Coming Design

I have been working on this cropped, cabled, tie-front bolero ever since I found a similar one at a consignment shop up in Albuquerque a few weekends ago. I have knit up the main body piece and now I am just curious as to what you all think I should do for sleeves?

I like the idea of short flutter sleeves, but I also like the idea of tighter, to-the-elbow sleeves. The item I saw had long, over-exaggerated bell sleeves, but I don't have enough yarn for that.

Do you have any votes or other recommendations?

Flashback Friday - Lions and Tigers and BEARS!

Welcome to this week's installment of Flashback Friday! Don't know what Flashback Friday is? Head on over to Christopher and Tia's blog to see how you can participate (its really easy, promise).

Have you ever been camping and seen the wild life? It's cool, isn't it? I love creatures of all kinds (my boyfriend has to fight to keep our pet numbers down to one, our little miss Lisa) and seeing them in their natural environment is always a very cool experience. Probably 3 or 4 years ago I was on my way back from such a trip and saw this little cutie.

He was closer to the car than the picture does justice and we could see all of his features very clearly, it was such a cool event!

Migraine Remedies

Do any of you suffer from migraines? I sure do. I started having them when I was in fourth grade, I remember my first one very clearly.

I was in gym class and we were playing volleyball. I was doing terribly regardless of the fact that I am not athletically inclined in any way, shape or form and my teammates were getting on my case. I pulled my best friend aside and told her "I can't see" She was freaked out, naturally, as was I. I really couldn't see! It was like I had zigzags across my vision.

She walked me to the nurse and I laid down on those awful cot thingies they have and then the headache came on. Oh those headaches. They are in a realm of their own.

My parents took me to various doctors to see if my vision was screwed up or if it really was a migraine and sure enough, the devilish little headache monster won.

Since then, I've gotten them off and on and don't really know what causes them but I had one the other day that came out of nowhere and left me in the fetal position surrounded by pillows, blankets, comforters and Lisa for hours. I'm sure laying down in this little paradise woulda done the trick too, but I take what I can get ;)

What? You were expecting a beach scene? The pounding of the waves would've made my head split!

How to you remedy your migraines? I'm always up for new techniques to make the buggers go away as quickly as possible.

Is Art a Luxury?

Over on Scoutie Girl, Tara posed the question: Is Art a Luxury?

Immediately what came to my mind was the obvious art, paintings, photographs and other wall-hanging art. It probably came to mind first because we don't have any. That's right. Our walls are bare except for an old Ganesha mask that I fought to hang on the wall. "Fought" meaning I like having fun, colorful, interesting things covering the walls but Matt is more of a plain white, clean (boring) kind of person.

Then I moved on to art that needs a surface: sculptures, pottery, that sort of thing. We don't have too much of that either, but we also don't have too many surfaces to spare. Our lifestyle right now is that of "broke-busy-doing-what-we-can-with-what-we-have-college-students" who don't have much to do what we can with. I did put up some vintage cheese boxes in my studio recently and they are the perfect surfaces for some of my small elephant collection (the elephants are small, the collection...not so much).

And while thinking about all the other types of "art" I realized that art is everywhere, you don't have to spend bucket loads of your hard earned money on something that somebody else deems art. What is art to YOU? What do you find pretty? What interests you? Calms you? Makes you think? For me, its life. Plant life, animal life, roommate life, any kind of life. Life in pictures, life in story books, all kinds of life.

I don't think art is a luxury because its expensive, I think it is a luxury because you have to take the time to see it. Look for the art in the everyday, mundane things of your life and perhaps you won't feel so without.

Scooter Cruise

Some friends of ours recently picked themselves up a scooter and, of course, now Daisy and Hastings have become the best of friends!

Last week we took them on a cruise around the area, here are some of the memories from our trip:

Do you see the magic spark between them?

Cute Hair Accessories

I know you've probably all seen the multitude of hairpins on Etsy, but I wanted to show you some of my favorites. My hair is growing out from my short cut in the fall and its at that awkward length where things are hard to do (not that I do things to it anyways...) But I have been wanting some cute hair pins lately so I can least try to do things with it :)

Clearly I am smitten with flowers and the color yellow, they make me happy but there are plenty of other designs on Etsy if yellow and flowers aren't your thing. I'm sure you'll find something you love! Do you wear hairpins? Do you have short or medium length hair that is hard to do things with? I'd love some inspiration from others about fun summery ways I can dress up my hair!

Linen Flower Hairpins by namolio

Lotus Blossom Hairpins by modwedding

Daffodil Hairpin by MelissaAnneDesigns

Maylea by bazaarLatino

Gold Peony Hairclip by empressbarrettes

Pinwheel Hairpins by runamok

Sunny Day Set by hotpinkchick

Yellow Button by CinnamonAndSass

Mitsy Crochet Flower by gitte

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I went to see a baseball game this weekend with my family, it was a nice fun time and the rain held off until the game was over which was perfect.

One thing I noticed was all of the smells! I mean, there are the basics, popcorn, hotdogs and sunscreen, but there was also beer, perfume, pretzels, grass, nachos, plastic, and rain. It was so intriguing for my senses! So many sounds, so many sights, alas, not so many tastes but we had gone out to eat before-hand and its pretty difficult for a vegetarian to eat at sports events.

(My necklace and earrings are from Etsy ;))

Have you ever been to a baseball game? What's your favorite memory about them?

Flashback Friday - Some Things Don't Change

Welcome to this week's installment of Flashback Friday! Don't know what Flashback Friday is? check out Christopher and Tia's Blog to learn more and see how you can participate :)

And now, my picture:

Ice Cream is definitely one of my favorite food groups. Its an entire group, I promise! It has to be! If you eat enough of something, that makes it a group of its own right? Hmm....I'll have to talk to whoever decides these things and let them know.

Regardless, I'm sure you've noticed (if you follow my flashbacks at all) that I had a similar haircut for most of my childhood. Short bob-thing with thick bangs. Of course, now this hairstyle is all the rage and looking back at these pictures makes me some sort of supermodel fashionista right?

A Few Cool Things

So Cool Thing #1 - I added a little grabbable button down on the left hand side of my blog. Now, if any of you do choose to add it to your blog, would you be kind enough to let me know if it works please?

Cool Thing #2 - A few readers and Facebook Fans have guessed correctly, I am going to Paris! I'm going to study French this summer with a friend and we'll be gallivanting around Europe for a month and a half :D I am so freaking excited, so expect tons of pictures and French inspiration posts and all that exciting stuff.

I'm Going Places!

Ok, so the outfit posted Monday had a secret behind it. The photos in today's post will help you along in that direction. What do you think my little surprise is?

AliciaBock

paulpresnail

emshine

Secret Outfit

Take this chic little outfit out for a day of fun errands to the craft store, the farmer's market and the library. The grey skirt is simple but different, a tucked in crisp white vintage top keeps it fresh, the little earrings add a soft touch and the shoes are a necessary pop of color, pair it with some turquoise bangles, your favorite bag and you're good to go!

White Cotton Blouse from bOmode

Romantic Blossom Skirt from isabelamyo

Silk and Pearl Earrings from daimblond

Vintage Turquoise Bangle from kchulita

Red Shoes from tottie

Now, this outfit isn't too secretive obviously, since I'm sharing it with you, but I do have a surprise for my blog readers that the outfit hints toward, what do you think it is?

Friday Flashback - Grand Canyon

Hello and welcome to this week's Flashback Friday! New to flashback Friday? Head on over to Christopher and Tia's blog to find out how to participate :)

When I was younger...oh probably middle school, elementary school...ish? My parents took us to the Grand Canyon so we could backpack it. We spent three nights, one on the way down, one at the bottom, one on the way back up and although I know I complained and moaned and groaned the entire way, I'm glad I did it. Yes, Mom and Dad (I know you read this) YOU WERE RIGHT. You said that later on in life I would be glad I did it and at the time I was *sure* that you were wrong and that I would never appreciate my time hiking the canyon. I was wrong, I love being able to tell people that I have backpacked one of the seven natural wonders of the world!

Here is the picture from the beginning of our trip, don't we look energized and refreshed? Let's just say that's not how the trip ended ;)

Why Do I Have To Leave This Bliss and Go To Class?

Seriously? Who would want to go to class when they could lay under these trees with their honey instead?

It was a bit breezy and occasionally a big gust would come through making the trees snow on us with their white petals, but they never looked like they shed any!

Sadly, I did have to leave and skip to class, but the short time we had just chilling with each other under those trees was worth it :)

Flashback Friday - Teenage Days of Summer

Welcome to this week's Flashback Friday post! Haven't heard of Flashback Friday before? Head on over to ChristopherandTia's blog and find out more :)

Now, to my picture:

I know, it doesn't look like much to the naked eye (or to any eye but mine, I'm sure) but this picture makes me happy and makes me want to reminisce about easy summer days with my friends. Ok, so the rundown of the picture: I'm the one driving, it was my first car (a 1991 Ford Tuarus Station Wagon, I was so cool), a hand me down that used to be a family car, then my older brother's first car, then mine and so forth. I was driving my best female friend (in the passenger seat) and my best male friend (who took the picture) in to town to pick up a poster that she had gotten framed.

Nothing crazy or super fun right? It was just running errands with some of my favorite people in the world, people who I don't get to see anymore and our lives have grown apart so we don't get to talk very often either. But looking at these random pictures really brings it all back and makes me want to go pick up some friends and do all sorts of fun nothings.

Actually, I've gotta go pick up a new friend to go to the thrift store right now! Fun nothings, here I come!

Come on Spring

Make up your mind! One day its nice, the next its cold again, I just want a little consistency (preferably warmer consistency ;))

I want to be able to wear tops like these from crystalindumentaria:

I love the low backs, the easy shapes, the sexy little somethin' somethin' in each of her pieces.

New Mexican Lion

*I reloaded the pictures, I was getting comments saying that the images couldn't be seen, so hopefully you can see them now!

I got this in an email from my Dad who got it from my Grandma, I don't know where she finds these things but it does sound like something a New Mexican would do!

This is the true story of a Garage Owner in the Southwest New Mexico
He was sick and tired of thugs breaking into his garage shop to steal tools, etc. So he came up with this idea. He put the word out that he had a new Mexican Lion that would attack anyone that would break in or climb his fence. Would-be thieves saw the "Lion" from a distance and fled the scene.

The dog's probably trying to figure out why his head's so hot and his butt's so cold?

Tuesday Learn to Knit Day 13 - Inspiration

Instead of teaching you a new technique today, I am going to leave you with some inspirational knitting. We all need a little extra push sometimes and looking at the work of another knitter can be just what the doctor ordered. Now, I must be inspired to get back to my school work...

ileaiye

fringe

ovejanegra

willo

A Walk Through Death*

*this post is not as morbid as you think, I promise!

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove

At recess, in the ring;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;

The dews grew quivering and chill,

For only gossamer my gown,

My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed

A swelling of the ground;

The roof was scarcely visible,

The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horses' heads

Were toward eternity.

-Emily Dickinson

The other day a friend and I took a walk through our local cemetery. We saw gravestones that had been there for more than a hundred years, they haven't changed much. It was interesting to do a little math and figure out how old the deceased had been, some were in their 40s, and we saw a few who lived to be 107! There was one who was 2 years, 10 months and 24 days old when he died.

There were many unmarked graves, although others were heavily marked.

The local cemetery isn't one with perfectly manicured grass, uniform placement, paved roads or even trees. It has no landscaping except what occurs naturally, the graves seem to chosen at random, there aren't really any roads other than the ones that lead to the more recent plots and each gravesite is entirely unique to the family who chose it. I wish I had had extra batteries to take more pictures.

New Things

I just wanted to show you all some new things that have made it into the shop, and things that will be making it into the shop soon ;)

This thick grey cabled slouch made its shop debut last week, I love the bright turquoise brim!

The lavender version of the lacy slouch appeared this week, along with the pattern

This yellow cabled bag made from vintage yarn and vintage fabric lining will be available next week :)

Flashback Friday - Its as Easy As...

Riding a Bike.

I was about 5 in this picture. Learning how to ride my first bike complete with streamers and training wheels on the open road. Bike riding is not my strong point, I don't know why, its just something that I've never really been too good at. Just ask my family! It didn't matter where we were, what we were doing, where we were going, I would always, without fail, find the nearest tree and beeline for it. Perhaps in a previous life I was comparable to Lance Armstrong and this time they (whoever 'they' may be, the people who decide this stuff?) just didn't want me to have any bicycling skills. These days my cycling is limited to a 50 year old one-speed cruiser that my Dad helped me fix up :) (And by 'helped me fix up' I mean he took the bike and brought it back ridable, Thanks Dad!) her name is Chrissy, isn't she cute? You can see more pictures and read more about her here and here.

Want to participate in Flashback Fridays? Check out christopherandtias blog!

Go With The Flow

This print by thewheatfield is so right. There are some things in life that you just can't control and you should just live it the way its flowin' :)