Birthday Weekend

Fun fun birthday weekend with these two! Spent yesterday shopping for yarn, new cookware and bathroom linens. Found most of what I needed including a cupcake storage container (so in love). Today we lazed about until noon then went up to Picnic Point for the sunset. It's funny how drastic the hours of daylight change here. When we moved here in October the sun went down at almost 3pm! Tonight it waited until 5pm so we explored the beach and I took my camera. Check out Picnic Point!

Yarn Shopping

During my search for the best prices in yarn I've stumbled across Fred Meyer's craft aisles. They've had a sale on all of their craft items since before Christmas so I went by today and snatched up some more yarn to make even more little creatures. I got lots of new colors and came home to a box full of crafty items my Mom sent me for my birthday. I'm really excited for this week because I have a slew of ideas I want to try out!

Birthday!

Well, I've officially made it to 29 and just like every other woman in the world I wish I could remain 29. I'm terrified of 30! Since I have no family here to celebrate with and no Mom nearby to bake me a cake, I made chocolate cupcakes with crushed Andes Candies on top YUM!

Ouch!

Had a long day of walking around town for errands and such yesterday. Woke up this morning with sore feet :(

Hate Hill

I hate this hill and this hill hates me. We spend too much time together as my apartment sits atop the hill and the city I so love to explore awaits me at the bottom.

I long for the day that my legs, lungs and butt don't mind this hike!

January

Just a portrait today. The fan was out so it was just asking to be part of the daily camera play.

Steampunk Hat

A slow morning after a fun weekend. I spent Saturday afternoon with the high priestess of steampunk, Cherie Priest, and her hubby(the roastmaster). Her new book BONESHAKER is a hit among steampunk lovers and anyone that appreciates a good story. With such fun inspiration, today I've created a tiny steampunkish hat that happens to fit Clover perfectly. I must admit that this was a luck shot as she kept bucking it off her tiny dog head at every opportunity.

Scar

It rained all day and my arm was not happy about it. I think the bone responds to the pressure in the air, but I really wish it wouldn't!

A side note: I broke both of my arms when I was 13 and have had two surgeries on this arm. Had two plates and sixteen screws in and a year later had them taken out so my arm could continue growing.

Roastery

Spent the afternoon in Fremont with some friends. One happens to be an excellent local roaster and let me photograph his roastery. We also walked around Fremont before the sun set and I took some more!

Pieces of Eight

Don't give up your dreams just for the pursuit of money and material possessions - Dennis DeYoung

Artemis

Born last night, inspired by Noferin's Pecan Pals.

Shepherds Pie

First attempt at Mom's Shepherds Pie went well...but most food with this much cheese are pretty good.

Ninja Bob

I finished this rad little ninja today. Even found some scrap leather from a necklace I made a few years ago and braided him a little sash. His name is Bob, of course.

Ninja Booty

Today I started another crochet ninja. This is just the beginning so I'll post more as I complete my cute creation. I hope to start up an Etsy.com shop with these so wish me luck!

Gross Dum-Dums

Cleaned out our pantry today and got rid of the worst and uneated Dum-Dums, Cotton Candy & Bubble Gum...ick!

Avatar

Went to see Avatar IMAX 3D last night. I was going to go on about how bad I thought it was, but I’ll spare you. Go see it if you want to feel ripped off or pay too much to quiet your children for 2 hours.

Lazy

I took a picture while walking the dog after I woke up. So yeah, you get the messy hair/don't care look (:

O yeah, that's our cute little courtyard / clover's poo garden in the background...haha!

Dragonfly

Dragonflies have been a personal totem of mine since childhood. There was a field toward the back of our playground in elementary school that everyone would play in. Littered with hundreds of dragonflies, the relentless Florida sun would dance across them sparkling in the afternoon. Catching them in little jars that I would hide in my lunchbox was the highlight of my day. They almost never made it home alive, but that didn’t matter. My Dad had given me a microscope that I would use to inspect their lacey wings and reflective bodies with. I read all about them and loved that the wings of a dragonfly move in a figure eight motion instead of up/down like most winged creatures. As I grew up I continued to see dragonflies around me all the time. Often times one would perch on the antennae of my car or I’d find one trapped in my room. They seem to always be around me. I feel a sort of protection when I noticed a dragonfly near me, and they seem to show up when I’m having a difficult time with life. Having this connection with the little monsters in addition to their seemingly infinite existence inspired me to draw this tattoo and have it inked into me. This was my first tattoo and still, after eight years, my favorite.

Juicing

As you may or may not know, Santa was kind enough to bring us a juicer this Christmas (thanks Mom!!). It's been a long week and my daily multivitamin wasn't cutting it so I decided to make carrot/apple juice today (3 carrots, 1 apple). And of course pictures needed to be taken of said juicing. Cleanup is kind of annoying but the directions claim it's dishwasher safe so I rinsed that sucker off and the dishwasher is having it's way with the juicer parts as we speak. Now for some peanut butter/celery and job searching. Seeya!!

Light Meter Necklace

I found an old light meter from the 50's, Weston DR 854, that was so beyond ever working again I decided to take it apart. While investigating it's insides I decided to make a necklace out of the faceplate. I think it worked out sort of well!

Rainy Seattle

A pretty warm and rainy day so I opened the windows to let some air in. Weird to say, but the rain is so nice here. It's never sheets of downpour like Florida and it seems to keep the air really clean. I love the way it smells here, clean like fresh pine trees...Christmasy all the time!

Garlic Mask

The constantly changing weather has had a number of ill effects on my skin lately. I am almost always sensitive to chemicals and over the counter products so I make my own. Recently I've been concocting a mask of honey, sea salt and garlic to clear up my breakouts and it's worked magnificently! I mentioned it on Facebook last week and someone wanted to see the mask in action. So, here ya go!

Snuggle Socks

Only the best in snugglewear for this gal, and these babies are my favorite!

Had a day of running around with the dog. We took her to a dog park that was really a giant pit of squishy stinky mud that little dogingtons was NOT happy about. We let her run around for about 20 minutes until she, and we, decided it was time we all got out of there to get cleaned up. Once home she got her bath and even had her nails done (they were WAY too long!) So, it's relax time for a bit until we head to Trader Joe's for our weekly grocery shopping. Time to catch up on some reading and wiggle my toasty toes!

Seattle Sunshine

The sunshine came out today! That's sort of a big deal.

Lanford the Traveling Avocado Plant

Before our trip to Seattle I visited my Mom who has the best green thumb ever! She gifted me this avocado plant she grew from a seed (he was only 6 inches tall at the time). Not only has he traveled across the country from Atlanta to Seattle, but he's grown another 10 inches since we've arrived and he hasn't spent a day outside...to protect him from the cold air of course. I'm really excited to see how quickly he grows this summer when he'll be able to get some true sunlight outdoors!

Calliope the corn plant is in sneak attack mode behind me. Another plant my Mom gifted me a few years ago. She did exceptionally well on the trip too!

Week One

After a week I can tell this will be quite the undertaking so instead of shooting today I thought I'd celebrate with a little outtakes art. Maybe I'll do this every week to give myself a break or just something different. We'll see...

Scarves!!!

have scarves will wear

Last Minute

Was cleaning and it dawned on me that I needed to shoot one today so it's pretty simple. I need to set an alarm or something so I stay on track haha

Packing Christmas

Christmas was over a week ago so it's that sad time of year where I have to say goodbye to my decorations. It's so fun going through them every year and being reminded of my family and the fun we've had seasons past. Just have to make sure I pack them well because it would break my heart if some of them didn't make it to next Christmas!

Filter Hell

Since everyone that has ever used Photoshop knows how useful and fulfilling their filters are, I thought I'd pay tribute to their pointless existence...haha

Cross Country Cookie Catastrophe

My dear parents make mountains of cookies every year as gifts to their friends, neighbors and family. Soooo, they shipped me some. This was the result...haha.

365 Portrait Project

In keeping with the theme of my one-word resolution “explore”, I’ve decided to start a 365 of self-portraits this year. I not only want to learn more about the world around me but learn more about myself in the process. I was introduced to the 365 portrait project last year and tried to keep at it, but it was later in the year when I started so I felt like I should hold off until I could start fresh with January 1st. Well, today I woke up at the hung-over hour of 4pm (thanks champagne!) and took my first shot! I’m really looking forward to this project and hope I can keep it up. Wish me luck!!