Indianablue

2012-01-26T04:28:00.000-05:00

It's been a roller coaster of a week with much of it having to do with my job.
I'm hoping after this week things will settle back down and the job will be in the background instead of the forefront.
I'm cutting back a day there so I can have more time to work on my own projects.
I'm hopeful that having the extra time will allow me to get some things made and finish up some projects that I have around the apartment. When we move I want to be able to set the apartment up instead of trying to piece it together.
Oh, and then there's the packing, but it might be better to do this after match day. It's hard to get excited about moving when you still don't know where you are going.
This morning I felt positive we'd match for Alabama.

Trent left yesterday for Chapel Hill, NC for his last interview for residency. I can't wait for him to be back home again.
Since I knew he'd be going through this whole process I have not been looking forward to how much he would be away. We don't see a whole lot of each other most days.
I remember when I was packing up our apartment in Atlanta and thinking about how our lives would change when he started medical school and they did.
I could not imagine that we'd lose Lucy and our friend Craig. I could not imagine the good friends that we would meet. Nor could I imagine how completely different our first two years living here in Morgantown would be from our last two. Our lives really are so different, it's hard for me to imagine what they will be like when he is officially a doctor.

2012-01-23T04:49:00.002-05:00

My friend Nadia came over yesterday and together we tried to figure out how to crotchet a rag rug. I think we are at least beginning to get the idea. I'm really excited about the possibilities with this. I'm not a great knitter and I 'm not sure I'll do much better with crochet, but there is still a lot you can do with the basics (well at least I think so!).

2012-01-21T23:31:00.002-05:00

When we were on our trip, while Trent would spend his day interviewing I would spend my day in coffee shops writing or wandering taking pictures.
I'm still missing that magical week of seeing new places and finding focus to start projects that I've long wanted to do.

2012-01-19T22:00:00.001-05:00

2012-01-19T20:20:00.000-05:00

Getting to travel really freed me from my life as it's been here the past few months.
I felt like I had time again to be creative and work on some projects, really focus. I miss that so much.
Between work and keeping my commitment at the gym there doesn't seem to be a lot of time to do much else, but that's probably me not using my time as wisely as I should.

I need to make a plan. A plan for my shop, a plan for getting ready to move, a plan to leave my frustrations with the day job at the day job. I need to be working on my own projects. It's no longer something that I just want to do, it is something that I truly feel that I have to do. And I can't really explain it, because I've been struggling for four years with my Etsy shop and almost since I can remember with how I write, but the truth is I think underneath all the layers of not-so-good work there is something. I have to believe that.

2012-01-18T17:18:00.001-05:00

La Tartine Gourmande from Unusually Fine on Vimeo.

I am taking an online class that I need to catch up with.It started last week and all the traveling has put me a bit behind,so I thought I'd share this video.
It inspires me every time that I watch it.
I love the food, those pretty patterned dishes, and her clothes....I don't think I'd mind building a life that looked a little something this.

2012-01-16T05:18:00.003-05:00

We made it home from Portland Friday night after making a quick trip out to see the ocean. It filled me with so much happiness to be there looking out at that dusky blue water.
Match day is on March 16th and Trent has two interviews left to go on. One is in North Carolina and another in Portland, OR. I'm excited that we are getting so much closer to knowing a little more about what is head of us. It has been so hard not knowing, but I really feel like I have been learning alot about myself in this time of transition. It has been so many things; lonely, rewarding, introspective.

Portland, ME

2012-01-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

Providence, RI

2012-01-11T08:57:00.000-05:00

2012-01-10T20:18:00.003-05:00

I've had this song stuck in my head since the New Year's concert. I wish Coldplay would get Michel Gondry to direct one of their videos.

Yale

2012-01-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

indiana essay #1

2012-01-10T09:22:00.000-05:00

I part the white sheers of the living room window to see mydad waiting in the yellow submarine. He is parked outside in my Grandma Hazel’sdriveway honking his horn impatiently. It’s code for ‘Hurry your Ass up Barb!’,but I’m not the kind of girl that takes long getting ready. I quickly finishputting on my shoe and run outside to meet him. If I don’t get out there he’llleave without me. He did one time. That is the type of person he is.

I run out thedoor. “Make sure you eat some breakfast now Lil’Barbara!’ My Grandma Hazelcalls after me.

I climb in the bus and look at Dad. Dad looks at me andcasually asks what Agatha is going on about? Whenever Dad is annoyed withGrandma he calls her Agatha, Aggie, or best of all, Ag the Nag. He calls herthis because a long time ago when my dad’s family lived on a farm in Attica,Indiana they had a neighbor, an ugly old woman named Agatha.

He knows this annoys her, but it’s exactly why he does it.

Oh …nothing. I say slamming the door. He starts backing out of the driveway and we are off. Themorning rounds begin.

Our first stop is the bank. Dad goes through the drive-thruto make a deposit and while he does this I sit and look at myself in the sideview mirror of the yellow-orange vollkswagon. I don’t do it because I’m vain,but because I am trying to determine whether or not I am pretty. I just got myhair cut short at Mary Berry’s salon. It’s the salon where my grandma goes toget her hair done katty-corner from her house.

I don’t even have to show him my hair to know that he won’tlike it. I have been hiding it under a soft pink baseball cap. My dad says hehas always been partial to long hair.

I’m partial to looking like Belinda Carlisle in the Headover Heels video and that is the reason I’m in this predicament.

I take another glance at my face in the mirror.

I look like an unhappy basketball with lips I conclude,readjusting the mirror so that I’m out of the line of vision. It will grow Itell myself consolingly and impatiently think Oh yeah in two years!

After we get done at the bank it’s time to pick upbreakfast. Today Dad stops at Hardee’s. It’s not my favorite fast foodrestaurant, but it’s where Dad wants to go and I don’t argue. We pull up thedrive-thru and Dad orders us two steak, egg, and cheese sandwiches with a cokeand a diet coke. We collect our food at the window and hit the road to thestore. The sandwiches don’t smell too bad I think grudgingly as I pull themfrom the paper sack. I hand one to Dad and start peeling the wrapper from mine.Surprisingly it tastes good. As wedrive along Dad pops in a Hank Williams cassette and starts singing along.”Heygood lookin` Whaaaaaatcha got cookin`? How about cookin` something up withmeeee?” I just laugh. I’m eleven years old and I can’t believe what a kick hegets out of this terrible music.

At last we take a right and glide on down the parking lot tothe store. My dad has his own business, actually he has two, The Radio Shop,formerly a Radio Shack, ( he later would be sued for the similar name) anda small college town bar calledVictor’s Pub.

The Radio Shop is one of two businesses that are dying aslow death in an already dead strip mall. The other is a our next doorneighbor, a little drugstore called Hook’s. Dad usually sends me over later inthe afternoon with a couple of bucks from the register to get Klondike Barswhich we nibble away on as we watch t.v. Next to Hook’s there used to be agrocery store called The Big D. I remember vaguely going shopping there with mymother when my parents were still married. It went out of business ages ago. Itstill just sits there empty. On the other side of our store is Schultz’s, afamily discount store that has just recently passed.

Once we get to the store Dad and I part ways. He goes toturn on the lights and open the store up, while my job is to pick up the litterin the parking lot. I walk around the large mass of asphalt picking up emptyMcdonalds cups and wrappers andwhatever else there happens to be. Once I found a beautiful pale green Luna moth,but I wasn’t sure what to do with it so I left it. Sometimes there’ll be usedcondom and I leave that too, wondering what it would be like to be loved likethat and feeling a vague sense of disappointment that no one does.

Sometimes when I’m bored I go over and peer through thedusty windows of The Big D and think about the last time I was there with mymother.

I had just recently lost my place as mama’s little sidekick.Everywhere my mother was I still was, but now there was something new to ourdynamic, something that cried a lot. Her name is Elizabeth.

I can see my beautiful mother pushing my small sister in thecart and I imagine myself following at their side.

I picture my mother turned away from the cart, her long darkponytail falling at an angle as she bends to more closely examine some cans.Precisely enough time for a tiny outstretched hand to send a glass jar crashingto the floor.

I sit outside the locked and dusty automatic doors in the hot summer heat remembering.

It all seems like a dream and I can’t understand why things are like this, why hedoesn’t love her anymore.

2012-01-09T20:29:00.000-05:00

We decided to give ourselves more time and left for New Haven yesterday afternoon. I've been really excited because we are going to places that neither of us have been before; first Connecticut, then Rhode Island and then Maine.

We got here early enough that we were able to take a tour of the campus. I didn't take many pictures while we were on the tour as I thought that I could take my time tomorrow while Trent is interviewing.

The photograph above was a sneaky shot I did to capture this girl's outfit. She was also taking the tour and I just loved her little gray jacket with the big scarf and the dark leggings with the short skirt and that big brown bag. When I looked at the picture more closely though I realized that both me and Trent's shadows are there and it made me love it for that reason. Here we are on tour.

at Amanda's

2012-01-07T00:13:00.000-05:00

My favorite place that I visited in Louisville, KY was at my friend Amanda's apartment. She has the best eye for finding treasures. She is getting ready to move and her place still looked just lovely.

Louisville, KY

2012-01-07T00:04:00.001-05:00

Photos of Wheeling :: Part 2

2012-01-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

Getting ready this morning to head off with Trent for Louisville, KY. Trent's got an interview there and I thought I could tag along and go visit my friend Amanda. These are some more pictures I took while we were in Wheeling, WV.
We are going to be doing some more traveling over the next week and a half and I'd like to take pictures of those places and share them here too.
I also want to work on an idea that I have had for some essays that I'd like to share on the blog about my summers growing up in Indiana. I'm not sure that it will be interesting to anyone other than me but I wanted to keep those stories here .

The Snow is Snowing

2012-01-02T16:50:00.000-05:00

Trent went to Virginia and the snow decided to come.

2012-01-01T20:42:00.003-05:00

It was a quiet New Years day spent filling a new planner up with various goals and projects for the upcoming month. I wanted to get them all down on paper and try to get a better sense of what I am trying to accomplish. So instead of having a list of resolutions to share I am still working on mine, excited that Match Day is only two and a half months away, and that there is 6 months left before we move.

We didn't dress up or dance in this new year, but instead snuggled up on the couch and listened to the radio. I love the restful calm of being at home.
Right before the big countdown Trent filled two little red glasses with champagne and I sliced up the avocados for the Texas Caviar. It was the first time either of us had tried the recipe and it was delicious.
The perfect New Year black eyed peas recipe for us.
Trent wanted to watch a countdown since they weren't doing one on the radio, (and since I made him promise no Ryan Seacrest),
we rang in the New Year with Coldplay on PBS.

I'm not sure why but Chris Martin's voice always cheers me up.

2011-12-31T08:13:00.000-05:00

This morning I've been looking through photos of some of the various things that I made in 2011. These mosaics don't include them all, but they do show a pretty good amount of them.

When I look back at the photos that I took in those first few months of 2011 I can still feel that hopefulness for the year ahead radiating in them.

I was excited about the food I was learning to cook from the Food Revolution project and trying out some other recipes that doing all that cooking led me to.

It was also pretty wonderful to be given the opportunity to stay home and put some work into my business.

While I don't think I've lost that hopefulness that I started out with earlier in the year, I did end up shifting my priorities from developing my business to working on our home.
It became increasingly important to me that in order to make the kind of things that I wanted to make I needed to change our environment.
I wanted to put more love and effort into creating the kind of space that we would want to live in instead of putting all the energy into imagining the possibilities.

Though I did feel a lot of guilt for being at home and not contributing much financially, as I have always worked at some job or other, it was a treasure to have that time to develop ideas and really immerse myself creatively. I am so grateful to Trent for understanding and making that something possible for me to do.

I'm also grateful for the friends that the blog has led me to, the family it has connected me with, and for you who come by to read that I don't know as well.
I use this space mostly as a learning tool, to take better photos, to document what I make, and to try to write in a way that gets as close I can to what I mean to say.
It's always a work in progress but it has become something that I really enjoy working on and it has been so great to have your support.
I hope you have a very happy New Year's Eve and a wonderful 2012!

Photos of Wheeling :: Part 1

2011-12-30T17:20:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things about visiting Wheeling was all of the details on the old buildings in the downtown area. I could have taken pictures all day.

2011-12-28T18:09:00.001-05:00

I have loved the photography of Francesca Woodman ever since I first discovered it when I was in college.
I can't find that this will be on the WV PBS anytime soon but I am really looking forward to seeing this!

2011-12-28T17:27:00.000-05:00

I think the Pinot Noir may definitely be me.

2011-12-26T19:07:00.000-05:00

This year we made our swedish blueberry and scallops and sat down to Christmas Eve dinner in our pajamas.
I feel a little bad about this because I actually like dressing up for holidays and want to build my own family traditions.
Trent's mom taught me how to make it a few years back and it was to be our Swedish Christmas tradition. So we did manage to do that, though not much else, and spend some time together and that was all I mostly had been hoping for, well, that and the new Jo Ann Beard book In Zanesville.

We went for a walk on Christmas day, (we got home from Wheeling on Christmas eve), and it was beautiful outside, but it still felt more like Spring rather than Christmastime.

This morning I started thinking about New Year's resolutions and looked in the blog archive to see if I had kept very many of the ones that I had made last year.
It struck me as I read them that my resolutions were all of the big idea variety. Not many were concrete like "This year I will put away all my photos in photo albums" (still life altering, you should see all of my many paper piles).
I thought since we may be moving in six months it might be better to make some more practical resolutions like that.

Christmas in the City of Lights

2011-12-25T16:04:00.000-05:00

2011-12-24T16:53:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas friends! Thank you for coming by and reading and wishing you a very happy holiday!

2011-12-23T05:44:00.003-05:00

I was sitting out on the deck this morning watching the cows across the street.

Seeing them over there grazing makes me feel a little closer to that rural life that I keep hoping to lead one day.

Lately it feels more like the first days of spring rather than the beginning of winter.

Tomorrow Trent and I are going on an adventure. First we are going to make a visit to Pittsburgh, PA and then we'll stop in Wheeling, WV to see the Christmas lights. We thought it would be fun this year instead of giving each other presents to go traveling some instead.

Christmas at Work

2011-12-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

This is what the cafe looks like at the moment. My boss doesn't give me a budget for doing the decorating so some things I've really had to will into being, but it's still good experience for doing display.
There is a story with that Christmas tree.
We had planned to have a real tree, especially since the concept of the restaurant is all seasonal and local foods, and a fresh, locally grown Christmas tree seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Instead we put up a very small, very fake looking tree with colored Christmas lights that was extremely disheartening.
My boss's wife, she is in law school and doesn't work at the cafe, had convinced him to use it instead of putting up a live tree in case we had people with allergies coming in to eat.

I did not like that little fake tree. It didn't fill the space and looked completely the opposite of the atmosphere that we need to be creating,
One day after work I was out thrifting for materials to make a tree skirt when I found the tree that you see in the picture. It was fake, but it looked almost real and the price it was being sold for was a steal.
I just knew when I saw it that if we were going to have to have a fake tree, this was the tree we should have.
When I called and told my boss, Aaron, about it he said he'd take a pass and maybe next year they would get a different tree.
Have you ever had one of those moments where you feel it in your bones that the other person is wrong and you can see what they can't?
I was experiencing precisely that kind of moment when I found myself at the register counting out my grocery money to the cashier to buy the Christmas tree.

Then I lead two grown men all the way across a sleepy shopping mall to load this 7 foot perfect tree into my tiny green subaru.
At first I thought maybe I could wait and go in early the next morning and take down the little tree and replace it with the new pretty tree before my boss came in, but then I got worried that I wouldn't be able to get it all done and that I'd only get more anxious about being a disobedient employee.
So I drove across town, my car completely full of fake tree, and headed back to the office to tell my boss.
He is about eight years younger than me and maybe it was that that made me able to tell him" I'm sorry I know you told me not to get that tree, but I just knew you were wrong and well...
...I bought it." Chef Barbara was there and broke out laughing. Her laughter made me take heart.

I then offered up to Aaron that if I put the tree up and he thought I was wrong I'd gift the tree to the cafe, but if I put the tree up and he knew he was wrong would he please repay me my $50?
My boss looked a little angry, but also a little amused so he let me put up the tree. My coworkers who were there seemed a bit amazed to see me hauling in the new tree and came over to find out what was going on while helping to take down the awful little tree and put up the new one.
Aaron's wife was at the cafe that day studying and was looking on not so favorably.
The next day some of Aaron's bosses came in to get breakfast and told him how good the new tree looked and wondered what had happened to that little Charlie Brown tree that we had had up. One of our regulars came up to the counter and asked him.

It was a Christmas miracle Aaron said, and I got the grocery money back.

2011-12-19T15:16:00.000-05:00

It's our second wedding anniversary today and I am still working on my present to Trent. This is one of a few sketches that I have been working on for it.

2011-12-18T12:40:00.000-05:00

The executive chef at the cafe, her name is Barbara too, asked me if I could embroider a chef's jacket she was giving as a gift to her kitchen manager,Lauren, at the Christmas party. I managed to get done yesterday afternoon, along with getting the apartment picked back up after I had destroyed the place again, this time with my wreaths and tree skirt making projects, and getting the rest of the presents packaged and ready to be mailed.
The Christmas party at work was last night.
Trent was going to meet me there on his way home from the airport and I hated for him to come home to a great big mess afterwards.
I haven't been to very many workplace Christmas parties before, the only other was when I was working at the bookstore in Miami back in 2002.

I really wanted to dress up for this one. I have been feeling so plain and not at all festive and this just seemed to me like a really good excuse to pull on my little black dress and silver flats and feel pretty.

I also wanted to dance, but couldn't quite manage it in front of my coworkers who are all almost ten years younger than me. They seemed to think I'm a more uptight person than I actually am and would whoop if I wiggled to a song even a little bit as though they never dreamed I had it in me.

I love dancing, I just don't have any good dance moves which is why I like to keep my dancing limited to the privacy of my own kitchen. I' d love not to feel self conscious and instead be someone who just moves with the music effortlessly.
Oh to be one of those people!

2011-12-16T22:41:00.001-05:00

This song was on the other day as I was passing through the kitchen at work and it made me think of this video. I like to keep a sort of collection of all the music and music videos that I like here, (mostly Michel Gondry I'll admit), so that's why this random post here in the midst of the holidays. The party scenes remind me some of Nan Goldin's photographs, and Dave Grohl in that striped shirt with the nunchucks always reminds me of Trent. I could see him doing that or trying to.

2011-12-16T22:23:00.000-05:00

December feels like it is flying right by!
I have been busy working on things for the cafe making Christmas wreaths, a skirt for the Christmas tree... I need to take some pictures to show you!

Yesterday I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow my boss realized I am not as much of an idiot as he originally supposed and he gave me a promotion!
I feel like I am waiting for him to take it back and be like "No, I was wrong about you."

It's wonderful to be recognized, but I'm so used to that not being the case. I'm used to rallying against being underestimated, so this feels like strange new country to me.

Trent is in New Orleans he gets back sometime tomorrow night. He has been traveling for two weeks now. It'll be nice to have him back around.

2011-12-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

Last night I started wrapping up the presents. I need to find a couple of smaller boxes to put things in to mail and still need to write cards, but it's a good start. Next year I hope to get things ready much earlier!

I want to make something special for Trent, not just for Christmas, but for our wedding anniversary as well, things do seem to come down to the last minute though.

2011-12-11T19:01:00.000-05:00

Spent the weekend cleaning. I didn't make it to the gym, presents still need to be wrapped and some still are waiting to be mailed, but getting the apartment back into order is a good start at least.

2011-12-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

Laying in bed listening to Rachel playing with her food in the kitchen, while trying to figure out what the best plan of action is for this weekend.
There are presents to be made, presents to be wrapped, and presents to be mailed.
There are projects for work that need to be finished, the apartment needs cleaning up, then there is the grocery shopping and getting over to the gym to work out...I feel at no loss for things to do.

2011-12-06T18:56:00.001-05:00

Whew! There has been a lot of work going on! Still trying to help get the cafe set up for Christmas and help make more of an atmosphere in the place that is reflective of its values.
This is my favorite piece from the Nikki McClure project that I have been working on,( I still have three more cards to embroider and frame.)
I'm trying very hard to wrap this this project up so that I can get christmas gifts wrapped and ready to mail and get started working on my wedding anniversary present to Trent.
I really want to unplug our lives from all the consumerism. If I could... I would cook a great big meal with much care and love for all my friends. There is nothing quite so great as having a good meal with old friends is there?

2011-12-05T17:23:00.001-05:00

2011-12-03T16:41:00.001-05:00

Though I should be stitching away on the project for work I've been taking breaks here and there to put up christmas decorations and listen to Bing Crosby's White Christmas.
I've always loved the song Mele Kalikikmaka since I was little and my mother would play that record at christmas.
There may not be any snow yet, but it's been fun to put up the decorations and maybe, just maybe I can finish up those christmas stockings that I was working on earlier this summer...before Trent gets home from interviewing.

2011-12-02T15:42:00.000-05:00

Still stitching away. This is going to be one of those projects that I 'm sure I will be working on right up to the deadline (Sunday afternoon). It will be nice to be able to have the kitchen counter space back though. As much as I wanted to live in a smaller place, I really do miss having a second bedroom to use as a studio.

2011-12-01T20:02:00.001-05:00

So I visited my friend Ted before Thanksgiving and got my hair cut something similar to this.

2011-11-30T19:03:00.000-05:00

This week is going by so fast. I 'm trying hard to keep up.

I started embroidering the words on the Nikki McClure cards like they are on the calendars, (the words aren't on the image on the notecards), but it was the words with the image that pleased the chef at the cafe so much, so I thought maybe I could embroider them on.

I am pretty pleased with the result so far, but have quite a few more to do...

hopefully will have these all done in the next couple of days.

2011-11-28T15:04:00.000-05:00

Trent and I made it home from Indiana last night. We got back in time to pick up Rachel from boarding and now we're all here together for at least one more night before Trent leaves again for a slew of residency interviews.

I'm jealous that I don't get to go with him to all of these places.

I didn't have a chance to take many pictures this trip, these are just a few of the few:

My brother, Tommy, and I at my dad's grave, Trent and Grandma on our visit to Nashville, IN and a stretch of road somewhere in Ohio or Indiana I'm not sure which.

2011-11-23T15:36:00.000-05:00

Tonight we are on our way to Indiana to visit my grandmother, we stopped for the night in Columbus, OH where I am currently henpecking out this post.
There are smudge marks from Lucy's nose on the inside of the windshield. I have been looking through them all the way here watching the cars in front of us. Trent has never tried to clean them off, they are from the last time she was in the car.

It was a year ago since we rushed Lucy to the emergency clinic in Pittsburgh.
I came home from work and found her laying on her side, her belly extremely bloated.
She had been bleeding internally and we learned later that night that she had cancer in her spleen.
One surgery and a month later, she was gone.
It all happened so fast.

When I sat down to write this I didn't realize how much this sad anniversary has been on my mind. I was just thinking how quickly Thanksgiving has come this year, how grey and rainy it has been, how I should have used my free time instead of laying in bed reading or watching the House of Elliot.
Our life has been so quiet without our dog.

2011-11-19T18:22:00.000-05:00

Trent helped me finish finding frames for a little project that I am doing for work. I'm helping to reinforce the ideas behind the chef's menu through the decor in the cafe. I thought the artwork of Nikki McClure would be perfect for a cafe whose menu is based on seasonal and local foods, culture, and getting back to nature.

Lately, I've been working on several little projects for the cafe.
Repairing and re-outfitting a solar powered waving Queen,(a coworker accidentally knocked her off the counter), as well as making chalkboards with old wooden frames, the most recent being for teaching what fruits and veggies are in season for each month.
Doing these things does have me asking myself why I'm able to put so much effort into someone else's business instead of my own? I don't have a good answer, but for now I'm just excited to be doing some display work again.

2011-11-17T20:06:00.001-05:00

Rachel is feeling better. Things aren't perfect as far as using the litter box, but I'll take a near miss.
I'm just so glad she can be out and about the apartment again. I hated having to keep her isolated to one room.
I missed her.

2011-11-14T18:14:00.000-05:00

When I found the job at the cafe I wanted to work there because I felt so passionate about cooking and eating locally, I wanted to put myself in a job that held similar values to my own, but then once I actually started working there there I haven't cooked at all.
It's not that I'm not any less passionate about cooking, I miss it very much, but all I seem to want to do anymore is read or go to sleep.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about our first two years in West Virginia and the difference between that time and right now.
I was so excited about cooking, going to the farmer's market, sharing the garden with Lauren, learning to sew my own clothes... it all felt so new and in a way momentous.
We were making some big changes in our household and I miss that feeling of getting back to a simpler life.

I don't want to lose that sense of wonder. I don't want to slip back into old habits. I just want to keep learning and building on the knowledge I've gained so far.
Now that I feel more settled at the day job and getting into a routine, I hope to make time again to cook, to sew, to remember to stop for a moment and savor this time with all it's uncertainty, and embrace it as a time chock full of possibilities

this tornado loves you

2011-11-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

I've always wanted to embroider the title of this song to give to Trent as a present. He is always the easy going one and I'm the one with the temper. I'm so glad he gets back today from St. Louis.

2011-11-11T05:47:00.000-05:00

Rachel has been ill. We brought her to the vet wednesday night because she was acting like she was extremely uncomfortable. She had started using the living room as her new litterbox much to my dismay.
She has already been having some behavioral issues with using her litterbox that we have gone to the vet about before. I've tried changing the box, a new litter, giving her treats every time she does use the litterbox, but nothing seems to work and unfortunately there is no other place to move her box to in this apartment.
The veterinary thinks that Rachel may have a urinary tract infection and the care it involves is not making my little siamese diva very happy. The discouraging news ... the vet also thinks Rachel may always have these bathroom issues. This is not a thing I thought I'd ever be writing about on the blog, but as a truthful little snapshot of what is happening in our lives this year, right now, this is it.

I keep telling myself when we have children I'd have to change diapers several times a day so this really may not be so bad. Rachel is just preparing me...
... for a life full of sh*t.
I'm just going to cry into my cup of coffee now.

2011-11-10T19:25:00.000-05:00

These are some of the projects that I finished up lately. A simple charcoal colored scarf for a coworker and a chalkboard to write up the featured coffee drinks at work. Not the best photos of these things, but just how things are at the moment.
I have been thinking a lot about what interests me when I look through some of the old posts on the blog and it is always the posts that speak about our day-to-day life rather than the posts that I tried so hard to make artistically pleasing, though those also have their learning value (for me).

There are so many projects that I want to be working on right now. Having had several months earlier this year to work on just my own projects it seems so much clearer to me now why I struggled with getting things done before when I worked full time.
I never can make up my mind where to start, and I can't seem to immerse myself fully in a project.
I also have to keep things as organized as possible around here so I don't use all my spare time just picking up the apartment. There is so little space I could spend the whole weekend just organizing/cleaning.

My worst messes are always from my fabric and paper stashes. My ability to find interesting materials to make things with far out paces my ability to make them and my small income makes me hesitate to haul things off to the GoodWill that could be used as materials for a project later, and so I have these random piles that I shift from room to room as I try to figure out what to do with them. I need to do one of those challenges where you don't buy anything for a year, but I'm sure I'd need something that I didn't have already.

2011-11-07T18:36:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, the light as the sun was setting looked so beautiful and the trees all had turned a rusty red, it was so pretty, but most of the leaves have fallen now. Winter is not too far off

and Trent starts traveling to many of his interviews soon.

We went to Dorsey Knob yesterday, Trent's class was throwing a get together.

It was fun to revisit the mosiac-ed spirit wall at sky rock and see the longhorns that live there and remember the first time that I saw them nearly two years ago with Angi when she was helping me scout for potential wedding sites. It feels like we are about to embark on a new phase in our lives, and that feels both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

2011-11-06T13:36:00.000-05:00

Spent the weekend getting caught up with work around the apartment and took some time to work on projects that I have been meaning to get to and hadn't yet. I dyed a top that I found at the thrift. It used to be a limey-yellow color that I overdyed a pretty dusky blue. I also reworked a shirt I had made a little while ago that I wasn't quite happy with.

2011-11-02T18:49:00.000-04:00

Since we moved to West Virginia each year we have been able to make a trip back to Indiana.

For last two years we have gone at Thanksgiving time and this year we will go again to visit my little grandmother and lay flowers at my father's grave.

He died ten years ago, it will be eleven years in May.

His other brothers like to say that he was the smartest out of all of them.

He was the type of person who could take a motor apart to see how it worked and then put it back together again. As a little girl I spent many hours sitting at his side, well he was under a vehicle and I was usually sitting next to the vehicle, handing him tools and patiently enduring a stream of the worst swearing I'd ever heard if something went wrong with whatever he was working on.

One year my dad came to pick me and my sisters up from Minnesota in a bright yellow-orange Volkswagon camper .

How I loved that.

It had so much personality in contrast to all of the dull colored cars we'd pass on the road.

My sisters and I named it 'The Yellow Submarine' and got no end of joy singing the song as we raced through the endless cornfields of Iowa on our way to Indiana.

2011-11-01T16:16:00.000-04:00

After reading Caddie Woodlawn I couldn't help wanting to read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder again. It has been a long time since I read them. I had forgotten how great the illustrations by Garth Williams are.
It's amazing how much work the pioneers got done in a day.
I'd be happy if I could just keep up with the cooking anymore.
I also wouldn't mind keeping my worms in the compost bin a little happier. I'm not a very good keeper of worms I fear.

2011-10-31T18:18:00.002-04:00

It's going to be an even more quiet Halloween this year than usual. I still haven't carved either of the pumpkins and I don't think that I'm going to. Trent has to study most of the evening so instead I thought I'd curl up on the couch and watch Blithe Spirit or Arsenic and Old Lace, maybe Arsenic and Old Lace, I 've never seen it all the way through.

Wishing a very happy halloween to you!

2011-10-30T20:50:00.001-04:00

It was Trent's birthday yesterday.

2011-10-28T15:30:00.002-04:00

Sketch for an embroidery design based off a photo from Gee's lovely blog.

I started doing a little drawing each morning before I start work. I thought I really didn't enjoy drawing much anymore.

I get so frustrated at times,

but lately it has been a really nice way to unwind and keep my thoughts occupied.

2011-10-25T19:21:00.001-04:00

I made my first pretty looking heart today pouring a latte. The customer that I made it for was really thrilled and suggested I take a picture of it. I didn't realize she meant to take the picture of me holding the latte until after I had convinced her to model with it. I like it better this way.

2011-10-24T19:19:00.000-04:00

I haven't gotten very far with the pumpkin carving. The heirloom pumpkin/gourd is really difficult to cut into, after sawing away for several hours I've temporarily given up.

I haven't been able to really keep my mind on pumpkin carving anyway.

I keep drifting back to how in the world are we going to make it through the next eight months.

I still just want to skip past them and have it be June already.

Trent has his first interview tomorrow in Lexington, Kentucky.

It's hard for me to wrap my head around just how much travel he will be doing interviewing for residencies in the next few months, but I know it will be a lot.

The other day he got an invitation to interview at Yale.

Yale!!!

I'm so proud of him.

We got to spend some time together this weekend.

We went up to the bookstore and Trent found this book by Jon Klassen.
It had to come home with us.

This part really reminds of Trent, just laying down and thinking about and worrying over his lost hat.

I've been so focused on trying to make it through my days at work lately at times I feel like I forget to look up and enjoy all of the beautiful fall colors around me.

I need to make a plan for myself, get some work made and put up in my shop.

I did start reading Caddie Woodlawn at long last though. This is one of those books that I've always meant to read but somehow have never quite gotten around to it. It's really good. I love all the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. She has always been one of my favorite illustrators, her, Lisbeth Zwerger, and I do believe now Jon Klassen too.

2011-10-21T17:51:00.001-04:00

I ran into an old coworker of mine from the bookstore at the parking lot of the grocery store this afternoon. She was on her way to babysit another old coworker's little son.
When I was leaving the bookstore a lot of my coworkers were pregnant and now their babies are 9-7 months old. How quickly the time has passed, how much has changed.
A year ago we didn't know our dog had only two precious months left to live.
I miss Lucy so much still.

Trent is just beginning to undertake all the traveling that awaits him for the rest of the year, and Rachel and I are getting prepared for the long winter ahead.

Tonight seemed like a good night for carving pumpkins, these last few years it always seems to get put off til the last minute.

painting class

2011-10-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

The top painting is the one we completed in class on Monday evening. We finished the barns last week and I couldn't resist taking a photo of everyone's paintings together. I like looking at all the little differences between them.

2011-10-18T19:14:00.000-04:00

2011-10-18T18:53:00.001-04:00

Finishing up the details before getting the rag rug all packaged up to send. I've been working on it in every spare moment that I've had. My painting class is on a break for the next 3 weeks and I'm excited to use those weeks to get going on some new paintings . I have three portraits lined up to work on and then I'd like to get back to doing some embroidery too if I can.

Although I'm not the best at my job, I'm starting to settle in.

At times I really miss the bookstore, but I miss what the job used to be not what it is now.

I miss having people rely on me.

I miss getting to wear cute clothes.

I was looking through the archive here on the blog and was reading that at one time I felt like this was the best place I had ever lived.

It surprised me.

I'm so ready to leave it now...

the unbearable part is not knowing where that next place is.

It has been so hard to start at the bottom of the job pool again,

if I'm going to so soon once again I'd love to live in a place that inspires me.

2011-10-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

Looking forward to Halloween very much this year. We picked up a beautiful warty heirloom variety pumpkin for the pumpkin carving contest at work, but I ran out of time to get it done before the deadline. It's so pretty though that it's not too disheartening having to keep it here.

2011-10-16T08:01:00.002-04:00

Fall feels like it has been so much later arriving this year than it did last year.
I was looking through these pictures and could not get the very beginning of the LadyHawke theme out of my head.
How that film has stuck with me through the years!
I still remember my mother taking me and my sisters to see it at the theatre and seeing those opening credits. I loved that sun rising up from the clouds and all the eclipse imagery.

2011-10-14T18:11:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to cut my hair something like this again. I know this may be a mistake since I have a head shaped like a basketball, but maybe it could be cute in that 1920ish flapper way. It's a style I always seem to be drawn to.

pictures are from The House of Elliot and Enchanted April

2011-10-12T14:56:00.003-04:00

Two of my favorite speakers that I've listened to so far from Hello Etsy have been Jenny Hart and Natalie Chanin.

It was wonderful to listen to their talks having followed these two women's businesses from afar over the years.

I remember first seeing Jenny Hart's work in the fall of 2001 in a copy of BUST magazine, and later, in 2002, visiting her website for Sublime Stitching, where at that time she was taking commissions to do embroidered portraits.

That same year I also had an article, torn from a copy of Vogue, taped to my wall of a beautifully stitched corset made by Natalie Chanin for her company Project Alabama.

Listening to their talks has really re-inspired me to keep working on my shop, keep pursuing that dream of making my business self-supporting, and to take classes at the community college to help me better understand the different aspects of running a business.

I was finally able to purchase a copy of Uppercase magazine, the one that had a food quote that I had submitted featured in it. Under my name were the words 'craftsperson' and that magical word, the one that I love so much 'entreprenuer'. I want to live up to that.

2011-10-07T16:47:00.002-04:00

2011-10-07T16:07:00.000-04:00

Back in August I had ordered my first piece of Nani Iro fabric.

I wanted to use it to patch up tears in the old quilt , the one that I hung up above our bed, that my great grandmother made. Unfortunately the first piece that was sent got lost in the mail ( it was on it's way from Japan), but the seller was kind enough to send another piece and it arrived at long last today.

I can't wait to start mending the holes with this beautiful fabric, making another kind of collaborative effort with my great grandmother.

This was our first piece.

I used a piece of fabric that she had patched for a quilt backing and embroidered it.

My grandma always speaks so lovingly about her mother.

Rosa died when I was just a baby, but I often wonder what she was like.

What did her voice sound like?

What did she think about?

My uncle showed me a video he made of my grandma's older brother, Billy.

I never met when him when he was alive he lived in Kentucky and I had never been there, but it was amazing to hear him talk and watch his mannerisms which were so like my little grandmother's.

She might not let me, but I hope my grandma will let me make a video of her when we visit in November. She can already be difficult to follow at times in conversation, but I'd love to record her talking about her family and growing up in Bluegrass Holler.

In completely unrelated news...here is a picture of the tattoo since the second treatment I had in September.

It is a little darker in person than it is in the picture, but it's faded more. I just hope it won't take many more appointments to get it gone.

growth

2011-10-05T13:59:00.000-04:00

Slowly getting settled a little more each day at work.

It is amazing how quickly the week passes...and at the end of it I find that I have not kept up with painting as I had planned or the cooking that I have so badly wanted to do.

Each day just slips by so fast.

Once I feel more at ease with the day job and not trying so hard to learn it,

I hope I will be able to concentrate on getting my own work done in the evenings.

I'd like to start making some new things for the shop.

Lately I am still working on the rag rug I was commissioned for which means lots of knitting while listening to Crime and Punishment via Librivox.

I really want to listen to Dracula again. I listened to it last year at this time and it was so deliciously creepy.

I am so glad it's October.

I love this time of year.

at the buckwheat festival

2011-10-02T13:04:00.000-04:00

2011-09-30T17:27:00.001-04:00

2011-09-30T15:52:00.000-04:00

It is so much tougher to keep up these days! I plan to keep on writing here as often as I can, but there may be some adjusting as I get used to the new work/class schedule...

The oil painting class that I'm taking is held over at the middle school on Monday nights. It's the same school my friend Amanda's daughter attended before they moved away. It feels so strange to go there and there is no Kate or Amanda.

I was walking around poking my head into the classrooms before my own class started and happened to notice this quote on one of the chalkboards:

Life beats you down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.

-Stella Adler

I thought it seemed a little heavy for middle school...

Right now things have been hard.

Life feels hard

what with all the growing pains at work as I learn new ways to do jobs very similar to ones I've done before and not catching on with the register as quickly as I'd like.

It leaves me feeling a little depressed.

I thought it would be fun to teach myself to make latte art,

learn how to make ferns leaves.

It would be nice to have a new skill.

Life may have plans for me to become a barista,

but I'm still trying to figure out what kind of career I'd like to have.

Lately, I've been thinking I should learn more about Art Therapy.

It would be a great way to combine two things I feel passionately about, helping others and art.

There is a woman in my painting class whose son has had a lifelong struggle with cancer.

She was showing me where the restrooms were and she started talking about her son.

They had been in the hospital earlier that day.

She looked so sad and tired.

It struck me that although I couldn't do much to comfort her, I could listen.

I know so many times when I have felt low what a comfort it would be to have someone to talk to.

I don't know, it just seems like something to think about...

I've actually made it now for three weeks of circuit classes, and I have to say I like going to the gym a lot more than I thought I would.

There is a sense of community there that I really enjoy being a part of, and though I'm mostly just tired and sore at this point, ( I haven't noticed much of a difference in how I look), I'm so glad to be doing this.

I wish they would play this song at the gym.

2011-09-26T04:54:00.000-04:00

The best part of getting up early is seeing the moon and the stars in the clear morning sky as I head out the door for work.

Lately Rachel has been taking over Lucy's old jobs around the apartment. She now has to sit on all the clothes fresh from the dryer and runs away in terror from the vacuum cleaner. Neither one of these things used to hold any interest for her. It's fascinating to see how many behaviors she learned from Lucy.
Looking back at last year at this time and it seems hard to believe Lucy was still with us.
I miss how she would count on me to know or figure out what she needed. Rachel does in her own way too, but a dog just seems to need you more.

I have been working on a commission for a rag rug and listening to lectures from the Hello Etsy summits, and finding heart shapes on walks with Trent. It's amazing how many heart shapes you can find once you start looking for them.

2011-09-24T21:42:00.000-04:00

The music at the gym reminded me of this.

2011-09-22T16:12:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to keep up with cooking as part of the daily routine... not let it fall to the wayside as so often happens when I get busy working on projects.

Lately I have been trying out some soup recipes (from Clean which I found through Natalie Chanin) but I noticed that I have not been eating seasonally.

I'm hopeful that because the cafe's menu revolves around local seasonal produce that this will help me to really learn more about this.

I would like to do this. I would like it to become something that is second nature to me.

I've been looking so longingly at blogs of other women who are gardening and preserving, and then looking out at my poor limp tomato plants on the deck.

(They get a little too much sun where we are.)

It's hard for me to imagine actually maintaining a great big garden in a yard, but I keep daydreaming of it anyway.

I remember daydreaming about having a garden back in college too.

( I 've lived in apartments almost all of my life).

I loved the lyrics of a certain Dixie Chicks song:

I wanna touch the earth

I wanna break it in my hands

I wanna grow something wild and unruly

How I still want to do just that.

I want to touch the earth

I want to break it in my hands

I want to grow unruly flowers and have a yard, our very own yard, with a garden of my own.

2011-09-20T09:29:00.002-04:00

Painting class is going to be very different from any other painting class I have ever taken.
My teacher is a certified Bob Ross and Dorothy Dent instructor. I have never watched Bob Ross on television painting and I visited the Dorothy Dent's website this morning as I had never seen her work before either.
Neither painter paints in a way that I want to emulate, but I think it is always good to try a new way of doing things, learn a new approach.
My teacher asked me what experience I had so I told her I went to school for painting and studied abroad in Italy which gave me more credibility with her than I imagined it would because my teacher then asked me if I taught. I told her I didn't and admitted that I am one of those under confident people who doesn't trust that she knows enough to teach others.
I think the studying abroad sounds like a more romantic experience than it actually was, and makes it seem like I have more talent than I do, but I realized this after a few a my classmates seemed to accord me a new respect.
From now on the better answer will be 'I've studied off and on'. I'd rather the painting show what I know than give an impression than I'm better or think I'm better than I am.

In truth I could not tell any notable difference between my painting or my classmates who have little to no experience. As far as I can tell this style of painting relies less on observation and more about learning to layer paint in a specific way and becoming adept at making an attractive mark.

We aren't allowed to work on the painting outside of class either which is going to be hard for me as I like to tinker.
I wondered if maybe I should take another online painting class in addition to this, but Trent thinks that between this painting class, the yoga, and the two circuit classes I'll be busier than I think I will be, especially as I'll also be working at the cafe in the mornings...I like taking classes though because it gives structure to my days. I also get to meet new people, which is something that I missed spending so much time at home.
Maybe I'll try to do a painting each week like I did for the online class earlier this year that way I can apply what I am learning in this class throughout the week as I'd like to be painting more than just when I'm in class.

2011-09-19T16:38:00.001-04:00

We went for a walk around our neighborhood and came across this painted map at the playground of a nearby school.
It reminded me of all the possibilities that are ahead of us as we try to agree on places where Trent would like to go to school and I would like to live.
Trent has been getting invitations to interview at schools and in a couple a months from now he'll start traveling.
It feels so strange to go through this process again of not knowing where you are going to.
I'm trying to enjoy this time right now, but in many ways I feel like I am just waiting, waiting for the end of March, waiting for Match Day.
I'd like to know where home will be.

Tonight is my first oil painting class at the community college. I'm so excited about it.

2011-09-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

I haven't been good about taking pictures this week. I've been holding a grudge against my new camera for not being my old camera. I know it's silly because the new camera is supposed to be better, but it's the truth.

I'm so sad that my old camera broke.

Painting class starts on Monday. I joined a fitness class two days a week, mainly because I don't want to feel bad about my body, and also because sitting and quilting or sitting and knitting doesn't seem to be doing me any favors. I hope too that I will also be able to take some yoga classes too now that the drive to get there seems more manageable.
I'm not sure how everything will work with a full time work schedule, but I think it will be good to keep busy. The lack of control I feel over not knowing where we will be living for the next few years has really been getting me down, but I've got Linda to sing along to so maybe that will cheer me back up.

2011-09-14T21:51:00.000-04:00

I found this little step stool at the thrift store today. When I found it it had been recovered with a grey denim fabric that had felt circles sewn on to it.
I thought that I could take off the fabric off and paint the step stool to use in the kitchen, the cabinets are higher than I can reach, and at $4 it seemed too good pass up.
As I was removing all the stitching from the felt circles I found this beautiful needlework underneath. It's hard for me to understand why someone would want to cover it up. I felt like I had stumbled on a treasure.

2011-09-12T19:49:00.000-04:00

I was waiting to share this here because I wanted it to be a surprise,and then my camera broke, and then it was the 9/11 anniversary and it didn't feel quite right share it, so today I was going to tell you.
Yesterday our apartment was featured on Etsy's Get the Look decor blog by Christine Domanic!
I was a bit nervous about it, but it has been a really really lovely experience.

2011-09-10T20:33:00.001-04:00

We ran some errands and then we went on an adventure.

2011-09-09T12:48:00.001-04:00

I went in to work yesterday to help make some laminated cards for the tables in order to make things easier for the food runners to identify who ordered what. I got there early so that I could take a walk beforehand as I knew I had a busy day ahead as I had to get my tattoo lasered and get my haircut.

The morning was beautiful. It was gray like it might rain, but quiet and peaceful.

I stopped after a while to adjust my camera( I had it hooked onto my belt ) and didn't notice what was right next to me by the trail. I started as I felt it leapt past me and headed for the trees. I wasn't sure at first what had happened, but then I saw its' speckled back and fluffy tail. We stopped for a moment to look at each other, but I didn't want to cause the fawn any further alarm so I started walking.

Later in the afternoon I visited the talented Ted for a much needed haircut, and was just as impressed as I was the first time he cut my hair. He is a hair genius.

2011-09-06T05:57:00.000-04:00

We had a soggy Labor Day. I spent the day working on my sign for the cafe. Not quite done yet, but almost!

2011-09-04T20:25:00.003-04:00

We met a new friend down by the creek today.

2011-09-03T19:12:00.002-04:00

I went into work today to practice my latte and cappuccino making skills.

It is done differently at the cafe than how I've been trained in the past, so I have to learn to steam the milk a certain way, pull the shots on this particular machine, and make the recipes.

It was a really stressful week driving across town in heavy traffic ( with roadwork) twice a day. It completely wore me out and so I 've slept a lot, but I dreamt that I met Vivienne Strauss which was cool!

I'm hopeful in another week or two I'll be more at ease with the drive.

I like that my job is right by the rail trail and the river so after work I can always go for a walk.

I will be so glad when we officially open so that I can see if I really do like it there.

It is nice to have something to put my energy into since my feelings about making things for my shop are so wan.

I don't know what happened to my entrepreneurial spirit, but

it seems to have faded.

I don't know if it's just that I am more interested in improving my skills right now,

but I hope those painting classes will be helpful!

2011-09-01T21:19:00.001-04:00

A few weeks back I watched the mobile masterpiece series Any Human Heart. Since watching it I've been transfixed by the idea that you are different people throughout your life.
There is a reccurring scene throughout the series of a pond with a small child in a boat and near the edge of the pond is the main character as a young man, a middle aged man, and himself as an old man.

I've been reading a book by one of my mother-in law's friends, and I hadn't paid much attention to the cover until after I had seen Any Human Heart.

If I reimagined the scenes of my own life I think the small child me would run and try to grab the hand of each of the selves, the child representing a time that has stayed with me so vividly throughout my adult life.

It's always been so fascinating to me how people change or are defined certain periods of their life.

I am always surprised at how much I thought I knew at certain times of my life only to feel humbled that I still don't really know all that much.

What I like as I get older is having more experiences to draw from, gaining a greater sense of perspective, understanding the why of patterns as they unfold, and then more often than not doing my best to overcome them. I often wonder what the me at 34 would think of me at 19? Or the me at 10 or 4? Would I like that person?
I have been thinking so much lately of when I moved to Atlanta from Minnesota on my own in 2004 and how full of possibility that time felt. I had been just about to sign a lease on an apartment in downtown Minneapolis when I realized that I just didn't have the desire in me to live in Minnesota. It wasn't my home anymore.
There were so many days as I'd walk through the skyways on my way to the bus and reflect on my days living in Miami. I had moved there with a boyfriend ( it didn't last) and spent the majority of the 9 months that I lived there by myself. I had never felt more alone. After Miami I moved back to Minnesota and spent a year as an errand girl for a book keeper at a jazz club in Minneapolis.

When I moved to Atlanta it was a move for me. I worked two jobs had my own apartment and was determined to pursue a career in art.
On the days that I worked I'd walk a mile home at night from the bus stop, always a little afraid I'd step on a snake, and on my days off I'd take long swims in the swimming pool in the dusk by myself and reflect on how in the world I was living in Atlanta, GA with no friends, family, or car.
'Clocks', was always on the radio, and whenever I hear it I think about that time.
I felt so fiercely independent. I miss that me.

2011-08-31T19:30:00.002-04:00

They asked at work today for volunteers to make a creative tip jar and an open/closed sign.
I volunteered to make the sign. The cafe has a pretty simplified logo triangle mountains. a circle sun, and a simple modern looking font.
So I've been playing since I got home with fonts and ideas and am probably going to spend way too much time working on this sign.
This is still areally rough draft, but I found this font and liked it because it could look like a seed cracking open with a plant growing out of it or a half moon...
I think I'll bring in a picture and see what they think before I get any further.
It's funny how much easier this is to delve into rather than my own projects right now, maybe because it's a different kind of challenge? I don't know.

2011-08-29T14:12:00.001-04:00

Orientation last night went really well! Of course I was nervous about the drive there, but I'm hoping the repetition of it will make it easier. I start back on wednesday for training. Lauren won't be working there, she took a job in Pittsburgh, but I liked the people that will be that I met and I feel hopeful that this will be a good place for me.
I was the oldest person there, even older than the manager, which instantly made me feel well, um... old.
We had to do some getting to know you exercises where we partnered up and interviewed each other about where our hometown was, how old we are, name four interesting things about yourself, what was the last album we had listened to...and I had no clue about the music of any of the people the group mentioned.
I told myself I wouldn't become one of those people who got stuck in some point in their life where they only listened to music of their youth.
And while I'm not that, I'm not as into the Cranberries or The Sundays as I used to be, I'm not exactly current. My album was Ella sings Cole Porter. On my wants list is Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and 2 so I can belt out Silver threads and Golden Needles and Blue Bayou when I'm here at home by myself. Our neighbors that live below us break out in song every now and again, especially the husband who sings his little heart out.
It beats our old downstairs neighbor who had more gas in him than anyone I have ever heard, but it sure makes it hard at times to look your neighbor in the eye. Maybe I'll just lip synch very dramatically.

Today I'm working on my moth paintings. I really do think that oils are a better medium for me than acrylic. I 've got a few more weeks before painting class begins, but I am really looking forward to learning some things... I feel so rusty at painting anymore.

helping

2011-08-28T11:35:00.002-04:00

Rachel helped in her way while I finished sewing some new pajama pants. I had made a blue pair last year, but as I was cutting the pattern I made a mistake which caused them to fit a little tight,so I only liked to wear the first pair that I had made.

I have been meaning to make another pair since last winter but I always have a lot of trouble with making buttonholes. My sewing machine has an automatic buttonhole feature, but I can never seem to get it to work right. On a piece of test fabric it does just fine, but when I go to use it on the actual garment that I'm working on it's always difficult, so I was putting off the frustration.

Trent helped too. We went for a walk along Decker's Creek. I love being near water, and I really needed to get out of the apartment.

Orientation for the cafe starts later this afternoon.

My friend Lauren who I shared a garden with a couple years ago may be working there as well.

I'll be really happy if she is.

I'm also excited because the cafe is right next to the rail trail along the river. I am looking forward to going on a lot more walks, that is one thing I have really missed doing since I got my car.

2011-08-26T08:57:00.000-04:00

Photo by Amy of Sweet Sweet Life

A picture of Chickengirl in her new home with Amy and her family.
I'm so glad she found such a good home.

2011-08-25T18:42:00.001-04:00

I thought that I really could just focus on painting, but lately I really really wanted to sew...

...and I thought,well, why not?

It was grey and rainy out this morning and perfect for sewing.

I had purchased a men's dress shirt at the thrift store last summer, I liked the fabric and thought that I could remake into a new top and now I was going to.

I listened to Ella sing Cole Porter tunes while the rain pattered down and I ironed, pinned, and stitched.

Lately Rachel has decided that the best way to help with any project is to lay on it.

2011-08-24T21:02:00.000-04:00

Someone who lives here is now a member of Medical School Honor Society!

Someone else restitched a leather tote with pieces of an old favorite sweater to have a new pretty bag to carry to work ...

...and someone else showed off her pearly pinks.

2011-08-23T15:13:00.000-04:00

I was just sitting in my kitchen stitching and listening to a book when the dishes started rattling.
At first I thought it was a neighbor moving furniture, but then the rattle became more persistent and I was scared the dishes would start falling, so I started moving them to the floor. That's when I noticed that the bookcases in the living room were shaking, and the ceiling fan too. Everything in the apartment was shaking. I didn't know what was happening. It didn't last long, but it was long enough. The floor was shaking too and I was scared that maybe it would give way.
I thought something may have happened to the building, once when I was little a car had crashed into our townhome, so I was ready to see something like that and then grab the cat and go, but as I looked outside and everything seemed just fine. Just a few neighbors looking around like I was.
I called Trent to tell him about this unusual experience and he told me that they had felt the shaking at the hospital too, that it was an earthquake and that he had heard that it had been felt in Pittsburgh too.
Everything is fine, thank goodness, it was just a bit scary to feel the building moving like that.

2011-08-22T06:39:00.000-04:00

The past few days have been good. I found out I'm hired (again!) at the cafe, and Trent found out that he passed all of his tests for medical school!
I tried out a new recipe, we had some more peach tart, Trent played some golf, I painted moths and then we went wandering.
Yesterday we went exploring at Valley Falls State Park we had never been there before.
It was so beautiful.
It started raining not long after we started walking one of the trails. We were taking a hike that was a combination of several different trails that would form a loop about six miles long.
I was surprised at how well we were sheltered from the rain beneath the trees as we followed the trails. We got soaked in the places where there weren't as many trees, though we had brought an umbrella, it was easier to walk along without it. We took a wrong turn in a couple of places, but managed to find our way back.

On one of the trails Trent and I found ourselves in the midst of six running deer, their white fluffy tails bobbing among the trees as they leaped gracefully away and then further along the same trail we met a turtle.
I have never seen a turtle that close up before. It had such a beautiful shell. It also had a lot of patience as each time I tried to get a picture of it a bee would fly right up in it's face, but it patiently endured the bee as it waited for me and Trent to go.
It was the one of the prettiest walks I've been on in a long time.

2011-08-19T11:34:00.002-04:00

I was watching some old home videos of Trent's family the other day and fell in love with this moment.

2011-08-18T12:42:00.002-04:00

So glad to the swamplands I went! A Girl of the Limberlost has been great to listen to. Thank goodness for Librivox!
It has been wonderful to discover the writings of Gene Stratton Porter.
I have been so fascinated with the life of Beatrix Potter and discovering another naturalist and one that is from my native state makes me so happy.
It makes me think about Indiana differently too.

I loved it as the place of my childhood, a place where I was closest to nature, our back yard right next to a cow pasture and a horse farm right next door.
There were frogs, lunar moths, a big rat snake, and many mornings spent closely observing the ants.
I remember and love those days like a dream.
But I've never thought of Indiana as having swampland or being the habitat of all kinds of beautiful moths and insects..
Gene Stratton Porter's 'Wild Flowers' Cabin is in Rome City, Indiana. It is a state historic site, maybe someday I can convince Trent when we are in Indiana that we need to go see it.
I asked my grandma if she was familiar with Gene Stratton Porter's books. She said it seemed like she had heard of them, but she wasn't sure.

I'm actually redoing a couple of the moths that I had painted last summer right now. I am repainting them for a friend.
Here is a photo of one of them in progress and below a picture of a moth that I saw when we were in North Carolina. I'm not sure what kind of moth it was, but it was huge.
I thought painting the moths would be fun and relaxing before I re-embark on portraiture, which I know will be without a doubt frustrating at times.

Yesterday I also finally finished patching up all the holes and repainting the walls. It does feel so much nicer to be here now. It feels quieter, less cluttered,and knowing everything we own has been sifted and sorted through makes me feel like I can move ahead with my own work again.

2011-08-15T19:45:00.007-04:00

Brought out the oil paints this morning, I've gotten so used to working with acrylic I am glad I am taking oil painting classes this fall.
I could really stand to learn a few more things.

I felt like I had more success making this rustic peach tart, which is a really good recipe! I've been having bad luck making dough lately (in more ways than one *wink* wink*), but this turned out so well that I think it may be the new go-to recipe for rustic tart crusts. It might need to be made once more to see if it goes as well before making it official.

I was a little distracted today while I was painting as I was absorbed in listening to A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. She is an Indiana author and I knew absolutely nothing about her until she was mentioned in a documentary I was watching a few weeks ago called Harp Dreams. It is about the international harp competition that takes place every three years in Bloomington, Indiana.
I had been trying to make it through The Hunchback of Notre dame, but I guess I was not quite in the mood for it, so from the streets of Paris to the swamplands of Indiana I go.

2011-08-14T10:34:00.007-04:00

I'm embarrassed to admit that as soon as I turned the calender to August my thoughts started drifting towards fall and the holidays, maybe it is because I've worked in retail for so long.

Or maybe this year it has to do with just wanting to use up materials that I have squirreled away for various projects. I had a whole stash of wool sweaters that I had shrunk, all at different times and not on purpose, ( I don't buy wool sweaters anymore) and I had been saving them to use for a project.
The other day I decided to make some new christmas stockings.
Not the most essential thing to be doing right now I'll grant you, but it is just one of those things that I have been wanting to do. Knowing how busy the holidays are and then that it's birthday season and then our wedding anniversary, and knowing myself and that I tend to get overwhelmed I thought if I was in the mood to make christmas stockings in August, well then why not?

So the christmas stocking project has begun and yesterday I spent the day dissecting my skirts to make new linings while watching Enchanted April.
I had forgotten how much I like that film.
Today I'm hoping to cut fabric for the blouses and pajama pants that I'm wanting to sew.
It all seems so reasonable in my head that I should be able to knock out these projects, it's when I write it all down that it seems a bit much. I just need to keep telling myself that I am going to get these things done. I would like to have some cute clothes this fall!

2011-08-13T16:04:00.003-04:00

It took a little longer than I thought it would to get our room set back up. It feels so much better though, so much more open, but it has also meant not much progress has been made with the relining of skirts. These are just some snapshots of what the days have been looking like, a heart shaped hole in the clouds, hanging up an old quilt my great grandmother made, rearranging the bedroom, and Rachel at my side always hoping it's time to be fed.

at the cafe

2011-08-11T22:48:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos of that delicious looking food that I was telling you about that the cafe has been posting on their facebook page.

From the top clockwise: berry lemonade popsicles, open faced curried chicken salad with apples and cashews, summer berry and papaya salad, soba noodle salad, made from scratch hummus, tabbouleh, and pita, melon and proscuitto salad with buffalo mozzarella

2011-08-09T20:38:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy few days spent trying to clear out more space.

Our room is pretty small, and I'm using almost half of it for a studio space.

I'm trying to clear it out as much as possible so that I spend more time working on painting and less time figuring out how to deal with the mess that is all my supplies.

I went in to fill out some paperwork at the cafe today.

It was a for a background check, and while everything should be good I do feel a bit rattled after waiting all this time that I really don't have the job after all.

They start interviewing again this week, but it may be closer to September before I would get to start if I do get to start.

They have been posting pictures of some of the food they have been making and it all looks delicious.

I got the okay to post some of their food pictures here,

I wanted you to see why I'm waiting.. I think there is a lot I could learn there.

In the meantime I thought I would finish up some sewing projects that I had for myself last summer and never got to.

I have two skirts that need new linings put in them, and I'm hoping to make two new blouses.

I've never made skirt linings before, I'm a little nervous because I have to take apart the skirt in order to fix it, but I think I can do it...

...I hope!

My goal is to have my non-painting projects done by the 15th,

that is when I had been anticipating starting work, and from that point begin working solely on painting for a while.