New Project! The Book and the Bird

So I've started another project. Woo! My friend Kayla and I have started a video blog (vlog). Kayla is a awesome lady I met in college and got to hang out with a bit while I lived in Hillsboro. This summer we started hanging out more, and I was reminded what a cool person she is and how easy it is to talk to her.

And then she moved to grad school in North Carolina. 

That’s far away. But, Kayla is also the friend who introduced me to the Lizzie Bennett Diaries and got me addicted to the VlogBrothers. So we decided to utilize the distance and try something we are both interested in: vlogging.

We are making videos for each other. I think we are settling into a weekly rhythm. Kayla just posted a delightful new video. We have so much to learn, but I feel like there are improvements every time. Also, since I'm doing this with someone else there's a great chance it will continue for a while. We named our channel The Book and the Bird. It just seems to fit us both in so many ways, and maybe we'll discuss such things in a video someday.

I will probably be hanging out in the video realm, so I hope you like it, but chances are I’ll still update the blog as often as I currently do. Which is to say- once in a blue moon.

Right Now

Right now:

Listening to Fleet Foxes Sing tumblr where they have a bunch of cover songs.

Drinking coffee which I haven’t done in over a week because Brian has had a cold and it seems silly to make coffee for one. PG Tips tea is a great substitute.

Have just been doodling the secret life of my stuffed owl, Owly. I think he dreams of being a real owl and having adventures.

Thinking I should go take a shower and start my day.

Dreaming about things I want to do someday. Projects I want to do, art classes I want to take, travels I want to do. Do travels? Go on travels? eh.

Reading Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie. Just finished Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (eh, it was ok, not my favorite. My favorite Austen fanfic would be The Lizzie Bennet Diaries). I have 18 things checked out from the library. I should return some stuff.


Ok. Coffee's gone. Time to get ready for the day. Storytime at the library this morning. That means we're super busy and it should go quickly. I'm so glad I just have to work the desk and not entertain 38 kids at once!

Spring Bug

Ah, Spring. May! This time of year always fills me with hope and ambition. When I was young it was the joy of the end of school and the hope of what the summer would bring. It still feels that way. Plans of projects crowd my mind. Thankfully I don’t have to finish homework before starting them or sit through class all day before enjoying the sunshine. Oh wait. I don’t have summers off. I still have to make sure the house is moderately taken care of and my husband is fed. I still have to go to work. But I am lucky, I only work a few hours so I still have time at home to tackle projects. 

I just have so many things crowding into my mind. And my workspace. I have projects that are unfinished lying around from the beginning of March. I wasn’t in a terrible hurry to get to gardening this year, but it has finally hit me and I’ve been planning and labeling pots so I can now go buy things to stick in them. I did a linocut, but I don’t know how I feel about it, and a blog post about it is still churning inside me. I have a collage started, as well as a requested project from my mom. The project from March is something for Brian. I’m anxious to start a project for my aunt. I want to repair my Toms, take an art class, learn to sew, and keep blogging. I want to have picnics, and to keep going on bike rides, to soak up the sun. So many things.

Spring is a time of starts. Beginnings. I just realized that, as I sit here and think of all the things I’m not finishing before I start something new. Maybe I don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the incomplete. I’m planting the seeds, and nurturing the sprouts that will someday bear fruit. Hmm, I like that. As long as they don’t wither and languish. That’s something I’m pretty good at, not finishing projects. But I’m feeling excited now. Not overwhelmed. And that bodes well for seeing fruit (completion).

"New" Dresser

This project started over two weeks ago, and would have been pretty quick, except I decided to get fancy with the top, and then our mini stay-cation happened. This flimsy old dresser with a poor stain job came from my grandparents house. It really is not high quality so I no qualms painting it:

This is during the sanding stage. 

I actually first painted it a brighter, and (I decided) more obnoxious blue. This light blue is just a little test pot of paint I’ve had for a while. I only did one coat and like it rustic for now. Plus I ran out of paint.

I wanted to be more creative with it other than that random green drawer. I’ve had a placemat that I thought would be a great stencil for a while and this might be the project to use it on. I didn’t really think through all of the ways I could accomplish this, I just knew I wasn’t ready to paint over the placemat yet. So I traced it in pencil and decided to use the green color I had used on the drawer. I’ve never been good at coloring inside the lines. This is very good practice. That’s what I keep telling myself. And good practice with a paintbrush, since I don’t really know any techniques. 

The green is an interior wall paint, and went on very thinly. It definitely needed a second coat, which I’m still working on (see mini stay-cation). That is why it seems darker in the upper left corner, it actually is, not just more weird lighting. For the second coat I mixed it with green acrylics and it seems a lot better. I’m not sure if I’ll get to a third coat or just call it good when I’m finally done with the second. It will just be in our bedroom, and if we end up annoyed with it I can always paint over it. I’m not sure what I will do with the knobs. I might look for some different ones, or just paint the ones that came with this, but I ran out of blue paint. So, we’ll see, but it definitely needs handles.

I’ve enjoyed working on this, and it’s nice to get paints out again, even if it’s just for a dresser. Although I am ready to be done with it. So, now, onward!

"Your House Did Not Asplode"

Yay! We didn’t explode! Our house did not explode! And we’re having a mini stay-cation! Wahoo!

I should probably start with the exploding business. Tuesday night when I had my routine bathroom visit i thought the hallway smelled like gas. In the morning it still smelled when you first walked out of the bedroom, but you didn’t notice it after a little while. So we forgot about it. Then I got home from work and after smelling the fresh rainy air, it definitely smelled like gas inside. I was in a bit of denial and made tea, which was a stupid idea, but at least our stove is electric so there was no open flame. Brian called the gas company and then called me and told me to leave the house. Ugh. So I took my cup of tea and bowl of cereal (yes, afternoon breakfast. I do that sometimes) and sat in the car. because it was raining. The gas company came and it was not a false alarm, but it was also not a major emergency yet (or I might still be in denial). A valve that did not get replaced when the new furnace was installed was leaking. So it was easy to find and easy to fix. And we did not blow up.

I have been working extra hours on Mondays which means I have other random days off during the week. This time I got a lovely four day weekend, having today and tomorrow off. Brian surprised me on Tuesday by announcing he got the days off too! We had thrown some ideas around about a little trip for our anniversary, but since we didn’t plan anything in advance we decided to stay home and enjoy our own town.
After the gas excitement we kicked off the stay-cation by going to the East side of town. Which I guess is a West-sider’s vacation spot. But really, we thought we would get some half-priced Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill because it was Wednesday. But there was a 50 minute wait. Too long. So we headed to Bradley Fair where we immediately got seated at Bella Luna and enjoyed some lovely pasta (although I think I’ll go back to my regular next time). Then we walked a bit as it was no longer raining, and I wanted to check out Francesca’s because I’ve seen cute things there, but never been in. I got a dress. It has tiny whales on it. I have weddings to go to this spring. And Brian bought it as an anniversary gift.
Then we had to go to Cocoa Dolce. They have the best hot chocolate ever. Well, they have the best everything chocolate ever, and beverage form seemed appropriate with the weather. After way too much chocolate to drink we came home happy.

Today has been pretty lazy. More like a Saturday, without feeling like we need to accomplish things around the house. I’ve been wanting to finish up painting a dresser, but I ended up experimenting in the kitchen instead. I guess that was my creative outlet today. I made peanut sauce with rice for lunch. My former roommate used to make it, so I kind of just made it up as I went, using coconut milk and peanut butter as the base and adding sriracha and lime juice and other things that struck my fancy. Then this afternoon I made some chicken salad. I’ve been craving it for a little while, so I pretty much made it up too. I cooked the chicken in lots of curry seasoning and added grapes and celery and pecans. It might need some more miracle whip, but you have to be careful with it, you know? You don’t want to over do a thing like that.

So, now there’s a fresh cup of tea and a new episode of Psych (watched on amazon) calling my name. I think I’ll go indulge in some more vacation.

Creative Every Day 2012 Challenge: Accepted

A little over a year ago I talked about writing and expressing myself creatively more often. Honestly I haven’t done a great job of it. I have done creative things, and written for myself a bit, but not as much as I would like to. So. It’s time to get down to business. Make yet another goal. (Hopefully I’ll be back soon with an update on how the New Year’s goals are doing.)

I’m going to accept the Creative Every Day Challenge.

And I’m actually signing up, not just being my usual lurker self, so I have some accountability. I’ll be back later this week with some project-y things and ways I’m finding creativity.

Reasons to do CED:
I want to blog more. I sit around often thinking about this space and what it is to me and what I want to do with it. I’ve had this blog quite a long time in blog years, but it really hasn’t gone anywhere. I don’t necessarily want this to just be a space to record CED, but I want to use it more, and this will be one way to do it.

I want to get better at creative things I’ve already tried. A lot of times I happen on a project that I want to try and think, “Hey this would be a great Christmas present” or, “I really like doing this, if I get good at it, maybe someone would buy it.” But then once I’ve tried it, that’s it. No perfecting it, no going back and learning from the mistakes to make it better. I’m clearly not a very disciplined person but I want to get better at the artistic things I try. Not necessarily for monetary gain, but to make something lovely that will last. That won’t fall apart, or be a canvas someone will decide to paint over.

Also I want to broaden my horizons. Every month there is an optional theme for Creative Every Day. So at least once during the month I’m going to do something with that theme in mind. Hopefully this will push me to try new things. And the March theme is Mixed Media. I’ve been interested in Mixed Media, so hopefully I can get going and have something to show for this month’s theme.

So, Challenge accepted. Now to go Be Creative!

01/22/12

This post is in effort to remember what I've been filling my time with lately.

Reading:

Bossypants by Tina Fey. The Wichita Public Library is having their annual Adult Winter Reading Program and they are encouraging staff to get involved. This means reading from a variety of genre, including things I don’t normally read. I just finished this last week for the non-fiction category.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. This is for the classics category as well as my resolution to read 5 classics this year. Hopefully I can finish it. I haven’t really read much Austen but since I’ve been steeping myself in historical British things maybe I can stay focused.
A variety of cookbooks and gardening books. I can’t help bringing them home, but often barely glance at them until it’s time to return them. But I am ever hopeful they will inspire me.

Listening to:
Playlists- Matt Hamer and the Ramshackle Sound. Matt’s a friend who just came out with his first CD and it’s pretty great. I’m also pretty attached to my “Folksy” playlist which includes the Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, Fleet Foxes, and Aaron Lee Martin.
Podcasts- Joy the Baker. Joy and Tracy from Shutterbean.com discuss “all the unimportant important things” and very little about food, but definitely a fun listen.
We’re About to be Friends. Joy the Baker’s other podcast which doesn’t update weekly, but actually is normally about food is a good kitchen listen.
NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.
WNYC’s Radio Lab.
Audiobook- A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King. This is the second book about Sherlock Holmes’ female apprentice Mary Russell and is pretty enjoyable so far.

Watching:

Downton Abbey. It took me awhile to make time for it, but I’ve been hearing great things about it for months. Finally we started watching it and we just finished the first season (Netflix) this afternoon. Thankfully PBS is putting season 2 online so hopefully we can keep up. It has wonderful characters and beautiful settings and compelling stories that we just couldn’t stop watching.
Star Trek: The Next Generation. Brian and I started this awhile ago, after he finally caught an episode that did not bore him. We are near the end of the 5th season and return to it whenever we’re not in the middle of something.
Murdock Mysteries. I often end up watching something in the afternoons after work. I just caught up on Inspector Lewis and have watched a lot of Midsomer Murders and can’t seem to tear myself away from mysteries. I thought maybe I couldn’t tear myself away from British shows, but I think Downton filled that gap. So I turned to Murdock Mysteries, which is almost British as it takes place in Toronto. It’s rather steampunk-y and a bit cheesy, but at least it’s only an hour.

Cooking and Baking:

I’ve been keeping track of what we’ve been eating lately and it’s been nice to see lots of eating at home. Most of the meals haven’t been too exciting, but they are happening. Baking is not happening as much, but it’s definitely more exciting. Last weekend I made Brownies from scratch which was a first, and I added some cinnamon, since they we accompanying tacos. Friday I made these yummy Blood Orange Crostatas (the pictures with the recipe link are beautiful), except I used mostly whole wheat flour and had cream cheese on hand so I substituted that for the mascarpone.

Discussing:

Topics of discussion lately have ranged from reasonable and unreasonable Non-Compete forms, healthy eating, church hunting, and hopes for the new Sherlock season (it doesn’t air on PBS until May! no spoilers please, since it’s done in the UK).

And now I'm off to go attempt a quinoa salad.

Hey! It's 2012!

I even made some resolutions! How very grown-up of me. The good thing: I started thinking about some of them awhile ago so I’m really sure I want to work on them, and even got started on some of them. The bad thing: I had a cold the entire first week of the year. This means I have barely done anything yet. But I’ve got a whole year to figure it out.

So, here goes!

1) Deliberately BE in the Kitchen
- Record our meals. This way I know what I can cook in a pinch and it’ll be easier to see where I need to challenge myself (and maybe even share more food related stuff here).
-Make menus. Sometimes at least, to get in the habit of thinking ahead.
-Shop better. Coupon more, keep an eye out for deals, and keep track for the budget.
-Do the dishes more regularly. Load the dishwasher right away, check (for this week)! Wash pans, still needs work.
-Bake more! I realized toward the end of 2011 that I really like making cookies and I want to broaden my baking horizons. Brian’s definitely on board and got me Cookiepedia for Christmas.

2) Physical Fitness
I’m pretty vague about my resolutions. These are things I want to be mindful of all year, and I don’t want to set myself up for too much failure. So, become more physically fit. Shouldn’t be too hard to improve a little bit, but it will be necessary if I follow through on baking more. Sometime after Thanksgiving a couple of friends and I started getting together for yoga once a week. Wahoo! Progress! Other plans include jumping rope, going for walks, and riding bikes.

3)Travel
We have friends and family all over that we would like to visit more. We would also like to see some places we haven’t been to before. No extensive plans yet, just, travel more.

4) Read 5 Classics
Last year my reading goal was 30ish books and Goodreads helped me keep track of everything I read and I’ll be using it again. I want to focus my goal this year so 5 Classics is a good start, I even left it open-ended and haven’t picked which ones yet. Any ideas?

5) Spend Time Each Week Creating
Ok, hopefully this happens more than once a week, but I needed to be a little more specific about some goals, right? This is kind of a joint resolution with Brian. Basically it means we will spend time away from the TV and work on something we wished did more last year, he on “recreational programming,” and me on writing, or creating. Hopefully this means more posts here, I really would like to inhabit it more, but I already know I can’t promise that.

6) Home Improvement
Not the show (No, I did not have a JTT crush, but we watched it regularly). I just added this to my resolution list, even though we have plans to remodel the kitchen this spring, and want to get the office in order. Not sure why it wasn’t on the list. Maybe my subconscious knows most the resolutions are a bit flimsy and this one needs to actually happen. Somehow it got filed elsewhere, but it fits here as well. Woo, plans! And hopefully details posted as we get closer to working on things.

A pretty ambitious list. For me at least. But I do want to be more ambitious this year. I need to live my life more fully, and stop saying “Someday I’d like to...” and just do it.

Randomling: Is this winter? Mostly I don't mind the temperate weather (especially when driving), but I kind of miss the white stuff. I've prolly just cursed myself with the iciest roads ever, but so be it.

Summer 2011 Recap, what I can remember anyway...

I’ve been meaning to recap the summer a bit. I know it’s well into feeling autumn-ish, but I don’t want to forget what we did this summer. Er, any more than I already have...

Projects:
Memorial Day sort of kicked off summer and we painted the kitchen a lovely pale yellow. Hooray for a whole room that is not the same color as everywhere else in the house!

Mid-July my uncle visited which gave me incentive to clean out the “guest room” and make it a real guest room. It had become a catch-all room for my stuff after I moved in, as well as wedding gift bags and tissue paper, Christmas wrappings, and general junk. Also we had my daybed and Brian’s full size mattress and box springs in that tiny room. Now it’s basically the daybed and actual floor space!

Other projects included painting the trash can and spray painting a metal bench? vanity stool? i should find that picture...

I still want to get some different fabric for the cushion, but this stuff matched so it’s safety-pinned to the pillow. Currently it's sitting in the tidy guest room and I still need to work on my camera skills. Probably some other small projects happened but I can't remember them right now.

Travel and People:
In June we road-tripped to Colorado with my parents for my brother’s wedding. It was the most intimate, beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to. It was immediate family only and we just spent the afternoon together on the top of a mountain and ate good food and had great fellowship. C and her family are wonderful. (check out these blogs for a great peak, uh, peek: http://seanflanigan.net/?p=5790 http://sergiomottola.com/blog/?p=724 )

In July, as previously mentioned my uncle from L.A. visited. It was fun to host him and show him around to some of our favorite places in Wichita. We also attended a family reunion, where we mainly showed up to eat, and were terrible about talking to any of the relatives.
Then we road-tripped back to Colorado with my youngest brother and sister-in-law for a camping trip with my family, and said uncle, an aunt, and a cousin and wife. It ended up being a lot of fun and definitely cooler than Kansas. It was good to catch up with family we haven’t seen much lately and hang out with the month-old newlyweds. Most of us went down a zipline, had a little archery tournament, and played lots of Five Crowns.

August included a bridal shower for one of my best friends (and former roommate), as well as wedding preparation. We welcomed friends home after they’d been in Korea a year. All summer we soaked up time with friends and family. The wedding shindig was over Labor Day weekend and felt like the official capstone to summer!

Busy Summer

I've been wanting to get back here for a while now. It's even on my to-do list, but (aside from getting sucked in to Pinterest and audiobooks) it has been a busy summer. Which is exactly what I've wanted to write about, so I remember the trips and the people and the projects. I figure since I just finished another little project that now is a good time to get back into things and maybe (maybe) I'll catch up on everything else too, one of these days.

I've been inspired by a number of sources and projects to return to my roots of garage sale-ing and thrifting, and to try my hand at re-inventing my findings. (These sources include, but aren't limited to, Young House Love, A Beautiful Mess, and Pinterest)

I have a short list I carry around with me of Things to Keep an Eye Out for While Thrifting/Garage Sale-ing (or other Shopping). One (or rather two) of the things on the list is a trash can. The office, or studio, or whatever we're calling it, needs a trash can. Especially if we ever get it cleaned out and functioning. Hmm, I guess I am sitting in it right now, so it's functioning, but the piles o'stuff are distracting.

Anyway. Trash can. On the list. Found one! An old metal trash can with hand painted fruit was waiting for me at the DAV thrift store:

So I painted it. I mixed the paint myself from two sample pots I have around.

After a couple of coats of paint I decoupage'd some circles from an old book. Cause I like the look of old pages and I wanted to experiment. I'm not sure if the circle of circles is my favorite design, but I can always turn the trash can around and look at the turquoise? tiffany blue? greeny blue? side (since that's what's pictured above). Or I can decoupage something new.

I know. Decorating a trash can. Soo exciting. But, it gave me something to do, a creative outlet, and I like pretty things. And sorry about the pictures. One of the other things on my to-do list is learn how to use the camera better, and some editing.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with another project that is in progress and maybe other random tidbits or improved camera skills.

Updates 4/13/11

Hmm, i was doing so good updating more regularly there for a while. Then the weather turned nice, beckoning me. Also I’ve been using the ipad for most of my internet-ing lately, since Brian upgraded to the xoom, and that’s just not good for blogging, at least not for me.

So here’s some stuff that’s happened/been going on since I don’t really have any stories to tell...

We have now been married over a year! It has been a great one, our best yet! And we decided to celebrate with a trip to Kansas City where we did lots of walking and eating good food, as well as saw some art and spent some money. Ah, vacation.

We also celebrated Brian’s birthday with a small gathering. The theme was, rather loosely, Robots. Of course, the only party hats I could find on short notice were dinosaur ones, and i found a pirate pinata that I couldn’t pass up. So, it felt like little boy extravaganza complete with cake and ice cream only there were also more adult drinks. I drew a large robot and we played pin-the-mustache-on-the-robot. It was a surprising success. Hold on, I think I can find an after (after people had some fun with mustaches that ended up on the wall, that is) picture...

And all of that was about a month ago. Lately time has been filled with books and gardening. So far I have onions in as well as some going in pots. Last summer I started on clearing out a spot in our garden for a garden. It had completely become overrun with day lilies and weeds and a few iris’ and other random things. So this year I have continued digging it up, and hopefully when it’s time to plant more things I have the space for them. Just so long as I can keep the cats and other wildlife from using it as a litterbox.

I’ve also been listening to and reading several books. This has probably cut into some blog time, but the listening ones have been great for the yard and getting dishes done. I listened to Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and am about ⅕ of the way through Wise Man’s Fear, the second in the trilogy. These are fantasy books (and they’re certainly long enough to be), but they are also just really well told stories. I also just finished Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. This book is the first for the author, who is from Wichita, and won the 2011 Newberry award. Needless to say it’s got a little bit of hype around here. It is definitely worth it. The main part of the story is set in 1936 in a small southeast Kansas town and focuses on a 12 year-old girl, but there is another story about the same town in 1918 and is about a 13 year-old boy. It’s beautifully told and I think it would appeal to boys and girls alike, of all ages.

Good Grief! I had no idea I had so much I wanted to talk about. Sorry it’s so long! and random! I’ll leave you with that, and try and keep things more current... Who am I kidding? There will be a new post when there is a new post.

Random: Everyone seems to be blogging these days. Check out the new people over there ----> And I’ll probably be adding more soon. (i like it when i know bloggers :-) )

A Few of my Favorite Things

I’m feeling the need to write. or something. I’m doing absolutely nothing else. I’m not involved in any books right now (other than Hunger Games, but I’m waiting to read it with the Read Allowed Group...I don’t cheat), and I started a project, but it involves waiting for glue to dry. I feel like I’ve done enough of nothing today. So I’m going to have myself a cup of tea and share a list of current favorite things. Because that’s a good thing to do on a blog.

1) I’m kind of obsessed with the blog A Beautiful Mess right now. It’s been overly full of the writer’s dress shop projects lately, but that has only served to whet my appetite for vintage things. The nice thing is I’m rediscovering vintage things i already own, wahoo!

2) Another blog I’ve been following lately is Young House Love. They recently bought and started re-doing a new house and it’s very inspiring. Now that I have weekends off my list of projects has grown.

3) A trip to World Market last weekend scored some half-price water bottles. It’s nice ‘cause they’re glass, so that’s healthy and stuff. Also they’re cute so I find I’m drinking more water. (Hmm, I planned on linking a picture, but I suppose they were on sale for a reason, and they're no longer on their website)

4) I’m excited about gardening. I’ve been planning it out in my head and even on paper. These warm bursts that feel like early spring have me antsy.

5) Brian and I have be re-watching and re-enjoying Arrested Development. So good.

#6 For good measure. It goes without saying but Brian is my all-time Favorite. cheese, I know but still true :-)

Not favorite: the Ice Cream trucks already starting up.

2/18/11

I’m thinking I’ll take up journaling again. In some form or other. The thought springs from starting the book Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Who knows if I’ll finish it, I’m bad at reading non-fiction, and I'm just in the introduction. And I don’t know that I really want to be a writer...
I also read Neil Gaiman’s blog. And both of these things remind me that I spend a lot of time putting things into my head, but I never pull anything out. I spend so much of my day reading the endless subscriptions in my google reader, watching tv, looking at magazines, reading books, that I rarely take time to process it.

So, even though I don’t think I’m really a writer, I feel the need to take time to write, or at least process. Maybe that will be through some art, or maybe it will be while I’m working on some project, or maybe it will simply be washing the dishes with no extraneous noise, no podcasts or audio books, just taking the time to let my mind wander. And wonder. And maybe stuff will end up on the blog, and maybe it won’t. Because that’s not the point.

And now I think I’ll go wash dishes.

Note: When I say “writer,” well, obviously I’m writing. But I don’t think it’s my craft, my best way of expressing myself. I’m not bubbling with stories that must be told. I’m not a wordsmith. I’ll leave that in more capable hands. I simply use writing as a means of expression, not the means of my expression.

Inspired Bookshelf

I've been inspired. Over at Apartment Therapy last month they spent a lot of time talking about organization. Mostly I hadn't thought about reorganizing my bookshelves because the thought is a little overwhelming. We're running out of room on the shelves and one of the bookcases is kind of falling apart, and there are other parts of the house I would rather focus on. But then my attention was drawn to artist Stanford Kay. He paints pictures of books. Rather pretty artistic interpretations of stacks and shelves of books, often enhanced with other objects painted over the books.

And Inspiration struck.

What if I covered some books and painted over them? Eureka! A great way to hide some somewhat gnarly booksale paperbacks that have seen better days, yet are still classics, as well a Christian fiction series. So I scrounged some brown paper that had been used as packaging filler and covered a couple stacks of books. Then I busted out the acrylic paints and a sharpie pen and Voila!

Yes, I know. There are a lot of comic books on those shelves too. They would be a pain to cover, and I'm really not sure if I'd be allowed to anyway. So the plan is to put some pictures in front of them. That's a bookshelf tip I've seen somewhere I'm sure! And while I think I'll use some family pictures, if you're looking to do something similar check out Laura's print sale lasting till Valentine's Day. There's some beautiful pictures from Korea and elsewhere!

Hey! Look over There!

Rachel has joined blogland! And she is really a much better writer than I am, so go read her stuff! She writes about her time in the ER and about the wonderful food she makes, and I'm sure life in general. It's still pretty new, but definitely one to watch!

Oh, and Brian's been working on his site too, so now there's something to see there too :-)

And that's all I have for now. I'm being terribly lazy and ignoring the mess in the kitchen and the list of projects and simply enjoying my blanket, couch, husband, and the internets. It may be about time for some hot cocoa though...

Amybuller.com is HERE!

I have the best husband ever!

One bit of evidence in support of that fact is that he got me some domain names! Woo!

Welcome to amybuller.com! (mrsbuller.com will bring you here too...hehehe)

While I love the fact that I have my own website with my own name, I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I feel like I should be doing awesome things with it, writing witty posts, having a theme, or just make it cool. But... I also know myself. So I resolve to not resolve anything. Or rather, resolve not to do anything Differently. I'll just keep posting my random stuff, whether it's pictures, or talk of projects, or recipes, or just an annual update. And really, at the rate I'm going now, the posts may not be too few and far between. I like sharing my projects, and I've got several planned. So, stay tuned!

Let the Light Shine!

Hurray! I'm finally off on the weekends! (Officially anyway, still have 1 more weekend to fill in) I've changed library locations and the hours I work. I'm getting used to the location and really enjoying it so far. It's a lot quieter, but we still have plenty of people come through. I do feel busier though, since I'm by myself anything that needs done, I do; or leave for the lady who comes in after me.

The schedule is taking some getting used to. I work 10:30-2:30 most days, so I have plenty of time to do stuff, just as long as I get out of bed. Easier said than done. Also, I've had a hard time taking lunch with me, and even taking time for a break, so when I get home I'm starving and sleepy. But I have goals, things like exercise and projects, so I hope to be more disciplined with my time.

The easiest and best part of the schedule is having a weekend. What?! Two whole days that I can spend with my husband?! Neither of us has to go to work... this is amazing!

So we spent part of our Saturday brushing up on some basic electrical work. Well, mainly Brian did. And we replaced the light fixture in the dining room! (see above) No more ball of cords looking hideous at the top of our fixture. And hey! We can actually see the pictures on the wall from across the room!

I really love to drum fixture too. It's the Eden lamp from cb2.com. I'm not sure how I feel about the plate on the ceiling. Since we converted a lamp it didn't come with anything, so that's something we picked up at Sutherlands. It has gold nobs to cover the screws. They need to be painted. But the white doesn't exactly match the ceiling or the lampshade. So my questions are, Do I just paint the gold white? Or should I paint the whole thing a completely different color? Maybe the same blue as the wall?

Also, we figured while we were switching lights and playing with wires we'd change the kitchen fixture too. So, now it's something brighter and more kitchen, maybe a little more old-fashioned, but I think it fits!

Time for Tea!

I don't really have much to say, no deep thoughts or funny anecdotes. But brian has a good camera that really never goes out, so i thought i'd dust it off again and have something to post about. Since today is Veteran's Day i've been off and being lazy. i decided to make myself some tea and use the lovely set that Jen gave me for my birthday. So here's the happy set she picked up at ikea (plus my own tea cup):


Oh dear, the poor sugar bowl is hidden. And it's my favorite part, it's got lovely detail just inside:



Too bad i dripped tea on it before the picture. Oh, well. So, that's my less than intellectual post, but it is a lovely tea set. Wanna come over for a tea party sometime?

Crafty Times

I made a wreath.




I used pages from a book.


I was inspired by Apartment Therapy and found the tutorial over here.

It also gave me an excuse to get a stapler. Who can pass up a red one?

Brought to you by... SUMMER!

Ah! i just finished a wonderful summer salad and am now just sitting at the picnic table cruising the internets. i've been reading some food blogs lately, well, mainly just thekitchn.com, and was inspired to make that lovely salad i just ate, and then to write about it.

It was a delightful assortment of What-i-found-in-my-refrigerator! Namely, zuccini given to me by my mother, which was given to her by a friend (and desperately needed finishing otherwise it was destined for the compost), tomatoes (actually, there were on the table, not in the fridge) from my parents garden, some cucumber from them as well, and some mushrooms, from the store. What really made this salad was the 'dressing'. i used some store-bought garlic humus and mixed it with some italian dressing... mmmm....
The only thing i forgot was the cheese, sigh... some grated romano would have been nice, but i was all settled in for my personal picnic.

And all that lovely salad was brought to me and my stomach by....SUMMER!

And that got me thinking of summer and the other wonderful things it has brought me.
Right now, it's bringing me lots of noise. Which is annoying, but part of being outside, in a city. Sounds of air-conditioners, dogs, and noisy vehicles in the alley (which is making the dogs bark) are reaching my ears. Ah, well. Yesterday i got to observe young robins and bluejays learning to fly and find food in my backyard. i thought i was going to end up in the middle of a squirrel fight, and was enjoying all the nature around me, until some cats started really fighting. time to go in.

Summer has brought me a new neighbor! Brian bought the house just down the street! it's been fun trying to help him get set up. i just spent the morning trying to find what is supposed to be the garden, but is currently a weed, tree, and cement block patch. So nice to actually do yard work! (but only when i feel like it. it's much more fun than when i have to.)

Summer brought me 3 whole tomatoes of my very own! and one more ripening! also a couple of peppers so far, with some more set on. And some trips to Farmer's Market... good times!

Summer has also brought me time to hang out with family and friends. So Good. It helped that a bunch of people got married at the beginning of summer so there were a lot of people around to see and hang out with. I also got the chance to go to Chicago with some wonderful friends, and visit other wonderful friends there! Such a fun time, great company, great food, a trip to Ikea, and fireworks! And i love that city. At least as a place to visit some more.


And now, as i've sat out here a while i'm running out of clear thoughts...all i can think of Summer bringing me is Heat, and reminding me of the chigger bites it brought earlier this week....

so, that's my update for now, maybe i'll add a picture of my delectable salad later...i will spare you a picture of my compost, which needs maintenance.