So Flattered!

Thanks to Jenn for giving me this wonderful award! Yes, this is the same Jenn who sent me the painting Together which pulled me out of a creative slump. Read her dedication post here.

Well, part of the award mandates that I confess 7 interesting things about myself, so here goes!

1. I love coffee. This may have an affect on my tendency to be a night owl and not a morning person. I can be a snob about my coffee, too. I'm not the biggest Starbucks fan (which is generally what people think when I say I love coffee and I'm from Seattle). I generally prefer smaller roasters like Stumptown and Tony's and I would eventually love to travel to Italy to try coffee there, too. Hmmmm. Coffee. My drink of choice: Americano. I usually drink it iced, even in the winter. Something about not having to wait for the hot coffee to cool off. 2 Splendas, no cream. Perf. (perf is to perfect as vacay is to vacation.)
2. One of my favorite things is leaving the hair salon with "that" hair. You know, that totally-unattainable-at-home hair that only happens when someone else does it for you. Sigh. Plus, the head massage during the shampoo....to die for! I just had my bangs trimmed today but splurged on a shampoo and blowout so I totally have "that" hair right now. Yessssssss.
3. Both of my grandfathers led very unique lives in completely different ways. My mom's father was a magician, singer, and entertainer aboard cruise ships. Seriously. He had a top hat and belonged to a magician's society and everything. I grew up wanting to be a magician's assistant so I could wear sparkley dresses and play with bunnies. My dad's father was a senator in the Kennedy era. In fact, he was very close to JFK and worked as his right hand man. He was known as the "Silent Senator". Any Kennedy buffs out there? Well, Google it. He even has a Facebook page (which is creepy when he shows up in my recommended friends, because he passed away almost 20 years ago!).
4. My kitten is named after a Battlestar Galactica character. This is my boyfriend's fault. He desperately wanted her to have a rank, so we settled on Admiral so I could call her Addy (and pretend she was named after Kate Walsh's character on Private Practice, Addison Montgomery). This wasn't enough, so he gave her the full name Admiral Bill Adama from Battlestar Galactica. If you don't know the show (and people, I do not know the show nor claim to), this is apparently Edward James Olmos's character, and the same show they say "frack" instead of the eff word.
5. I'm a bit of a tomboy at heart. Growing up I played with the boys (especially when I could convince them to play Barbies, which usually involved a wedding with GI Joe). I still hang with the dudes. I just never related to the girly girl thing. Right now I'm probably as girly as I've ever been.Meaning, I wear dresses and skirts without an occasion, I'm not afraid of pink anymore, etc. but I'm still happiest in my jeans and hoodie.
6. After being a bartender in Seattle for a few years, I decided I wanted to try a new field when we moved up here. So I got a job working in a dog grooming salon. I had no idea how much I would love working with dogs! Now I really want one of my own. I love my kitten to death, but she def needs a playmate. Right? Cats like dogs, right?? =) (btw, that's not me in the picture. it's my lovely former co-worker and general manager of the bar I used to work at. super cool picture tho, huh?)
7. So this last one is inspired  by Jenn. I have a HUGE sweet tooth. One of my favorite treats is ice cream. One of my favorite flavors is super embarrassing to buy at the store. It's called "Take the Cake" from Dreyer's and it's basically birthday cake flavored ice cream. A close second is cookie dough, followed by Butterfinger, and anything with peanut butter and chocolate. My boyfriend says when it comes to food, I have the palette of a kindergartener. Whatever, dude! So what if I only like things that are YUMMY??!!

Okay, so there you have it!! Again, thanks to Jenn of Just Add Water, Silly for this award! I will post more pictures of my studio for you soon, girl!

Together.

Well hello there. It's been a while since I've posted an entry, and I feel bad because one of my goals is to keep up on this blog! Alas, my creative spirit has been a bit low and I've been trolling for inspiration. Usually I can find it fairly easily, yet this month it was escaping me. Not that there is a lack of awesome things out there,  it's just that nothing was calling out to me. Creativity block perhaps? Does that even exist??!! Well, something happened. One of those things that make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Someone was looking out for me.

This lovely arrived in the mail the other day. Fellow blogger, amazing watercolorist, and swap-bot friend Jennifer Mclean sent it. I love reading her blog because she gets so excited about her art and she writes in a style that I just get. Plus, like I said, she's an amazing artist! She did this 5X7 painting (called "Together") along with a few others and blogged about it, and I commented saying this one was my fave. Magically, the very same painting was in my mailbox a few weeks later! I was so surprised, I went and checked to see if I had inadvertently entered in a giveaway (it's happened before!). Nope. The back of it is styled like a postcard and says, "Since you commented on how much you liked this painting, I thought I'd send it to you." Just like that. Are you serious? I can't believe it! It was just the sort of inspiration I was searching for! I mean, I love the painting, but a huge part of the inspiration it brought is nestled in the random act of kindness it represents. I can't even say how perfectly timed it's arrival was! This post is dedicated to you, Jenn. I want to show what your wondermousness did for me. In addition to making up new words, that is.

One of the projects on my to-do list was the Potholder Pass 2. While the swap is sender's choice, I still wanted to make something my partner would love. I simply could not find the motivation or inspiration. So this project sat in the back of my head for a while. When I received Jenn's painting, I was so touched and so inspired that I sat down at my sewing machine and just did whatever came into my head. And yes, I made potholders. Big whoop. But I hadn't sewn anything in weeks, people. Warm and fuzzies!

This isn't the only thing I've made the last few days, but I want to save those projects for another post. In honor of Jenn's habit of posting random pictures of her pet, I will leave you with a picture of mine.

  

(for the record, this is not her bed. this is my chenille stash. lower to the ground and thus easier to access is my terry cloth stash, which is much less expensive and apparently so not worth her lounging time. can't wait until she's big enough to reach the minkee on the next shelf up.)

Thank you, Jenn!