Around Clock by Anthony Dickens for Lexon (neat idea)
Bedol’s Water Powered Clock (interesting…)
Bubble Calendar (’cause everyone loves to pop the bubble wrap!)
(Just had to share these, reminds me of the one summer I spent at day camp. Lanyards were so “excellent”!)
Nesting from Morph (just love the colors!)
Frank Ghery door handle for Valli & Valli (will this man leave any product untouched by his style? not that I am complaining…)
what cool things you’ve found recently?
This one is quick. All I have to say is I LOVE MY iPHONE!!!!!
Yes, I am now completely connected! Web, email, phone, music, I’ve got it all!
I am not by any means a gadget aficionado so don’t ask me any technical questions about why I love this thing. All I know is it is easy to use and does everything I need it to do.
Here is my first picture with the camera:
Isn’t he cute?!!! Actually I am much more apt to whip out the thing to take a picture since it all just syncs with my mac and I can send them so easily. They won’t win any contests but it does the trick for capturing a moment!
Only thing, I don’t think I am hip enough for it! 🙂
I am trying to concentrate on the positive this evening and thought I would write and encourage you all to spend time (walking) in your local community and go to your local farmer’s markets! Also to share these ties with good friends!
Last Wednesday a dear friend and I got together for an afternoon drink at our neighborhood farmer’s market. It is small but everyone is so friendly. We found a new local coffee roaster and a young woman who makes bagels in her kitchen. That latter is a big deal. Hubby bought some a couple weeks ago and let me tell you, they are the closest to NY style bagels I have found out west! I had to buy a couple and they were fabulous!
And to start off a great weekend, Hubby and I walked to one of our neighborhood pizza joints (not great but we have very high east coast pizza standards!), then on to our neighborhood gelato place (YUM!). Everyone was out and enjoying dinner or a stroll and the terrific summer weather.
Saturday morning dawned cloudy but in the PNW, that is by no means a deterrent! After running an errand, we headed to the much larger farmer’s market downtown. It was packed! Everyone buying berries and produce among other fresh organic products. Here is our bounty:
We are especially enamored of beets these days and check out the yellow carrots! Apparently hubby says that is their original color and the Dutch figured out how to make them orange. However, I have seen purple and white ones too. Sounds like something to research… The beets (grilled) were a hit with our dinner friends that evening!
We had brunch on Sunday with some other friends and toured some open houses with them very close to our neighborhood. We hope to have them within walking distance within the next few months so we can share more of our neighborhood’s charm with them!
Dinner was another feast from our other friends’ trip to the farmer’s market. Green beans, potatoes and lettuce from their own garden! Oh, and berries for dessert!
All in all a great weekend, filled with great conversations, fabulous food and wonderful friends! So much to be thankful for!
I am still riding the rush of the abso-fab Police Concert we attended last Friday!
It’s been a wild ride over the past, basically two years, of figuring out the fan club, who’s buying what tickets to which concert and what to do with extra tickets. From the fist show in Vancouver BC (a great mini vaca with friends J and D), to the next show in Seattle WA (with really decent seats where we had room enough to shake our groove thing) and finally the show here in nearby WA, our experiences have gotten better and better each show!
Hubby got THE MOST increadible seats we have ever purchased (19th row center) and an express parking pass (it took maybe all of a half hour to get out!) for this latest show. I can’t even begin to describe how cool it was to be so close to the band! And they totally rocked! There was the prevailing PNW openess in the crowd, striking up conversations in line for beer (some guy thought I was all of 19 which I will treasure as I approach my next birthday!), politely getting to their seats if they had to pass and in general being their happy selves.
We took along hubby’s dad (who was alread coming to do some fly fishing and also it was his birthday gift) and my now ex boss (who LOVES music of all sorts, especially live and also I wanted to show him my extreme gratitude for all he has taught me). A good time was had by all!
no blog…
So, I am into my first week between jobs.
I spent my last two weeks obsessively writing a handbook for my boss with lots and lots of details about all my responsibilities. We spent a couple hours training and many minutes of me popping into his office to relay a myriad of other things and open ended minor projects. He took me to lunch on my last day and true to his generosity and his gratitude for my 6.5 years of service, he gave me a couple gifts. I have to also thank the gift shop manager for giving him the exact items I was looking at in the shop only the day before. One of which was a bamboo scarf (purchased one of these for my mother in law for xmas, so soft!) and the other was the beautiful new book on Calder’s jewelry! I am in awe and can learn so much just from the pictures. Calder is one of my favorite artists and this book will be treasured.
I am still missing my co-workers at the Museum but I know the new job will provide a much needed change of pace and scenery as well as new learning opportunities.
In the meantime, I stopped off at the fabric store on one of my last days and picked up some fabulous fabrics for a project I have been itching to make. I began it almost the same night and am already finished! This was one of my goals for the “between jobs” time. I will post the project a bit later.
Tomorrow I begin the next project, painting our upstairs room. As I am looking at it now, I feel rather daunted for it runs the length of the house but if I can at least prime and paint the ceiling, I think I will feel a sense on accomplishment!
For the past 6.5 years I have enjoyed working at the Portland Art Museum. I have had a terrific boss, worked with a great staff and learned a great deal about the non-profit world.
Before we left for vacation, I stumbled upon a job posting to which I immediately applied. It was for an Administrative Assistant position with Donate Life Northwest. I am happy to report that they have offered me the position and I have decided to take the offer!
I have been a volunteer for DLNW for a number of years and have written previously about my jewelry donations to their events. My personal connection to the organization gave me a huge advantage over the other applicants.
It was a very difficult decision for a number of reasons (which are too complicated to go into). My thanks to hubby, mom and a good friend (thanks J!) who put everything into perspective. And thanks to my references who said such nice things about me (D, E and M, you are all fabulous!).
Though I will miss my Museum colleagues, I am excited about this new opportunity. Plus it will still allow me to continue with my jewelry, guild and other volunteer activities!
Wish me luck!
Here are the photos from my new photographer, Stephen Funk.
Aren’t they great!!!
I am so happy with the results!
I can’t believe the CMAG show is upon me again! Seems like just yesterday I was packing my stuff up after a great show last year.
Much the same panic and chaos has been taking place in my life and in my body these past few weeks and a strange apathy has arisen. Not a huge feeling but it is there. It probably has to do with my volunteer responsibilities having burned me out altogether.
On the plus side, I have a new location this year and hope it will be just as prosperous (and less open to some personality conflicts). I will have a friend to help me on Saturday and another on Sunday, not to mention hubby’s help in tear down on Sunday. My expectations are only moderately high and therefore should not be disappointed if I don’t sell a lot. I found a new photographer, a very cool guy whose wife is also a metal worker, who’s compositions are much more suited to my work (I will share the photos next month!). Due to my highly organized nature, all my display stuff is already packed from the last show. My new MOO business cards arrived in plenty of time and look great. I will be leaving shortly after the show for a much needed vacation for both myself and hubby.
On the minus side, some of my dear friends are not doing the show and I will miss their company and counsel. Hubby has been away at a conference and I have been flying solo with nobody to help calm my panic. I have a potential gallery on the coast that wants my work and a commission to complete in the next 3 weeks, 2 of which I will be on vacation. This actually is half plus and half minus!
As you can see the pluses highly outweigh the minuses so once my car is packed, I think
all will be well and I will be able to relax about everything and have another good show!
And hubby just called and made me smile! I am already on my way to the positive attitude I need for the show!
Ever get one of those canvas bags from a trade show? Have any old large handbags or beach bags? Yup, thought so. We have gotten lots over the years.
Keep them in your car and use them next time you go to the grocery store in lieu of getting paper or plastic. This is a really easy change to make in your daily life to lessen environmental impact.
Though we do re-use the paper and plastic grocery bags, it felt so great when a couple weeks ago we went grocery shopping and everything fit in the 4 canvas bags we brought with us!
We both now keep at least one in the car for mid week grocery trips and the others are stored by the door so we pick them up before leaving the house for larger weekend grocery trips. We always put the small one back in the car by the next day so we are never without one.
Not only is this good for the environment, the canvas bags are stronger and easier to carry and there are some additional perks at some stores; at Trader Joe’s, if you re-use or bring your own bags, you get entered in a gift basket raffle and at New Seasons, they give you a nickel off your bill!
We use a good amount of paper products. From tissues and toilet paper to paper towels and plates.
Now there is only so far I will go with respect to tissues and toilet paper (a girl has to have some comfort in these areas!) but I can at least purchase recycled paper towels and virtually eliminate paper plates.
I explained my new idea to use our china plates instead of paper to hubby and he has taken well to it. It took a while for us both to get used to but we are not even running the dishwasher any more often than before. Even our garbage can has felt the change with less frequent filling!
All in all, a good small choice to lessen our paper consumption for a smaller environmental impact.
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