plan.project.proceed

over the weekend i decided i had better come up with a plan for this week. most likely i will feel bombarded at one point or another but if i'm prepared the crazy feelings might not take hold. this thanksgiving i'm having my entire family over for thanksgiving. we're going to do the traditional thing on friday at my aunt's home. so my mother and i have planned a lovely brunch. that means between working and crafting i will also be doing some baking. for all of you who are curious about how i work two jobs and get enough sleep, get enough me time, get enough fam & friends time, well this is part of how it is done. the simple check off {box} list:

monday:
work uoha 9-5
work cvs 6-9
deposit checks
drop off banana republic shirt to mom
postcard project/ornament project after 10pm
sleep @ 12-12:30am

tuesday:
work uoha 9-5
grocery shop for baking ingredients
clean bathroom
dust entire apt.
vaccum
work on postcard/ornament projects
until 12. {this should be a good day to
get a whole lot of stuff completed!}

wednesday:
work uoha 9-5
work cvs 6-9
spot clean
decorate/layout all thanksgiving brunch

thursday:
8:00 am wakeup drink nice cup o' tea
bake breakfast cassarole
spot clean
watch the macy's day parade
12 noon give thanks with family
clean up will be easy
evening time: prepare piecrust
bake 2 pumpkin pies

friday:
sleep in
3pm or earlier hop over to
aunt c.'s home
6-9 work cvs

saturday & sunday: sleep in, no work except to finish postcard/
ornament projects to mail out before dec 01.

my goal: to stay cool, get sleep, finish these crafty projects, enjoy the family, see the knutson family, give thanks above all!

moo.gifts.ornaments.postcards

i have come down with the evil illness going around, that which includes: scratchy throat, marathon running nose, drippy and droopy eyes, headache, and backache. by all means keep me in your thoughts, but remember less my complaint. i am really very fortunate that i have plenty of sick time available to me here at the work force. in addition, my dear friend at the rx called to tell me i didn't need to come in again tonight. what a blessing to beable to stay at home and rest.
last night i began the process on both of the swaps i've signed up for. you might think i'm running behind but i really am not. i've got the two swaps perfectly under control. i'm also very excited about getting my moo cards in the mail!!! i picked around eighty seven of my photos to be transformed into these cropped sort of baby pics. 100 of them for awh well $24.95. i hope to use them as both business and gift cards for christmas. originally i had a lot of problems with getting the photos into the correct section, finally i decided to add my photo selections by sets and then drag and delete the photos i didn't want from each group into the trash can. after that it was smooth sailing. i thought this might be a very cool alternative to the regular promo material. i have so desperately wanted a business card, but never have the time to create one, via altavista or wherever.
when i got home from new york i had a pile of fun mail. no perfect packages, but several december issues of martha steward, fitness, and domino! i thinking of doing some different sort of things for thanksgiving, i'm actually having my entire fam over to my apartment. woohoo! and then there is christmas. i was totally inspired by this simple polka dot garland. i'd like to try. i also have some great felt pieces i'm going to put together before all is said and done. after the holidays i'll get back to the painting.
***i am wondering about having an etsy sale, anyone have any thoughts? if i put the work that is in my shop right now up for sale at 50% off, would you all purchase??? please let me know. i'm totally willing to discuss other options and or best offers, trades, or commissions.***

have a nice evening, try and stay warm and cozy wherever you are.

tidal wave extravaganza

there was so much that i wanted to share about my trip, the small things that i saw, a growing discomfort about how few photos i took. on tuesday we found the bxl cafe in the rain, we actually walked a little too far and past it, can you believe it. we shouldn't have missed the red entryway. i decided on maui maui and leffe blonde. and for dessert well the best we had all we long the greatest pot o' chocolate ever!

the rain on wednesday soaked us through and through. we survived and head up to david letterman's theatre. we actually signed up for free tickets and got a call back! can you believe it? we declined because we didn't want to leave out our other sister n law. that night we went to the bodies exhibit. if you haven't heard about the bodies or been to see the exhibit, i'd recommend that you do. it is not entirely disgusting nor should it make your stomach turn. it isn't worth going into all of the details here and now, i work in an oncology office, seeing the breast, lung and colon cancers were very interesting. did i retain? i found out that babies are born with 300 bones in their bodies and adults have 206 bones in the bodies. semi-meaningless facts.

on thursday laurie and i went to canal street, awh the blur. we had the secert backroom knock off bag purchasing experience, yipes! we didn't stop, just came walking. hit all the places i mentioned yesterday. and on thursday night i went out with erin and jerah. on friday we went back to canal and up through tribeca and into soho. we three bonded as sisters, special conversations and times. plus officially i can announce that l.c. and brother aaron are happily awaiting the birth of their very first children. plural? yes! yes! most of you may already know by now, but now it is safe to say with permission from aaron to tell. aaron and l.c. are going to be the proud parents of twins. l.c. had an ultra sound today and they are 4cm long. yikes! growing so fast. she's due in june, around the third i believe, correct me if i'm wrong. so next year around this time the collier fam will have grown by another "three." we'll have ethan and mary's baby boy: caleb and aaron and l.c.'s twins! yippy! i'm going to be an aunt for real! so it makes sense that we have this great journey to celebrate life before the new phase.

i'm off tonight-doing laundry, working on the ornament and postcard swap.

how could i

today: i have no idea how to pick just the right photo, after having returned from a vackay in new york on saturday evening. i am back, really back, back with a bounce, back with a vengence, back with my head and heart full. back to work, back to craft, back to making and painting, back to the daily grid, back to familial activity and accountability.

the thirty third floor of the mariott in times square quickly became our refuge for peace, rest and relaxation. it seemed that we were constantly surrounded by people on all sides and at all times. does anyone go home at night? and the square became more and more insane as the night got later. we were so happy to have great recommendations from shashi and erin, incredible guides and suggestions. we hit up the bxl cafe, schillers, the bodies exhibit, soho, canal street, wooster st. (wooster collective), kidrobot, prosport, parableink, and much much more. anthropologie hit heart strings along with baby diesel and element clothing/bags {eden}. all of these places i just love love love. but i'm so completely thankful to be at home, less than surrounded by the materialism.

i went and spent a whole bunch of moolah at kate's paperie. woohoo! a brand new baby blue 2007 pocket calendar! how bad can you get? angela adams stationary, amy ruppel, and much more. i was entirely excited about taking my first digital photos on the airplane ride home. they are beautiful. i call them g.o.d. pictures, even if you don't believe it's sort of funny to call them that. the bodies exhibit was awe inspiring, black lungs, breast cancer, colon ca. you name it. i can't believe everything i saw. there is no photography allowed so...

i worked and completed my first christmas project yesterday. my stampin up xmas card exchange is tonight and i completed my ten identical cards. see them on my flickr {sidebar}. i have two more to go, first the ornament swap and then the postcard swap. i've got ideas for both and they should be top notch. i'll have more for you tomorrow. thank you for all of your well wishes, i'm so glad to be back, phantomcrimes is home.

not quite yet

early sunday morning i was too easily caught up in the annie leibovitz retrospective, thus began the trial and error of digital black and white.

i will be voting tomorrow before i leave to go to nyc. i am going to pack as soon as i get off from work, unless of course i get a suitcase from my parentals.

i am so excited about this trip, to see erin p. and leave chattanooga for a little while. see you when i get back.