Upon arriving home from work today I was super pumped to find a special package in my mailbox! Mountains of the Moon did a giveaway on the Dainty Squid and I won a beautiful dress. I ordered a size bigger than I normally would because I live in fear of buying clothing online that will be too small so the dress is a bit too big actually. But not so much that I can't shrink it in the wash. I'll try to take a picture of myself in it this weekend for you guys. My dress is the twilight blue color
And then when I logged into my email I found I had won a giveaway on one sheeping girl for a set of chalkboard gift tags from katespapergoods. Aren't they cute? I'm not sure if I will be able to give them away.
I've been really lucky about winning things online - I should do a giveaway myself shouldn't I? How about whoever replies to this with the best knock-knock joke gets a portrait drawing of themselves? I need some portrait practice and just bought some nice new paper. Make me laugh!
I've had a couple of low-key days and have just been trucking along with work and getting organized, so I thought I would share some of my favorite things on the internet at the moment.
The Maria Bamford Show! Seriously Maria is one of my favorite comedians and this reenactment of her breakdown stay at home with her parents was wonderful to watch. It also has me jonesing for a diet coke and the great state of Minnesota. And a fat pug.
Watch this one and then try not to watch them all.
I have a large collection of wine corks that I have toted around with me through several moves for some reason and decided to go ahead and make this one. CrafttyNest has a walk-through of it and I'm working on it! So far I have just been working on cutting all of my corks in half and getting rid of the non-cork corks and broken ones. Here is my progress:
I'm really looking forward to getting this together.
Kate Beaton, of Hark, a Vagrant is amazing and wonderful and I could spend hours and hours (and maybe have spent hours and hours) reading and laughing and getting inspired. Her comics are not only hilarious but smart and you should look her up and buy a t-shirt of hers while you are at it. I did. After all, you put the Brontes on a t-shirt and I am all over that like Bronte heroines on broody men.
Also I am finally caught up on True Blood Season Three and cannot wait to watch the season four opening episode tonight (late I know) with the man. I was way into the books for awhile, so much so that I drove to a 24 hour grocery store at 2 am to get the fourth book because I COULD NOT WAIT. I love the difference that are in the TV show, especially anything with Eric Northman. SWOON.
This weekend has been nice and relaxing. Yesterday Geoff and I went down to my family's and visited with my Gram and my siblings. I got to show my Gram my quilt top and we had a good chat about the next steps and brainstormed what color should be the border and backing. My dad (and Rachel) made us homemade pizza and we were able to grab more of our things from the garage.
My dad got a box of old wines at a garage sale for a few bucks and gave it to us. The labels are very cool and most are from the 80s and 70s. We tried to open a few and they had gone bad as expected, but the rest are just making the empty wine rack look classy. He also got me a box set of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books which I am super excited about. I adored those books as a kid and can't wait to re-read them.
My sister, the chef. She loves helping in the kitchen and made delish pizza dough!
Board games are a huge part of how my dad, brothers and I connect so of course we had to play one this weekend. Settlers of Cattan is known for driving my brothers from the room, but we talked Ryan into playing and he even won. If you like nerdy games that focus on dice and trading sheep for bricks, this game is for you. Also this set-up might be inspiring me for a new quilt design, possibly for my brother's Christmas present.
I've been doing a lot of work on my new Matryoshka doll quilt and have been brainstorming so many crafty things I want to do. Out new apartment has so much more space than I am used to, and I want to fill it with pieces that are handmade.
And finally, a childhood photo of me with my peers.
Yesterday was a fairly sucky day. I've been majorly stressing and this tends to mean that I get a bad headache. I have had headaches almost every day of my life that I can remember but usually I am able to go through and do what I need/want. However, every once in a while I just cannot function and get a migraine.
The first migraine I can remember was when I was five or six. I was on the top bunk of the bed I shared with my brother and I had a washcloth over my eyes. I could hear my brothers and my dad in the next room being very noisy, but I couldn't bring myself to move. While my headaches have been a constant in my life, migraines have come and gone. In middle school I seemed to have one every other day and often went to the hospital after all home remedies failed. I even spent a week in the hospital while they ran every test under the sun to see if they could find the cause. Nothing showed up.
I've gotten a better handle on them, but they still crop up once in a while. I have not had to go to the ER in years, but that head-caving-in feeling still comes around. If you have ever experienced one, you know what I mean.
When trying to get rid of a headache, I usually take the following steps:
Big glass of water: dehydration is a common cause of headaches
Soda or coffee: Caffeine (which is in many painkillers) sometimes knocks the pain out
Breath of fresh air: Get outside
Eat: Sometimes I forget. But seriously if I don't eat a headache soon follow. Even if it is just a spoonful of peanut butter, it might help.
Move around: while outside, walk around. Moving tense muscles helps.
Take an over-the- counter: unless you are enjoying your pain.
If those don't work and I do feel a migraine coming on I try to do:
Lay down in a dark room: I hate sleeping a day away, but I hate headaches more
Get a damp cool washcloth for you forehead: I don't know that this does anything, but my mom has always given me one when I have a bad headache and it makes me feel better.
Meditation: I don't take this step seriously, but I try to use some meditation steps that have been passed on to me. I start by imagining that low light is filling up my body, starting with my toes and working my way up. And sometimes I picture cool water being poured over my brain. Basically anything to shut my brain down from obsessing about what the difference between "almost" and "not quite" or what my cat thinks when I am not home.
Prescribed Meds: Basically my final step is to take something prescribed to me for migraines. This usually puts me in to a mini-coma and then hopefully my migraine is gone when I awake.
Any tips out there that I am missing?
I am feeling much better today and am looking forward to hopefully taking my little sister to the zoo.
I have been unsure about what to do with this space (again) but rather than let it die I am just going to try to have a blog without an over-arching theme per say, but just blog about whatever happens to come my way. So, if you are reading still or reading for the first time - or even if you aren't reading, here are a few things you will likely find in the foreseeable future
My sister - Rachel - who is basically my favorite thing. She is 18 years younger than I am and has Down Syndrome and is the best sister I could ever ask for. She has made me think about things I might not have otherwise, most notably the concept of whale underpants.
I love to draw/doodle/cartoon and I am trying to focus my energy on getting these drawings into a cohesive story line. Also I have a very large (18 pounds) cat named Taft. He is hilarious.
I sew things! Right now specifically I am working on a couple of quilts under the guidance of my awesome gram. When she was younger she had to quilt something like thirteen quilts before she was allowed to get married to my grandpa. Thankfully I don't have the same restrictions. I also have been know to knit and do other craft things.
Taft - the handsome devil.
Other than that expect to find silly photos of my adventures running around the mid-west and trying to figure out what direction my 20-something life is going. If you are out there let me know!
