gocco projects

my two readers (hey carolyn & kim!) have both nudged me to make a post, so here i am. perhaps i can resolve to write something at once a week in the coming year.

anyway, i have finally created something(s) with my gocco!

i made this one a few months ago - the text is from a card that my mom wrote me in november 1996. i was living in the dorms at mtsu at the time, and even though i lived just 45 minutes away from her, she constantly sent me cards, notes, pictures, letters, etc. after she died, i sorted through all that stuff and came across a card - it had this fairy-looking thing on it, and inside was the text you see below. i kept that card in my night stand for the past few years. and i decided to turn it into my first gocco project, so i could share those words with my family. i photocopied her message & then sketched what i imagined an 'elf attendant' would look like. (i ran into a problem with the green ink - when i squirted it onto the screen, some clear liquid came out with it and messed it up a little. so the "this" didn't come out well AT ALL. instead of burning a new screen, i just decided to fill in the bare spots with an ink pen afterwards.)

and on to my 2008 christmas card. i finally figured out how to download a bunch of nifty fonts and stuff, and i instantly fell in love with this one. as for the drawing ... just a little sketch.

the walkmen - 4 members + the privates - keith + luke =

"thinking of a dream i had" live at the basement, nashville, tn. the 13th of october:

eh?

i ran into food lion last night to pick up a few ingredients for chili. the man in front of me at the checkout lane didn't have his food lion card, so he used mine. he thanked me and i made a joke that we could call it even if he paid for my groceries. ha ha ha. based on those few words i spoke, the cashier was like, "are you from canada?"

no.

"you have a REALLY northern accent."

i told him i've lived in tennessee for 20 years.

"where'd you live before that?"

i said california.

"what part?"

"southern california, near los angeles."

"my step brother lives in torrence. do you know where that is?"

"yes"

"you're only buying ONE jalapeno pepper? that's really funny."

really northern accent?!? i realize little hints of mid-western-ness may sneak in every once in awhile, but really northern?!?

kicking, birthdays, carbs and soccer

i just returned from a 'cardio box' class at the ymca, and my face is as red as a beet. i tried a beginning kickbox class a couple months ago and thought this class would be more punching-oriented (because the description said "just want to punch? this class is for you!"). but that was quite misleading. this class should be called 'advanced kickboxing for coordinated, in shape crazy folk'.  my feeble knees don't do so well with all the side kicks. or forward or back kicks. bad news for katie. i plan to stick with my monday night yoga at the smyrna rec center from now on.

yesterday was rollum's 29th birthday. i didn't get him any gifts, because that scooter should take care of any and all gifts for the next 10 years. i'm only slightly kidding. instead i fixed a cheesecake with cherry compote topping and a vegetable lasagna (filled with eggplant, squash, zucchini, broccoli, carrots and onion. and lots of cheese and sauce). i feel like i spent the entire weekend in the kitchen.  but the meal was good and rollum seemed to enjoy it.  and i broke my semi south-beach-ish diet to enjoy the fruits (or in this case, carbohydrates) of my labor.  

saturday afternoon, i attended elliott's soccer game.  here's a picture of the little dude in his uniform, because he looks so darn cute in it.  he scored the only 2 goals for his team that day. (carrie & jason decided his team's kinda like the bad news bears. the other teams all seem to have a better grasp on the concept of soccer. they set shots up for each other and stuff. elliott's team kinda chokes whenever they have the ball. but i think he's having fun, so that's all that matters, eh?).  go e-moon!  

china hutch

i spotted this china hutch at an estate sale more than a month ago. i couldn't afford their asking price, so that was that. i left my name/number in case they were willing to let it go for less. over the next few days, i COULD NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. i found the craiglist ad for the estate sale and contacted the lady to see if it was still available. it was! and she'd come down on the price! i told her i'd have to wait for a break in rollum's schedule (and for my neighbor's truck) to pick it up. he's been so busy that finally, her husband offered to drop it off. so i got this bad boy on monday. I LOVE IT. we took our ikea table out, brought the our vintage metal table back in (and covered it with this rad tablecloth my friend liz gave me for my birthday) = kitchen makeover! now i have to fill the hutch with goodies, which will require a big cabinet sort-through - i will display some things that have been hidden and whatnot. we may be looking to get rid of the ikea table, so if you know of anyone...
isn't it funny how much the color changes depending on flash/no flash?

yard sale treasures

i had good yard sale luck today. woke up around 10:30 and searched for "smyrna garage sales" on craiglist, and here's what i got:

first stop: sam davis road; a woman and her daugher, around my age. lots of cool antique-y stuff. i was just going to buy the bird salt & pepper shakers and the yellow glass thing; i liked the painting but part of me wondered if it was a little too "motel art" or "bob ross." (I was laughing at myself for thinking so hard about whether or not i wanted to spend $2 on it). the daughter ended up selling me the painting and the other goodies for $2.75 (!?). the woman said her aunt painted it in the 1920s; her name was lola and she lived to be almost 100. i told her i'd hang it in my computer room. after i heard the backstory about lola, i grew to love the painting and wish i had paid them more for my goodies.

next i ended up off hazelwood; it was an old lady in an electric wheelchair and her husband. she talked at length about her health and how this would probably be the last garage sale she had. also how her daughter owns a salon and wanted to re-do the colors, so there were some salon hair dryers for sale. she had lots of owls for sale & i picked out the coolest ones - 25 cents each! and a plastic purity milk crate for 50 cents.
(yellow glass was from the first yard sale)

i love all my goodies! but i need to watch this owl collection i seem to have started. reminds me of the sorority girl roommate i had in 1997; she was in chi omega and had an entire bookshelf filled with hundreds of owls (i guess that's their "symbol"?) this was the apartment i also shared with a chinese girl who cooked chicken claws.

catch-up

so it's been several weeks since i've written anything. has the allure of this thing finally worn off?

here's what i've been up to:

• i got a new camera! thanks to birthday money from my dad & courtney, the $100 i got for doing a market research study about beans, and my chase visa.

• i turned 31!

• rollum got a scooter (no exclamation point for that one)

• comcast finally figured out the error of their ways and took away our "free" expanded cable. no more "mad men", "project runway", and work-from-home sessions in front of "clean house." boo. we have 20 channels now, half of which air constant evangelical christian programs (no exclamation point)

• finally put my gocco to use! it came out of its box to help print some of alexis and dave's awesome wedding invitations, designed by the super talented kelly. i am no longer afraid of it, but i must find a workspace at my house so i can get started on some of my own stuff!
  

cutest skillet in the world

panda skillet

"that guy likes kid rock so much, he has a shirt for it!"

i've been a baking machine this weekend. i went to a friend's surprise birthday party on friday night, so i spent the afternoon hanging out with lots of butter, chocolate, and sugar. martha stewart and her double-chocolate brownie cookies totally failed me, and i cursed as i was dealing with the gooey batter. i ended up throwing them out. i fared better with the brownies.

i am so very lazy on some saturdays. but not yesterday! i took helen's bedding to the laundromat, gave her a bath, and made the ultimate campfire dinner. beef barbecue in the crockpot (for sandwiches), homemade coleslaw, and baked beans. rollum asked me to pick up from smores ice cream from the store, but instead i made some smores bars for dessert. (then rollum pointed out the campfire-ness of it all). my dad joined us for dinner too, and we listened to randy newman and linda ronstadt records.

then on to the basement for the hotpipes and the nobility. courtney urged us to go to the red door to meet up with her dude crew and i proceeded to act like i was 21 again. waffle house + 4am bedtime = i am getting too old for this but i still had lots of fun. speaking of getting too old, i'll be 31 in 20 days. and the belcourt is showing better off dead for the midnight movie, so if you like that movie and/or me, you should come!

pie time

i spent the better part of sunday afternoon making this bad boy. it's probably a good thing that apricot season doesn't last longer, or else i'd be tempted to make it more often. a good mixture of tart and sweet, and the hazelnut topping adds a little saltiness to it too. i didn't change anything about the recipe, except i shortened the cooking time (even still, the bottom of the crust got a little burnt).

apricot-raspberry pie with hazelnut streusel topping

we watched the diving bell & the butterfly last night...very, very good. earlier in the week i watched persepolis. please share any movie recommendations with me. i've hi-jacked the netflix account for the time being. i think i need something without subtitles next...