Map Wall

I've had this idea for a couple of months now to get a ton of maps and put them on the wall, collage style. I saw it in some magazine or catalog at a family's house that I was babysitting. So I took a picture of it with my phone and thought, "hmm. someday".

Well, Pete had a snow day today and so did I, so...we decided to DO it!





I wish we had planned better, though - we took down all the pictures on one of the walls in the living room, because we were going to do it there, and then we decided against that and put it up in the dining room...ugh.

But we spent a good amount of time stretching our arms above, holding the maps up in place, and pricking ourselves with thumbtacks. Pete was especially fond of putting tacks in his mouth and talking.

I said, "Pete! Take that out of your mouth. I know you feel cool with it, and being able to talk, but if it drops down your throat and tears your esophagus..."

Pete: "you know where the hospital is."

Uh, okay.

Anyways. I really like it. And the cool thing is, is that we can still hang pictures on it. Except they should probably be framed, not just the print.

Biggest Swimming Pool in the World

Have you heard of this place? It's insanity. According to the website, the pool is one kilometer in length and has 2.5 million liters of water. It's in Chile, at the San Alfonso del Mar resort. Fancy!

Party Mixer

Seriously? This sign belongs to me. It needs to go up in my blue kitchen, near my red Kitchenaid. It would match perfectly!!! I would buy it but I'm trying really, really hard to not spend money on things I don't "need".



I wish I could register for wedding stuff on Etsy.

Etsy in the New York Times

I really, really love this story. It was all up in twitter and stuff a few weeks ago, and I kept forgetting to post it...

It just makes me happy that people are finding ways to make ends meet, and to do the things that they really truly LOVE and ENJOY in life.

I know that yes, obviously, it's still a lot of work. But if I was serious about getting my gocco up and running, or if I really knew how to knit and people really liked my products...I would LOVE to sit in my apartment for the majority of the days of the week, knit/sew/craft whatever, watch a good TV show, blog, and take care of my store.

But I love my computer, the Internet, and Etsy...so...yeah.

You should read it. It's fascinating to see what some sellers make - $140,000 a year? Sounds good to me.

Keeping Me Honest

See? I taped up the entire list of stuff to do near my bed, in my bedroom. I would have taken more pictures to show you guys but it's messsssssy.

Save the Dates!!

These were SO SO SO easy!

Okay, so to begin. I bought the cards and envelopes from Paper Source and the picture cards from Moo.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Moo. They're the best.

And Paper Source? I ordered the cards (a lot of them) on a Sunday evening and got them Tuesday. With regular shipping. Gotta love it!

I had the picture cards for awhile (since September? October?) and the stationary for a month or two before I finally 1) mustered up the guts to try the machine that I failed at months before, and 2) realized that Megan had to help me while she was here, and she was leaving soon, so...

I didn't take pictures of the gocco process because I hadn't even thought to (honestly) and then once it worked...I was so excited I forgot. So in the future, when I have it up and running again, I'll post a tutorial.

Enough chit chat.



EEEEE! There it is! I keep forgetting how cute it is. Not to brag or anything.



Gocco-ed STD's waiting for Glue Dots and pictures.


If you look carefully at the top of the machine, you can see the image (words) burnt into the screen (which is from Bridgett. Thanks Bridgett!)


Megan didn't really completely comprehend how the words/images were burnt into the screen...I think I get it. But it seems weird.

Yellow is one of my favorite colors, so it became a wedding color. And I love yellow, grey, and pink together - so...those are them! We put the yellow cards in grey envelopes and sent them off :)

The pictures of Pete and I were super easy to Moo-ify. I scanned them onto my computer, uploaded them to the website, and then sent them off to the printer. Easy peasy.

I told some friends the other day that the picture of me is on the toliet, but I was wrong. I told my mom about it and she said, "oh no, you're wrong. That was a different one." Still nice to know that those pictures exist somewhere, I guess...

I am so so so sorry about how gross the picture itself looks - our apartment has horrible lighting at night. I will take another one tomorrow and post it, since it will look better in natural light.

Number 73

Well, kids, I have already crossed something off of my list: I ransacked my stuff in the apartment, got three baskets of clothes/home decor items/etc and dropped them off at Goodwill today!

It felt good AND I already have a ton more closet space. So, win win.

Coming up! SAVE THE DATES. Just wait til you see them. They're cute! And I got my gocco to work! It's all happening!

Also I had pizza last night and I forgot to eat one slice backwards and then I felt really, really silly about it. Sad.

Phoenix

I LOVE Phoenix.

This is such a great music video - throwback to The Breakfast Club and all.

0102 Things to do in 2010

See what I did there? The whole reversal of numbers?

Please, fellow bloggers. Keep me honest. I just completed this list and re-wrote the introduction. I WANT to do all of these things (some much more than others), but yes. I am planning to blog about them as they happen.

Also this was inspired by Rosemary.

1. Graduate from college (May 15, 2010)
2. Find a job
3. Get married
4. Go on an amazing honeymoon
5. See the sunrise or sunset at the Grand Canyon
6. Gamble in a Las Vegas casino
7. Drive up Highway 1 from LA to San Francisco
8. Visit Disneyland
9. Drink my own Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista
10. Stop at any bizarre road-side tourist attractions we see
11. Get to the beach. It's been too long.
12. Rent bikes somewhere and ride them around and stuff.
13. Have a giveaway on the blog (whee aren't you all excited?!? Sooner than later, I think.)
14. Paint the apartment
15. Adopt a dog (Pete says we can get one when summer starts. Which for me, is May 15...)
16. Buy a new couch (broken)
17. Buy a new bed (the bed frame/headboard part. The mattress is fine)
18. Lose 30 pounds (Hopefully some by the wedding? God, I hope so...)
19. Get a doctor.
20. Finish writing one of the four novels I have started right now.
21. Stay up to date on my magazine cataloging.
22. Keep a tidier, more organized apartment
23. Make a ton of crafts (watch the blog for developments on this)
24. Have a tea party. Complete with ridiculous hats.
25. Buy an original piece of art.
26. Update the logistics of the blog (it's been a long time coming but it WILL happen in 2010)
27. Join a book club (or create one, perhaps? Anyone game for this?)
28. Write more letters
29. Spend a weekend in a B & B somewhere pretty
30. Get fresh flowers for the house once a month (at least)
31. Go on runs with that dog we're apparently going to get
32. Make dinner for friends and family more often
33. Have an Arrested Development party
34. Spend an entire day in the Central Library, taking photographs and reading whatever I want
35. Learn how to drive stick-shift
36. Learn how to use the darkroom in my house
37. Take a class for fun (sewing, cooking, knitting, baking, SOMETHING)
38. Try tennis again once it gets warmer outside
39. Get a credit card
40. And never be in debt, once said credit card is received.
41. Go skinny dipping (after I lose those 30 pounds, duh)
42. I have had this book since the day after I saw the most amazing, inspiring play of my life. I want to finally read it.
43. Ride an exotic animal (camel, elephant...something weird)
44. Put my arms around an enormous redwood tree (Muir Woods)
45. Have a portrait painted/drawn of Pete and I (we've already decided that this will be our wedding gift to each other)
46. Start a garden
47. Make gnocchi from scratch (it's delicious and I've heard it's difficult)
48. Stay home on Valentine's Day this year and cook an amazing meal and watch Disney movies
49. Create a craft night get together once a month (at least)
50. Ask for help.
51. Open an Etsy shop this year (I am so ridiculously excited about this it's not even funny)
52. Take a glass-blowing or letterpress class
53. Get all the "good art" in the apartment framed
54. Have a boudoir shoot (oh la la)
55. Be comfortable enough in my own skin to go swimming with the kids from Wilson. Some of them are such brats. I need to not let it get to me...
56. Get completely off Paxil.
57. Start commenting more on all the blogs I read. I'm horrible at that.
58. Buy flowers for my parents on my birthday and my wedding day
59. Send a message in a bottle (Pacific Ocean)
60. Throw those rocks into the ocean (a story for another time, perhaps)
61. ...go skydiving...? This could be real or in a factory, you know, those skydiving blow-y things. I'm terrified that I just put this on here.
62. Read all the Babysitters Club Little Sister books in one day. Eat little kid food and take breaks to call childhood friends.
63. Write fan letters to 12 people - one per month.
64. Go to a blues or jazz bar in Chicago
65. See Chuck Berry in concert
66. Suck it up and go on a rollercoaster.
67. Take a candle-lit bath.
68. Sew something for real and wear it.
69. Learn how to play chess
70. Learn calligraphy (hey before the wedding would be nice)
71. Embroider another pillow/blanket/something
72. Make a 100 Books To Read list and read 20 of them this year
73. Clean out my apartment and donate, donate, donate
74. Help build a Habitat for Humanity house
75. Give to NPR
76. Buy cloth napkins and use them
78. Create a clothesline when it's warmer out and dry clothes on them
79. Volunteer on an organic farm
80. Participate in NaNoWriMo in November 2010
81. Visit Rodeo Drive in LA and maybe (maybe) buy something. Small.
82. Watch the rest of the movies from AFI's 100 Greatest Films
83. Grow a bonsai tree
84. Revisit SARK and actually take her advice.
85. Start and display a collection of something
86. Talk less, listen more
87. Stay up all night long and watch the sun rise. Preferably somewhere pretty.
88. Have a bed day - read, doze, watch stuff on the computer, doze...eat minimally.
89. Go to a drive-in movie
90. Graffiti something, somewhere.
91. Dance in the rain (I know it sounds cheesy but I've never REALLY done this. It needs to happen.)
92. Get a bikini wax
93. Make cheesy/hilarious Christmas cards for me and Pete's first "official" Christmas together and send them to everyone we know
94. Learn my blood type
95. Get a massage
96. Have something to brag to Swatek about (this will definitely happen in the later part of the year)
97. Really, really surprise Pete. No hints allowed.
98. Finish an entire coloring book
99. Eat a piece of pizza backwards (how have I not thought to do this until NOW?!)
100. Make some delicious baked goods every month and take them with somewhere else - mom's school, Pete's school, fire station, etc.
101. Get a passport (because in 2011, Europe will be seeing some Kaylen Hoffman...oh my gaw I'll be a Wissinger by then. EEEEeeeee!)
102. Go paintballing - with very nice people that won't hurt me too much.

and one big fat MAYBE
103. Try surfing. We're only going to be in LA for a short period of time but I would LOVE to take a surfing lesson. I've wanted to learn since freshman year of high school.




Like I said. Keep me honest. Please.

Craft Projects of 2010

One of my resolutions for 2010 is to do a major craft project every month. The big one for January will probably be save-the-dates (which I am FINALLY going to start working on tonight, with Megan), but I need at LEAST 11 more. As if I've exhausted craft ideas. Psh. That could never happen. I have a bookmarks folder with over 200 pages of craft projects, ready for the taking.

Here are some of my favorites.

Coat Rack from design*sponge:


I think this is so pretty. And while we do have a bright yellow coatrack, we need more space to hang stuff up. Related to this project, we found out from our landlord that we can paint walls and stuff! So I want to get rid of the ugly brown paint in every room in our apartment...and then redo the entry way, where I can put in a table and mirrors and posters and, of course, the above project.

Embossing from a $10,000 wedding:


I'm not 100% keen on the stamp she uses, but I want to use embossing for our thank you notes for the wedding. It seems relatively easy and since we already have plans for save-the-dates and invitations...we can use it for those!

Surprise Balls from Oh Happy Day!:


I LOVE LOVE LOVE these. It would be fun to give these to people on their birthdays. Basically the surprise balls are little sculptures wrapped in crepe paper and little presents (like mini playing cards or a necklace or something) fall out as you unwind the paper. Super cute. Apparently super difficult. Jordan kept saying she was going to post a tutorial but she hasn't yet. There's a great article about it here, and some other tutorials here, here, here, and here.

DIY Vanity by craftzine


You can find more information at casasugar. I've wanted a vanity ever since I moved in here. It would take lots of junk out of our bathroom and I have room in my bedroom for it. So I'm thinking about it. Basically, the woman who did this got a vanity from Craigslist and then affixed a mirror on top of it. Easy peasy!

Lyrics Picture by Miss Jane


I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this somewhere, but maybe not. I love how simple and gorgeous this looks. The hard part would be deciding what song to use. I think I already have letter stamps somewhere, but maybe not. Regardless, those are not too expensive. Just get a canvas, some letter stamps, paint - and you're good to go.

As if we need more art in this apartment.

Recycled Necklace by Cakies


I love how casual these look. And I never wear necklaces - or really any jewelry, for that matter. My engagement ring is great because I just slide it on and I have to wear it, really. With necklaces and bracelets I have to think about what looks good with what, but...seriously. Too much trouble. So I like these. And they seem pretty easy to make, too. I have a lot of grey clothes and I think those pastel colors would look good with them.

Headboards





image one; image two; image three; image four;

I've seen four headboards that I LOVE on the blogosphere this past year. And I need a headboard. So now I have to decide which one I like the most and then DO it.

Okay. So that's seven projects so far. More to come!

MOBOT in the Snow

MOBOT (Missouri Botanical Gardens) is the prettiest place to visit when it's snowing. Or has snowed.

I was lucky, because on December 30th I was supposed to work all day and go swimming with the kids. But since it was snowing some of the kids didn't show up and we would have originally had seven counselors going to the pool with six kids...so I volunteered to NOT work. Amy also volunteered to not work, and then we picked up Pete and drove to MOBOT.







I played with my new digital camera a lot - LOVE LOVE LOVE the macro feature. So much better than my old camera.







Walking in circles...



Boots! They were perfect on that day.



Last year, I played hooky from classes and Pete had a snow day so we spent time at MOBOT, then, too - check it out here.

Smiling Baby

I just wanted to show you all how adorable my future nephew is.

I looooooved crawling around with, playing with, holding him.

Eating Cheese

Another funny little story. When I first learned about the concept of "midnight snacks", I was so eager to try it out.

So one night (I was probably six or seven here), I waiting until exactly midnight on our crappy digital clock and crept down the stairs in my house into the kitchen. I took a slice of American cheese out of the fridge, opened the back door, hid under a bush in our garden, and unwrapped the cheese.

Then I ate it, went back inside, locked the door, and went back upstairs into my room and promptly fell asleep.

Why I Hate Saying "Fiance"

Yeah, it's exciting. And I love BEING engaged. But I feel like such a tool, saying - "This is Pete, my fiance".

Elaine obviously feels the same way. I wish I was so quick-witted.

Running Away From Home

When I was five or six, I had watched a cartoon on TV in which the main character ran away from home.

I decided to try this out myself. I packed my bag (spread a blanket out on the floor, and put my teddy bear and my favorite book and probably "my guys" - plastic Disney figurines, on the blanket and then tied it up into a pouch on my blue and pink baton) and then said to mom, "Mom. I'm running away from home." I think she was taken aback for a second, but...I spent the entire time under our dining room table. Mom brought me crackers and I read my book with a flashlight.

Under our dining room table.