Still here.

It's been a week and here is what we've been up to:

A whole lot of nothing.

I'm still working on my new project (see this post for more info). Andrew's still working and playing video games.

We're still here. In case you were wondering.

New bag

Yesterday I started making a bag for my flat iron. Didn't have a pattern so I just made one up. And added heat resistant fabric and padding inside so I would be able to stick my flat iron in there before it was completely cool.

Anyway, It turned out really well. I am pleased.

New shoes

DSW clearance!




















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Loft Clearance Sale

Right now. Drop everything and go to your nearest Anne Taylor Loft. Summer stuff is marked down 70% off. I got jeans for $9 and cropped khakis for $15. And they are fantastic.


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New project

My current project is still hush hush for the moment but while I'm wrapping that up, I've started a new one. I am making this bag for an upcoming trip.

Using this fabric for the exterior:

And this fabric for the lining:

And I'm thinking about piping the whole thing in this color:

What do you think? I really like this Amy Butler pattern and have been wanting to make it for a while. Now I have an excuse.

I'll post pictures when its completed.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

A few weeks ago, this movie showed up in our mailbox. We watched it and sent it back. And within a few days, we owned it. We love it. Now normally, I am not a fan of animated movies. You wouldn't be far off if you said I hated them. Not the old classic movies that we watched growing up, but all the new crap that they're putting out these days. What I hate most about these movies are those supporting characters (you know the ones) that say all this stuff that is supposed to be funny but really is just annoying as hell. They're trying too hard. But this movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox, it's not like all the rest. It is enjoyable. And its funny. Subtly funny. And that's the best kind of funny.

First off, Wes Anderson directs it. It seems weird that Mr. Anderson would direct an animated movie but he did a terrific job. The voice actors (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray) are perfect. And the more I watch it, the more it reminds me of the Royal Tenenbaums, and that makes me love it even more. If you aren't a fan of Wes Anderson movies, you have no idea what you're missing.

I've heard some bad reviews about this movie but I think those people just aren't Wes Anderson kind of people. And I really think a lot of the really hilarious parts of this movie go right over some people's heads. It'll do that if you're not paying attention. Plus some of the people who walk around saying negative things about it haven't ever really seen it and just made up their minds that they weren't going to like it.

Well we like it. Andrew is currently obsessed with it. And you will be too once you see it. So take a look at the trailer and then go rent it, buy it, whatever.





P.S. I should also mention that the Roald Dahl book this movie is based on is incredible as well. If, growing up, you somehow missed that (or any of his other books) I suggest picking it up. Its never too late to (re)introduce some Dahl into your life. I suggest reading his autobiography, Boy. It has some really hilarious tales to tell.


P.P.S. This film's soundtrack is phenomenal as well.

Jane Austen Book Club + Italiano!

My newest read, Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, is pretty good so far. I am enjoying it because it is about a group of people who all love Jane Austen and sit around and discuss her books.

Here a summary:

"In California's Central Valley, five women and one man join together to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens.
With her finely sighted eye for frailties of human behavior and her finely tuned ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier, or her characters more appealing, while the complex dance of modern love has never been so devious -- or so much fun.
Dedicated Austen readers will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through this novel, but many readers will simply enjoy the vision that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of sublime social comedy. This is the novel that Jane Austen might indeed have written had she lived in twenty-first-century California."

Now, while I don't agree this author is in any way a modern day Jane Austen or that she is even the teensiest bit worthy of the comparison (I hold Ms. Austen in the highest regards, if you haven't noticed), I'll agree while only a few chapters into it, I am finding references to Jane Austen's books and characters -- especially Emma.

I heard the movie based on this book was dreadful. And while I haven't seen it yet, I can almost guarantee that the book is better, as all books are. So if you've seen the movie and barfed silently through it, give the book a chance. Maybe it will get rid of that taste in your mouth. Because really, you should never leave anything associate with Ms. Austen feeling that way, I don't care what Mark Twain says. That's not even his real name anyway.

P.S. We are only 3 days into our Italian lessons and already I am amazed by how much we know. Our vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds every day. Pretty soon we'll actually be able to have real conversations instead of just sitting around asking each other's names, saying where we live, and spelling random words. I'm excited to actually make sense.

new projects, new videos

I am in the middle of a creative project that will blow your minds but I can't say much about it here because the end result is/are for someone(s) who read(s) this. But look for pictures coming next month. And until then, here are some fabulous new sassy gay friend videos:







Oh and also, we're learning Italian! Parlo italiano benissimo! No, that's not Google Translator, that's me flashing my mad italian skills. My favorite word so far: abbastanza.

Korean snacks are really great.

Been kind of MIA for the past few days due to an incredibly crippling migraine. But here is what you missed:
L's boyfriend, Han Joo, stepped off the plane fresh from S. Korea. And we were there to welcome him.

That's me and K & L's brother, Brent.

We went to a Traveler's game (they lost) and then went out for drinks at Creegan's. Kat and Gary joined us.

Saturday -- migraine.

Today Andrew and I browsed foreign language aids at Barnes & Noble. We are thinking about brushing up on Latin and maybe even another language. I'm leaning towards Italian. Did you know you can go to Italy and take a 2 week language course at a university? You spend the mornings in class and the rest of the time out, immersed in the language and culture. And apparently, during those two weeks, you are able to learn more than in an entire year in a classroom stateside. And that a lot of the time, these "language vacations" cost less than a typical vacation. Score! We're going to Italy!

Oh and I also discovered that our local Walmart now sells shirts and other apparel from my high school.

And, just an FYI, I've recently been entertaining the idea of going to grad school. But if I do, it's going to be somewhere amazing. And it'll be to do something no one saw coming.

And LB, look for the latest installment of the CD exchange club coming to a mailbox near you.

"Stop this train"

"No, I'm not color blind, I know the world is black and white.

Try to keep an open mind but I just can't sleep on this tonight.

Stop this train, I want to get off and go home again.

I can't take the speed its moving in.

I know I can't but honestly won't someone stop this train.

Don't know how else to say it, don't want to see my parents go.

One generation's length away from fighting life out on my own.

Stop this train, I want to get off and go home again.

I can't take the speed its moving in.

I know I can't, but honestly won't someone stop this train.

So scared of getting older. I'm only good at being young.

So I play the numbers game to find a way to say that life has just begun.

Had a talk with my old man, said help me understand.

He said turn sixty-eight, you'll renegotiate.

Don't stop this train, don't for a minute change the place you're in.

Don't think I couldn't ever understand. I tried my hand.

John, honestly we'll never stop this train.

See, once in a while when its good, it'll feel like it should

And they're all still around and you're still safe and sound.

And you don't miss a thing until you're driving away in the dark.

Singing stop this train I want to get off and go home again.

I can't take the speed its moving in.

I know I can't cause now I see I'll never stop this train."

My life has become considerably more interesting with the return of one Walker.

For example, today I:

1. Supervised L while she cleaned her room. I also tried on her glasses.

2. Looked at vintage bicycles with Andrew online.

3. Rocked my new headphones (anniversary present!) during every free moment.

4. Made signs in preparation for L's boyfriend's arrival from S. Korea.

5. Ate pizza and sour gummy worms left over from last night's movie fest with L. Very glamorous.

Tuesdays are better spent doing nothing.

I have really enjoyed having L home from Korea. It's been great having someone to run around with all day long. Just like high school summers.

Today we spent all day in the River Market. We walked around, had lunch (I got bubble tea -- so good!), visited the folks at Ten Thousand Villages, and browsed my new favorite place, River Market Books and Gifts. They have 3 floors of used books and a cafe. After an hour or so of perusing, I left with two books, Peace Like a River and The Jane Austen Book Club (for a little less than $10). And I'm still a huge fan of thriftbooks and purchase from them frequently, I like having a local used book store where I can spend an entire free afternoon.

I started reading Peace Like a River a few days ago when I borrowed it from the library but since I now own it, I'm bringing it back tomorrow.

Here's the summary from the inside sleeve:

"Leif Enger's debut is an extraordinary novel -- an epic of generosity and heart that reminds us of the restorative power of great literature. The story of a father raising his three children in 1960s Minnesota, Peace Like a River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world. Raised on tales of cowboys and pirates, eleven-year-old Reuben Land has little doubt that miracles happen all around us, and that it's up to us to "make of it what we will." Reuben was born with no air in his lungs, and it was only when his father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that his lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature. The quiet Midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Davy, the oldest son, kills two marauders who have come to harm the family; unlike his father, he is not content to leave all matters of justice in God's hands. The morning of his sentencing, Davy -- a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others -- escapes his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers -- among them a free spirit named Roxanna, who offers them a place to stay during a blizzard and winds up providing them with something far more permanent. Meanwhile, a federal agent is trailing the Lands, convinced they know of Davy's whereabouts. With Jeremiah at the helm, the family covers territory far more extraordinary than even the Badlands where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer. Sprinkled with playful nods to biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like a River unfolds like a revelation."

Told from the perspective of eleven-year-old Reuben, I love how funny this book is. There are times when I literally laugh out loud. And then I read them to Andrew and he laughs out loud too. But probably my most favorite thing about this book is the quote on the cover "So wondrous and wise you'll want to claw yourself with pleasure." Wtf. Claw myself? Really?

After our adventures in Little Rock, L and I returned home where I dazzled her with my ability to make an incredible iced chai tea. Twice.

And then we ate Chinese, chatted, and watched some of The Blind Side (one of the best movies ever). And she taught me some words in Korean. Maybe I'll bust them out on you sometime.

Also, my new current obsession (besides bubble tea and local used bookstores): Real Simple Magazine.

Yoga bag

Andrew spent the day playing video games and relaxing.
I spent the day making this:

This is the yoga mat bag that I made from the Amy Butler fabrics and using the Nigella Yoga Mat pattern from her website. Can't wait to go to class this week with it.

Trying to make something new every week or so. Thinking about what to line up next. Any ideas?

Amy Butler fabrics!

I am making this yoga mat bag (pattern from the Amy Butler website) tomorrow with these fabrics:

Because, really, I am obsessed with Amy Butler.

Stay tuned for photos of the finished product.

Today's highlights

Played this game (super fun, btw). Trailer here.

Scored this dress for $8.

Ate this.

Tried the Korean snacks Lauren brought us.

Rim's Homecoming

Went to the airport last night and got to experience, with one of my very favorite families, the homecoming of our dear old Rim. I am so happy that she is back in the US, but it is still a little hard to believe.