Current Obsessions

Here is a short list of the top five things that I am currently obsessed with
1. As of late, I have become obsessed with South Korean pop music, particularly SHINee and f(x). This is slightly strange considering I know absolutely no Korean yet still attempt to sing along to the songs. What makes these songs even better is they usually add in a little English, which just seems to be worked in mid-sentence, but is just great. My favorite is when SHINee just starts chanting "fantastic" and "elastic" during RingDingDong. F(x) comes in a close second with somewhat more explainable English rapping in Nu Abo.

2. Sutter Home White Zinfandel. Sure it is super cheap, but it taste really good.

3. My Blackberry Curve. I never thought that I would be one of those people, but I am starting to wonder how I functioned without it. On Saturday I went into downtown LA and needed to find a bank, it also lead me back to Union Station when I missed my bus.

4. Fabric. I love fabric. The feel of it, the possibilities that it holds is just so magical. So I need to get to working on my different projects, but for right now, I am content with just wrapping myself up in it

5. And finally, Doctor Who? British TV shows are just so much better than American ones.

Dress Form

I finally purchased my first dress form. Sure, it is on the cheaper side and may have broken within the first hour of coming out of the box, but that is not the point. The point is that I have one and now I can make dresses that fit. Also I am far less likely to stick myself with needles. Now it is time to get working on some new clothes. I know that I said that I was going to finish all of the projects that I have from 2009 as a New Years resolution, but I am kind of over that (just kidding, I will have all of those done by 2012). I have been searching the Internet to find some patterns that I think will be easy and can be worn at least 10 different ways. Thus far, these are my favorite.

The One Dress: I love this dress. I think that it is the neatest design ever! It was designed for all women and a portion of the proceeds go towards helping women around the world. In an ideal world, I would actually buy this dress, but I work at an unstable temp job and so I have to try and make one

The Limitless Dress: Made by Icelandic Designer Emami, this dress can be tied 30 different ways, including pants. Again, love the design, lack the funds

And finally almost anything by Ximena Valero: Her designs are just so sweet. And this picture gives me a real great view as to how the dress is assembled.

So this is the New Year...

After a long night of celebration, a day full of caffeine and far to much time left with my own thoughts, I have decided that it is time to really buckle down and come up with some good resolutions. For starters, I am going to participate in a 1/2 marathon, which will happen on the 6th of February. Next, I am going to learn how to play the banjo, included in this is me somehow acquiring a banjo but I will figure that out when the time is right. Then I am going to join a gym and actually go for at least two months because right now they are having a sale at 24 hour fitness and I want to take some classes. Also I am going to learn how to cook. This is mostly because I figured that eating out as often as I do is costing me a fortune and if I am going to join a gym and buy a banjo, I am going to make some cutbacks and eating at home will save me at least a little. Finally, I am going to finish all of the projects that I have started this year and have found myself too lazy to finish. This includes but is not limited to: the dress that I am making, the slippers for my cousin and family friend, the half knitted shawl that is under my bed, all of the hats that I have started and then neglected, and the bathing suit that may evoke some unwanted feelings but still needs to be finished.
I would also like to become less jumpy at the shooting range...which is basically just added so I could share the pictures of my friends and I at a shooting range last Wednesday.

Tanya and Jessica all dressed up and ready to go

I thought that it would be a good idea to wear a skirt. How Annie Oakley of me.

This was my favorite picture of the day, with the fire coming out of the barrel

The Day After Christmas

It is the day after Christmas, and I am finally back in Grover Beach! I feel like it has taken me forever to get here. After a wonderful time with family for Christmas Eve and day (despite the fact that I made my mom cry, but it wouldn't be a holiday if I didn't) I somehow managed to shut my phone in my car door making it inoperable. So I had to go get a replacement because my parents don't trust my car to get from LA to GB, which is fun...My mom and I walked out of the Verizon store with matching Blackberrys, car chargers and I got a protective case in the hopes that I will not lose another phone to the car door. But on the plus side, I am now credit card dept free! And have a really cute cat at home who seems to really want to spend time with me, or she wants to continue sticking me paw in my tomato soup...one of the two.

The Moth

Last night, a couple of friends and I made the long trek through the rain to El Cid in downtown Los Angeles to go to a Moth Storyslam. We ended up getting there about an hour early, mostly because I wanted to stop by Freestyle Photography to pick up some film for my Polaroid accordion Land Camera and they closed at 6 so...we left a little earlier then we really needed to. This did end up having its benefits though, we ended up getting a great booth on the second floor all to ourselves, which was extremely lucky considering it was standing room only by the time the stories actually started. Since El Cid is a restaurant, we thought that it would be a good idea to order some food and I got a glass of sangria which was super good. The first couple stories were not all that great, one guy got up and did some horrible stand up comedy not knowing that it was a store telling show, while another woman recited something that sounded too much like a horrible monologue. I guess that should have been expected considering the show took place in downtown LA and everyone seems to be looking for there big break. But 8 of the 10 storytellers were just awesome and the host was a great deal better then the lady who hosted the last moth that we attended in Santa Monica. All in all, I had a great time and cannot wait for the next Moth!

This is a photo I took from our seat! It was an amazing view!

Whatever Doesn't Kill Me...

I decided that it would be a really great idea to go for a run during my lunch break today since I didn't think that I would be able to find the time to work it in later. While it seemed like a great idea at the time, I forgot to figure in that I am still not feeling 100%. My throat decided to get really angry and just close on me a couple of times, which was fun. I would be running around just fine and then BAM, I could no longer breath. So I would cough up some flem and keep going. It was...fun, and by fun I mean horrible but that is done now. It is now time for me to sit at my desk, scan documents, enter id numbers and stare at a the plain camel colored wall in front of me. In an attempt to make my corner seem more inviting, I have started posting sticky-notes of motivational quotes. Unfortunately the quotes have begun to get more and more strange, such as "whatever doesn't kill me, just hurts me eve more so...that's fine" and "words, can you swim without them?" And then they just get depressing, like "even though I'm happy you have finally found yourself, I miss the person we believed you were," and "too bad dark languages rarely survive..." So I sit in the corner staring at brightly colored post-its that should be motivating me but rather have more of an emotionally draining effect. But this is it...my life for forty hours a week.

Who Would You Do?

For some reason this is a game that my friends and myself have been playing a great deal lately. And while most of them mention men who the world deams a suitable choice of whom one would enjoy spending a night of passion with, mine does not. For some reason I am always the first to respond and my answer is always Jonathan Goldstein. Out of all the people in world, I choose a 41-year-old Canadian Jew with a high pitched monotone voice who hosts the radio program WireTap. I cannot help but find myself falling deeper and deeper in love with the stories he tells. There is so much love in the way that he describes relationship between Mary and Joseph. Or the short trying to describe love without saying the word love. I would also like to point out that the music that is used in background is amazing! Because of this love for his writing and storytelling, I have found my crush moving from these writings and to the person writing them. It is bad. I find myself falling asleep to his voice most nights (I am not sure if this is a complement or an insult)
What I can't figure out is if I would actually "do" Jonathan Goldstein or just force him to talk to me for a night. Because my mother might read this and I work at a University that asked me to agree to their moral code of conduct which explicitly states that I do not agree with pre-marital sexual relationships, let me say that instead of "do" it is more "who would you like to spend an extended period of time with having completely appropriate conversation over coffee, in public and there would be no touching."