Friday, November 27, 2009

Seven of a Million Things...

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I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving in the States and a wonderful Thursday everywhere else!

I am very thankful for many things including (but not limited to):
1. My wonderful family
2. Being able to do what I love every day
3. Music: Sting to Cole Porter to Feist to...
4. Spice bread and tea
5. Sleeping in
6. Disney
7. And you, you wonderful readers/listeners/bloggers, for inspiring me in everything (style, music, food) and commenting and encouraging me - making being on the internet some of my favorite hours of the day.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Gift Ideas and Inspiration: the Art of Sam Battersby

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I recently discovered the work of Ms. Sam Battersby of Matou en Pelouche - artistic genius. I tagged her earlier as the creator of one of my favorite blogs and, looking at her art (created by charcoal and pastel), you can see why! It took me forever to choose just five pieces from her etsy shop for the collage because it's all just gorgeous! I love the colors, the shapes, the sexiness and the whimsy.

I may have to redecorate my studio so I can paper it with her marvelous prints.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Christmas Card Swap!

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I have an unquenchable passion like Winnie-the-Pooh; his for honey, mine for stationery. Now, combine my passion for stationery with my passion for the holidays and it's an irresistible cocktail called Christmas cards! All that to say, I have a pile of Christmas cards and, happily (though sad for my holiday card collection), most of my friends and family that live down the street.

I thought that maybe there were others in a similar predicament - lovely holiday cards and nowhere to send them - so I wanted to open up a Christmas card swap. I was imagining the joy of receiving cards from all over the world from my delightful bloggy friends!

There aren't any rules, really, just send me an email with your mailing address and leave a comment below. It's open to international readers too, of course! I'm going to see how many people respond before I determine how many people to put in each group, so if you have a limit, let me know.

I won't be collecting addresses after December 1 so that we can all receive our holiday cards in enough time to incorporate them into decorating. Hooray!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

An Award (thank you!) and Seven Interesting Things About Me



I was so so excited to be selected for the Beautiful Blogger Award by one of my all-time favorite blogs, acupfullofsunshine. Thank you so much, Anne!


The rules are as follows:

1) Thank the person who nominated me for this award.
2) Copy the award & place it on my blog.
3) Link to the person who nominated me for this award.
4) Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself.
5) Nominate 7 bloggers.
6) Post links to the 7 blogs I nominate.

I was trying to narrow the "things about myself" down to things that if someone told me while we were waiting to get our licenses renewed at the DMV, I'd reply,
"My! How interesting!"
Or at least, politely,
"Mmm. Interesting."

Here goes:

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1. I used to work in a mystery dinner theater improv troupe. We'd stage a murder mystery on a train on its way to tour the Château Ste. Michelle winery in Woodville, WA. I was murdered myself several times a month after eating a delicious dinner on a fancy train. Not a bad way to make a living, I'd say.

2. I used to work at a teeny Italian-inspired café in Seattle as a barista where I was trained to to make gelato and how to bake donuts! I quit after I learned the latter because this meant I had to be at work at 4:30 a.m. No longer my dream job. Sigh.

3. I am a sensitive as a ripe peach when it comes to stories/movies/books and I restrict all viewing to movies that aren't too sad, violent, suspenseful, dark or depressing. You will not be able to talk me into watching a movie that is any combination of the above list. I'm into happy endings, tap dances and period pieces that conclude with weddings.

4. George Gershwin is responsible for me not quitting music. I was having a terrible time at classical music summer camp (you are welcome to imagine the details), had decided music was not for me and was wandering morosely through the halls at Florida State University, when I heard the strains of Rhapsody in Blue coming through a door. I parked myself on the floor and listened to the pianist practice and by the time I had gotten back up, I had changed my mind.

5. I began yoga in 1999. Because of Sting, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna (mostly Sting). There, I said it. I'll come clean. But I loved it. I've even taken a teacher training course.

6. I must have a schedule where I can sleep in mornings. I have chosen many jobs and rejected many jobs (see #2) because of this requirement. Ten o'clock is the earliest I like to rise and it's practically impossible for me to fall asleep before 2:30 a.m.

7. One of my dearest dreams ever is to write/perform a song for a Pixar/Disney film. Anyone know anyone who knows anyone who works there?

The seven wonderful blogs I nominate for this honor are:


Thursday, November 12, 2009

Shopping and Helping the World at the Same Time

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I just found the perfect seasonal discovery for us online holiday shoppers: iGive.

How it works: you search for a store you at which you want to shop and then once you make your purchase, the store donates a percentage of their profits to the cause of your choice (and there are a lot of choices from animal rescue to schools to the rainforest). How marvelous is that?!

It doesn't work with Etsy, unfortunately, but it even works with Ebay (Ebay gives up a portion of their cut). The hard part is remembering not just to go directly to Amazon or L'Occitane without first visiting through the site. But I'm sure that once I get in the habit, I'll be racking up donations in no time. So for all my non-Etsy purchases this holiday season, I'm going to try to shop through iGive.

Saving tigers while finding that ideal gift? I'm in!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

When I Grow Up, I Want to be Just Like...

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Well, I wanted to be just like Sting. His music (oh, so brilliant!), his love life (oh, so sexy), his lifestyle (villa in Tuscany? Sure, I'm in) and his constant expanding of boundaries. He was the reason I began yoga and the reason I started at an early-ish age to be interested in the environment.

I've heard so many people talk about, "Aw, I wish Sting sang just like he was in the Police. That was when he was amazing." Sure, he was amazing in the Police but also equally amazing in his jazz-fusion phase, his intelligent pop phase, his world music phase, his slightly-techno phase and now his classical music phase. When I heard his music for the first time on a bus heading for a field trip, I was smitten; though not in the crush way, in the "When I grow up, I want to be just like ___" way. That was when I decided to be a singer/songwriter.

I would love to know who influenced you! Who was the person that was your role model, your inspiration?

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Halloween!

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I've loved looking at the inventive Halloween costumes sprinkled around the blogosphere - some really amazing ones (here and here and here [from curiousmel.blogspot.com] are just a few!) So, I decided to post up my costume.

Say what you will about the girls in the future, they sure could rock a minidress!


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

If You're Going to Be Packing a Lunch...

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Why not pack the happiest lunch in the whole room? I saw these boxes at I Love Obento! and was just amazed by the design and colors. I can only imagine the joy it would add to my peanut butter and jelly and applesauce lunch.

And it seems like the perfect gift for just about anyone. What do you think?