Ideal Guest/Office Space

I got completely inspired today after seeing this transformation of a small studio.   

Love it!

Blog share

I came across this today via A Cup of Jo: A man living in New York has started a blog to his future wife. I have no idea if he is with her now, or if this is a plan to help the Universe place her in his world. Either way, I still like reading his little lines. My favorite so far -

December 24th:
THE RADIO I won’t mess with your presets.

Because, you know, sometimes it really is about the little things.

Vivian Meier photos

via
via
via

While making a cup of coffee in the Swift's kitchen, Linda was sharing a story about photo negatives which were recently unearthed. Vivian Meier took photos from the 1950's-1990's mostly in the Chicago area. She seemed to take photos solely for her own enjoyment, as there are more than 100,000 negatives to be sorted and organized which she never shared with others. There are some of Meier's images on a blog by John Maloof, who acquired them through an auction house after Meier's storage locker was sold due to delinquent payments. John Maloof has started to unearth information about her, and from his blog he writes:

Vivian came here from France in the early 1930's and worked in a sweat shop in New York when she was about 11 or 12. She was not Jewish but a Catholic, or as they said, an anti-Catholic. She was a Socialist, a Feminist, a movie critic, and a tell-it-like-it-is type of person. She learned English by going to theaters, which she loved. She wore a men's jacket, men's shoes and a large hat most of the time. She was constantly taking pictures, which she didn't show anyone.

Vivian Meier died in 2009. Her work is going on display for the first time on January 8th though April 3rd at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Thanks twenty-ten.

2010 was awesome!

Life will always have ups and downs, but this last year was incredibly wonderful to me.

January: Started working with coffee again, and got connected to Carbondale. I turned 27 - woohoo!

February: I started sewing more seriously. There were some projects that made me money. (!)

March to April: Took over managing for Alec at Common Grounds. Coffee FTW!

May: Opened my Etsy account and was happy to have orders in the first two weeks. I also got to travel to Spokane to see my parents and sister, which was especially important since she moved to Turkey that August. Oh, and I flew home with her cat Comma. Three cats in the house!

June: Three cats in the house...whoa. Also, the heat in Carbondale does not agree with me. I make plans to do some more travel but first...

July: I go to Guatemala! Dan, his parents, and I go to Antigua and have a wonderful 11 day vacation. I get to see coffee first hand, on the plant, still green, and tour a finca to see it's processing works. Dan almost kills himself because I want to hike the farm (read: steep cliff side with vines to climb up). We watch the world cup, we eat wonderful food. We still like each other by the end of it.

August: My Etsy account explodes as I get featured in their email newsletter, and I try to make the best of it and still have time to go...To Juneau! I work the last two weeks of August in Juneau as the Operations Supervisor for HAP. My sister moves to Turkey (mixed emotions on this one.)

September: More Juneau! Work is awesome. I love the city. I hike, climb, and eat (and drink!) in parts of the city I've never seen. I fall in love with it so much I start to think about living there permanently.

October: Back to coffee and back to Carbondale. Back to sewing and life with Dan and three cats. I interview for a job in Juneau.

November: Dan finds out he got the internship in Springfield, so I start pack up the house to move to Bloomington. I take the cats and my things there in the last week, and start working at Barnes and Noble again.

December: Moving the rest of Carbondale to Bloomington. The holidays were amazing in Chicago, and I'm now the happy blogger of a new computer that doesn't require me to hold the power cord in the back jack. And it has a camera so I can Skype with my family. I found out my brother and his family are moving to Boston in July, my other brother is getting married and moving to Florida, and my Dad will be rolling through the country to help him move there.

Already 2011 has a lot to live up to, but I am so happy to be where I am, be with whom I'm with, and do the next part of this together.

Happy new year everyone and thanks to you friends for all of the support and encouragement in this last year. I really couldn't have made these huge steps without you!

Sew good.

I am so proud of myself! I've gotten so many sewing projects done in the last few days. My one huge failure is that I haven't taken any pictures of them as I was rushing to get them mailed off, but they are done!

The biggest, has been one that I promised to do for a regular customer from my days at Common Grounds. She has an old mission style rocking chair and wanted her cushions recovered. She brought in the old covers, and after a few hours of stitch ripping and measuring, and remeasuring, I was able to put together two beautiful new covers for her. I salvaged the old zippers and old trimming cores. It was the first time I'd made something with pipe trim, let alone sewn something for someone without being able to measure the chair or the cushion innards.

Dan was up last weekend when I was completing one of the sides, and I knew I did well when he said, "This is something my parents would have in their house." I was worried they looked amateur and unprofessional, but it all came together beautifully.

I'm making gadget covers, pillows,hand bags, and more pouf pillows. It has been great to see these things start, finish, and get in the mail.

A little Juneau Flare

Remember the post from last summer where I tried to explain how Juneauites love their xtratuffs? When I was doing laundry yesterday, the bulletin board at the laundromat had this poster:

Isn't that great! I thought it the perfect poster for the event and the community, a little funny and it catches ones eye.

On my walk with Mac today, I saw another Juneau flare that differs from the lower 48: instead of having broken cars in the yard, they have broken boats! With no roads leading out of the town, I guess it makes sense.


And for the rest of our walk, we went down to work for a quick chat with Lauren, then went to Cope park, which is right out of downtown.





Isn't that wonderful!? The trail meets up with the Perseverance trail, but we didn't continue for those 6 miles. We needed to go home. I felt a little discomfort when we were hiking, but it wasn't enough to make me stop and take my shoe off. Turns out I popped one side of my toe nail off. Yikes!

Lola and Ariel =

I've got wheels! Now that the rain has settled in, I found it an incredible stroke off luck that Lauren's scooter became available for rent for the last month I'm here. Her cute blue scooter is named Lola, and I got to meet her last summer when Lauren first got her. I was hoping to rent her when I first showed up, but a driver who is up for the summer had beat me to it. But starting today, she's all mine!

I can layer on my rain gear and cruise through the weather to get home a bit faster. With the bubble gum helmet and the goggles, I look a bit ridiculous, but who cares! I love it!

Around the Interwebs

Happy Father's day! Here is my wonderful dad back in the Navy. He was probably 18.

Here are some fun things for you:

Sports' fans have jerseys to wear, bookies can have these.
Some wisdom on life @ Stuff No One Told Me
Who needs a dog when you have chickens?!
Reaction to first sounds...what a great moment.
I'm always in favor of a Coffee Party
A new stamp! What took so long?

Lemon Buttermilk Rhubarb bundt cake
Awesome, free, printable labels for Father's Day, or any day.
Bicycle sidecar!

Makanda

The kitties are getting along a bit better. I'm using food.
Kodak has been the great peacemaker. He keeps trying to bump noses with Comma, but usually she runs off.
My talented sister made me this skirt. She says she loves how girlie it makes me look. I like that it has skull fabric in the pockets, along with the skirt itself :)

I went with Jordan today to wander around the area. We went to Makanda to the boardwalk and explored the few shops there. I have a pretty purple beaded bracelet now.

In Makanda they hold a Vulture fest. I will let you know what this actually looks like.


Behind the shops was a huge back yard with trails, and trees with old junk and hidden treasures. I especially like the huge metal bug.

Rain!

This is our laundry room right now. It started raining about twenty minutes ago, er, I mean, the skies tore open with a crash and the force of Victoria falls, our landscape was made anew! I looked out the window and where once we had Friedline Dr, we now had Friedline river.

This is water from outside spilling through the side of the house into the stairwell which leads to puddle laundry land.
Said stairwell, now made into a waterfall!

And then just outside the stairwell, where one would be advised to wear the correct footwear, of which I model below.

Welcome to Spring in Southern Illinois!

Be confident

I came across this video on Marvelous Kiddo.




It's inspiring just to see her!

Last night I went to a dueling piano bar with Rena, Rana, and Bekah. It wasn't very full, but we all had fun offering up requests to the two chatty men. They were able to pull out renditions of Lady Gaga's Poker Face, a Metallica song, a few Michael Jackson songs, and Dueling Banjos. Rana brought up the idea of having his birthday party there - what a great plan!

Have a nice day. I leave tomorrow with Comma in tow, some great new fabric, and new pictures. It's been a good visit.

New Camera!

I've been shopping and saving for a camera since last fall when mine was taken/lost while in Juneau. With all the fun trips I have coming up this summer, plus the creation of my Etsy store, I got determined while in Spokane to end the search.

I settled on a Canon Power Shot G11. I've been having fun with it, to say the least. Here are some shots from Spokane since it's purchase.

Sunday: Socks, Shadow art

I like socks. I found another site today called Happy Socks (via Fine Little Day). Those red and white striped ones are wonderful! It will be a while before it's long sock weather again.

Another fun thing that came to my attention is something called Kitteh Roulette. With Comma coming to live with Dan and I in May, and the box of kittens at yesterday's farmer's market, I've got cats on the brain. Be warned if you click the link above, there are videos of silly and cute things there.


Another great Sunday find is artist Kumi Yamashita. (via Marvelous Kiddo)

TED can't help but inspire you

I first heard about the TED conference two years ago when my friend's parents were watching a video of the 2007 presenters. It popped back in my life today when, on facebook, my friend Jacob DeGeal posted a link to this video about the potential of taking time off. I went to the site before typing this and found this piece by Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues. It's about embracing your inner girl (for boys and girls both). And now here I am, 12:30 on Saturday night, and I can't help but get excited about what happens next.

What does happen next?

I have a couple years before my coffee shop is a reality, but I know that those years will help shape what that shop will be. How it will be a part of a community I have yet to meet. How it will serve and meet the needs of people living there, and hopefully make an impact on people around the globe. A safe house. A meeting place. A gallery. A call to serve.

The people I'll be working with will grow there. The people I'll be serving will grow there. I will grow there.

Challenges will be over come and lofty goals will be reached. People will be free To Be there.

I watch videos like the two posted above and I see how everything is connected. How passion is undervalued. How courage has been caged in with sales goals, buildings, and demeaning words.

I don't know who said it first, but Sarah Rupke twittered this today, "Hope dies last." It is such a powerful thing, to hope for something better. To think of what one wants and envision that change. I have been thinking about my coffee shop for years now, years! I know when it opens there will be kinks, but I also know that it will succeed. It will be better than I imaged it. It will give more than I anticipate. I know that I am selfish in wanting this so much, but I believe that if we all acted towards what would really make us feel fulfilled instead of what we're taught to become, our world would not be such a mess. I have no proof. I have zero statistics. I only have a feeling about it.

But as Eve says, "I am an emotional creature."

Happy Friday things

I like making things, photos, and chocolate. I about flipped a lid when I came across this little nugget after work. It makes me want to go to New York and find these Mast Brothers, and eat their home-made chocolate. Salt and pepper chocolate perhaps?

Kodak saw some birds in the yard yesterday and started chirping at them. Have you seen this in a cat before? Wikipedia has this to say: "Cats are also known to make chirping or chattering noises when observing prey, or as a means of expressing interest in an object to nearby humans. When directed at out-of-reach prey, it is unknown whether this is a threatening sound, an expression of excitement or frustration, or an attempt to replicate a bird-call." Here is a video from You Tube I found that resemble what my cats do. I think it's great!

Jackpot!!!

Some things about me:

I am not a good shopper (I get tired and cranky super fast)
I don't like to spend money
I have never ordered clothing online

With that in mind, I have found a sock website that I am beyond excited about. Will I actually order anything from it? Probably not, but c'mon! A site where I can find knee high socks anytime of the year, and they have an I-need-you-on-my-feet-and-in-my-shoes-now wear-ability factor! I must share this with you.

It's called Sock It To Me. I hope they do well.

Good night (not that it's all that good with the World Series ending the way it did). Sorry Kristy. Hate to break it to you like this - this girl is not a Yankee fan.

Is this blog turning into a list of stuff I like? Hm. I should think about this.