Surprises

It snowed today! Big fat snow great for snowballs. Where are my presents? *

We went to church this morning and when we left the house it was lightly snowing/raining as predicted by the weather people. But by the time mass ended, there were big chunks of fluff falling and about an inch on the ground. I guess we got about 2 or 3 inches total.

The snow was a little surprising because yesterday was very deceiving. It was really clear and relatively warm. I don't think anybody believed the weather people but then it turned out to be worse than what was expected.

When it was all nice and pleasant yesterday I drove up 301 to Bowie to a bead shop. It's not the closest bead shop but in my opinion it's the easiest to get to. The area of suburban DC that I live in doesn't have cool shops and boutiques. You usually have to drive over the Potomac into Virginia or all the way on the other side of the beltway to Bethesda or Gaithersburg to find cool stuff. The drive over to say, Alexandria, isn't so bad as long as there isn't traffic. A 25 min drive at the wrong time of day turns into an hour of stress and road rage. So I was really excited to find a bead shop that was just straight up the little highway and nearby where I used to work for my aunt in her pediatric office. The shop is situated in a strip mall which is great because parking is simple, unlike in Old Town Alexandria where you have to park on the street or in a garage.

The shop is small and simple and fairly new and they offer lots of classes. I left house not terribly excited about going to a bead shop when I knew I couldn't really buy anything, being that I'm broke and all that. But I did get excited because they had a good selection of sterling silver wire and precious metal clay supplies. And I was doubly excited because they had a "Help Wanted" sign in the window. And then I was quadruply excited when I got the job on the spot!

It's just a part time retail deal but can you think of a more fun job for me? I start Tuesday. Can't wait!

*TV would like you to believe that it only snows on Christmas. So when there's snow, there should be presents, right? RIGHT?!?

I wear bags on my feet

Wazzat? A funky pumpkin? A boat? A knitting project gone horribly wrong?
No! It's a shoe! Or a sock. Or a slipper. Whatever.
Actually there are two.

These didn't take too long. Maybe a few evenings. They're called pocket book slippers because they're built like little bags that you stretch out with your feet. I used wool and threw them in the washer and dryer so that they'd shrink a little. I'd like to throw them in again so they turn into felt, but I worry that I won't be able to stick my feet in them afterwards. Then I'd be stuck with little felt bags which isn't too bad, but my feet would be cold.

Since we're uploading pics...

Who doesn't like a drunk baby?

So I've been drinkin with my buddy Igor, I mean, Eeyore. What's it to ya?

Haha! Just kidding! Happy Valentine's Day!

She's crafty and she's just my type

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. It's cold. There was no power in the house from 7:30am to 1:30pm. As you can see the trees are covered in ice. A branch from a tree across the street fell and just nicked my car which was parked out on the street. Thanks to my dad, who stayed home today, all three cars are now parked in our driveway. My mom had the day off today anyway and woke me up this morning when she thought I might need another blanket. My room is in the basement which is usually FREEZING. Colder than cold. But I have a space heater, so my room was actually the warmest room in the house today.

Look! My bed and its snazzy new bed linens! And the wall under the ledge is "Jade Sea"! the window is covered with a bamboo roller shade that lets in a lot of light into the basement room. That circular yoga pillow was my Christmas present from Grace and is satiny like the linens. The bed is quite slippery now. Weee!!!! And look at that! The old lamp that used to be in the living room matches the room now! But what's even more impressive is the fact that my bed is made! Exclamations!

I even found a switchplate that matches. And it all coordinates with the curtains covering my closet. So matchy-matchy! I've gone insane!

So what does a crazy girl with no electricity do when it's colder than a witches boobie? Knit

I know, I don't even like to knit. But it's cold! And I've been watching too much DIY and reading too many crafting blogs (Crazy Aunt Purl and NotMartha). Marivonne taught me how to knit in Houston but I guess in Houston the weather just wasn't right for knitting. While I love jewelry making because it's fast and you can wear jewelry in any weather, knitting is portable. And you can knit in bed under a bunch of blankets. I can't bead in bed or in a car.

I used to HATE crafting. Thoughts of the arts and craft shows at the Waynesboro Outlet Mall (now closed and used for fire fighting exercises until they build a Target) make me shiver with disgust (or is it just really cold? no, it's digust). But now I make jewelry and knit and will probably take up some other crafty thing. But you know with things like Stich 'n' Bitch and cooler people doing crafty things it's not so bad. Though I did have a Granny moment this morning in my "Amish" house, sitting by the fire and knitting while sitting in a rocking recliner.

Here's my scarf in progress under my new little Ikea lamp. The color of the Red Heart Light and Lofty yarn is "pheasant" but I like to call it granola. It has bits of tan, ochre, olive, and burgandy so it will match with all of my outerwear. The loopiness is a bit difficult to knit for me, as this is just my second project ever (the first being a blue scarf), but I love it because it hides all of my mistakes.

I just noticed in the corner of the picture is another crafty thing. I painted that bud vase at the Mad Potter in Houston, a paint your own pottery place. The craftiness is overwhelming!

Favorite thing right now

Finding a whole cookie in my cookies 'n' cream ice cream

I wish they just had a tub of cold soggy cookies. But I'm sure they'd market that better.

This is what it's like

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Legendary

President's Day is coming up...sometime... I don't know.

Anyway, I came across this weird video about George Washington. Did you know that he never chopped down a cherry tree and said he could never tell a lie? Lies I tell you! All lies! But the stuff in this video...truth. All truth. (NSFW and it gets weird at the end).

Here's another one on Kennedy . He was a robot! Just like Dick Cheney!

Fresh and so clean clean

So the job search is at a low right now. I was bummed about not getting that job and then I found out one of the NIH mouse jobs I applied for was just flat out cancelled. I didn't hear back from the hiring agency about a phone interview that I did recently so I guess that was a bust, too.

I did a few lazy searches for jobs but didn't really find much that would suit me. Just a big ol' bummer all around.

Stressfull and disappointing. (Where are my meds?)

So I decided to paint my room. I figured I needed a calming sanctuary and a fresh start.

First, I watched hours of DIY and HGTV, especially the shows like Design on a Dime, Free Style, Decorating Cents, and Redesign. You know, the shows for people with no money. As I watched those shows I went to BHG.com and played with Arrange-a-Room about a million times. I ended up rearranging the furniture in the den. The den is very 1979 and has wood paneling that I will be painting over once I'm done with my room. I still have no idea how to arrange my room, but I don't need to figure that out until I'm done painting.

Anyways, I then went to JoAnn's Fabrics and chose a fabric to be the "inspiration" for my bedroom. I bought a little less than 8 yards (almost the whole bolt) of "home decorating" fabric (30%off!) to use for curtains to cover my wide, shallow closet. The closet used to have metal folding doors but they broke a long time ago. The closet will not require all 8 yards so I might be able to make a throw pillow or two. I had to hold myself back and not buy the fabric with the crazy mod paisley design and reminded myself I was going for calm, not crazy. I did choose a medium to heavy weight cotton fabric that is light blue with white flowers that are outlined in grey and detailed in green. I figure I will use those colors as well as some soft yellow and splashes of bright red because it wouldn't be my room if there weren't some bright red. Kinda like this Mucha.Turns out, except for the red, I'm rather color trendy because Sherwin Williams has a color palate called "Balanced Living" that uses those colors here.

I took a swatch of the curtain fabric to Walmart and found a paint color that matched with the blue in the background. It's called "Jade Sea" and it reminds me of the color of the water in the Carribean - in some light it's green, in others it's blue, sometimes aqua or turqoise. So far I am about halfway done painting. Painting is fun at first, but like Goo said, "Painting walls is like pancakes. The first two are fun and easy, but then you just get sick of them." He painted his girlfriend's mom's basement/music studio last summer and had to use a bunch of different colors. I'm just using "Jade Sea" and bright white. I think if paint smelled like candy it wouldn't be half as bad. But it don't.

Once I'm finished with the paint my mom and I will make the closet curtains and get some new window coverings. I'm thinking natural material roman shades or something would be good. We'll see.

I am also planning to get some cool lights from Ikea and paint some vases. I have all of these clear glass vases that I got for cheap a long time ago and I think I'll paint them green or something to coordinate with the rest of the room. I also want an orchid. I can't keep a real one so I'll have to get a fake one. I once had a real one and it got aphids and aphids make me want to puke.

I want the bedding to be like sleeping in a marshmallow with lots of pillows and a down duvet. My parents and I went to a home show today at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro and while they talked to vendors about hardwood floors and bathroom and kitchen remodeling, I got sateen 400 thread count 100% cotton sheets in creamy yellow for my queen bed for just $20! Yay.

The furniture I have isn't very "zen" but I am not getting new furniture anytime soon so I'll have to make do. It's pretty traditional wood in a medium reddish finish. But a piece of furniture that I DO need is a desk chair. Finding a stylish chair that is also comfortable is going to be difficult. I don't want a typical leather or fabric office chair, despite how comfortable they are. They're kinda ugly. So if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Once I've got most of my room done I'll post pics. I can't show y'all an unfinished room. I learned that from t.v. You might be skeptical in the beginning, but it'll all come together in the end!