Charlotte and My New Chair. OH, AND A DECORATING QUESTION.

Charlotte Russe is the best and worst store ever...the best because I LOVE their clothes and they're cheap. The worst, because I have no self-discipline there. Actually, I do, sort of, but believe me when I say it is tested to the extreme. I did not walk out of there today without the following:
Also, I was at Furniture Row the other day, bored and looking for a bargain, and lo and behold...right in the back, there was a huge club chair, just WAITING to come home with me. There's nothing wrong with it - they'd just discontinued the style. The skirting is a little long on the bottom, but I just tucked it under and voila. Perfect. I have yet to sit and read, because I haven't put my lamp over there. QUESTION: Do you think anything goes in the corner, to the left (your left) of the chair? I was thinking one tall black bookshelf, but my mom suggested maybe an old dresser or decorative table. I'd like a storage place for some books, journals, etc. Let me know! My art supplies, I think, are going to stay in the dining room. It's beginning to look a little cluttered, though, so I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do there.
Some other detail shots from around the pad:
Altar for Dia de los Muertos (work in progress).

Pillows on the new chair
Side table.

Taking it easy this afternoon -unfortunately I have to work tonight from 6 to 10, but after that, I'm heading over to Blue Collar Art Co. to get my lip pierced.

Yes.

Operation Radioactive Mommy. Completed.

She'll kill me if she finds out I posted this, but this is how I think of my mommy....always doing something for me. Here, she is making my birthday cake....a year or two ago, I think. She got her radiation pill treatment this week. She went into the hospital on Tuesday and got out this afternoon. She is still .8 radioactive, whatever that means, so she can't be super close to anyone, but she's well enough to be out of the hospital. She's already on the Synthroid too, which is good, because she'll start getting her energy back soon.

My mommy is radioactive.

My mommy is alive.

My mommy is a cancer survivor.


I love you, mom.

The Cone of Shame, and Cake.

Sorry for the blog lag, folks, but I'm back. I was gone this weekend, because it turns out that my mommy STILL has cancer. How do you remove someone's ENTIRE thyroid and still have thyroid cancer? Anyway, she has to check into the hospital and take this radioactive pill and be by herself for five days. Aside from the cancer and radiation parts, that doesn't sound too bad.... Her spirits are good, and she's thankful, as we all are, that she doesn't show signs of cancer anywhere else.

Speaking of my family, we had a great weekend....Had some friends visit as well, which also was nice (thank you, L.). My mommy and sister even made me a Pre-Birthday cake (shown at the top of the post), since I probably won't see them until after my birthday. They also made chili and stuff. I made deviled eggs and then we forgot to eat them. We forgot all about them, actually, until my dad opened the refrigerator and said, "What stinks?" Oh well.

OH, so the Cone of Shame:
My nephew's Boston Terrier is named Pipkin. Some time ago, he got some little sore on the back of his head, and he kept scratching it....(my nephew says the dog has dry skin and allergies, and also acid reflux, and asthma. Anyway,) he finally scratched it until it got really nasty and crusty, and because he wouldn't quit, they put a CONE on him, so now he looks like this:
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's kind of not funny, actually, because it's probably irritating as hell. But how can you not laugh at this?

He looks so....forlorn. I want to give him steak.

Anyway. Random musings for today:

• I heard that Marge Simpson is going to be in Playboy. Most of me is disgusted and the other 2% or so is morbidly curious.
• That Austin Whoever guy from the Dallas Cowboys has the biggest, wierdest smile I have ever seen.
• It is really windy outside right now. I hope that means it will be cold tomorrow.
• I gave my nephew the second Transformers movie, but forgot that it had all those sex and marijuana jokes in it. Oops.
• I cut the back of my shoulder today I dont' know how.
• I am going to relax and read now, after I order a ridiculous number of things off of etsy.

I am the captain of my soul.
Tell me what poem that's from and I'll send you a lollipop.
Night!

A Plaid Thermos.

Is pretty much all I have a picture of today. I haven't been feeling well, Thus the lack of regular blog posts, but never fear, I shall share some random facts that will hopefully make up for my neglect:

• I have watched too many episodes of Law & Order: SVU this week, and I've been having weird dreams.
• I did a pilates workout the other day where I cut down the resistance because I thought it would make it a little easier, and it actually made it worse, and now it feels like someone kicked me about the stomach for several hours.
• I had a disagreement with Rick (friend Rick, not Stupid Rick) as to whether the sentence, "Until when is Academy (the sporting goods store) open?" is grammatically correct. I maintain that it is.
• Wil Wheaton looks exactly the same as he did fifteen years ago, except now he is hairy.
• Buying art supplies makes me happy.
• I got my new "FUJI-ROID" camera in the mail from Hong Kong, but have not received the stupid film yet, which also must be shipped in from Hong Kong. This is a situation I would rather not have to deal with.
• I am clueless as to where all the guys with the following characteristics live: Integrity, likes movies and reading, is smart, likes to laugh, and knows what Etsy is. I have come to the conclusion that NONE of them live in West Texas.
• I want to order like, $140 worth of prints from The Black Apple....is that bad?

Adieu, mon amis.
I am relatively certain THAT is not grammatically correct, because I do not know how to speak French.

City-Wide Garage Sales Are Awesome and Evil, All At Once.

First of all, one should always approach anything with the words "city-wide" and "garage sale" and ESPECIALLY "early bird" with extreme trepidation. Hardcore garage-sale people are vicious, armed with carts and buckets, and, most importantly, old, or cranky, or both.

I'd heard about the sale, and I drive by the building they hold it in everyday on my way to work. It's huge, and I figured since they held the "early bird" sale on Friday, everyone would be at work, and it wouldn't be too crowded.

Wrong.

Parking was atrocious. You either had to risk parking at the two Mexican restaurants nearby and buy a burrito to placate everyone and then SNEAK to the sale, or you had to park ACROSS THE DRAINAGE DITCH and two lanes of traffic, and hike to the sale, or, you could park in the "Super Mercado" parking lot (I am not kidding), and take the SHUTTLE, which was basically a 15-passenger van driven by a person who, I will say, was probably a little past his driving prime.

ANYWAY, when we were dropped off at the sale (I chose the Super Mercado option), we were dropped off by the door. The LINE to get in stretched nearly two city blocks (Texas-sized city blocks, of course) and disappeared AROUND THE CORNER. Luckily, you didn't have to stand in line, per se, you just had to make sure that before you went in, you had to have the police or a Meals on Wheels (that's the organization the sale was benefitting) representative take your three dollar cover charge and strap a blue bracelet on you. You know why? Because, believe it or not, people steal. PEOPLE STEAL THINGS FROM A GARAGE SALE. A GARAGE SALE THAT DONATES ITS PROFITS TO FEEDING THE ELDERLY. Really. An older Asian lady standing in front of me asked the poor "bracelet/cover charge" man WHY she had to pay THREE DOLLARS to get in. I was like, just give him the damn money already, so I can see what's in there.

There was a lot in there. Luckily, I found the crafty/sewing/old doll heads section right off the bat, and was introduced to the notion that many people do not come to garage sales to "browse" or "mosey". They come to swipe everything off the tables like those kids in the old Toys R Us shopping sprees they used to give away on Nickelodeon (most of you 30-somethings should know what I'm talking about). Those always confused me, because the kids would go and swipe like FIFTY Rainbow Brite dolls off the shelf and run around like crazy people, and I would be sitting in the living room thinking, "What the frack is she going to do with fifty Rainbow Brite dolls?!?!"....but I digress.

Luckily, I made it to the craft section relatively early and only had to use tactical maneuvers a couple of times, one of which was to grab an easel. The day before the sale, I was walking around Hobby Lobby, debating whether or not I should pay 100 dollars for an easel, and here I was staring right at TWO OF THEM for TWO DOLLARS EACH. Some lady was eyeing one, and since she did not possess the skill or tenacity to grab it, I took it as soon as she got distracted by some awful comforter set (Ew).

I carried those two easels for the better part of two hours through hoards of crabby people. I also got some cool vintage craft stuff, but the easels made the entire day worth it. When I got home, my hands were dirtier than they have ever been. Ever. I had to clean them with rubbing alcohol.

But look at them. Beautiful, no?

Ahh.....

Here is Patty, To Make Excuses.

Hello. I am patty. I am Kim's hamster. She told me to tell everyone that she is all busy with work or whatever right now and has not had time to make a new post. What is a post? Is it yogurt covered? I like yogurt-covered hay pellets. I don't know about that work business, I saw her come home and then leave and then come back and she painted some stuff. I saw no work. I work all the damn time. You think it's easy burrowing under all these paper shreds, and hiding your food from other hamsters? Plus, how do you think I am typing? I work out ALL THE TIME. Sometimes my wheel gets stuck and I'm like, "YEAH!", but she f-ing comes in here and fixes it. Can you please ask her to angle me towards the tv? And maybe leave it on when she goes to "work?"

Thank you.
patty.

Oh, Cold Mondays Off, How I Love Thee

Since it would not be prudent for me to buy EVERYTHING at the thrift store, I decided to take my camera this time. I'm always afraid they'll yell at me, since most stores don't like for you to take pictures on the premises, but I reckon there is not much concern about industrial espionage at "Trade 'n Treasures". Here are a few shots from the store:
And some pretty things that I did end up buying....
I don't have a record player, I just like the cover. I wonder if the record still works? I would SO buy a whole bunch of story records for whenever (or IF ever) I have a little person of my own.
And I got this little needlework thing because I liked the colors....
These dishes were so pretty, I had to get them....
And I spent a good deal of time sitting right here:
AND, I drew this:

She's not done, by any means, but I'm trying out some new techniques....I always hated drawing with an H pencil, because it was too light, and I could never get much out of it. Now, I'm actually scared to draw with anything BESIDES an H. I have some HB lead for my mechanical pencil and I'm thinking....that's way too dark. I can't even LOOK at my 8B pencil. It makes me nervous.

So yes....it was a fantabulous day, so much so that I'm not even bummed about going to work tomorrow. It's all about balance, people.

In other brief news, my nephew, Christopher has the A Strain Flu, and that sucks.

I am happy as a clam.

^___^

Happy Sunday Photos....

Here is a little sampling of what's making me happy nowadays....
1.  Downloadable Photoshop Actions by Demolition on Deviantart.com (what I used to cross-process the above photo).
2.  Kee Mao at King & I
3.  This corner of my bedroom:

 .

4.    This stuff on my dining room table:

.

5.  Knowing I don't have to work tomorrow.

6.  I didn't get sick.

7.  My "Sleepytime" playlist.

8.  Domokun

9. Cloudiness, rain, and general chilliness.

10.  Hope.

^___^

I Sort Of Feel Like This:

You know that area between sick and not sick? That terrible limbo in which you sit while you wonder to yourself, "Is that hangy-down thing at the back of my mouth hurting, or did I just talk too much yesterday"? On the off chance that I AM getting sick (which I have not been since Spring, since I have been attempting to avoid children and germy people), I am going to stay home today. This would be cool if I didn't have so much to do around here. I am ONE PERSON. How is it that my dining room table is cluttered? Why is the kitchen not completely clean? How did I not manage to hang up all my clean clothes? Anyway, that's the state of affairs around here. Work has been very hectic, and I'm Limbo-Sick, so that's why I haven't posted.
Also, this 54-degree mornings and 84-degree afternoons are not helping. I am moving to the forest.

Bleh. And Some Randomness.

Today sucked mostly.  I don't feel good, I had some completely unecessary stupidness happen at work, FOUR of the Prismacolor pencils I love have been DISCONTINUED, so I feel like this:

WHY would you discontinue a color and NOT put out a similar color to replace it?  Apparently, the colors in the "Deco" Series were not "lightfast", meaning that they faded over time.  UM, I have two major problems with this:

1.  I will be dead before the color even starts to noticeably fade, and I don't care if future generations don't like my drawings.

2.  Why didn't you develop a LIGHTFAST DECO ORANGE, like you did with that stupid "NON-PHOTO BLUE", whatever THAT means?

3.  I now have four pencils (Deco Orange, Peach, Blue, and Aqua) that are now meant to last me FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.  This is unnecessary pressure, and now I don't even want to sharpen them, for fear of wasting the pigment off of the shavings. 

....so I guess I had three major problems with it.

Speaking of pencils and what not, that is what I spent yesterday evening doing....

If I'd only had a fireplace going...it would have been perfect.  Don't the Amish make those portable fireplaces?  ANYWAY, for those of you who are interested (perhaps none of you), these are the items in my current "Take Everywhere Art Bag":

1. Sketch Moleskine

2. Staedtler Mark Lumograph Pencils:  B, 2B, HB, 2H, F

3. Assortment of Prismacolor pencils

4. Black gel pen

5. White Extra Fine Point Sharpie paint pen

6. Tortillion

7. Portfolio water soluble pastel in white

8. Black Factis 18 eraser (erases charcoal!)

9. Metal pencil sharpener

10.  Koi Watercolor Field Sketch Box

And that brings me full circle to my Deco pencils which are now rare and eroding as I type, which pisses me off.  I think I'd better stop.  

LOVE AND BUNNIES.

The Reading Chair Conundrum AND The Moldy Box Incident.

Please, please, please help me decide which chair to buy for my living room.  Remember...the room kind of looks like this now:

The sofa, remember, is green.  I know, you are going to think I am weird for wanting a red chair, but I am trying to create a Black Apple aesthetic.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out the Black Apple link on the right under my Favorite Blogs.  One of my favorite artists is Emily Martin (author of the aforementioned blog).  I love everything about this style.  I also own this print:

I love the colors ....sort of washed out, muted sherberty pastels...but she always has that little touch of red, mostly in a stripe pattern, which is what has let me to my current dilemma.  My BIRTHDAY is coming up, and my mommy is going to buy me a chair....only I cant decide which one.  This is where you, my faithful readers, (and I DO love you) come in.  Should I get this:

or this:

Honestly, if I had to choose RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT NOW, it would be the striped one.  What do you think?


Other events:
I left work early because I had some comp time to get rid of, and I thought, "Even though it makes me feel old, I think I shall go home and take a nap".  This never happened.  I got home and was bothered by the un-doneness of my living room and thought "I wonder if I still have those old frames I had in my old storage building?"  What should have been a brief peek into my storage room turned into an almost two-hour encounter with dust, bugs, and whatever the hell else was in there, AS WELL AS a disappointing moment where a HUGE box containing three ginormous binders filled with about twenty pounds of paper, and some CAMPING EQUIPMENT  TORE OPEN and I had to pick all of that up and shove it back in the storage room, unboxed....I came back inside disheveled, sweaty, itchy, and with extremely dirty hands, and probably, things in my hair.  It was so bad I had to take a shower, which made me even MORE sleepy, but then I got distracted with the "looking at chairs online, oOo, what about IKEA" thing, and I STILL have not taken a nap, and it's kind of too late, because it is almost time to start dinner.
 SIGH.
So, take a moment, please, and tell me which chair you like.  Also, nevermind the pre-existing pillows on the sofa. I  am going to re-cover them.  


Thanks, and yawn.

Hamster Bowling With Patty...and Some Other Happy Things

I took the day off from work today, because TECHNICALLY, I worked on Friday....anyway, I used today to do a whole bunch of stuff.  There were regular things, like laundry, etc...and then there were fantastic things, like HAMSTER BOWLING WITH PATTY:


Here she is coming out of her "hamster elevator", a.k.a. a bowl that I have to use to take her out of her tank, because she will bite me if I just stick my hand in there:

 

 Ooh, a spare.  This was ridiculously fun, and she got a lot of food out of the deal, so everybody was a winner.  Moving on....

I got a ridiculously awesome package from Linsey the other day:

I've made up another box for her, and I also am sending a package to April Star, but I can't post photos because I haven't edited their addresses out in Photoshop yet.  I'll do that tomorrow.

Other things:

•  There is a piece of giant bubble wrap on my bathroom floor that I have refused to pick up for some reason, and I keep stepping on it and scaring the wits out of myself.
  
•  There are pork chops in the oven right now.  
• My birthday is coming up, and my mom asked me what I wanted, and I can't think of anything.  I pretty much have everything I need.  The best thing I can come up with is like...tights and shoes....or a pug.
  
• The stupid elastic on the bottom of the headband I got at Anthropologie was too small for my big head, so I had to CUT IT and GLUE the fancy part of the headband onto an old plastic headband.  That's a lot of work for the $32 I paid for it already.  
• I just bought this for myself:

 plus, like 80 film exposures, for about $120 on eBay.  The great part was, I had a $51 balance on my Paypal account that I'd FORGOTTEN ABOUT.  Happy Birthday, Me.


Time for dinner, peeps. 

Horrific Sewing Equation. CAUTION: BLOODY PHOTO

Hello. I feel the need to use this blog post as a method of conveyance....there are some things you should simply not attempt...not necessarily because these things are impossible, but because they compromise your safety and the safety of others around you. Texting while driving, for example, is certainly an impressive feat, but on the whole, stupid. I am here to warn you of yet another activity....known as "Using Too Sharp/Large Pins While Sewing And You Bought Them Because They Were Cool Colors, But Should Have Bought The Thinner, Longer Kind". In order to drive this point home (but not while texting...HA!), I have included the bloody, horrific consequences that you might face, should you attempt to make the same mistake I did. WARNING: GRAPHIC BLOODY PHOTO AT END.

This:
Plus this:
Equals this:
HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Happy sewing,
kim.

I Have to Show You What I Bought....

I forgot to post what I bought in Dallas.....


Really beautiful hairclip/brooch from Aldo. I like the composition in the photo, too. Sorry about the dust on that ceramic deer. MOVING ON....Really pretty headband from Anthropologie. This probably was marked up, like eight thousand percent, but it looks very well-made. I love how vintagey and art deco their accessories are.

Another art deco piece, this time from Forever 21. It's a lasso, or lariat, or whatever.
Awesome embroidered sweater/cardigan found on sale at Anthropologie....WAY more than half off the original price. Sweet little dress, Forever 21.
Ruffley jacket....sorry about the poor lighting. I had to use flash, because it's dark in my apartment, and I don't know how to take good low-light photos yet. It is on my Bucket List. Got this at Nordstrom.
Coach bag #1

Coach bag #2....
#3............aaaaaaaaaand the last one. Again, bad lighting, so I'm using flash, which makes it look ugly.

Ok. i must make tacos now. very hungry.