Stay-cation

Today is my first day of my stay-cation. My job gave us Thursday and Friday off for the holiday weekend and, since I've got some vacation time and comp. time that I'll lose if I don't use it soon, I decided to take the rest of the week off. A friend has offered me the use of her house up in WI for a few days. There were lots of other options I thought about. I could drive out to a surprising amount of places due to friends and family being somewhat scattered. I still want to hit CO but would have to drive far too long on the way there and back to really enjoy the three or so days I could have there. WI is far closer and will, I hope, be relaxing.

Today and tomorrow I shall run errands. Long errands like the DMV. I also want to get my hair cut. And maybe squeeze in a long trip to a museum. Would it be weird if I went back to the Art Institute for the third time in 6 weeks? Of course, only if I can get a free pass. I'll have to see what's available at my local libraries. It might be a thin week since it's a holiday and all.

Ooh, or maybe see the butterflies. That might be a perfect little jaunt.

Oh, and I bought tickets to see Jersey Boys for Sunday night when I return to the city! I've been jonesing to see this show forever. Hottix.org had half-price tickets to this and Mary Poppins earlier today.

Have a wonderful Monday!

He's Super

It's my brother's birthday today.

I love him.
I'm glad he's my brother.

On my way to nowhere

I need to get myself out of some rut that I'm stuck in. I don't even know what rut it is but I know that I'm stuck somewhere. And maybe it's not a rut. I mean, a rut implies that other folks have passed the same spot, on their way to somewhere else. It would imply that I am on track to something. I don't feel on track to anything.

Maybe I need to put the sewing away for a while and pull out the pens and pencils and paintbrushes. I look at the work other folks are doing and it's both inspiring and depressing. I feel like I couldn't be that creative in a thousand years. But I want to be creative so badly. I feel like it's one of those times that I have to force myself to do something. Paint, draw, whatever, even if things feel dry.

Feeling dry sucks.

Passionate Weather

That's what one of my friends calls the type of weather we're having right now. I love it. I don't mind being woken up at 3:30 with huge cracks of thunder. I mind the car alarms a bit. We've got flooded streets and power lines down. I'm only hoping that the university doesn't have more flooding because the floods last fall really put us in the red. That and the economy tanking. We really don't need any more major damage is all I'm saying. Part of me wants to just go walk around in the rain and get soaked. But while I'm at work I'll stay where I won't get too wet - there's a nice covered portion of the patio in the building where I work. It's perfect for getting the smell and wind of the rain without coming back looking like a wet rat.

Do you have a favorite type of weather?

From a calmer time:

Midway dreams

On Sunday I went to an outdoor concert in which a friend was playing with some other friends. Now, despite the fact that it is pouring outside right now, it was gorgeous on Sunday. Gorgeous. And I had just had Indian food for lunch. Which made for an already good day. But then...

I desperately wanted to ride in a monkey belly. And there was talk of a funnel cake. But they were shutting down, so no rides and no food. I was a wee bit distraught. But still, awesome monkeys, right?

Not much to say...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Pretty things

Say hello to Baby E. She came home in the wee hours of the morning Sunday. Some of my good friends are working on an adoption of her. She is stunning, yes?
My friend, a mom to two little boys, called and said she needed a girly quilt. Which I am happy to help with. Also girly clothes. So I whipped up this:
I hope your week is filled with beauty.

Table, part the end

And here is the story of a lovely table. With pictures of cats.

Here she is, in three separate parts.

Here she is in the second stage, put together and sanded but in need of a stain or some paint up top.
I tried the staining thing. Not so good. Either the wood had too much water damage or there was more stain that remained on there in the first place that didn't get sanded off.
So, next option was paint. I picked out a color called Pineapple Soda from Behr. I got some tinted primer as well. And I started painting.

Here she is primed:
And here she is at last with her yellow top:
This picture is a little truer to the color. The legs were in good shape and I kept them the way they were.
Now I have a bunch of yellow paint that I need to use. I wonder what I'll paint next.

I'm excited to have a table to use again. Maybe I'll finish sewing some things.

Table, part II

Hello my pretties! Happy Monday.
Saturday I lounged about, finally feeling like I had recovered from the weekend before. I was in my pajamas until the buzzer rang. Which I ignored.

Then it rang again.

And I sprung into action (pulled on some jeans and a semi-presentable shirt), grabbed my keys and ran downstairs in hopes of catching the mail person. I had an inkling that there might be a package and that's why I was being buzzed. I quick checked my mailbox and there was a slip in there so I ran out the front door and looked about wildly. I was a little excited about this package, can you tell? I spied her across the street so I hustled over there and asked if she had rung my buzzer. She had a package for me. From the brother and the girl.

Really, I told them. Really, really, spending crazy amounts of money to come and see me graduate was quite enough. But, if you insist... and then I directed them to my favorites over at Etsy. Just there, to the left. I now have some yellow flower hairpins and some fabulous yellow earrings. I probably squealed a little as I opened the box up.

I am wearing them today with a dress. (I'm wearing a dress!) It's rather perfect for the summer. And I've felt pretty all day.

Oh, table stuff. So I tried to stain the table yesterday. Didn't turn out so well. I'll be stopping at the store to get some paint for the poor thing tonight probably. You can't really tell very well in this picture but it is all glued and attached and rehinged and sanded. Clearly a place of rest.Here is the table this morning after being stained:

*Sigh*