Oodles of Pearls

Today I bought three strands of fake pearls and a pair of fake pearl earrings. The earrings are huge and verging on obnoxious, but so are the three strands of pearls. The longest strand goes nearly to my belly button and the two others are just inches shorter in length.

This pearl fest was inspired by the Sex in the City movie (which I'm not proud to say I've watched two and a half times). There is a scene in the movie where Carrie and Big are laying in bed, reading. Carrie is wearing barely anything (just a silky little something and underwear) but she manages to accessorize it with a long strand of pearls. As she sits in bed reading a book of love letters to Big, my thoughts drift from their interaction and go to the strand of pearls she is wearing. It occurs to me then how very lovely it would be to have my own strand of long, elegant pearls.

Of course a long, elegant strand of pearls in not a very practical thing for a girl to go out and buy (unless you're Carrie and drop it like it's hot). So, I resigned myself to not having a long, elegant strand of pearls...UNTIL...the other day when I was digging around in my jewelry box (a recycled cigar box filled with costume jewelry) and found a strand of fake pearls I must have gotten as a kid. Yippee! In that moment I was delighted with the fact that I am such a pack rat. I sported my fake pearls happily knowing that they didn't cost (present day me) any money.

Then today I found the mother load. In the horrid process of finding jeans, I happened upon oodles of fake pearl accessories at American Eagle. I gleefully bought the longest strands they had and a ridiculous set of matching earrings, knowing full well how silly I was behaving. I now sit on my couch (without regret) feeling very pretty with a long strand of pearls dangling around my neck (wearing considerably more than Carrie).

On Occasion...

On occasion I feel brilliant. Today, was such an occasion.

I am by nature a shy person. Not in the sense that I shy away from opportunity, but shy in the sense that I know people have many important things to do and I'd rather not interrupt them. When I am called upon to interrupt people (i.e. have a conversation with them), my heart starts to beat quicker and the air thickens. I feel pressure to say something worth the time I am stealing--to awe them. But I find that when I open my mouth, I am just me and our conversation is no more than usual.

Today though, was not a usual sort of day. Today I led a workshop. I excel at workshops. People elect to come to workshops. There is no stealing time from anyone. They seek to hear what I have to say. So, I spoke. The things I had planned to say came out of my mouth in the correct order. And the questions I had planned to provoke thought did just as they were told to do.

In the end I was very pleased with myself. I sit here now still thinking about how brilliant I was. Today was an occasion.

The Snow in Portland Keeps Falling

Snow Day

So, I'd been wanting to make a crown and some dress-up stuff for my niece for Christmas. She's almost 2 and about to hit that magical age of imagination. My idea was to knit a crepe paper crown with buttons and fun ribbon, then to make a robe out of fuzzy, super soft material. Unfortunately it snowed today, making it impossible to gather the needed supplies. As I sat trapped in my house, I wondered what I could possibly make out of the craft supplies I had on hand.

I dug through my fabric box and found a scrap of pretty pink taffeta and a complimentary calico. I cut the taffeta to the (estimated) size of a two year old robe. I used the calico to make bias tape for the left and right side of the robe. It also worked as a pretty ruffle for the top and bottom of the robe!

Lucky for me, I am a fairly frugal person and have saved the ribbons used to tie various bouquets together. I had several sizes and colors saved up (pinks and purples mainly...PERFECT!). I took the longest piece of my "thrifty" ribbon and sewed it to the top of the robe. After I had stitched the ribbon in place, I thought that it would be fun to pour something down in the opening left between top and bottom stitching. I found some glitter (that was passed down to me from my Mom) and poured the entire bottle into the space between the ribbon and taffeta. The space was too large and the glitter sagged into one place. I took a deep breath, spread the glitter out evenly, then took another deep breath before sewing on top of the glitter. I had no idea what it would do to my machine, but I had visions of the needle breaking and flying into one of my eyeballs. Thankfully, I was able to keep both of my eyeballs and the stitching worked to keep the glitter evenly distributed!

The final touch was the crown. I had a tiny piece of gold felt left over from an apron project that had gone awry. It turned out to be just the right size for a fun princess crown! I took some more of my "thrifty" ribbon and stitched it around the bottom, so that the crown could be tied on. I added a complimentary light pink ribbon (accidentally purchased for a project because I thought it was white) and a button that had fallen off a pair of pants that used to fit me. It looked a little plain, so I cut out a few diamond shapes and sewed fabric (left over from the robe) to the back side of the felt. The fabric peaks through the front (reverse applique) and makes a whimsical looking crown.

Just for fun, I coaxed Dave into modeling the crown and robe.

I felt like writing a poem

To linger on some singular note,
And find it sings my soul.

To lose the note,
Then my soul,
My mind has lead me astray.

Clarity so rarely reached,
So easily driven away.

What once was found,
Now is lost,
How quickly it fades to grey.

Oh, Christmas Tree

My sister and I have always decorated the Christmas tree together. Its a tradition, like sleeping by the Christmas tree once Christmas break started or racing to move the mouse on our advent calendar every morning. The biggy was to move the mouse on the 24th. Whoever moved the mouse on the 24th was the winner. I remember my Mom once tried to make the other days just as special. She would stick Bible verses and candies in them. But, the 24th reigned the supreme prize no matter how my Mom tried to equalize the days. It was the last day on the calendar, the last move. There were no more moves for an entire year. To make the last move meant you were the winner for an entire year. It was great.

Christmas was great; chopping down a tree with my family, digging out boxes of Christmas decorations, and hanging ornaments while bickering with my sister about which ornament belonged to which of us. Last year we divided up the ornaments one last time. My Mom sent mine with me to Oregon and my sister's with her to Texas. My sister called today to let me know she had hung her ornaments. It was a little sad to think about. I left mine in their box this year and instead hung handmade snowflakes and strands of cranberries (see picture at top). It's a simple tree, but pretty and festive.

This will be my first Christmas away from my family, so I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. I have a feeling I'll sleep by our Christmas tree at some point this December and I might even buy an advent calendar (the cardboard type with chocolate). We'll see.

Mr. Poopy Pants

Hello world. What is wrong with you? Not everything. I find that some of your shops are nice and that massages are quite pleasant. Those aside, I can find some fault.

For example, stolen car windows. Why steal the window? Why not the twirly heating/cooling nobs (those are cool) or the emergency brake? I like the emergency brake, but I'm not completely confident that it does anything except make a great cranking noise as I lift it up.

I need my car window you, Mr. Poopy Pants!

I know that times are hard, but of what value could the car window be? You took nothing else. In fact you left more than you took. Your rusty hatchet, bent hanger, and half smoked cigarette, were they left as a trade?

Forgive me for blaming the whole world for what you did. I have no face to put with this act. I am lashing out and will find time to do breathing exercises later (and I promise I will do them--this will be a non-thing by tomorrow).

Thank you for listening.