have fun, be safe, and eat candy!

i recently found this little guy tucked away in a box. i originally found him in my grandparent’s basement. his tail has been reattached a few times, and there are nics and cracks. but with a gentle cleaning and a little moss he’s renewed. and he’s not going back into the box.

door sixteen recently featured a coffee sack pillow cover from etsy shop brin & nohl. i loved the black swiss cross printed on the front. crosses always remind me of joseph beuys’ work…

since i seem to be spending all my money right now, i figured why not? so last thursday i ordered a large coffee sack basket - black swiss cross. it arrived yesterday. zoom! i’m going to put my knitting projects into it, and set it by the couch. so instead of the usual habit of grabbing the remote on dark, cold nights, i’ll reach down to my coffee sack basket and pick up some knitting. thanks, jody, it’s perfect!

photo credit: brin & nohl etsy shop 

thank you for all of the great cold-busting tips! my sick-ick was enough to be annoying, but not the ass-kicker i was fearing. it was just enough to make me to slow down, rest, and get to my knitting. here’s where i stand:

my sweater: yeah, this is the one i was going to finish by the end of last january. i was about 90% done, and i decided to start over. at this rate, i might be done at the end of next january.

my skirt: this one was easy to take with me while traveling. i made quite a bit of progress during my flights. but the needles are oh-so-tiny, and what i’ve done up to this point wouldn’t even cover my butt. and it’s supposed to be ankle-length. i should be done by spring 2010. or 2011.

my pillow cover! anna suggested i knit a pillow with my yummy orange yarn. i thought it was a great idea! anna sent me some patterns, but i decided to just start knitting. my original thought was to just do a simple stockinette, and that is what i’ve decided to do, only i like the “wrong” side better. it highlights the texture of the yarn. not sure how i’m going to finish it yet… maybe buttons?

and… the winner of the wires t is comment #8, nikki! thank you again for all of the comments. it’s fun to see old friends and meet new ones… i hope to get back onto a regular blog reading schedule soon…

october 1 was my 2nd blogiversary. i almost forgot! this month has been nutty…

to celebrate 2 years, i’m giving away a wires t. i feel like doing some printing! so, to enter, leave me a comment and tell me about your tried and true cold remedy because i’m staying home today feeling icky. blech. (but i may just get caught up on my blog reading now!)

on monday morning (oct 26), i’ll use the random number generator to pick the winner. and that lucky winner gets to pick the color and size of their t.

happy weekend!

update: the giveaway is closed. the winner is comment #8.

my construction project is slowly coming to an end. i need to paint this weekend, and i’m starting with an off-white. but then i think i’m going to do one wall of grey in the dining room, and one wall of pea-green in the living room. not sure if it’s going to work, but it can always be painted over…

vegas, oh, vegas. the things you do to me…

last weekend my friend tracy and i flew to vegas to celebrate erika and dave’s wedding. they met in vegas, they married in vegas, and whooooooooo boy did we celebrate vegas. that’s probably all i should say, lest i lose the respect of my peers (but man, i still hurt.)

i wish i could say the trip had some redeeming cultural value to it, but not much to report there (the bellagio charges an entry fee to see the art collection. and really, if you’re going to charge me THAT MUCH for a bloody mary, i should be allowed to see the art for free!) — we were in vegas to celebrate 2 amazing people and the odds of them finding each other in a gamblin’ town. and that is better than any museum any day.

i didn’t gamble a single penny, but we did enjoy some sun and 90 degree weather. and tracy and i schlepped about 2 miles down las vegas boulevard on sunday morning to take picture of the welcome to *fabulous* las vegas sign.

enough about us! look at the beautiful bride and handsome groom! and how happy they are! i wish them love, happiness, wedded bliss…. and dave, when you move here from the united kingdom, bring a few of your friends with those lovely accents, ok? irish car bombs are on me.

from the him etsy gift guide: the fantasy island travel bar from frosty darling. sorta has a vegas vibe to it… well, at least the bar part does…

i’ll tell you more about my vegas weekend tomorrow!

photo credit: frosty darling etsy shop 

i’m in las vegas. i’ll be back tomorrow!

a package from my friend ayama was waiting for me at the front door on tuesday. what i did to deserve it, i do not know. she mentioned a belated birthday, but i swear she sent me something last april. but oh, her package was so timely because it contained this beautiful scarf:

winter arrived last weekend in minnesota, weeks earlier than normal. this scarf is so warm and soft! heaven. the crochet pattern is crazy. i love it. but that’s not all:

a book of japanese prints. i minored in art history, and the course i took on chinese and japanese art was one of my favorites. hiroshige… the wave. a recognizable and famous print, but it is still stunning every time i see it. there was also a linen towel, block printed with fish. ayama picked it up at the brisbane young designer’s market.

and there was more! a knitting magazine, and a necklace with a resin pendant containing a small paper koi. this gal makes my day. i’m now prepping a box of halloween for her — they don’t celebrate halloween in australia like we do. here’s to spreading happy! happy weekend!

i was browsing design within reach yesterday, drooling over chairs and ceiling fans and sofas and chandeliers… and came across something that was within my budget: japanese masking tape! orange, please!

$12 per set of 3. available here.

photo credit: design within reach

living room, september 29

living room, october 10

dining room, september 29

dining room, october 10
(i’m not sure why gus is in every picture. he does tend to follow me around…)

i decided this was the fall i’m going to remodel my living room and dining room. i’ve been writing a post in my head about all of the reasons why i sold all my furniture and ripped apart a third of my little house… but i’ve decided to just keep this short and show some pictures for now.

(i think needing to walk my dogs, try to go for a run, shower, and be fully dressed before the contractor walks into my house at 7:30am every weekday morning for the last 2 weeks is starting to get to me.)

it’s october! halloween month! i looooooove halloween. it’s my fav holiday. the memories of carving pumpkins, eating shitloads of candy, making scary graveyards in the front yard and haunted houses in our outbuildings, creating costumes… it all comes back to me when the mornings get chilly.

i also love cereal.

so this big ‘ol ceramic monster cereal bowl from the skeletal dropkick etsy shop may be meant for me.

(do you think chopped up reeses peanut butter cups would be good in shredded wheat?)

photo credit: skeletal dropkick etsy shop 

on saturday i attended my first photo meetup. and what a saturday! snow on the ground, freezing temperatures, nasty wind. but we all knew the weather forecast and really, i was secretly looking forward to digging out my hat and gloves and starting my day with a big latte to combat the chill.

anna organized our morning, with a start at the aster cafe, and then we (dana, sarah, julia) ventured out to the water power park on the mississippi. the variety and number of cameras was a little comical… each of us reaching into our bags and pulling out other means of taking photos. and to see how each of us framed the same subject was really interesting! thanks, anna!

my digital shots are up on flickr. thought i’d share a few of my polaroids here.

happy monday!

sunday was my last day in manhattan. i got up at 8, grabbed a latte, and walked to the met: from 25th street to 81st. it took about an hour.

i saw vermeer’s the milkmaid, and then wandered through the modern art collection, trying to find robert frank’s the americans. i finally found it, and wow, it made me miss my grampa. the photos were taken in 1955-56, when my grampa was in his prime adult years. i missed him and felt it physically…

i ate a pretzel on the steps of the met, then walked a few more blocks to the guggenheim to see the kandinsky exhibit. decided i love his earlier work more than his later work during the bauhaus. took this polaroid.

after the guggenheim, the plan was to take the subway to soho and do a little more window shopping. but it was sunny and warm — a beautiful day! — so i decided to walk to soho. 80+ blocks. i had to stop and rest my feet a few times, but really, is there any better way to see a city? i figured i walked about 10 miles sunday. which helped justify a giant slice of pizza.

and then… it was over. time to make my way to the airport.

it was hard to leave.

. . .

so a question for my friends:

if i was to pick a weekend, say, 6 months from now, and find a few hotel options within a 10 block radius, would anyone want to join me in manhattan?

it would not be a pARTy weekend. rather, it’d be a weekend for exploring the city and meeting other creative people. any interest? leave a comment. ask questions.

happy weekend!

saturday was shopping day. but first, i took the f train to brooklyn for a bagel. i went to my sister’s old neighborhood (prospect park) to get a whole wheat bagel with tofu veggie cream cheese from terrace bagels. yum.

let the shopping begin! first stop was muji in chelsea. i bought a few little things, mostly gifts. then i walked to soho, and got in line to enter uniqlo. yes, a line. it was a madhouse inside, and the line for the dressing room was as long as the line to get in. and the line to pay was as long as the line for the dressing room. i spent a lot of time there, for just a simple skirt and jacket. as i walked out, it started to rain, so i dashed into the moma design store, hoping for a bathroom. no luck. starbucks bathrooms are awful in manhattan… i dodged rain to get to madewell, and fell in love with $300 boots. i could not spend $300 on boots. i’ll just get the $40 pair at target. last stop in soho: pearl river for a few treats.

i had a late lunch of veggie udon at a little deli on 19th street. perfect for a rainy day. dropped off my purchases at the hotel and rested my feet a bit. then i walked to times square and went into my 5th h&m, and tried on 7 things, and didn’t like any of them. but i did buy some purple tights in honor of martha’s new fall/winter line: g l e a n i n g. (speaking of which, the uniform natural shop opens today around 1pm cst.) i explored times square a bit, and then went back to kinokuniya, um… to get a gift for a friend. and ok, one more book for me.

evening: more wine. more stein. and debate internally whether or not i should invest in an eames molded plywood lounge chair.

my flight arrived @ jfk @ 10am friday morning, and it took me almost 2 hours to get to my hotel in the flatiron district via the subway. i dropped off my bag, then walked up 6th to the whitney museum, stopping for a brie baguette on the way. upon entering the georgia o’keeffe exhibit i made eye contact with a very attractive man. and as i looked at him, he looked familiar. and then i realized he was jude law. i blushed, and looked away, feeling like a gawker, and rushed through that first room of the exhibit, otherwise i’d be checking him out and not the art, so i moved along.

after i had walked through the rest of the whitney, i started the walk back to my hotel, with shopping stops along the way. i stopped into the gap’s concept store, merci, which really wasn’t that exciting. bought a few things at h&m… dana left me a comment on facebook: ogle all the sewing books in Kinokuniya for me, ‘k? kinokuniya? i looked up kinokuniya on my iphone, and discovered it was a japanese bookstore on 6th and 40th, just a 15 minute walk from my hotel. and i bought 5 new japanese craft books. and ended up shipping them home, so i could lift my carry-on into the overhead bin…

while at the whitney, there was a piece in the steve wolfe exhibit that referenced gertrude stein. and i decided that i wanted to spend my evening reading (a rare treat for me!) gertrude stein and sipping wine. so i walked to union square, picked up stein’s paris france, a bottle of wine, and salad bar to-go. not the most exciting friday night in new york, but it was exactly what i wanted.

the thirteenth of twenty-four polaroid collaborations between me and the fabulous jen of scissors.paper.glue. we alternate picking a word, and on the last day of the month we each share our polaroid interpretation of that word.

september’s word was here.

jen: here is where i belong.

me: last week i wanted to stay here for a few more years. this week, i am not so sure.

(i wanna live in new york. a thirty-five year old with a mortgage and two dogs shouldn’t be thinking that, should she?)

i arrived home from my trip to nyc late last night. my weekend was perfect.

this is a crazy week… hope to share more about my trip with you soon.

happy monday!