My Weblog

There's Gold In Them Thar Luggage!

I hit the craft lottery for x-mas this year! I don't mean to brag, but I am now a one woman crafting machine! How my friends and family figured out that crafty gifts would be good for me, I'll never know. But thank god they did, because I am in heaven with my new bag of tricks! What did I get?

Well, my sister-in-law, Nora, gave me a cd with vintage images on it that can be printed out onto fabric. Since I didn't have a color printer, she kindly threw that into my x-mas stocking as well! (Can you believe such generosity? I'm still having a hard time believing it myself!) As an added bonus, she also gave me a lovely sewing box to keep all of my various essentials in. And it's cute to boot!

From the rest of my family (collectively) I received 2 gift cards to JoAnn's and the Stitch-It Kit that I posted up here a month ago. Before the gift-opening extravaganza began, I found myself at a fabulous Japanese bookstore and managed to buy 4 craft books. Never mind that I don't read or speak Japanese! There are enough pictures in these books that I should be cranking out amazing crafts in no time! And because my family is so generous, I now have a scanner being shipped to me that will allow me to post the covers of these books on my blog very soon!

In all of my craziness to finish up all of the gifts these past few months, I completely forgot that I would be receiving gifts as well. Funny, huh? I barely even gave it a thought. So it was that much more splendid when I realized the treasure trove that I had received! All of these gifts (except for those being shipped) are still sitting in my luggage, just waiting to be unpacked. I haven't had time because I'm now back to work and battling a deadline of epic proportions! I can't wait to go through everything and maybe roll around on the floor with them! My beautiful treasures!

And speaking of treasures, guess what else is sitting nestled in my luggage! Just guess! OK, never mind. I'll just tell you:

(1) Zip-lock bag filled to the brim with the most beautiful vintage buttons you have ever seen (compliments of Bruno's mother)!
(1) Box containing vintage sewing stuff that dates all the way back to the 30's! (Again, thanks to Bruno's mother passing them on to me! Lucky, lucky, lucky!!!!)
(1) Complete set of blue Melmac coffee cups and saucers with the matching creamer thing, sugar bowl and a misc. bowl that I've yet to ascertain it's purpose (but is adorable none-the-less). These are mine from way back- one of my first finds during the days when I hit every garage sale and estate sale within a 50-mile radius of my home.
(15) Misc. blue Melmac plates (again from my garage sale days)
(1) Blue Pyrex bowl (found years ago at a thrift store for $0.25!
(1) Wedding dress from the 50's that I wore when Bruno and I tied the knot. It is AMAZING! It had never been worn and sat in a warehouse for almost 50 years before I managed to find it. It is an amazing Grace Kelly type dress and I wish that there was another occasion for me to wear it! Maybe I'll wear it today!

Well, that was fun! Now I have to sign off and finish my research. I am REALLY freaked out about this project that I'm working on. It's harder than anything that I've ever had to write and I'm really worried that I'm going to fail miserably. If you would like, you can light a candle for me and pray to whomever it is that you pray to that I'll pull this nightmare off! I'll even reimburse you for the candle!

Another Thin Man

Bruno and I are suffering from an extreme case of jet lag. We didn't go to bed until 5:00 am this morning. How did we fill all that time you ask??? Why, by watching Thin Man movies of course. Because I married into a family of excellent gift-givers, I am now the proud owner of the entire Thin Man collection on DVD. I can't even begin to tell you how badly I wanted this collection. And now, at any given moment I can just pop in a little Nick, Nora and Asta and enjoy!

So, last night at about 1:00 am Bruno casually mentioned that it would be nice if we could have a martini. Why yes, it would be nice, I said back. Too bad we didn't have any of the things that you need to make such a drink (for example: gin, vermouth, ice, olives, martini shaker, martini glasses...) Because I love my husband and would do whatever it takes to make him happy, I quickly jumped onto the internet in search of a 24 hour store that would have such items. That's how it came to pass that Bruno would be heading out of the house at 1:15 am in search of the coveted martini.

He arrived home at 2:00 am with all of the necessary accoutrements and expertly mixed us up a batch of fabulous cocktails. With martinis in hand, we snuggled into the couch to watch "Another Thin Man". Life is grand!

On another note: You might have noticed that I changed my banner again. This one I made with my own two hands. All by myself. Just like a big kid. So many people liked my last banner and I really wanted to say that I had made it, but I didn't. I just tweaked it a little. So this time, because I need to feel loved and admired on a regular basis, I made my own. From scratch. So please enjoy!

Fertility, Here I Come!

I've made a new logo to accompany all of the baby game posts from here on out. I don't have any updates on the baby game, as Bruno and I took the month off. We decided that it was too much pressure with all of the holiday madness swirling around us. Watch. This will be the month that I actually get knocked up!

Oh, I lied. I do have a sort of update... When I met with the aromatherapist she mixed me up a batch of fertility oil. She explained that it would help get my cycle on track and also relax me so that I can get pregnant. Like everyone else on the planet, she said that if I can just relax then I'll become pregnant. Funny how coming from her, I believed it. So everyday when I wake up I'm supposed to put one drop on a cotton ball and tuck it into my bra so that I can smell it all day long. It smells so good! Bruno asked if she put some type of aphrodisiac in it because it's driving him nuts.

She also put both Bruno and I on a detox diet to cleanse our systems. We are supposed to eat nothing but fruits and vegetables for a week and then follow it up with Milk Thistle supplements to get rid of the remaining toxins. I'm really looking forward to it. We'll also be taking a greens based vitamin supplement and a pH balancer. I love healthy stuff! I'm going to place the order for our baby making supplements tomorrow and then we will be popping out the kids in no time!

I'm Home!

I'm home! And, I'm sick again! I must hold the record for back-to-back colds/flu. Maybe I need to see a doctor? It seems impossible to have 3 colds and 1 flu in less than two months. What is that? Am I dying? Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm not dying. A multivitamin would probably help though....

So lets see... These are the things that I did while on vacation:

1. Went to a bachelor/bachelorette party for Nick and Nora (Bruno's brother and his new wife)
2. Attended Nick and Nora's FABULOUS wedding
3. Strolled around a bird sanctuary (where Bruno took 75 pictures!)
4. Saw the Cezanne/Pissaro exhibit at LACMA
5. Spent x-mas eve with my family and 100 screaming kids (only 3 actually, but they sounded like 100)
6. Had dinner with my brother and his wife (I'm still working on nicknames for them)
7. Spent x-mas day with Bruno's family
8. Saw "The Boyfriend" Christmas night with Bruno's family at the Orange County Performing Arts Center
9. Had my much anticipated aromatherapy appointment (which lasted 3 hours instead of the scheduled 1!)
10. Went to Disneyland with Bruno
11. Attended a smashing fondue party at our friends house
12. Sipped dirty martini's at an Irish bar with Nick and Nora
13. Met up with Trouble at "The District" for a quick gift exchange (no blood was shed)
14. Woke up at 5:30 am yesterday to fly home. Didn't arrive home until 2:00 am due to flight delays.

I know that there is sooooo much more but I can't recall it all now. I feel like holy hell. I think that I ran myself into the ground over the past two weeks and now I'm paying for it. But, our trip was a major success and I was thrilled to be able to spend so much time with Nick and Nora. Nora and I have big plans to gather up our creative ideas and put them to work for us. Nora is an amazing photographer and another crafter-du-jour, so the dollars should just start rolling in for us very soon! Well, maybe not. But I know that we'll have a ton of fun whether we ever see a dime or not. By the way, check out Ms. Nora's blog over at All Hail Suburbia!. She's in the process of moving everything over from her old site, so bear with her. She's a great writer and full of witty insight! It is not to be missed!

I'm going back to bed now. I'm sure that I'll post later on today. I have some pics that I want to put up and also some future crafting projects that I want to talk about. Craftiness abounds!!!

California Dreamin'

I'm still on "vacation"... if you can call it that. It's been a whirl wind of craziness with a few moments of peace mixed in. I've managed to piss off just about everyone by not spending enough time with each and every individual. It has been frustrating and I think that today I've reached my limit of angry people. My dear friend Trouble is mad at me for not seeing her. I've explained repeatedly that I didn't have any spare time, but she didn't seem to care. I don't know what to do about that. I feel sick because I know that she's mad at me. I don't like having people mad at me. Who does? But the final straw is when she had someone crank call me. Hello! Are we 12 years old? I'm without words. Not really. Just words appropriate for this blog. I am so tired that all I want to do is go to bed and cry. There is simply not enough time in the world to make everyone happy. One would think that a true friend would understand that. And not be angry but sympathetic. One would think...

Tonight, Bruno and I are getting together with his brother and new wife (Note to New Wife: If you are reading this, we need to give you a nickname. Any ideas???? We'll work on that tonight.) for drinks and fun socializing. I'm sooooo looking forward to that! They don't give me and Bruno a hard time. We love them! As a matter of fact, our time spent with them has been so relaxing and fun. Same with my own brother and his wife. These are people that I like. I'm happy that our vacation has been dedicated to family. I'm going to miss all of our family terribly when we return home.

Well, I'm off to resume the craziness. We'll see how the Trouble thing works out. I'm not looking forward to the drama that could ensue. Fuck drama. Whoops. That was a not-safe-for-blog word.

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

It's 12:45am and I have finally finished my niece's cloth book. In the haste to get everything finished today, I completely forgot about it until dinner. Then I had a minor panic attack. Then I went shopping. All in all, I did more stuff these past few weeks than I've ever done in my entire life. I'm so tired that I can't see straight. I seem to have lost my mind somewhere around Tuesday and it has yet to find its way back to me. I'm delirious. I just want to break down in tears. But I can't because I haven't even packed yet... And the car will be here at 4:30 am to pick us up. When will this stop!?!

Well, here's the pictures of the book. Some of them are pretty blurry but I seem to be shaking a lot right now and can't take a clear picture to save my life. I need sleep. Maybe I'll get to sleep tomorrow...

(Oh, BTW, this is my 100th post. I wanted to do something fun for it, but I don't have time right now. I guess that I'll just have to wait until the 200th post.)

Update: I don't even know why half of the pictures are upside down, but I don't have time to fix them right now. They do look funny though.

See you after the holidays!

Snowed In???

This "little" snow storm that we are having here in Detroit has me just a wee bit worried. I'm supposed to fly out to California tomorrow morning. Do they close the airports when it's like this? I'm not even sure if we are going to make it to the airport... I'm really starting to panic. It could just be the stress of everything coming down to the wire, or it could be a legitimate kind of fear. Oh holy hell! We have a wedding to go to on Saturday. It's not like it's just a friend's wedding that we wouldn't even be missed at. Nope, this is Bruno's brother's wedding and we really want to be there! Oh f*ck!

Picture Time!

I tucked Bruno into bed and then opened up a bottle of wine. Nice. Then I put in my favorite movie (Breakfast at Tiffany's) and finished up my x-mas gifts. I can't tell you how many times I've watched that movie and I cry every single time. I love the whole thing about people not owning other people. Anyways, I've had a lot of wine and should just get to the grand finale.... The pictures!

Here are the fruits of my labor (aka the x-mas gifts)...

Here's the gift that I made for Bruno's friend...

And here's the sculpture pieces that I helped Bruno with last night...

Now I'm going to bed!

Who Do You Look Like?

I just went to www.myheritage.com and played around with their face recognition software. It's really cool. You just upload a picture of yourself and they compare it to their database of celebrities and then show you pictures of the people that you look most like. So, you may ask, who do I look most like? According to their software (and I'm certain that it's correct!) I look most like Charlize Theron, Grace Kelly and Liv Tyler. For now on, when I'm in a bad mood I'm just going to trek on over to My Heritage's website for a little pick me up. Of course, I used my wedding picture which is when I looked the absolute best that I will ever look, so that helped. Fancy, huh?

Here are the pics:

For fun, go to the website and tell me who you look like...

Art School Is Fun!

Yesterday was another whirlwind of activity and I think that it's all starting to catch up with me. During the day I took care of some business stuff and then I made it over to Kinko's to finally get everything printed out. They look so great! I'm going to take pictures tonight when Bruno comes home with the camera. While at Kinko's, the guy who was helping me completely forgot about my order and then proceeded to help a billion people before Bruno finally lost it. It was quite an interesting exchange of words that resulted in my order being completely free! Bruno wasn't rude, but made his point quite well known: We had been there for an hour. An HOUR! Just to have 10 color copies printed from a cd. When the guy gave me my stuff and told me that it was free, I was stunned. I wished him a merry christmas and all the people in line behind me groaned. Man, people really need to work on the whole x-mas spirit thing! What's wrong with wishing someone a happy holiday? Jesus people...

We also made what was supposed to be a quick trip to Michael's for last minute supplies. We were there over an hour. Bruno's last day of the semester is tomorrow and he had a project due for his sculpture class today. It wasn't done and he didn't have a clue how he was going to finish it. Enter Michael's. For weeks now, he's been casting light bulbs in cement but up until last night he had no idea how to display them. When I couldn't sleep the other night I thought up a bunch of ideas for him that I figured he would veto, but I wanted to help none-the-less. Well, he actually liked one of them: Attach the cement light bulbs to baby dolls (in place of their heads). So we ended up buying three dolls. He wanted to wrap the dolls like mummies using paper from books but there was no way that he could do it all in time so I helped. We each did one doll. He covered his doll with pages from a book on being a good housewife from the 50's and I covered mine with pages from a book on pregnancy (a pregnancy journal that someone wrote). Can you believe that we just happen to have these books lying around??

So, what started off as a small gesture to help out Bruno turned into an all nighter. We didn't go to bed until 5:30am and Bruno had to leave for school at 8am. It was so much fun though, and strangely therapeutic. When he brings them home we are going to mount the "fertility doll" (that's what I'm calling mine) next to my side of our bed and the "good housewife doll" in the kitchen. Maybe they will rub off on me or something. I told Bruno that it was ironic that we were making these because I'm neither a good housewife or fertile. Ha! This project really hit home with a lot of issues that I have.

Apparently his teacher liked them a lot. It's funny because this isn't the type of artwork that Bruno likes. It's too "poppy" and rings of shock art- everything that he hates about the art world. But, his teacher just eats that crap up, so I came up with the most outrageous idea I could think and it worked.

Since we had all of these doll heads lying on our table I decided to make a gift for one of Bruno's friends. I took some glitter glue and painted it on to the man's head (we had 2 females and 1 man) so that he looks like a glam rock star. Then I put tacks in his ears and a nail through his nose. I stuck a light socket in the base of his head and then glued the shoes that came with the doll to the base of the light socket. It wouldn't stand on it's own so then I glued it to a bunch of shiny stones. To cap off the gift, I hot glued nails all around his light bulb socket neck. Fancy! I'll post a picture of tonight.

Well, I have to do laundry if we hope to have any clean clothes for our trip. I also have to finish one last work assignment and then make the lip balm and body balm. And finish sewing the cloth book. Good times lie ahead! Or a total breakdown. Decisions decisions...