confessions of a girl who finally had her perfect alone night

I have a big, long, dramatic and sentimental post almost ready to go, but this has been the first night I've done a good job of pampering myself in quite some time. So I'm sorry blog world, I've got nothing good tonight. But I'm also not going to read the 297 unread posts in my Reader, or watch True Blood. I'm going to drink my tea, eat my chambert and french bread, and read some Chopra : )

In the meantime, enjoy two songs I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I love. . .

Pretty pervy video, but I love the whistling:

And yeah, I'm a sucker for cheesy epic rock. . .

This brings up an important questions. . .can't we be human AND dancers? Oh boy. . .

imagine yourself young, pockets full of water

Recently I bought a 1988 Civic Wagovan. Yes, I said Wagovan. He's a beauty, and due to the high levels of character he possesses, he lacks in features. Today I became faced with the exquisite reality of this lack. . .the cassette tape player. The good news is, I've been carting around various mix tapes for 8-12 years. This list includes: Help, Revolver & Let It Be, all recorded in my room straight from 94.1's Breakfast With The Beatles program that aired on Sunday mornings when I was in Jr. High. Also, a Phish mix compiled by Em, some Karate, Joni and Lost Prophets from Scott, The Wayne's World Soundtrack, and one of my own titled, Theattle, of course. There are more I haven't been so lucky to find quite yet, but I will.

Anyway, in my glee I drove around directionless just for an excuse to keep reminicing. So many memories flooded back. . .Em & I making snow angels at White Pine. . .bean burritos. . .orange peels and seminary. . .Pier. . .golden delicious apples from Reams (aka Shmear!). . .Alma's mini-disc player full of all the Ben Harper a kid could ever listen to. . .the worn leather in Nate's Vigor. . .the smell of Nate's house. . .Chris offering me a stick of Nag Champa the first time I ever sat in his car. . .countless hours of painting. . .the waterfall. . .letters. . .Counting Crows. . .sprinklers. . .sharing music. . .baggy pants, hoodies and Savers t-shirts. . ."The Grapefruit". . ."Curly". . .Chris's yellow coat. . .Alma's blue hair. . .Alma's green-ish hair. . .Brett's circle. . .french toast sticks. . .poetry. . .being in awe of how deeply I felt for these people. . .porch monkey-ing. . .10:00 curfews. . .the rain in Deervalley the first time we saw Ben Harper. . .Dave. . .Toad. . .Pearl Jam. . .Alma & Chris blowing up eggs and setting bees on fire. . .Lesley's barrell. . .snowboarding. . .Zeppelin. . .Yearbook. . .Alma & Chris handing out flowers to girls in the hall. . .Les's cabin. . .Flat Iron. . .longboarding. . .Smash (oh Smash). . .Jeff yelling, "I'm fat some more!" every time Alma would turn left. . .Chris's old man robe and his thoughts on produce. . .the letter H. . .spending hours in my room writing and painting and listening to music. . .shaggy hair. . .being confused by boys. . .Nate's slippers. . .The Nugget. . .

God we were funny. I miss those days. It was such a pure time. . .so self concious and yet so authentic. And I was so full of hope and ideals and so sure everything I ever wanted would just happen simply because I wanted it. When my only worries were convincing my dad to let me take his truck up the canyon and debating about curfews. Makes me realize how cynical I've become.



imgine yourself young
with pockets full of water
you haven't learned to hesitate yet
and the sun beats down
all on your skinny neck
as we kick around the shore
you know the rest

yes we can. . .and did

This was going to be a post about so many other things, but as I sat to write my to-do list in my journal, I got to thinking about politics, hope and progress. . .

{journal excerpt}

November 5, 2008

It's been a great day despite the many emotions experienced. Obama won the election last night which is both monumental for America and historically significant. We're either greatly progressing as a people or this is the beginning of the end. I of course, voted for Obama so my cynicism isn't with him. I just find myself wondering if it's too good to be true. I guess the answer to this question depends on what I fundamentally believe in. . .and now that I think about it, perhaps a change of attitude is in order.

I've been stuck in the pessimistic thinking that we're all going to destroy each other and ourselves eventually. I can only assume this is a concept that was engrained in me via religion. You know, the "last days", earth will be destroyed kind of thing. But, inside of that thinking (or at least who I've let myself become inside of it), why even try to better ourselves, or the earth, or each other? Why create beautiful things? Why give and love and exchange thoughts and ideas or earn money or bail out economies to begin with? Perhaps the human race will continue to grow and progress the way we always have. Perhaps there is hope and we all get to contribute to it. Perhaps there is no such thing as "too good to be true." And maybe America can even have a leader we love. It wouldn't be the first time -- and maybe it won't be the last time.

I don't know much, but I think that if we always try to do what moves us, then it doesn't really matter what happens in "the end." And too good to be true or not, hearing a country I had lost hope in, chant "Yes We Can," moves me.

Something else moves me. The fact that 68% of Salt Lake County voters see the beauty and value of animals enough to vote for the bond to save the aviary. The Burrowing Owls and I thank you : )

1st Etsy Sale!

I landed my first Etsy sale the other day and I'm so excited! More exciting than the sale though, is knowing that it was hand selected among millions of other items and that it will be enjoyed and loved in the home of Sophia of Sophia's Sweet Spot. Her paintings are SO cute and fresh and I think I might just need one for myself someday. Here are a couple of my favorites:

I think I might ask her if she'll do a custom one with tulips!

Halloweeeeen

So, I adore Halloween. Its such a perfect excuse for so many things. . .

1. Being able to get away with any outfit for a whole month, no matter how hideous.
   
2. Reason to have and go to parties.
   
3. Excuse to wear fake eyelashes and look ridiculous dancing.
4. Umm. . .chocolate.

*god bless our love*

Sometimes inspiration only comes when I have to write research papers :)

weekend wrap up

After a fast weekend of campaigning and hanging out with my sister, its almost Monday. I think I'm going to be buying a car tomorrow morning and then its off to the UMA (Utah Museums Association) Conference in Layton for three days straight. Oh, and that stats test. Yikes.

I picked up the latest issue of Catalyst today to find a really compelling and straight forward article by Eve Ensler about Sarah Palin. If you haven't read it, please do. You can find it online here.

And I'm sorry, but as a person who gets a kick out of the occasional zombie, this is just too good. . .

God I love the internet. . .

Alright, that's enough. This is an art blog for crying out loud.

:)

random bits of life

I've seen two really amazing things today in the blogging world. First up is a new project underway at Flickr and I think it rocks. Its called My Day, Yesterday.

“Shoot video throughout a day in your life, then put it together and upload it the next day. Don’t add any music or sound effects, just use what the camera recorded. It’s easy. DO IT.”
-Garrett Murray

I find it really inspiring to see a glimpse of what random stranger spend their life doing. Such a cool idea.

Secondly, these photos of an abandoned Soviet train station are. . .well, something else.

My little life today consisted of coffee, a frustrating trip to Walmart (I loathe Walmart), some ad photography, trying to get pumpkins donated, car letdowns, running errands and now, soup. I also exchanged my Burt's Bees Carrot Day Creme for the regular Moisturizing Night Creme and I must say, it literally is like putting wax all over your face. I thought smelling like a salad was bad. I guess we'll see when I wake up. Until then, its debate watching and tea time for me.

p.s. Burt's is still my favorite

nerdery

So. . .I just realized how nerdy I am about the little intricate details around me. I will literally spend hours at consignment stores just to find a cute dish to put my jewelry in. I will skip much more practical things just to find the perfect rug, or curtains or dresser. And one thing is for sure, I could look at vintage furniture all day given the chance.

Anyway, tonight I continued the car search and then went with the boys to Savers where I had some good finds. This amazing corduroy jacket with little leather buttons:

I also ended up with a couple cool tops, a pair of black Antik cords (boy, I'm on a corduroy roll) for a whopping $8. They need to be altered a bit since I'm more of a simple gal, but still a great find. I also broke down and bought some Kenji sweaters (my favorite) that will be plenty warm for the snow we already have.

And this adorable pink tea cup:

I guess since decorating has been my obsession lately I'll share the latest and greatest also.

I finally found THE chair on craiglist. This beast is the perfect shape and personally, I quite like the color too. The best $25 I've spent in a while. . .

Curtains and a rug (see above) are taken care of too.

I also ditched my old boring jewelry box and finally used my cute turquoise dishes:

And just for the record, Lollia hand cream and this Rosebud Salve are not only two of my favorite things, but the best excuses to go to Anthropologie : ) I love being a girl.

{my little world}

I'm pretty excited to finally be somewhat settled. Here is the work in progress so far. . .