i love old buildings & other stuff

I had such a lovely day yesterday!  Hooped it up in the morning, then Rob and I went on a date downtown, taking pictures of this old school and this building on the circle.  See more at my flickr photo set here.

Then I went to the NPA dinner at Matteo's and it was so nice.  I got to see my dear friend Lynell (read about her halfway down).  She lost her husband Pat a month ago.  The last memory I have of Pat was at the home tour when their home was on and I went to tour it.  He was pointing out the work they'd had done on the exterior of their beautiful home. 

She told me they took every day as fresh and new and lived it up.  They really did.  Not that they never had rough times, they certainly did and sometimes wanted to throttle each other, but they lived to have no regrets.  And they didn't.  That kind of energy is contagious.  That is how I want to live, yes.  Yes, yes, yes.

NPA auctioned off a women's work crew and I am on it.  Lynell won it.  I am so excited to go digging in the earth with a very special woman.  And I and another member bid on the men's work crew and won it!  We're splitting the time, making it much more financially feasible for us.  I want to re-do the sidewalks in the backyard in brick.  I need to find a ton of brick now.  Perhaps tons.

I am writing a special feature for the Current and am so excited.  I think I'm finding my calling.  I also have a pack of women to run with, thanks to this article, and we're meeting in March.  Yeah!  Oh, and I have an awesome husband.  He went to the library last week and looked up a book by Clarissa Pinkola Estes that I have never read and he thought I'd like.  That he would do that really touched me.  He gets me.

i love this shirt.

I got this ruffly shirt at goodwill recently.  totally seredipitous--I was walking by the dressing room reject rack and there it was...along with the black and white wool sweater I recently shrunk.  So I grabbed it and love it.  At my recent 'I'm not a dirty hippy' party, several of my friends asked if I had made it.  I have totally considered it (copying it I mean), since I love it so much.  It's this nice crinkly cotton.  I fear wearing it too much, what if something happens to it?  When I put it on today, I noticed the tag and looked it up--Cino.  Holy cow.  Spendy!  See a similar shirt here. 

Speaking of thrifting, all my jeans are wearing out at once.  I just got 2 pairs for ten bucks.  Woot!

a few of my favorite things

I got this 'favorite things' idea after bringing this freakin' adorable coffee tin home Sunday from the Noblesville Antique Mall.  $7!  Then yesterday I got this YUMMY hot cocoa from TJ's.  They asked for my zip at the register.  I begged them to open a store in Noblesville.

Love this rick rack sewn onto this apron.

This phone from Rob's house growing up.  It still works, we just have to wire it in.

Love this carving detail on this old clock that belonged to my maternal great-grandparents.

My incense and behind it, a beautiful box belonging to my Great Aunt Esther.  She kept gloves in it.

Lils at a few days old.  love.

Vintage chalkboard picked up at a rummage sale.

My bookshelf (thrifted, of course.)  Ten bucks.

The picture Rob took at Pemaquid Point, Maine.  I had it blown up and printed onto canvas.

In other news, I've got a sweet four year old girl that needs to have a molar extracted next week.  :(  I'm really feeling sad and horrible about it.  She's had a rough dental life so far and wow, I just can't believe she will be going for years without this tooth.  On the other hand, I am very grateful for medicine and dental care!  I can't imagine not having access to either, yet that is the reality for so many people and it breaks my heart.

another one bites the dust, and a copycat pillow

I forget about wool sweaters + warm/hot water washes.  This is the third sweater I have accidentally felted.  Oops.  Thankfully it was a $3.99 Goodwill buy and I will sew it up into something (maybe a bag).

I bought this cat pillow (possibly vintage, on the right) for $1 at a farmers market linens booth and tried to 'copycat' it (on the left).  It turned out 'ok', though aside from the ears which don't look like cat ears--a bit too narrow-- I think it looks like a bunny (though the ears don't look bunny-ish either).  The other side of each of these is a print fabric.  Fun to make!  I want to make dog ones, too.

This weekend my goal is to make and tape FIVE hoops.  Maybe six.  I have sold three in a week and am having a fabulous time with my hoop group pals.  Then in 2 weeks I have a demo at a weight loss group and will be selling bunches I hope.  Hooping is so fun and addictive, I want to spread the hoopin' love to the whole wide world!!!!  Wheeeee-- I love my life!

it's not all perfect

Sometimes I wonder if I present a 'too perfect' view of my life.  As though there are no messes, no problems, no bills waiting to be paid, no children that ever fuss or fight.  Oh no.  Oh hell no.

Yes, there are all of those things, and more. But I don't show them here.  I'm no superwoman, nor do I try to be.  I just try to figure out who I am and be true to her.  I blog about things that move me and are important to me and things that I want to capture and remember.  The unsightly messes and the daily grind fit none of those things, so I don't mention them.

I want this to be a special, uplifting space.  There's a quote I love that goes something like this:  "People wonder why movies can't be more like real life.  I wonder why real life can't be more like the movies."

I want to capture that wonder and that magic and make my real life 'more like the movies.'  More grand, more amazing.  Those dirty dishes in the periphery, stacked beside the cookies I just baked?  Nope, not showing it.  Except for now (below), to show that it's real too, but I want the good stuff, the creating for the people I love to be the focus of what I write here.  And that's what I want my children to remember.  And what I want to remember, too.

coats piled on the table

compost patiently waiting to be tossed in the garden

pizza pans...from 2 days ago

toys all over

open dresser drawers, too

clean laundry...waiting

various items on other table

Calvin loves to try on shoes and clomp through the house.  love.

february happenings

Having a great weekend here.  Friday we went to Conner Prairie--they have a wonderful play area for children which is REALLY nice when you want to get out and spend an hour or 2.  They love it.  We're looking forward to the rest of it opening up in the spring.

Rob and Grace baked this yummy heart cake.  Gone now...I need to get to the kitchen and bake some banana muffins for my loves.

I made these felt fortune cookies from Martha Stewart.  Seriously easy!  All you need is felt, craft wire, ribbon and glue.  And fortunes.  They were a hit.  Totally doing these for valentines for friends and classmates next year.

on how to draw

Yesterday we set up drawing time.  Lily loves princesses and pink and she has this fairy and princess drawing book.  It's cute, it breaks down 'how to draw' into simple steps.  I drew the carriage at her request, she added detail.

::be intent::

::be focused::

::make a funny face::

::add lots of detail::

::be contemplative::

::furrow your brow::

::be at peace::

Who reads this ol' blog anyway?  Leave me a comment, I love to read comments.  Happy weekend!  I hope you can find lots of ways to show love to yourself and other loved ones!

a month of making

February seems to be a month of making.  Making valentines.  Making cookies.  Making snow people.  Making hot chocolate.  Making gardening plans.

Here's a little of what we've been making:

snow, playsilks & 'I'm not a dirty hippie' party

Rob took these shots on his way home from work yesterday--we had a beautiful snow and it was so heavy and wet that it stuck to everything like crazy.

We dyed these lovely playsilks with my friend Joni and her children yesterday.  They did yellow, red and orange and they all turned out beautifully.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the process. 

Below--I had an awesome 'I'm not a dirty hippie' party tonight with 10 other women.  It was so fun.  Really, really fun.  Fun to share food,  talk and laugh, and make something earthy and useful.  Recipe from here.  Every single one of the women I have things in common with--different things perhaps--but I love that we all share some common ground.  Tonight what brought us together was homemade deodorant.  And laundry soap.

this jar (by Casey) says 'Krista's Hippy Pits Mix'.  Ha!

Oh yeah...Vermont Woodchuck and a seed catalog that will not sell genetically engineered seeds--sweet!