THINGS I'VE DONE SINCE MAY 15: PART II

Upon returning from NYC at nearly 1am, I did laundry in a haze, repacked my bag, and readied myself for a flight to San Diego at 9:30 the next morning. I was headed for an executive retreat for work followed by a fun weekend on Coronado Island with Nate.
Work was work, but when Nate came to join me for Memorial Day weekend the real fun began. First and foremost, we'd sleep in. As late as we wanted with no guilt. After eating yummy omelets {made to our specifications by Jose} on the patio, we rented beach cruisers and road around and through the island several times. I felt like I was living in a j.crew spread as I peddled down streets called eucalyptus and orange; passing pink and blue houses with terra cotta shingles. The flowers; oh, the flowers. Hydrangeas, roses, iris, peonies. I got such delight from the magnolia trees. Riding under the canopy I took in the aroma; the soft, warm floral scent mixed with salty sea air is the perfume I would invent if I were a perfumer.
Other activities included seafood, lounging pool-side, eating ice cream on the lawn of the historical Coronado Hotel, listening to live music, LOTS of kissing, and NBA playoffs.

THINGS I'VE DONE SINCE MAY 15

Since it has nearly been a month since I last posted {my longest stint sans blogging yet}, I'm going to take my time catching everyone up on what I've been doing the last several weeks. In a word, TRAVELING {NYC, San Diego, San Francisco}.
As my last post suggests, I was in Brooklyn at Craftacular for the weekend in May. Craftacular is a pretty groovy craft bazaar that takes place each year in Brooklyn. We were there demonstrating our new product and getting acquainted with several of the indie artists that travel country-wide to show their creations. It was a lot of work but really fun. And a reminder that I should always travel with at least one girl for shopping companionship.
I bought cool golden earrings in the shape of large flies and I get compliments on them everywhere I go. When I get a decent camera I will take a snapshot and post. They are just that cute!
Here are a few snaps of Craftacular in Brooklyn. I'm told the line to get in wrapped around the block. It was fun to be surrounded by such creative minds! And yes, the lighting was extremely poor in the building. I swear it gave me a migraine.

I also spent an afternoon at the Stationary Show which was like walking around in a candy store. I, again, met a lot of really cool artists, many of whom I plan to do some work with this year. I heart NYC.

I'LL BE ENJOYING THE WEEKEND HERE

I'm in Brooklyn for the weekend. I'm here for work but I expect it to be a lot of fun mixed in with the hours and hours of screen printing and product demos.
Have a great weekend.

WHO'S THAT TREE?

The Rockstar and I live in a pretty progressive neighborhood. Our sprinkling system is connected to a satellite and provides just enough water based on the current and impending weather. If it rains, our sprinklers don't turn on. Miraculous!
But now...NOW things have just been turned up a notch. We just got an email today that explains each of our community trees will be tagged with an RFID. Here's a little more information from the email.

"In response to this need, XXXXX is working with the Salt Lake County Million Tree Program, South Jordan City and G. Brown Design, Inc. to develop an urban forestry management program. This program is the system by which the trees will be properly monitored and provide a streamlined management approach through the use of a tree inventory and mapping system. The inventory contains information about each tree including: Unique Tree # using a RFID (Radio-frequency identification) tag that is 1/2” long x 1/8” diameter glass capsule embedded into each tree, Scientific Name, Common Name, Location, Tree Condition, Caliper Size, Canopy Size, and Photo. After the tree has been tagged and evaluated, it becomes part of a tree database and computerized mapping system."

I guess all those plans we had for stealing trees and adding them to our backyard are squashed!!

CREWCUTS FIRST CATALOG

These images from the first-ever Crewcuts {J.Crew mini sized} catalog are as sweet as a summertime lemonade stand.

FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Nate and I have been hypnotized by a very long and thorough documentary of rock called, "HEAVY, The History of Metal". Now I know more than I've ever wanted to know about bands like Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, and Motley Crue. One quote we heard made the hours of mindless rock trivia worth while.
Jani Lane, Warrant front man, wrote Cherry Pie one night. It was supposed to be just one track on the new album originally titled, "Uncle Tom's Cabin". But once Cherry Pie was embraced by the record label, the album was retitled Cherry Pie. Lane continues, "...the album was cherry pie, the record was called *cherry pie, I was suddenly doing *cherry pie eating contests, I was known as the *cherry pie guy, my whole life was cherry pie. I wanted to shoot myself in the *head for writing that song." *explitives removed to respect the PG13 rating of this blog.

Haven't we all been there with Jani Lane? We work our whole lives to be the best we can be and one little mistake, one dumb move, and we're forever known as "the cherry pie guy".

RAISE A PINT

Subtitle: I'm a FEMALE!






















This morning I was walking into work from the parking lot and I passed a big, looming red cross bus parked out front. We all know what that means. Blood donation time! I didn't sign up but knew they would not turn me away so into the bus I hopped.
Now, mind you, I don't wear a lot of makeup, and lately I've been letting my hair air dry so I lack that polished, put together, feminine essence. But I'm still a girl. I wear jewelry and heals and lip gloss. So I was surprised when the nurse asked me my gender...at three different times. I started to get a little paranoid that I looked man-ish. I had to shrug that off because having a needle jabbed into my vein is way too important to get distracted by questionable gender.
There was a time when needles and blood and finger pricks didn't bother me. And they still don't; if it's on TV I'm fine. But the moment a real live person starts toward me with a sharp object (needle, knife, pencil, temper) I get woozy. Similar to getting sick on amusement park rides, this is an aversion that started later in life.
Anyway, I gave my pint, in less than 6 minutes. I felt pretty accomplished while I ate my fig newton and chatted up a bleeding co-worker. But as other people where being prepped, I knew I had to make it out of that bus. I felt great most of the day. And I skipped lunch on accident.
Fast forward to my commute home from work; it's a 40 minute drive. Those 40 minutes were some of the most uncomfortable I've had in a while. I felt at once an anxiety attack coming on AND a fainting spell. Once I got home I pulled on my sweats and languished on the couch making the Rockstar serve me food and fetch me important things like water with ice.
I'm glad donating blood makes me feel this way. It helps me realize how important blood is, and how ridiculous it is that I don't donate more often. I'm disappointed that I don't jump into all the red cross vans I see idling at the curb. I mean, if I feel this depleted with one pint missing, how must someone feel that is actually in need?

I THINK I WANT A GNOME

There are a lot of gnomes out there. But I happen to like him best. He would be perfect wandering around our yard, patrolling the garden and keeping our tomatoes safe from thieves. He's on my must-have list for spring.