Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I'm off on an adventure....

Not quite yet, actually. I leave tomorrow in the wee hours....
Right now, I'm packing. Or - trying to pack. Which mostly involves walking around the house trying to remember what I was doing and then fixing myself a snack. Laundry! I was doing laundry.
Anyway, if you find yourself in Baltimore this week, do stop by the American Craft Council Show and say: hello! Or: wow! you totally rock! or something like that. I'll probably give you a hug.

Monday, February 22, 2010

My new mantra....

The last of the boxes shipped today. All stacked up, they were not taller than a five-year-old. Which surprised me a little. So, now I'm taking a moment to feel really really lucky that I get to do this work that I'm so passionate about, and that I have this opportunity and that I get to go be a craft-geek for four whole days!
Okay, moment over. Time to make hang-tags.
My new mantra? "Oh, calm down. It's just a craft show."

Friday, February 19, 2010

New boots.

The first three boxes of stuff got shipped ahead to Baltimore this morning. And I have new boots. And I let Jacline have her way with my hair, so I am now rocking butterscotch streaks and something she's calling "french bangs." I'm feeling a little more prepared. Mostly because of the boots.

Look Mama, I made my own breakfast!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Of clouds and rivers and wind....




Dreaming of swarms and schools and tiny individuals that move as a group, weaving in and out. Undulating. Clouds and rivers and wind, crowds, and the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts.
Trying not be overwhelmed by one million tiny logistical details, by which I am daunted, but shouldn't be, but am. Which makes me feel.... elderly. Like a leeetle old lady who won't drive at night anymore.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Repeat.

Beautiful artwork from here, here, here and here.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A brewski.

There's something about a turkish tea glass that makes a beer seem more like an exotic beverage and less like a brewski.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

One more....

One more, to put on the list of books I wish I was reading....

The daily: If we had a dog....


This is what I was asked to read last night. These kids know how to hint. I'm so very proud of them! But we're still not getting a dog....

Monday, February 15, 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010

How lovely is that?

It's ok, little broken-hearted robot. Love terrifies us too.
Love Bot Tee, $24 at binarywinter

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Gnarly Swells, Epic Crowds at Mavericks

Really? Was it Gnarly AND Epic? Was it also 1991? Just wondering.
Sorry. I shouldn't laugh - 13 people were injured after being swept off the seawall by a rogue wave. At a beach famous for rogue waves.

Ahh, chamomile pillows....



These dulcet darlings are making me spectacularly happy. Or, I may have accidentally doubled-up on cold medicine. Either way....

Monday, February 8, 2010

You learn something new every day.

I learned a new word today: bricolage. It's making me happy. It means "something made of whatever materials are at hand, or a piece of makeshift handiwork."
The reason it makes me happy is this: All along, I've been thinking that my work and the decor of my home - and frankly - my sartorial style were mishymashy and random (or "eclectic" as nice people sometimes say). Much to my delight, it turns out that I am not mishymashy and random, I just enjoy bricolage - which sounds ever so much more creative and resourceful and French.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Five.

Fin is FIVE today. His goals for this year include:
1. being cozy
2. finding a stick, and carrying it around for a while
3. proving that whining gets you what you want, even though it hasn't yet. This process will involve performing roughly the same experiment over and over again, and being undaunted by roughly the same result over and over again. I'm hoping that his tenacity will serve him well on future research projects. And that his charm and good looks will prevent future test subjects from murdering him. Don't knock it, it's worked for him so far.
Five is a big birthday. I can't believe he's already five. I can't believe he's only five. Five means that he's definitively not a baby any more, even if he hides behind my legs when spoken to by adults to whom he's lived next door for all of his life. But mostly five means: school. In the fall, he'll be delivered into an institution that will require an ever increasing amount of his time and energy and from which he will not emerge for 12 to 18 years. Poor baby.
Five also means that my life changes. That I am no longer the mother of babies, toddlers, or preschoolers. It's just a transition on the continuum of motherhood, but this chapter is ending and I'm a little mournful about it. Because it's all about me.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Remember?



The Annie's Annuals catalog came today. It's rained so much lately, that I forgot.... It's not coming soon, but someday, in the distant future, it will be here: spring.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

How lovely is that?

Love Birds Stack, $15 at JustinRichel - or you can WIN IT here....

Meet George.

This is George. George Herbert Walking Foot. We made a quilt together yesterday. We are friends now, even though I don't care much for his politics and he finds me exasperatingly quixotic, brazen and socialist.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Of frippery and freaking out. It's February.

Three weeks to Baltimore and I'm officially freaking out full-time. Fortunately, my freak out has, so far, been full of frills and frippery and flowers. McGluey (If you stay up late with me, you too will receive a nickname - perhaps even a Grey's-Anatomy-inspired nickname. Which? seemed super-hilarious last night. Because he's a hottie? Get it? A hot-glue gun? Onevermind.) and I adhered pin-backs to all of these lovelies into the wee hours....
It's February and I have stopped making sense.