shiny buttons

At long last, I've done a very small update in my Etsy shop! Nothing too exciting, just a couple lots of buttons. I was going through an old sewing box yesterday afternoon and found plenty of things I don't need or want. It's small, but it's a start! My shop was really starting to empty out.



Today is turning out to be quite exciting. It's snowing hard and sticking! Robert was just let out of work early. I'm hoping to get some fun snow pictures this afternoon. It's probably not much snow compared to what some places get, but you wouldn't believe how excited I am. C'mon, I'm from Texas!! I did live in Colorado for a few years as a kid, and my snow memories are quite dear to me! I think that's why I'm so thrilled. I hope this keeps up on into the night, because some of my favorite times as a kid were laying out in the snow (in my hot pink snow suit) watching it come down. Happy Friday, everyone!

film scans

Anyone remember when I mentioned getting out my "real camera" and shooting a roll of film last month? Here are some of the photos! I was really disappointed to discover that the shutter on my Minolta XG-1 sticks [most likely from disuse]... and therefore most of my pictures were way overexposed. That's something I would like to fix before using any more film up, because charming as some of the mistakes were, they were completely unpredictable! That might be the fun of a toy camera, but this was once a dependably accurate machine and I'd like to restore it.

I recently acquired a scanner from freecycle - so exciting! Now, on with the prints! Here are the couple that came out the way I wanted them:

I gathered up some little friends for a group portrait. That's a mogwai in the back! I made the heart pillow guys.

Real gingerbread man (from dozen) with glass gingerbread person (vintage Avon)

This isn't quite right, but I like it anyway. Reminds me of the old food blog!

Now, onto the overexposed prints... These are the few that came out kind of nice even though I was going for something completely different. All of the other prints looked horrible! [And yes, I swear it's the shutter's fault. I made notes of the settings I used for each exposure; I have back-to-back photos using the same settings at the same time where one frame is perfect and the next over-exposed. Not my fault!] Oh, despite all my whining I'm really fond of the below pictures.

Franklin had this NOEL sign up downtown for all of December. Have I mentioned how cute this town is?

Crummy print, but look at that gigantic brussels sprout stalk! Is it not impressive?

I can't throw away light bulbs when they go out, so I collect them. Really like the shape.

There's that gingerbread man again, resting atop a stack of presents!

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement on the last post! I'm doing fine: the person who died was a good-friend-of-some-of-my-good-friends, and the difficulty for me has been in comforting those who were closer to him. But thank you all, nonetheless! I'm incredibly appreciative of your support (in all ways).

five senses friday

Hey everyone! I've been keeping pretty busy around here... I recently started applying for jobs and lately Robert and I have been house hunting! It's definitely exciting in a real world kind of way, but unfortunately I don't have any pretty pictures of those activities (I know: I should), so you'll have to use your imagination!

How about a round of Five Senses Friday?

Tasting: Apple Pie French Toast!! So yummy. (Recipe via Closet Cooking) Also this week: chicken tingas (like spicy tacos with potatoes and peppers), blueberry buttermilk cake, homemade tomato soup and sourdough bread, and Gobi Manchurian [which was *way* spicy but delicious]. I am ridiculously spoiled in the food department thanks to Robert!

Seeing: Grey skies- it's been awfully rainy this week. Also seeing words on the page: I finally started reading Half Broke Horses for the Slow Readers Book Club! (We have a forum for discussion now!)

Smelling: The above mentioned foods? I always have a hard time thinking of smells! The Gobi Manchurian ('specially the fried cauliflower) smell stuck around our apartment a while, but it was okay!



This was an excellent package from Amazon!

Hearing: This week I've been listening to Devo (because Robert just got into this album and he keeps putting the record on!) and Elliott Smith's XO which I just got on vinyl. When I love every song on an album, it must be acquired in every format.

Feeling: Cold hands. A little sunshine earlier on in the week. Burning mouth from Gobi Manchurian. More than a few tears when I found out someone I've known since high school passed away. It's always so startling and sad when someone near your own age dies.

Aside from that last sad bit, it's been a pretty productive and satisfying week. I hope your week has been great and that the upcoming weekend is even better.

my sister's wedding

At long last, here are those wedding photos I've been talking about! Apologies for taking so long to post them, but I wanted to make some improvements to my blog format and how I share pictures. How do you like the new format, by the way? Thank you all for the tips on larger pictures!



Sarah and Timothy were married on January 9, 2010 at t'afia in Houston. It's an adorable little restaurant that serves amazing food made with local ingredients -- they even host a farmer's market on Saturdays that Robert and I attended regularly in the past!



Many of my shots from the ceremony are a little grainy and blurred because I was also hopping around making a video of the whole thing and couldn't mess with camera settings at the time.



However, there was a little sunlight left when we went upstairs for dinner, so I was able to grab some good shots! Below is one of my favorites.



We had a delicious three-course meal and it was really fun to sit around talking to everyone. I was able to see some of my family that I haven't seen since I moved away, and it was just an exciting time in general!



The name cards for the table settings (below) were penned by Betsy Dunlap Calligraphy.



After the dinner was over and we'd said goodbye to family, all of us "young people" headed over to a party for other friends who hadn't attended the wedding. It was held at a community center, and we had a blast just exploring that place. We found one room that was decorated with someone's old furniture, and that became everyone's favorite portrait spot.



There was also a ping pong table, a piano, and a skateboard we found in a closet... Haha, it was a really SILLY night. I was wearing a dress from the 40s and came home to realize I had ripped both armpits. Unfortunate! That is what happens when one parties in dainty old clothing.

It was a really beautiful wedding and such a fun party we had afterward! Best wishes to Sarah and Tim!

1 year of blogging!

Tasty cupcakes from a long, long time ago.

Today is my blog's one year birthday! It's still just a baby, but it's grown a lot. I don't have anything special planned (for the blog or in real life), but I couldn't forget to mention it.

Thank you to everyone who reads along and leaves me sweet comments! You're greatly appreciated. I feel like I have a lovely community of inspiring people to learn from.

Happy Birthday, baby sloth!!

And a bit of trivia for everyone: for the first couple of weeks, my blog was named "has anyone seen the iguana?" for a line from the song Sinister Foxx by The Breeders! I figured that would get kinda old. Baby sloths never go out of style, though.

embroidered gifts

I'm back from my trip to Houston! My sister's wedding was really beautiful and since I was named the "official" photographer, I have plenty of pretty pictures to share. I haven't gone through and edited them all yet, so you'll just have to wait a few days. Instead, here are a couple of pictures of recent embroidery projects! These are both things I gave as gifts: now that all holidays and special events are over, I can freely post them here.


Above: I added some hedgehog excitement to a pair of place mats. That was my wedding present to Sarah and Tim. (You two better looove them!) And below is the Christmas present I made for Tim, my new brother-in-law. It's a combination stuffed animal / ornament thing. This was the gift I mailed off before photographing; I finally got my chance this past weekend. I had so much fun making the owl -- embroidering on felt is kind of neat! All patterns are from Sublime Stitching.


These last couple of months have been very busy with holidays and traveling, and I feel like my new year is just now getting started (even though January is almost halfway over)! I know I didn't make any resolutions, but I would like to start trying some new things with my blog. Specifically: widening it, using larger pictures, and also I'd like to make a watermark for my photos and start using it all the time. Anyone have any tips on how to go about doing those things?

Hope you're all having a wonderful week so far!

slow readers and slowreader

UPDATE: All Slow Reader activity now takes place in this Facebook group!

Image by Gabbi

Have you heard about the Slow Readers Book Club? I bet you have, since so many neat bloggers have joined it already. But I thought I'd do my part to spread the word (and formally declare myself a member). You can find more details over here at Diana's blog, but the main idea is to slow down and enjoy reading. The first book is going to be Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, and we're going to review it on March 4th. That gives you plenty of time to locate the book (I'm checking it out at the library) and enjoy it! If you'd like to be added to the mailing list (for book discussion between now and the review date), email Diana at diana@ourcitylights.org!

And because the name reminded me of the band Slowreader, here is a song for you to listen to! It's a pretty / sad song!

a friendly reminder

Just a quick note to self (and for the benefit of others):

Do NOT leave shoes lying around in the middle of the hallway, especially if they are high heels. Especially if you're in a hurry and you're running around barefoot. It will only lead to pain! This is the lesson I learned yesterday when I stumbled on these pretty shoes and then landed (with all my weight) on the heel of one. I have a giant red mark on the bottom of my right foot and it still sort of hurts!

Accessorizing!

But I can forgive the shoes, and I'm even going to take them on a little vacation with me. Ugh, I spent probably 3 hours yesterday trying to figure out what to wear to my sister's wedding! I think I've found the perfect outfit, but of course it involves a dress that needs to be repaired. I better get busy!

Shoes - vintage from Retropolis in Houston
Cuff bracelet - Clare Stoker, courtesy of the BSP a while ago!
Purse - surprisingly, it's from Target a few years back

I'm a little worried about our travel plans for Thursday because it's supposed to snow like crazy [2-4 inches]... but hopefully everything will work out! You know what? I've been having a crummy day, but my faith in today has just been restored: when I went over to the Bright Side Project to grab the link, I found out I won something else. Now it's a GOOD day. (And I cannot stress enough how awesome BSP is!)

OKAY, everyone, I'm going to be on a blog break for a while! We're spending a few days in Houston and I'll be back here once everything has settled down. Have a good week! I hope everyone is enjoying 2010!! Sorry for all of the exclamation marks - I'm really stressed out and you can pretend I'm kind of yelling every sentence if you want.

2010!

The new year is here! How did you celebrate? My friends Lisa and Erika drove up to visit us and spent three nights: it was like one really long party. We had so much fun! Robert was incredibly hospitable and made lots of yummy food for everyone: I did my best to keep up with the dishes. Since we're sort of homebodies, we didn't take them to see many sights in Nashville, but we did walk around downtown Franklin, though it was uncomfortably freezing. Mostly we opted to stay indoors and do cozy activities. We stayed up too late, slept in mornings, and finished two jigsaw puzzles (one nature scene from the 1940s and a startling He-Man puzzle which was TOO much fun). Trust me, it was a good time.


AND IT SNOWED!! Saturday morning. The snow didn't stick because it was a beautiful sunny day, but the gigantic flakes were enough for me. Unfortunately I didn't get to take many pictures. Oh well; it may snow again later this week. Do you know what else is happening this week? I'm flying back to Houston for my sister's wedding. I've still got a few days here, but everything has been so busy that I'm not sure if I'll have time for another update before leaving! I'll try to pop back in soon.

Sorry this post is horribly lacking in interesting photos [because all of the photos from the last few days are too hilarious and scandalous to share on this blog]. I'll be back with more to share!