neglect!

it's been almost a week since my last post. and i feel almost quite ashamed of all the neglect i've bestowed upon this wide electronic cyber world. i really have no clue how many [regular] readers i have in the first place (my estimates come to a minimal amount), but i still feel a little bad for this. i guess i've just been in haze ever since i got back from charlotte on monday. and getting back into the swing things and work has been rather disheartening. my work is fine and all, but sometimes, ugh, argh, ack, i need lots of help when it comes to actually getting stuff done in a somewhat timely manner.i'm working from home right now, but this is only because both of my bosses aren't at work today. one of them is on a trip in oregon for two and a half weeks, while the other one is at his parents house, four hours away, getting more furniture for his own home. but as i write and glance over at my bf sleeping, i know any moment he's going to wake up and complain about why i'm not at work. seriously, this is annoying. it's like he's my employer, which he clearly is not. but i can't be too pre-maturely perturbed right now because he looks so...not annoying when he's asleep. and he woke up at 6:15 this morning with his heart hurting. he's been sleeping on the couch ever since...

as for inspiration and all that other nickety-nackety stuff, i have been reading this blog called the freelancer's fashionblog. it's really fun. and i really enjoy reading blogs by europeans. i don't know what it is exactly, maybe their unique and bold styles, their passionate yet still clueless desires, or their cute little mistakes in english (which usually lead [unintentionally?] to a double meaning and some irony), but they have lured me into their coffee-drinking, hem-sewing, lace-loving ways. another european blog that i pretty much visit on a daily basis is only shallow. she's the first euro-fashion blog that i started reading and i've been a dedicated reader ever since. i discovered her on n.e.e.t and was influenced even more to visit her blog when i read about her in BUST.

in the clt

i'm in the big clt this weekend. it's been great fun so far. we're actually here for a nascar race [wooowhooo]. but we're staying at a friend's place. this girl is really nice. she went to high school with us, but she's a year older. and it sounds like she just might have my dream job. well, not dream-dream job, but one that i'd like to have right now [she's an editor for a cute little publishing company!]. i guess i don't really have anything to post, like a new link or picture or anything, but i just thought i would share my happiness at making a new friend and having a good time with old ones (& the new one, too!). but...if i really think about it, i might be able to give a link. i went to this one part of town, it was like a little slice of asheville. :) it's called plaza-midwood. and i suggest that anyone that likes the more alternative/less-commericalistic areas, then this is the place. i went to this really cute store, but most of it was highly over-priced. there were a couple of other cute little vintage/thrift stores there, too, but it was too late for to go there.

a blogger survey, hmpf

nothing else to talk about, is what i'd say, but really, i just don't feel like doing work. i'd rather contemplate the finer things in life:

Three ways you are stereotypically a girl:
1. I am becoming increasingly more domestic each day and tending to enjoy most parts of it.
2. I think about what I'd do with my child [ex. plant flowers, watch clouds, draw animals & bake cakes], if I were to have a child, on a rather regular basis. And it's not scaring me as much as it used to.
3. I love frills, lace & all those other ultra-feminine textures and fabrics [secretly].

Three ways you are stereotypically a boy:
1. I greatly dislike authority figures.
2. I make amazing & disgusting "hawking" noises when coughing up my blue-ribbon loogies. Ew.
3. I love to watch James Bond movies.

Three of your everyday essentials:
1. Water bottle.
2. Cup of coffee.
3. Pen + notepad.
-------------------------------------------------------------

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was being awkward; making up dances to N'SYNC, Spice Girls, & Britney Spears with my next door neighbor. I was in finishing up my 7th grade-year; standing in the lunch line at school & flushing when I saw my crush. I was drawing up a portfolio of brightly-colored fashion designs, writing & drawing my own Archie/mythology-themed comic books, & starting on many unfinished short stories.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Catching up on work; setting up an "inspiration-sheet"; gathering things to bring in to work to make it more aesthetically pleasing; make my mom a CD of pictures; take pictures of "good" -minded businesses.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Bagels; yogurt pretzels; jellybellies; sour gummies; blueberry muffins; almond croissants; kettle chips; fries!

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Quit my day job and work to save the planet; have my own hand-made whatever store and non-profit organization that is geared to environmental & social justice education & advocacy; pay off my debts & my family's debts; buy a solar powered car; visit every country of the world; give to organizations that i believe in & support; do as much as I can do to help the world & its people & animals. ;)

5)Places I have lived before:
(my current & first real place) Asheville, NC;
(my college place) Swannanoa, NC;
(my parent's place) Candler, NC

which?craft!

this weekend was the montford music festival and the which?craft! show. i had good fun at both [the festival was held right in front of my apt, and the craft show was just six minutes away]. more about the festival later...but i did meet this girl, who goes by shaybelle, at the craft show, who had some really pretty, simple, feminine clothing. she does custom ordered clothing and is from columbia, sc. i got her card, and come to find out she has a blog, flickr account and etsy shop.

some apt. adjustments

i love thinking about/finding new things to do to the apt. one of my absolute fav. blogs is ikea hacker. i love how they turn ordinary objects into new extraordinary/extra-cool/extra-handy objects. two that i found today are legs for speakers and mural bed headboards. i would have to make some alterations to the projects, but that's not a big deal. i just LOVE finding ways to make my apt. more aesthetically pleasing and more organized.

living in a hamlet

i'm getting a little giddy now. do you have those moments at work [when you should be working] or at home when you get so excited and happy about an idea that you literally shake all over? it's not a bad shaking. it's a sudden excitement that starts in the gut and spreads outwards, to your heart, chest and loins. it's pure, sheer excitement of what could be and how it could change the world. yeah, that is exciting. well, i just had one those. i was reading lostateminor and saw this post about a blog called indie breakfast club. this blog 'is a blog of life-enhancing ideas and inspiration for socially-minded entrepreneurs and curious, empathetic “creative” professionals, all served up in time for breakfast. Blueberry waffles, of course! The blog is concerned with creating positive change through entrepreneurship, design and culture. It looks at ways for us to work smarter whilst affecting positive change in society.' it also has a group on flickr that i'm loving, and i'm totally going to participate in it's photo project.

peace, please

it is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the isreali state and the displacement of the palestinians. i will just say that a lot of unnecessary violence and hatred has come from this. and i feel that no matter what the cause, nothing can be really, truly solved with violence.
hatred is the enemy of peace.

loo-li-op, V

i just found this absolutely amazing and adorable and wonderful (all three, yes!) website that sells curated art prints. i think i just might love every piece of art i looked at (although some more than others). this one, by devon kelley-yurdin, is my favorite, by far. i'm so close - this close - to buying it.

loo-li-op, IV

i've been having over-whelming feelings of domesticity recently. this probably has something to do with a combination of living with my boyfriend and reading an endless number of blogs about crafts, cute things, cooking, being a parent, & design in general. but i just read one post that made it scarily clear about how i feel about these things right now. not to mention, my bf seems to be talking about these sorts of things a lot lately. i guess he's making these realizations, as well. but then i see pictures like these and just find myself melting and thinking about the time when i'll be waking up at 6am to brush my kids' teeth and baking cute cupcakes for their birthdays.

loo-li-op, III

i'm patiently waiting for my "not a paper cup." it's apparently very high in demand lately. once i saw it, i knew i had to get it, even though i didn't immediately. i had alway brought in a cup for coffee to take to the coffee shop that is downstairs from my office. but then for a month or two i got lazy. or maybe i just got tired of having to do the "don't spill the coffee" dance up the stairs, so i started using those horrible paper/plastic/whatthehellareyoumadeof? coffee cups that the shop offers. i felt horrible. awful. i just kept on thinking about all the non-bio-degradable cups i was piling up in the landfill. this image stayed in my head until i decided that i would buy a "not a paper cup." but it's still going take anywhere from 2-4wks. to get to me, if i'm lucky. so that same day i decided i'd start bringing in my coffee cup again and use one of those slightly-less-bio-dregrable coffee lids to keep from having to do the dance. i still feel a little bad for using the lid, but at least i've been reusing it and not getting a new one every time. [p.s. & i love the antique-y mug cup i've been bringing in, so that 's a plus. i'll take a pic of it later and show it off.]

loo-li-op, II

gahhh, i love, love, love this picture of my boyfriend and his sister when they were little [with, i think, a little help from photoshop]. his family has got some of the most adorable, greatest pictures i've ever seen. i love to just gaze at their photo albums of them while they were still living in france. :)

loo-li-op

i stumbled upon this designer from a friend who was looking at her shirt designs at wet seal. i think her stuff is very pretty and sweet. she uses some really beautiful colors. she actually does note card designs for all holidays & other days.

pictures of glory

i promised pictures, so here's some pics of hanson...

yeah, i was right beside him:& in front of him...

and beneath him, oh my...

this is the only pic i have of all three of them together, performing:

& while i was there, i just happen to run into george clinton (yes, lu, george clinton of the album i gave you!). the only problem is that i was having a fight w/the camera at the time, so...

---
some pictures at LEAF...

the "beach" & cabaret hall:
creepy, funky, gypsy auto...
#16 in france chess player plays 8 people simultaneously:
part of the LEAF parade:& we hoola-hoop! (or as bastien calls it loo-li-op!)
---
and, lastly, some pics of my bud's graduation @ appstate...

d peeking over the graduates:
making her way to post-grad status...
glowing w/anticipation
she got it! :)
d & fam.:

i've had an absolutely fabulous week this past week. it's been hectic, but it was also fun, new exciting and surprising. i can't wait to have another one of these...it makes me really, really appreciate life and the great friends and family that i'm lucky to have in it. <3

three boys in a booth

so, a lot
has been happening.
i saw hanson on mon.
may 5.
and even though i wasn't a huge fan
of them before.
i am now.
i actually went on
a walk with them
barefoot around asheville.
it was for a good
cause of course.
but it just made
me think they were super
cool. and they put
on a pretty good
show, too.
[despite me knowing
about 20 words total
of all of their songs.]

on may 6 i voted
in the primaries in n.c.
that was odd
b/c despite me
living in a different
place now i still hadn't
changed my voter
info so i had to vote
in my old precinct,
which was way
out in hicks-ville.
it was really funny.
i hadn't done too much
research on my local
and state elections
so i ended up voting
for three people.
two of three i voted
for won. including
my presidential
selection.
although i'm officially
unaffiliated i voted
in the democratic
elections. that's
the crazy thing about
the democratic side...
no matter what
your affiliation is
you can vote in
the democratic elections.
you could even be
a republican and
vote in the democratic
elections, which
doesn't make much sense
but apparently
lots of people
idiotically did.

after voting we went
to amazing savings,
which is simply amazing.
i got spearmint, lemon
balm and tomato plants
there. they're currently
resting on my window-
sill. :)

i also took a shower yesterday,
the 7th.
that was exciting.
i've gotten into this
horrible habit of only
washing once or twice
a wk. it's the disgusting
hippie and the lazy
slob coming out in me...


p.s. sadly, none of these pics
are actually originating from me.
these, i will load soon. i'm just lazy
right now. ;)

the 2nd day of may

i'd like to make
my life a little
more magical.

with...
fairies,
elves, gnomes,
flowers, butterflies,
vegetables,
lace, silk,
pastels and
bright colors,
subtlety in the
obvious,
rhymes,
slow songs,
tulle, piano,
violin,
mandolins,
accordions,
folk songs
& stories,
soft hands &
slow days,
lines of the
earth showing
through,
hearing a rooster
in the morning,
eating
fresh biscuits,
squirrels & chipmunks,
bees buzzing around
but not near me,
unicorns &
hippograffs,
writing little
notes and leaving
them around
for the fairies
to read...

these are just
some of the ways
that would make
my life a little
bit
more magical. :)
[oh, don't forget
picnics, honey &
the big bad
wolf.]