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)

the answer to all my problems.

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.

more officialness.

here they are! i finally made it to the studio with my camera, so here are the first photos of the little press-baby. i have diagnosed her problem, which is that the roller hook arm on the left side is not solidly attached where it needs to be. however, i don't know how to fix this. if anyone out there does, please let me know! i have tried posting on the briarpress discussion board with not much luck. perhaps i will try again with my updated knowledge.
i really cannot wait to get printing!
she came with lots of type. here is a small sample.
this is my name, spelled out in type (duh). i'm going for expositionalness today. i'm also having dinner from mcdonald's. there, i said it.

fishnets.

it is late, i have a headache, and i am possibly already breaking my lenten sacrifice of no gratuitous internet use--which, of course, is not something i should be talking about, especially here, in this very public forum we call the internet.
however!! i have to say that i believe some things are coming together to put me on my desired path sooner than i was anticipating.
but i don't want to jinx anything (wait, do i a believe that?)
i have been working my way, rather slowly--and rather poorly, through the artist's way, the universal creativity rehab course. julia cameron keeps saying things like "leap, and the net will appear". well, for a long time i felt like i was leaping, but no net. just splat! on the concrete below. actually, they are rocks. rocks and scraggly trees and sagebrush (i did grow up in the mountains, after all).
but this week? this week i am leaping. and this week, there seems to be a net. it's a little hard to see, as if it were made of fishing line, it mostly just reflects the sunlight here and there. but it is there. so it is time to close my eyes and take a running jump, limbs spread wide. i have found some friends to help, and i think i have found some equipment.
but, shhhh! nothing's official yet, so no details.
how's that for creating interest, huh?
you're hooked, i can tell.

if i were planning a honeymoon. . .

i would go here (apparently i am marrying a millionaire. also,what is with the ellipses lately? when did i become ellipsis girl?). this place looks ah-mazing.

(remodelista via please sir)

thursdays.

i don't think grace ever needs ME directing traffic to her blog, but i just want to tell the three of you that read this, how much i love the new weekly flower column on design*sponge. seriously, i woke up this morning thinking, "thursday! the office, and weeder's digest". and i have proceeded to refresh my browser all afternoon in anticipation of sarah's hilarious floral commentary. and let me tell you, she did not disappoint in her valentine's day installment.
so hilarious.
so beautiful.
makes me wish even more that i had a man to bring me flowers this year.

a case of the tuesdays?

ugh. i do not want to go to work today (or any day, really). it is dark and windy outside and i mostly just feel like staying home with some music, coffee, and research. it is time to get serious about this working for myself thing, and it is all i can think about. also, i want to make these cookies. oh, and i want to read the tenth muse, because it looks amazing (is it one of those things i have just not paid attention to before?) a lot of my thoughts lately are about what i want out of life, what i want to do, and what i want to surround myself with--not in a hopeless, depressing way, but in a "let's make it happen" sort of way:
i want to read more.
i want to cook more.
i want to take more photographs.
those are just three, i am holding back a little, because being on the internet is like being in public, and it's good to not let it all hang out all the time.
however, it is off to work for me.
i am always ten minutes late and i hardly ever care. i think that is not such a good sign.