speeblog

Since yesterday, I've been going through a lot of my stuff and getting rid of things I don't need. I'm totally jealous of people who have a minimal amount of possessions. I find that my house gets messy really quickly, and a lot of that is because I just have too much. It feels really good to just purge--I cleaned out my shelves in the bathroom yesterday, tossing out all kinds of old bath products from who knows when that I kept "just in case," and today I got rid of a lot of stuff in the bedroom. I also managed to fill up about three bags (so far) to donate. Hurray! And since winter break is coming up, I'll have a lot more time to work on it. I would take before pictures but you probably wouldn't be my friend anymore...but I'll probably take some pics of my sweet organization when I'm done. I am planning on redecorating the living room when I'm done (uh, good thing Shea doesn't read this) and you know you'll see photos of that, too. Yay for cleaning!

***

Last week, I went to Galveston and had Thanksgiving with my sister Porridge, her boyfriend Paul, and his sister Erika. Erika did most of the cooking and Paul made the turkey, and I...well, I didn't really do anything. But I did load the dishwasher afterwards (I can't really count that though, because after being without a dishwasher for so long, loading one kind of seems like a luxury.

Porridge had to work nights while I was there, so I only got to see her before she left for work at like 6 pm. Here is a picture of Porridge and Paul:



We had a lot of fun! Paul and I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving. We went to Target and then to the mall (!) in Clear Lake (Galveston doesn't have a mall). It wasn't really that crowded! I had a really fun day hanging out with Paul. I am so glad that my sister has such a cool boyfriend!

We also got to meet up with my cousin Kelly! He is 4 years younger than me. His parents have a beach house in G-town and that's where they go for Thanksgiving. I haven't seen him in about two years (okay, I got sad typing that, I used to see him all the time). He is HIL-ARIOUS, let me tell you. Also, even though he is younger than me, he is much taller (as are most people), as you can see below:



xoxo,
s

One thing about going to school when you're older is that you (I?) feel a little better positioned to question things. For example, right this second I am working on a paper assignment that is utterly ridiculous. And I LOVE writing papers (I am not being sarcastic). I love thinking about something interesting and going to the library and whatnot and reading scholarly articles and incorporating all sorts of information into my ideas. I love thinking about things from all different angles. I love assignments that make me think critically and where I learn something from all of my work. Unfortunately, this is not one of those assignments. This falls more into the category of regurgitating information. I actually feel a little angry that I have to write it, which is making it difficult for me to work. Boo! But maybe now that I've expressed this, I can get down to business!

Quelquefois, si je pense quelque chose, je parle en français cette chose dans ma tête. Mon français n'est pas bon, mais je fais des progrès. J'ai eu un examen la semaine dernière, mais je ne pouvais pas étude parce que j'étais malade. Mais, j'ai ma note--84! Pas mal!

Avant vous pensez je parle français très bien, il est important pour se rappeler que j'écrit seulement ce qui je pense que je peux écrire. Je ne sais pas tout les mots!

Maintenant, je vais aller à la bibliothèque. Au revoir!

Yesterday was such a perfect day. We spent a lot of time outside. Shea is going to plant fall/winter plants in his garden, and he spent a lot of time working on that.



We found this little guy out in the yard. I think he's cute!



Then we sat on the front porch picking the leaves off the basil Shea harvested to make room for the fall plants. I got the idea that we should make basil lemonade! So we went to the store for some lemons and made a big pitcher of it. Holy moly, it was good.

More pictures on my flickr!

xoxo,
s

Friday I played hooky and went to the Round Top/Warrenton flea market with Natalie! I found the little deer and and an assortment of other woodland creatures for a secret project that I am working on. It was such a great day--awesome conversation and good finds all around. Natalie is one of my favorite people, that's for sure.

Speaking of favorite people, I apologize for my cryptic last post--that photo is of my Uncle Mark holding me when I was a baby. Uncle Mark passed away three years ago and it still does not seem like anything that the universe could have allowed to happen. He was such a sweet, hilarious guy. I don't know if you read the comments, but I think what Megan said was pretty apt. Everything changed.

xoxo,
s

I promise this post won't be as cheezy as the title makes it sound!




First, I painted the craft room and made it, well, less of a craft room! I have been wanting to do this for a while, and I decided that this summer was a perfect opportunity. I work in this space, and besides, my "craft area" was just a huge mess that I never really used. So I made it more functional and more pleasant to be in. I had painted it yellow initially, because I read that yellow is a good color for creativity. Well, turns out I am not a yellow person at all. I always felt a little cranky in there, actually. Blue is my favorite color and I decided to go with that.

There are more pictures on my flickr.

So the other thing I have to share is that I keep having dreams that come true! I know how crazy that sounds.

--I was having a problem with packages being lost in the mail. Some of them were really important/irreplaceable (vintage beads I'd ordered), so I was pretty upset about it. I dreamed that Shea came in the back door holding the packages, and said that they had been out in the backyard all along. Well, the next day, Shea came in the back door with the missing mail! Apparently, in a weird coincidence, the neighbor in the apartment behind me has a last name that is just a few letters off from my business name. So they had been delivered to him instead--meaning of course, that they had been in the backyard the whole time!

--I dreamed that Shea was like, "Let's change Chibi's name to Chips." I woke up and thought that was pretty funny. A few days go by, and Shea decides that Chibi's "sleepy smell" (you know how some dogs get a kind of smell when they sleep?) smells like corn chips. This kind of evolves into us calling her "corn chips," and then all of a sudden I remember the dream and am totally freaked out.

--My bike that I got for my birthday--I saw it in an ad in ReadyMade and I wanted one, and then I dreamed that I got one as a present. In the dream, there was something about the bike that made it easy for people to learn, and I jumped on it and just learned to ride really quickly. Then of course, Shea got me one for my birthday, and in real life, the bike IS made to where it's easy for people to learn. And I learned how to ride the second time I took it out!

Crazy, huh?

Okay, enough of that, some good news! As of the past month or so, there are five new places to find my jewelry and at least two more places pending! Specifics will be on my website soon.

-Atlanta
-Milwaukee
-Orlando
-Westlake
-Sydney, BC Canada (!)

and there are two more places pending but I don't want to jinx it.

Yay!

xoxo,
s

I'm on Daily Candy Dallas today! Check it out!

http://www.dailycandy.com/article.jsp?ArticleId=31142&city=8

xoxo,
s

So, my super awesome birthday surprise was...

...a bike!



And not just any bike--a PINK Electra Townie! I have wanted one of these forever--well, if forever started when I saw the ad in ReadyMade. I just thought they were cute, but turns out they are made where you can put your feet flat on the ground when you stop. Which was awesome for me, because it made it SO easy for me to learn (yep, you heard me right, I did not know how to ride a bike until last Sunday). But now I totally know and I pretty much ride every day if it's not raining. Next semester I plan on riding to school. I can't recommend the Electra Townie highly enough.


We also went to the Blue Bell Creamery, where I have wanted to go since I was about 8. I love Blue Bell and I love to watch things being made in factories, so there you go. They made Key Lime Pie and Sugar Free Banana Split while we were there. They don't let you take pictures on the tour, but luckily we got pictures of us in our sweet hats.



Then Shea's mom made me this AMAZING red velvet cake. I have two favorite kinds of cake and this is one of them. So pretty!



xoxo,
s

This weekend was really busy! Honestly, the last two weeks have been like that. I feel like I am running from one place to another all the time. There were some problems with my site in certain versions of IE (we only have macs at home and didn't test for this), so Shea and I went up to his office where he could see what was wrong. He got it fixed, but the poor thing had to spend a lot of Saturday and Sunday working on it.

We've been swimming pretty much every day and it's awesome! I love swimming! I have a cute suit and a cute cover-up and somehow that makes me feel a tiny bit less self-concious about swimming in public.

Tuesday is my birthday and Shea is really excited about the present he got me...it's pretty cute! I can't wait to find out what it is. He also took the day off and he's got a surprise day trip planned.

I've been updating my etsy shop...I am really starting to love taking photos! When I first started doing it, I hated it--I am usually pretty good at getting a good shot, but with the close-up product photography I wasn't able to do that and it was frustrating. I finally sat down with my camera's manual and spent the afternoon figuring out all the functions--sounds fun, huh? But it helped A LOT, and I am starting to feel really good about my product photography skills. My parents are giving me a new, fancier camera for my birthday, and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

xoxo,
s

As some of you might know, I have something of a reputation for being a "biblical scholar" (as Natalie puts it--ha!). I went to a Christian school for K-12 and we took Bible classes that counted towards our GPA. Plus, I have a pretty good memory, but it is especially good for things I have read.

So the other day I'm working in the craft room, and I see this old guy and a lady walking up the sidewalk towards the house. The window was open, so I couldn't just hide like I wanted to. It was actually kind of spooky in a way, because the man was dressed in like a 1930s style (fedora-ish hat included) and was moving really slowly.

Turned out they were Jehovah's Witnesses, and he started talking to me about the bible. I told him I was busy and he was polite about it, and then he asked me my name. I told him.

He said, "That's a pretty name; did you know that Sarah's name was changed in the Bible--it was originally Sarai?"
"Yes."
"Oh, you did? Do you know why?"
"Yes, because she laughed when God told her she would have a child at 90."
"Okay, well, did you know that Abraham's name was changed, too, from Abram?"
"Yes."
"Well, do you know what Abram means?"
"Yes."
"Okay, well, what does it mean?"
"Father of many."

He left after that.

First things first--the website is up! And, the etsy shop is up as well! I think I spent the whole day today taking/editing/uploading photos. Yikes!

Yesterday I did my first outdoor show in a long time! It was hot, but Natalie let me borrow her tent which saved me (plus, I got to have coffee with Natalie and James in their lovely backyard on Saturday morning). The show was pretty fun, I had some sales, and I did a swap with my neighbor Rachel for this awesome painting which is now in my living room:



At the show, they had watermelon, which is really good on a hot day.


If it doesn't rain this afternoon when Shea gets off work, we are going swimming! I got this awesome swimsuit at Sears (of all places) when I was home visiting my parents. I can't find a picture online, but it's very 1940s--navy blue with white polka dots, shirring down the front, and the kind of leg openings that go straight across (I am sure there is a more glamourous way to describe the cut but I don't know what it is--it's kind of like the one in that famous Betty Grable photo where she's looking over her shoulder).

I'm off to do some non-business-related chores, finally!

xoxo,
s

So I have a lot of cool and interesting things to post about, and I totally would, except that I can't stop thinking about THE ZOMBIES.

Shea and I went to see 28 Weeks Later last night. Holy crap. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I hate violence, but sometimes I can tolerate it if the storyline is strong enough (e.g. Pan's Labyrinth). But I think I had my jacket over my eyes for the first 20 minutes of this movie, and every time I would peek to see if it was okay, there would someone getting hit with a bloody crowbar and I'd have to go back under the jacket.

And the whole movie is like that! There is never a part where it doesn't feel like a bunch of zombies aren't going to run up and suddenly smash someone to death (probably because this happens every 30 seconds or so). Totally disturbing. If you are not too bothered by that sort of thing it might be worth it, but for me, well, there are just so many times I can see (or hear) someone being ripped apart by a violent and fast-moving herd of the undead.

So I had to leave! I have not walked out of a movie since the fire scene in Pinocchio--I was 4 and my older sister was pissed. Luckily Shea wasn't upset, but I did feel bad about wasting the money, and I kind of feel like a big baby for thinking I could handle it.

Do you know who this is? C'est Bette! Elle est une chatte désagréable! She is always trying to steal Tammy's boyfriend, Tex. Tex and Tammy are both armadillos. They are all the little characters in our French lessons and homework. And I keep getting all pissed when Tex gives Bette flowers (quand Tex offre des fleurs à Bette). Oh well, at least I can express my ridiculous indignation en français. That's something, isn't it? No, it's not.

It's 4:30 and I've been at the library since 1:30 and I'll be here until my final at 7. Holy crap! The quiet study floor where I am is kind of yellow and my eyes feel wierd. Oh well, back to studying. Wish me luck.

xoxo,
s

So, as you probably don't know (am I flattering myself here?), my mom's side of the family is sort of famous for having large heads. My Uncle Mark called us "gatorheads," although I have to say, none of us has a really long skinny head like a gator. Or maybe he meant that the gator's head is large in terms of surface area, as are ours?

Regardless, I keep thinking about cutting my hair for summer. It grows really fast and if I didn't like it, it wouldn't be that long until it was long again. I know this because I cut my hair short once when I was like 19, and by the end of the year it wasn't short anymore.

I found this virtual makeover site on iVillage.co.uk--I'm sorry; I closed the window and didn't bookmark the exact URL of the site, but if you're interested, just go to the homepage and search for "virtual makeover." You have to register, but it's free. You can experiment with different colors and styles, and you can even do your makeup, although I didn't use that feature. You have to go through kind of a lot of steps to get to the point where you can glam it up, but it's totally worth it, if just for the hilarity factor. The site is actually pretty helpful, despite the results you see below.


This is shortly after I launched my series of workout tapes:


This is either Jessie Spano from "Saved by the Bell" goes to the prom or Marie Antoinette; either way it was categorized under the heading of "glamorous," and I think we can all agree that it is indeed glamorous:


I don't know what happened here but I like it. Sassy! And so low maintenance.


xoxo,
s

(but not to the dog park, where we are not allowed to show our faces anymore, but we'll get to that later)



Did you know that the school library has a coffee shop in it, and that coffee shop is called Prufrock's? That's funny, no? Did someone just google "coffee and literature?" I thought it was just a humorous oversight, but they actually have the "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons" part tacked up on the wall. Anyway, I really like libraries and I really like those cubicles where you can just settle in and do your work. And I'm very glad they have a coffee shop, even if the name is silly.



We took the dogs to the park this weekend, and OMGWTFBBQ, we have embarrassing dogs. See that toy that Reggie has? The one that he put in the grodie creek water? Yeah, he took that from another dog. It's hard to tell from the photo, but that is actually a white plush toy. When the other dog tried to reclaim his (ruined, disgusting) toy, the Nuge got all aggro on him and we had to move on to a different area of the park.

Then Chibi, the little shy puppy-face who is afraid of everyone, decided it would be fun to get a group of like 5 large dogs to chase her. She actually loves being chased, but you get a big group of dogs who are at least 5x your body weight chasing you, and yeah, it's scary. She didn't think that through. So Shea and I and all of the other dog owners are just standing there horrified as Chibi is running in circles, squealing in terror, and the other dogs are encouraged by this and it just makes them run faster. One of the dog owners is all, "Don't worry; I've never seen her hurt another dog," as his dog is snapping at Chibi's hindquarters. Finally I got her to jump into my arms and we lost "off the leash" privileges for the rest of the day. So all told, we spent about 15 minutes at the dog park before we had to do the walk of shame back to the car. Both dogs got totally filthy and Chibi had her first bath ever.

xoxo,
s

PS-You know that muffin man toy that Chibi was chewing on in my last post? That guy got destroyed.

PPS-Chibi's going to obedience school this summer.

Spring Break was great! Dixie, Clint, my neighbor Brittani, and I went to see Peter Bjorn and John at a free SXSW day show at the ACL studios. I can't believe how fakey the "city" in the background is! I wanted to take a picture, but my camera ran out of batteries. Boo! I did manage to get a few pics of the band before that happened. I promise Peter (or Bjorn? or John?) wasn't as ghost-like in real life.





I also did my main task, which was organize my workspace. I'll post some pics of that later.

And I read two books. The first was Calamity and Other Stories, by Daphne Kalotay. How can I say no to a book of stories which is compared to those of Alice Munro and Lorrie Moore?? It was a really lovely book. I read it in a day.

I also read Marjane Satrapi's newest graphic novel, Chicken With Plums. This was awesome, too, but I should learn my lesson and not by graphic novels while they're still in hardback--you can get through them in one (short, $17) sitting!

Chibi had to get her little teeth cleaned yesterday! The poor thing, they were really terrible. I'm not sure how they got that way, but man, she had the worst breath--you would never have expected that such stinky breath could come from such a cute little animal.



See how stinky? Just look at the expression on my face. So anyway, they have to anesthetize dogs to clean their teeth, which meant leaving little Cheebs at the vet all day. I got her this toy at Bark and Purr to make it up to her. I thought it was an orange but apparently it's a muffin. Anyway, we lost privileges on this toy real fast. See that little octopus thing on the muffin's head? Yeah, she set to work on that and pulled it off in about 2 minutes. I had to cut it off, and now the muffin man is without an octopus friend.





The second picture makes her look a little demonic, I'll admit.

But anyway, Chibi did great and now her teeth are shiny and clean! Yesterday she even had sort of a "new car scent" for some reason.

One more thing--I adapted my grandmother's chicken spaghetti recipe and made my own version! Hers was not vegetarian (obviously, with instructions like "skim off the chicken fat, melt it, and use that to cook the vegetables"). I substituted TVP for chicken, "No Chicken Broth" for the real thing, and I used whole wheat spaghetti since that's what we always use around here. And I cooked the veggies in a little bit olive oil. If anyone wants the recipe, I'll share! I just didn't want to post it on the internet since I can't get her permission. It was so good, and it reminds me of being a kid and having Sunday lunch with everyone over at Grams's house.



Okay, I better get back to my homework now...

xoxo,
s

Saturday we took the dogs to Pedernales Falls--it was one of the best Saturdays I've had in a while. Reggie swam and looked for rocks. Chibi was too afraid to get in the water, but you could tell she kind of wanted to. There are a bunch more photos here:
http://flickr.com/photos/manekicollection/sets/72157594581367448/

So, a while back I think I posted about making a new display for P&L...ugh. It was kind of a disaster. I really liked it but I could tell the necklaces weren't being displayed as well as they could be. So I spent the day yesterday making a new one! It was an EXTREMELY stressful day, but it all worked out. This is actually my favorite display so far--it's very bright and pretty. Shea came up to P&L with me last night to help switch everything out. These aren't the best photos, but you get the idea.



I am loving spring break! I met Shea for lunch and then I spent the afternoon wandering around the Austin Antique Mall, looking at all the awesome stuff they have in there and listening to the thunderstorms outside. I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon. I found this kids' book, too--it has a lot of neat illustrations in it that I plan to use for some kind of craft project, but then I found this:



...and I had to buy it. Am I the only one who thinks this is funny? I am so immature!

xoxo,
s

It's officially Spring Break! I had a French test this morning, but all my other classes were cancelled. I have been SO ready for this, too--I love school but it's really hard, and I'm looking forward to just relaxing and being able to keep up with all the extra traffic at Parts & Labour. I also plan on spending a lot of time reading in my hammock, practicing yoga, organizing things, and maybe taking my little Chibi to the park. Basically, just doing whatever I feel like!

When I got home today I was so excited to finally be on break and able to work on crafts again that I whipped up this little tote. It's part of a care package for a Glitter friend. I got this fabric from Melissa at one of the Glitterati meetups! I love it, and I still have a bunch left. I might have to make another one just like it for myself.



xoxo,
Sarah

Okay, first, I want to say that I have the coolest friends EVER! It was awesome to have everybody come support me at Bookpeople. Even if I was completely red when they called my name and I had to walk up in front of people. Eep! Anyway, thanks y'all!

Second, I got a little dog this weekend! Her name is Chibi. She is a Chihuahua mix--we think Chihuahua and maybe Jack Russell terrier? Who knows. She is totally my little friend now and she has to come jump in my lap every time I sit down. She is totally cute and has a puppy face even though she is fully grown. She has one ear that stays up and the other folds down.








We got her from a rescue group--I had been e-mailing with a lady from the group and she said we could come meet "Patti" at the meet and greet at Petsmart out on 71. Sidenote: did you know the name that Reggie came with when Shea got him from the rescue group was "Johnny?!" Makes him seem like he should totally be wearing jeans and a little white t-shirt and starting knife fights with other kids behind the 7-11.*

So anyway we got there and all we had to do was sign a contract and she came home with us. She is the sweetest little dog. I think I've taken like 500 pictures of her so far.

We had her and Reggie out in the backyard playing. Chibi was sitting in the hammock for a while, but she hasn't quite figured out how to get into the hammock by herself. The YouTube video is of one of her attempts.



*I'm sorry if anyone who is reading this has a dad named Johnny or something like that. I'm sure your dad is totally respectable and has no part in altercations at convenience stores.