Today, I come to you from the comfort of my living room for the first time, ever! My hard work last month paid off. As it turns out the whole goal of making more money was to get to spend it! Welcome home MacBook Pro, you will be well loved.

Read More...

I haven't stopped working in over three weeks, which is great but jeez I'm tired. All the forces of natural graphic design selection have pointed to me and said, "Alleluia! She is the one you need!" I've done work for regular clients, new clients, and rush clients. Just when I don't think it can get any crazier I open my email and BAM a new project DUE RIGHT NOW. I have a huge laundry list of project to finish this morning and more deadlines for the afternoon and some for tomorrow. The dogs are the only thing keeping me sane man!

(AND! My first anniversary is coming up, can anyone toss out a unique gift idea? I believe the theme is paper?)

Read More...

I've been tagged by the lovely Jamie Christina over at Pretty Ditty. Jamie makes beautiful aprons and lots of other artsy wonders that are always so, well, pretty.

Here's how the tagged thing goes: each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?
I was just finishing up my freshman year of college and dating a much older man. I'm still dating him, just now there's a ring I'm supposed to wear.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Have lunch with Lesley
2. Go to Jazzercise
3. Go to Knit Wits (my favorite stitch 'n bitch!)
4. Attack the dogs with our new Furminator
5. Clean that smelly kitchen and maybe change the sheets

What are five snacks I enjoy?
1. A cup of coffee
2. Dark chocolate
3. Dried cranberries and cashews
4. Tasty Kake Kandy Kakes
5. Crackers

What five things would I do if I were a billionaire?
1. Get coordinating classic and new Mini Coopers
2. Fix my husband's Jaguars (yes, plural)
3. Buy a place on the beach and one in London
4. Fly first class
5. Hook up our parents

What are five place you have lived?
1. Emmaus, PA - where I grew up
2. Bryn Mawr, PA - my first dorm room
3. Philadelphia, PA - my second dorm room
4. Wynnewood, PA - my first tiny (no exaggeration) apartment
5. Oceanside, CA - my first house

What are five jobs have I had?
1. Sneaker sales person
2. Paste-up artist at a local newspaper
3. An intern, shortly after the Monica Lewinsky thing so there were a lot of "jokes" about the interns
4. Graphic designer
5. Yarn store owner

Tag...you're it! Let's learn a little bit about these fabulous bloggers I admire...
@ny Price
Head Knit Wit
Emily
Lesley
NobleKnits

Have fun!

Read More...

For the month of June I've taken over a marketing job at one of the companies I do graphic design work for. I've worked in an office before but never a quiet office. The last time I sat at a cubicle was at the unusually hip office of IKEA North America more than five years ago. An office where jeans were considered "dressing up" and dancing was not unusual. After that I had a desk in the back of a massive IKEA store, at which I didn't sit much. Because we always had so many reasons to be running around fixing signs every where from the parking lot to the sofa department to the warehouse, a day at my desk was a rare treat. When I left IKEA I had my own store where there was a computer but no chair. Being in a yarn store is nothing like being at a desk, unless you'd like me to go into a lengthy comparison between needy middle-aged women and annoying bosses that are perpetually emailing you with the latest crisis.

I am again working at a desk job, but from home. I've been building my graphic design studio over the course of the last year and aside from the occassional drawing session on the deck I remain at my desk most of the day. A desk job.

Or so I thought.

As it turns out sitting at a desk at a computer hardware company is somewhat uptight, and my unnecessary gesticulating when something is not going as I had planned begins to look a little odd.

Needless to say I took a deep breath when I got home.

Read More...

Last week was such a whirlwind. I had a rush job for a new client and tons of work for my seasoned clients. I worked all weekend and straight into the week. By the time Wednesday rolled around I felt like I needed to start the day with a mimosa instead of coffee. The highlight of the week came on Thursday when we went to a party at the Playboy Mansion, and I must say, if you ever have the opportunity to go. GO. We had a great time.



We arrived at the party a little early so we could see the property before it got dark. After coming in and having a cocktail we wandered around to the different areas. While Thomas was chatting to his colleagues about work I spotted a white peacock squawking at the guests and went over to take some pictures.



To my amazement there were about a dozen peacocks, white and blue hoping around the grounds between tree branches and buildings. Thomas came over to join me and we ventured down a little jungle path only to find more beautiful birds and tiny monkeys. There was monkey food, grapes and bananas, in buckets by the side of the path. The monkeys scurried over and ever-so-gently reached through the fence to take the grape from your fingers.



It was like we were in a hidden jungle forest in the middle of Beverly Hills.



We then went on a tour of the grounds, led by Lauren, where we saw the tennis courts, game house, guest house and the largest redwood grove in Southern California. Toward the end of the tour we ducked out and went and played with this beautiful lady, Nana.





She was so gentle and really had no interest in parting ways with Thomas. She groomed my hair and nibbled on his collar. She was a delight.

Enough for now... more tomorrow!

Read More...

I don't know if it's because I've been exercising or just because I'm slightly deranged but I've been having one of the oddest food cravings possible. I've been going to Jazzercise consistently for eight weeks now and I feel a lot better, I'm not tired and I don't have a muffin top anymore. But I have not changed anything in my diet. I still eat whatever I want. I went through a brief cheeseburger and french fry craving and if the mood suits, I drink a martini or a beer. So I really can't understand this new craving. Thomas does not like it, not one bit. I keep serving it to him, meal after meal. Today when I heaped it on his lunch of flat bread and bleu cheese, he made a point to come over and stare at it. "What is this stuff?" That stuff? It's LETTUCE. I can't get enough of it. The cool, crunchy bitterness of fresh lettuce is so appealing recently. What does that mean? Chocolate cravings mean low iron, but what could a lettuce craving mean? Hopefully it means something other than severe instability.

Read More...

Even though we have the world's largest television and full surround sound, I think I might want to go to the theater to watch the new X-Files movie. It doesn't come out until July 25 but I am already excited! As an added bonus the movie poster is really nice.

Read More...

Here it is Monday again. We're all having a rough time getting started. The weekend went by too quickly and I don't think we've had enough time to recover. Friday started with a fun night of baking, drinking and playing Wii. Well, the guys played Wii while Jane and I talked about everything from unnecessary vodka packaging to Jazzercise moves. Jane says I no longer look like a marionette but rather a Rockette! Sadly I am a tiny bit too tall to be in the famous Rockette lineup, but I'm sure if I let them know I was available they'd change the height requirements just to let me perform.

Saturday was busy, Thomas and I ran errands where I tried to convince him I need one of these. My efforts have not been successful. But we did see the Matrix or maybe it was part of the Trench Coat Mafia, not sure. This guy was in a full-length black trench-coat. Did I mention it was an absolutely perfect 72 and sunny? I guess that's why I like going to Fry's with Thomas - for the ever-exciting people watching. We moved on and had sushi for lunch. Later we met up with a group of friends for a crazy night of cocktails and dinner.

On Sunday things didn't slow down. I got up for 8:15 am Jazzercise and even stayed for a second class immediately following the first. (I got overly excited because on Saturday I fit into a pair of pants that had been obscenely tight in previous months.) I came home to a recumbent Thomas so I decided to snuggle in and work on my knitting. I've been working on the Manos del Uruguay Four Seasons Throw.



Block 3 is really throwing me for a loop (pun intended). I don't normally make many mistakes on my knitting but thanks to Thomas tying me to a chair and propping my eyes open with toothpicks just to get me to watch a TV show he likes, I got all out of order on my rows. I was marking down that I had finished rows three ahead of where I currently was! It's his fault. I know it.

Even after minor defeat I was still feeling crafty and decided to haul out my summer skirt project. A few weeks ago I bought the Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt pattern from Sowing Sisters along with a cute fabric by Kitty Yoshida.



The pattern is a lot of pieces but it was a lot of fun to sew. It's fully lined with muslin and nearly done. I just have to stitch the hems. I hope to wear it on Wednesday, I know all my knitter friends will be so (sew?) excited about it! I wish I could sit down and finish it right now, but my Monday morning list of things to do is long, but I know I will power through it all because this charmer greeted me when I let the dogs out this morning.

Read More...

Of the 30 fun to work patterns, three are mine. I designed, as the resident California girl, the Surfer Chick Quick Cap, a fun fan-stitch hat. It really does work up fast and, of course looks adorable.



The Chicks' Felted Zebra Slippers are a creation of mine too. These soft and fuzzy slip-ons are all single crochet so that makes them perfect for beginners.



And my personal favorite, Heather's Cafe Cardigan. This top-down raglan cardi totally fun to make, especially while you're sipping coffee at the corner cafe. If you're anything like me that caffeine buzz will have you finishing this in no time!

Read More...

Thankfully we only have to do this once a year.







I won't even remember the blisters when I'm sitting out here sipping a fresh mojito.

Read More...

Being a strong print designer requires me to be fairly, OK, completely useless at web design. My time is consumed by pouring over paper samples and printing methods rather than learning Dreamweaver and typing code. Because of this my portfolio has always been a large Spink & Gabor case that I tote from client to client. I am good at keeping my print case up to date because who doesn't love any excuse to haul out the spray mount? I wrote a tutorial about mounting portfolio boards here. Aside from that I've never had an easily viewed portfolio. I put some items up on Coroflot last summer but I've never been happy with their site. It's hard to use, the navigation is weak and it doesn't display the pieces as nicely as I would like.

Thanks to Estetica Design Forum I think I've found what I've been looking for, a website to display my work beautifully. FinalCrit.com lets you upload your images and then Presto-Change-O! they're in a fantastic Flash based website! Click here to see my new online portfolio!

Whether you're a young designer just out of college without enough experience to get things just the way you want them or a seasoned specialist like me FinalCrit can help you display your goods just the way you want. For free!

Read More...

In regard to my Jazzercise post here, Lisa commented:

I'm envisioning a sparkly headband. Please post pics ASAP.

My friends came over and we took a picture before we went to class. From left to right, Jane, Thomas, me and Corie. Click below to see us in all our glory.





Thanks jezebel.com

Read More...

This was my laundry at 10 o'clock last night. I had to stop and put it away, but there were still two loads to go. Sadly, I never got a comprehensive, all-inclusive picture.



In a few weeks time, we will host a rematch. And this time, Sue's going down!

Read More...

I joined Jazzercise (yes, you read that right, Jazzercise) as part of my "Getting Fit" campaign.

My friend told me I looked like a marionette with my long arms and legs flailing aimlessly around the room.

I am scared to think what the other fifty women thought.

Read More...

My overwhelming obsession with Sharpies also extends to an obsession with using them. Using them to make lists. Only minimal amounts of work would get done if I don't make a list each day. But the list can't be just any list on any kind of paper with any kind of pen. It must be a neat, clean sheet of paper the same as yesterday's and written with the Sharpie color of the day. Some days may have the same Sharpie color as the day prior, this depends on my mood. The text is also of the utmost importance. I had tried using the PocketMod for a while, but NOPE it was too bulky, the lines were too thick and that made my writing feel too cluttered. The list must be perfectly spaced with a perfectly aligned left edge, if it isn't I start over. If a line runs too long, that's it, new list.

I have to make lists everyday because I could so easily find a million other things to do besides work. Things like petting the dogs, sitting in the sun or taking photographs could, and very often do, distract me from sitting down and actually working. This is where the neat, orderly insanity makes all the difference. I am just better at being distracted and that's why the overly systematic list works in my favor. My head fills up with all the things I should be doing and then opts out of all of them. But, if I make a perfectly aligned, tidy list it speaks to me in only ways I can hear. "HEY! YOU! Sit down! Make money! Then...buy shoes!"

When I hear that I sit down and work.

Read More...

There's only two seasons here in Southern California, warm and warmer. Warm starts in mid-October and lasts through mid-March. Warmer lasts the other seven to eight months of the year. I didn't realize it was warmer season already, but what do you know, I have my first sunburn! It was 78 and perfect in Santa Monica yesterday.

Read More...

I had never been interested in watching the show Dog Whisperer. The name alone puts me off. We had heard both good and bad things about the show in the course of the last few years, and never we never really cared enough to investigate it ourselves. Recently we started watching a few episodes here and there, and now it's our favorite work-from-home lunch hour entertainment. We're totally sucked in. We like how Cesar commands the dogs just with his presence, not his voice or having them sit and stay. The dogs know he is in charge. Henry and Lola know we're in charge but only about 85% of the time. They are good dogs but we'd really like them to be great, perfect, not lunging at small children dogs. They understand not to eat our shoes, sleep on the sofa, steal food off the kitchen counter or bark at the garbageman. They do not understand how not to excitedly leap head-high when people come to visit, walk calmly on a leash or bark at the neighborhood children riding their bicycles. We really want them to be more relaxed and less worried about what is going on around them. Cesar says that to make that happen we need a dominant pack leader emoting a calm-assertive energy. That in stressful situations if the pack leader is calm the dogs will eventually learn to be calm, they become calm-submissive.

Thomas speaking to the dogs: "Do you like having me as your pack leader?"

Me to Thomas: "WHAT?!"

Thomas: "I am clearly the dominant male."

Me: "And that matters, why? I am clearly in charge around here. I am the dominant pack leader."

Thomas: "I am the dominant one."

Me: "I am the dominant one. I do most of the feeding, walking and caring for these dogs. They know I am in charge."

Thomas with his knee on my back pinning me to the floor: "Say, 'I'm the dominant one.'"

Me: "I am the dominant one."

Me again after incessant tickling while still pinned and immobile: "Don't you feel that two people in a loving marriage should really face this together rather than one being dominant over the other?"

Thomas releasing me: "Yes, but then you can't claim you're the dominant one!"

So from this example we can see that I displayed calm-assertive energy and male-mind-boggling marriage rationale to overcome this heightened situation. And as thought before, I am the dominant one!

Read More...

I really didn't walk much at all this week. The weather was lousy and if you've ever known anyone that lives in Southern California you know that if it is not 70 and sunny they suffer from severe Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD. When it rains they are completely useless, not able to drive, throwing themselves off the highest building and just generally moping around unable to perform any task because their brains shut down at the first sight of a daunting cloud.

It rained all week and all weekend. It was so depressing even the dogs slept in until noon yesterday.

: :: ::: :: :

Week 5
Walking: 1.3 miles
(really pathetic)

Read More...

Strong branding must be an important focus for any business. The brand helps the consumer identify with the company and its product. Large companies pay millions of dollars annually to keep their brands at the front of people's minds.

I think people, in a way, have this same behavior. We are constantly trying to separate ourselves as individuals, after we know our identity, or brand, we then find a group of friends that we can directly identify with. These friends in turn become the consumers of our individual brand. When seeking a partner or spouse we must find someone that identifies with our individual brand and convince them they like this brand so much to live with it the rest of their lives.

Recently we fell into a show on BBC America all about bras and bra sizes and proper bra fit. I was interested in the show because I had noticed my bras weren't fitting right after all the walking I was doing, but never really thought about it enough to do anything about it. Thomas was interested because it was a show about boobs, boobs and boobs being held up by different contraptions, women talking about boobs, and boobs. From that point on Thomas would inspect whatever bra I put on. This one doesn't fit properly in this area, this part seems to be riding high, etc. While out running errands we passed Victoria's Secret, and I inquired if we had time for me to run in and test these newly learned bra theories.

I popped in to the store and Thomas wandered off to the cooking shop nearby. I had the girl measure me and she said I was definitely wearing the wrong size, and here. Try these. Ten minutes later, Thomas returns, we buy a bra and head off for lunch and other errands. We eventually get back home, set the shopping on the table and carry on with our day. I wander to my office to check my email. Suddenly Thomas appears behind me inquiring about what I had bought, and how did it fit, and what size is it? I go fetch the bag, try on the bra.

"Oh," says Thomas. "That looks very nice. It's fitting better here, and this is staying in place." He takes a few steps back. "What size is it?"

"34 D."

"WHAT?! My wife has D cups?"

"They're still the same boobs."

"Yes, but now they're exciting!"

So for $43 my individual brand has just been elevated, in more ways than one.

Read More...

I love the idea of taking my dogs for a walk, but unfortunately for everyone that's all it is some days, an idea. I have been walking them much more recently. I do not always jump off my butt to get dragged around the neighborhood. Henry and Lola have been better at walking calmly but it usually isn't until after the first mile of our walk, making that first mile hell. We've tried many different techniques, using a harness, holding them back behind the left knee, general yelling and screaming, walking back and forth until the dog gets confused enough to watch where YOU'RE going rather than where they want to go. None has really worked with any consistency. But thank goodness for Mondays off! After watching an episode of the Dog Whisperer, I discovered that the problem may be part dog and part human. As much as I've avoided the program, Cesar Millan may have a point!

Dedicate at least 45 minutes of time to the dog’s walk in the morning. Let the dog know you have a consistent pattern that you expect it to follow. Utilize your dog’s energy in a positive manner.

I have never been consistently dedicated to getting them out for a long period of time each day. I think I will give this technique a try. It can't hurt!

: :: ::: :: :

Week 4
Walking: 6.5 miles

Read More...