heart i choke

after all of this and that, i am back to phantomcrimes, refreshed, thankful, and more than ready to get things going, finished, and sent. i've got my work cut out for me.

everything with my family, on thursday morning-noon went really nicely. i decided that i wasn't going to get stressed out or unnerved about one thing, anything. the breakfast cassarole was easy and delicious! mmm! mom made the very best carmalized french toast ever, and the fruit tarts from rembrandt's were delightful. my apartment was as clean as i could get it, without washing my curtains or dusting my baseboards. i barely even mopped the kitchen floor, but it was alright. the sunlight was perfect and our family walk around the block was a unprecedented pleasure. considering it was a warm day and we needed the circulation after such a calorie rich meal.

i'll update more tomorrow or the next day...

plan.project.proceed


over the weekend i decided i had better come up with a plan for this week. most likely i will feel bombarded at one point or another but if i'm prepared the crazy feelings might not take hold. this thanksgiving i'm having my entire family over for thanksgiving. we're going to do the traditional thing on friday at my aunt's home. so my mother and i have planned a lovely brunch. that means between working and crafting i will also be doing some baking. for all of you who are curious about how i work two jobs and get enough sleep, get enough me time, get enough fam & friends time, well this is part of how it is done. the simple check off {box} list:

monday:
work uoha 9-5
work cvs 6-9
deposit checks
drop off banana republic shirt to mom
postcard project/ornament project after 10pm
sleep @ 12-12:30am

tuesday:
work uoha 9-5
grocery shop for baking ingredients
clean bathroom
dust entire apt.
vaccum
work on postcard/ornament projects
until 12. {this should be a good day to
get a whole lot of stuff completed!}

wednesday:
work uoha 9-5
work cvs 6-9
spot clean
decorate/layout all thanksgiving brunch

thursday:
8:00 am wakeup drink nice cup o' tea
bake breakfast cassarole
spot clean
watch the macy's day parade
12 noon give thanks with family
clean up will be easy
evening time: prepare piecrust
bake 2 pumpkin pies

friday:
sleep in
3pm or earlier hop over to
aunt c.'s home
6-9 work cvs

saturday & sunday: sleep in, no work except to finish postcard/
ornament projects to mail out before dec 01.

my goal: to stay cool, get sleep, finish these crafty projects, enjoy the family, see the knutson family, give thanks above all!

moo.gifts.ornaments.postcards


i have come down with the evil illness going around, that which includes: scratchy throat, marathon running nose, drippy and droopy eyes, headache, and backache. by all means keep me in your thoughts, but remember less my complaint. i am really very fortunate that i have plenty of sick time available to me here at the work force. in addition, my dear friend at the rx called to tell me i didn't need to come in again tonight. what a blessing to beable to stay at home and rest.
last night i began the process on both of the swaps i've signed up for. you might think i'm running behind but i really am not. i've got the two swaps perfectly under control. i'm also very excited about getting my moo cards in the mail!!! i picked around eighty seven of my photos to be transformed into these cropped sort of baby pics. 100 of them for awh well $24.95. i hope to use them as both business and gift cards for christmas. originally i had a lot of problems with getting the photos into the correct section, finally i decided to add my photo selections by sets and then drag and delete the photos i didn't want from each group into the trash can. after that it was smooth sailing. i thought this might be a very cool alternative to the regular promo material. i have so desperately wanted a business card, but never have the time to create one, via altavista or wherever.
when i got home from new york i had a pile of fun mail. no perfect packages, but several december issues of martha steward, fitness, and domino! i thinking of doing some different sort of things for thanksgiving, i'm actually having my entire fam over to my apartment. woohoo! and then there is christmas. i was totally inspired by this simple polka dot garland. i'd like to try. i also have some great felt pieces i'm going to put together before all is said and done. after the holidays i'll get back to the painting.
***i am wondering about having an etsy sale, anyone have any thoughts? if i put the work that is in my shop right now up for sale at 50% off, would you all purchase??? please let me know. i'm totally willing to discuss other options and or best offers, trades, or commissions.***

have a nice evening, try and stay warm and cozy wherever you are.

tidal wave extravaganza


there was so much that i wanted to share about my trip, the small things that i saw, a growing discomfort about how few photos i took. on tuesday we found the bxl cafe in the rain, we actually walked a little too far and past it, can you believe it. we shouldn't have missed the red entryway. i decided on maui maui and leffe blonde. and for dessert well the best we had all we long the greatest pot o' chocolate ever!

the rain on wednesday soaked us through and through. we survived and head up to david letterman's theatre. we actually signed up for free tickets and got a call back! can you believe it? we declined because we didn't want to leave out our other sister n law. that night we went to the bodies exhibit. if you haven't heard about the bodies or been to see the exhibit, i'd recommend that you do. it is not entirely disgusting nor should it make your stomach turn. it isn't worth going into all of the details here and now, i work in an oncology office, seeing the breast, lung and colon cancers were very interesting. did i retain? i found out that babies are born with 300 bones in their bodies and adults have 206 bones in the bodies. semi-meaningless facts.

on thursday laurie and i went to canal street, awh the blur. we had the secert backroom knock off bag purchasing experience, yipes! we didn't stop, just came walking. hit all the places i mentioned yesterday. and on thursday night i went out with erin and jerah. on friday we went back to canal and up through tribeca and into soho. we three bonded as sisters, special conversations and times. plus officially i can announce that l.c. and brother aaron are happily awaiting the birth of their very first children. plural? yes! yes! most of you may already know by now, but now it is safe to say with permission from aaron to tell. aaron and l.c. are going to be the proud parents of twins. l.c. had an ultra sound today and they are 4cm long. yikes! growing so fast. she's due in june, around the third i believe, correct me if i'm wrong. so next year around this time the collier fam will have grown by another "three." we'll have ethan and mary's baby boy: caleb and aaron and l.c.'s twins! yippy! i'm going to be an aunt for real! so it makes sense that we have this great journey to celebrate life before the new phase.

i'm off tonight-doing laundry, working on the ornament and postcard swap.