Morning Funnies

Hmmm, I don't think boiled OJ would be a good idea. I gave myself a good chuckle when I did this! See what happens when I go 2 days without coffee? I can't drink coffee black, so for lack of rice milk I drank black tea. But today, my "MVP" was back in action with some Italian roast. As a friend once said, tea is for when you want to feel zen and peaceful, and coffee for being productive~ this is why she swears by coffee in the AM. Though I love good quality tea, as evidenced by my "tea drawer":


Well, I finally finally did grocery shopping yesterday... after missing a week. Yesterday morning I was eating the last pack of instant oatmeal out of a Pyrex measuring cup so things were pretty desperate, LOL. Snow storm be damned, I was determined to get out of the house and feel human again. Rob called me twice (he tried my cell which I turn off during aerobics class, and the land line) all concerned if I was driving around in the snow storm, and how the power steering was working (it's on the fritz). He is a sweetie to check up on me :) I made it home safely, basically sailing the truck into a snow pile/ parking spot (it's a pick up truck, no 4 wheel drive). Now I can relax knowing the kitchen is stocked, and we are good through Xmas.

Saturday forecast is calling for 50 degrees! FIFTY!! I pray that's no mistake. It'd be a perfect time to transport some Home Depot tropical plants. Just don't get the tall palms, they always die. Believe me, I've tried. Maybe some little pots in the kitchen, and my studio could use some greenery. I'm thinking positive here, 50 degrees...50 degrees.

If you've read this far, pat yourself on the back for not being bored to death! Groceries, snow storm, the weather (yawn)... guess it's due to being in 'survival' mode, that's what frigid temps do to me. I promise more exciting posts in 2009!

Oh, I used up the whole pack of Paperclay that she gave me. I am lovin' the stuff! About a year ago I bought a block of (stale) Paperclay, the expiration date on it only gave me a week to use it.. duh. So I didn't do much with that. But I had so much fun using a new medium, I think I'm addicted. After Xmas, I will reveal what tiny sculpted things I made. Something to look forward to :)

enjoy the day!

'Tis the First Day of You-Know-What

Happy Winter Solstice! It feels more like the 99th day of winter than the first, yes? We're in complete sub-zero, frosted-over, where-have-all-the-animals-gone Land. It's so artic cold that we didn't go grocery shopping tonight... and I would love to thaw out in Whole Foods heated indoor parking lot. Really, driving in there is like an underground tunnel into Florida. I'll take whatever heated environments I can get.

Does Santa drive a big brown truck? Look what the UPS man brought me from dear Pam! An ellie charm necklace and a cute octopus pin to add to my collection. Both were Etsy finds. So sweet :) She also sent me a fresh block of paperclay. I can't wait to open it up and knead and smush. I have some ideas for sculpting, and will show you what I come up with!

Hubs is patiently-impatiently waiting for me to get off the computer and "wine-down" (that's our term for winding down with a glass of wine) and pop in a DVD. Gotta go! Have a nice evening!

Happy Holidays~ New Adorables!

Violetta: Limited Ed of 2 (as shown). 5" tall, hand dyed mohair (fab combo of black on purple backing), fully jointed, wobble heads, milk glass google eyes, waxed noses on mohair muzzles, excelsior/ poly/ encased steel BB's for a nice tactile feel. Violetta fits perfectly in her vintage crochet pouch (hand dyed), with ribbons & bells. You will love holding her. $235 each. Both SOLD

We'd like to wish all of you a Very Happy Holiday Season! Be sure to do a little something special for yourself. Peng Peng Bears would not exist with you :O) Big hugs to you and yours!

New Adorable Bears Tomorrow!!

We're expecting an avalanche of snow tonight, 10+ inches! I picked up some emergency provisions to get us through the storm.. and when I say "provisions" that means cherry turnovers, orange juice, and a jar of honey so I can make chocolate chip cookies tomorrow. But the real big event for tomorrow is NEW BEARS to be posted here on my blog! Horray!

I know it's a last minute frenzy, but there IS still time before Xmas with USPS priority mail (that's my usual method to ship anyways). So I hope you can join me tomorrow!

I will post the new adorables sometime in the morning...and will send an email out when that happens. Have a lovely night with teddy bear dreams!

~xo~

Curry in a Hurry

Since Rob got back in town Sunday, days have been flying by. He's got vacation time this week and we're trying to "get stuff done". We had a huge snowfall yesterday (wasn't expecting that, yahoo.com weather!) and last night folks were out with the snow blowers, or like us, the primitive (greener) way with a good old fashioned shovel.

Cos I'm a nervous driver on the highway, plus since it snowed, Rob was super kind to drive me to my orthotic appt today to pick up my custom arch supports. These babies are gonna change my life. My feet have always been problematic (wearing ill fitting shoes & heels just for fashion sake never helped) and after 15 yrs or so of procrastinating, I finally did something about it. Mostly cos I was tired of only wearing 2 pairs of shoes: Asics sneaks for the gym and Earth shoes for casual. Ok, I left out my Keen sandals and puffy snow boots. But now I'm armed with insoles and can get some decent / cute shoes, and spare Rob my panic attacks when I'm trying to dress up to go out ("gee, this skirt looks good, but I have NO shoes! Guess I'm wearing my unflattering jeans... Again.").

So anyhows, after my orthotics appt, next thing on the list was Blick Art store and lunch. We were jonesing for Thai since it'd been months (we banned ourselves from our neighborhood Thai restaurant, long story). Revisiting our old hood, Wicker Park, the "curry in a hurry" craving was satiated. I always imagined if I had a Thai restaurant, I'd call it just that "Curry in a Hurry". And my imaginary hair salon "Zen Bangs" (just for bang trims. I'll leave that story for another post!). Oh, my fortune cookie said this: "Versatility is one of your outstanding traits." I'd like to think it true :O) Which leads me to a *hint a bit of my new creative plans ... (see what I bought at the art store below)

We picked up art supplies at Blick. Rob was ready to checkout in like 2 minutes with 2 tiny jars of gesso, meanwhile I'm just taking my gloves off. His philosophy is, the longer he's in the store, the more he'll spend :) So thanks to my presence, he also ended up getting a few small glass jars with lids for his paints and I got things to *draw with. Then across the street to Whole Foods 'cos we were out of wine and carrot juice (gotta have that), and my sorely missed Peets Coffee. Why is there only ONE Peets in Chicago? We're a major city, for Peets sake! (sorry, couldn't resist). And a free cup of coffee with every bean purchase, that's what I call civilized. Starbucks, are you reading this?

Well, that was our day. Plus an hour or two typing this up :) See how time flies?
Sorry 'bout the lack of pics in this post.. still getting adjusted to the new camera. And does anyone really want to see my orthotics? Didn't think so. They'll be plenty of Chicago snow to take pictures of in the coming days :) :( that's a smile or frown, depending how you feel about snow.
If you're wondering about my take on cold weather.. I'd rather be here:

....than defrosting my truck. (that's me, Bermuda 2001)

Tonight it's a glass of wine with my husband and second husband.

Stay warm!

Swiss Miss Syndrome

All this pie is making me feel tubby. Winter hibernation foods like said pies, cookies, hot cocoa, etc, combined with lack of sunlight and inertia equals to what I call being a "Swiss Miss". You know what I'm talking about. It's a winter thing. I think just the act of making the pies made me feel full. I'm not overeating or anything, it's just that I only worked out 1x last week (Turbo Step), and nothing the week before, and I barely got through the class. Even afterwards the instructor asked me if I was alright. Pathetic I know. So, I'm determined to get back to the gym 3x a week like I was doing (until it got cold out). Gotta give me some credit though, cos two different occasions I was en route to class when the truck decided to die in the middle of the street (I learned the hard way it needs like 20 minutes to warm up first, no joke).


Okay, enough about my Swiss Miss. In my studio I came across a tiny jar filled with 1" pins, and a solitary 1.5" pin. Just thought it interesting how I can recall how/ when I got each pin, so I will bore you with it here:

1. Busy Beaver Buttons: came with my pin set I ordered from them. Chicago's finest!
   


2. Stay Analog: if you know what's good for you. Given to me by Elliot (or "Uncle Elliot" as my cats knew him when he cat-sat for us), a sound engineer/ drummer for these guys and notable others.
   


3. Lula: from the cafe. They have a portion of a wall covered in pins!
   


4. Powered by Tofu: I ordered from Peta
   


5. 65 Grand: from a friends art opening at the art gallery
   


6. Love me, don't eat me: again Peta
   


7. Dead Moon: if you know who they are, we have a lot in common. Got it at their show
   


8. Pierced Arrows: if you know who they are, we really have a lot in common! From their show
   


9. Jens Jensen: I jumped for joy (mentally) when I saw these pins here. I love JJ! The proceeds of the pin purchase went to some botanical charity.
   


10. Nerves: my husband gave to me (his former band. Our bands is how we met :)
    


11. a bunny rabbit: an (unknown to me) artist designed button from Button-O-Matic dispenser at Lula (see #3).
    


12. the Red Romance: Herschel is/ was lead guitarist. We go waaay back from our Philly days. He invited me & hubs when he was in town opening for the Killers at this huge place in 2007. I rarely go to arena shows (let alone, in heels), but this was an exception.
    


13. the Red Romance again.

I wonder what happened to my enormo Duran Duran pin collection from the 80's? Yikes, did I say that? A girls gotta start somewhere. Hey, and speaking of.. here's a good place to start :)

Have a nice Sunday evening! I'm thinking hot cocoa (I AM going to the gym tomorrow) and that Bette Davis Netflix sounds about right.