Feeling Inspired.

I've been feeling so inspired lately, but there's no time to do anything! Just 11 more days of school...

Jen Gotch, of ban.do fame, has a pretty blog and flickr of her polaroids. I want all of them. I also would love for even a couple of my polaroids to look so light...mine always come out looking kind of dark. [The pictures below are from Jen's flickr]






Sprinkle necklaces have been making me happy. I'm sure there is some way to do this myself, but I really like these two, by zombuki and isewcute, respectively.




My catalogued bookmark sites! I had about 570 crafty bookmarks (okay, no, it's not 2000 like I originally thought, but it's close I suppose) that I catalogued last week, or the week before or something, by categories, like paper, wood, lighting, etc. They are in a huge word document right now, and some of the crafts/artsy things I'm looking most forward to do this summer are:

Gift-Wrapping Station from Martha


Some nice applique pillows from design*sponge


I need to find a round ottoman so that I can recreate this look from curbly. I'm going to use my old Catholic school girl skirt :)


"Old Plastic" mosaic - using old credit cards, gift cards, metro cards, etc - to create a bright, colorful picture frame. From Craftystylish


Whew! Well, seeing all of these pretty things makes me want to do all my work right now so that I can get going on crafts now...but that just won't happen yet. Soon, soon, soon...

Book Review: French Milk

Okay. So this book really made me want to go to Paris. Remember?

This book is AMAZING. The drawings are fabulous, the photographs are unreal, and the story itself is so dreamy.

Lucy gets to spend six weeks living in Paris with her mom. They rent a small apartment (with some freaky stuff) and visit all the major landmarks - the Eiffel Tower, le Arc de Triomphe, the Red Light District (I think?), the Moulin Rouge, and tons and tons of flea markets. Absolutely amazing.

I was so into it, I made Pete read it (it's a pretty quick read...I buzzed right through it three times before I returned it to the library). He thought it was great too, but that I would be very similar to the way that Lucy was, which was super happy to be in Paris, but cranky all the same - away from the boyfriend, sometimes annoyed by mom, missing America, etc...so maybe it just spoke to me too much.

Anyways. I've realized that I'm not really very good at writing book reviews on here. However, I'll keep telling ya'll what my favorite books are. French Milk? Definitely one of them.

Here are some pictures I took while reading.

I found this on tumblr

and I don't remember who the original poster was, because it popped up on my dashboard like eight times. I then proceeded to save it on my desktop without proper recognition. Sorry!

"Love is the scars on your knees, the leftover food in the refrigerator, the song the birds sing, the pain you inflict, the sweet nothingness that flutters from your lover's mouth, a half-complete cigarette, diet coke which fizzles on your tongue, the rainbow sprinkles on your cupcake, the battered package you received in the mail the other day, the sound of wind escaping through a small gap in the window, the dampness of your hair, the chipped red varnish on your fingernails, your grandmother's musical box, the ballet shoes you've had since you were five, the music playing on your car stereo, the flaky paint on your walls, the bubblegum stuck under desks, the tooth-fairy, your hands and the things you can make with them, the kisses you blow, the clothes you wear, 5 AM morning breath, your sensitive teeth, the tingly feeling you get when you get touched at certain parts of your body, the tangles in your lover's hair, sleepless nights, overdosing on painkillers, undeserved success and recognition, telling lies and not getting caught, blacking out from consuming too much alcohol, being desired by multiple parties, solving a mathematical problem, watching the people around you, watching the people messing up around you, screaming out your window in the middle of the night, flaming your lover's ex, smudged mascara, disheveled hair and smeared lipstick, the coffee and bagel you digest on a daily basis, little children, silence, recyclable materials, trees, photosynthesis, growth, development.

No, love is you, I, and a careless mixture of everything else we worry about."



[image]

Moving home for the last time...

That was weird to type. I'm moving home, for the LAST TIME...ah! I've gotten used to the whole moving around thing - I've lived in the same house my whole life, so the first move to college freshman year was eye-opening to me. You have to pack stuff up? And move it two miles, and then UNPACK it? Oh, and add finding all the old, gross, dusty rubbermaid containers that are underneath the stairs in the basement, cleaning them out, being brave enough to pack a bunch of clothes into them, and my other prized possessions (READ: stuffed animals), labeling them, AND unpacking them in a small, 11 x 14 room? Hell, basically.

Anyways. Then came the move that occurred when I moved from Gries to the Village, and at the end of the summer, back to Gries again (I worked on campus for a summer). That was a pain. That was getting my family to carry my crap halfway down campus. My floor lamp. My rubbermaid containers full of body wash and toothpaste and shampoo.

Moving home last summer was easy, because there was so much SPACE. A small room, compared to a huge, three-story house, is so small! It was nice to just spread all my junk all over the place, without fear of it getting in anyone's way.

And now. A move from Marchetti to home, and then to an undisclosed location...for a year? Maybe more than that? God, I can't wait to have a HOUSE. And stay put for awhile. All that moving around makes me tired.

Although I do LOVE unwrapping all my little things. I'm very meticulous about wrapping anything that is remotely breakable in newspaper. For example, every bottle of perfume I have has already been wrapped up. My caterpillars that are each missing an eye, which are made of plastic, have been wrapped up. My buddha collection is safely wrapped, my candy and cake dishes, and lots of picture frames. I'm a little anal about it, but oh well.

So. I've slowly been taking things home, since I go there a couple times a week. Our apartment is beginning to look naked. I've taken down a couple of posters from the walls, and half of my book collection is back home. It's so weird.

A couple of things I have to do before I go home for good:

Continue ripping out magazine pages. When I took this picture, I had all these magazines to go through and catalogue. I got rid of a couple while at work one day, but I still have most of them to read/rip.


I catalog my magazines like this, with huge binders that say that topic on the side, and then I get a bunch of paper protectors and slide the pages in. It's awesome. It's also undergoing a huge re-do in the four days between me finishing SLU...and me starting summer school.

More KitchenAid Adventures

So. It's basically killing me that I haven't gotten to really play with my KitchenAid mixer that much. As much as I ADORE my aunt, uncle, and gorgeous cousins for it, it's so sad to look at it (I decided to name it. I haven't decided on a name yet) just sitting there, looking lonely.

Anyways. Pete was kind enough to document when I ripped the gigantic box open. I promptly cleaned the bowl out and made my first batch of cupcakes. They were pretty good, if I say so myself.






Oh, and this? That picture down there is Pete's kitchen. Seriously. It's smaller than my bed. And my bed is a twin. It SUCKS, but it was okay. I have a KitchenAid mixer now. Life is delightful.




The matching of my shirt and my MIXER? Not on purpose. Promise.

384

Only 384 days until our roles in this picture are reversed.


I cannot stop thinking about graduation. I am so super-duper excited and yet scared out of my mind.

AND, only 260 days until I start student-teaching. Holy beejeezus. I don't even know what to think about that. Am I ready? Can I do it? Will I like it?

Seriously. This and my classes, for the end of the year, is all that I am thinking about. It's been driving me crazy.

Help, I'm Alive

Swiss Miss posted this video. I had seen it before, without sound (I'm really good at perusing youtube during classes). I'm glad someone posted it again so I could hear all the good things Emily Haines (of Metric fame) had to say - it's really very powerful and just good to hear. I feel like everyone is asking themselves what they REALLY want to do with their lives now, and this video/song/lyrics just really summed it all up.

I want to go to a foreign country and wander around and meet people and play on a beautiful, old piano. God, it's been so LONG since I've played the piano, since I've written a (crappy) song...

I tremble
They’re gonna eat me alive
If I stumble
They’re gonna eat me alive

Can you hear my heart
Beating like a hammer
Beating like a hammer
Help, I’m alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer
Hard to be soft, tough to be tender
Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train
Help, I’m alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer
Beating like a hammer

If you’re still alive
My regrets are few
If my life is mine
what shouldn’t I do?
I get wherever I’m going
I get whatever I need
While my blood’s still flowing
And my heart still beating like a hammer
Beating like a hammer

I am in LOVE!

So for my birthday I got many lovely things.

To Kill a Mockingbird


A DUAL DVD set of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden (journey back to my childhood)


This goofy painted wineglass from my dad


A Dessert Decorator Pro (YES!)


An IKEA giftcard (why isn't there one of these in St. Louis yet?)


And...

A KITCHENAID MIXER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Yes, care of my lovely aunt, uncle, and cousins up in Chicago. I was floored. Can you tell?

I've been a bit preoccupied with that. I mean, I've mentioned how I've wanted a KitchenAid Mixer before...and now I HAVE one. Every time I see it in the kitchen I think it's fake. Seriously.

100 Random Questions

Phew! Enjoy.

1. How old will you be in five years?
26. Wow.

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today?
Shannon- two classes plus a free hour!

3. How tall are you?
5′7"

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
Summer beginning. Classes ending. (Hopefully) finding an apartment.

5. What’s the last movie you saw?
The Out-of-Towners (made in 1999)

6. Who was the last person you called?
Mom

7. Who was the last person to call you?
Mom (we were playing phone tag)

8. What was the last text message you received?
Ryan asking me if we had something due in Assessment today

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail?

Kathleen, I think

10. Do you prefer to call or text?
Depends on the context. Call to chat, text to get something over with quickly.

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?
Cataloging my crafts bookmarks, watching Sex and the City on TBS, wondering why I wasn't asleep yet...

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced?
married

13. When is the last time you saw your mom?
On Thursday, so...April 16

14. What color are your eyes?
Brown

15. What time did you wake up today?
Once at 6:30 and then again at 10:15.

16. What are you wearing right now?
Piggly Wiggly shirt and butterfly PJ bottoms. I kind of match!

17. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Any of the songs from Love Actually. They give me fuzzy feelings.

18. Where is your favorite place to be?
Sitting with friends and/or family, having good conversations or watching good tv.

19. Where is your least favorite place to be?
Class. Most of the time, at least.

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
Probably Paris, but I've been homesick for the beach lately.

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years?
Married (I think?), maybe have a kid, teaching in a school I love, or writing fabulous pieces of literature. Or both.

22. Do you tan or burn?
I usually burn first and am then sort of tan.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
Aliens. Seriously.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?
Pete and I had a good laugh when we left ArtMart after THAT whole ordeal.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house?
In my apartment - one. In my house at home, two.

26. How big is your bed?
Single, in the apartment. Full/Queen, at home.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?
Laptop. I loves it.

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on?
With, pajamas.

29. What color are your sheets?
White.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Two regular pillows, plus a fabulous body pillow

31. What is your favorite season?
Autumn or Spring.

32. What do you like about fall?
Changing colors, falling temperatures, making stews

33. What do you like about winter?
Snow, cold air, seeing the sun come out some days, staying inside near a fire

34. What do you like about the summer?
No school! No classes (oh wait, not this summer)! making lemonade, finally doing all those crafts, reading all those books, and making all that art I wanted to for the last nine months.

35. What do you like about spring?
flowers, everything coming alive again, those fabulous 65 degree days that are perfect.

36. How many states provinces have you lived in?
one

37. What cities/towns have you lived in?
St. Louis, MO...that's it.

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
I like wearing socks, unless my feet get sweaty. So then I take them off.

39. Are you a social person?
Most of the time

40. What was the last thing you ate?
A turtle from CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE

41. What is your favorite restaurant?
Hmm...probably the Shangri-La Diner or a Thai place

42. What is your favorite ice cream?
anything with both chocolate and peanut butter is fab.

43. What is your favorite dessert?
anything chocolate. I'm not hard.

44. What is your favorite kind of soup?
tomato or butternut squash

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?
grape, if possible, but again, I'm not picky. JUST NOT APRICOT.

46. Do you like Chinese food?
Most of the time.

47. Do you like coffee?
Definitely not.

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
Probably five or six

49. What do you drink in the morning?
Nothing. Unless I've actually remembered to go shopping and have bought juice. Then, juice.

50. What non-banking related card in your wallet is the most valuable to you?
Probably my student ID. You need it for EVERYTHING at SLU.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
Wherever I feel like it.

52. Do you know how to play poker?
Ha, no.

53. Do you like to cuddle?
most of the time

54. Have you ever been to Canada?
Yes

55. Do you have an addictive personality?
I easily get addicted to things... is that what that means?

56. Do you eat out or at home more often?
At home. But for a long time, it was out.

57. What do you miss about highschool, if anything?
The relationships, the fun times

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?
I'm facebook friends with someone else that went to RK that was a couple of years younger than me

59. Do you want kids?
Yes. Four. Two boys and two girls. Girls = Madeline Mae and Zoe Marie. Boys = Oliver James and Rusty. Rusty doesn't have a middle name yet. I've got time.

60. Do you speak any other languages?
Uh, no. You sound like my linguistics teacher.

61. Have you ever gotten stitches?
No (knock on wood)

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
No (knock on wood)

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
I love the beach but I feel safer in a pool. I need to buck up.

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?
I like windows but I also like aisles and I really don't like planes at all.

65. Do you know how to drive stick?
Ryan tried to teach me once. I didn't do very well.

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
Etsy. Art supplies. Books. Food. Film.

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
Usually my heart locket but I take it off when I shower and then I usually forget to put it back on for a couple of days.

68. What is your favorite TV show?
I have lots, but the ones I NEVER miss (or try to not miss) are 30 Rock and The Office.

69. Can you roll your tongue?
Yes!

70. Who is the funniest person you know?
I have lots of funny friends; I'm lucky.

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
Yes. Uglydog.

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
"Better" by Regina Spektor. I need to change it because it's getting old.

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
Yeah, they're packed up somewhere in our basement.

74. What red object is closest to you right now?

One of my socks.

75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?
Yes

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
I usually close them. ALWAYS closed them when I was younger. I'm not as scared of them now.

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
I think bees. But both sound scary.

78. Do you flirt a lot?
No, just with Pete.

79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
I tend to eat things plain.

80. What is your favorite food?
Chocolate.

81. Can you change the oil on a car?
If I had instructions I could.

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?
..yeah.

83. Have you ever run out of gas?
No, but I've been close.

84. What is your usual bedtime?
Anytime. I need to get a more concrete schedule. I'm in college.

85. What was the last book you read?
True Story: Swear to God

86. Do you read the newspaper?
Sometimes, if it's around.

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
YES I LOVE THEM: Real Simple, ReadyMade, Martha Stewart Living, Nylon.

89. Do you watch soap operas?
No

90. Do you dance in the car?
I have a very specific type of car dance, actually.

91. What radio station did you last listen to?
Probably 89.1 (college station) or 90.7 (NPR)

92. Who is in the picture frame closest to you?
Hm. Well, above me there is a poster for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. It's in a frame.

93. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper?
a to-do list. I should probably work on those things instead of doing this...

94. What is your favorite candle scent?
I don't really like candles

95. What is your favorite board game?
I'll play anything but I'm not very GOOD at many board games.

Where’s 96?

97. When was the last time you attended church?
Holy Saturday mass

98. Who was your favorite teacher in high school?
Ms. V

99. What is the longest you have ever camped out in a tent?
a weekend. I got lots of ticks. I was just talking about that today! ha!

100. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you?

Pete set up a mystery day for me. My family and friends showered me with love and gifts on my birthday. A ton of friends went out with me on Friday, for the birthday. I've been lucky lately.

via here

ENFP

I'm an ENFP. I first took the personality test as a freshmen in high school. I took an online test this evening, just for kicks. I'm still an ENFP.

I feel like all of these adjectives and descriptive words accurately describe myself. It's almost scary. Some of my favorites are "easily talked into doing silly things", "likely to have or want a tattoo", and "comfortable in unfamiliar situations". Each personality type also has a list of "favored" careers - it's like my wishlist: performer, actor, entertainer, songwriter, filmmaker, poet, music journalist, movie producer, bartender, record store owner, TEACHER (but of art, drama, or music)...

And the "disfavored" careers: data analyst, scientist, researcher, financial advisor, mathematician...it goes on. This list made me feel like I was going to throw up.

Take the test! Tell me what your personality type is!

Also, I've got some goooooood stuff coming up this week. Here's a picture from my birthday.

Dun dun DUN!

Oh hey. It's my birthday! I turn 21 today...I think officially around 7 or 8 PM.

I may or may not be blogging today. I've kind of been a bad blogger lately. Sorry!


These pictures are from my birthday last year. Turning 20 is cool (a new decade! whoa!) but turning 21 is going to be better. I'm not really a big "drinker", per se, but tonight mom and dad are taking me and Pete out to dinner at Mosaic, downtown. I've never been but I've always wanted to go! Maybe that will be my next St. Louis review. THEN, we're going to the casino. That's right. Casino. I'm gonna gamble all my money away. My mom has been rolling coins for me. I think I have about $37 to convert into tokens and then subsequently throw away. It'll be great.

Also, there's the whole presents and cake thing. I honestly have NO idea what I will be getting from mom and dad. BUT I do know that my Grandma's chocolate cake will be made, and I shall ingest it, just as I am ingesting a bag of candy that my friend Mary gave to me at the beginning of this class.

Easter Craft!

I saw this on Sweet Paul last week and meant to show it to everyone...before Easter was over. But hey, those dragees are on sale now! Go scoop some up!

Japanese Masking Tape

Yes, this site has been making the blog rounds, but I LOVE colorful masking tape and I want some of these pretties REAL bad.

My Mystery Day

So, for my birthday, Pete told me that he would take me on a mystery day. Basically I had no idea what was going on. He would drive. He printed out directions from place to place.

I LOVED this idea. So we did it, this past Saturday. We left around 9:30, and stop number one was...



Mississippi Mud House! I've been wanting to go here for almost a year now, and every time I had suggested it something else had come up. I was SO EXCITED to finally check it out! Since it was early (for me, at least), I just got a bowl of homemade granola with fresh yogurt and fruit on top. Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. Pete got some big breakfast thing with eggs and potatoes and bacon and general yumminess.




After eating, we moved on to the next stop...Swing Around Fun Town! We were walking into the arcade, and Pete said, "Have you ever been here?" Heck yes! The last time I was there was during my 8th Grade Mystery Day Trip. Hysterical.



We play 27 holes of mini golf (I kept thinking I was playing the Wii...), then spent (eep!) about $20 in the arcade, playing a samurai simulator (Pete), skeeball (me), air hockey, Deal or No Deal, and bowling. It was AWESOME.






We then proceeded on to Lone Elk Park. My parents went there a couple months back, when the season was changing from summer to fall. Basically, you drive into the park, and there are free-roaming elks and bison. It's pretty trippy. And kind of scary to be like five feet away from a (potentially) charging bison. Pete had managed to sneak a cooler in the trunk of the car, full of sandwich things, grapes, brie, and crackers, so we pulled onto the side of the road, found a picnic table, and had a little picnic. It was yummy!





We also made a quick stop at the World Bird Sanctuary. I had never been there before, but it was pretty cool! There were like eight bald eagles there. I had never seen one up close. Also, there were these ADORABLE little owls, called Screech Owls, that would have literally fit into the palm of my hand. I wanted one so bad. But judging by the name...I would probably get sick of them pretty fast.



That was pretty much the end of the day. We were going to go to Crown Candy, but...


After that disappointment, we got our stuff together and drove to Cairo for the holiday weekend. I had such a great time there, even though I spent the majority of it writing papers. The good news? They're all finished (pretty much)!!!

So...thanks for the awesome day, Peter dearest!