I’m slightly jealous that Gillian was CNET orange and I’m not. But I do ever so love cameos.
You Are Cameo |
 You are understanding and very empathetic. You don’t tend to have acquaintances. Everyone is your friend. And all of your friends tend to be friends. You have a knack for bringing very different people together. |
Since I can’t afford to buy them right now, I might as well blog about them.
- any flower pin from Supermaggie. The Lariats are pretty cool, too.
- a fruit stripe Laurie Weber belt. I love the buckles she uses.
- a Miele Fresca/Lilywear t-shirt. I so love my flower people one.
- a Colleen Keenan handbag (sadly, her site is down as of when I posted this message).
- a Maya Kini organix beet or watermelon daikon necklace.
- a Terry “Ride Like a Girl” cap and commuter skort (for the day when I finally am able to ride the 30+ miles home from work).
I envy all the gals on this Craftster discussion about their projects from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, which was apparently the iPod of the knitting world last Christmas. I drooled over that book for days when Jen first gave it to me. Maybe I’ll set aside the Freda poncho since I’m, er, having trouble with the pattern anyway, and work on the hourglass sweater.
I haven’t had time to go to Dharma and get help with seaming up all the items I need help with, which are (for the record):
Work is killing me. I want to do Bay to Breakers with Erika in May (Team in Training is letting people run for them if we just raise $200), but I haven’t had time to train because I’ve been working so much. I’m just wrapping up another three-hour evening on the blueprint for Play Guitar!. It’s fun but draining, and I feel like I don’t have the time now to devote to anything. Especially not this road bike ride Chad and I are supposed to do next weekend!
And that half-finished handbag and unhemmed skirt from last year (I hemmed the pink tweed skirt, but not the lining) stare at me every time I go into our dining room. Maybe I can finish it up this weekend…
I’m so busy for the next few weeks, between Nellies gigs, traveling for work, work being crazy, etc., I won’t have any time to start my sewing projects, which are the projects I most want to work on.
I should start on an iPod cozy to protect my Xmas gift!
I probably won’t be posting much for the next few weeks.
Everyone talks about the good deals to be had at after-Christmas sales, but let me reveal to everyone who has never worked in retail just why they are so good: returns.
See, lots of people (sadly, not me) start buying Christmas presents in September and October–and even earlier. They give the gift in December and it doesn’t fit, the recipient doesn’t like it, or for some other reason, it ends up being returned. Of course, in the three or four months since the original purchase, the item has been reduced in price three or four times, so you can pick up that item you thought was overpriced in September or October at a super cheap price. Also, you have the best selection of items in months, maybe not in size, but in style.
I love after-Christmas sales. I just picked up a pair of $128 Banana Republic shoes for $35, $60 black casual BR pants for $42, and $50 Gap cords for $25 (I love the modern fit there). Also, a few things I purchased right after Christmas have already been reduced again (thank heavens for price adjustments! I’m bringing my receipts back to the stores).
I think I’m going to make another new year’s resolution to save up a lot of money to spend in next year’s after-Christmas sales.
When I was home in NJ for Christmas, my mom and I went to see my sister Lisa’s shop, Crazy Eye, on 9th St. in Philadelphia across Passyunk (I think) from the Italian Market. She sells all locally-made or -designed T-shirts, handbags (her own and others’), scarves, and other odds and ends. It’s pretty cool. Say hello to Nutter, the shop dog for me. It’s open Friday through Sunday.
Lisa sells some of the glasses, mirror compacts, coasters, and other items made by my cousin Pat’s company, Lazy Susan. I bought the “Mirror, mirror… Oh, forget it, I know I look good” cameo compact from Lisa’s store. I’m thinking of getting some of the glasses, too. Once I saw the Lazy Susan catalog, I realized that I had seen their products all over the place and coveted many of them (especially the lace dresses glasses. I LOVE them). You can find them at all sorts of stores including Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, as well as on the Web.
I guess we’re a pretty creative family.
One reason I’ve been so lax in posting lately (and on finishing projects–it seems that’s another resolution doomed to failure) is that I’m training for a triathlon. I’m going to be doing the Pacific Grove triathlon on September 11, the day before Tyler and Jenny’s weddinng in Pasadena. I doubt I’ll be dancing much. I’m doing it as part of Team in Training, which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I probably will be posting more about it on my other blogs (which will soon all be combined into one general, noncrafty blog), but anyone who’s interested in watching my training and fundraising progress or sending me moral or financial support (actually, you just donate on my behalf), can check out my personal TNT page. I’m going to try to update it pretty regularly.
Also, I’m hoping to do a craft sale as part of my fundraising: knitted cell phone cozies and sunglass holders, belts of all stripes (literally), and whatever else I can whip up in a jiffy.
This, from a recent article on John Kerry’s Vietnam service:
“[Kerry] frequently exhibited a high sense of imagination and judgment in planning operations against the enemy in the Mekong Delta,” wrote Lt. Cmdr. George Elliott, Kerry’s commanding officer. “Involved in several enemy initiated fire fights, including an ambush during the Christmas truce, he effectively suppressed enemy fire and is unofficially credited with 20 enemy killed in action.”
And the Republicans have the gall to say that Kerry might not have been wounded severely enough to warrant his return Stateside before the end of his SECOND tour of duty? Meanwhile, the Commander in Chief of the armed forces may or may not have been in the reserve in Alabama for a year. And Heart-Attack Jones, i.e. Dick Cheney, was probably on his fourth bypass by the time he reached draft age.
Poor Max Cleland, who lost either two or three limbs in Vietnam, was ousted out of Congress, the victim of a cruel Republican “push poll.” (Basically, voters got calls asking them, “If you heard that Max Cleland did [insert egregious lie here], would you still vote for him?”) As was POW Sen. John McCain (that push poll, sponsored by Bush supporters, alleged that he was the parent to an illegitimate mixed race child. Of course, they only used it in the South). Are the Republicans going to treat the Iraq and Afghanistan war vets like this?
Have they no decency? Have they no sense of decency?
I’ve been struggling lately with reconciling my two favorite lunchtime activities: knitting and walking. Since it’s impossible to do both at the same time, and the town where I work is woefully devoid of park benches (or even public parks within walking distance), I went for a stroll on Friday in a different directin from my usual way to see if I could find someplace to walk to and knit without having to buy a cup of coffee. I walked past this old, abandoned hall with old Roman-style columns–Barbara described it as a rotunda. Then up into a residential neighborhood, past a turquoise and white house with a turquoise and white car parked in front, an abandoned-looking house with a paved-over yard covered in a well-maintained container garden, and some beautiful old houses from the ’30s or ’40s (and one gorgeous, huge Victorian that loomed above the neighborhood on a hill). But no park bench. Oh well. I found one of the great-smelling flowers on the bush down the street from my office on the ground and brought it back to the office. Derk identified it as a star jasmine. The scent filled my little cube for the rest of the afternoon. It’s strange how, when you’re looking for something, you often don’t find it, but if you keep yourself open, you can discover so much more.
This (courtesy of Action-Hero and Primp) makes me want to learn how to needle felt. Focus, Nicole. Focus.
