rhymes with spoon

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Mine was strangely stressful (the holidays tend to be exceptionally laid back in my family)...a strange brew of gut-busting meals, family drama, some uncharacteristically bad weather, and the smell of pine. Some of you may have heard of the big storm that ripped through here the other week. My parents thankfully lost power for only two days and it was back on by the time I arrived on the 18th. They are still cleaning the debris in my parents' neighborhood. My parents have managed to take the whole thing in stride, especially considering that a large tree went through their roof the night of the storm. They smartly got people in right away to construct a temporary patch (very important since the rain continues to come down) and called their insurance company. We are still waiting on the final word from adjustor/insurance company but it looks like they'll have to replace most of their roof. However, inconvenient, I'm so very thankful that no one in the family was hurt. It's still hard for me to believe that people were without power for over a week and that some lost their lives as a result. It may sound somewhat ordinary for people living in harsher climes, but in the northwest, where winters are notably mild, it still comes as a bit of a shock.

Anyway...on Christmas day my sister and I spent the whole day cooking. My sister is culinarily challenged so it was a true test of my patience and holiday cheer but we managed to put out an incredibly tastey meal including a lovely meatloaf and a yummy sweet potato pie. My sister even managed to make the classic green bean casserole all by herself (albeit with some supervision). One of my brothers was unable to make it up from San Francisco but all the other usual suspects were in attendance. We are still clearing out leftovers and all the while I'm trying to taste as much yummy home-cooked Korean delights (my mom is an awesome cook!) as possible before I have to bid my family farewell.

More recently with all the family drama, I'm starting to second guess my decision to come home and study for the bar out here. Then again the source of the family drama will likely not be around then and my parents have reassured me that I will get all the "space" I need. This decision will have to be reassessed in a few months.

Anyway, I promised pictures right? Here's the swap package I mailed to Carolyn a while back.


And here's what I got back in return. (Man, I love swaps?!)


It was so beautifully wrapped!


Wait! Look, there's more!


Carolyn and I agreed to make each other totes in our favorite colors. Isn't this darling? I love the flower that was hand-stitched onto the bag! I'm looking forward to doing more crafty swaps in the new year. Not much crafting though here on my vacation...my sewing machine is back in Minnesota and I have only some knitting to keep me busy. I am brimming with tons of ideas for bags, toys, and zakka. But all this will have to wait a few more weeks. I'm headed out to Baltimore to see the boyfriend and am hoping also to meet up with Rebecca.

I'll check back in soon but just in case, Happy New Years!

Labels: home, vacation

Apologies for the notable blog absence. I've been a total lazy good for nothin' since I arrived in WA late Monday night. Jeff can attest to my very pronounced finals-induced stress coma that I'm just now exiting. I am done with finals (don't ask how they went) and am one semester closer to exiting hell. Being at home has been immensely good for the psyche and while I contemplated writing an angsty/post-finals cathartic post, it seems unnecessary (for the time being) to dwell on the negatives when the good vibes are flowin' in. I'm catchin' up with the folks, spending QT with the little sister, and just generally getting back in touch with my roots (which I've now come to learn is a good thing). Somewhere in the next week or so I'm gonna watch a bunch of movies and shop with my mom, cook a couple of big meals, and catch up on some much needed sleep.

I'm getting a lot more comfortable with my recent decision to move home post-law-school. Even more so today after a very fun day wandering around Seattle and catching up with an old friend. A sort of weird peace set in and I got this sense that I'm making the right decision. The past three years have been a toxic, heady brew and I suspect that it will take me a while to recover and return to the person I once was. It seems unnecessary to look for recovery in places that are far from loved ones and/or are generally full of cut throat/high strung people. For the first time in a long time, I'm thinking of my location/homebase in terms of who I'll be surrounded by rather than in terms of what I'll be doing there.

Again, I'm a total lazy ass, so although I have a bunch of pictures to post of all the crafty/cutey goodness I've taken in through the generosity of the awesome blogging community, they will have to wait for another day. In the meantime you can check out some of the goodies here, here, and here. I continue to be amazed by all the incredible people that the blogging world has connected me to.

I may not check in over the next few days, so if I don't hope y'all have a Merry Christmas! Make sure you let all your loved ones know how much you care. ;-)

Labels: home

So finals are just around the corner (two more to go)...I'll be going into hiding for a bit but I'll be back on Friday or Saturday. Wish me luck!

Labels: school

To Do List:

Poverty Law final paper
Law, Race, and Social Psych Paper/Presentation
Color swap with Carolyn*

Items Outstanding:

Criminal Procedure Final
Evidence Final (ACK!)
International swap with Sharon
Make Christmas gift for little sister

*Sneak peak of the goodies here. I don't want to ruin any surprises so I'll have a picture of everything else up once Carolyn gets her package. (I hope she likes everything!)

what happens when you don't have a drying rack

I decided a while back that I was going to resurrect my gocco for my two upcoming swap packages. I got one over the summer (a big treat to myself) but had a frustrating experience with it. Neglected in my craft cubby, it was calling my name. So I came home (today was the last day of classes), rested a bit, and then did an intense two hour print session. This is the final product:



Most of the cards are done in brown ink on turquoise cardstock. But some of them have a little pink on the flowers...my attempt at two tone gocco didn't go as well but I kinda like the messy look of it. I also tried a few other surfaces...I think the images came out best on the heavy white cardstock. But overall, I am rather pleased. I managed to clean off the master so I may bring it out another day soon to test out the image on fabric. I think it could look very cool on a totebag.

Labels: crafting

How is it that as I'm gearing up for finals and my thoughts should turn to criminal procedure and evidence the crafty-side of my brain kicks into overdrive? I've spent my lunch hour doodling a possible bag pattern on a piece of scratch paper rather than taking notes on the last evidence assignment of the semester. (Marital privileges? zzzz....) But I had to get this idea on paper...it's a kind of bag I see around a lot and I think I've finally figured out how to make it? The only way now is to just run out and do it...

I suspect that this plan will have to wait for another week and a half when exams (yikes!) will be behind me. If I'm not a total vegetable by then, I'll have three days to clean, pack up, and craft before I head home (Seattle) for the holidays. I fear this year that I will suffer serious separation anxiety from my sewing machine. But even I can't justify hauling that thing to my parents place.* All that free time and no means of crafting? I can only hope that all the knitting and emboidery I bring along will console me.

I have two outstanding swap obligations I have to fulfill before I take off for the holidays, one with Carolyn and one with Sharon. Both involve a little crafting so I will have to fit in the work whenever possible.

*Jeff's probably laughing as he's reading this because last summer we'd argued over whether or not I could fit my sewing machine into an already jam-packed Subaru en route to DC...it did not, I grudgingly left it in storage, and then got an even better sewing machine that summer. But I was working then and making money; I probably couldn't justify such a replacement over the break...I will only be away from little craft den for 3.5 weeks.

Apologies for the absence of posts but I don't think you guys want to hear about the ins and outs of my (zzz) study schedule. Classes end on Tuesday and then the learning begins. (If that sounds strange to you, it should...even in my last year I've not figured out the best way to actually learn a majority of the info BEFORE classes end.)

That said, I'll distract you with more inane information about me...meme swiped from Carolyn.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, dairy and booze do not mix.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Santa, who's Santa?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White lights are classier.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Never really had any reason to.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I threw up some Christmas lights in my living room after Thanksgiving but I'm not making huge efforts since I live alone and I'll be in Seattle for the holidays.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Stuffing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Nothing really sticks out...but I always did love Christmas when it snowed...didn't get many of those but they always seemed a lot more fun.

8 . When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? My parents are pretty religious folk so we didn't really grow up with a commercialized idea of Christmas. So some years we had a tree and presents but most years we didn't. And we still don't really...but we kinda revived the whole Santa thing when my younger sister was born. For some reason my parents thought it was REALLY important that she know about Christmas and now that she's 15 she' still the only one who really gets presents from our family. How's that for tradition?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? If there are any, on Christmas eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? My parents ditched our last very sad artificial tree in their last move and they haven't replaced it.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Dread it, unless Jeff's around...then he can drive and make the snow fun.

12. Can you ice skate? No, clumsiness and weak ankles.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? When I was ten my parents got me a fold-up barbie playhouse, it had all these pull out features and tiny accessories (read--serious choking hazards). It was a lot of fun.

14. What's your favorite thing about the holidays? Food in excess and family in moderation.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Not a fair question...that's like asking a mother to name her favorite child.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Doing absolutely nothing on Christmas day...it's also one of the few days of the year my parents let us all sleep in.

17. What tops your tree? No topper, no tree, *sadness.*

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving...I like to think of myself as a pretty good gift giver...I love my friends and family dearly but I would have to say that they don't often get it right. But it's the thought that counts.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night.

20. Candy canes yuck or yum? the regular ones YUCK, the rainbow colored ones YUM.

21. What's number one on your Christmas list this year? Gainful employment after law school.