All alone, all four of us...

We are finally getting settled in our new digs. I must say, as much as I've loved my roommates (some more than others, but whatev's), it is SO nice to live alone. With my amazing little family of K and the kitties. Just damn perfect. I am a lucky, lucky girl, that is for sure!

This is round two for me living in the Marine View, K's first time. I forgot the walls are constructed of solid concrete or I don't know, adamantium! Whatever they're made of makes it pretty impossible to hang pictures with nails. I have lots of pictures that require said nails in order to be hung. FML, what am I to do? How do I hang large framed pictures? I think our answer is to drill and just patch the shit before we leave. Or not hang them. Which is just a ridiculous non-option. Even if I had somewhere to store them (I don't, more on that below), I wouldn't want to not have them hung. And then what? Wait until we move out until we get to have them up? Eff that noise, they're going on the walls...somehow. We also had dreams of putting up lots of mirrors towards the back of the apartment to bring in the light from the few windows we have. We shall see about that as well.

Storage space, or lack there of. Holy crap the Palace spoiled us. Well we did pay a damn pretty penny to be spoiled by it! But the amount of built in storage space and extraneous storage closets / rooms to keep my arts / crafts / crap really was amazing. And obviously uncommon. Hello cookie cutter one bedroom apartment, where is your full wall of built in bookcases with mirrored doors? And we only have one built in mirror, in contrast to hell, 16!? mirrors at the Palace. So while K was on her mini trip to ANC to pick up the new rig, I wanted to try and unpack the rest of our totes that have been taking up all of our tiny space. And that's when I realized we didn't have enough storage. Oh I knew that was the case going into it, but that is when I really knew it. I would open a tote, rifle through it and look for stuff I could put away and not find anything. Okay, I put some stuff away, but the majority of it needs somewhere to be put. If I unpacked it, it would just be on the floor. And we don't have near enough square footage to do that. So I shoved all the un-unpackable totes in the corner, where we hope to put our dining table (with sweet wall mirrors surrounding it) someday and put the dining table semi decently (awkwardly) skewed next to the bookcases and behind our rando recliners. I arranged the recliners and side table to make our cot couch and coffee table space look much more living roomy. Looks pretty cute if you put on blinders for walking past the corner of totes and flotsam. But I digress, back to storage. I looked at freestanding shelves at Fred's, seems to be the best option. But even then, those will take up space. I'm tempted to keep our storage unit that we rented for the move. Maybe organize and keep the craft / art / crap that I actually think I will use in the next three months at the house and send the rest to storage. I don't know though, I like the idea of just living with wonky, crowded storage and keeping the $85 a month in my pocket.

In other, other news:
K flew to ANC and drove back our brand new '94 4Runner! She's cute, needs a name and possible a catalytic converter. Oy, don't get me started. I think the brief-but-felt-like-forever time apart was very good for us. K got some much needed time with friends she has been missing and I missed the shit out of her while she was gone and got in some fantastic Ver time, with a bonus karaoke appearance. Yikes!

Also while she was gone, I moonlighted at the knife shop for a weekend guest appearance. Mr. D had knee surgery and needed some help. I figured I was just going to be sitting around missing her anyway, so why not sell pointy things and make moola while being mopey. It was great, kind of funny how I was able to just slip back into the spiel. And cleaning the shop just cemented how much I LOVE having a state job. It's true, I fucking love being a state worker. I do my job (that I enjoy!), I get paid regularly, I get weekends and evenings off. I don't get calls at home, I don't work holidays and I have insurance. Yup, I'm sticking with it.

MC Lou is a plant uprooting demon. K brought back some African Violets and some kind of really cool looking plant that looks like aloe but the spikes are different. The aloe looking one is actually five or six little plants that have been replanted temporarily in one pot. So maybe that's why she had NO problem uprooting and removing ALL of them from the planter this morning while I was home sicky and sleeping. Then I cleaned it up and she did it again while I was out of the room. Really MC?! Ugh, it's a damn good thing she's fucking adorable.

Gluten free for me! This one will get its own post someday. After months of continued and unexplained sickness, I am taking the "go gluten free" advice of an incredibly smart and amazing lady who happens to be one of my best friends from forever ago (middle school) and is now a chiropractor. I was tested for Celiac Disorder by my doctor, yeah the same one who still doesn't know what's wrong with me, and didn't test positive for gluten intolerance. But then my above mentioned smart, amazing middle school bestie gave me the rundown. Basically she said the tests that they run don't test enough and that I very well could still be gluten intolerant and that most likely that's what is wrong with me. So I've been giving it a shot since the 16th or 17th. So far it is a little difficult but only because I haven't had the chance to stock my pantry properly. It feels very similar to being a vegan, reading labels and being hyper aware of what people offer you. Ugh, not that great, but if it makes me better then buh-buy delivery pizza and regular bread, hello not feeling like crap 23-6.

We have been mulling over wedding options. And bejesus it seems like the more we discuss it, the more new options we come up with to choose from. Which is making choosing just one very difficult! So I made a list of our top locations and pro's and con's, yes I am that nerd. Hopefully this will make one just stand out and we can forget the rest. I would like to have some stuff pinned down, even if it was just the colors or flowers or you know, the date! Little things like that :P It's getting closer and closer, whatever date it ends up being. I just saw that July 14 is a Saturday...I like the idea of a Bastille day wedding. I'm not a huge fan of combining holidays and weddings, like Christmas or Valentine's day, but Bastille is a French holiday, no one would know but us...and my mom. And she'd be proud and fucking love it :)

Pictures of Awesome Epicness

The lovely superbly amazing K and myself...


Moments after getting engaged!


Our fantastic living room...


The incredible view from said living room...


Got all crafty last weekend and made her a hat, Jack a cat toy and three beer/ diet coke coozies.


Lovely ladies, err gentlemen from the drag show!

I did it!!

I officially have art in an art show! Waahooo! I really thought it wouldn't happen what with my vacation, moving, and general pussiness. But I pulled it together and did it. Gotta say, it feels great! Maybe this will be the catalyst to keep me going in the direction I should be. I feel so good creating, I just need to do it more. And I have been, what with the not working currently. I have no excuse and plenty (but never enough) supplies and time.
Speaking of supplies, I found a new one to collect all of. Elmer's Painter's Markers. It's a marker filled with acrylic paint. Neeeeato! I used it on the outline of my swirls and it was so much easier than a brush. As I can justify spending money on artsy stuff, I will be buying many more of them.
I'll keep it short and sweet and leave ya with what's gonna be in the show (it is fully outlined in black, forgot to upload the completed piece.)

Winter time

Brrrr. Okay so it's actually not that cold today. Just wet and chilly. The snow that dumped on us is pretty much gone down here. Making the town have that re-exposed garbage filled streets look we usually see in spring. Wish it was spring! Actually I'm excited for winter and settling into my new place. I'm not looking forward to unpacking all my crap I should just get rid of, but I do like setting up house. Things I plan on doing this winter season:
-Getting my ass to the gym. Regularly!
-Leaning back towards a vegetarian diet. I just feel drawn to it. Might as well accept it.
-Ace my state job interview on Monday and get a big girl job.
-Make myself spend time being artsy. Explore new mediums and craft styles. Just started using thin tip and paint brush tip markers. Very outside my comfort zone and fun.
-Work on being me and figuring out who that is. It's something I've thought about for a long time and need to get down to it. I need to know me and what I want before I can expect someone else to!
-Think outside myself. Again this is something I often think about but don't act on. I want to make a difference, even if it's just a teeny tiny one.

What I've done so far this winter:
-Reduced my smoking. I'm down from a pack a day to zero to two to five a day. I'll take it! And I'll get to zero all the time. But it's a big baby step for me.
-Moved! And dang I never want to again!
-Started pushing myself artistically Working on filling up all my half used sketch books. And actually honing and expanding my photography skills.
-Seen through bullshit. I'm over games and drama. I want friends not people that bring me down. Luckily I've got good friends.

And for my final list, Things I heart at the moment in no particular order:
-Lady Gaga I am thoroughly impressed with her level of committment to weird entertainment. I think she's rad and fun to shake my ass to, so there.
-The Kardashians I should be ashamed to admit this, but I'm so looking forward to the new show on Dec 13th. I think there should be a drinking game involved. Something along the lines of a shot every time they hold their phone in front of their mouth to talk. But you'd be passed out before it was over!
-My friends! This has definitely been an interesting fall into winter and not the best by far. I couldn't survive without my V!! And Bumble Bee and Lil' Miss Cap't.
-Candy canes Yum, yay Christmas time! But only the good ones, Bob's. So very derish! Dang I knew I should have brought one to work!
-V's parents A couple of those rare genuinely nice people! So very very nice. I haven't been around a family setting in so long, it's like being wrapped in a blanket and handed a kitten and cocoa and then being told silly almost off color jokes. And they're being super understanding of my money flow as I transition apartments and jobs.

Gee I guess that's about it. Now to try and do these lists. And semi regularly blog about it to boot!

Time o' Transition

I am so mother effing excited to almost be unemployed! I have today and tomorrow off because there is no boat either day. And then the last boat comes on Sunday. I have to do payroll on Monday but that should be about it. YAYS! Then just a couple days to try to get ready for my trip and off I go.

So far today has been fantastically lazy and productive. I got to sleep in, watched the best movie ever (I love you man), took a package to the post office and have been soaking up WIFI from the Rondy ever since. I decided to make a sticker for the bar. We need some grass roots advertising. And my laptop needs one. So that's making me feel like I'm actually utilizing some of my creativity that's been going to waste.

And I've been contemplating what I'm going to do for the Alternative Arts thingy in December. I have a month to work on it when I get back. I think I'm gonna paint my lady-quin finally. But we'll see. I'm afraid I will just "not decide" and end up not doing anything. Which is bullshit. This is exactly what I need. To be forced to be creative and produce something that the public will see. Instead of just friends that see my random shit.

I really really wish I had the interweb at my house. It would be way better than sitting in a cold bar. Poo. I might just have to get it this winter. But hell if I know what's going on or even where I'll be this winter. It is the great unknown at the moment. Kinda freaking me out. But kinda the most awesome thing ever. I'll take it!

Addictivity

So I might get addicted to things easily. Or things that are very addictive I like a lot. Hmm. Used to be sitting in a bar drinking, doing bad things. Always ready for the next night, the next unhealthy adventure. Luckily I'm not so addicted to that anymore. Still nice and addicted to smoking. It's just so darn tasty is all. And now I'm getting addicted to working out. Yes! Finally a good one! Still don't yearn for it quite the same as drinking and smoking, but it'll get there. I do however have a new bad addiction. Etsy. Oh how I can't live without thee! Ob-sessed! And worse off is that I happen to have cash in my bank account that is just sitting there. Not rent money, not bill money. Just...etsy money..eek. And I happen to be buying things under the guise of presents for upcoming birthdays. Yeah, like two of the things, maybe.
But in the long run spending hours perusing the site just makes me want to make things. Lots of things! I want to work with metal, yarn, paints, found materials. It makes me want to CREATE! And I just don't have the effing space for it and it's driving me crazy. I've been slightly obsessing (see a pattern?) over character stamps and initial jewelry. Looking at hardware sites, fine jewelry sites, wanting to buy all the materials and tools needed. And I could. But where oh where would I create with such tools and materials? Certainly not at my house. I can't leave cellophane from a cigarette pack on the floor or my cat attacks it. I have one door that closes. And behind that door is the cat stuff, so I can't exactly lock them out of there. Oh and it's the bathroom, I don't see that as a great jewelry making site. My apartment really isn't so bad. I just need some huge wardrobe with latching doors. I could have my paintings dry in there, trays with little shiny fixings just waiting to be combined. Sigh. Or I can just wait out the summer and see where the fall takes me. Either I'm moving :) or I'm investing in some kind of storage space so I can get back to being creative. Don't even get me started on knitting. Luckily the scarf that is now off the needle was one I didn't really like and I'm sure I can sand down the double pointed bamboo needle with the tiny kitty teeth marks in it.

Plarn-tastic

So after I sorted our huge mountain of clothes and cleaned my craft room, I got all kinds of creative. I sorted through my three drawer catch all o' crafts, I cleaned out a junk drawer of pens that the prior tenants had left, and I made a list of things I need to be craftier. Then I got down to plarn business.

In the process of cleaning I found my larger scissors, so I followed the instructions pretty closely. Smooth, fold, snip, snip, snip. Making fairly even sized pieces, but you know, I'm human. It wasn't until about the tenth or twelfth bag that I realized I should be using my rotary cutter and mat that was like three inches away from me. Duh. It was so much quicker and I got perfect inch wide strips. I'm a fricking genius. 

Then I spent the rest of the night tying the loops together into a massive static-y heap. Brown fred meyer's bags are the least static prone. Wal mart has the thinnest bags, go figure. And A&P has the softest plastic out of all of them, if that makes any sense. And I had a bunch of random ones from xmas with season's greetings and whatnot written on them. As I was making the plarn I started daydreaming about where I could start shopping so I could get more interesting bags. And I started coveting bags in general. I don't have enough all of a sudden! I need plastic bags!

I ended up with a large grapefruit sized (mmm that sounds good) ball o' plarn. Which totally isn't enough to actually make something. So anyone want to unload a shit ton of not dirty or torn plastic bags? This damn dirty hippy will take them off you hands!

Plans, Scams, and Plarn Part III

Plans, Scams and Plarn Part III

Plarn

Lately I've been getting into the craft mode. I have several baby blankets or gifts that I need to make soon. Like yesterday. It'd be great if my little sis got something from me for my new nephew Bradley. Who's four month old. Way to be on it! I would like to make something for Sydne who is due in February and I have to make something for Harmonie who is due in March. So I've been looking through my books and online and getting all kinds of ideas not baby related.

I also hate plastic bags. Haaate them. But I have a ton of them. I just keep shoving them into a cabinet. And there they sit, waiting to be repurposed. I think I get it from my parents, they always had tons of bags around to "reuse" which we never really did. Except for emptying the litter box. Enter Plarn.

Plarn is plastic yarn, made from never gonna leave this earth plastic shopping bags. I found a really easy tutorial online on how to make the bags into workable yarn. I also found out about fusing bags to create fabric like material. I'm so excited. And nerdy. I can't do the fusing yet because I need wax paper. But making plarn? I'm so there! I think I'm going to make a kitchen rug first, that seems like an easy way to start out. Then maybe a shopping bag. Out of many shopping bags. Oh the nerd I am!

Now off to cut many many strips of plastic and watch the Italian Job.