Hold Dear

What a Monday.

Ever have one of those days when you're glad it's behind you? When you just can't wait to go to bed because you know when you wake up, it's gonna be a new day? Not that the day was necessarily a bad day or because it's a Monday. But just because it was full. Do this, do that, go here, go there. Your brain is full. No more room at the inn! Well today was one of those for me. And I'm glad it's done.

It started at 5:00 am because I got up to take Glen to the airport. He left for Kalispell for two weeks. Man such dread. Two weeks! But I've got my list of things to do...organizing, art projects, movies, books, etc. I try to make the best of it. I usually talk to Glen once or twice a day so that helps me miss him a little less.

I got into work by 7:00 am and put the pedal to the metal. Got a TON of stuff done today! Had lots of loose ends and have been feeling a bit anxious since I need to be transitioning into the Technical Writer role. I had lots of productive conversations today and pretty much got my week set up. I really enjoy going to work and knowing what I'm doing that day. I used to like lots of variety but more often lately, I like the heads down/leave me alone kind of work! I'm sure it's because I can then conserve or reserve my energy for art and school.

After work I had my last test in my History of Graphic Design class. I officially have seven credits!! :-) I'll find out my grade on Wednesday. I've been pretty solid in the class but not so sure about this test. I studied A LOT but man, this teacher still pulls things out of left field. I did most of the extra credit (of course!) so hopefully that will keep me in the running for an A. One of the extra credit assignments was to write an essay about Cubism...what brought it on, was it was and what came out of it. This was an extremely powerful and politically charged period of time so a lot of this actually stuck in my brain!Also, we went on a field trip to the Portland Art Musuem last Wednesday and saw the German Expressionist exhibit (Expressionism was one of the movements following Cubism) which was incredible. Do check out Kathe Kollwitz some time. Amazing. Love it when art just reaches me on such a deep level that it brings me to tears. Spring by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema does that to me too but just because of the magnitude of it's beauty.

That's all for now. I'll post tomorrow about my dear friend Heidi's birthday feast yesterday. A lovely time was had by all. Remember that scene in Chocolat where everyone shares a meal at a long table under at canopy of twinkle lights. All the glorious food and wine and laughter and how the whole table maintained one conversation? Well we didn't have the twinkle lights and we were indoors but it was SO like that! You'll get pictures and details tomorrow!  Bon appetit!

Update.

Hi there! This week has been a weird week. Not necessarily busy but maybe that's exactly the reason I haven't blogged too much. Things are winding down with school and I've just been spending a lot of time being quiet. I still have one more test to take on Monday and then after that, I'm chillin' for three months. I even bought a new book to enjoy. The Calligrapher by Edward Docx. Sorry...too lazy to add a link righ now.

I did want to make one quick mention about a movie we watched on Tuesday night that was SUPER PREMIUM. "Wasabi" starring Jean Reno. It is French with English subtitles. It was SO good! Loved the characters. It was very funny and just a witty movie. LOVED it and I highly recommend it!

I totally planned on doing some studying tonight but Glen and I went for Thai food and then went to Borders so that was pretty much our evening. He's leaving for Kalispell on Monday for TWO weeks. Ugh...so NOT looking forward to him being gone. I get sad. But I'm glad he will still be able to go to Heidi's birthday party with me this Sunday.

I did get one important thing done tonight. I had a chance to submit some alphabet ideas for the Just Johanna rubber stamp line. Johanna asked the Design Team to submit some ideas so I have been fiddling around with some "fonts" all week. Finally got some ideas sent to her! I am in a good handwriting phase right now and so I experimented with trying to create a font of my handwriting.

Okay...I will do some serious catch up this weekend and report all the news that's fit to print...er...I mean...blog!

Who loves ya baby! I do I do!

Pretty Post.

Hi. Just thought I'd post some pretty things in my life right now.

Don't you think God did a good job with this one? :-)

And then the other pretty thing? I got me an A+ on my Research Paper! Very happy about that little detail.

Ella Posie.

So who's lucky enough to live in the same town as Ella Posie? That's right! Me!

Yesterday I finally went in to this shop I've been drooling over via the web for-EVER. Wonderful wonderful stuff. Go here to see what I'm talking about. I had been talking about it with a couple of on-line friends, Malou and Lilli plus my friend Heidi is having a birthday lunch ( which is NEXT Sunday, BTW, not today ) so I thought, "that's it! I'm going to Ella Posie!"

I dragged my nephew Casey along with me so we could spend some time together.  His girlfriend, Amanda, was in New York celebrating her 21st birthday and was scheduled to return today. HOWEVER, due to a close friend being killed in a bicycle accident, she's going to California for a days before coming back to Portland. Absolutely tragic situation and Casey was rather bummed for lots of reasons. I though he use some "family" time so I invited him to hang out with his aunt for the afternoon. We first went to Sushi Takehashi and he treated! That was SO nice! Then we went to Ella Posie.

As I walked into the shop, I spun around and told the woman working there that they could charge admission to this place! It is SO lovely and so visually stimulating. It made me feel all sparkly and girly being there! I got permission to take a few shots so here they are. I also have some pix of what I bought for myself. I can't show you what I bought for Heidi just yet because she might visit my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise!!!

Ella Posie is inside of Sofa Table Chair. So here's the outside entrance.....

And then once you walk through Sofa Table Chair, you see this in the back of the store...

Once inside....it's just so much eye candy that you don't know where to look!

Pretty amazing, huh? Okay...take a deep breath because I have a few more pix for you. I bought a little gift for Heidi and a purse for myself. When you buy something at Ella Posie, the packaging itself is a treat. I LOVE when stores do that. Coach does that, Ann Taylor does that. LOVE it!

Here are the purchases that I can show you...

Pretty heavenly little treats, huh?

After the Ella Posie trip, Casey and I stopped for a coffee before I took him home. Stumptown Coffee. Good stuff, Maynard! I dropped Casey off at his apartment and then I went to do some grocery shopping and salad dressing tasting at New Seasons. You can tell my mindset after being in Ella Posie because I bought these little lovely items....

Bye for now....hope you have a sweet-filled day!

Becky.

My pal and neighbor, Becky, showed me this little book she's been working on. It's a mini-scrapbook and I about passed out when I saw it! It is SO cute! I got her permission to share some of the pages with you!

Now when I say it's a "mini-scrapbook" I don't just mean small scrapbook...I mean Mini Cooper scrapbook! When they bought their Mini Cooper(s), they also got these cute journals.

And every so often, Becky and Wayne will just pack up the Mini and then up and take off for the weekend. On a weekend getaway up to the Olympia Peninsula, Becky took pictures from the trip, put them in PowerPoint (so she could manipulate the size), printed them off on photo paper, did some trimmin', and then glued them into the journal. I'm sure there's other programs would  do this but since I don't know what they are and I do know PowerPoint, this just sounded like something I could do!  Once the pictures were in the journal, Becky then added the journaling.

Check it out...I just love how these look!

Aren't these just the cutest? Here is the page she's working on so you can see what the blank journal pages look like. She used real thin photo paper so when the book is closed, it's not all thick like an altered book. Granted, I LOVE that look but not for a scrapbook like this.

This project reminds me of Ali Edwards' "Scrapbooking on the Road" except Becky's is more "Scrapbooking OF the Road!"

I'm SO proud of Becky! :-)

Pam.

I just secured a pack of Pam Garrison's vintage wallpaper samples. Not sure what I'll use them for. But I know I love them and tried unsuccessfully to buy some in round one. This is her THIRD round so if you want some, you'd better get out there! I'll probably just leave them in their pack, set them on a shelf, and just watch them. Like a movie. Like a beautiful, pastel-colored, vintage wallpapered movie.

So Malou, if you liked Posey Gets Cozy's blog, you will LOVE Pam Garrison. She doesn't necessarily do scrapbooking, but the visual images she shares ALWAYS inspire!

TTFN!

Friday.

Can you believe it...it's Friday! Yeah, Baby! So happy about this. Here's what's been going on with me this week....

• It's official - effective June 12, I will be a Technical Writer.
• Went to movies on Monday and watched Da Vinci Code. (pretty good but felt like if I hadn't read the book I would have been lost.)
• Took Tuesday off of work. Was going to play but ended up working on Research Paper. I did; however, slip out to Paper Zone and used my $5 off coupon.
• Paid some bills.
• Realized that I totally missed a dentist appointment last week.
• Got invited to a 80's Themed "Prom" in two weeks.
• Had some serious good cuddles with Atticus.
• Listened to two GREAT cd's this week...Dixie Chicks new one. "Taking the Long Way" and Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris "All the Roadrunning." Good tunes.
• Completed first assignment for Just Johanna Rubber Stamps Design Team. We had to submit samples of work with JJ stamps. Wasn't as prolific as I would have liked to have been but I'll get more out there soon. This was SO fun! Check it out.
• Almost caught up on my laundry.
• Turned in my Research Paper on Wednesday!
• Casey came over for dinner on Wednesday...made roasted asparagus and broccoli, corn on the cob and fruit salad.
• Went over to Wayne and Becky's on Wednesday evening and had a martini. There's talk of making "mid-week martini" a regular thing.
• Attended my "Voluntary Simplicity" class that I'm taking on Thursdays during my lunch hour. I haven't done much of the recommended reading for this class just because I've been so distracted with other priorities but as I get more into this...I'll share stuff with you.
• Bought some shelves to go in my studio closet to help in the ongoing effort to organize!
• Into Spelling Bee's.
• Had lunch with Casey and Miranda today - Karam....hmmmm...hummus and falafel.
• Registered for some jewelry making classes.
• Realized I am overdue for a haircut and color.
• Realized I need new glasses.
• Realized high fructose corn syrup is the work of the devil.
• Realized I SERIOUSLY need to start exercising.
• Realized I LOVE my family SO MUCH!!!
• Got the word that my dear friend Jennifer started a blog with her sister. OMG I'm excited about this! Jennifer is an amazing, talented, and innovative craftster! Check out her blog here!

Okay, well, I think you're caught up with my week!!! This weekend we have a few things planned. I am going to work in my studio...that's my priority. Last night I told Glen, "I can't be on a Design Team and have such a messy studio. I have an image!" LOL! Other than that, I'm going to breakfast with Glen tomorrow at Twin Oaks Airport, then in the evening we're doing a firepit at the neighbor's house. On Sunday, we are going to a birthday lunch for my sweet, sweet pal Heidi. You remember Heidi, don't cha? I'd better figure out what to make for her!!!! Okay so add THAT to my list of things to do!

Tonight I am planning on hanging out at the house, putting on a fire, and watching "Bee Season." I told you I was into Spelling Bee's! :-)

Love and polysyllabic words,

Michelle