Thursday, November 25, 2010

just in time.

alas, the Christmas shopping season draws nigh!

looking to get your Black Friday on? you're in luck -- i just dropped off two new howl. handbags this week at Carpe Diem!

Go Ahead, Take a Bow Cross-Body Bag The Campus Tote
swing by during your shopping marathon on Friday and check out howl.'s brand new collection of leather headbands; that is, if they haven't sold out already yet! (so cute guys, srsly. i'm not even joking here.)

new howl. headbands!
locally handmade from reclaimed leathers, howl. handbags and accessories make thoughtful gifts, no matter the occasion. plus, the folks at Carpe Diem are ridiculously cool. a visit with them is always worth the drive. ♥

Saturday, November 20, 2010

some times.

occasionally, there might be a day, or series of days all in a miserable streak, where everything falls apart.

sometimes the sewing machine that has been happily and faithfully sewing through leather all its life decides it's like, SO over sewing through leather and you spend hours upon hours trying to gently coax it back into working properly.

sometimes, after the aforementioned stressful hours, you throw things in your sewing room.

sometimes, you decide to take a break from sewing to dye a bear suit for the children's Christmas pageant at church. YES, THAT'S IT, DYE THE BEAR SUIT. THAT WILL BE RELAXING AND SIMPLE.

sometimes you regretfully realize that you cannot reliably dye a bear suit all one color of brown for the children's Christmas pageant, and should probably never be depended upon to do anything important ever again.

sometimes your iPod battery dies in the car and you have to drive all the way to West Bend (read: North Pole), listening to music on the radio. (HORROR OF HORRORS.)

sometimes you spend your last $10 bill on tipping your lovely hair stylist, only to realize the donut shop only takes cash. (sometimes you hold up a line full of hungry octogenarians at the donut shop while you write out a check for $2.95. )

sometimes you wait in line for 20 minutes only to have Starbucks serve you poison, masquerading as a chai latte with a shot of espresso, and make it through a very difficult series of traffic obstacles before realizing it, only to have to turn around and complete the challenge all over again.

some times are just hard times.

sometimes, it's good to know that someone is for you, and not against you. 



(song based on this.)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

ya eat in the bathroom, ya eat with the devil.

sometimes i worry that the lady in the next stall thinks that loud plastic wrapper i'm opening is some kind of yummy snack.

(for the record, it's not.)




note: Google image searches for "tampon" are horrible and scary. just trust me on this.

Monday, November 15, 2010

what to do when the camera is missing.

1. completely fail at sewing all weekend, because who will even know if you finished those new bags or not?

2. borrow other peoples' photos.

i've had a number of things i've been wanting to post about, but keep putting them off because our camera has recently gone MIA. (is October still considered recent?) but folks, no worries: i think i has the solution. (what's with your grammar there, Homestar?)

with the seasons changing slightly, and my waistline feeling rather uncooperative after weeks nursing a foot injury, i'm in search once again for new and exciting recipes. but new and exciting recipes that i can make (and eat) entirely by myself, that prep and cook in a half hour or less, or maybe an hour while i'm noshing on a rather giant salad as my first course. (between the picky hubs and the Warrior diet, i'm kind of on my own here.) my search led me to Kalyn's Kitchen, a blog so consistently stocked with healthy, scrumptious-looking recipes i feel like i can hardly keep up. i soon compiled a list of bookmarked recipes so tall, it nearly rivals my fabric and leather stash. (ha. or maybe not.)

Winter Squash & Sausage With Herbs
deciding to finally put my ... uh, mouth, where my uh... mouth is, i tested out Kalyn's yummy-looking Squash and Sausage recipe last week. AND IT WAS YUMMY, INDEED. so yummy, in fact, that i proceeded to email it immediately to my mother, my sister and my two personal trainer friends. i stopped just short of posting it on Facebook and also immediately blogging about it; but as you can see, the yumminess eventually overruled my self-control in that area.

but one of Kalyn's latest posts has be wondering about branching out and trying something new: alternative greens. in a recent Thanksgiving-related post, a recipe for Spaghetti Squash with Chard caught my attention. i've eyed greens like chard and collards historically with heavy distrust. it's not that i don't like leafy greens; i eat them regularly and rather enjoy them, even cooked, which many people dislike. in fact, i managed to rustle up a pretty outstanding sauteed spinach for my mom's birthday recently. so perhaps my only real objection is simply that i've never used greens like these. and the unfamiliarity is a bit intimidating. but recipes like these and these greens' nutritional benefits make me wonder if i've been unfair.

Spaghetti Squash & Chard Gratin
how about you, do you cook with lesser-known greens like kale, chard, or collards? are they as scary as they seem? please feel free to share fast, easy and delightful recipes you've tried and loved. we'll see if this old cat can't try (and enjoy) something new yet.
____ ___ __ _ 

All images via Kalyn's Kitchen

Monday, November 8, 2010

10 words (on why I write)

His mercies are new each morning—we must document allofit.

(go ahead and hate for the cheater word. but this was it, and i wasn't about to argue. for a short back story on why i chose to take on this little 10-word challenge, check this post out, and for a little extra context, read this.)

Friday, November 5, 2010

10 words - preview

having been in a bit of a productivity rut lately, i found this challenge rather interesting. perhaps a chance to redefine why i started (and restarted) this silly weblog, and examine my intentions for it moving forward.

i don't have anything ready yet (will probably post when i have something, or become a fake plans liar), but in the meantime, figured i'd list. listing is something i apparently used to do early in my days of internet oversharing, and after having revisited some of that writing, i've realized how effective they were in summarizing what would normally eat up much more time (yours and mine). so here goes.

stellar:

- the Madison Mud Run. (very, very cold, but very, very worth it.)
- ribbed sweater tights
- being able to wear real shoes again, albeit with cushy insoles added.
- Halloween!
- Halloween candy
- Halloween being over, finally. (i work at a costume company. you don't even know...)
- running! again! oh, how i missed it.
- orchard apples
- Yogi Healthy Fasting tea. mmm...

less than stellar:

- politics. (at work, not in real life. the real life ones have been rather exciting lately!)
- plantar fasciitis
- Halloween candy
- gaining weight
- having to start working out again, after getting far too used to "resting" (read: laying around, whining.)
- hard things (that's what she said! ha!)
- earlier and earlier sunsets. (can't it just stay fall forever?)

and now, here's a dirty picture:

ha. fell for that one, didn't ya?