Crafty

I love to make crafts.

The only problem is, I’m not very good at it. The idea looks good in my head, but I have a hard time getting things to translate.

But I made this mushroom. 

And I think it’s pretty stinking cute.

The medium I used is needle felting, which is just stabbing roving, which is just wool that hasn’t been spun into yarn, over and over and over with a rough needle, watching so that you don’t stab your fingers too badly.

My dream would be to just be able to craft and blog all day, selling my wares on somewhere like etsy or big cartel. I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but crafts were always my favorite part of Girl Scouts, I like the idea of making something out of basically nothing.

Film, Literature and Culture

The English class that I’m taking this semester is Film, Literature and Culture. I really like the class so far, the writing that we do is a little bit less formal, and I think that is always an easier medium for me to work in. I have a hard time blending my opinions with research without using I.

Every class meeting though I find myself wanting to stand up and scream. Tonight we were starting to watch the movie for the book that we just read A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, and the discussion ran kind of long. So we kept talking. And talking. And people kept repeating things that has already been said by other students. I had already worked for six hours straight without a break and had only eaten an overpriced sandwich from Starbucks so at this point I was kind of done. (Usually by 6 pm on Wednesday I’m fighting a headache and am feeling stabby. And I’m still left with an hour of class to suffer through. ) Once we started watching the film, in the sweet, blissful dark, our instructor kept stopping it. I understand why, she wanted to explain the different scenes, and what they represented. It’s just really hard for me to watch movies in that way. If you keep stopping, I’m not focused, I’m waiting for you to stop the movie and talk again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a notorious movie talker, but only when I’ve already seen the movie. Instead of having music on when I’m home alone, I put in a movie or tv show to keep me company. I find the taking soothing and I can better track the passing of time this way. Pieter thinks I’m crazy too.

Next week we get to meet the author of our book tho and that’s really exciting. She’s written two collections of short stories and I think that that might be a medium that I enjoy working in, since I love to read short stories so much. I need to actually think about what I plan to do with my English degree since I should be graduating soon. Hopefully.

Love is a Racket

Tomorrow I’m making a solo trek to IKEA, to buy the new stand for our tv.

I’m very excited, since getting something to put the tv on means I can have my coffee table back. I’m excited, I’ll probably assemble it myself before Pieter comes home. Shockingly I really like to assemble things myself; it makes me feel so handy!

In other news I’ve been consistently painting my nails in an effort to stop biting them and picking at my cuticles. (Gross I know) It’s working and I’m super happy. I’ve also noticed that keeping my hands moisturized helps to keep the urge to mess with my cuticles at bay. I’ve been painting them for about a month, and I’ve also been buying nail polish like it’s going out of style. I really like OPI, I figure if I'm going to take the time out of my day to paint my nails, I don’t want them to chip right away so I buy better quality polish. The OPI for sephora was disappointing, it chipped right away, and it was way thinner than you would expect a polish that costs $9.50 to be. The color (Domestic Goddess, if you’re interested) was a really pretty light purple, but the regular OPI (the Niki Minaj collection, color Fly) has lasted considerably longer, and was a dollar cheaper. I painted my nails Tuesday, and they only started chipping Saturday.

On a tip from a coworker I checked at Marshalls for OPI, they had the Serena Williams collection on sale for only $7.99 for a set of two, so I bought it. I’m going to paint my nails Love is a Racket later tonight. I’ll have to remember to scope out Marshalls for nail polish again, I never really think look at places like Marshalls or TJ Maxx, but every time I do, I find the best stuff!

Back to School

Well I’m back in school now.

I didn’t want to go back, but I really want to finish up.

This week I had English and Biology at SJSU, and tomorrow I’ll have the class that I’m taking at SJCity tomorrow morning.

Super anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow I start my sign language class. I’m so nervous! I’m sure it will be fine, and I remember the alphabet from when I was in kindergarten. (I KNOW! My kindergarten teacher would be so proud!) So I do feel like I have an advantage over my classmates. I just hate going to class on the first day, it’s so awkward and forced. So I feel more prepared for actually going, I went to SJCity this afternoon to locate the space that my class is in. Luckily I found it pretty easily, and I also discovered a parking structure that’s a hell of a lot closer than where I parked. (I also thought that I originally parked in a staff lot, but I didn’t.)

I can’t wait until I’m done with school, hopefully I will be soon. 

Time for some pizzazz in our lives

I’m trying to be more crafty. I’m currently working on crocheting two different scarves, and am painting some framed mirrors that I want Pieter to hang on the wall.

On a side note, all of the walls in the apartment are blank. We’ve lived here for two years and we haven’t hung a stinking thing. (To be fair we did hang a bulletin board right when we moved in. But that. was it.)

I’m painting them a funky purple and since they are smallish we’re going to do three across the wall since it’s a smaller wall. If it turns out really well, I’ll post pictures. I chose purple not just because I love it, but because everything in the apartment is beige, and it needs some spice. Beige carpet, beige walls, light wood furniture. Since I don’t want us to live a beige life, I’m changing up the scheme of things.

We’ve been living in this 700 square foot apartment for two years. It’s time to turn it into a home.

Oh hey 2012

I can’t believe that it’s already 2012.

I’m not really the type of gal that likes to make resolutions, but I made the resolution to cook more in 2011, and I really stuck with it! So here is my list of resolutions for 2012!

-Save more money. Pieter said it himself, if we save enough money up, we can go somewhere fun this summer. Sounds like a challenge to me!

-Don’t procrastinate! Finish the things that I start in a timely fashion

-Read more

-Stop spending so much time doing nothing online

-Tidy the apartment a little bit every day, and try not to let the mess get so out of control

-Brush Chompers everyday so her fur stays untangled

-Be healthier. Not just ‘oh, this year I want to lose X amount of pounds’ but just eating healthier being more active kinds of things

-Do more activities on the weekend days that I have off, stop just doing just nothing on days off

-Keep cooking!

Hopefully I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew with my resolutions, but I think that I can do all these for a year if I stick to them. 

Today.

Today I...
Woke up at 4:40 for work.
Got loads done at work, realized I love all my coworkers mucho, and that this might be my favorite job so far.
Went to barnes and noble when I was off.
Bought more books than I should of. Wondered if I will ever feel like I have enough books. I won't.
Bought a cute gift.
Thought about how happy reading makes me.
Resolved to read more.
Took a short nap.
Didn't clean the apartment.
Ate Japanese food for dinner with Pieter.
Bought Chompers new, big-girl food.
Started clicker training with Chompers. (Hope it works!)
Watched two movies.
Decided to read before bed (The Red Queen, by Phillipa Gregory if you're interested)

What did you do today?