headed south

Tomorrow we're on our way down to Florida. Resounding YAY all around. I will be back next week with photos. and a tan.

Just a few last thoughts. Tonight as I was intently scrubbing the sink, sweeping the kitchen, and generally tidying the entire house, I had a flashback to being about 12 and asking my mom, "why do you always clean the house before we go on vacation? it's not like anyone's going to see it." but now, I GET it. you want to come home to peace, and clean.

I love how being an adult solves most of those weird mysteries of childhood.

Iowa, pajamas, music

I feel like I'm just going to toss a pile of images and sentences here tonight. but that's okay. I guess I'll number them to make it seem less scatterbrained. We all know the truth though.

1. This weekend we went to Iowa for my new niece's baptism. It was nice to be with my whole family, as it always is. And good to get out of town, even if we did go somewhere with way MORE snow than here. Always love some Iowa time.

2. I realized the other day that I have been wearing the same pajamas for like three years now. Not cool. So, i took action!


These are from target and they are ADORABLE. Way cuter in person I think. The colors are really pretty and the pattern is so cute. On sale for $9 at my target! It doesn't get any better than that.

3. And finally. i have been listening to the same mix for the majority of this month. Lovin' it. Mindy, this should be coming your way sometime soon. . . :)

let's get out of this country

well, just the state really. but i have had that camera obscura song in my head now for a few days.

Next week Mike and I are headed down to Florida for a few days of beachy fun, spring training baseball, and me not complaining about the weather every three minutes. I tell you people, it's turning me into Captain Bringdown, big time. Negative twenty wind chill tonight! And, every time I go outside I get so mad I feel like punching the cold air in the face. And that's kind of difficult. So! This trip could not come at a better time.


Gotta represent for the family team. Dude, i cannot wait.

where have your walls gone?

today it is raining on top of the two feet of snow we have. honestly. . . I don't think the weather could get any more gross than this. yuck. so this is today's art journal page.

the weekend has been good in spite of it. yesterday Mike and I went to the city to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. In all the years I've lived in this area, I've never been; crazy, right? There was a special presentation this weekend of a new virtual tour of the 1893 World's Fair-the Columbian Exposition. It was fascinating and I'm so glad we got the chance to see it. The scale of the fair is truly amazing and it's hard to even imagine what it must have been like for the people who were lucky enough to see it back then.

(this is the only image available from the museum's web site and there weren't any brochures or other information about the virtual tour. it's still a work in progress, so maybe someday.)

If you've ever read Devil in the White City, or even heard the Sufjan Stevens song "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!" you know a little bit about the Columbian Exposition, so I don't think I should launch into any big history lessons here. :) The idea of it appeals to so many aspects of my nerdiness. . . art history and architecture, chicago history, old stuff in general, things that are basically fairy tales come to life, spectacles. The wikipedia page is here if you're interested.

happy valentines

some flickr prettyness for today:

1. What's Cookin'?, 2. do you like my baubles?, 3. Untitled, 4. Spring's coat...., 5. Sketchbook Stuff, 6. Untitled, 7. Frills, 8. I love you more than tea, 9. heart tags, 10. we had sunshine today, 11. take 1, 12. New eye candy for etsy shop, 13. Be Mine, 14. pink cupcake with sesame street toy, 15. Peonies from my yard, 16. HI

happy valentines day!

lucky number seven

since I don't have a lot to say I'm doing one of those "seven things about me" posts. just random stuff. for the record, yeah, i haven't really created anything lately so I don't have much to share. I think my brain is frozen. and the negative wind chill can bite me.

okay, anyway! here they are.
 
1. I absolutely hate being "blessed" after sneezing. It's probably because I sneeze a lot and would just prefer people to ignore it.

2. I sing songs to my dog ALL the time. Most of them are tuneless. And most of them are about how she is a pug dog, or how bad she smells. So the songs are not good, but I sing them with love.

3. I have vivid dreams and remember them often. When I was younger I had recurring dreams that I was shopping for something specific and could never find it. These dreams stopped when I married Mike. Seriously! Now I dream a lot about whales, and sometimes Bob Dylan.

4. I have really bad excema on my hands this winter and it looks like I have some kind of flesh-eating bacteria. It's getting better, but at one time it was really gross. Not sure why I'm sharing this. You're welcome!

5. If Google ever went away about half my life would fall apart. I rely so much on gmail, my google calendar, and google reader. I use gmail as an address book, I email PDFs of my work to myself for safekeeping, all my appointments I would completely forget are in the calendar. . . it would not be pretty.

6. I am not very good about remembering birthdays, and I really wish I were better about sending gifts and cards. This was one of my New Years Resolutions.

7. I'm starting to get SUPER excited about planting my garden this spring. I'm hoping to plant tomatoes, zucchini, snow peas, spinach, green peppers, hot peppers, and herbs. I think this is finally the year that I have learned I can't grow basil and oregano from seed, so maybe I'll finally have some herb success.

on that note of looking forward to springtime. . . I'm out.

 

clothes, and cheese

well, as if I needed any more reasons to be head over heels for j.crew. . . their newest catalog is shot in Rome. It's kind of sick how perfect that is. You HAVE to go watch the intro video. The images online aren't as great as the catalog, but I'll share a few.

now I want to travel back in time so I can wear that yellow dress on our trip to rome last year.

Anyway, on to other things. . . This weekend I went to indiana to visit my friend Valerie. It's so bizarre to be back in a college environment. I really appreciated it, since I so rarely run into the grad schoolie academic type in my daily life anymore, and I desperately miss that kind of character. On the other hand, it's so strange being in the weird middle-ish time of life. 27: friends with kids, friends just married, friends in school. I feel so in the middle of all of that and pulled in all directions, the Stretch Armstrong of friendship. I guess I'm kind of used to it, it's been this way for a few years now. But this weekend was just a giant flashing reminder of it.

And finally, cheese. On the way down to Bloomington I kept passing signs for some dairy farm. Intruiging. So I checked it out, and it was a little cheese utopia right off the freeway in indiana. I highly recommend stopping into Fair Oaks Farm if your travels ever take you on 1-65. Samples to your heart's content! I enjoyed it so much I stopped there on the way back too. And now there is yummy Hickory Smoked Gouda in my fridg.