this poor girl is probably linked all over the internet because she's wearing the infamous clapotis scarf. i think the pattern is lovely and want to make it as soon as i find some worthy yarn. there's a sale going on at a stitch in time (in san marino) that is ridiculous. 50-60% off...amazing. thankfully, i go into shock when i enter so i can rarely get out of there with more than one thing. this is good because what if the opposite happened? :)

anyway...

i received the fabric in the mail this weekend and it is ginormous. i guess my mind doesn't calculate measurements very accurately as i had thought it would be, hmmm, about half of the size that it is. however, it is wonderful and since it is so large, i'm not looking up into a tree, i'm looking into a forest. much better.

yesterday on my home from work i couldn't get over this true feeling of being so blessed. things like going on a run in the beautiful cool air and looking up into the trees to see a sliver of moon...amazing. talking for the first time to emma on the phone this weekend (usually she is completely silent). granted, she only says, "apple" but still! her little voice was so precious. :) laughing until i nearly cried talking to my sister the other day. she's one of the only people who can get me into these giggle fits like i'm 10. maybe it's because she's doing the same thing? ha ha it's interesting when you stop for a moment and look at and enjoy the beauty around you. it's the same beauty that has been following you all along, but when it catches your eye, you see it's smiling at you.

today i had the brilliant idea of repainting my dresser and bed. years ago my grandpa made the bed for one of my aunts. the dresser came into our family from a school where he was headmaster. (they had dorms, they were getting new furniture, we got the old stuff, etc.) so this furniture, though worn and rather ratty, couldn't be thrown out. there were too many memories attached. i actually remember standing on my tiptoes and trying to reach my piggy bank on the top of the dresser.

the 'set' had been white so i decided to go back to that color. i had visions of quickly painting it all and then going out to run errands. or off to barnes 'n' noble if i'm honest with ya'll. i guess it was 2 or 3 hours later after i had the first coat on both of them that i realized this was going to take some time. i slouched on the couch and flicked on the tv and after watching man vs. wild for a few minutes, i knew i had nothing to complain about.

i don't know if he's the kind of guy i'd like to plan a trip with since we all might end up eating raw tree frogs and maggots, but he'd be good to have around so we could all have fancy huts made for us out woven palm branches. the bonus is i now know how to get out of quicksand, so if you ever are trapped in a quagmire, call me. i'll walk you through the steps. i can't quite remember the steps if you fall through the ice on a frozen lake in the french alps, though. hmmm


(oh, the bed and dresser look great now. i feel like i have new furniture. and all for under $10!)

blahblah kids combines two of my favorite things: beautiful knitted kids' stuff and making a difference in peoples' lives. everything on this site is knit by a group of peruvian artisans. check out their photo page. really cute stuff.

a couple of friends and i are trying to figure out a way to sell the cards we make to raise money for some local organizations. if anyone has any ideas of what venues would be the best, please let me know. we're thinking of making 6 different designs of christmas cards and selling them at craft shows in the fall. the catch is not wanting to spend too much $$ on a table for a show and the fact that most l.a. craft shows are eclectic and aren't necessarily looking for cutesy christmas cards.

that said, any advice would be very much appreciated. :)

baby blanket reminder

a reminder to make this blanket someday.

my friend, michelle, sent me a picture of her precious nephew this morning. and he's wearing one of my onesies! i'm, of course, beaming with pride right now. :)

inspiration

a marimekko fabric print which will be hanging on my bedroom wall soon. i'm going to hang it just right so i can lie in bed and look up into the trees...

yesterday i woke up and realized it was time for a change.
time to pull out the old bed and dresser and repaint them.

time for a new coverlet and time to put up new paintings and photographs.

...time to settle down a little bit.

i'm thinking of a completely white background with bold, rich accents...scandinavia meets india.

i really love this bedding from sleeping buddha but they have hundreds of buddhas on them. that would be a bit hypocritical of me, wouldn't it? darn. the color schemes and the fabrics are perfect.

june weddings

more wedding things. i was looking for something or other on oh joy's site and found myself here at well spun weddings. i would never had thought of getting a wedding videographer before (i mean, who wants hours of footage from a balcony somewhere?) but this was magical.

just watching the first video gives me goosebumps...

ann wood's incredibly precious and beautiful cake toppers (pictured above) also caught my eye. how precious are those?!

two more sites to remember:

http://kenziekate.blogspot.com/ & http://ohjoy.blogs.com/my_weblog/here_comes_the_bride/index.html. they offer unique ideas about weddings instead of the old standby stuff. i'm stealing ideas of interesting things to get friends who are getting married soon.

love this song

"unwritten" (natasha bedingfield)

I am unwritten
can't read my mind,
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
the pen's in my hand,
ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes,
but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten


live your life with arms wide open...no one else can feel it for you...remember these things

so cute:
www.kautumn.com
www.blissen.com
www.goodonpaperdesign.com

every time i move, which is typically once a year at the rate i'm going, i tell myself i should really stop buying books. this is mostly because of the external comments of the friends who are breaking their backs to help me move them all. i really don't buy books ALL the time, just some of the time. and i really do use them and read them. i'm not one of those people who buy limited editions and put them behind glass cases. my books are dog-eared and underlined and loved.

still, i have a lot of them.

before amazon.com came along, i was much better off. as much as i loved barnes and noble, i couldn't justify spending so much money on a silly paperback. but now that i can buy books for .01 at thriftbooks, it's all over.

once upon a time i had an idea to write book reviews of all the books i was currently into. i think eeked out 10 or so reviews and then got bored. thankfully, someone picked up the baton and ran with it. this site takes a bit to load, but is worth it if you're a visual person like me. check it out: http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/

the best marathon. ever.

who knows, maybe it was because the week leading up to this marathon was ein bisschen stressful (read, company until monday, craft fair wednesday, evil robber smashing my car window and stealing purse wednesday afternoon, trying to replace & fix everything by sat morning). maybe that's why running 26.2 miles was so stressless.

i mean, there were definite parts where i was tired, but after l.a., it was nothing. if you want to run a marathon where there is almost constant fan/crowd/band support, run this marathon. there was a huge team in training turnout and they always have such a great time. i love running with them. the weather was perfect, the gatorade accelerade was delicious, my sport beans gave me miles of joy, and the tour through san diego was priceless. seriously!

it was also nice to end at the marine corps base. :)

cookie ideas

for my next craft thingymabob at work, i'm going to sell cookies again, but i'm going to package them the martha way. and i'm going to have to make them all the night before. my magical cookies are insanely delicious, but they don't do so well if you make them the week before. i mean, they still sold out, but they weren't up to par in my book. anywho...

emma, i love your innocence. you really made us laugh today with this one. :)

it's wedding season. my cousin is getting married in a few weeks and after talking to someone here at work about this, (her daughter is getting married the same day), we were able to think of over 10 people in this section at work alone who are getting married this summer or know someone who is.

as i was meandering around the web today, i came across nirali magazine. their wedding issue is full of rich colors and gorgeous detail. sooo beautiful.



for invitations, kenzie kate's designs are amazing.

okay, i'm going to just be lazy and say i love pretty much everything over here on indie fixx' wedding guide .

and for the poor bride (or maybe i should say maid of honor) trying to plan all these parties, the hostess with the mostess blog cannot be missed. makes me want to have a party. :)