sept. 28th is my blog’s two year anniversary! to celebrate (and to help me clear out my now $340/month storage unit), i am giving away a stuffed flat rate priority mail box full of goodies, odd things, paper, embellishments, fabric…whatever i can fit in there! my studio is way too crammed. the hannah grey inventory is clogged up with odd things that i had a plan for once upon a time… so…to win yourself a box o’ goods, tell me the top 5 things you hate about yourself. (hubby’s friend laura has a great example here.) the list i find most amusing is the winner! post by midnight, the 28th (pst). you can leave a comment by clicking on the very dim “speak” button at the top of this post.
here, i’ll start with mine.
1. i hate that i have super-human sense of smell. think about it — i have a boy and three cats…and a hubby…and… and that i have this compulsion to ssssnnnniiiiffffffffffff anything that smells bad. over and over. i hate that.
2. i hate that the baby ate my brain. see, i got real stupid when i got pregnant, and haven’t regained those brain cells. it’s been six years. hubby can often be heard remarking, “honey, your roots are showing.” (i’m blonde — ha ha.)
3. i hate that i am hopeless at math. it is humiliating that my child has already surpassed my basic math skills. did i mention he’s six?
4. i hate that i am 40 and i still fear hall trolls (you know…the ones that wait in the nooks and crannies of the hall at night, ready to pounce — thankfully i now have a bathroom off my bedroom, so no more mad hallway dashes for me).
5. i hate that i lose everything. things i just had in my hand. or saw a minute ago. thoughts. wait…where was i going with that?
okay, your turn — amuse me!
our booth was across from gina’s at the zne vendor day. i spent much of the day gazing at her booth, trying to decide which doll to get as each one has such a distinct personality — it was hard to pick just one. but the hectic day screeched to a halt, and before i knew it, everyone was packed up and out of there. i was fortunate enough to have dinner with gina that night. and after hubby and i returned home, he presented me with this. i love her. and i didn’t have to decide. and i am most happy to have a piece of gina’s art.
lightbulb shrine class with michael demeng, art unraveled 2007. i wish i could have lowered mary, but i did what i could do during class time. this is much cooler in person.
i’m back from a whirlwind week at art unraveled. i took a LOT of classes, had my craziest vendor day EVER, and a looooong drive from san jose to phoenix and back (why does map quest always lie about how long it takes?). the drive was fairly uneventful, ‘cept that it is apparently monsoon season. yikes! we stopped at a tourist trap ghost town and took a bunch of pics. and discovered that northern arizona is REALLY pretty and i actually think i could live there. who knew? i thought it was all horrid desert. wrong!
we stayed in barstow on the way down, which was, for some reason, really exciting to me. we ate at bun boy. twice. stayed in kingman on the return trip, which was not exciting. we found an antique store in the middle of nowhere, which was exciting. the sheets in all the hotels were soft (but not as soft as mine). and there were no dead hookers in the mattresses or under the beds.
mike and i travel well together. we’re gypsies. we just wander until we find something interesting, and then we explore it. our time away was excellent. but we couldn’t wait to get home. so why are we so depressed? home = my boy, my kitties, super soft sheets and the best bed in the world. all things i love. away = art without guilt, selfish time, a break from being mom, a house keeper, a business owner (although it was a working vacation…it is somehow different). bills. moms. the daily grind. we are so depressed. i even cried yesterday. i feel so lonely and lost. overwhelmed by the unpacked boxes and bags of clothes, art supplies, and inventory that are clogging up my livingroom.
our classes were fantastic. i took classes with rebecca brooks, stephanie lee, anne grgich, kelly kilmer, traci bunkers, leighanna light, and dj pettitt. i actually finished a few things this year. already wondering what i will take next year. i don’t have a favorite class from this year — they were all wonderful in different ways. i learned so much. i fell in love with gocco machines, and had to have one (we decided it was an early anniversary gift). i miss the people i only see once a year. i miss the people i got to know better this year. i miss the creative energy. the art high. even the vending high. i’m a shy person, but found that i do love vending every now and then. i couldn’t do it often. i’d fire myself.
Starfish pendants done for the Speckled Egg Jewels of the Sea pendant swap. Instead of resin I used Judikins DG-3. It takes many more applications but dries incredibly clear and unlike resin it’s nontoxic and doesn’t smell, so even my son could make some. The starfish are available from my store.
today i had my eyes checked — an appointment i had been putting off for three years. time flies when you’re procrastinating! it was worse than i feared. not only did i need a new prescription — i need BIFOCALS. as if being 40 didn’t make me feel old on it’s own. crap. i picked out some cool new frames and handed over my old ones to convert to sun glasses. i decided to get glasses for reading/computer a bit later. apparently bifocals require holding your head a little back, so the amount of time i spend at the computer + head tilting = not a good idea. but still. in black and white. plain as day. BIFOCALS.
upon leaving the dr. i noticed that there was a new sephora in the mall. well, what’s a girl to do? wasn’t it my DUTY to stop in and check it out? after all, i hadn’t been in THAT sephora before! i looked around while chatting with hubby on the cell about the bifocal slap in the face, and told him where i was, and he said, “i knew it!” — because he had noticed the sephora when he went to the eye dr. last week. (note how he failed to tell me…)
anyway, i treated myself to a few anti-aging products. just kidding. well, sort of. i got a mini i.d. mineral veil. i also got a little travel phyto pack (love the stuff, and my hair has been a bit dry and i am going to be traveling…). and some hair bands (sephora makes the BEST no-snag hair bands. ever.). and then i noticed that my favorite rosebud salve now comes in brambleberry rose or some such thing, so of course i had to give that a go. and then…bliss. my feet have been giving me fits with their dryness. i’ve never had such dry skin problems until…well…until i hit the big four-oh. so back to bliss. i got foot patrol (aloe leaf + peppermint AHA exfoliating & softening cream). the best part — the instructions for use–> the best method: recruit the nearest willing individual to slowly and intensely rub a generous glob of foot patrol into the aching and rough areas of your freshly scrubbed feet. repeat for one hour. second option: apply it yourself…it’s better than nothing! so…i applied it myself and my feet instantly felt more relaxed and smoother. i love bliss.
feeling a little better now. : )
may was a very, very long month. it all came to a head on saturday. read about it here. of course now i am sick…it is all catching up with me! my son turned six last thursday. (now that is a trip. am i really that old? yes, ‘fraid so…) he wanted hannah montana and the naked brothers cds. :::shudder::: but there is hope — today he has been watching you-tube videos of gorillaz, beastie boys, beck, and the black eyed peas (he searched and found them all by himself) — his faves. i am proud — really! what a cool kid.
another moleskine page. gouache, acrylic paint, crackle medium (then covered up with the flowers), white souffle pen. images are from the latest paper source catalog and the packaging from the wish collection from the who’s that girl line of volks doll clothes (bought for my momokos).
complaining about how mother’s day — and holidays in general — belongs to others…not me, not my little family. it kills me.
hubby’s grandmother gifted me with some cash for mother’s day, so my snow white momoko got to come out of hiding! sylvie cola rerooted her for me. sylvie did such an excellent job. isn’t she lovely?!? (photo used with permission from sylvie.)
