"Life is like riding a bicycle- in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving."-Albert Einstein

May I introduce...The Icicle! ...because its icy blue... aaaaand a bicycle. Not extremely creative.

I sort of love it already, although it needs a few add-ons: reflectors, bell, need a tire pump and chain/lock. I absolutely love the cream colored fenders and may even get a cream colored seat cover for it.

I went on a little ride yesterday evening at the greenbelt in Fairfield. It was so so nice out, cool, breezy, pedalin' like the devil, hearing the "wizard-of-oz-miss-gulch-on-the-bike" melody in my head. *note: must get basket to put little dogs groceries in.

my weekend in 6 shots.

[ sometimes bed-time reading needs to be your Mom's travel journal from 1965 (when she was 14 years old). ]

[ sometimes you just have to see an 80's band play their hits and dance a little. ]

[ met a new member of the family and he has the sweetest little face & disposition. ]

[ when I saw this vintage car parked outside my house Sunday morning, it made me happy because it was the perfect color. ]

[ sometimes festive socks are just enough to make your day ]

[ because fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and cabernet can make for a delicious Friday night dinner ]

One reason my sister is neat:

[she puts on fake northern accents in postcards]

scrabble rousers

Have a few sweet little additions this week! I usually use these little white mosaic tiles I buy for 6 bucks for a QTY of about 20. They work for the most part except that the jewelry bale on the back doesn't always stay 100% glued as the back of the tile is a little concave...and whats the point of having a necklace that frequently becomes not-a-necklace? So I stopped into a goodwill yesterday to look for an old scrabble board came to use the square tiles for my necklaces. As soon as I walk in, there is a table full of games and Heyoh! Scrabble. I snatch it for 3.99 and skip to my car. Impatiently, I use my keys to take the tape off the edges of the box and... what the..? game board: check. 4 stands for the tiles: check. Tiles? not 1. So ok, I run back in, get my 4.32$ back because come on.. thats the price of lunch.. and go home, a little defeated.

turns out, I can buy 100 scrabble tiles for $6.00 at the Hasbro site! Look out everyone.. 100 tiles = 100 rings, necklaces, magnets, and anything else I can figure out.

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” - Hemingway

I pass it twice a day, going to and coming home from work. I'm driving South on Studemont and I see this little brown sign with an arrow pointing to the right: "Museum of Printing History". Could be neat, but never really gave it much thought. I looked into it today, curious, and it looks alot neater than I first thought. Not only do they have permanent and traveling exhibitions, but they offer a wide variety of classes from learning how to create your own wood type posters like the one below (which I would be 100% all over if the class didn't cost 120$ )

to Lithography, silk screening and making your own paper from pulp! I'll definitely be attending this one:

Holiday Pop-Up Cards
Learn Paper Engineering! Create holiday themed Pop-Up Cards, while learning basic techniques, terms, and a foundation for creative exploration. Each student will make three cards using mechanisms including pivot, generation, spring & more.
Date: Tuesday, November 17: Tuition: $45 plus $10 materials fee.

There is an exhibition opening in a few days that I'm interested in visiting, as I love the look/ intricate mechanics of antique typewriters: click here to see full details!

When I was in 7th grade, my parents bought me my very own electric typewriter. It was grey, bulky and had a big plastic cover, but I don't remember the brand...who knew that 15 years later I'd wonder about it.. and maybe wish I still had it.

The Museum of Printing History · 1324 W. Clay Street, Houston, Texas 77019

..went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat

Received this lovely piece of original art that came all the way from Sydney, Australia! My lurve knows just what I like. Can't wait to get it framed!

Broken sidewalks, Twisty trees and Red doors

[enjoying the neighborhood]

more happies!

!!! Received some awesome little prezzies from wonderful ladies today! And they know me so well! I got a set of art notecards (that I won't use but will put in little frames), little bubble owl magnets and an octo-necklace all by Susi Ghahremani [self-proclaimed painter, crafter and pal with the hard-to-spell last name ]. If you want to look at more, her website is Boygirlparty!


Couple of prints from boygirlparty:

Happiest Day!

So I get home from work and there's a big box on my doorstep, addressed to me, from Mission Restaurant Supply in San Antonio. Is it cups? a cheese grater? Did I get drunk one day and buy dishware from a restaurant supply store?

NO.

It was the greatest surprise EVER.

Inside was...

YES! Pure Texas pride in every syrupy morsel. I got so excited I ran right out to buy milk, syrup, whole wheat waffle batter... I get home SO ready to snack and OHHHHHhhhhh I forgot eggs. SO! tonight-- I will christen it with a texas wafflefest.

[who doesn't want to start the day like this??]

Oh hai!

If you live outside of Houston (or maybe even in Houston...everyone loves mail thats not billz) you may get one of these soon. Homemade bird note cards! Hurrah!

kitchenlust

I long for a kitchen with a floor just like this where exciting cooking experiments are a daily occurance.

sometimes you just want to celebrate in your own tiny way

because i can only wear it 1 week a year.

projekt

Have decided to start a new blanket every labor day. This is the beginning of the Fall 2009 blanket: seafoam green with sandy beige stripes. Already used one skein of green! Yahooooo

Dzień dobry!

Had a great Sunday at the 46th annual Slavic Heritage Festival at Our Lady of Czestochowa! The fest celebrated 4 Eastern European cultures/ nationalities: Polish, Czech, Ukranian and Croatian. Things like that..little festivals.. make me remember the things I enjoyed about the CZ and remind me that I'd still like to do more exploring. One day.

Went to Catholic mass before the festival- Was said in all 4 of the representative languages.

This is a replica of the religious icon whose permanent home is in Częstochowa, Poland and has a really interesting & ancient history (that I just learned about 10 minutes ago).

"According to tradition, the icon of Jasna Góra was painted by Luke the Evangelist on a tabletop built by Jesus himself, and the icon was discovered by St. Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land. The icon was then enshrined in the imperial city of Constantinople, according to the legend, where it remained for the next 500 years. "

"The focus of pilgrims to Jasna Góra is not the monastery, but the icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, which is displayed in a altar in the Chapel of the Black Madonna. The icon shows a serious Mary holding the infant Jesus on her left arm and gesturing towards him with her right hand. The Virgin's gaze is intense —pilgrims are moved by the way she seems to look right at them" Read more at this site.

Lunch! Croatian cevapcici, which is served as a sandwich with little sausages stuffed into warm, crispy pita pocket with lightly grilled onions and a roasted-pepper sauce. Apparently it's traditional "street" food... it was messy but amazing. Mom got the Kabob and I had a Czech Pilser Urquell (it had been two years since my last!)

Kids from the Polish school.

This little girl also sang at the Polish mass before the festival- this big voice out of such a tiny person. She was so good.

cro⋅chet /kroʊˈʃeɪ; noun- needlework done with a needle having a small hook at one end for drawing the thread or yarn through intertwined loops

every fall i start a new project. sometimes it only grows to be a scarf, sometimes it becomes a blanket, and then sometimes it doesnt become anything at all [ends up in the box-o-yarn in the closet]. its not the finished product that counts anyway, its the task/action/ feeling of progress or creation. and while its building, you have something warm to cover your legs while you watch movies.

maybe one day i'll learn to make something fancy... like a hat.

Don't need no Red Lahbstah!

Here are instructions for having your very own peel n' eat boiled shrimpz fest!

[I bought 2 lbs of jumbo gulf shrimp for 5$ a lb on sale @ HEB (i win!) so this recipe is only for 2 lbs]

Step 1: Make you a drank! (because you probably just got off work and need one. Martini pictured.)

Step 2: Slice fresh french bread.

Step 2: Douse that french bread in Stubbs spicy BBQ sauce Step 3: Get a BIG pot. Put the shrimp in the pot and put enough water in the pot to just cover the shrimp completely. Then take the shrimp out and put the water on the fire to boil. Pour your seasoning in the pot. I like Zatarains and its only $1.25. The whole bag will season 4 lbs of shrimp so I only use half.

Step 4: Once your water and seasoning are boiling, pour your shrimp in and bring back to a boil and cover. Boil the shrimp for no longer than 2 minutes!

Step 5: After 2 minutes, take off heat and let the shrimp stand in the water for 10-15 minutes to soak up the spices. Pour shrimp in a colander to drain water, put shrimp in a bowl and stick in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes, or until they're as cold as you want them (unless you want 'em hot) While they're cooling, whip up the shrimp-dipping sauce. I like light mayo mixed with Vietnamese Sriracha chili garlic sauce. Verrrryyy spicy. At this time, I put the BBQ bread in the oven- it only needs to get a little crispy on the edges, so about 5-8 minutes will be good.

Step 6: Dinner Time! I had a little fried okra that Dad made left over from the night before so I popped that in the oven with the french bread. Peel N Eat :)

Ta- Dah!

Shots from Pennino Rd, Covington, Louisiana Sept 4-6

[ house mom and dad built. lived there until 1985. ]

[pennino rd]

[ Bogue Falaya ]