COULD-NOT-RESIST

While browsing through the D*S Sneak Peek archives I noticed a Japanese Amelie movie poster in the corner of Brie Harrison's house + had to have one.

AND my boy is reading Sex, Drugs + Cocoa Puffs (on his iPhone Kindle app) + can't stop laughing, so I bought the book. But first I'm going to read Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar because 2 people recommended it to me in the same week.

NEW CARDS IN SHOP

Oh yeah, I forgot to put these new items in my
Etsy shop after they dried (which was quite awhile ago).

The notecard above comes in a set of 6 + is called Little Green Bird. Last fall while we were setting-up for the Stones River Studio Tour we were all distracted by these cute little green birds. I'm not sure what they are called + can't find anything about them on-line.

You Light Up My Life

You give me hope
To carry on
You light up my days
and fill my nights with song

SATURDAY WITH THE BABES

Today I spent the better part of this beautiful day at my friend Claudia's studio for a Book Babes meeting. It was supposed to rain, but instead the skies were blue + the weather was perfect.
Today we worked on pop-ups + cube books. We have a new member who works here + I'm excited to chat with her more about her job.

LATER: We got hit with a pretty big storm last night + my neighborhood lost power. I was hoping it would stay off for awhile so everyone would have to observe Earth Hour by default, but it only lasted about 10 min.

SNEAK PEEK

A gigantic THANK YOU goes to Anne who writes the Sneak Peek column for Design Sponge. She contacted me a couple weeks ago about featuring our house in the column + to be honest I almost deleted it because I thought it was spam.

My boyfriend Tom (known here as "my boy") + I are so excited. We wanted to be homeowners for so long + to have our home acknowledged like this is just, just...icing on the cake!

WELCOMING SPRING

I spoke to my mother this morning + she informed me that it's warmer in middle Tennessee (low 70's) than in Los Angeles (mid 50's) today.

I am a little behind, but I planted my seeds this morning.

I have never started plants from seeds before, so I over planted just to be on the safe side. They can go in the ground April 6, but I still have to get the raised beds ready with a layer of top soil. Next weekend I'll go to my friend's house with a shovel + containers to collect the compost pile she offered me.

Monk is back to being an old man in a chair.
This is one of two recent wicker chair curb-side finds.

While I was working outside, one of my neighbors was playing the guitar + singing blues songs. Have I mentioned before how much I love my neighborhood?

PROJECT

My good friend Danielle came over with her super duper camera to help me out with a big project + to play with Dex.

It's amazing what a difference a good camera makes + after I save up some $$ I'll have to buy one.

FANTASTIC REALITIES

You might have figured out by now that I'm not terribly sentimental, co-workers observed that I was more excited by two Friday the 13th's this year than I was about Christmas (I chalk it up to an early imprint: this movie was filmed at my babysitter's house), but seeing this heart spray-painted outside my office made me really happy.

My new aluminum MacBook arrived this week so the days of being without a computer are over. It's very pretty pretty, but unlike my iMac, the first computer I bought for myself, it's not as precious. It's arrival means that it's time to get back to LALA dex work.

A SWAP, A PDF + A GIFT (pt. 2)

I participated in a Spring Swap at Le Claw + boy-OH-boy, if my package from Morgan is any indication of what spring is going to be like, I can't wait. More Orla goodness!

And from Mariss, who I hope to one day make a real-life friend (cue maniacal stalker-ish laugh), a sketch e-mailed in response to a comment I left regarding my apprehension about knitting this hat. The sketch is actually quite funny, she definitely works "blue."

From Sissy, fellow Book Babe, snarky commenter on my blog + go-to friend for questions related to knitting, computers, crazy people + aliens, I received this BEAUTIFUL scarf for my birthday (which was a couple weeks ago, but I did not bother to mention it to anyone).

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Reviews of a few new CD's I received for my birthday

• Chris Isaak Mr. Lucky~ On heavy rotation, soooooo gooooood (don't care for track 2)
• Niko Case Middle Cyclone~ Another solid album.
• Bruuuuuuce Working on a Dream~ We have a saying in our house that even a bad Bruce album is better than most of the crap that gets released. Some good songs, but overall, not that strong. p.s. Bruce will be on The Daily Show Thursday March 19.
  

GIFTS + A PRIZE (pt. 1)

Recently I have been the recipient of lots of goodness...

My friend Beth @ stitch.rip.repeat (+ letterpress partner in crime) surprised me with one of her letterpress calenders. Beth is pretty amazing- she has a grand idea, then a week later it's a reality, AND the quality of her designs... pretty amazing indeed!

I won this "Create" necklace from my new blog friend Amy @ Switz~Art. I'm thinking this might come in handy when I do workshops with The Book Babes.

And a generous gift from my good friend Hezza @ Rough New Prize. We met for dinner last week (vegetarian Indian food @ Woodlands) + she handed me a bag full of Orla Kiely goodness. I did not realize that I always have a gift for her, but it seems that she was keeping track.

ARTS IN THE AIRPORT

This year I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate in the Arts in the Airport program at the Nashville airport. I spent last Friday with my demo set-up chatting with travelers + promoting TN. crafts. Many people were caught off guard, interested in what I did + excited about the program. It was a positive experience, but I'm still confused about the guy who asked me if I had anything to get gum off his pants.

RECENT FINDS

I've been purging a lot, but I cannot resist a few things here + there.

We did not have salt + pepper shakers ($2.50). And Dexter knocked a mug off a table, it broke, so the Marimekko mug (.25) is actually a replacement. This find has great sentimental value because my little brother's baby room was decorated in the Bo Boo Car + pull toy designs. Dex better not break this mug!

OUTSIDE- INSIDE

Yesterday morning we woke up to lots of snow- YAY!

My boy won this cabinet from an Ebay seller in Nashville. Saturday I picked it up (Ruby comes in handy all the time!) + Sunday I rearranged this little corner of our house. Amy Butler's Midwest Modern has been my primary source of decorating inspiration- thanks to Beth for introducing me to this book.