Royaboya's Beautiful Useables

Contest time!

2011-11-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

CONTEST TIME!Here's how it works:1. Head over to facebook.com/royaboya and "like" that page, if you haven't already2. Answer the survey posted on royaboya's wall about what your favorite item for sale is!3. Sit back and cross your fingers!The winner will be contacted via facebook!The winner will get a free pair of earrings or bird decoration - depending on what they voted for! YAY!

And if you win, you will smile thiiiiiissss biiiiggg!

rosie my earring model

2011-10-31T21:20:00.001-07:00

My awesome little sister came over yesterday with her brand new haircut and let me use her as an earring model! Thank you Rosie!!! I love these pictures... you'll find a bunch of new postings at royaboya.etsy.com and more still to come!

earring backdrops

2011-10-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

So about 5 years ago, when I was still living at home with my family, our garage caught on fire. It took over a year to get most of the stuff back - they delivered all of it in boxes and we put it in the garage. There are SO many boxes. So many. My dad is still in the process of going through them. So every once in a while, he sends me home with another box from my old room that he has uncovered. It's very time-capsule-y, since I haven't seen most of the items for at least 5 years! There are a lot of things I didn't remember I'd forgotten about. So this week my dad sends me home with a box that includes old mix tapes (score), a CSULB trash can (how fitting, since I am back there for my Master's), my rotary cutter and matt (YES!), about 15 jars of acrylics that had gone very very bad (tossed those, sigh), and a bunch of small boards that I had painted and collaged on. I vaguely remember making them, but I do not remember if there was a purpose to them then. I hate throwing that kind of thing away, but really - what would I do with these random painted boards? Then - brilliance! I will use them for my earrings!!! Setting up a booth to sell items is an art in and of itself. I'm not good at it, I have to say. I always have so much stuff and not enough space, and I also have to keep my set-up small enough that I can pack it into my little Yaris. So... here's hoping that using these painted boards as backdrops for some of my earrings will add some much needed pop and attention-getting to my booth!

Patchwork Indie info + new products from yours truly!

2011-10-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

I have been making some new earrings/rings this week...can't stay away from the hearts! They are so fun to make. I've been playing around with a lot of different yarns - my favorite hearts are being made out of cotton (like the picture of me wearing giant heart earrings) - they are large, but still really, really light. I love cotton.

I've also been using some handspun silk - which are pretty, but definitely more delicate and can pill up a little bit. I've used hemp - leftover from a scarf I made my cousin yeeears ago. The hemp ones are awesome - especially combined with the chain that makes them dangle. I also splurged on new yarn (gasp) (nobody's really shocked) that's acrylic but feels like a silk/wool blend - and is awesomely jewel-toned and gives an almost tie-dyed effect. Those are great too - sturdy and purty. I'm putting them on chain, and am loving the effect.

I hope folks at Patchwork do too!

Speaking of Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival... I will be at ALL THREE events this November!

LONG BEACH:nov 6th 2011 * 11-5pm the physical address for the marine stadium where the show is: 5255 paoli way * long beach * ca * 90803 BUT the actual loaction is on the corner of bayshore & appian @ the lot with launch ramps for boats (just follow the signs)

directions from the 405 south: exit at studebaker, turn right on 2nd st, take 2nd st to bayshore ave, bayshore takes you right to the lot

directions from 405 north: 405 to 710 south, exit on broadway, take broadway to bayshore ave and turn left, again bayshore will take you right to the lot

CULVER CITY:ov 13th 2011 * 11-5pm at the helms bakery between washington blvd & venice blvd @ national

From Downtown or 110 Frwy

Take the 10 Frwy (West)

Exit Venice Blvd and turn left, continue past La Cienega Blvd. heading west.

Off the 405 interchange

Take the 10 Frwy (East)Exit Robertson Blvd.Stay in second lane to the left, merge on to Venice Blvd. andveer left onto Venice heading east, cross National Blvd. and proceed to Helms Ave.

SANTA ANA:nov 27th 11-5pm11-5pm 2202 north main street * santa ana * ca * 92706 this event takes place on buffalo street @ main street & in the harvey’s parking lot in the middle of the street

I can't wait!!!

good vibrations

2011-09-15T17:18:00.001-07:00

Hi there folks,

I am sitting in my school library, about 2 hours early from class due to weird scheduling, wishing I had brought more crocheting to do. I thought I'd take this chance to update you on my crafty endeavors over the last week!

Last weekend I headed down to San Diego for the Good Vibrations Unschooling Conference. There is oh so much to be said about the wonderfulenss that is GV. I love the philosophy, the location, the people especially... but I was NOT prepared for how much love they had for ME! I showed up pretty late on Saturday, and decided not to set out my wares. I was saying hi to folks I haven't seen in a long time, and I was just plain tired. I enjoyed the evening, especially singing loud and boisterous girl scout songs all night.

The next day I set up my table - I had carted with me all sorts of random hand made odds and ends: earrings of course,
and magnets,
ceramics,
some beanies, bags, coin purses, bird decorations and my new rings! (and probably more, I just can't think of what). I had a pretty full table inside - and was amazed by how I hadn't even finished setting stuff up yet when I had my first customers!

Unschoolers are definitly my best customers, by the way. My favorite thing of all time is having kids come over with a few dollars and buy them and their friends semi-matching things. I was selling my rings for $1.00, so that was very popular with the younger crowd (although the older folks liked them too!) I ran out of rings and was making them on demand right there!

Amy Steinberg, an amazing and inspiring musician was playing a concert for us at the hotel. I decided to set up my stuff in an outdoor table so I could watch the show AND keep selling! I am so, so, so glad I did. Amy is fantastic, beautiful voice, and every song has a wonderful message. There were people dancing and hula-hooping like crazy, and it was some of the most fun ever. I was supposed to leave that night, and people kept buying so I kept selling...probably til 11pm or so.

The unschoolers wiped me out! I came home and had to buy a bunch of ring making stuff, and am working on more birds and earrings!

Patchwork Indie is coming up in November, and there are a few smaller boutiques in October that I am going to - so I need to get cracking.

I'll leave you with this fun photo:

Look closely, one of my birds is in there somewhere!!!

contest time!!!

2011-09-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am feeling the urge to give away a free pair of earrings! Today I want to really thank the folks who have already bought some of my handmade items, so this contest is specifically for you.

Here's what you have to do to win....

1. If you haven't already, go to facebook.com/royaboya and "like" the page

2. Submit a photograph of you or someone you know wearing or using one of royaboya's items. Put the photo on royaboya's facebook wall, with a comment about who is wearing it, why they like it, or some other little bit of info.

3. Do this by September 27th.

4. I will take all the folks who have posted photos, and randomly draw one to win a pair of earrings!

Let me know if you have any questions!!!

start of a new semester

2011-08-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there world, so it's the start of a new semester...and time to wrap up some projects and start others. School technically starts on Monday, although my 1st class is Tuesday. I start seeing clients at my practicum site the same day, and I just got the dates for the Indie Patchwork shows in November! I don't FEEL like summer is over yet, but the world sure wants me to be thinking about the fall.

So here's my project rundown:

1. Thesis
Since I last wrote, I put aside the thesis plan to finish the IRB packet. This is an intense thing - the IRB is the review board that decides whether or not I am allowed to conduct my research at all. I was intensely nervous for the anti-climatic turning-in-of-the-packet last week. It included a letter from my thesis advisor, their packet (title, topic, ethics review, hypothesis, purpose, benefits, how I will protect the subjects, etc. etc.), ALL of my measurement scales, a copy of my survey instrument, the letters of approval from the groups that I will be sending my survey to, informed consent, and my intro email to the groups. Big giant packet, emailed and hand delivered to their office. I did that last week, and now I wait for the board to review and approve! Hopefully there won't be too many edits...

2. Craft Shows - I just got the dates for the Patchwork Indie shows in November! I instantly made a list of goals - new earrings, birds, and washcloths by then. I love Patchwork and I think before-christmas is going to be a great time. I want to make sure I look ahead to that so I don't get surprised by it and waste that opportunity.

3. Classes at CSULB
I am taking 17 units:
A. Trauma and Grief
B. Group Counseling
C. Meds
D. Clinic
E. EDP520 (research)
F. Thesis

I'll be able to write more about my goals in each one when I actually attend a class. Right now my goal is to SURVIVE this semester. I bought a calendar, and all I need is to stay organized, focused, and keep from procrastinating.

4. Practicum - I have been doing trainings at my site for over a month now. On Tuesday I officially put in my "slips" - which are requests for clients in certain time spots. I am officially allowed to start on August 31st. I am nervous, excited, ready, scared.... honestly until today my biggest concern was time management. Then I read a news story about therapy gone awry, and now I am scared of ruining people for life. I don't want to make them worse!! So my head is all over the place where my practicum is concerned.

5. Work - I put in my two weeks notice almost 2 weeks ago. Monday is my last day. I am sad to leave my clients - they are truly the best part of this job, but I also feel bad for not...feeling bad. I have a hard time with transitions - the minute I decided to resign, I was done. I also don't like the awkwardness of these goodbyes...so I have been sort of avoiding telling people I've been leaving. Probably not the greatest thing, but... that's me.

6. Exercise - I am on a three day streak of 10 minutes a day. Monday: water aerobics for 1 hour, Tuesday: cycling for 51 minutes, Wednesday: walking for hours, today: water aerobics for 1 hour. I am trying to look ahead in my schedule and do the thing that sounds the most fun!

7. Sprint Triathlon training - I haven't done anything organized with this training - but I am going to start incorporating biking into my week. I feel a little stuck without a good (real) bike, which might just be an excuse. I don't know. I just don't know that much about this. But I figure - biking, running, swimming - I'll just do *something* related to those three things until I have the wherewithall to push it further.

8. Healthy living - Honestly, this has been rough for me lately. I had a really rough time about two weeks ago, and all I could do was watch tv and eat. I've never eaten emotionally like that before. It was awful. The thing that picked me up out of it was going to Big Bear and going camping and fishing with my husband and cousins. I came home happier and more resolved. I don't even want to give myself crazy goals here...I just want to make the BEST choice of the options I have, MOST of the time.

9. Therapy - Still attending, but need to figure out a better schedule. Still love it, still a strong proponent for it. Also it got me to start journaling again, which for someone who preaches the benefits of journaling all the time, has done it way less than she should lately. I even got my water colors out last week and painted a few pages.

10. Husband - In the process of revising certain roles and figuring out how we do this wonderful marriage thing - yes, it's been a year and 2 weeks, but being an overachieving student and MFT trainee and wife require awareness, prioritizing, and conscious decision making. I have a hard time being multiple roles, and I feel frequently like my DH suffers. There are my wants: to nurture, to make the house beautiful, to feed and cook and take care of, to garden and be self-sustaining, to create a house with light and music and creativity, to spend time with him and be able to do the extra little things that make his life better and easier. There are my other wants: to watch 4 seasons of Madmen in a row, to crochet for hours, to read and re-read YA books. There are pressing requirements: to write that paper, to study for that test, to attend that training and buy dogfood. It is so hard for me to prioritize my values, my goals, my wants, and my schedule. I keep thinking it HAS to be easier once I am done with school - but I want to "bloom where I'm planted" and not stave off the life I want for "later" because that feels like a death trap. I also am not great at little bits of everything - maybe something I should work on. Maybe I should physically set a timer and do 15 minutes of EVERYTHING I want to do every day. I don't know. But it's something I think about a lot.

11. Cousins - K and Y are going back to Spain tomorrow morning. I am really, really sad to have them leave. Their presence this summer has made it exciting - they're both really funny and sweet and I enjoyed having them here so much.

12. Making things for other people - I have 5 shawls I am making for a friend's wedding, and curtains for my cousin. I have a little over 1 month for the shawls, and the curtains should have been done 6 months AGO. I am a huge slacker. I will get out the sewing machine this weekend and work on the curtains. I will.

So that's me right now. Full of so many directions. Maybe that timer thing isn't a bad idea - then at least I'll get to it all.

bird decorations!

2011-08-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

So.... another little textile obsession of mine, spurred on by my constant browsing through ravelry's baby patterns... This is a quick little project that is an awesome stash-buster! I didn't buy a single new thing for any of these... just using up the awesome little bits of yarn I love and don't want to get rid of (you know, the half yard of baby alpaca, etc.) and random buttons I found in the bottom of my sewing box. The idea was to make a mobile out of these, and I haven't gotten that far yet... but I keep making the birds!

First you crochet a circle - any yarn, any pattern of stripes, anything. Then crochet a beak, wings, and sew them in. Fold the circle in half, sew some button eyes, attach a crochet chain to the center, fold in half and sew shut!

These aren't the greatest photos - but I was too excited not to share them right away. They are super fast creations - and after this first batch, I know better what to do next time. I have a bunch at home that are halfway in the works right now! Haha. love the birds! This blog has an actual pattern for you if you're interested. :)

Baby Blocks!

2011-08-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

I spent Saturday/Sunday in Santa Barbara for my friend Marina's "baby warming" - she is about 4 months along, and as this kid should grow up calling me Aunt Roya...I wanted to make sure I made a near-to-my-heart sort of present.

I agonized a little bit, actually - no idea what to make. I wanted to make sure I made something gender neutral (for practical and philosophical reasons), and I didn't want to make anything other people would make either...

So I started by finding my favorite book covers from when I was little - and I printed them on iron-on-transfer paper. My idea was to make a quilt using these book covers and yellow fuzzy fleece backing! Well...I accidentally ironed on a book cover that while it LOOKED like a Dr. Suess book, it was actually a spoof and not exactly baby-blanket appropriate.

So I decided to make "baby blocks" instead. They are each hand-sewn, with the book covers cut up into 3 inch squares, and that yellow fleece as the supplemental material. I stuffed them with hypo-allergenic batting, and put a bell in each one so it would make baby-attracting noise!

I also made a box for them to go in, using more book covers!

This was a super fun project, and I can think of about 8000 variations I'd like to make. Can't wait to do more :)

Project update time!

2011-07-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about keeping a blog is the ability to go back and read old posts...I've been trying to do this more consciously lately, because I use this blog a lot to "remember to..." and it sure helps to re-read!!!

Anyways - here is a list of some projects I had going, that it is time for an update on! It's been a really busy summer so far - I had a summer class, started my practicum, and have relatives visiting from Spain. I feel a little scattered, a little frantic... and like I am losing sight a little bit on some of my goals. So this is a good time to stop and revisit them.

1. Thesis
I've had one long thesis meeting this summer - which was both really helpful and really exhausting at the same time. My thesis is on measuring adult homeschooler's attitudes towards psychotherapy. I'm a little lost with some of the statistics, and feel like I need a refresher course. I have another meeting on Wednesday, so I have a lot of work to do between now and then. We are working on our 10-20 page "thesis plan" which is basically the skeleton of the thesis that we will flesh out over the next year. There are 4 other people working on their theses, and we meet as a group with our advisor. It's a great group - with a variety of projects. I really enjoy working with them... but definitely need to get in some good hours of thesis work in the next few days.

2. Craft Shows - I did several a few months ago, but have really pushed the pause button on it right now. I had to, for my sanity - but I am looking forward to getting back into it for the holidays.

3. Classes at CSULB
3a. Summer Class - This was a 7 or 8 week class that was HARD and I really enjoyed it. It was taught my our department head, and she knows her stuff. It was an in-depth treatment planning class, and I just got my grade yesterday: the hard work was worth it! I got an A...which I was really not sure I was going to get at the beginning of the semester. The next semester starts on August 29th, so I have 1 month of "freedom." (hahaha.)

4. Practicum - The last update was that I had a site... Since then I have started training at Mariposa Women and Family Center. It's been great, and informative. It's been a lot of policies and procedures training...we just started in on the forms and finances this last week. I'll keep doing training once a week until the end of August, when I start seeing clients!

5. Work - I am still working 3 days a week as A2A Coordinator and Auditor. I don't have a lot to say about that. I enjoy it when I am there, but it is hard for me to get out the door to get there. We did just get a few overnight events approved, so that's exciting. The photo is of me at our Bowling Blast event.

6. Exercise - The last time I wrote I was on week 3 of the C25K program, with the goal of running the Surf City 5k. Well - I made it all the way through the C25K program - and was amazed that I did it. I remember thinking how hard it was to run 60 seconds at a time....and I finished by running 35 minutes! Amazing. About 1 week before the 5K, I had some abdominal pains, and went to the ER. It turned out that I had another ruptured ovarian cyst. I did not need surgery this time, but I was put on bedrest for a little while. I was prepared NOT to run the 5k, but I was really, really, really disappointed that I would not be reaching my goal. The morning of the 5k, I decided to just put on my running clothes so I'd feel like part of the group (my husband, our roommate, and his girlfriend were all running the 5k as well.) I just sort of let myself get swept up in the 5k crowd at the starting line...and then started running! I decided that I could stop at any time, or walk at anytime, but that secretly I wanted to at least make it to the 1 mile marker. The 1 mile marker came up faster than I thought it would, so I decided to try for 2. Our friends took off, but my husband stayed by my side the whole time. The last 1/2 mile was the hardest - I was barely running, but I did it. My husband held my hand and we skipped across the finish line. :) It was an incredible moment for me. a)I had actually completed the C25k program, b)I ran a 5k - my 3rd ever, c)I triumphed over difficulties, d)I did it with my husband.

About an hour after, I started experiencing some real pain, and I am fairly certain that I pushed my recovery back about 3 days. But you know what? I am still glad I did it.

After that 5k, I sort of just...stopped exercising. I didn't have something I was training for, which I realize is a problem. My next goal is to compete in a Sprint Triathlon. I'm going to give that it's own category now.

7. Sprint Triathlon training - I have done a little bit of research and have found a few free training programs. I'm so clueless that I'm having a little bit of a hard time figuring out what to do. What I should do is to run 3 days a week, and bike and swim on the other days. What I am doing right now - is 2 days a week of Water Aerobics, and that is all. I really love this water aerobics class, so I don't plan on giving it up. What I think I will do is go 30 minutes before the class and ride the bike on those days. I do need to pick up my running training again. I need to make a schedule and stick to it.

8. Healthy living - I joined weight watchers a few weeks ago. I go Sunday mornings at 8am with my aunt. It's been great - except I feel like I've been sabotaging myself this week. Yesterday I took steps to get back on track - I bought produce and some basic ingredients. Today I made sure I ate breakfast, and I've been snacking on oranges and celery and drinking my water. I need to remember what is important to me, and where I want to get back to. In other healthy living news... I am feeling the need for increased beauty in my life. I need nature, green, trees, ocean - something. Even if it's just smelling my tomato plants or putting my feet in mud in my front yard. This is important for my mental health, and I need to remember that.

9. Therapy - I put it on my list of projects because it's a) a big chunk of my time each week, and b)it feels like a huge project and I think about it a lot. First off, I love my therapist, and I love the 2 hours a week I am in that office drinking tea. There is this feeling of expansion inside of me that I get while I am sitting there - I feel light and on my way to understanding everything. When I leave, that feeling contracts a little bit, but less and less each week.

10. Husband - it was DH's birthday last week and I organized a surprise LAN party for him and his computer-game-lovin friends. I even downloaded the game and learned a little bit how to play too. :) It was fun and I think everyone enjoyed it! Our ONE YEAR anniversary is next week, and I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one too. Any ideas for a gift??

11. Cousins - my cousins Keyvan and Yasmin have been visiting from Spain all summer. They are staying one street over with my parents, and have been the catalyst for all sorts of fun so far this summer. We've been to the OC Fair (my favorite place on earth),
Rancho Los Alamitos, many-a-beach, , the midnight showing of Harry Potter , the grunion run (Adam was working that night)

Anyways - crazy summer. This weekend I am heading to Santa Barbara for my friend's baby shower, coming back and doing thesis work! I've been commissioned by another friend to knit 5 shawls for her bridesmaids... and I'd really like to do more stuff outside. How do I have time for it all?? gotta figure that out.... :)

circus treasury

2011-06-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to add a link to my latest treasury - Join the Circus!

I maaayyy have been inspired a little by the last movie I saw in theaters (Water for Elephants.) It's not a great movie, but this is a great treasury, if I do say so myself!! :)

I've been making cotton washcloths like a crazy person - ready to sell alongside Wi's soaps and lotions! I'd love love love to get some resin in my magnets in the next few days.... they are just sitting, empty, waiting...

I also did a bunch of contacting today - talked to BJ at the Marina LB farmers market - I will hopefully be selling there on the first Sunday in July. I contacted Art for the Soul, and Fern's garden - crossing my fingers!!! Also, a friend of mine wants to hold another Backyard Bazaar - so I sent some dates! Things are moving moving moving!

boutique and banners

2011-06-12T22:14:00.001-07:00

Spent this weekend at the Splash into Summer Boutique in Lakewood! It was fun - got to be next to Wisalya again, which is nice because we are starting to think of some complementary projects. She makes super fantastic soaps and lotions, and I am going to start doing some ceramic soap dishes, and crocheted washcloths to go with them!

The boutique itself was very cute - about 15 vendors - mostly for girls/babies/young children. My earrings did pretty well - and I sold a few ceramics and a few magnets. I definitely need to make more magnets before the next show. I have some new ideas for those too - alphabet sets, and "how I am feeling today" sets too.

Tonight I've been messing around a bit with new banners for my etsy shop... here are the finalists. Right now I've got the yellow one up, but I may switch...

I've also got a few new listings up on etsy - trying to get photos of my most recent earrings up! I make too many, it's hard to keep track of them!!!

If anyone has any ideas for tracking inventory, please let me know. I could use it.

I traded a few items at the Splash into Summer Boutique, and I will do a better blogpost with links soon!

TONIGHT's boutique and treasuries!!!

2011-06-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

TONIGHT! I am getting ready to go have some fun at the Splash into Summer Boutique in lakewood! The event is tonight from 5-8pm, and then AGAIN tomorrow from 10-3!

Other fun I've been having...making treasury list after treasury list! haha. Love this etsy feature. Here are links to a few...

Vessels

So turn on the sky, let it hear what you're saying

ooh AND I was featured in someone else's treasury!! Here is it

I may or may not do a more in-depth blog post later.... but I wanted to say hi, and get these links up for ya'll.

etsybloggers

2011-06-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

When I first joined etsy I found the etsybloggers team - and immediately joined and immediately loved it. I then got busy and didn't feel like I could keep up with the requirements - but now I am BACK and focused on etsy again - and am thrilled to be a part of the etsybloggers team once more!

To celebrate - here's a treasury I made with just items from fellow etsybloggers. I think it is pretty darn gorgeous if I do say so myself.

Santa Barbara Island and my latest treasury

2011-06-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

This past week I spent on the smallest of the Channel Islands - Santa Barbara Island.

This is the 3rd year I've gone - once was as a student the summer of 2005, and the last two years as staff (2010 and 2011).

The group that goes is a CSULB class called "Recreation in the Ocean Environment" and it's anywhere from 10-30 people, most of whom are recreation majors, some who just have an interest in spending a week on the island.

SBI is an amazing place - we hike, learn about plants and animals (largest mammal is the doormouse), get swooped by barn owls, watch pelicans, do compass/map orienteering stuff, explore the tidepools, jump off the dock, swim with sea lions, snorkel, kayak, sleep in tents and cook on campstoves. It's a phenomenal experience.

This year the group was particularly wonderful - a bunch of vivacious, enthusiastic and motivated csulb students who really upped my enjoyment of the island (and I love it already).

Spending a week camping on an island with no water, no trees, and so much amazing NATURE is the best thing for my mental health. I came home and haven't wanted to let go of it yet. So here's how I'm bridging my worlds - my latest etsy treasury - my homage to the SBI trip of 2011.

Patchwork Indie - Santa Ana

2011-05-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

As much as I love making and selling earrings and other items, I have found that there is a point at each event where I sort of wish I was done, because it's hot and I'm tired and I have been sitting in a booth for 5 hours and I want a change of scenery. This point never lasts long, but it has happened. However - at today's Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival - that moment never happened.

I got to the space at about 8am. I circled the block probably 4 times before I figured out where to pull in the truck - I have officially moved up in the world of vendors, I now have enough set-up to warrant borrowing my husband's giant truck instead of being able to use my Yaris. I set up what I could, moved the truck, and then waited for Wi and Ken to bring their soaps and lotions for set up.

The wind was a bit of an issue - twice my new cabinet fell all the way over, taking and breaking my mirror and lightbulb in my new lamp with it. But it wasn't anything a football field's worth of 50 lb test fishing line couldn't handle!! I tied earrings to lamp, lamp to easy up, cabinet to easy up, and weighted everything down with rolls of duct tape. By the time the wind came back in the afternoon, everything just swayed slightly. woohoo!

This event seemed WAY bigger than the Long Beach one. Maybe it was because it was mostly set up in one narrow road, with a few parking-lot offshoots of vendors, or maybe it was because I was pretty close to bathrooms and a food truck and so saw more traffic - but it did seem like there was a pretty steady stream of people, dogs, and strollers going by.

I have finally started tracking what items I'm selling, because I'd like to track over time to see what trends exist for what shows. I am a little surprised at how quick my bottle-cap-resin-magnets are going!! I am almost out, and will definitely need to make more.

I have to do a little sidebar here and make a comment about how AMAZING it is that people actually stop to look at my items, and then like them enough to buy them. Part of me is not totally surprised - I think they are neat, or I wouldn't make them - but it is a totally different gratifying feeling to know other people think so too. It is especially gratifying when people who saw me at the Long Beach Patchwork show came back to my booth to buy more - or people who found and liked my page on facebook choose which earrings they want to buy and then come to the show to get them. It's a really humble feeling, and is the most encouraging one in the world.

Here's a photo from my perspective in the booth, while people perused my table...

One of the contributing factors to my not having that ready-to-leave-feeling at this event was the people watching. I have to say - there were SO MANY CUTE PEOPLE at this show. I have never seen so many adorable boots in one place before in my life. People were fun and funky looking, it was obvious that the majority of what folks were wearing were handmade, and everyone was smiling and really seemed like they wanted nothing more than to be walking down this sunshiney street in Santa Ana looking for more handmade items to buy. The street itself was cute - beautiful and richly colored homes behind us, and Bowers Museum one street over. There seemed to be an abundance of pregnant and stroller pushing mama's, and a lot of little kids. That was fun too - my earrings and magnets are bright and were at the perfect level to catch 6 year old eyes. Some of the best conversations of the day were with the kids who came to ask about crocheting.

I always like to showcase another booth in my blog after an event - and this time is no exception. This particular booth was right across from me, and I spent the whole time getting distracted by her brightly colored fused glass pendants. They are beautiful, and with a name like Sunny Scarlett, she deserves a comic book, not just a mention in a blog post. But here she is, and here are a few photos of her work:

if anyone wants to buy me a present, I want that tree pendant!!!

I wasn't ready to pack up with 5pm rolled around. It was a blast, and I am jonesing for the next Patchwork Indie.

I'll leave you with two more photos - one of the traffic jam of vendors trying to get out of the show at the end...

and this one I saw on my walk back to the truck at the end of the day.

2nd Petite Flea Market rundown!

2011-05-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is a long overdue blog post, but it's been a busy week!

On May 22 I got up super duper early, loaded my stuff into Wi's car, and we drove to Costa Mesa for the 2nd Petite Flea Market at God's and Heroes Hair Salon. I had no idea what to expect - it was a last minute invitation to participate, and it all felt sorta spur of the moment.

The location was in the parkinglot in the back of this pretty nice looking building, and it seemed like the majority of the vendors were all set up already.

I have officially done 4 sales, ever - 1. Good Vibrations Homeschooling Conference in San Diego, 2. Backyard Bazaar...in MY backyard, 3. Patchwork Indie LB, and now this one. The 1st was a big conference with a sale for a few hours. The backyard bazaar and Patchwork are both handmade-items (for the most part) - but the Petite Flea Market is definitely like art sale + swap meet...which I guess is what a flea market is.

There were probably 15-20 vendors, and only about 5 of us had handmade items. Of those five, 3 of us had jewelry. There were also a lot of vintage items for sale.

Here is a picture of my little set up...complete with earrings, handbags, ceramics and more...

I didn't have much of a chance to leave my booth, but did get to talk to the sellers next to me. Of course, Wi and her yummmmy bath and body works was sharing a space with me...

And then I met Dianna Agzour, who had a variety of jewelry for sale. She had a lot of smaller necklaces and pendants, but of course the one that caught MY eye...

If you look closely, you can see that all of that is hand-wired. Crazy!!! I grabbed her business card, but there is no website to link - so I'll just let you know that if you want to contact her, email her at dnzkatz@earthlink.net

On her other side was Francis Frank, who makes striking feather earrings.

Here's a close up of one of her pieces

Annnnd on the other side of Dianna, a super friendly Kim Wistos was selling aprons and other accessories! No website on her card either, but her email address is saviya@speakeasy.net

So I had a pretty good day - it was collllld at the beginning, but warmed up for the last part of the day. I did okay sales - and made enough that I got to buy this fantastic item, that had caught my eye at the beginning of the day...

If you are coming to the Patchwork Indie show in Santa Ana on the 29th of May (THIS SUNDAY) you will get to see this awesome lamp in action, as my brand new earring tree. :)

2nd Petite Flea Market

2011-05-18T15:30:00.001-07:00

Hi there folks,

Just a quick little update - I was just invited to be at the 2nd Petite Flea Market on Sunday in Costa Mesa. Check it out - it looks like fun, and I'll be there, so come by! Say hi!

new room set up

2011-05-18T11:43:00.001-07:00

It's so nice to make things and have people genuinely enjoy them. I have to say - that was one of the best parts about the Patchwork show was just seeing people look at my earrings, and hearing how adorable they are. I work hard, ya know? It's nice when they are appreciated.

It's especially nice when someone goes above and beyond to take the time to appreciate them - they were mentioned in a blog! Blithe and Bliss bought a pair of the tie-dye earrings and then posted about them. Talk about warm and fuzzy feelings.

Yesterday I didn't have school or work, just one big long lazy day. I read a few chapters for my final on Thursday, did some crocheting, and then MOVED FURNITURE. I wish I had taken before photos, but you'll have to settle for these after ones.

I am super stoked - my husband and I live with one of our best friends in a 3 bedroom house in Los Alamitos. We have the master bedroom, The Guy has a smaller room, and then the 3 of us were supposed to share the 3rd for an "office." All 3 of us had computers in there, and I got the closet for my art supplies.

Well, DH and The Guy are super, super, super, crazy, ridiculously, obsessively involved with computer games. They play them constantly - it is a team game, so their brothers, friends, and friends' brothers are also playing. All day long I hear the voices coming through their speakers and headphones. They are about 1.5 hour long games, with you can usually tell when the end is near because they get louder and further away from a G rating.

DH and TG have their desks next to each other, and then I had mine in there as well. It has my school books and notebooks and filing box. It also has my business cards, envelopes, and stuff I have for mailing out my handmade items. It is a useless piece of furniture - because the boys are ALWAYS in that room and I need a little more quiet and a little less explosion to study. Also, we frequently have friends over who use my desk to, you guessed it, play the same computer game.

I've sort of relinquished that space, but realized I needed my own. So yesterday I moved all the furniture around in our bedroom to make room for my desk! I brought that in, and organized my earrings and the whole set up. I am so excited to have my own space!!

I am very excited - it has room for my textbooks up on top, my embroidery floss hanger, my earring holders, and even has actual desk space to work on.

Now the guys can have their gaming room, I have my craft/study room, and we can meet in the middle in the living room. hehe.

Patchwork Indie - Long Beach

2011-05-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived my first Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival!!! It was a great experience, and I have so many things on my to-do list to accomplish before the Santa Ana one.

My day started with waking up to RAIN. RAIN RAIN RAIN. Luckily, I had packed the car up the night before, but I was still not looking forward to an entire day outside trying to sell soggy items to soggy people. My mom met me at my house and we drove to the store so I could get change and candy, and then we headed to the Marine Stadium! By that time puddles had formed, but the actual downpour had stopped, and never came back. We were setting up in a parkinglot right on the water, and there were big beautiful clouds and gusts of wind all day - the sky was blue, the sun was out, it was gorgeous.

Everything I have fits into my little Yaris (the advantages of selling earrings and not - you know, furniture or something) and so it didn't take my mom and I very long to get it out. Set up did take longer than I thought, mostly because I had never done this before and wasn't really sure how I wanted things. I was sharing a booth, like I'd mentioned before, with Wisalya Bath and Body, and so it took us a minute to figure out the joint set up. They were both super friendly and helpful though, and shared their expertise with me.

The event itself started at 11, and within a half hour I'd made my first sale. I have to say, I was incredibly nervous about whether or not I would make any money at this event. I didn't have a chance to leave my booth, really, and so I don't know what sort of other vendors were there, but several people mentioned that they had not seen anything like what I was selling. Phew!

Wisalya was doing constant business (her product really is amazing, buy it!!!) which meant that I got to talk to people all day long. My mom, dad and sister brought me a burrito from one of the many food trucks that was at the event, but that was really all the outside contact I had! haha. A few of my friends came by, and I ran into a few people I knew but didn't know would be at the show. My favorite moments were the times when little kids would come up and ask me about what I was doing (I was making earrings while I was sitting there) and I would get to teach them about crocheting.

By the time the event was done, I was pretty exhausted. I had a very unique sunburn on one shoulder, and I was ready to drink a gallon of water. Packing up didn't take that long, and I was out of there by 6. Like I said, I have a whole list of to-do's for the next show -

1. I'd like to make my table taller
2. I'd like to make a better Royaboya's sign
3. I'd like to get a short table to go on TOP of the current table so I have another level for ceramics
4. I need to find someone who can stay there the whole time with me (my mom had to leave at 12)
5. I need to make more stuff!

In the end, the event paid off and I was really glad I did it. I hope to continue to be invited to more and more events like this, because it was a blast, I loved meeting people and getting the experience. I hope folks who met me at the event do find me on facebook so I can keep in touch, because getting to talk to everyone throughout the day really was the highlight of the event for me.

THANK YOU to everyone who came out - special thanks to Sean and his family, Sea-Farin' Aaron, Bam Bam and Caitie, and my mom, dad, and Rosie. Thanks to my aunt and uncle Julie and Tim for letting me borrow their table, and thanks again to Wisalya Bath and Body for letting me share their spot!!!

FREE EARRING DRAWING

2011-05-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

I have just started using facebook for Royaboya's Beautiful Useables, and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has visited and "liked" my page so far.

So I am having a drawing for 1 free pair of earrings to say thank you!!

Here's how it works:

1. Go to my facebook page

2. "Like" that page

3. Find your favorite pair of earrings in my photos, "like" that pair

4 Do this by Friday, May 20th

5. I will choose a winner randomly out of the people who like BOTH my page AND a photo of a pair of earrings.

Make sure you do it by Friday, May 20th! Spread the word! THANKS EVERYBODY!!!

new earring tree

2011-05-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

When I was little, I remember my Uncle's garage being like a treasure trove, full of cool pieces of furniture and train parts and all sorts of things I wasn't supposed to play with but I wanted to explore and crawl all over. I was a destructive little kid, which is probably why I didn't spend that much time back there, but I do have some vague and very cool recollections of his collections.

Today, he is taking this furniture - mostly from a farm in Iowa, and turning it into really wonderful handmade wooden picture frames. He calls it "You've Been Framed" and they were featured at my Backyard Bazaar. My favorite frames are the ones that aren't painted, but are distressed wood. They are made from antique wood, and it's really neat to own something that a)was made from something other people may have thrown out, and b)has a history, and c)is handmade by someone I am related to.

When he started making his frames, he asked me to come help him set up an etsy site - and his daughter, my cousin, was making rings and selling them too. It was so much fun to have this in common! We started talking about my earrings and I mentioned I didn't know how to display them... and last night I got delivered to my doorstep this amazing earring tree! It is made from antique walnut from a farm in Iowa, and I LOVE IT. So THANK YOU SO MUCH Uncle John. It's beautiful, and I love it. I will be taking it with me to the Patchwork Indie festival because it's perfect to show off my earrings! It's a work of art in and of itself! I will take better pictures later, but I was so excited that I wanted to write and post immediately!!!

Last night in class I drank coffee at about 9pm, which was a mistake - because then I was up til about 2:30am working on my earrings. I'm a little weird feeling and zombie-like this morning, but hopefully will stay awake long enough tonight to go home and make even more!

I just looked down at my hands while i was typing and realized that I am wearing 3 handmade accessories and I am very pleased with that. I am wearing earrings that I made, a ring that my cousin Becky made, and a ring that my friend Dani made. It's like the feeling I get when I eat food that I grew in my garden - it's so nice to know where it comes from!

Sunday Funday

2011-05-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

Having a little bit of a rough week - staying up just a little too late, and then waking up just a little too early... I need to get some real, deep, quality sleep soon. I also found out that I did not get either of the 2 scholarships that I applied for, so I am feeling a little discouraged about that. It makes my selling my items even more imperative to be able to afford grad school!!

The Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival is coming up on Sunday. I have about 90 pairs of earrings, some coin purses, bags, beanies, and some ceramics ready to go. I am still working hard on making more earrings though. I recently got some tie-dye embroidery floss and am making new earrings with that! They're fun. :) They also remind me so much of my mom, and every homeschooled mama that gathers at conferences and camp outs.

So this Sunday - Patchwork Indie. I am sharing a booth with Wisayla LeBlanc who was one of the most popular sellers at the Backyard Bazaar. She sells lotions and soaps and her lip balm is one of my favorites.
I also just found out that Long Beach's fantaaastic Independent bookstore, Open, will be there on Sunday as well. So make sure you stop by there, and my booth - #128 also!!

The other photo in this blog is just me as a little kid. I just found it and it makes me happy, so I thought i'd blog it. That's all. The end!

more earring photos

2011-05-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

A few photos of my newest earrings. I'm going to be working on a neato earring showcase for them - I was at Michael's last night and just randomly ended up on the Styrofoam aisle (I did not know there was a styrofoam aisle, but there is) and saw this awesome book about gluing, cutting, and painting that freaky substance to make it look like ruins or stone and stuff. Sooo I purchased a few slabs and I am going to try my hand at that tonight!

pictures from ceramics today

2011-05-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Spent most of today at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, throwing cup after cup after cup! It's been a very long time since I have thrown that much...I have to admit, my right wrist is a little sore. My form's not so great anymore apparently, because it shouldn't.... It was a good day, I went through about 2 plugs of clay, and managed to just barely have enough time to put handles on them all!

I would like to start saving up for my own wheel and kiln. Boy oh boy wouldn't that be amazing...

ceramics

2011-05-06T10:23:00.001-07:00

Hi there world, it's frrrriiiday! I have had such a weird sleep schedule this week, that all I can think about it "yay, I don't have to wake up early tomorrow." Except - I am planning on going to the Irvine Fine Arts Center early in the a.m. to do some throwing. the IFAC is the very first place I ever did any ceramics work on the wheel. We went with my Girl Scout troop when I was about 12 years old. I remember being so excited to do this - I've always loved mud and clay - and I was so excited that I put a very full bucket of water on TOP of the wheel, and then pressed the foot pedal. The water flew EVERYWHERE. I was so embarrassed. Try #2 went much smoother.

The next year I enrolled in the ceramics class at Cypress College, where legendary Char Felos was teacher. Ceramics was one of those things that came as easy to me as breathing. I remember the 1st week we were learning to center, and Jim, an advanced student would come up behind me as soon as I got it, and "thump" the clay off center. He'd do this again, and again, and again - and I really think that's how I learned to center so fast.

They called me speed-demon (because of my love of throwing with the wheel going way way way too fast), copper-girl (because of my, uhm, enthusiastic use of copper powder at the beach firings), and I loved it. I grew up there. I was 13 when I started, and stayed there for years. Maybe 8? I ended up getting my first real job at Laguna Clay Co. thanks to one of the Cypress lab techs. I also ended up working at the Cypress Studio as a lab tech for one semester as well. They gave me a key to the ceramics lab. I remember throwing by myself in the studio til 2am.

I remember it in texture - how slimy lotion felt after a day throwing clay, the buttery feel of Southern Ice (drool-worthy porcelain from new zealand - translucent at cone 5), the cold gray taste of soldate 60 (how do you think air gets into bottles to make them expand?), the heat of the firey backlash from the raku barrels, the grip of the tongs when I was loading the raku kiln, the cold gritty glaze up to my elbows when I was mixing them in the big trashcans...

It's where I learned to love Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Sarah MacClaughlan. It's where I learned how to journal thoughtfully. It's where I learned about ideal communities and personal responsibility.

I haven't seen many ceramics folks lately, although we have been reconnecting through facebook a little bit. The best friend I ever made there just had a baby, and it blows my mind. The last time I saw Char was at Jon Danner's funeral. Danner started the same semester I did, and we shared a locker for much of the time. He was one of my mentors - and could throw the largest sized vessels of anyone I knew. He married another ceramic student, and they had a baby boy. Danner always asked me to sing Adia, and made me one of my favorite tools (a sponge on the end of a long stick. haha. yes). When I arrived at the church for his funeral, his wife laughed and choked and said "oh Roya, you got big!"

Anyways. Ceramics was a huge part of my development and how I became who I am. There was a long time when I had a hard time doing ceramics anywhere else - after Char retired I was just SAD anytime I was in a ceramic studio that wasn't hers. It's been years now, and I can enjoy going to the Irvine Fine Arts Center - because I still do love the actual hands-in-clay-making-cups-in-stuff process. But there was nothing like Char's class, and never will be.

And now, for your viewing enjoyment - a picture that has nothing to do with ceramics at all (I did not make the cup in the photo). A cup full of earrings!

new earrings!

2011-05-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

You know, I finally got to the point where I have just as much taking and editing the pictures as I have making the actual earrings! I really think my photos have come a long way... since...

Upcoming craft fairs!

2011-05-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about one of the unexpected results of holding my Backyard Bazaar - I have started networking with other local arts/crafts folk, and that has blossomed into more opportunities for selling!

I am going to be at 3 upcoming arts and crafts festivals! THREE! Super excited.

First - I'll be at the Patchwork Indie arts and crafts festival. This looks like a big one :)

I'm sharing a booth with Wisayla LeBlanc, who makes gorgeous and yummy handmade lotions and soaps. She was at my Backyard Bazaar, and I am really thrilled that she invited me!

The second one I am having a booth at is the Splash into Summer Boutique, happening locally in lakewood!

I'll keep you posted on my preparation for these two exciting festivals, I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of this!

quick little update

2011-04-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Working on two coin purses that were requested by a coworker... black crocheted with "busy bee" and picture embroidered on one side, and a name on the other. Getting them done before Mother's Day, yes I am!

Also, I think I am going legit! Going on Monday to get a sellers permit, so I can start going to bigger art and craft fairs! Very excited about this next step.

I'm feeling a whirl of whirliness tonight... I watched highlights of the royal wedding, part of little shop of horrors, and snippets of glee. Weird combo. I've been reading blogs, facebook stalking folks, and not writing papers...

Probably time to wrap stuff up and head towards bed. I'm going sailing with my cohort tomorrow. Yay!

follow up on some projects

2011-04-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

1. Thesis
I've had about three thesis meetings so far, and have started putting together the real details of what's going on. I am still more excited by my thesis than most other things happening - I am truly proud of the concept, and already feel like it's my kid. I'm a little too attached, maybe. ;)

2. Backyard Bazaaar
Was an incredible success. I'd say there were about 15 vendors, and at least 100 guests - and it was SO MUCH FUN. I want to do another one ASAP, but I am going to try to slow my roll and wait to do one right before Christmas.

3. Classes at CSULB
3a. Children and Adolescents - I think the only thing I have left in this class is a treatment plan and a final exam. Overall good class.

3b. Couples Therapy - We are about done with the assignments in this class as well. Just working on a few interventions this week, role playing in the clinic and then presenting to the class about what we did.

3c. Family Systems Part 2 This is the 2nd part of a 2 part class on family systems. One paper left... a little disappointed overall with this class. I thought it would be much more in depth than it was. The best thing about it was the fact that the professor did a good job finding guest speakers and other resources for us.

3d. Dr. Paul's class - Holy Times New Roman, Batman - this is the most intense of all the classes. With two weeks to go, I still have 2 papers and 2 presentations due. Hands down the most useful class I've taken so far.

4. Practicum - The last time I wrote about this, I was in the email-and-hope-for-an-interview process. Since then, I've procured a practicum site! I will be a trainee at Mariposa Women and Family Center for about 14 months, starting in July. As soon as I interviewed there, I knew that's where I wanted to spend my time. I even cancelled my other interviews. There was something about the warmth of the people I met, the secure and comforting feeling of the location itself, and the variety of really interesting groups that they offer that grabbed me instantly!! I spent about a week holding my breath waiting for them to call...they called, and their trainings interfered with my thesis meetings! I spent another two anxious days before I met with my thesis advisor who said we could rearrange...and then another anxious day when we realized there was a little issue with the end date...and then PHEW, everything is figured out and I begin July 5th. I go back and forth about being nervous. Sometimes I am scared and wonder why I got myself involved in this. Most of the time that fear happens in class. It rarely happens when we are in the clinic practicing. I feel especially bolstered when I have moments talking to people and suddenly realize that I am implementing all of the specific active listening skills that we focus on in class. I remember that I am interested in people, and that the most important thing for client improvement will be BEING THERE and forming that relationship. I can do that.

5. Classes at Goldenwest - I have to admit...I dropped these classes. I missed a lot of them due to thesis meetings and interviews. Then I didn't want a bad grade, so... yes. They've been dropped. Sigh. But it really does open up my days. 4 mornings a week was too much for me to dedicate to something like that right now.

6. Work - I am transferring my banking clients to someone else this week!!! THANK GOODNESS!! I can't handle being that stressed about other people's finances anymore. As soon as they get transferred, I'll be helping doing audits in the office. Phhheewww.

7. Island Trip - Still on for the 1st week of June. Excited!!!

8. Food and health and stuff - I started doing the Couch to 5k program again. I did Week 3 day 1 yesterday, and I'm really happy with it. My goal is to run in the Surf City 5k on the 4th of July with some friends. In between running (since it's an every other day thing) I've still been swimming, at 24 Hour Fitness, and at the Rec Center at school. I need to work more on my eating and tracking my food, but I do feel so good that I've maintained three weeks of the C25K program.

9. Therapy - I am really grateful that our program requires personal psychotherapy, because it is 2 hours each week that help me get back on track and in touch with myself. I sing the Dar Williams song about therapy to myself all the time...because that's totally the spirit of it.

I don't go to therapy to find out if I'm a freak
I go and I find the one and only answer every week
And it's just me and all the memories to follow
Down any course that fits within a fifty minute hour
And we fathom all the mysteries, explicit and inherent
When I hit a rut, she says to try the other parent
And she's so kind, I think she wants to tell me something,
But she knows that its much better if I get it for myself...
And she says

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, What do you hear in these sounds?
And... Oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?????

I say I hear a doubt, with the voice of true believing
And the promises to stay, and the footsteps that are leaving
And she says "Oh", I say "What?"...she says "Exactly",
I say"What, you think I'm angry
Does that mean you think I'm angry?"
She says "Look, you come here every week
With jigsaw pieces of your past
Its all on little soundbytes and voices out of photographs
And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map
So tell me, where does the arrow point to?
WHO INVENTED ROSES?"
and.......

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?
And...Oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?????

And when I talk about therapy, I know what people think
That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink
But Oh how I loved everybody else
When I finally got to talk so much about myself............

And I wake up and I ask myself what state I'm in
And I say well I'm lucky, cause I am like East Berlin
I had this wall and what I knew of the free world
Was that I could see their fireworks
And I could hear their radio
And I thought that if we met, I would only start confessing
And they'd know that I was scared
They'd would know that I was guessing
But the wall came down and there they stood before me
With their stumbling and their mumbling
And their calling out just like me...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, The stories that nobody hears...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, and I collect these sounds in my ears...and

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, that's what I hear in these sounds...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, that's what I hear in these......
that's what I hear in these SOUU OUUUN NNNDS!

new coin purses

2011-04-18T01:31:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the heck out of making coin purses/pencil cases... they are all up on etsy! I am lovvving them. I went to Joanne's yesterday and got a bunch of fabric remnants in bright summery colors. Today I started embroidering them, and added pockets!

Projects of Roya

2011-03-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Once again the life of Roya is getting a little out of control. Here's a list of current projects I have going on:

1. Thesis I am doing a nation-wide survey of homeschoolers to measure their attitude toward psychotherapy. I had my first official thesis meeting this week, and am really excited to get going with this. I have started collecting articles, and names of homeschooling organizations to get permission from. I pretty much would like to spend my entire life on this project right now. There are 4 other people doing their thesis with Dr. Paul as our thesis chair. We will meet every other week for the next year, essentially. We should be done by this time, 2012. I really love the group we have. It's a good mix of people - and folks I really admire, respect AND enjoy the heck out of being around. Two of us are doing surveys, and the other three are doing intervention studies. Topics range from mine about homeschoolers, to a survey on eating disorders, to interventions with people with schizophrenia, to an intervention designed to decrease depression and anxiety among pre-adolescent boys. I will be spending an estimated 10 hours a week on my thesis, not including the meetings.

2. Backyard Bazaaar I am holding an art and craft sale in my backyard on April 9th. I am really excited AND nervous about it. I have had a great response from vendors, but I do have high hopes and expectations for this. I want to make sure it's amazing. We have a really truly great variety of sellers - and all local, and all people who make handmade items. We've got sellers who makes "mustache wallets," roasts their own coffee, makes soaps and lotions, paintings and prints, headbands, jewelry, picture frames... I just want to make sure the word gets out there.

3. Classes at CSULB I am taking 4 classes at CSULB towards my masters. Each one comes with it's own set of...projects and learning.
3a. Children and Adolescents A great class taught by one of my favorite teachers, but I realize over and over again that I have a really fundamentally different view of parenting and raising children than other people. It's different at a philosophical level, and all thanks to my background in unschooling. Sometimes it's hard to keep quiet, other times I don't want to say anything. I do get tired of being a spokesperson. In this class, I hate feeling antagonistic (especially since I really like the teacher), I take out my frustrations in the papers I write. So far so good. I just turned in a diagnosis assignment yesterday that was much harder than I thought it would be. We were given 3 vignettes and had to do a 5 axis diagnosis. Next week we have a midterm. A few weeks after that, I have a group presentation that I am actually excited about. We were given a vignette of an 8 year old girl and will be demonstrating some therapeutic interventions.
3b. Couples Therapy I really, really like the professor in this class, but am having a hard time anyway. Part of it is the fact that this class is taught from 7-10pm, after I have already had a class from 4-7. So it's a long time for me to sit still and absorb. Part of it is that the teacher, despite being charming and nice and clearly knowing what he talks about, is a little scattered and vague about his expectations from us. Part of it is the fact that it's about couples, and it's hard not to listen in class and apply every single thing to your own relationship - which can be exhausting. I honestly don't really know what is due next in this class, because things have changed so much. That's wearing on me as well.
3c. Family Systems Part 2 This is the 2nd part of a 2 part class on family systems. It's taught by a different teacher than part A, which is a little annoying because it's been repetitive. However, this professor's strengths come out when he is relaxed and carrying on a class that is more conversational. He is a fairly new graduate of our program, and so can offer a perspective and viewpoint that the other well-established teachers and therapists can't. Last week he brought in a well-known therapist/speaker/author who ran our class and did hands on Satire/Human Validation Process Model work. She was a treat. However, I was a little squirrely right from the beginning, and it was a good lesson for me in mentally digging in and getting the most out of something I can. We have a Satire paper due on Tuesday, which I still need to write.
3d. Dr. Paul's class I call it "Dr Paul's class" because I can't remember what class it actually is. It has to do with therapeutic theory, and we spend a good amount of time on that. It is also the flag-ship class, the one that helps us meet deadlines for the department, and prepares us for the other aspects of our program and practicum. Dr. Paul has the most insane attention to detail of anybody I've ever met, and I was resentful of it last semester. This semester, after meeting with him several times one on one, and working with him on my thesis, I have realized that he genuinely does everything he does with the pure intention of helping his students. That knowledge has gone a long way. I really appreciate his attention now. His class has the most work in it - several chapters and a two page paper every week, in addition to case notes and diagnosis. This Monday we have a mid-semester paper and presentation. The paper is about why we want to be a therapist. I could write 5 pages in my sleep, but for Dr. Paul I want to give my best, which takes a 5 page paper and turns it into a monster in my head. The presentation is on the same topic, but he grades us on creativity. Last time I wrote and performed a song. This time I am at a little bit of a loss.

4. Practicum Everybody who wants to be licensed as an MFT in the state of CA needs to complete 3000 hours with clients. As a student, I have to complete 500 of those with a practicum site while I am in school. We were given a list at the beginning of the semester to choose from. I sent emails and resumes to 7 sites, and heard back from most. I have one interview set up for Wednesday. I was incredibly light-headedly-want-to-throw-up-when-I-think-about-it nervous about it all last week, but have reached a certain calm about it now. I realized that I am a student, and will not know everything. I also realized that that's probably better for the site, so that they can train me in the way they want. Also, I realized that this site may really not be the best fit for me, and I am interviewing THEM too, to find that out. Although it would be nice to get an internship offer from this site, my world will not end if I don't. My goal at the interview is to be calm and confident, but genuine and realistic about my knowledge, skills, and counter-transference. Today I will also follow up with any other internship sites that I have not yet heard back from.

5. Classes at Goldenwest I am enrolled in a swimming class two mornings a week, and a pilates class two mornings a week. I love every second of both. It's march and I have tan lines. My goal for the second half of the semester is not to miss a single regularly scheduled class, and to try to swim some extra days (our teacher lets us go to the other swim classes he teaches for free). On the days I have a thesis meeting, I need to go to the 6:45am swim class if I think the 8am one is too close to when I have to be at the thesis meeting. In pilates we have to keep a journal too, which is good for me. I am also taking pilates with my youngest sister, and my sister in law, and it's nice to get to see them. My sister in law takes swim also, although at a different time, so that connection is fun too.

6. Work I work from 20-30 hours a week. I run special events for adults with developmental disabilities, and I also am working as an Entitlement Specialist. That second one means I go and meet with a caseload of clients (I only have 5 right now) for 1-2 hours each per week, and go over their finances with them. I help them check mail and pay bills, track their expenses, budget their income, track their disability income and correspond with the social security administration. I love getting to see clients, and I get a kick out of the money stuff, but I do admit I have an ongoing sense of uneasiness that I am doing something wrong and will irreversibly screw up life for one of my clients. Another problem is just feeling like I am spread really thin between my two jobs. This should decrease, as I am getting more realistic about my timing, and have talked to both husband and boss about that. I am getting better at turning down NEW projects.

7. Island Trip I've been asked back as staff on the Island Trip!!!! This is a class (Recreation in the Ocean Environment) offered every summer to Recreation Majors at CSULB. I went when I was a student, in the summer of 2005. Adam (my husband) went also (although we were just friends at the time). It was a life-changing experience then, the 5 hour boat ride to the island, getting the gear up The Hill, the week of orienteering, hiking, learning the flora and fauna, snorkeling, kayaking, fishing, team-building, and SWIMMING WITH SEA LIONS... The island trip first started in 1974 by Jack Minar (I am very proud that I have won the Jack Minar scholarship, as well) and has been famous in the recreation world ever since. KJ, who started out as my academic advisor and professor in my undergrad, and is now one of our closest friends (we were at each other's weddings), runs the trip and puts great intent and purpose behind every aspect of it. Last year Adam and I went back as staff. He was in charge of safety, boating, fishing, and being strong and I was in charge of food prep and the kitchen. We cook with about 5 propane stoves. The island has no water, no shade, and LOTS of wind. The students are in charge of menu-planning and shopping, I just help to guide them. I am so excited to go back this year. Going back means I can't take Play Therapy, but the island trip is that worth it.

8. Food and health and stuff An on-going and ever-evolving project for me... I am reading the book Intuitive Eating, and trying to adapt this philosophy into my life. It's hard to get rid of the "food police" from my internal dialogue. Hard to stop thinking of food in terms of "good and bad," which I don't want to do because it attributes morality to eating, and I don't want to associate that kind of guilt with eating and food. Trying to think of food as fuel, or as pleasure or experience - but being aware and honest with what I am getting out of it. My mom and I signed up to get a basket of fruits and veggies from local farmers once a week. We got our first box yesterday - it's beautiful. It had apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, fennel root, red tipped mustard, chard, lettuce, artichokes, sugar snap peas, cauliflower, avocados, beets and turnips. I also started following the organization's blog, and it is SO NEAT to see exactly which farm which items came from. I snagged this photo from their blog.

9. Therapy and biofeedback A requirement of my MFT program is 30 hours of personal therapy. I went to one in Long Beach that I really liked, but stopped going after I had my surgery - I just flaked. Then I started with Kaiser, because it was cheaper for my insurance, but HATED the therapist. She was rude and awful. I decided to go back to the original therapist, who has started a therapy group for a few of us in my cohort. I've been once. I loved it. I love her office, I love the other people in the group, and I love her focus on emotions. I am such a solution-focused person, that having my therapist make me slow down and work on the emotions coming up inside of me is wonderful. I leave her office feeling refreshed and lighter than I did when I walked in. She gave our group a little bit of "homework" this week, which has been nice to keep us in touch with that mindset and emotional way of being during the week. Dr. Paul also loaned me one of his biofeedback machines, which has been found to decrease stress and anxiety. You put your finger on it, and breathe calmly while thinking appreciative thoughts. It lights up with a series of red, blue and green lights according to how calm and steady your heartrate is. It's a handy little tool and I love it.

So - this has been a semester with a lot of personal, professional, and academic growth for me. Writing it all out has helped me remember WHY I am doing all of the things I am doing. I realized I am the most stressed about the unknowns of this summer and next semester, not so much anything I am doing right now. I feel more self-aware than I have before, and pretty dang excited about all of my projects.

new vendor for Backyard Bazaar

2011-02-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

"My Aunt Mildred collected rare and interesting buttons since she was 9 years old. When she and Uncle Lester got married they traveled as evangelists across the United States. She continued to collect buttons from friends she made along the way. Here are some of her buttons made into beautiful bracelets

This bracelet contains buttons from the 1800's. Some buttons have steel jewels or twinkles. Others have flowers and unique and interesting designs such as a crescent moon. Can be worn with many different colors and accessories."

See Yesterday's Buttons in person at the Backyard Bazaar on April 9th!
royaboya.weebly.com for more information

3 new vendors

2011-02-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

3 new vendors for the Backyard Bazaar

Backyard Bazaar - Featured Seller - "You've Been Framed"

2011-02-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to my first blog post about my featured sellers at the Backyard Bazaar happening on April 9th!

This is "You've Been Framed" - based out of Long Beach, CA they make gorgeous handmade wooden picture frames in all colors and sizes.

Gorgeous! They will be at the Backyard Bazaar on April 9th from 12-6pm. For more info go to royaboya.weebly.com.

Backyard Bazaar

2011-02-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

I am so excited! For more info, royaboya.weebly.com

selling my earrings

2011-01-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

Spent a fair amount of time today looking up opportunities for selling my earrings. I contacted the Orange County Museum of Art, and Bower's Museum. I also posted on ebay and craigslist. One day this will pan out for me!

I love making these earrings. I think they are adorable. I wear them all the time. I sure think the rest of the world should too. ;)

back on track

2011-01-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hi there world. It has been a while since I posted. Grad school and a trip to the emergency room sure got in the way.

I have officially finished my 1st semester in my masters program. I took 5 classes and received a 4.0! Not only that - but I learned truckloads about counseling and interviewing, and am almost convinced I am doing what I want to be doing. I am growing more nervous about actually working with clients, but every time we do a faux-client interview, my nerves disappear during the session. I am nervous about how I will affect people, but confident in my ability to listen and glean information.

I am taking 2 courses over the winter - 1 about counseling people with addictions and substance abuse, and 1 about counseling children who have been abused. I am looking forward to both of these classes a lot.

In three weeks my next semester starts - the semester in which I have to figure out my thesis, and the last one before we start seeing real clients. I take all of these classes with the same 25 other folks - a wonderful group of people who I have become really close to. It's a great group. Lots of energy, and really funny.

As fas the emergency room goes... on Dec. 13th I experienced some awful abdominal pain, and my husband took me to the ER. Turns out I had an ovarian cyst which ruptured and caused massive internal bleeding. Fuuunnn. I had surgery that night, and then spent the next 2 weeks in bed recuperating. Today is day number 2 that I am back at work, and day number 2 of exercising again. I can tell you - it sure made me appreciate my husband, my family, and being healthy. Not an experience I'd like to have again, but it did happen conveniently between semesters, at a time when I could take off work, and while Adam was home.

I love making resolutions, and so I usually don't do them at New Years, because I do them all the time. This year, however, I did decide to tackle an overall characteristic in as many ways as it affects my life: RELIABILITY. I am notoriously awful at this, and it makes me feel like a less-good-person. I truly desire to be the type of person who can be counted on, and who follows through.

My obstacles are that I have a hard time saying no to people - so that will be key, if I feel like I can't realistically follow through. Meanwhile, there are a few things I said I'd do in the past that I need to finish:

1. Sew a friend's shirt button back on
[do it tonight]
2. Knit a friend a dog sweater
[start by looking up a pattern and setting aside yarn for it]
3. Help my cousin with his curtains
[waiting on him to give me fabric. when that happens, set timeline/deadline.]
4. Help a friend with his curtains
[set date to go with him to buy fabric.]
5. Finish painting my aunt's chairs and dining room table
[4 down, 2 to go + table. return current chair to her, start on design for next]
6. Follow through with Fern's Garden about my felted coin purses
[take photos and email prices to her]
7. Follow through with the LB Farmers market about a place to sell my items
[ask M if he wants to share booth, call J to ask about their costs again]

craft fair

2010-11-15T09:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove up to a friend's apartment and we went together to Los Feliz to a little backyard craft fair. It was really fun, and re-inspired me all over again. It was full of the most hipstery of hipsters, and I was just glad I was wearing a cute dress. I bought a really pretty felted flower necklace, I'll post her blog up here when I get home and find her business card. She was super nice, and talked to me a lot about her experience selling stuff.

I came home inspired all over again and got out my needle-felting materials, worked on some coin purses and started making rings! I'm excited to have more projects!

2010-10-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

This week has been hectic for me. I haven't been as ahead-of-the-game school-wise as I like to be. My house is starting to get messy again. I'd love 2 or 3 solid days at home - I would wake up in the morning and do schoolwork for 2 or 3 hours, then get up and do dog care and housework, and still have time to do my cross stitch. That sounds just about perfect.

Instead - today I work and am going straight from here to the gym on CSULB campus. From there I have 6 hours of class. I got up early and took the dog out this morning. When I get home, I'd like to do dishes and empty the bathroom trash.

Tomorrow I have my first personal therapy appt (required by degree) and I am really looking forward to it. I am also going to take my sister-in-law on a tour of CSULB because she just got accepted. I can't wait to show her the awesomeness that is the new rec center.

----there's a baby in the office right now. I have done NO work. I now want to quit everything everything everything and just have babies. Is that so wrong?----

ok. back to work.

free earrings!

2010-09-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

I've decided to give away 20 pairs of my crocheted earrings. The idea is that if you receive one of these pairs and wear them around, people will say things like "gee whiz, what an awesome pair of earrings!" and you will say something resembling "thanks! I love them! You can get a pair at royaboya.etsy.com" and then when that person buys a pair of earrings, I will send you $1.00 for every pair from each buyer who says YOU sent them!

If you are interested, send me an email at royaboya@earthlink.net and I will send you a pair of FREE HANDMADE EARRINGS

earrings and a little bit of daily life

2010-09-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

A taste of some of the newest earrings I've made. They are all posted at royaboya.etsy.com and royaboya.weebly.com

Today I dyed my hair, cut my hair (yay bangs), made earrings, read a chapter, picked up a desk and set up a new office area - where I am typing to you from! It's a great desk with a hutch perfect for storing all of the zillions of textbooks I had no room for.

Still to come this evening - laundry, watering the back lawn, feeding the dogs, reading 1 more chapter, working on my paper, eating dinner, doing a load of dishes. I think it can be done! Adam is working late tonight because of the weather - he is on fire watch at Griffith Park. Hey people - when you throw your cigarette into the grass, it's MY husband who gets to work late. Dispose properly! heh.

snapshot.

2010-09-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

I am sitting on the floor beside my bed. The ceiling fan is on the 2nd setting. Adam is snoring, in bed behind me. Chris is in the computer room. His brother, David, arrived here from Vegas where he lives now, about 20 minutes ago. I had just finished watching an episode of Sons of Anarchy when he arrived. Our biggest dog, Rommel, is asleep next to the front door. Our other dog, Juno, is in the backyard because she's in heat. Every time I look out the bathroom window she is looking back at me. I'm awake at 12:53 in the morning. I am slowly adding bullet points to a paper that is due Thursday night, and I have done enough schoolwork today that I could go to bed totally satisfied. I have been restless for most of the day. I want to dye my hair and cut it. I want to buy new furniture. I want to paint the walls in my bedroom. I want to buy new shoes and clothes.

Tomorrow I am picking up a desk I found on craigslist, and dying my hair. Other things will have to wait, maybe until after grad school is over.

Tonight I read about Gestalt therapy, I read 150 pages of the DSM-IV-TR desk reference, and 3 articles about diagnosing. I worked an 8 hour day at Project Independence. I ate wonton soup, stir fry, rice, baked chips, gummy bears, two diet snapples, peanut butter and banana sandwich, crispy ranch chicken and spinach. I made all of it (except the snapples, gummy bears, and chips). Tomorrow I am going to cook swedish pancakes.

Right now I am going to get clothes out of the dryer and then lay down and try to sleep. My eyes are tired, but my mind is still going. I think this is what happens when you have caffeine.

Adam's dad gave me the guitar that used to belong to Adam's mom. It hasn't been played since she died. I tuned it carefully. It has a mixture of nylon and steel strings. I looked up chords for folk and country songs on my laptop and sang Adam to sleep while he read the 2nd to the last book in the Sword of Truth series. Tomorrow Chris and David are going to play disc golf. Adam is going to work. I will do many, many things.

new website

2010-09-21T00:35:00.001-07:00

I made a new website to sell my stuff!!!

http://royaboya.weebly.com/index.html

go look!!!! tell me what you think. Feedback would be great!

getting ready for the rest of my life

2010-08-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

It's sunday night. I'm sitting on the floor of my living room. Adam is asleep on the small couch right behind me. Chris is on the big couch. The two dogs are in the doorway to our bedroom, but sometimes they get up and eat a few bites of food in the kitchen. Chris is watching animal channel something about polar bears and seals. I was originally going to sit in here and do some advanced reading in my textbooks, but the light is off and now that Adam is asleep I don't want to turn it back on.

It's 8:30 and I have porkchops in the crockpot. I sauted spinach, and made brown rice. I bought produce from Sprouts today with Rosie, after we got done at the gym. I have chopped things and divided things into baggies for the rest of the week. I made my lunches and dinners for the next two days. I did most of the laundry - just have one load in the dryer. I laid out my clothes for exercise tomorrow morning, then for work. I've checked my email, I've labeled my textbooks. I've updated my calendar and my food tracking on sparkpeople. I've fed the dogs. I've made the bed.

I'm a little nervous. I am trying to make up for this feeling of unease by overpreparing. Tomorrow I work from 8:30am until 12:30pm, then come home and train Juno, and then go to CSULB for my first day of grad school. Tomorrow I am taking classes with the textbooks: Intentional Interviewing and Counseling, Culturally Relevant Ethical Decision-Making in counseling, Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, and the DSM-IV-TR.

I woke up this morning with a headache and sore throat. I went back to sleep for about 3 hours, took ibuprofen, and drank tea. But the thing that made me feel the best was the hour I spent at the gym. I really need to remember this.

I wish I'd thought to clean out my car today. I get more easily overwhelmed when my car is full of stuff. I will need to keep my spaces well-organized. My dresser is doing pretty good - it's my "grab and go" pile - where I leave textbooks, current project, and gym bag.

What I will be taking with me tomorrow:
Phone
4 textbooks
2 notebooks
my life planner
laptop and cords
purse
workout shoes and socks
breakfast, lunch and dinner
water bottle
pens, highlighter

ok. I am going to go get the last load of laundry out of the garage, put away the food, soak the crockpot, make tea, take a vitamin, and go to bed early and start reading Intentional Interviewing and Counseling.

earrings!

2010-08-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been crocheting little earrings lately - I love them! They're so wonderful and vibrant! I've been wearing them around every day. I make them with embroidery floss, and nickel-free hooks, and I can make them in sooo many color combos it's great. I've only just begun! I have these pairs up for sale on my etsy site today!

wedding prep photos

2010-08-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

now that people have seen me in my wedding dress, at my wedding (!!!!!!!) I can start posting the pretty prep pictures ;)

13 days..

2010-07-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have been remiss in my blogging duties here on blogspot - but a lot of what I'm doing is on my wedding website blog

We also have engagement photos up!

13 days til the wedding. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

2010-06-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

Briefly, briefly --

spent a week on Santa Barbara Island. Came back sunburned and full of strength and resolve. Renewing gym membership tonight and swimming.

Will post photos once I have some.

registered for classes!

2010-05-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

I registered for my first semester back at California State University, Long Beach today! Starting on August 30th I will be taking 5 classes in my pursuit of a Masters of Science in Counseling and a Marriage and Family Therapy License!

Mondays
4-7 COUN 513
7-10 COUN 510

Wednedays
7-10 COUN 515

Thursdays
4-7 EDP 400
7-10 COUN 508 A

the numbers don't mean much to me yet - I can't wait til they do. I'm excited. The only bummer is the Wednesday night class, which will be at the same time as the Lightbulb Mouth Show. This is very sad. But I will just not work on Thursdays, and still go out for after-show fun those nights.

Exciting!!!

catching up

2010-05-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hello blogging world, it's been a while since I've posted. I have been project-ed-out. I was on a 7 day trip to Mexico with 38 people for whom I was in charge of - it was a long long week. I got back and was sick for a few days, and have been busy ever since.

I am getting married in 81 days! Between now and then I am working as staff on a week long trip to Santa Barbara Island, it's my dads birthday, Adam's birthday, and my sister in law's birthday (we go camping for hers every year), I am going from this full time job to working full time at a daycare and part time at this job, and having a wedding shower and bachelorette party. Then I get married, have a honeymoon, get back and start school!

I applied and got into CSULB's Marriage and Family Therapy program. I'll get my Masters in Counseling. It's a two year program and I am really, really, really excited to start. While I'm doing that I will be working here at PI, but part-time, which will be a good change.

I go every Wednesday to the Basement in Long Beach where I feel like a part of something magic - The Lighbulb Mouth Radio Hour. I am 1/3 (and sometimes 2/5) related to the house band, and the rest of them are rapidly turning into my best friends. I have more live music and poetry in my life than I'd had in the past and that makes Roya a happy girl.

Adam found white, tamed pigeons on the side of the road the day before yesterday, so now we have pigeons! And a pigeon hutch. Along with our two german shepherds and fish tank. My cousin Alex and I are going to raise chickens this summer.

My garden is gardening - something is eating the cauliflower, but I had a salad made from the lettuce from my garden last week and it was excellent. I have baby squash, tonnns of volunteer tomato plants but no fruit yet, and buds on the peppers! The grapes are starting also.

Phew. That's my life, really quick like. :p Time to get back to work!

my new mosaics

2010-04-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

my new coffee table, and some frames that I made this week.

some recent ceramics

2010-04-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

summary

2010-04-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Finished tia Julie's 3rd chair, and working on the 4th! Finished invitations, just waiting for Adam's guest list approval. Had an excellent morning with the fiance, my cousin wrote me a poem, had a great conversation with gretchen, marina is visiting on friday, lightbulb mouth is tonight, and all in all, I'm feeling good.

Googling Lorenzo

2010-04-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

My cousin Alex and I are doing this napowrimo thing, where we write one poem a day for the month of april. He wrote this one about me today, and it's ridiculously sweet and full of inside info and awww my cousin.

Googling Lorenzo

Roya Sorooshian Tafti
with your saturn's ring mind
and predilections for onions and sumac
spinner of plates
knitter of mittens
washer of park ranger socks
giver of autistic smiles
and down syndrome claps of joy

listen:
oh tormentor of the scalp
those are not freckles on your face
but your persian soul oozing out
seeking desert
or at the very least
a thermostat reset

you found love
on the back of a motorcycle
and it wasn't lorenzo lamas
(yes I realize you are far too young to get that reference
I'll wait
while you
google him
...
...
...
...
...
yes
he is quite handsome)
but thats ok
lamas couldn't make you happy anyway
and you found your own renegade
sans wise indian side kick
(for now)

oh keeper of fancy nancy
the light bulb never shined so bright
until you
and
alaska is empty without you
and
the point is
i'm glad
you are
who you are
(what a reckless way to say I love you)

quotations for the chair

2010-04-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Imagination is more important than knowledge...
Albert Einstein

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.
Dolly Parton

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.
Anne Frank

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope.
Maya Angelou

Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
Pablo Picasso

project to dos

2010-04-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I glazed some cups that I'd kept since I threw them - in 2005. Holy cow. (hahaha I just typed "holy cowl" which actually makes more sense than a spiritual bovine. Ahahaha I'm so tired I'm delirious).

I had about 26 cups, some of which I'd drawn or written on first in high fire glaze pencil, and so I have nooo idea how they will turn out. I'm looking forward to seeing it tho. I threw a few small flower pots - I'd like to throw a bunch more and line my wedding with them. Maybe even give them to folks as favors. We shall see.

I have Sat/Sun/Mon off work - debating starting some clay projects at home since I'd have time to work on them and let them dry, and work some more. I'd like to make some platters for food for the wedding also.

I'm so tired today that I am having trouble going far in one direction of thought.

My garden is doing well - except for the same damn corner of onions that Juno keeps ripping up. I finally left it - that's her garden now, I guess.

I need to make a list of projects and materials I need to purchase for these projects, and prioritize. I've got Julie's chairs, Tulip's dog sweater, my wedding, my garden - as the biggies. Tulips dog sweater I just need to do a little research, sit down, and knit the damn thing. I don't think it'll take THAT long. Julie's chair - I need to print fish, and then finish this one. Then I'll tackle the next one. The garden - I want more plants, I need to string up beans, finish painting the fence, and buy a hose for the backyard. The wedding - finish invites, (buy envelopes, stamps), favors (buy catalyst, resin, magnets), collect glass jars, make ceramics. And also - I want to buy a cheap coffee table and mosaic it in the next month. We're doing a mosaic workshop at work and I want to use it as an example. Also, I hate our current coffee table.

So that's all from me, for now.

bucket list

2010-03-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

I stole this from my facebook from a while ago - I thought maybe I'll elaborate and put some stories under some of them. We'll see.

The Bucket List. Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not.

Things you have done during your lifetime:
( ) Seen the Taj Mahal
( ) been inside the Pyramids in Egypt
( ) been around the world by Boat
nope, but that was something my very first boyfriend and I wanted to do together.
( ) been to Jumbo the floating restaurant in Hong Kong
( ) seen the Alamo
( ) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
homeschooled. beat that.
( ) Watched someone die
(X) Been to Canada
Adam and I drove to and from Alaska, so we spent some time in Canada. We loved BC, beautiful, amazingly nice people. I liked the Yukon. We stayed at this one campground that served breakfast in the morning - hands down the best bacon I have ever had. I've had dreams about that bacon. On the way home we stopped in Vancouver to say hi to my old friend Tenay.
(X ) Been to Mexico
On a cruise with my Grandma when I was in 4th grade. I'm going back on a cruise there in May with my clients.
(X) Been to Florida
spent a week there at Walt Disney World resort before going to the Bahamas with work.
(X ) Jumped off a cliff (I'm counting the dock on Santa Barbara Island)
I'm still counting it. It was very very very high up. I did it once, I was so scared I couldn't get up to stand on the piling and Kurt (our lifeguard/photographer) had to help me. I remember how much it hurt my arms to slap the water going down. I remember being so adrenaline buzzed from it that I ran up the ladder and jumped off again before I even knew what I was doing. Kurt got a great picture of me doing that.
( ) Bungee jump
( ) para sailed
I was supposed to go Parasailing in the Bahamas but it was too windy. boo.
( ) Been to Hawaii
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Flown a plane
(X ) Been on a helicopter (I was airlifted for an earthquake prep thing once)
(X) Been lost (hah. and hah. and hah some more).
( ) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
() Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only (Marina, remember McDonalds and Mary Poppins?)
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch (been under it)
( ) been to New York City at Xmas time
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
( X) Made prank phone calls
My favorite was when I was at Zac and Alex's (my cousins) house in Signal Hill, and I called one of their friends, and said nothing but the address. About an hour later, he showed up at the front door with a case of beer. It was hysterical.
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
( X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
This was the first year I've ever done that. Adam asked me to, so I did.
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( X) Been deep sea fishing (halibut in Alaska)
(X) Driven across the United States (driven up the west coast, and trained across to the midwest so I am counting it also)
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
( ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(X ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
( X) Traveled by motorcycle
Adam has a Harley Sportster that we took up to Santa Cruz and back. 12 hours on the back of a motorcycle sure does a number on you. It was beautiful, though. I rode with the camera strap around my neck and the camera down my shirt so that it was easy to stop the bike and take a photo.
(X) Been horse back riding
(X ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(X) Been to Disney World
( ) Truly believed in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
(X) Ridden on an elephant.
(X ) Swam with dolphins
( X) Been to the Olympics (I was sort of in my mother's stomach at the time)
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier crack (ok, not exactly, but I went inside a glacier that had a sign that said "death eminent" on it. does that count?)
( ) Been spinnaker flying (lived on Spinnaker bay...can I count that? ;))
( ) Been water-skiing
( ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
(X ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Been to a National Hockey League game
( X) Ever been skinny-dipping
(X ) Laugh so hard you cry
(X) Follow a map for treasure
( ) Drive a dune buggy
( X) Get lost in East L.A. after dark
( ) Got a Tattoo

busy busy busy

2010-03-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

today - ack. Busy. Making video for grant. Adorable. Wonderful. Rushing home to clean house before boss sees the mess. Then going to The Basement for the Lightbulb Mouth Radio Hour. What am I going to wear? When will I have time to take out the dog? AH AH AH AH AH.

5 - leave work
5:45 - get home, clean coffee table, vacuum living room
6:00 - take Juno for a walk
6:30 do dishes
7:00 - put on dress, look pretty
7:15 leave

geez louise, this is never gonna work. AHHH

my garden is happening!

2010-03-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

My garden! The back row against what looks like the house (but is an empty room we aren't allowed to use) has artichoke, green beans, and cucumbers. I will put up some strings for them to climb later.

Against the white fence closest to the garage we have zucchini and yellow squash. In front of the beans/artichoke there are tomatoes.

In the box closest to the garage there are red onions, spinach, green leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, sweet banana peppers, hot banana peppers, serrano chiles, scallions, and carrots.

In the 2nd box there are strawberries, eggplants and cauliflower. Saving room for jalapenos and other things that strike my fancy later on.

Still want to do an herb spiral, which is why I didn't plant any of my herbs yet. I started sweet pea and delphinium seeds also!

Soooo much love for my garden. Woke up early so I could go outside and stare at it some more.

Yesterday was such a good day - I borrowed Adam's truck for the day, and my dad and I went to Home Depot. I bought the lumber to build the 2nd box, some soil and compost (it kills me to buy compost, but I don't want a compost pile in my backyard this summer because of the wedding), and the peppers/eggplants/strawberries. I built the box all by myself - and spent about 6 hours in the backyard drinking lemonade and listening to harry potter while I dug and planted and tilled and watered. Can't wait to get home and putter in the garden! I need to take Juno out and finish painting the fence - there are some spots that need touching up.

garden is getting there!

2010-03-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

I wish I had taken "before" photos of the garden-area, because it looks so dramatically different now! It WAS a corner in the back that was a mess of grape vines, rose bushes, and weeds - and is now a beautiful, weeded, TILLED lot, all ready for planting. I got home last night and Adam had spent his whole day cleaning the yard - including prepping the garden for me. I couldn't believe it. He also finished the fence!!! Now we just have to put it up! I'm SO CLOSE to being able to plant!!!

I am still debating the square foot gardening thing, or using the soil how it is. I can't decide. I'd have to build more boxes since I only have one, and the instant gratification of being able to PLANT NOW is a pretty strong force, buttt... will I be happier in the long run with the boxes? Not sure.

I want to do some "landscaping" while I plant - I want to make it pretty, in addition to fruitful. Not sure how - but maybe making some mosaic stepping stones or something. We shall see!

In any case, I have the best fiance in the whole world.

I am also about 1/3 of the way done with a granny square bag that I am making for my friend Dani. She makes beautiful jewelry, and so we are exchanging the bag for a turquoise/silver ring. This is how the world SHOULD work my friends! Bartering! Yay! I'm having fun on her bag - she took a photo of a bag she liked, and I am re-creating it. I really, really, really enjoy doing that - I did it for my mom with a beanie she saw in a store window. Cell phone cameras are a huge bonus to my work. ;)

As soon as that is done, I will be working on a dog sweater for a coworker. She gave me the dog's current favorite sweater to use as a pattern, so this should be interesting. I've never done any pet stuff before.

Tomorrow my family's coming over to celebrate some birthdays, so tonight involves housework, grocery shopping, and Juno training. Tomorrow is family party, Sunday is exercise, Juno, gardening, knitting, and prepping for the week. YAY!

I'm so glad that summer is here. Yes I said summer. It feels like it. It's warm, sunny...in fact, not even warm - but HOT. It's fantastic. I didn't realize how much the cold and dark weather was getting to me until it turned to heat and sunshine. I feel like a totally different person. Things that bothered me a week ago no longer matter. People are fantastic, interesting, beautiful creatures. I have energy! I want to do things! It's still LIGHT OUTSIDE when I get home from work!!!! I love this time of year! I am DONE with the cold, the chilly, the frigid. Bring on the tank tops, the tanning, the flip flops!

garden fences

2010-03-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent some time painting the garden fence that Adam (and I) built. Once that's painted, we can set it up, and then I can start work on the garden without fear of dogs destroying it. It was really nice yesterday - listened to Harry Potter on my ipod and the sun shone and the dogs scampered....

A lot of my seeds are doing really well - the only one that hasn't come up at ALL are the jalapenos, which I am sad about. However, if I have to buy plants I can do that...I have always had good luck with jalapeno plans from the store.

The green beans are doing awesome.

Chris' brother, David, comes over many weekends and the boys spend the whoooole time playing computer games. It's just like Southpark - "We ARE socializing, r-tard"

who wins?

2010-03-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

last night was a lovely night, and today has been a thoroughly enjoyable day. Last night Adam and I had plans for dinner, (all because filet mignon was on sale at ralphs and I was hungry when I went grocery shopping..whoops) but his sister got a flat and there were issues with her car, so he called around 7 to say that 8 wouldn't work for dinner, and maybe we should just do it another time.

Instead of getting resentful and not-nice, I was SO VERY HAPPY that my first reaction was "oh, that's totally fine - things happen." I almost bowled myself over with my magnanimous reaction to a change in plans. If you don't know me, I have a very hard time adjusting to change when I have a picture of how I want things to go in my head.

Anyways, when he got home, because I had been awesome, he could vent his frustrations TO me, instead of me adding to them. I know this is such basic stuff, but I want to pat myself on the back for being a supportive almost-wife. He watched some American Idol with me, then played video games with Chris while I cooked. I was low-key, low-pressure when I interrupted and asked if he wanted to take a break to come eat with me - and he did! We ate the BOMB filet that I made with baked potatoes and broccoli while watching Legend of the Seeker on netflix. He went back to his games and I went to bed - very happy, very content, very pleased with the entire night.

I was talking to my aunt julie about being married the other night - and the concept of "winning" in a relationship - whenever Adam and I argue, or if he wants to change plans or something, my reaction is to try to *win* - for myself, singularly. That's awful! I am trying very hard to adapt my thinking to winning as a couple, as a relationship - and the outcome of the specific fight tends to be very, very different when I think of it that way.

Anyways, I'm feeling good. Went to weight watchers today, lost 2.4 pounds! Had a good lunch of leftovers, and tonight is an A2A event! I finished another pair of socks I'd been knitting, have tons of wedding stuff for tomorrow, and plans to look at bridesmaid dresses with my sisters on sunday!

friendships and myers briggs tests

2010-03-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

The executive director made us take the myers briggs test again for another meeting about our strengths. This is something like the 8th or 9th 3 hour meeting that's focused on the same topic. I liked it the first time.

Anyways, there was one line that was interesting in this analysis that I didn't catch last time:

"Face-to-face relationships are intense, personable and warm, though they may be so infrequently achieved that intimate friendships are rare."

I have a lot of people that I love, and even more than I like - and even MORE that I'm entertained by or admire. But there really have been remarkable few people that I feel have broken past the barriers to "intimate friendship." Even fewer when you take my family out of the mix. I can think of two "best friends" that I've had in my life - Tiffani and Marina. Tiffani was especially intense, since she lived so close (Marina has always been 3 hours or more away from me). I don't think I've ever had a friend quite like Tiffani - she got to a level of friendship with me that I feel almost unable to give to anyone else. I'd love to, trust me, but it just doesn't *work* - I can't force it, and I don't know how it came about to begin with. I remember the moment it happened, too. Our dog had escaped and T and I went on a walk through the neighborhood trying to find her. It was a magical walk. Then I moved to WI for a boy, and got more and more distant, and then when I came back I started CSULB and just stopped talking to her. It hurt her - and I didn't realize what I had done until much later. Now it feels like it keeps hurting me - not sharp-pain hurting, but a constant feeling that I had something that I am unable to get again. She hasn't spoken to me for years. I sent her a few apology emails, and once I got a one-line acknowledgement, but other than that - nothing. She got married to a man I'd never met. I'm getting married to a man she's never met. I had this friend and then I killed it.

I feel broken, sometimes. Inept. I like people, I like them a lot - I just have this wall when it comes to making lifelong friends. So it was kind of nice to read that sentence - that it's not that I'm broken, it's part of my personality trait. Ho hum.

okay so I felt glum for a while then went on my flickr account and looked at adorable photos of Juno when she was just a few months old. All better now.

Indiana Baby Blanket

2010-03-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

A while back I made a blanket for a friend of mine at work - well, not for her, but for her unborn neice. I made it, shipped it to Indiana, and the baby was born!! I love seeing photos of the things I make being used by who they were made for. :)

slumpy dumps and snowy photos

2010-03-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

I've been in a weird and funky place the last week or two. Nothing horrific, just, not my usual motivated self. I've lapsed into laziness. I started drinking caffeine like a fiend. I haven't taken the dog out or gone to the gym. I do one load of dishes a day and nothing feels clean.

Yesterday I bought paintings for the house and have buyers remorse. I have vague guilty remorseful feelings on the fringe of everything I do, and I can't pinpoint them. I think my overachieving tendencies are warring with my love of leisure and recreation, and this is an uncomfortable place to be in. I discovered a new series that I love to sit around and watch marathon-style, but when I'm doing that, I'm sure as hell not at the gym or walking Juno. I vacuumed yesterday. That was my big success. But I only vacuumed because I spilled garbanzo beans and parsley all over the floor.

Le sigh. I'm not terribly down in the dumps, mood-wise, just not up and pumped like I usually am. This last weekend I had all these great big project plans and did NOTHING. I stayed up til 5am drinking caffeine and eating junk while watching tv on saturday, then slept til 11on sunday and didn't do anything.

The one big accomplishment of the weekend was actually BUYING a wedding cake!!!! We have it done son! Almond cake with an almond/chocolate ganache and buttercream frosting. Soooo delicious. We met with a photographer as well. Very professional, looks great - also super expensive. I started messing around with invitations, but lacked inspiration.

Anyways - I have some great photos from our June Lake trip to post, I started tracking food again this morning, and today I will stop at the gym ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK. I will trust in that making me feel so productive that the feeling will just continue on.

June Lake was snowy, obviously. It was Juno's first time in the snow and she loved it. We spent HOURS and HOURS chasing snowballs.

templates for life

2010-03-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have microsoft 2007 on my work computer now, and so I've spent the last few days playing with the new templates that are available...and I am thrilled. I have so many fun little organizational tools! One of the hardest things in the world for me to do, and one that makes my relationship with Adam better, is to keep things just - straightened. I have a habit of making messes, getting distracted, and leaving them for weeks.

I printed a great little checklist - daily stuff, weekly stuff, and monthly stuff. I put up a corkboard next to my computer at home and now keep track! It's fantastic. It helps me be more aware - and if all else fails, right before I go to sleep I do a sweep through of the house to make sure I haven't left yarn all over the place.

Also printed a grocery list organizer. Heehee. Not that I really need that, but I like using it!!!

Today I am starting training for a Sprint Triathlon. Not that I'll be doing one, but it's been a goal of mine, so I might as well start training now.

Also starting hard-core Juno training.

Allllsooo...cooking 1 weight watcher recipe, and 1 hungry girl recipe.

Will try to post photos of June Lake tomorrow. Now it's time to go!

2010-02-26T15:47:00.001-08:00

sitting in the car in the heaviest snowfall i have ever been in while adam adjusts the chains. juno met and fell in love with the snow for the first time!

2010-02-25T21:21:00.001-08:00

parked outside of paiute casino. discussing virtues of victorian vs adobe vs cabin. adam has bad taste. good thing i am here to educate him.

2010-02-25T21:20:00.001-08:00

in bishop on our way to june lake, near mammoth. dogs in the back, smells like snow and fire. gas station man looks like george carlin.

Tango and Creme Brulee

2010-02-25T10:40:00.000-08:00

Last night I could have written the most beautiful things about my very cool experience, but today I have drifted back into the mundane and am losing the feel of the magic. I'll describe it, though, as best as I can because I want to remember it - but - well, I lost something already.

There's this place called The Basement in downtown Long Beach - and if you don't know Long Beach, I can't help you. You need to live there to know it. I live on the outskirts, lived in Signal Hill for a minute, attended college in it, my cousins live in it and play in it and work in it, and I dated a guy who lived in it, and so I am allowed to know it but not belong to it. Long Beach is a culture unto itself. I could spend my life writing about Long Beach. I am fascinated. I love it. I walk carefully around the edges because when I let myself cross that border I don't want to leave.

Last night I dressed up in a black cocktail dress, wore my pearls and houndstooth coat, added extra mascara to my lashes, and headed to The Basement, my friend Kim in tow. It was a magical night - raining just enough so that the sidewalk looked gold from the streetlights. We found free parking - as if we needed proof that there was something special going on.

We headed down the stairs, gave our three dollars, "lbm" written in sharpie on the back of our hands, and met up with my cousin Alex and the folks he hangs with these days. We got the famous champagne in a can, complete with pink sippy straw, and lounged in the swankiest lounge in long beach (according to the website).

There's usually a poetry slam before the main event, though tonight there was a lack of participation, so it was limited to a 3 person open mic. I liked the idea of it more than the content of it - the first poet I don't remember at all. The second one was okay - indulgent. The third was ridiculously awful, a caricature of what bad beat poetry looks like today - with forced pauses in unnecessary places just to-be-a...poet, then talkingrealfast to - pause - switchit....uuuup? She did fake maniacal laughter at the end. I was not impressed. However, I was delighted by the whole damn experience, so it was okay. And honestly, I have heard many worse open mic nights.

Then, Derrick, the host of the evening started the real thing. It's called the Lightbulb Mouth Radio Hour - and it's an old fashioned variety show for radio - they podcast it - and it's just - quirky and eccentric and great. You feel a little bit like you are in a speakeasy - they encourage people dressing up, so they are in vests and hats and suits. They sang "on Broadway" but changed the lyrics so that it was "in Long Beach" - each radio hour they have 1 musician, 1 informationist, and 1 poet.

The musical guest was the band We Barbarians - thoroughly enjoyable. I was iffy (I'm always iffy) until the girl who was playing piano started doing background vocals. Then I bought in.

The informationalist was an Armenian guy who lived in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Interesting perspective.

The poet - though - my God, the poet - Brendan Constantine - was PHENOMENAL. He's bald, looked like gay Bruce Willis, and he twists his torso when he reads. After the reading, he was interviewed by Derrick - which I actually enjoyed even more than his poetry itself. He talked about poetry being a necessary tool for some people - an organizational system for them to figure out the world.

After that, the show was over.

I'll try to post more later - I've been writing this off and on all day and can't focus anymore.

succinct

2010-02-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

today - emailed local stitch n bitch group to see if they are still active. want more people with common interests in my day to day life!

in this search found Liscat - very cool looking yarn shop/community. will be going there next paycheck. yes indeedy.

going to mammoth tomorrow night.
re-read old emails from me to my family while I was in Alaska.
so glad I wrote so many details down - things I didn't remember I'd forgotten.

superbowl photos

2010-02-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

seeds started and some dog photos

2010-02-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

third orange shawl post

2010-02-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

more orange shawl

2010-02-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

My orange shawl

2010-02-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

photos of some stuff I've made lately

2010-02-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

sunday morning rain is falling

2010-02-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

Today was a Good Day. I woke up early and took Juno to Adam's dad's house (he will now be referred to as "Louis" since that's his name, and now you know who I mean when I say "Louis") for a training session! She has some very worrying aggressive tendencies towards other dogs, and Louis is beyond words phenomenal with dogs. All animals, really, but his whole life has revolved around dogs - he's Captain of animal control or something or other for LA. Anyways, I got there around 7:30am, worked with him and Juno for about 1.5 hours, got home and had a good morning with Adam, ate a healthy breakfast, then went over to hang out with my mom, dad, and Rosie. Made a sandwich, showed off my new shawl... pleasant times.

Got home and reorganized my home-office area. Moved a few things around to take advantage of the wall space, hung a cork-board and stuck a few photo booth photos on it. I am now sitting in dappled sunlight listening to Lady Antebellum while Chris and David blow up bad guys on the computer behind me.

Still on my list of to-dos is to take Juno for a walk/run, feed the dogs, do a bunch of laundry, a load of dishes, and take photos of my finished projects for ravelry.

Good, pleasant day.

2010-02-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

I bought seeds yesterday!!! Can't wait to get home and start planting.

Cauliflower
Spinach
Buttercrunch lettuce
Green Ice Lettuce
string beans
Finger carrots
red onions
green onions
rosemary
cantaloupe
tomatoes
pickling cucumbers
jalapenos

and I am sure I am forgetting some.....

Did another section of the orange shawl. Worked on my cotton market bag some yesterday.

Going to start doing Couch 2 5K again, starting today.

this weekend also - finish building fence, paint fence, take juno to adam's dad's for training, see movie with my dad, glaze ceramics, go to AAA for registration? And...............

Purple shawl

2010-02-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

This is the shawl I was talking about in the last entry. I'm not too thrilled about the colors in these photos - doesn't show up the richness of the yarn, but oh well. My co-worker, Rosie, is the model in some of them, and I am in the other ones. The one where I am holding it and you can see my face - she was playing with a feature of the camera where it will grab just one color and the rest will be in black and white. Pretty nifty.
I did another two sections of my new orange shawl last night, more photos of that to come too. I'd like to take pictures of all the projects I have laying around my house - if for no other reason than I'd like to update my ravelry.com projects page with them so there aren't those ugly blank image squares.

Yesterday I took the Juno-dog on a pretty long walk with my dad. She did so much better than she ever has with me before. I'm encouraged, and I feel, finally, like a good pet owner. Adam fell asleep watching Rome in the living room last night, and sometime during the night I woke up to find that Juno had climbed into bed with me, where she stayed til I left for work this morning.

I joined the Freedom Gardner's networking site today - made me excited to start seeds with my dad. I'm very excited about the time change and having daylight when I get home from work. My next step is to finish the fence with Adam so that I can have a garden that remains dog-free. Juno discovered a taste for zucchini last year - I'd go out back and find just a little stump where there used to be a whole vegetable.

work, developmental disabilities, heritage arts, wisconsin, self-sustainability and MORE!

2010-02-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

Today was one meeting after another - It started at 8:30 with the supervisory meeting, and ended at 12:00 with the safety committee meeting. Then lunch, and a long long long conversation with various co-workers about our program. Those are the talks I like the best - when we talk specifics about our clients and get into the WHY's behind their behavior. I don't get to do that very much, because I'm not really in a department, I'm doing my own thing.

That was one of my favorite things about working for Young Adventurers Day Care - the monthly staff meetings where we discussed in GREAT detail about specific kid situations - kids who were acting out and why we thought it was happening...we heard about the family situations, the sibling situations, and talked about what approach we would all take with them. I love that.

Here at PI, I am working with adults, but they are all developmentally disabled, and many a behavioral issue comes along with that. There's A, who saves every piece of shavings she gets when she sharpens her pencils - has jars and jars of them. There's S who tapes the wrapper from every piece of gum he chews to his apartment wall - with the date he chewed it written on it with pen. There's T and G and their relationship - to each other and to food - there's J and his 8+ times a day phone calls, B and her hugging, D and her fascination with textiles, J and his lists - I mean, MY list goes on and on and on - and I LOVE IT. That's why I'm in this field, that's what holds my interest and fascination with this population. They are fantastic people with a slightly more obvious explanation to their outward behavior. Our different groups of staff who work with them weekly get together and do this discussing at their staff meetings. I listen in sometimes, when they are meeting during my lunch. They go through each client on their load and talk about how they are doing....

Anyways, today involved lots of informal impromptu THAT, and it's incredibly satisfying for me.

At our Supervisory Meeting we are continuing our series on "first, break all the rules" and have moved on to the guy's 2nd book - which is all about playing to your strengths. It's about disbanding the thought that to improve yourself you should spend most of your time working on your weaknesses - not only is it frustrating, but you see fewer results and successes leading to less self-efficacy, and you bring yourself up to mediocre rather than excelling at what you are already strong in. I read something similar in a leadership book a few years ago when I was housesitting for KJ - flip the 80/20 rule - spend 80% of your time working on your strengths, sit back and WATCH yourself get excellent. You don't ignore your weaknesses completely - but you channel your strong suits and get better n better.

I really like this idea. It feels GOOD to do things you are good at. This is the way you create expertise - which is something I have long pursued and admired in many people. I always felt like such a dabbler that I was afraid I would never achieve expertise in any one thing, and I really looked up to the people in the fields I was interested in who had what I thought was pure self-discipline to focus on one thing until they became an expert.

At this point I don't feel the need to abandon all of my pursuits to focus on just one - but I like the thought of developing my strengths and applying THOSE specific things to all areas of my interests.

I also am better at labeling my interests - I might feel as though I'm interested in a gajillion things (which I am) but you know what? A HUGE amount of it falls under the umbrella of "heritage arts" - voila. If I was feeling inwardly scattered before, I have just neatly organized myself without taking a single thing away.

In any case -

Today was a good day at work. I finished the shawl I was working on this weekend and took a few photos for ravelry. Last night I hung out with my mom and dad for a while which was nice, because even though I see them pretty frequently, I hadn't had good catching up time, especially with my dad. My hyacinth are beautiful. Adam and I are going to June Lake next week for a mini-vacation. I called his dad yesterday and set up some Juno-training time for this weekend. My dad and I might go see a movie this weekend. I went to Joann's, piled yarn in my basket, then emptied it all and only took 3 of the 15+ skeins I'd originally wanted (thank you, self-control and the article I read on sparksavings about impulse buying last week) - 1 of the skeins is blue cotton for the market bag I started crocheting this weekend, and the other two are for another shawl.

I've decided shawls should definitely make a comeback. I'm wearing one right now, as a matter of fact. Talk about your heritage arts - I need to do a study on shawls and their importance, because I know they are, I FEEL they are, but I don't have the facts to back it up. But I feel very connected to - well, don't laugh, but - Laura Ingalls when I wear one. She IS my barometer of all things heritage-artsy, after all. My one day camp should probably be named "Wilder" or something, just for her. You know (tangent alert) when I was little, my aunt bought me a few bonnets and I had a dress that was exactly western-expansion style, and I wore that more than my real clothes. I should go back and re-read Laura Ingalls Wilder. I should go back and not only re-read her, but try recreating some of the stuff they did - like making maple syrup candy in the snow. (Second tangent) - that was one of the coolest things about the time I spent dating a guy from Wisconsin - the day I was visiting his family and we went and tapped the maple trees that they had. Straight out of Laura Ingalls! Also, they made really, really, really good apple cider. ;)

So I've got this shawl, another one on the needles, the market bag, two pairs of socks that are each 1/2 done, a dozen or so felted coin purses that just need to be needle felted and have zippers sewn in, and a bunch of granny squares waiting for lining and purse handles.

I want to go back to the time I spent in Wisconsin for a minute - and tie it in with my time in Alaska. For that matter, I want to tie Oregon in it too - something I love, and respect, is self-sustainability. I mean this in big and little terms. I'd love to live on my camp with systems that we created, maintained, repaired, and benefited from, without taking from other people/resources. I want to have animals, gardens, get my fibers from these things, make the dishes and the furniture and the food - get back to the beginning of everything. I am not in a place to do that completely, nor do I feel as though I have the knowledge to do that. I'd get frustrated and things would be a mess. So what I am trying to do is one project at a time - make the ceramics in my house. Make the blankets. Make the hats and the gloves and the cushions and the picture frames. I think it is more beautiful, and it means so much more to use a cup I made from start to finish.

In Wisconsin, my then-boyfriend's family built their own house, and except for some grains, ate mostly what they grew/gathered. The shower was water boiled on the stove, taken upstairs, and a gardening can hung on a hook from the ceiling. The salad was gathered from the greenhouse right before we ate. The side dish were nettles I'd accidentally stepped in earlier. There were things I did not like about their lifestyle - they were SO self-sufficient with a fair dose of shy that it didn't seem as though they spent much time in the company of other people, and I think I would have gotten very lonely - but I really liked the food aspect of how they lived (except for the miso soup. I will never like miso soup. Never. Never. Never.)

In Alaska, that was one of the neatest things that really, I felt, permeated the culture in which we were immersed. When something broke - no one called a plumber or electrician or mechanic - you just looked at it, stood around with your arms crossed for a minute - said a few words to the person standing with crossed arms next to you - and went and got the tools to fix it, while the other person cleaned up whatever mess it'd made. Cars weren't cosmetic, they were functional - and kept functioning as long as the people could hold them together with wire and duct tape and parts from snow machines (in alaska snow mobiles are snow machines, they don't need the things that make the snow ;)). The cabin needed a new outhouse? We dug a hole, moved the structure, covered up the old one. The path was swamped? We dug out the mud to let the water flow under, and built a new one - using a birch tree WE cut down and stripped of bark. Porcupines getting under the cabin? We attached the chicken wire. Toilet broke and water flooded everywhere? We fixed it. Needed a shower? We made one. Granted, I lived in a cabin and on a ranger compound, so we had tools, but even at the people's houses we met - they were the ones putting on a new room, building the dock - there was very little talk of HIRING anybody to do something around your own house or land.

On a smaller scale, that's one of the things I really like about the time I've spent in Oregon, too - not so much the fixing everything with your own two hands, but using the stuff you have. Want to grow herbs on your windowsill? Chances are, in one of my friend's apartments, there are jars that have been saved from peanut butter and jelly that you can use. I guess this is the recyling portion of the blogpost, but for all of you who do not live in Orange County, California - it is a VERY DIFFERENT CULTURE HERE. Not that we are incapable of saving one thing to use in another way, but it's - different. A different focus or emphasis, as a whole.

I made marmalade from my trees, and was thrilled that I did it, and everyone acted like I'd gone to the moon.

I think it would not have been such an unusual thing in other places.

I live in a weird little out-of-touch bubble. I do love where i live - I grew up here, 5 minutes from the ocean, 2 hours to snow, 1 hour to real desert, 30 minutes to museums and downtown city stuff - but the lifestyle I want to lead more and more is not the norm in this area. Is that a problem? Maybe it's a cop out, to move to somewhere where it's *easier* (or more widely accepted, understood, just done) -

my rambling has gone on long enough that I am tired of the sound of my own voice - even if I am writing.

Things I'm thinking about.

And I finished the shawl.

banking and knitting.

2010-02-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

On hold with my bank - trying to get my darn 1099-INT form, which is going to have all of .75 worth of information on it, but I can't file my taxes until I get it....three weeks ago I called them, they said they'd send it to me ASAP, but didn't - now it's online, but the link is broken. Soooo here I am, listening to the golden-oldies on the phone.

I called the two separate pharmacies I go to to get my compounded medicine, picking that up today, so, yay.

Planning on going to the recycling plant today also.

Adam and I are planning a super-cheap trip up to June Lake (Mammoth) for next week! Our friends Marco and Kylie have the chance to use someone's cabin up there - they are going snowboarding, but I will not be, I will be knitting! Hiking! Hanging out where there are TREEEEEEEEEEEES. That is, if I can get Friday off. We'll drive up Thursday night, come home Saturday. Sunday is my mom's birthday. I am so very pleased that Adam came up with this scheme, and recognizes how much I need some time with him.

Last night we took the dogs for a walk, and after sat on the front step and smelled the sombol (hyacinth for you english speakers). This morning I went out to the back and picked a bunch of tangerines for lunch today. Last night I made asparagus with parmesan, olive oil, and lemon zest, chicken with onion and lemon juice (can you tell I have tons of lemons?), carrots with garlic and thyme, and a pot of lentils. It's pretty much the perfect meal. Protein, veggies, healthy oils, and it's really very beautiful - orange and green and yum.

I am two sections away from being done with the shawl I started yesterday. I'm using up a bunch of my Lion's Brand Homespun from my stash - now that I get this pattern (it's really simple and beautiful) I forsee many a shawl getting made with stash yarn. I also started making a crocheted "market bag" - but I ran out of the cotton yarn pretty fast. Luckily, I'm making it out of pretty cheap yarn so I can go get more of it without breaking my budget.

I finished both of Katy's cat hats!!! They are SO cute. I need to take some photos, and then ship them off to her! I love them. I love beanies. I never wear beanies, but I love the idea of them. I don't wear shawls either, for that matter, but I see those making a comeback - it gets so cold in my office, I will definitely bring one here to use.

the best part about being sick is the knitting

2010-02-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

I always thought I was cheerful and optimistic. I have lately, however, come to the disgruntling realization that although I can be chipper, perky, happy - it usually is fairly dramatic, even when it's a positive sort of dramatic, and it's not particularly sustainable. I have been feeling more and more like my default mode is a negative one - when someone asks how I am, the first thing out of my mouth is a complaint. When I finish a movie, it's the parts I didn't like, that I mention.

I am straying from the 14-year-old-me thought that total and complete BLISS is what I am going for - I'd like my life to be pleasant, overall. Pleasant is what I am shooting for as my default mode. Not that I can't be pissed off, displeased, annoyed, or unsatisfied - but I want to CHOOSE those times. It's the default mode I am most concerned with.

I'd like to think it's most habit - not that I really am unhappy, just I've gotten into this negative rut. I'd like to think it's habit, because THAT, I can do something about.

For any goal, I like to have measurable objectives - but - this time around, I think I am just going to say that whenever the occasion comes up to give my opinion, I'm going to say something positive FIRST.

Next time we'll tackle the idea of intellect over emotion, control over emotions, choosing when to cry, and how to get what I want next week.

as for now, I am going to do more dishes, take vitamin c, drink a lot of water, and maybe give Marina a call. To combat the restless results of being sick for two days, I need to change my situation - even if it's just moving from couch to bed. Cleaning something would help, too!

PB&J

2010-02-15T09:26:00.000-08:00

My little sister, Rosie, had a tv-themed birthday party. It was faantastic, we had everyone from Mister Rogers to Wilson (from Home Improvement) to - Pam and Jim! Thank you Adam for dressing up as 3-hole-punch version of Jim. I was a little perturbed by the fact that I had everything I needed for Pam in my closet already...because that's what I wear to work.

2010-02-12T16:50:00.001-08:00

this is a test! can i really update from my cellphone? really? is it true? adam sent me flowers at work today, i got up early n exercised before work...good day

piggy banks and urban dictionaries

2010-02-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I received an invitation from sparkpeople.com to be part of the test group for sparksavings.com - a personal finance tool, with all the great resources of the personal healthy living tools that sparkpeople is. It's FANTASTIC. It's prompted me to figure out my financial goals, and start saving - even my pennies.

It also got me to empty my three change collections and count them - I have one old apple cider jug that has a beautiful label on it, straight from the apple orchards. That jug is so pretty it sits on our bookshelves in the living room. That's my "down payment on a house" fund now.

I have another actual piggy bank - it's a blue ceramic pig with orange and red stars all over it - I glazed it at Color Me Mine many many years ago. I had lost it, change and all, when my parent's house caught on fire, and found it in one of the boxes they cleaned and returned. It's my "a new pair of work-pants" fund.

The other change jar is one of those big 3 gallon blue glass water jars. It was given to me by Kim Fisher, my ex-boyfriend's mom, when I was about 18. She gave one to her son too. I decided when I got it that I would save all of the money in there for my one-day-camp. Last night I counted it for the first time and I have almost $300. That's a LOT of pennies.

Today was a co-workers birthday lunch, so we went to Red Robin. Now none of us feel like buckling down and focusing, so we are looking up our names on urbandictionary.com - I didn't think mine would be on there, but lo and behold -

Roya hot ass persian girl who is usually the best looking girl you can find. She is any guy's dream fantasy (hence the definition of her name in Farsi is "fantasy) usually she has dark hair eyes makes her mysterious and sexy.
Holy crap...i just saw a Roya...and DAMN did she look fine!

1. A Devilish Brunette
2. One dark haired beauty who's intoxicating company (hot bod, flashing eyes, sly smile, and dry wit) teases all your fantasies but never fulfills them, and yet makes you always want to see her again. Especially potent in combination with hot-tubs or practice midterms.

mwhahaha.

Maybe I should put "hot ass persian" on my business cards.

Today I *accidentally* woke up Adam before going to work, so we had a few minutes of nice in the morning - it's amazing how time of day affects us. We're both sooo tired by the time he gets home around midnight, that if that is the only time we interact, it drags us down. Having morning time with him is so important, and we haven't gotten much of that at all lately. The city of LA has been laying off so many people, he's stressed about that. They have a huge city meeting today - crossing my fingers.

Trying to think now of ways to make money to save. ;) I've got all that marmalade - where do I sell it?? I've used up my coworkers I think.
I have the two hats for Katy - one is done. Working on number two.
Julie's chairs - I need to print the rest of the fish out and then I'll be done with Chair 3, and can start on Chair 4.
I've also got a scarf in the works for Becky.
Those are my priorities.

Then I can get back into setting up my etsy shop, and trying to use the materials I already own, rather than buy new ones!

when the saints go marching in

2010-02-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a fantastic reminder of finding happiness in the small stuff. Sunday we held a superbowl party, so Saturday Adam, Chris and I spent about 10 hours cleaning our house - we got a carpet cleaner, we scrubbed the top of the fans, the bottom of cupboards - we did everrrything our little house has needed for quite some time. We even rearranged all of the furniture in the livingroom. It looks great. It was a good day - we paused briefly for subway sandwiches and for them to play a computer game while I arranged the books on the bookshelves by color, and then back to cleaning.

At about 8pm, Adam and I got dressed up, took the carpet cleaner back, and then went out for date night! We ate at Taco Surf on Main Street in Seal Beach - which is one of my favorite streets in the world. We stopped at coldstones AND at Sweet Jills (land of the best cinnamon rolls in the world) - to get something for later. We went next door to a bar with a free pool table, and played a couple of games while a Super Hero birthday party partied-hearty all around us. Lots of capes and glitter.

Yesterday was fantastic too - the guys woke up early to go play some football, so I got my beautiful clean house to myself while the birds -actually- chirped outside. I opened up all the windows and worked out to my p90x dvd, then cleaned the kitchen floor, took a fantastically hot shower, and then finished knitting sock 1 of my santa fe socks while watching southpark. Roxana and I went to Smart and Final where I overdid it on snack foods, and then it was party time! Marco, Kylie, Steve, Kristen, Jesse, Chris, David, Roxana, and later Jaime. I won the first quarter score, we ate a bunch, and it was - so relaxing, to be around these folks. We're all in each other's upcoming weddings, we've all gone camping together - the guys have known each other since they were 10 years old, some of them. It's a good, very solid, group.

After the game the boys started playing Madden on the PS3, and the girls went into my room to look at my wedding dress. We broke open some champagne and I got the best fix of girltalk I've had in a long time. I am so glad that my soon-to-be husband's best friend's soon-to-be-wives are so wonderful, and I like them so much.

I am looking forward to getting off work today - heading home, straightening up just a little bit, and then doing p90x yoga. I am on the "recovery" week - although 1.5 hours of yoga doesn't feel like recovery to me. ;)

the story of my most serious injury

2010-02-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Story of My Most Serious Injury

Almost exactly a year ago I posted a list I'd taken from my mom's blog (which is sad and very lacking in content...she needs to update!) with blog topics, thinking I'd revisit it a lot and write about it when I don't have other things to write about. Let the laughter start now - I always have something, so I haven't spent much time with the list. I saw it today, though, and liked it.

So here is the story of my most serious injury

When I was about 13 years old I was in a homeschooling group called Rainbow Kids. We would meet every Thursday at various parks around Orange County. This particular Thursday was a beautiful day in April, and we went to a park in San Dimas to celebrate Earth Day. The plan was to go around picking up trash, and then do some earthy activities. I remember crawling through bushes so thick I scratched up my arms to get to some broken glass.

Later I took this glass and sat around a table with friends - Tristan Olk was there, but he's the only person I remember sitting at that table. Maybe Sean Teagarden, but I could be making that up. We were making sculptures out of found stuff (trash) and I had decided to make a stained-glass-esque candleholder out of a jar and the broken pieces of glass I'd picked up earlier.

A particularly pretty amber color caught my eye, but it was a whole jar and needed to be broken into pieces. I think it was Tristan who had the hammer, so he broke it for me. I got up from where I was sitting at the picnic table to walk around to get the pieces when I tripped.

I put my hands out in front of myself to catch myself as I fell, felt a sharp stab, and looked down at my wrist. You know that scene in Star Wars where Han cuts open that big smelly animal to shove Luke inside to get him warm? That is what flashed through my head right there - it was like the animal insides coming out of my wrist. Only much more blood.

I remember grabbing my arm, and saying "someone get a grown-up" and that's the last thing I remember before coming to with my nose about 2 inches from the ground. I remember oak leaves, and someone on either side of me. Then I remember waking up in the front seat of my mom's car. Jocelyn Vilter was holding my wrist up in the air from where she sat in the backseat, my friend Lindsey Muscato was there too. My mom, it seemed, was driving over every railroad track possible. I remember the bumps.

Then I remember the novacain shots. All 11 of them. Inside the gash on my wrist. I remember the doctor telling me that it was a very bad cut, even though the glass I fell on was blunt - it didn't slice so much as stamp my wrist. I remember hearing something about not having the same use of my hand/fingers as I had before. I remember holding Lindsey's hand so hard that she got hurt. I remember the awful color of the goop they spread all over it later. I remember the orange wristband. I remember going home and falling asleep immediately. I remember the color of the pink pen I wrote with in my journal when I got home, and the letter I wrote to my friend's Ginny and Roz who were on vacation.

About a week and a half later, the skin around my bandages started getting itchy and irritated, and even began bubbling up. We thought I was allergic to the adhesive, but even when I switched out tapes and bandages, it remained. We were at Souplantation with Rainbow Kids when Tizza looked at it and said "poison oak!" Remember those bushes I'd crawled through to get the glass that ended up cutting me? Poison Oak. Talk about adding insult to injury.

It didn't take that long to heal. While the rest of my swim team was in the pool, I used the YMCA's gym, which overlooked it, so I didn't feel that left out. I had 8 stitches on the outside and 5 on the inside. It looked like an ugly caterpillar on my wrist. I had a few cuts on my other hand too. Whenever I got cold, the scar would turn red.

I have full and fantastic use of my hand, and a scar that I can still make "dance" if I wiggle my thumb just right.

scholarships

2010-02-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

I am on the hunt for scholarships, if anyone has any access or ideas.

This post is just me collecting research:

http://www.ced.csulb.edu/scholarships/

http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=BPW

http://www.avoncompany.com/women/index.html

http://www.fundsnetservices.com/women.htm

royaboya.etsy.com

2010-02-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

Spent some time today changing the banner for my etsy shop. Still not exactly what I wanted, but it took me forever to figure out how to get it sized correctly - now that I can do that, I can go in and play with it more in the future.

i have so many projects on the backburner...Finished 1 of 2 of Katy's hats yesterday, maybe I will start number 2 today. Have Julie's chairs which I was just kind of waiting til a lack of rain and dog hair made it easier to paint without it getting messed up - and I have a whole closet full of half-done projects. I have a lot of socks that just need the toes to be grafted. I should get on that.

Thinking about what else I can do to make my etsy site look more attractive, and attract more business. Any thoughts?

My biggest sellers in person are my little felted coin purses - maybe work on getting a bunch of those ready to sell sometime too would be good. The Good Vibrations conference wiped me out completely!

Sold a few jars of my marmalade today - almost made enough money to pay for the sugar and jars. ;) That's fun...

Leaving here soon, then home - Adam took the dogs to his dad's, so it'll be my chance to...what? need to do laundry, need to do dishes, need to make lunch for tomorrow, need to do p90x... Tomorrow we have date night. Yay. Necessary.

Feeling truncated. Bye.

it's the small stuff

2010-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

great sticker from Kelly Lovejoy

*the purple eyeshadow and really pretty way I did the eyeliner
*the new shoes which have received 4 compliments from the 4 people I've talked to so far today
*adam's skin against the green blankets when I left this morning
*the hyacinth bulbs that are getting some color to them
*the soft fur on Juno's ears
*Chris cleaning the shower door
*Protein for breakfast
*The desk calendar that Tulip bought me for no specific reason

A snippet from said desk calendar:

"Knitting is really good for your mental health - despite the moments when you think that it's the opposite. It's a great way to practice being successful, tackle problems without fearing terrible consequences, and watch yourself getting things done. Seeing these things on a small scale, like with knitting, can help you see them in the rest of your life."

That's self-efficacy, baby.

Adam and I started talking guest list last night. Phew.

clusters of crocus...silver and gold...

2010-02-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

Today I am feeling like I am wasting my time a little bit being here at work. There are so many other things I'd like to be doing -

I want to sit and watch my bulbs grow. Yes, I do. I want to sit in the front yard, on the cement that's always covered in dusty dogprints and watch the hyacinth and freesia grow. Every morning when I pull the stuck and stubborn front door open, and trip down the three steps in my high heels to get to the car, it's like a whole new thing. They are growing so fast. I want to watch them.

I want to clean the fridge and chop vegetables for soups and stews and crockpot concoctions.

I want to hang out with my dog, for hours and hours. I want to use that weird red rubber brush that gets all the top hairs, and brush her for an hour, so I can let her romp all over the house and climb up on the couch and watch American Idol with me while I knit socks and cat-hats. Juno grew up lately - her legs got longer, and she looks more dog like and not so puppy like. She's got the most energy I've ever seen in an animal. I've been working on the concept of fetch - rather than the concept of grab-and-destroy, which she is familiar with already - and each one of these stupid dark days I leave too early and get home and it's cold and dark and I want SUMMER and now I am just whining. Whoops.

Yesterday I got a pedicure with my future sister-in-law, hate the color, but it was really fun to sit there and relax and just talk and talk. To be honest, I was a little nervous to hang out with her without a buffer, afraid we'd run out of conversation, but I shouldn't have worried. She is nice, and I can be sometimes too.

She loaned me her snake-thing for clogged drains, and Chris spent a while last night fixing our shower. It was such a pleasure to take one this morning, all clean and nice, instead of gross. He also fixed the short in the bathroom light switch! Now we just have to re-hang the door on the hinges, and the bathroom will actually be functional again.

We're holding a superbowl party at our house on Sunday, so the three of us have a cleaning date for Saturday. I miss Adam like crazy. It'll be nice to do housestuff with him. I feel like I haven't seen him in a week.

I bought new shoes last night, and now I need an occasion to wear them to, and an outfit to wear them with. Silly shoes. I love them.

new template

2010-02-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

You probably have noticed that the look of the blog has changed! I was bored with simplicity and wanted to jazz things up a little bit. I don't know how long it'll last, but for now, I love the details in all of the stitching. :) I also am proud of myself that I was able to go in and edit some of the html!!!

Today I work until 5, then head home and brush the puppy dog. She's shedding like crazy and the whole house just feels FULL of dog hair. The bathtub won't drain because of it. glug glug glug. So I need to brush her, a lot, vacuum, do my 16th straight day of P90X (WOOHOO!) and maybe even do some laundry and dishes. I am debating another batch of marmalade. I've done nothing but make that for the last 2 days and I might be burning out - but I still have SO MANY lemons, and it's really not thaaaat time consuming...

I have a few knitting projects I would like to get back to as well - I have the two kitty hats I am doing for Katy - one is done, just needs pompoms, and then I can start on the other. I also have yarn for my cousin's flower scarf, and I've got two separate pairs of socks half way done.

Today I had a meeting at work I was nervous about, and about 4 minutes before I was supposed to go into it, Adam called to apologize for being sort of grumpy last night, that he wished he hadn't said anything except how much he loves and appreciates me. I am feeling recharged to go and take care of errands and house stuff...all because one little sentence from him turns it into a chore I have to do, to something I want to do gladly in order to make our house and our life better. Silly how that little perspective change makes a huge difference.

Today is also the good-tv day - American Idol AND Top Loser. This is the first time I've watched either of those shows - but I have to say, there is something terribly fun about keeping up with a popular show.

I bought the new Weight Watcher slow cooker book - it looks amazing. I want to make all of the recipes. I wish it had more photos, and I wish I had more money for groceries!!! Man oh man do I like to cook.

marmalading

2010-02-02T13:06:00.001-08:00

This is the lemon tree in my backyard - behind it is a satsuma tangerine tree, and a grapefruit tree which hangs down from our neighbor's yard into ours. All three trees have exploded with fruit in the past few weeks, and I decided that it's time to do something about it!

I picked an entire laundry basket of the lemons, and a sink full of tangerines and grapefruit!

I chopped up the fruit into small bits, while keeping aside the seeds and pithy material. That stuff I gather into a small cheesecloth bag and boil with the fruit and water. The stuff in the bag creates the pectin - after it's boiled for long enough, I squeeze out the bag for the last bit of pectin, and then add sugar and boil some more! It turns a little goopier, gets a great color that's a shade or two deeper than it was at the beginning, and gets a fun froth on top.

Meanwhile, I've been boiling the lids and baking the jars, for a quick-style canning process! It has to be quick, or you miss the window to seal the jars.

voila! Marmalade!

Over the next 24 hours after canning it, they will seal completely - and they make little "pop" sounds - it's ridiculously fun to be in the kitchen when that's happening!

I'm going to be selling my marmalade - hopefully make some honeymoon money. :) If you are interested, let me know!

2010-01-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

One of my clients who is going on the mexico trip with me has a plastic surgeon for a father. This plastic surgeon father did Michael Jackson's first 3 surgeries. Interesting.

Yesterday was yoga p90x - very fun. Working out with Adam makes us happy.

Have the urge to go home and clean showers.

Lost 1.6 pounds since my last weigh-in at weight watchers.

Disneyland with A2A this sunday. people are very freaked out about the rain, even though it's supposed to be sunny that day. and then rain will commence again on monday. WANT SUN. WANT SUMMER.

that is all. Had a fantastic lunch of chicken from costco, guacamole from chipotle, and salsa that my coworker's mom made.

2010-01-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

Adam and I started doing P90X together - an intense 60-90 minutes of exercise a day, for 90 days. Yesterday was day 2 - I love doing this with him. We work hard, we giggle, we get damn near hysterical with how sore we are and how crazy it is. But it's good, very good. I am thrilled to have a project with him again. We took before photos/weighed measurements...can't wait to see those slim down. yeesh.

It's been raining here like crazy - we actually had a tornado touch down in the two cities next to where I live. Can I reiterate that I live in Southern CA, and other than the occasional earthquake, I've never experienced any weather heavier than a drizzle? This is crazy. Everything's flooding, kids are on lockdowns at schools, and while I was driving home yesterday, I was following a path of tornado-induced desctruction....downed trees, hurled dumpsters....madness.

Adam and I have a date set for our wedding! I went with my sisters/becky to try on bridesmaid dresses Monday..but alas, bridesmaid dresses are proving to be difficult. Everything I like, they're not so fond of. I think we'll just procrastinate until the weather gets warmer and boutiques start selling sundresses again.

The Walk for Independence happened on Sunday, and happened well. We raised a ton of money, and a good time was had by all. I am proud of myself for certain things that I don't want to write about here, but I felt a shift in my own ability to handle one particularly debilitating emotion - defensiveness.

A few medical things have been popping up for me this week, which has taken a toll on my energy that I hope no one else notices. I want to sit on only the cushiest of couches, while covered by the softest of blankets while drinking the warmest of teas. It's another little bite of evidence of growing up....dealing with stuff even when it's inconvenient, even when you just don't want to. I'm a little discouraged about some things, but called and made two separate appointments today, and hopefully these things will start to improve. I am tired of being in pain, though. That exhausts me. I've never been good at pain. It's especially inconvenient because it's not something that anyone could just see and understand - you know, when your arm is broken, you've got a cast and people don't expect you to lift boxes at work. Nobody knows about mine, though, and I feel awful for having to succumb to it publicly, sometimes.

Anyways, I got in a nice little venting session to Adam last night - and was able to cut it off when I got tired of feeling sorry for myself. I tend to go on and on whenever given the chance - and Adam always gets wiped out of emotion before I do, which makes him not want to get me started...so this was nice to get to vent to him, get support, and then find my end before he reached his.

I have two orders for knitted hats I should get started on! I need to get myself to a yarn store - I don't have any of the yarn I will need for this. Excited to start on it. Excited to make a little bit of money for the honeymoon fund.

Wanting to renew my efforts with my etsy site. I have a lot of half finished items in the closet..once I am done with the two hats, I'll get those out and see. I want to get going on my aunt's chair project as well, but I don't have any space to work when it's wet and raining like this. But that is my number one top priority as soon as I can make it happen.

Adam and I talked finances the other day, and realized that he's just not eating at home so I should stop cooking like he is. It frees up a fair amount of my time...and although I am sort of missing cooking, I am liking the time, and it's way easier to keep the kitchen clean! Hah. I still cook for myself - well, cook is a strong word - I chop and gather for myself - I have been living off of assorted salads, and the cereal equivelant. What I mean is that I chop up almost everything I can to put in my salads - 3 types of lettuce, sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, onions, cranberries, apples, pears, pine nuts,

to be cont. later

SUSS

2010-01-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

Nancy came in with her 8 month old niece today - the one that was almost born during the A2A Cinco de Mayo event. I want to hold a baby that looks like me the way Klohee looks at Nancy! I want to belong to the thing. :P

Yesterday I made rosemary steak with potatoes and green beans, mooshu pork, and a kale salad. I had a fantastic time buying produce at Sprouts, listening to Tom Russel on my ipod, standing in line looking at the photos of babies in knit hats on the cover of hippie-dippie mothering magazines.

Theme?

yes.

Went to an unschooling symposium over the weekend - really interesting now that I am engaged how much I felt like I was split between younger and older generations of unschoolers. There was a time where I physically didn't know where to go - play games with the "kids" in one room, or play games with the "parents" in another room. I did a little of both. Ended up in the parent's game room for most of the night because I was knitting and they were playing a sedentary word game, rather than a jump-around-and-switch spots game.

Adam has been fantastic the past few days. Know the secret to my happiness? Think frequently about how I can make him happy. Really pays off. Wish I'd thought of this before. :) He suggested that we go look at wedding bands on Saturday (the ring kind, not the music kind) - and we will paint the rest of the fence we built, and figure out what we need to start P90X so we can start on Monday! I love projects with him!

Living with a bunch of families for a weekend in Santa Fe and seeing the Dodd's house made me think about the kind of home I want.

I worked 2.25 extra hours tonight, because I am going to Stuart's mother's memorial service tomorrow. I am not going to talk much about that right now. It's happening tomorrow, near Griffith Park. I will pick up Salvador, and maybe Adam will be able to leave work for a little while. I invited KJ.

Tonight I am going to fold my last load of laundry, feed the dogs, make the bed, run at 9 with Rosie, work on my camp, do some bootcamp videos, do some dishes, and knit!

unschooling symposium

2010-01-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

Spent the weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico at an Unschooling Symposium. We stayed at this rad compound up on a hill above Santa Fe's plaza...we had a bunch of separate condos, and a big common room where we ate, presented, and played games.

It was fun meeting a bunch of unschoolers I'd heard about through my mom, but I especially love just getting to hang out with Dodds for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, I flew in too late to hear my mom or Sandra speak, but I did get to participate in the show and tell, and the young adult pannel yesterday.

When we went down the hill to Santa Fe we found not one, but two yarn stores. I bought sock yarn at the first, and I am making my first cabled project! I love it. I bought a ton of merino roving at the 2nd place...I am going to save it and dye it myself, and then spin it for whatever project I want later.

So right now people are herding cats - trying to decide what is happening and who is leaving and who is staying and where we are going...I think the plan is to stay here and play games for a little while longer, and then head to albuequerque to see the Dodd's house, and then to the airport for a 6:45pm flight. We get in around 9something, I drive Roxana to UCI, and then head to home for sleep so I can get up and go to work in the morning. Kind of sad to think that tomorrow, life resumes as usual. I miss Adam - I always miss Adam, but I always want him to join ME where I am, rather than for me to go home. :P

Anyways - time to go knit and play games.

2010-01-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Sitting in Phoenix airport en route to Santa fe for unscoolonv con. Ready to be there already! Boarding now! How cool is of that I can update from the airport