bond with your child even if you don't spend the first three minutes of her life staring into each others' eyes*).

i have had a really foggy, exhausted week and i look forward to getting out of the city and away from my normal routine. i hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

*i was born c-section. somehow, even though i am far, far away from having children, i am inordinately obsessed with the statistic that a mother and baby bond most during the first three minutes of life.

so adorable!!

2009-04-08T08:30:00.004-05:00

i ran across this in my blog travels yesterday. these drawings are adorable, and turning them into letterpressed cards is so great--it really takes the beauty and imagination of kids' art and elevates it to a fabulous finished product. i wish i had thought of it!

(found at peculiar press, via simple+pretty.)

my kind of jewelry.

2009-04-07T09:31:00.005-05:00

who wouldn't want to wear crayon rings? just imagine all the inadvertent color you would add to your world!

found via pretty.pretty.paper, available at the future perfect.

my weather obsession.

2009-04-06T13:27:00.001-05:00

i am getting a huge kick out of this site, which diana shared this morning.
exploring it is almost like going on a little world tour. or, it's as close as i am going to get anytime soon.

artists i like: josie lewis

2009-04-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

in an effort to bring stability to your lives (or, at least in your expectations of me and my blog), and in an effort to get me to look at more art--arty art, fine art, whatever you want to call it--i bring you the first installment of my appropriately named series, artist i like. here you go.
i really like josie's painting/collages (created out of scraps of found paper and resin layered together) for many reasons. they are colorful and mesmerizing, and they push the boundaries between 2- and 3-dimensional work. i really like boundaries and boundary-pushers. they fascinate me. where is the line between joking and seriousness? good and evil? early and late? faith and foolishness?
ah, i digress. because in her work, ms. lewis (should i write about people like the ny times does? that could be fun) does not discuss boundaries directly, although she does talk about how they are painting, collage, possibly sculpture, and related to photography (since the bits of paper are taken from photographs in magazines.
she also talks about how animals digest their food--comparing to her own consumption of the materials she uses and the resulting pieces that are created.

these images have been in my mind for weeks--months, even. i can't get over their simultaneous flatness and depth, as well as their intense color. the process appeals to me as well--breaking down images into colors, textures, and shapes, then assembling them into a larger whole. it has got to be time consuming, but there is something about it that is really appealing to me. i really have a thing for process. it's one of those things that draws me in and makes me think, "man, i wish i had thought of that." her website is full of images, i encourage you to check it out. oh! and she's from minneapolis. so, you know. we have that going for us. okay, i'll stop drooling now and let you enjoy them.

(all images found on the artist's website.)

to do list.

2009-04-03T20:08:00.016-05:00

jena is a genius. not only does she have a popular design blog, she has recently started a new blog for those of us working toward having, or already have, our own creative micro-businesses. and now, she has introduced her modish monthly goal meetup! and, she's pretty. and so nice!
all of this is perfect for a capricorn/badger girl like me. i like lists, i like to get things done, cross things off, stay focused. and now, as i share with you my To Do List for April, you will see the mountain of work i have ahead of me. but this is just motivation! and i feel up for the challenge--if i didn't, i wouldn't be doing this. okay, okay, on with it then.

1. DONE! finalize business card design. i am open to helpful and kind input. i am going for simple, clean, and a little clever. i would have loved to upload a larger photo right here, but i am still mystified by how blogger photo uploading works. anyway, these will be letterpressed by moi, probably on various colors of paper in various other (darker) colors of ink.

2. DONE! order a boxcar base and plates for hello, thank you, and business cards from boxcar press.
3. DONE! buy a printer. maybe that should have been #2, as printing these things out before sending them to the platemakers might be helpful. as would learning how to use adobe illustrator.
4. DONE! talk to a lawyer. good thing for me heather s. is in town and sleeping on my couch tomorrow night.
5. DONE! order paper, paper samples, and envelopes.
6. design and print mel's baby announcements.
7. BACK BURNER. develop regular blog content and start writing it. anything you guys particularly want my perspective on? this will probably be an on-going project.
8. start printing sample stationery sets. run a promotion asking if anyone wants a sample stationery set made my me.
9. decide which causes i want to support with my business (kiva, invisible children, and lifewater are the ones that have been on my mind lately--oh, there are so many!) **i think i am going to go with kiva and toms shoes to start. but if anyone knows of a good organization that helps afghan women, i would be interested to know about it.
10. finish my once-through of the boss of you. this book is amazing, ladies.
11. get a file box.
12. nail down a final budget, mission statement, and overall vision for my business.
13. write a profile--heather and kim lambright, could you maybe help with that? and organize blog links, make the whole thing look more intentional and together.

okay, that is a lot of goals, but a lot of them are underway, and a lot of them are small and have been on my to do list for a long time, so it's definitely time they become concrete and crossed off.

also, a couple of working habits i want to start:
1. work in my workspace! there's a reason i bought this little table from ikea and put it together myself (well, dad did the tough stuff).
2. no tv while i'm working. this just leads to wasted time on the internet/computer.

2009-04-03T13:49:00.002-05:00

i kind of can't get over these images of a fun, outdoor party. i have been feeling itchy about life lately, wanting terribly to escape the city, see something new, and have some quiet. not that a party is quiet, but it is fun, and this one is the perfect visual escape from the three beige walls of my cube. i wish blogger would keep the pictures in a larger size when i upload them. humph.

(image from birch, via jordan)

kinthup and gloria

2009-04-03T11:18:00.002-05:00

my friend christi has opened an etsy shop! check out her lovely crocheted things. i am particularly taken with this beautiful scarflet (and the term scarflet!)

presents!

2009-04-02T10:32:00.002-05:00

oddly enough, i have not been eating in my cube this week. however, i did get part of my amazon order in the mail! and i am excited. i really tried to hold back on the number of pictures of pages from the books, for your sakes.
the cd's have already had a spin or two in the player (i am currently reveling in the twenty minutes of peepers at the end of middle cyclone. i hope that's not a spoiler for anyone. they are the sound of spring).
i am excited about at least reading about making cheese and butter; whether or not i am going to have the time or opportunity to make cheese and butter is another matter.
general printing is likely to change my life. i am quite hopeful.

2009-04-02T09:10:00.004-05:00

abbey swears by them as a husband-catcher. it might be time to get me some peonies. i'm mostly joking. well, sort of. besides, aren't they just pretty? yeah. we still don't even have buds here in the perpetual tundra.

2009-04-01T09:23:00.003-05:00

P. just posted about this guy yesterday, and i am totally taken with his blog. he makes food and photographs it. his voice is so calm and real, it is a great escape from my dreary workday.
oh my gosh! i am going to stop talking about how dreary my workdays are. i think it is established that i don't like my job, and that i am dying to get out of it, to work for myself, to do something meaningful. so i can stop talking about it, stop obsessing about it, stop giving it any more attention than it deserves.
so i can stop whining!
i hate whining.
and the cure to whining is gratitude, so i am going to be grateful for the things i do enjoy, my friends at work, and friends on the interwebs, two legs that get me to work and home every day, and my eyes that let me take in all the beauty the world has to offer. blah, blah, blah.
i mean it, i really do.

feels like monday again.

2009-03-31T09:03:00.005-05:00

it is so gray and gross outside. i am trying to remember last year at this time, but i must have blocked it out because i cannot at all recall anything about the end of march 2008 or what the weather was like. suffice it to say, i am sick of this winter stuff. and i want to get out of town.
but this little guy has cheered me up!
and led me to more laughs here. i am particularly enthralled with the twins, their matching backpacks, and their little adventures (scroll down to see the story).
i would have actually posted images, but i couldn't get them to work.
the genius behind the birdies is lauren alane.
you can find her here: shop, blog, website

workspace.

2009-03-30T14:30:00.000-05:00

i am totally fascinated with peoples' jobs. i think it comes from the dissatisfaction i feel about my own current job--the feeling that i am a little trapped, but at the same time dreaming and planning about the job i want and feel i am meant to have. this makes me insanely curious about the jobs that other people work, to the extent that i have considered interviewing the people i interact with on a daily basis about their jobs, how they ended up in them, if they like them, if they make enough money to live on, and on and on and on.
so when i discovered the most recent project by photographer joseph o. holmes, i was in heaven. eeek!!! i am so interested by these spaces where people spend so much of their time and do whatever work it is they do.

found via enormous champion, via design*sponge

monday, monday.

2009-03-30T12:52:00.005-05:00

i am totally dragging today, with the continual gray weather outside, and a winter storm advisory or warning or something. . . dreaming a lot about my dream life, and dream space, and this image (via sfgirlbybay--bless her and her deco files) just speaks to me. and i do not use the phrase "speaks to me" in normal conversation. or ever. i wish i was in this room today. sigh.

i am totally dragging today, with the continual gray weather outside, and a winter storm advisory or warning or something. . . dreaming a lot about my dream life, and dream space, and this image (via sfgirlbybay--bless her and her deco files) just speaks to me. and i do not use the phrase "speaks to me" in normal conversation. or ever. i wish i was in this room today. sigh.

speaking of rob ryan.

2009-03-29T10:34:00.000-05:00

seriously, check him out! site :: shop :: blog
(thank you, katy elliot)

spiritual mansions.

2009-03-29T01:31:00.012-05:00

i am super-proud of my friends and their band, spiritual mansions. just enjoyed some good listening last night at the red stag. i am not a music critic, so i have no enthralling words to describe their music or style, except i like it and it's great.

it's moments like this when i wish my blog had a million readers who would all go over to the band's myspace page and check them out, catapulting them to new heights of fame. sigh. maybe someday (i promise i'm not delusional, just a dreamer). i was sitting behind the band, so all the photos are of their backs, pretty much. but again, playing with my little digital camera is a huge source of entertainment for me.
it's also moments like this that make me proud to live in minneapolis and be a part of a community of great art and music, if not specifically me yet, at least vicariously through my talented friends.

um. . . .

2009-03-28T18:47:00.004-05:00

i just had a bit of an amazon shopping spree, and bought this book, because i saw that other simplicity-loving bloggers are drooling over it.

i think i was distracted when i bought it, because instead of actually looking at the table of contents, i hit "proceed to checkout" and "place order".
then i looked at the table of contents.
some highlights:
dry stone walling
hedge laying
making a fire without matches
catching eels
building wooden boats
skinning a rabbit
plucking a fowl

on the upside, i might be able to make use of things like:
brewing beer
making cider
making butter
making cheese
candying peel

also, the strange stuff will probably be interesting, at least. i will let you know when i get it!
besides, who doesn't want to be friends with rob ryan (cover artist/paper-cutter genius)?

still giggling, one week later.

2009-03-27T11:14:00.001-05:00

charles minor: "what's a two-way petting zoo?"
jim halpert: "you pet the animals and they pet you back."

seriously, i think it's the best office line ever.

oh, craigslist.

2009-03-26T21:48:00.002-05:00

when summer gets here, i must move. but i can't wait until then to look for new little homes on craigslist. as i was browsing tonight, i found some details that cracked me up a little:
2 bedroom
1 Bathroom
1000 sq ft.
Cozy gas fireplace
In Unit, free washer and dryer
extra storage available
2 off-street parking spaces
Fenced in yard for animals
Fire Pit for fun

i understand that the fenced in yard is for keeping the animals, but what exactly are we supposed to do with the fun? burn it in the fire pit? just corral it there, try to not let it escape? can i bring the fun into the house or does it need to strictly remain in the fire pit?

box lunch.

2009-03-26T11:51:00.002-05:00

although the weather has been nothing but gray this week, i have had a bit of color in my food this week-some natural, some not.
i do love a good breakfast sandwich, and of course surdyk's does not disappoint. let's talk about surdyk's for a second. it is becoming increasingly apparent for many reasons that i either need to a) stop going there or b) start working there. i am there at least once a day, often twice. i never walk away without something, even if it their 75c coffee--which is really good, by the way. also, my job is getting to me. it really, really drains my soul. and my brain. i have spent this whole week working on feeling positive about it, but i am coming to the conclusion (which i had a hunch about before) that i am just not cut out for boring office jobs. or office jobs at all, probably. so it has crossed my mind to check on the employment opportunities there.
anyway, the food. . . .
we also have for your enjoyment, an orange, cut just the way i like it. and left-over red velvet goodness.

wishing i still played piano.

2009-03-26T10:17:00.003-05:00

this adorable, hilarious little item was on etsy's front page today and totally cracked me up. i love it. (does anyone else wish there was a word in the english language that falls somewhere between like and love? something to differentiate between the giddiness i feel when i see things like this and the enduring LOVE i have for my friends and family? maybe i will start something. if 'OMG' can become common lingo, i can make up a good 'tweener word, right?)

check out this delightful little shop: pulsewidth

sigh.

2009-03-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

i actually really wish i were here with all the other printmaking nerds. i told myself i would go, since it's so close, but i have not been prolific at all lately (i think i made one real print last year--yikes), and somehow that translated into not having anything to share and thinking i would show up and feel like a fraud. not that anyone else would even notice, but still. and i didn't want to go alone. or with strangers.
i feel like i have been in a funk for a long time, and i need to snap out of it.
thus ends the string of introspective blog entries.

road trip.

2009-03-25T08:28:00.005-05:00

this is what i want to do today, instead of going to work. well, one of thousand things i want to do instead of going to work. my attempted zen attitude about all things work-related is rapidly going down the tubes. it takes so much energy to try to be positive about it! and i am a positive person, in general (right? unless i'm dillusional).
just realized that tomorrow is the full* moon, no wonder i want to run wild.
as a distraction, though, isn't this photo amazing? i am loving flickr lately, and this guy's photos are all quite captivating.

image found here.

*and by full, i mean new, now that mel has set me straight. i guess i have no excuse for my wild-wantings.

i still don't take pictures of people.

2009-03-24T22:55:00.006-05:00

i made a batch of amy butler's red velvet cupcakes for the party on saturday. mini ones.and then, at the party, ended up taking about a million pictures of the lights through the window. i can't decide yet if they look like they are actually great or really not great at all. i got a big kick out of taking them, and my impulse says i like looking at them, so that's going to be enough for me.

a monday rant.

2009-03-23T11:34:00.005-05:00

it's monday, and rainy, which is actually nice. however, i have nothing to share or show you. it was a party-party weekend, and i finally got the press working. so later, i will have some photos to share, and my first brilliant letterpress experiment, but for now i just have quiet.

unless, of course, i say what i'm really thinking, and that is: even though we are all bloggers and on the internet, why does no one seem to edit their content? i agree that if you sell stationery, you should not talk about your stationary line, and would it really kill you to proofread your content before publishing it? does no one care about these things anymore? i could have a career as a blog proofreader if they did.
humph. i am feeling like a spinster lately. perhaps this is just more evidence.

spring!

2009-03-20T07:18:00.007-05:00

they are saying on the radio that it has snowed in mn this morning, so it's not as if the official start of spring really means anything. but it is a good mile marker anyway. i wish this is what it looked like outside my window:

(photo found here, via here)

what do i call it?

2009-03-19T12:00:00.003-05:00

in an effort to create interest and continuity, i have decided to implement the regularity of featured blogging content (wow, that was a stuffy sentence!). so let us commence with the inaugural installment of cube food* (a temporary name, i am terrible at names. i did name my business after myself, after all. any good suggestions would be greatly appreciated).
i have chosen thursday as the day for cube food, because thursday is my favorite day of the week and this is a favorite thing i am doing here. so, without any further ado, i give you. . . what i have been eating at work lately!
ooh, maybe a little further ado: the cheese is yummy, yummy driftless sheep cheese. i usually go for the donnay dairy goat cheese at surdyk's, but apparently all the donnay goats are about to have some kids and aren't milking. the driftless is really good, although i do crave that perfect, tangy chevre (it's the best in the world). i topped it with the greens and curry chicken.
the chocolate is some amazing thing with cocoa nibs and nutmeg.

*also, almost immediately after i so carefully and proudly scheduled this post to publish, i was informed that no one gives a you-know-what about what i had for lunch. incidentally, this also comes from the same people who suggested i create interest and continuity through regular blog content. apparently, i am easily influenced? easily intimidated? i guess we'll see how this all goes. tell me what you think, but say it nicely, i'm a little sensitive at the moment.

happy birthday,

2009-03-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

you beautiful, beautiful man (i'm actually not obsessed, for the record).

my thoughts exactly.

2009-03-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

for any girl who has ever sought love on the internet, enjoy.

the answer to all my problems.

2009-03-18T09:18:00.006-05:00

preface: isn't it interesting how now we all talk about money all the time? i heard a segment on npr the other day about how now that everyone is having money troubles, it's not a taboo subject anymore. interesting. . . .
i have been thinking about what to do with my little tax return that should be making its appearance in my checking account any day now. the options:
1. a big, fat credit card payment (old standby).
2. buy a ton of letterpress supplies and go to town.
3. buy a new, bigger bed (i currently sleep in a sad little single--i'm not lame, i swear!)
4. buy this car.

this is probably what i will go with. it will probably change my life entirely, in the following ways:
1. i will finally get to move to california! since the car is not what you would call a practical, minnesota car, i will need to relocate.
2. relocating would be the perfect opportunity to start my own business for real, abandoning my depressing beige cube in exchange for my studio (new, of course, probably in berkeley?), where of course my new art/design/writing life will really begin to take off.
3. i could potentially get back a vw-loving ex-boyfriend, if i wanted.
4. i could probably get any new boyfriend i wanted. this car will make me sexier, right?
5. i will suddenly know what it is i really want.
6. i would finally drop those pesky thirty pounds and be able to achieve the gorgeous thrifty-vintage style i have so long envied about the skinny girls (some things just don't work if you're not a stick). this would in turn make me even sexier, reinforcing benefit no. 4.
7. it's a lot simpler than modern cars, i could learn to fix it myself, which is probably what i would need to do. i might have to stop every so often to put water in my radiator, but really, i like having things that make me slow down and enjoy life. and since i will be a sexy, skinny girl with a new sexy beetle-boyfriend, i won't mind stopping once in awhile to douse the engine.

i guess i can't think of any good reason NOT to buy the car, really.

st. stomach's day.

2009-03-17T22:13:00.005-05:00

do you ever wish that maybe you didn't have such an agreeable appetite? that maybe that loving mother of yours had not instilled in you the value of eating whatever is put in front of you? for example, it might sometimes be helpful to not really find everything appealing. and by everything i mean the samosas, the chicken fingers, the french fries, and the blue moon. not everyone is adventurous with food. but you, you are indiscriminating. you'll try anything at least once! you will take what others turn down! oh, yes. and you will regret it.
you will also regret the decision to follow your happy hour experience with a trip to the gym (after all, you picked the pub that is next door to the y for exactly this convenient reason!), where you will bounce up and down for thirty minutes and consume copious amounts of water--brilliant!
and of course, after all this, you must get yourself home. how convenient (the theme of the evening) that you chose today as your inaugural bike riding day of the season! there is nothing like a two-mile bike ride in the chilly minnesota night, that's for sure (these are the experiences that, if she read your blog, would make your dear mother shudder with fear for you). about halfway home, you realize that stopping is not an option. somehow the inertia of pedaling keeps all the food inside you. you contemplate which would be worse: barfing on a random street corner, or on the steps of your own house. you imagine what it would be like to throw up while in motion. would it throw you off balance and cause you to crash? would you be able to strategically miss yourself and your bike in the process?
thankfully, you make it home without any actual vomiting (it's a miracle!) and recover slowly on the couch. you swear this is not happening again.
you resolve to be more picky next time. and to follow your pickiness with something besides a trip to the gym, no matter how convenient it may be.

2009-03-17T15:07:00.002-05:00

there are moments in my workday when i feel an ulcer coming on.
i am pretty sure i am too young for this.

hoo-ray, it's mon-day!!

2009-03-16T17:03:00.003-05:00

or, at least it's 65 degrees in the twin cities, and that makes even a monday a great day.
off to the studio to get some work done in daylight.
also looking forward to my brand-new, life-changing book that came in the mail (finally! who knew media mail takes a month?).
i'm not kidding about the life-changing part. i am really excited.

more cube food.

2009-03-14T16:49:00.006-05:00

this is starting to be a fun little game (i'm thinking of making this a regular blog feature. this is really only the beginning of the pictures, which is only the beginning of what i actually eat in my cube. which is perhaps why i need a diet?) i'm thinking i should become a spokeswoman for surdyk's, the home of many a delicious thing, particularly the yummy sandwich-baby. i'm pretty sure most of my workday meals [that i don't make myself] come from there. oh, and i do love girl scout cookie time. . . .

in other news, i think my press is fixed!! thanks to a fresh pair of eyes and a level. so we'll see if the tighter screws hold. all plans for tomorrow are scratched, i am spending every moment i can with that press-baby.
kim came to visit today and saw the press and the studio and we walked all over northeast and it felt great to be in the sunshine and smell like outside again for once. i cannot cannot wait for spring and summer.
today is amy's birthday, so we are going out for fancy-schmancy dinner, which we never do. but i've been sitting on a big fat gift card for awhile now, so why not? i need to scrounge up something appropriate to wear, and i discover once again that i have no fancy clothes, let alone fancy clothes that are seasonally appropriate.
regardless, i am looking forward to a little dinner, some wine. . . a movie to follow, perhaps?

making my day.

2009-03-13T13:41:00.003-05:00

this cover song, played by my favorite deejay.
it's friday and my workday is flying, so i am happy.