Wednesday, August 18, 2010

so many things!

okay, so first off....

I finally made blog buttons! yay! they're sort of dorky, because I'm really bad at this sort of thing... but such as they are, please take one. :]





secondly... I was incredibly bored today, and felt inspired... so I made a skirt! :] I've never really done anything beyond repairs, taking in stuff, and making quilts when I was younger, so I'm rather proud of it. :) I'm not gonna lie though, the belt/sash took FOREVER. The edges of the fabric frayed terribly, so I had to hem the sides. And there wasn't enough fabric to make it one piece, so it's about ten 5-inch strips of fabric sewn end to end.
I'm thinking about adding something to the hem. Maybe ric-rac or eyelet?




I've been in a very hellogoodbye/motion city soundtrack sort of mood recently. Music-wise. And I've been finding more cool music that is of a similar vein. And since you all are so cool, and I just need to share my music finds with someone, I'm sharing with you. :]
Jack's Mannequin (who I had heard of a few years ago, but never really got into. anyway, I just heard a few songs of theirs -his?- and loved them!) I especially love Swim and Dark Blue. I know Dark Blue is the most well known song, and normally I hate using those as my favorite song since usually myself and the majority of population don't agree on music, but in this case we do. It's a good song.
The Academy Is... I found out today that this is good sewing music. ;) Also good cleaning music. really it's just good upbeat music for when you're doing something boring. (like cleaning. not like sewing. sewing is never boring!)
The Rocket Summer. I love them! It made me really happy too that a lot of their songs mention God. Don't know if they're actually Christian though, since I thought I heard a song that had some naughty words... (though that might have been the academy is...) absolute favorites are Walls, So Much Love, Do You Feel, Save, and Roses. (I just love so many!!) Do You Feel is just a really good album. I think I've listened to the whole thing 8 times, and I just found them yesterday.
The Cab. One of THOSE Nights and Take My Hand are good ones to start with.

all of this stuff is a lot more punk rock than I usually listen to, but it's been a while since I've listened to anything besides indie and folk, so maybe I'm just getting back in touch with my nonexistent punk side. ;)

This is getting to be a rather long post for something that was supposed to be short. Also looking over it I'm noticing that I am addicted to parentheses, ellipses, smileys, and the words also and anyway... oops! am I the only one who just seems to use certain words all the time? It's not even like they're favorite words (like chicanery, loquacious, and sonorous). they just seem to attach themselves to me and they're all I can write when typing. but speaking of favorite words, what are yours? I'm looking for some new ones. ;)

lastly, I have a question for you guys. recently I've been seeing a lot of blogging pet peeve posts, which are both picky but still hilarious in my opinion. {I probably think they're so picky because a lot of the ones people mention are things that I do all the time! like adding extra letters to words... I do that so much... and improper capitalization... so guilty... I just feel lazy sometimes, and like the way lower case letters look better. more.. casual, I guess.} ANYWAY... one of the peeves I've been seeing a lot that everyone seems to agree with is... automatically playing music on the blog. I was amazed by how many people were of a similar mind, until I realized how terribly frustrating it is when you open 3 or 4 blogs at a time, and hear music... but can't find where it's coming from, so you go back and forth from blog to blog, scrolling up and down looking for the source of the mystery music. Even worse is when multiple songs play at once, resulting in some extremely strange noises that can no longer be called music. I was reading that that can discourage a lot of people from visiting your blog.
BUT... I also really like music! And I like having it on here, because I like sharing some of my favorite songs with people. What would be really awesome is if I could find a manually-starting player, so that way the lovers of silence could peruse my blog without distracting background noise, and the ones who like the music could just hit play and be happy. (if anyone knows of one of those, please let me know! :))

So what's the consensus, y'all? Is the music annoying? Should I take it off? change it to only songs without lyrics? if you love it, let me know. if you hate it, let me know. be harsh. I'm not sensitive. ;)

we could be wallflower friends

love these drawings found on .bipolar's flickr.






cool stuff.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and loved it. It was filled with such wonderful quotes, and was just amazing. I loved the raw emotion in it. I don't truly consider a book to be a success unless it makes me laugh, cry, go "what??" and turn back a few pages to try to figure out what just happened, and mark things out of it to remember. extremely loud and incredibly close = all of the above.
when I returned it to the library, I left a secret inside it. I looked it back up on the library website, and someone has it checked out. so my secret is now in someone's hands, waiting to be discovered. :] what's crazy is, what if it's someone I know? what if it's someone who is reading this right now? what if they leave a secret note in the book for me? or they put their own secret in it, for the next person to read, and starts a chain of secret-sharing? I'm going to leave one in every book I check out now.





"If you take a book with you on a journey,...an odd thing happens: The book begins collecting your memories. And forever after you have only to open that book to be back where you first read it. It will all come into your mind with the very first words: the sights you saw in that place, what it smelled like, the ice cream you ate while you were reading it...yes, books are like flypaper--memories cling to the printed page better than anything else."
-Cornelia Caroline Funke

Monday, August 16, 2010

weekend recap [simple pleasures]

this weekend was full of


friends & the fam



birds

these ones were so cute. they kept making little noises to each other, and they'd fly together, come back together. I like to think that they were in love. =]

this one had lasers for eyes. serious.

at the zoo.


long walks in the battlefield behind my friend's house







my friend's new puppy that I am quite seriously thinking about stealing in the middle of the night...




crazy painted nails.
I never paint my nails. I don't know what came over me.
my inner 6-year old, perhaps? ;)
(also note the tie dyed shirt I made, which is my new favorite :] )




hand-holding
don't get so excited... it's just my little sis. ;)



picking flowers
I'm adamant about picking my own flowers for my wedding bouquet. Preferably queen anne's lace and other wildflowers. :]




"be the change you wish to see in the world."

Thursday, August 12, 2010

yes, bequeath is a real word.



I was born in the wrong century.
technology annoys me. (we should all write letters)
I've been told I speak much too properly for this time period. (personally I think it's just because I know how to enunciate and I say my t's in words like mountain and Latin, unlike the vast majority of the American public)
I know what the words frivolity, cravat, pelisse, alacrity, felicity, and genteel mean, and how to use them.
I've spent all day wearing full historic garb - petticoats, bloomers, corset, bonnet and all - and thought it was surprisingly comfortable.
I love waving around a handkerchief.
I think men should still kiss hands and bow when introduced. (okay not really... but it's an intriguing idea, is it not?)
I fall in love with nearly every period movie I see. I'd blog about all of them (and maybe I will eventually), but so I don't overwhelm you with hundreds, no, thousands of pictures, we'll just stick with the regency period for today...

:)


















ahh, visual love.
So who's got the time machine?

Sunday, August 8, 2010

highlights of the weekend

no, these aren't in order. they're just numbered. because I like lists.

1. making the perfect cupcakes.
yes, I know, I know. I feel like such a hipster wannabe blogging about cupcakes.. argh. :smacks forehead: just pretend it didn't happen, okay? I'm just too proud of them not to brag. you didn't see this here...
I made lemon-blackberry and chocolate almond. soooo yummy. (if I do say so myself.) plus the lemon icing turned out the perfect shade of yellow. I can see why the hipsters are so obsessed. I mean, one half of me is saying, come on, they're just pretty, iced muffins... while the other half protests loudly. they're just so much fun to make. next time I'm using ALL of the different cake decorating tips for the frosting...


2. my adorable nephew.
this is the new favorite game. taking all the stuffed animals off my bed (yes... those are... all mine... *cough*), arranging them on the floor, and then, taking turns with each, lying on top of them. what a cutie.


3. making a list of 100 things to do before I die.


4. finding two cute dresses at the thrift store for $10 (score)



5. Hem
love
love
love this band. do yourself a favor and go listen to half acre.


6. editing this picture.




album I'm listening to:
Rabbit Songs by Hem. of course.

quoting:
"forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the wind longs to play in your hair."



Thursday, August 5, 2010

other blog

So for the past year or so, I've noticed that my little siblings are quite hilarious. I'd always quote them on facebook, twitter and such. But I really want to save all of them, (I'm sure they'll just love to see them in their teenage years... haha) so I'm starting this blog. :]

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Happiness

the lovely Carlotta started this idea, and I love it!


happiness is...

yellow flowers.


happiness is...

this quote.

happiness is...

finding something you thought you had lost.
(for me it was this science book, under my bed.
yes, I am a geek.)


happiness is...

finally having a chat with that person you kept waiting to hear from first. :]


happiness is...

writing a long letter up in my treehouse.


happiness is...

an act of kindness from a random stranger.