Confession about Kleenex

Not sure what I'm going to do about the clock. I like this more colorful one too. In the meantime, I've been secretly thinking about wallpapering the entire house with the pattern on this Kleenex box.

Green on Green

I'm thinking green on green (and practicing on photoshop). Not an obvious choice, but it might work. What do you think?

Scoop your Poop

Here we have the basic spirit but not the entirety of poop-scooping etiquette.

Snowy Gumball

Gumball in the Armory Park/Dexter Training Grounds, Providence.

Jan. 27, 2007.

Snowy McSnowpants

The park across the street is once again covered in snow. I love love love the snow. Too bad I'm freezing all the time. In the house, out of the house. In the car, in the grocery store! Even the hair salon was chilly. I need an adult-size full fleece body-suit. With footies built in.

The photo is from our last snow storm (Jan. 13th), not today's, but I know people love seeing baby Yaris in the snow.

Morning Finds: Big & Small

Superman Returns Mouse (from Wicked Cool Stuff)

$14

Vintage Electric Stove (on Craigslist)
$800.

New Shoes for a New Job

Zooey Obsession

A few years back, Chris & I went to the Wainwright Family Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. The show included an assortment of performances by Rufus Wainwright and family members & friends. Rufus brought me to tears with his version of O Holy Night, en francais, Jimmie Fallon sang "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Rufus' sister, and we heard the odd crooning of Antony. One vocalist stood out for both of us-- Kamila Thompson, the daughter of Linda & Richard Thompson (who I know from the song "Walkin' on a Wire"). Kamila covered George Michael's "Last Christmas" with the saddest sweetest voice. I can still hear the way she pronounced the words of the song. She has three songs posted for listening-only on her MySpace page, but she hasn't released a record, as far as I can tell. And sadly, there doesn't seem to be a way for me to get my hands on a copy of that breath-taking performance of "Last Christmas."

I'm realizing that what I love about her voice is that its a throw-back to a sultry cabaret sound. Lauren Bacall singing in "To Have and Have Not" or even Mae West (more mae west) comes to mind--singing in an underground club somewhere.

Another young woman that captures this throw-back sound is Zooey Deschanel (who may be my latest musical obsession). Coming home from seeing her sing the movie Elf in the theaters, Chris & I scrambled to find her music online --"Hello Dolly"--but struggled to find downloads. As it turns out, she has completed her first album (with M. Ward) and now there are lots of snippits of her on Youtube singing the new music in clubs ("Lonesome Town"). I've added a few things by Zooey in the jukebox (on the right hand side of the page). My favorite: Sentimental Heart. Enjoy.

Holiday Take-down & Handmade Gifts

I hate taking down holiday decorations. Last year I held off (held on?) until March and had pick the bazillion needles out of our Grover/shag carpet by hand. So today, I'm starting to pack it up. One of my favorite additions this year was this bubble-gum pink tree from Barnes & Noble. Some women love diamonds. Some prefer the sparkle of a pink plastic tree.

Our first winter in Providence will be remembered as our first year hosting Christmas (& New Years Eve!). I tire just thinking about it but would jump to do it again. This holiday I also endulged in hand-making a few gifts, decorations, and wrapping details. I feel fortunate for this 'playtime'--it made realize that I need to set time aside regularly for photos & craftiness 'cause it makes me so darn happy.

One of my hand-made projects this year was an address box (above & below). I've completed three and might do a few more. The idea originated a few months ago when I stumbled onto Ugly Kitty's Etsy shop and was inspired by her handmade Address File Box (and the fact that she could sell them for $65 a pop). I thought I'd try to make one myself. Mine are not as compact and the boxes are not as sweet, but they turned out well. Mr-I'm-too-cool-for-crafts even stained them for me, so we could give them as gifts 'from us'. I cut out the cards from old scrapbook paper (and used Ugly Kitty's magazine subscription insert idea for a few of the cards), used a corner rounder to trim the corners and chalk inks to ink some of the edges, stamped on the lines, and added colored stamps for decoration. The boxes are cheap wooden treasure chests from Michaels (disassembled and stained/sealed by Chris). I bought a pack of the dividers from Staples, cut them down to size, and then used rub-on letters on the tabs (I prefer Ugly Kitty's colored tabs). The final product was inexpensive to make, but incredibly time consuming...and yet, I'm hooked.

Ocean view

Storms off the northern coast of Puerto Rico have been sending huge waves onto the beach. I snapped these from the car on the way to dinner last night--they're untouched. The view is crazy-beautiful. Warm weather and amazing beaches. I could live here, if anyone wants to set that up?Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Jan 2008.

Leyla we love

Introducing our new niece Leyla....
...Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, Jan. 2008.

Philosophers Know how to Rock

Last night we had a bunch of people over -- most of whom are philosophers of some sort. And, well, it was a great rockin' party. The karaoke machine helped. I had a great time, which I often don't do when there's that many people. I'd love to bring in the new year like this every year. Thanks to everyone who chipped in to make it happen. Happy New Year!

(pics are untouched -- I'll post the whole set to flickr tomorrow)