Elephants in my House

No, actual elephants don't live in my house (I wish!), but I do tend to have LOTS of elephant trinkets (thanks, Grandma!).

And I thought it would be an interesting post to share pictures of the elephants in my house with all of you!

(Obsessed... Yes!)

I had to stop myself adding the story for each piece because otherwise this post would be INCREDIBLY long, as opposed to just long!  A lot of the pieces are from my grandma (like all the porcelain elephants and that really cool ivory necklace... I know, I know not ethical at all, but she got it from her Uncle Harry who was a sea captain from Estonia in the 1940s--see, cool story).

Anywho, that's it for my little "Elephants in my House" post!  (Also, I'm missing a few elephants that are in my house because I noticed them after I took all these pictures and my sister has her camera again which means I have no fancy camera with which to take awesome pictures!)

P.S.  My etsy store is almost up and running (big WOOT!) Just have to start listing things and figuring out tax (seriously confused) and other stuff and I'll be set!!  So tonight is going to be a big crafting night, double WOOT!!

Random Acts of Kindness

This was going to be an IWIWT post, however, I just experienced something that I want to write about.

So, as per usual lately, I have been kind of blue (I'm going with the fact that winter has not left the building... just go already, you have overstayed your welcome!) and I read an article today that just compounded that feeling of despair and added on a side of lost faith in humanity.  I don't even want to link to the article or tell you what it was about because it was so terrible and demoralizing and completely horrific that I would not want to subjugate you to whatever goes beyond that link.  Instead, I'll tell you I read it on Rolling Stone's website if you're at all curious (trust me, it will only make you sad and sick)... but let's get back to my story.

Photo credit.

So I'm blue, which we've established (for like the past three weeks) and I'm running an errand for work which means I have to go to a different building on campus (I work at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for all you stalkers... I mean curious folk out there).  And since it's winter/spring-not-so-much-ish there is a TON of construction everywhere, so at one point I detoured through a building.  

Now, as I'm walking up to the building I am one person and another person is walking behind me.  I am closer to the guy in front of me than I am to the guy behind (like pretty close, like he could have held the door open for me kind of close) but instead he just whips the door open quickly and I reach out with my arm to stop it from closing.  While I do that I see the reflection of the guy behind me being mirrored in the glass, and though he's not super close to me, he's not so far behind me either; he was kind of in that gray area of "do I" or "don't I" hold the door for him thought, with him probably being more on the latter end of it (like if I let the door close I would have been within proper door-holding protocol).  Well, I decide to wait a beat or two and be all polite and hold the door for him, and he thanks me, and of course since every building on campus has two sets of doors before walking in the building, I hold the second set for him too (because I already waited for the first door, not holding the second would have just been rude).  And remember all the while, I'm a glum glum gal.

Anyway, I'm rambling.  So he says thank you for both and I say you're welcome for both and this random act of kindness I performed made me feel a little better.  Not that I did them for selfish reasons, I was just thinking about how I want the world to be kinder in general and I guess I'm a firm believer in treating others how you want to be treated and karma and just overall passing on positivity.

And I was hoping that maybe he'll pay it forward and be kind to someone else today.  (Did I mention that I smiled at him, because I did, it wasn't too grand, but I think a smile can do so much sometimes and it's polite and shows appreciation).

Photo credit.

After we get through the doors he walks on by me, because he is walking briskly and I'm the glum glum girl who's shuffling her feet, but we're both headed to the doors that are up a flight of stairs on the other side of the building.  In a flash he's already up the stairs opening the door and I'm just reaching the stairs, when he stops mid-door opening, turns and waits for me to climb the stairs and walk to the door, and he says with a nice smile (and a sassy Spanish accent), "Now it's my turn!" and he holds both sets of doors open for him and I give him a big genuine, grateful smile and two "Thank yous."

For some reason, this made me feel good and made me feel that maybe, just maybe the world isn't sinking down into a state of negative oblivion (I'm only mildly dramatic, I swear).  It was just a nice gesture and put a smile on my face when I truly needed one.

So thank you sassy Spanish man (perhaps you are not Spanish, but your accent was divine and my accent-figuring-out abilities are minimum so I apologize) for being kind to me and making me smile!

Photo credit.

I truly believe the above statement!

I.AM.SO.NOT.MOTIVATED

The title of this post pretty much sums up how I've been feeling for the past few weeks.  I'm still blog-punishing myself... I don't know why, I'm just masochistic like that.

But I need to stop.  I apologize for my melancholy (but honestly, there are so many blogs out there where I feel like the author is always so happy, every second of the day... it makes me feel bad about myself, like something is wrong with me.  And part of what I want to do in my blog is be honest with who I am.)

So, maybe in an effort to show you who I am, I will show you who I am NOT:

• I am not happy 24/7/365 (but that doesn't mean I'm never happy, I'm only human... at least I think so, but I'm not exactly sure, my sister claims I'm not)
• I am most often not optimistic, though I try not to be pessimistic
• I am not a social being (that's why blogging is so attractive, I can hide behind a monitor until I'm comfortable enough to come out of my shell)
• I am not conservative in my beliefs (at.all.)
• I am not intolerant of other people's beliefs (which means I am tolerant of what others believe... just want to make sure that one is understood correctly)
• I am not tall (5'4")
• I am not super model skinny (in fact, I weigh 145 pounds, and am not ashamed to admit it)
• I am not a workaholic (obviously)
• I am not an alcoholic (haha, because it rhymes... sorry, poor taste?  oh well, we live...)
• I am not a natural dark brunette (I'm actually more of a light brown, dark blonde... which pains me to admit... not that blondes are bad, I just never realized how light my hair was until I started dying it dark)
• I am not a Christian (nor am I Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Wiccan, or any other religion)
• I am not an Atheist either
• I am not sure where I am going with this post...

Okay, so this is getting hard to do what I am "not" so we're going to go to what I am now:

• I am the person who reads the plots to movies on wikipedia before (or while) watching the movie
• I am madly in love with my husband *wink*
• I am the proud mom of two adorable (and beastly) pups
• I am creative
• I am funny (at least I like to think so... I can laugh at myself, that counts, right?)
• I am known to be crabby and grumpy (especially when I am hungry... right husband?)
• I am a humanist
• I am a lover of all things Greek, elephants, and big words
• I am the opposite of athletic (for reals... I was the student that got all As in school EXCEPT for gym class... and yes I'm still bitter about it)
• I am fairly smart, but have my "duh" moments
• I am/was/always will be obsessed Josh Groban
• I am an existentialist

And I am and am not so many more things than just what I listed, but in an effort to be honest about who I am and not become some sort of "image" behind my blog, I thought I would divulge certain aspects of me that I hold dear, or that are weird, or honest, or funny.

So that's me, in a nutshell (not that I believe anyone can be reduced to a nutshell).  But back to those bloggers who are always cheery... perhaps that is just how they are and you know what, I admire them for that and I say good for you.  I just am not like that and cannot pretend to be like that on my blog, it wouldn't be truthful but I think it's cool if people are like that and it at least gives me something to strive for!

What are or aren't you?

And she's baaaaaaaaaaack.... (with a pseudo-tutorial-thingy-ma-doofer, aka a TU-TO-RU!!)

Hello again, my beautiful blog!  I have neglected you and for that I apologize; however I have realized something about myself in the interim (mmm... good word): I tend to punish myself when I procrastinate by neglecting the things I love to do, all because I feel sort of bad for not getting the things done that I need to get done (aka: work and school and life outside of blogging and creativeness--if that's even possible).

So here I am and hopefully I will never leave you again (or until something new and better comes along!!  I kid, I kid!).

For today's post (I am not going to do a WOMD--what's on my desk--because, let's face it, it's not that interesting, even though I like playing with picnik).  Instead, I am going to do a post on how I jujjed up my glasses case.  It's like a pseudo-tutorial without any real instructions and just pictures of me burning the bejeebs out of my fingers!

Let's begin my TU-TO-RU!! (totally calling any tutorials that from now own--WOOT!)

Here is my old case... it was a horrid and sickly mint green with a sort of textured surface that had a lot of dings in it (admittedly, I was not very nice to it, so it deserved a face-lift!).

 

There are no dimensions from the fabric since I kind of had to just pull this out of my you-know-what, so what I did was the old wrapping paper method where you put the present to be wrapped on the paper and fold it over two.five times or something and then cut.  It was all estimation, essentially.

And, yes, I named my glue gun (because I'm crazy like that). 

I got pretty mad about being burned, and to this day (I covered it about one.five weeks ago, I have a dark brown patch of skin on my middle finger).  I realize it does not look like anything in the picture, but trust me it hurt.

 

The transformation continues...

 

YUCK!  It was soooooo ugly and trashed!

 

Ruffles just enhance everything.  And, yes, I've personified my glasses too.  So sue me (or don't because I'm kind of broke).

And that is my tu-to-ru for the day!  I promise my next tu-to-ru will be MUCH better and have real instructions and supplies and everything!

Peace out!

And it's Monday...

I don't really have an interesting post for today, but I told myself that if I didn't post something that it would be the beginning of the end of my blogging.

I have blog posts in mind that I want to post, but they all involve a lot more time than just a spontaneous type-fest, like this is.  So, another day I will post those.

For today, I'm going to lament my strong dislike of Mondays.  And how really the weekend should be five days long and the work week two... if only.

Well, as you can see, I'm kind of in a glum mood, and you know what, I'm only human so I'm going to go with it.

I am excited because tonight the hubs and I will be going to Date Night at Bryant Lake Bowl with the sis and the bro-in-law-to-be (my sis, not the hubs).  That should be the bright spot of my day, as it should be.  Philosophical moment... perhaps we work so that we can enjoy the moments we have with our loved ones.  Still philosophizing... but why do we waste all that time away from our loved ones.  Sometimes it feels like a waste.  I wish I could spend every minute of the day with my husband. Okay, I'm sure we'd kill each other, but I sometimes wish I could spend the day-day with him and not just at night when we're both tired and worn out from the day, kind of crabby (if you're me), and just overall bums.  I vote for adding at least one, maybe two more days to the weekend... PLEASE!!

Anywho, I'm addicted to this website and their video tutorials.  Pixiwoo girls you inspire me to be creative!!

That's all for now!

What's on my desk Thursday!!

Hello!  And welcome back for this edition of "What's on my desk Thursday (formally known as Monday, probably will occur occasionally on whatever day I feel like it)."

First off, HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!  I'm about half (or a little under, according to an argument I got into with my sister during Oktoberfest this past year about how German and how Irish we were) Irish and half German.  I just say that because it's easier than saying "I'm 76.2% German/Austrian, 23.4% Irish, and .3% French and .1% English."  So I round up, estimate, make it up, whatever.  In my family those were the only two heritages that we actually celebrated in some way shape or form.

At any rate, I'm Irish, somewhere down the line, so today I am honoring my Irish side by wearing green!!  (Side note: the hubs is not Irish, but he refused to put on a green tie today when I asked him too... he's a meanie-no-wearing-greenie-St. Patrick's-day-hater!)  I'm also wearing one of my favorite necklaces from Judith Jack (who makes some of the most beautiful, and expensive, jewelry).  My necklace is a silver, marcasite shamrock which I bought at a discount price because I worked at a store called Patina (local to the Twin Cities) that sold her necklaces.  (I loved working there, but I worked there along with having a full-time job and going to school and then Zach moved up and it just got really complicated, so I had to quit.  But I miss it!)  Anywho, here it is (and my green shirt):

I suppose my wedding ring is also Irish since it has a Celtic trinity knot on both sides.  (Note:  I tried taking a picture, but my phone is not so good with the close-ups, so here's a link to the ring.  We got it from a place called brilliantearth.com which is a totally sustainable and non-blood diamond online jewelry place.  I like it because everything is either recycled or retrieved through ethical origins.)

But this post is about what's on my desk today.

I also brought The Monster to work with me (I figured it was his turn since The Rat came yesterday)... I forgot how little I actually get done when he's here though... and you'll see why below.

That is what is on my desk today and why I get nothing done.  You see, The Monster is more than just demanding... he's a diva dog.  He has to sit on my desk and when he's on my desk I have to have at least one hand on him at all times.  If I'm petting him--Great, otherwise I can just rest my hand on him and he'll be fine.  But remove my hand and he gets VERY upset... he will "harumph" at me, and wag his tail furiously back and forth and paw his paws against the ground.  It's kind of cute, if you can get over the annoying part of it.

Yesterday The Rat literally just slept under my desk the entire day.  It was cute, and I could type with two hands, so YAY! to The Rat for being more well-behaved at work than Chico is; however, they totally switch when it comes to our house (The Monster is more well-behaved, and The Rat, well, she's just psychotic at home).

So more desk stuff:

Of course, I edited all of these with picnik again (love, love, LOVE it!).  I do this What's on my desk thing mostly so I can apply fun effects to the pictures in picnik... because who really wants to see my messy desk anyways!

My phone takes surprisingly good pictures for how cheap it is (we only get the FREE phones whenever we renew and my phones can get pretty jankity after awhile, especially if you are prone to the dropsies).  But this photo is a little fuzzy, probably too close up, but I wanted you to see The Monster's missing tooth!  He got his teeth cleaned in January (total rip-off) and they had to remove one of his front teeth and he looks so funny now (in a cute way though)!

My diva dog (and multigrain cheerios--YUM)!

And that's what's on my desk this today!!  I hope your desk is cleaner (and not as smelly) as mine is!!

Éirinn go Brách!!

Bring your puppy to work day!

I brought the Rat to work today... why?  Because it will wear her out and there is a professor in the Scandinavian department that just absolutely loves it when I bring my dogs in!  Plus, it's Wrigs' first time here (Chico frequently accompanies me in the summer/on breaks) and hopefully it will wear her out and she will sleep tonight (unlike last night)!

But, this post is actually about the craftiness that was my evening (yesterday).

After a stressed-out-break-down-extravaganza (aka me bawling after work because I'm overwhelmed between work and school), I crafted, because creating really just zones me out and calms me down.  My meditation=CREATION!!!  (Hmm... feel like there's a new word in there somewhere... "medicreatation" "medicreation" "meditatecreate"... I'll work on it)

So here is my evening in pictures:

It started out with the Rat being put in prison... she was being so naughty so I put her in the kennel for time-out!  And she looked so pathetic, but it was a great opportunity for pictures!

And the Monster felt left out (aka he was glaring at me from his perch on the back of the couch), so I took a couple pictures of him!

The Rat getting in the way of my new crafting (I was braiding those strips of fabric together, but she was getting in the way!)

Remember braided rugs!?!?  Anyone?!?!  Well, growing up we had (and I still think my mom has it in there) a braided rug in our bathroom.  And for a school project on colonialism one year I made a braided rug, which gave me this ingenious idea for a purse/bag handle!!

I was also inspired by this picture of a purse from Anthropologie (which means it is muy expensivo--and yeah, I just made that word up)!

Photo credit.

This fabric was just so pretty, I couldn't pass it up (and I want to go buy more and make some more fun stuff out of it!)

I like to find beauty, even in my scraps!  I think I took about 20 pictures of just the pile of fabric scraps, thread, and miscellaneous "junk"!  But it's so pretty and I don't want to throw it out (wasteful)... I think I might try to make some sort of art out of it.  That could be interesting!

And the finished product... almost!  I actually haven't sewn the straps to the bag yet (they are being held in place by pins).  Also, the finishing is terrible around the top and I forgot a snap (oh snap!).  But it is my first prototype... I think it looks a little too handmade, if that is possible.  Not sure if it's something I would try to sell, or better yet, if anyone would buy!  I really like the braided fabric as a handle though, so I'm going to work on it (thanks for the inspiration Anthropologie!)

Body shot! (yeah, I giggled to myself when I wrote that, and thought I was HIGHLY clever... dork)

And here is a little random pic of the hubs trying to scare me.  I hate it when he does that, but I caught him in the act.  Yes, he looks pretty psycho.  No, he's normally not... so far.

Almost done with my long post of pictures!  The last pic is of my zipper rosettes!  I've made two necklaces so far and I folded these ones the other night.  Can't decide if the purple ones will be earrings or if I will put it all together as a necklace.  I think the purple ones would kind of rock as earrings.  They are big, but not heavy!

Well that's all for today!

It's sunny and warm(er) here... WOOT!  (I see a walrus in Wrigley's future... "walrus" is our term for "walk" because they know what "walk" means, but haven't quite figured out "walrus".  It's the husband's creation.)