the cozy apartment

refresh

My husband is watching a documentary about Castro in the other room.  I'm drinking Pepsi and trolling along the web.  All is calm, all is 57 degrees in the cozy apartment.  I love it cold, that way I can layer on the sweatpants and snuggle in to do some good crocheting.  Hell, if I'm feeling frisky, I'll even pull out the Slanket!  Today we've been married for 7 years and he still thinks I'm a hottie (even in the Slanket!)! 

Yeah, we're old beyond our years.  Today we're having a Hobby Day, spent in the computer/sewing/wait-what's-that-buring-smell-oh-are-you-soldering-something? room.  I actually COMPLETED a sewing project today!  No kidding!  I didn't take a 'before' picture, but my 9 yr old computer chair looked something like this.  Now it looks like this!:

It's SO much nicer to look in here and see that image instead of the nasty gray + cat hair look it had before!  I thought about just finding a new chair, but why?  This one is still good and comfy. 

This past week was one of the most relaxing I've had in years.  My BFF (well, hell, it sure seems like forever!  16 years!  More than 1/2 our lives!) came to visit from upstate NY and we did a whole lot of nothing.  It was fabulous.  We each took up a station on the couch and pretty much stayed there the whole week.  I feel SO much better.  It's good to be reminded of your roots and where you came from, even better to be reminded by such a sweet (and freaking hilarious!) friend. 

And so, before I head back to work tomorrow, I leave you with this, from the best episode yet:  :-)

Arrgh!

Whaaaat?!  First Blueprint, now this?!  Why, oh, why???  What's a girl to do for a fun design mag now?!  Darn economy.  Messing with people's lives in too many ways! (*edited 10 minutes later after reading more on my fave design blogs*) : Wait a minute here.  So, not only is Domino folding, but Country Home (which had gone downhill any way), Cottage Living (ak!  love that one, too!) and O at Home.  What does that leave us with?  Country Living has kept on, which is good.  It's been aiming at a younger audience lately, which is refreshing!  Um....who else...oh, that's right, NOTHING.  If anyone has a good recommendation, please let me know! 

Come on Martha, we're depending on you!  I mean, really.  Body + Soul can't be selling THAT well!  Bring Blueprint back!   

afternoon delight

Coffee in the afternoon.  Lounging with my buddy in a cozy fleece blanket and favorite pajama pants.  The red mug is the perfect size for an afternoon cuppa, and curves nicely to warm my cold hands.  Those jammies are so cute and soft!  Old Navy, of course.  Do I ever shop elsewhere?  Nope.  I love pants low on my waist and no store offers that option for voluptuous women like Old Navy.  Lane Bryant?  HA!  I scoff at you, Lane Bryant.  Somehow you think that women all have incredibly long torsos.  And you use models who are *not* plus sized.  Shame on you.  Sure, you can only buy Old Navy's actual Plus line on their website, but for me, it's worth it.  Some of theirother clothes fit well, too.  They're inexpensive....I like to have *lots* of clothing options and don't feel like one should have to spend a fortune to have a decent wardrobe!  I say "decent", but really I have jeans, cargo pants, hoodies (um, it rains here a lot.  I mean, a LOT) ribbed tank tops and graphic tee shirts.  Oh, yeah, and an extensive collection of lounge wear! 

I read once that the way that you dress is how you dressed during your favorite part of your life.  That's certainly true for me!  Yeah, I'll be 31 in April and I still dress like I'm in college!  Loved college.  Loved living alone, loved not living near my family!  First chance for freedom, learning fascinating theories and able to catch a concert at any point in the day (we had a wonderful music school there).  Emphasis on comfort over all else.  No wonder I gravitated toward a line of work that includes wearing scrubs!

I'm slightly obsessed with the print on these pants.  I bought another pair, in the largest size I could find, just so I could use the fabric for something.  What, you may ask?  I have no idea.  It's so cute, I'd ponder framing it.  Actually....hm...maybe I will frame it. 

Look at this naughty cat!  One of his several monikers is The Cookie Monster.  He adores cookies.  He will get in your face for a cookie.  He knows when you're eating a cookie.  No matter how you try to hide it, he knows.  He's a cookie psychic.  He's bold to the point of rudeness (see above) and extremely  persuasive with his begging.  Naughty.  Of course, um, I work at a veterinary hospital and must add that you're not *supposed* to give your cats niblets of cookies.  I certainly would advise against it.  Ahem.  If only to avoid the situation above.

So, Blueprint is folding.  I'm slightly put out by that, the magazine grew on me.  The photography and layouts were great.  Cozy in my jammies, I'm going to go through each page of the last issue s-l-o-w-l-y...

untitled 2.

For Gizmo the kitty at work today. 

finally, fall

                                              

      "The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
       The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
                       And I love the rain."

                                         ~Langston Hughes

This is about all I can handle this morning:

                                                 

Seriously.  Ugh.  I am very much NOT a morning person, combined with the fact that I was up till midnight and that I have no creamer for my coffee AND have to work 9-7 today.  Haha, but I can still find time to blog!  My head is...really not available for comment just yet.  So, this was the perfect morning to find SuperBuzzy's shop update!!!  Because, really, all I can handle right now is akin to, "oooh, look at the pretty pictures!"  What is it about Japanese fabric?  It's so thoughtful and creative!  I just spent a good half an hour scrolling through the different fabrics.  Sigh.  Of course, no fabric for me, considering that I've sewn nothing that I intended to for summer and still have piles of fabric gleaming on my shelf.  Ok, they're little piles, but I'm trying to talk myself out of this, people.

The orange elephant fabric is really calling to me, though.  How cute would a bag be out of this fabric???  I can't stand it.  Also, as a side note, I think I'm just going to make bags for the rest of my life.  I love them.  This pattern.  And someday, when I'm feeling suicidal particularly adventurous, THIS pattern.  Oh, and THIS fabric is...omg, I LOVE it.  Love.  Love love.  'Cause, yeah.  I dream in French on occasion.  And right now...I'd rather be dreaming....

untitled.

For the black and white kitten at work today:

                               

 

 

Once more, with feeling

Say it with me now, people...I LOVE days off.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE days off.  That has become my mantra lately.  Days off combined with the random road trip and a nice cold Amber Bock to welcome me back home.  And a BLT for dinner.  Is there a more perfect food?  I'm not certain.  But Cheez-Its, this ice cream and  Autumn Wheat cereal from Kashi come close.  Plus, you can buy Cheez-Its and the cereal in bulk at The Biggest Costco In the World which is, very literally, directly across the street from my workplace.  But I digress.  The BLT.  It's the bees knees. 

Today was lovely.  Perfect weather, sunny and 65 degrees with a slight breeze.  DH and I needed to get the hell out of dodge (hm.  Have you guys heard of the Urban Dictionary?  I love stuff like this!), loaded up the tank and drove to our hearts' content.  We drove all over Hillsboro, North Plains, etc, into areas that only had dirt roads.  Man, I miss the country.  It felt so good to see *nature* again, instead of the perfectly plotted and evenly spaced trees out here in the Silicon Forest.  Then we took the Sunset Hwy out to the ocean, got to Seaside, had lunch and drove back.  It was so good to get out of the cozy apartment, which, lemme tell ya, gets a bit *too* cozy on occasion. 

There's something to be said for a languid day off, doing nothing of consequence and heading off for no particular adventure other than having lunch by the ocean. 

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”

John Lubbock

So, I raise my frosty beer bottle to you, dear people of blogland, and head off to try out various states of repose (see painting by John Frederick Lewis).   

oh, and...

Um, have you SEEN this?!?!  Oh, Martha.  Martha, Martha, Martha.  Went to see this collection at my nearest store and stood there salivating.  Wow, what to buy!?!?!?  There were so many cute things!!!!!!  I bought nothing, though, since I couldn't decide and hadn't had lunch.  Know what I mean?  I REALLY, REALLY wanted this set of baker's twine, but they were either sold out or just didn't have it.  I will be haunting the store till it's there.  Like a crafty ghost. 

1977

Me, circa April, 1981.  Having a snack (in my slip and knee highs) before my 4th birthday party.  I LOVED those barrettes and wish I still had them!  I'd wear them even now!  My parents threw me 2 parties every year, one with my little friends and one with my family (mostly adults).  Cool parents, no?  (Though, in retrospect this was probably to spare the adults my 'little friends') For this party, they brought the picnic table and benches inside to accommodate all the kids.  Note the '80's linoleum and the '70's avocado fridge.  The daffodils were from my neighbor, Alex, a 75 yr old man who let me follow him around his farm all day.  He brought me dozens and dozens of daffodils in big buckets from his yard every single year.  The house was filled with that scent and they're my favorite flower to this day. 

On this day in particular, I turn 30. 

Today, a little antiquing with DH, some cake batter ice cream and Chinese for dinner.