Thursday, November 29, 2007
Ornament Swaps Tied Up with String
The winter holidays are swiftly underway here in my little corner of the world. I officially kicked it off with stitching up these holiday ornaments for the Holiday Ornament Swap 2007. You should see the Flickr pool, I'm incredibly impressed with the ornaments people are coming up with! Since I was accidentally placed in two groups and thus have 17 ornaments to make, I stuck with a simple homemade/folksy style felt ornament in my favorite colors for the holidays: red & turquoise. One group is almost done, packaged in pink tissue and tied up with baker's twine. (Side note: let this be a cautionary tale of online shopping, how am I ever going to use 2 pounds of baker's twine?)
I bought a gumdrop wreath ornament and hung that on the front door instead of a gaudy faux evergreen wreath -- it just felt more appropriate. I'm crazy about it so I'll have to take a picture to share. More holiday activities will be in motion this weekend as I head to a Goodwill to find sweaters to felt & make into stockings, and perhaps some cute, cheap, kitschy Christmas decorations. All ornaments are also scheduled to drop this weekend, and I should get a start on holiday cards. Oh boy, I'm suddenly feeling like spending the whole weekend on the couch curled up with magazines and a good book.Labels: arts+crafts, holidays
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Cravings
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Full of peaceful rest, family, and delicious vegetarian food. Ryan's stepmom was nice enough to make Gourmet magazine's Vegetarian's Dilemma Thanksgiving Dinner, which was just amazing. So much inspiration for new winter dishes to make! Denver was a winter wonderland with light snowfall -- enough that it stuck around for stomping around when we took the dog out for walks. It was indescribably beautiful to just sit around the fireplace reading, leisurely taking walks, and disconnecting from the flurry of LA. No television, internet, or billboards. Not being in an attention-seeking war with your environment. Exactly what I needed from this vacation.
I feel both ready to take on all my holiday projects and to focus on incorporating this vacation style peace and stress-free approach to my everyday. Feels good to be back, and I'm feeling chatty and alive again.Labels: holidays
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Thankful
The next 15 hours are going to be pretty whirlwind between dropping off Lucy at my parents' house, packing, and getting to LAX for a 6:30 a.m. flight...so here's to starting it with positive thinking by making a thankful list.
Things I'm Thankful For This Year
1. Finally finding a good job.
2. The experiences, however painful & soul-crushing.
3. An extraordinary boy.
4. marthastewart.com & many glossy magazines.
5. Finding the discipline to write, paint, and design.
6. Family, old and new. & none of them dying this year.
7. Friends who love me, near and far. & their support & inspiration.
8. Films that make you cry, good, hearty tears.
9. Confidence and freedom that comes with age.
10. Old, beautiful things waiting to be discovered, and Los Angeles, with everything here waiting to be discovered.
What are you thankful for this year?Labels: holidays, lists
Monday, November 19, 2007
A Veggie Thanksgiving
On Saturday night, in an effort to stop eating out so much, Ryan and I made a little veggie Thanksgiving feast for two. We made a Tofurkey roast (which I learned I'm not too fond of), mashed potatoes, and zucchini fritters. For dessert, I made some quick vegan vanilla cupcakes for apple cinnamon shortcakes. I just coated sliced apples with brown sugar and cinnamon, then fried them up in some SmartBalance. Served them up on sliced cupcakes and dusted with powder sugar for a super simple & scrumptious fall dessert! (I couldn't help alliteration there).
I also did a bunch of shopping over the weekend, so much so on Sunday I felt ill from using my credit card. But I DID get a little Christmas shopping done, though there is a lot to be made at home. And for myself, I picked up some lovely little pieces from Erin Fetherston's GO! Collection at Target, a cute dress I've wanted from H&M for half price, and a few cute charms at Felt Club. This would probably be a good time to drop the hint that I'll be working on a clothing blog soon with a good friend soon.
Like with everyone else, I will be busy eating, traveling to see family, and enjoying my time off as much as possible for this holiday week. Tonight I'll be working on my ornaments for the swap, paintings for Christmas, reading, packing and working on my novel. I'm looking forward to coming back from Thanksgiving and getting official "permission" to start decorating for the winter holidays! Can't wait to share the new work that I'll be producing for presents.
Have a happy, full, and grateful holiday!Labels: foodie call, holidays
Friday, November 16, 2007
this week, doing & loving
reading: My French Whore by Gene Wilder
listening: Sondre Lerche on the Dan in Real Life soundtrack
watching: Dan in Real Life
eating: apple cinnamon popovers
making: felt ornaments for the holiday swapLabels: lists
Thursday, November 15, 2007
I'm Going To Hand Measure You
Top 5 from last night's Project Runway (aka the whole reason I got cable):
1. "I'm going to hand measure you right now."
2. "She looks like she's pooing fabric."
3. Kevin, despite his resemblance to Joey Fatone, and his fabulous dress.
4. Kit "Pistol"'s own outfit, but NOT what she designed.
5. Of course, the return of Tim Gunn to a show worthy of him, unlike his TLC rip-off show.
I'm so happy you're back!Labels: fashion love, project runway
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Magical Holidays
Here's a peek at the holiday card I painted and designed for my friends and family. Who doesn't want a magical stocking filled with heffalumps, jackalopes and dragons?Labels: artsy girl, holidays
Natural Selection
After nurturing a sore throat from last Tuesday that has since evolved into a whopping cough and possibly pneumonia (that's the disease where you have liquid filling up your lungs, right?), I'm onto you, Natural Selection. Perhaps my scrappy lineage and hardy Chinese stock has gotten me this far on genetics alone, but I swear I will outlive and outsmart this cold before flying to Denver for Thanksgiving. Because by heavens you can ruin my days in the office, days at workshop trainings and days at agency trainings, but I will not have ANY OF THIS ON VACATION.
This may be the first time I've been this sick for this long in awhile -- probably a good wake up call to s-l-o-w-d-o-w-n and take care of myself. So I will spend the evening (after running errands to the library and Kinko's and walking the dog) reading my new magazine (see below), preparing to send my holiday card to the printers, carefully drinking tea (I've burned my tongue in several places already) and covering some candles with Martha Stewart's ultra fine glitter. Because this is what I do when I'm relaxing, OKAY?
If I didn't have a boyfriend to consider, my apartment would look something akin to Amy Sedaris' whimsical loft in New York. The colors! The cake stands! The fake meat! I'm a little sad that the first issue of House & Garden that I buy will also be the last issue published. Isn't that how it goes?Labels: daily
Monday, November 12, 2007
Dahl, the dark fairy.
Dahl, the dark fairy
Acrylic on 6"x8" canvas
I finished this painting last night while watching Pieces of April, and a variety of reality tv and Family Guy reruns. It's for the FreePeople Dark Fairy swap -- I have another part that goes with it but I'll keep that a secret in case my partner is taking a peek. This is the first time I'll be making a print of my work -- wish me lots of luck and send any advice you might have about making prints.
I had a lot of fun with the finished sides of the canvas. I've also posted this to Illustration Friday's theme of superstition, since that seems like a theme that goes along with mischievous, superstitious little fairies.
And in a complete digression, here is a list of things I'm totally looking forward to this week:
- the new episode of Heroes
- sending off this dark fairy swap
- Project Runway, Season 4
- Erin Fetherston's collection dropping at Target
- Felt Club XL Holiday
- reading my new British Vogue with Sophie Dahl on the cover
Hope you are all having a happy Monday and a promising outlook on the week ahead!Labels: artsy girl
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Fall Films & being a stress addict.
According to the latest issue of Glamour, I am a stressaholic. I thrive off multi-tasking and doing-it-all quickly and perfectly. I'm even starting to see the signs, as I find myself more often than not holding a long catch-up phone conversation with a faraway friend while Swiffer-ing the apartment, renewing library books online, and catching up on The Office. Even right now, I'm baking a gingerbread cake while watching Food Network Challenge and blogging.
Lately, this has become a problem because I'm sick for the third time in two months. So perhaps it is time to slow down. Among the many remedies recommended by the article (the usual of meditate, take deep breaths, etc. and the not so usual of imitating your most likely calmer, can't-make-a-left-turn-and-talk-at-the-same-time male significant other), is taking the time to fully submerge yourself in just one thing. Usually, watching movies in the theater is one of my favorite slow-down things to do.
However, the last few months have also been a bad time in the theaters. So I'm even more looking forward to these upcoming winter films to break up some pre-holiday multi-tasking:
- Enchanted
- Sweeney Todd
- The Golden Compass
- I Am Legend
- Juno
- Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
- Penelope (if this film ever comes out!)
I don't even want to think what might happen after the winter if the Writers' Strike isn't over before the new year.Labels: films
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Birthday Corridor
So my friends and I have something we call the Birthday Corridor. It's when your birthday extends to the days before and after it -- for example, Saturday night I had dinner with a few friends, then Sunday lunch with the family, then the actual birthday Monday celebrated around favorite spots in LA with my favoritest boy, followed by Tuesday dinner with Trinh (we went to the Alcove, which was incredible), and today all us November babies at work were presented with an enormous red velvet cake from The Bluebird Cafe.
With getting older and wiser comes a reconciliation of my annual goal of reading as many books as I am years old. So last year, of my goal to read 22 books I read:
1. Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs*
2. The Feast of Love:, Charles Baxter
3. The Anti 9-to-5 Guide, Michelle Goodman*
4. The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
5. Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger*
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
8. On Beauty, Zadie Smith
9. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams
10. The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket
11. Ruby, Francesca Lia Block & Carmen Staton
12. No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July
13. An Invisible Sign of My Own, Aimee Bender*
14. Cesar's Way, Cesar Millan
15. Skinny Bitch, Kim Barnouin & Rory Freedman*
16. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
17. Coraline, Neil Gaiman*
18. Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity, Ray Bradbury*
19. No Plot? No Problem!, Chris Baty*
* indicates recommended reads.
It's a lot better than I did last year, but I'm definitely looking forward to hitting my goal this year. Now I've got to hit the keys for Nanowrimo, since I got a few days behind with birthday festivities. Wish me luck!Labels: books
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Happy Birthday to me...
Yesterday, I turned 23. It was a very sweet day. Thank you to all everyone who thought of me and sent thoughtful well wishes, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. I'm actually rather glad to bid 22 good-bye -- it was a hard year of growing pains. Odd numbered ages have always seemed to be luckier.Labels: growing up
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Laura & The Great Cupcake
A birthday present for my friend Laura, with its perfect companion piece - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I finished and sent it last week, but I had to wait until she actually opened it to not ruin the surprise!Labels: artsy girl
Thursday, November 01, 2007
National Novel Writing Month Begins!
Hello friends,
I will be participating, whole-heartedly, in National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo as it's affectionally dubbed). Sure, I've "participated" the last two years, only to stop once my already-written stock of novel bits had been surpassed by what the daily word count totals should be. This year, I'm taking a different approach and feel fully invested in developing a writing craft -- and using this as a jump-in-the-deep-end approach.
I'm only admitting this publicly so that I will have to either own up to finishing a 50,000 word first draft by 11:59pm of November 30th or face public humiliation (here on this blog that is). Wish me luck as I toss caution in the wind and go forth swiftly and blindly, without a plot, with too many themes in mind, and with new characters to meet.
If you'd like to join, and surely some of you would, please add me as a writing buddy on your NaNoWriMo profile (just click the banner to your left). We'll egg, poke, prod, and challenge each other on. It'll be a ball.
Love,
Your Slightly Loony AnnLabels: writing craft
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