May 08, 2008
Backwoods Shopaholic
A lot of what I do these days is shop for cabin kitsch, so I should at least blog about it some more. Or I could explain in painfully precise detail how I mowed the lawn and/or shopped at Whole Foods, washed dogs and/or children, did laundry and/or made dinner and watched Battlestar Galactica and/or Lost. But any schmuck can write about that. So here's the parade of crap I bought this week:
Two of these vintage reproduction fiberglass shades (minus the squiggle pattern) for some vintage wooden lamps I picked up at the Alameda Flea Market. Courtesy of Moon Shine Lamp & Shade.
A cuckcoo clock!
This weekend we might pick up this antique dining room set in Fresno. There is a hutch and matching table and chairs set. It doesnt quite scream out Spaghetti Western, but has a kind of Bavarian/Tyrolean vibe to it that I dig. Maybe Spaghetti Western style is going to morph into Bavarian Hillbilly chic?
Better Homes and Gardens Home Furnishings Ideas from 1963
Various Anthropologie finery (this has nothing to do with decorating the house, I'm just plain weak willed)
These Frye shoes (but in black patent). Again with the weak will.
Books about cakes, pastry making and vegetarian cooking, among which I think the Veganomicon has the best title ever. I am not going vegan, I just like the recipes (after I add several obnoxious cups of cheese and/or butter to them)
That's about the extent of my journalistic skills these days. I have a lot of insight about the world and its inhabitants, but yet can't communicate via kdeyborad keyboard anything that makes any sense (case in point right there, I am suddenly dyslexic, WTF??) I have had a website for over ten years now (!) but my blogging days are numbered.... my ironic wit has been sucked out of me by preschoolers and neurotic little dogs [insert grandiose exaggerated SIGH here]. So "Look at the shiny things I bought!" will have to suffice for now.
Posted by jenna at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2008
Maker Faire tomorrow
I will be at Maker Faire tomorrow but not with Tartlette for a change - I was so burnt out on sewing for business I didn't even apply (and with all the new house stuff I missed the deadline anyway). I'm so glad I am not selling this year because I can finally go look at all the STUFF! I have always been stuck at my tent or table, and missed out on all the demos and rockets and robots.
http://www.makerfaire.com/
Posted by jenna at 08:58 PM
April 11, 2008
Congratulations Bill!
My brother in law in New Orleans won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and his book is going to be published in July!!!1!!!
I am so excited for him and AC. You may remember we went to New Orleans for their wedding last spring.
Congrats Bill & AC! Again!
Posted by jenna at 10:45 AM | Comments (1)
April 03, 2008
Springtime pictures!
Posted by jenna at 05:27 PM
April 02, 2008
Because I don't like to make promises I don't keep...
Yep, we went and got the little pug mix in the Madera shelter (which is STUFFED with lab mix puppies pulled out of a dumpster - go adopt one!) We haven't named him yet, I think he looks like an Oliver but Andrew keeps calling him Manny. His shelter name is Nestor (as in the Greek King of Pylos) but I'm still on the fence about that one too. Picking him up was part of a great week spent in the mountains at the new house. We saw turkeys, bunnies, deer and sunsets like this one:
This is the view from the porch:
There are huge granite boulders and outcroppings all over the property and all sorts of critters. We learned how to maintain the koi pond and wandered around. The nature is a little overwhelming, so I spent some time indoors cleaning the place and picking out paint colors. I'm leaning towards "Spaghetti Western" as a decorating theme - you know, tacky steakhouse with chianti bottles everywhere and red checkered tablecloths. It might be just weird enough to work. Andrew really wants a wagon wheel chandelier so I am prowling on eBay and going to the Alameda Flea Market this weekend. So far I have picked up the following:
A bunch of old Field & Stream outdoor magazines from the fifties. This is my favorite. There has to be a whole subgenre of pinup/pulp art that featured pretty girls with guns! I need to start collecting more examples of it!
A completely tacky 1950's ceramic planter/statue/TV top lamp. Yes, LAMP. Sweet.
Cute little deer bookends from Japan for the girls' room. They unfortunately arrived like this:
But I managed to superglue them (and my fingers) together. Doh.
This one is on its way. I'm DEER CRAZY!
Posted by jenna at 12:56 PM
March 19, 2008
halp me plz!
I have got to put some kind of Net Nanny style porn filter on my computer to block Petfinder. I keep finding shelter doggies on there that are SO CUTE and pathetic and totally need me to take them home and spoil them and dress them up. I do it every night. Its TORTURE. Here's the latest. He's a dead ringer for my beloved Penny the chug who died last year:
He's so tiny! I daresay snack size at most. He wouldn't take up much room, right? So I should go get him this weekend, yes? I thought so. I knew you'd see it my way. Thanks friends.
Posted by jenna at 09:45 PM | Comments (1)
March 14, 2008
Becky the Pug
Here's our latest foster pug, Becky...
Posted by jenna at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2008
Knit Batgirl Gloves
If you have known me a while, you'll probably remember when I used to dress up in various homemade Batgirl costumes and run around Manhattan...
So needless to say I am in love with these super cool knitted Batgirl gloves from Bleu Arts!
Posted by jenna at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)
February 05, 2008
SuperFat Tuesday
Today the whole family took a walk to vote for that nice young congressman from Illinois (no, not Abe Lincoln, the new guy) and then went home to bake a King Cake for Mardi Gras. Evie wanted it heart shaped so it looks kinda funny, and I couldn't find my plastic baby jesuses so we hid a strawberry candy in it instead.
Posted by jenna at 11:33 PM | Comments (2)
January 25, 2008
Noir City 6
Noir City, the annual San Francisco Film Noir Festival, starts tonight at the Castro Theatre.
http://www.noircity.com.
My hair is freshly blonded and I have a new hat just for the occasion!
The gal who made it has an Etsy shop and makes amazing hats - check her out
Posted by jenna at 11:30 AM | Comments (1)
January 23, 2008
Überlist
I have a cold so instead of doing laundry, or sewing, or cleaning, I am sitting around knitting, watching William Powell and Myrna Loy movies and making my Überlist (which I was inspired to do by Nikol Lohr of Disgruntled Housewife). It is a list of new year's resolutions, which I previously never made because I was the walking image of perfection (hah! snort) but having kids had made me realize that I have a lot of work to do to be a better person. Mostly involving being more patient and empathetic, but there are a few lame household projects that need completing too. So I might as well make a list as I can't remember jackcrap these days.
I think we may be the new owners of a vacation house near Yosemite in 45 days! Its verrrry exciting! here's a preview of what it looks like.... it sits on 20 acres of mountain with oaks and cute little manzanita coves:
Here is the view - due west for killer sunsets:
The only thing I don't like about it is that the main house (it has a guest house too) looks like a boring city apartment so I need to cabin kitsch it up. I might have some kind of contest later on to see who has the best decorating ideas for it, so stay tuned!
Posted by jenna at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)
January 15, 2008
Happy New Year from the brink
Odds are you have been spammed by this photo if I know you in real life, but if not, that's our New Years greeting from Yosemite :)
Xmas morning, after opening gifts and getting dressed
The day after Christmas we drove up to Yosemite where we rented a cabin. And IT SNOWED!
So we went on a sleigh ride in the forest
and made snow angels
and did a little sledding
during which the pugs were miserable. We had Ping, Lucy and this rescue pug, Kiwi, with us on the trip.
Lucy (who has extra thin fur) got a stylish (and reversible) puffer vest for Xmas in preparation for the trip. She made this cute rustling sound wherever she went.
And I have been knitting the shit out of the Snowflake Cardigan (see last post). It wont have snowflakes on it though, it will have pirate skulls. Arrrr!
Posted by jenna at 10:21 AM
December 23, 2007
Merry Kitschmas!
That would be an angel shaped gingerbread cake cooked in a TV dinner tray. Recycled, tasty AND tasteful!
Courtesy of "McCall's Christmas Make-It Ideas", 1974.
Holiday cookie making mania is still going strong. Last year I spent December experimenting with new ways to combine peppermint and chocolate, this year is strictly Gingerbread. While I bake, Evie and Sprout have been watching "White Christmas" over and over (We are big on musicals and showtunes around here). The "Sisters" song and dance routine gets replayed a lot - Evie has decided that she is the Rosemary Clooney sister because she is older and has darker hair, and that Vera Ellen is the Sprout because she is younger and has blonde curly hair.
After Xmas, we go to Yosemite where we have a cozy little cabin in the redwoods rented! Please think frosty white snowy thoughts for us :) I will be bringing this knitting project along with me:
Posted by jenna at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)
December 11, 2007
Shows; some crafty, some childish
Bazaar Bizarre is this weekend in Golden Gate Park - I think I'm helping out somehow, but haven't heard anything as of yet. $1 gets you in, and you can get your holiday gifts handmade by a crafty local!
We saw the Aquabats last week for their annual Holiday visit up to the no-so-frozen North of San Francisco. I forgot my ID so I had to have both hands stamped with "I AM A MINOR! DON'T SERVE ME BOOZE!!!!" symbols. The novelty of being a 36 year old with two kids and being told I don't look old enough to drink (that's what she said, I don't care how dark it was in Slim's, I'm taking all the compliments I can get!) wore off after my third Shirley Temple. DJ Lance Rock from Evie's favorite "Yo Gabba Gabba!" kid's show was the opening act and the cyclops and the robot from the show were dancing onstage with him (I think they are Aquabats in disguise). So there I was at a show that my 4 year old would have went nuts for, drinking her beloved Shirley Temples.
So much for an adult night out.
Posted by jenna at 11:07 PM | Comments (1)
December 03, 2007
SHINY THINGS
Behold our glittery tacky shiny silver tinsel tree! It looks (and smells) like a vintage 60's tree, but its supposedly new. We have a spinning color wheel light behind it and everything. And a marabou feathered sparkly flamingo on top.
The little ladies are INSANE with holiday spirit. We got a few bags of toys for Toys for Tots today and dropped them off at the fire station (and talked with totally hot firemen! Bonus! :) and I told Evie that the firemen will give them to Santa to bring to kids who don't have a lot of toys. I think it made her happy, but mostly because it involved Santa. Kid is bonkers for Santa. She keeps asking it is is Christmas yet, if Santa will remember her, if Santa will bring things for the Sprout too, and telling me that when she sits in Santa's lap this year she wants to snuggle into his beard and take a nap.
Despite all this cuteness, I decided that whenever I get the urge to have more kids I'm just going to buy a new Blythe doll.
. . .
Meet Candy Carnival and Save the Animals. Candy is getting her hair done.
Whoops. I just gave Evie and Viv the warning that they have to go up to bed in 10 minutes by yelling "LAST CALL." Great.
Posted by jenna at 07:02 PM | Comments (1)
