Friday Favorites: Bringing Back the Classics

Bring out all those tired cliches. “What’s old is new again.”  “A new spin on an old favorite.”  “What goes around comes around.” Etc. While compiling my recent list of Friday Favorites, I noticed a general vibe : Back to Classics. A number of my FF this week are things I’ve loved before and am learning to love again.

*Swoon*

This Kickstarter for The Punk Singer: A Documentary about Kathleen Hanna

The Great Lakes and other large bodies of water (I’m a water sign, obviously) / Suzy Hotrod being featured in ESPN’s Body Issue / Fall Fashions / Home-cooked meals / Website facelifts / Shorts and tights, together / Watching cartoons with the DZR and Moose /Apple picking and other Autumn activities / Part-time jobs that give you part-time cash / All-American Girl TV series on DVD — so many stars when they were young and spry! / Drawing with Pitt Pens / The Scarehouse in Pittsburgh / Planning for cupcake scenes like these / Starting Physical Therapy / Lifesaver mints / Fall Fever! / Hand-knit knits / Soup. Lots and lots of soup / Leather purses and long hair (having temporary buyers remorse on my short ‘do– oh how we want what we can’t have).

Mead Comp Books

All the fun was sucked out of journaling when I changed from my standard Mead Composition books to other kinds of journals. I’ve been using non-Mead books for years now and it take me forever to fill them up. I recently switched back to my old platform and I’m finding writing to be much more enjoyable.

This is not an actual picture of my watch.

My new Casio watch (Thanks Mom!)

Checking the time on a cell phone can be convenient, but a wristwatch always looks good. Plus, I’m using it to time my exercises for PT.

Friday Favorites: Mohawks, Mustaches, and the Loch Ness Monster

Lots of things have been happening. I haven’t updated a FF in a while, but there’s so much good stuff going on.

 My office mohawk is back in action and more extreme than last time.

I re-cut my hair.

Mustaches. Ironic. Iconic. Over-done. Still loved.

Two mustache-themed gifts I received.

My long-time friend and former co-DJ on 92.1 WPTS-FM gifted me with the most incredible mustache clutch. It goes well with my mustache coffee mug and makes me smile at work.

OH YEAH, and I got a new tattoo.

Pleisosaur Tattoo, done by Jason Angst

Jason (at Tattoo Noir and soon to be re-homed in his own shop) has done all but two of my tattoos. He’s absolutely my favorite tattoo artist and does an amazing job. This plesiosaur skull is my homage to the cryptozoology and the Loch Ness Monster. This may be my favorite tattoo that I have.

Web comics like Doctor Cat MD and Hyperbole and a Half / Chamomile Tea / Drawing Comics / Knitting / Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates / X-Men graphic novels / Reading cookbooks for fun / Sleeveless hoodies / Hot sauce / Catching up with old friends / Words With Friends (the game!) / Eggs / Having all of the dishes done / Staying up way too late reading or doing crossword puzzles / Masterchef and Hell’s Kitchen / Cleaning out clothes / Preparing the home for Winter hibernation (hey, it’s going to take me a long time this year since I’m still crutching around) / Counting down the days until ankle surgery # 2 / Fire Pits / S’mores / Long visits with the DZR and Moose! / Getting out of the house / Using the Nettie Pot to clear my sinuses / Watching the Eastern Regionals online and cheering on The Steel Hurtin‘

Holy Crap. CSA and Garden Veggies!

CSA Vegetables. The goodness keeps on coming. We’ve now entered the “Cider” phase of the CSA Season. YUMM.

Moose and Schroeder. They love each other.

Having phone conversations with my mom so she can update me on how Moose is getting along with their dogs. She also sends me pictures– which I look forward to.

Friday Favorites: Crutch Life Necessities

My mom got me this new backpack to facilitate my need to take everything everywhere.

Let me just brag and say that my parents rule. I’m on week 3 of living at home and I have to admit that I couldn’t be this comfortable recovering in any other scenario. They’ve been taking great care of me by cooking some of my meals, letting me drink all of their coffee, and bringing my pillows from room to room.

I had a special birthday guest who was also on crutches for her broken ankle (Peapod) but I admit I’ve been lonely since she left. Not saying that my parents and the DZR aren’t great company, because they are, but they have jobs and other responsibilities to attend to. I have no one to share the couch with during the day except my parents’ dog, Schroeder. Nilla, the other Jack Russel, likes to hang out in her crate and Moose has to stay upstairs because my parents’ dogs bully him.

Schroeder thinks we're "sharing" my pillow.

Today sucked a lot. The reality of how long I’m going to be off this foot has really been sinking in for the past 24 hours. I’ve been trying not to have a pity party about it, but it’s not working so great. The only things that have made me feel a little sunnier are coffee and retail therapy. I still have to do my workout tonight, so hopefully that will also help.

These small things are (sort of) making me smile…or at least keeping me from going crazy with cabin fever:

My new back pack / Chantilly Blue in Kennett Square / Lipstick Queen lipstick / Nail Polishes / Big, green salads / Olive oil and vinegar dressing / Single-serve coffee machines…yum / Chocolates /Hanging out with my parents’ dogs / A pile of pillows to prop my leg up on / Kinetic Skate Shop in Delaware / Driving around with the DZR through the Eastern PA countryside / The Halfmoon Cafe in Kennett Square / Trips to the drugstore or grocery store / Any reason to get out of the house / Stand up comedy / RAT GIRL by Kristin Hersh / Crossword puzzle books / Story boarding comics and zines / Writing letters / Not having to take injectable blood thinners every single day/ Popsicles / Sitting on the back deck, drinking iced tea / Shortie-shorts

and…

Candy from London!

I heart this candy bar my mom and I split while sitting on the back deck. We’ve been snacking a lot. It’s like sponge candy covered in chocolate (NOT honeycomb, as the wrapper initially led me to believe!)

Nom Nom Nom

Broken Ankle Resolutions

Long Hair (Before)

Feeling good about myself, since breaking my ankle and undergoing surgery, has been a moving target I seem to be chasing/crutching after. Every day is a little touch and go based on how I feel about my circumstances at that given moment. I push forward, focusing on the positive and trying to ignore any bad energy that tries to creep in. For the past few months, I’ve been really happy with my life and my appearance. I’ve been watching my body change and grow stronger from doing derby, hockey, and P90X. Since the whole broken-ankle debacle, I’ve been witnessing the slow deterioration of my muscles. It bums me out. I really, really wish I was skating right now.

I’m not going to let this temporary set back get me down though. I’m determined to keep up my positive self-perception and work on myself on a daily basis. I spend most of my days sitting on my parents’ couch, accumulating dog hair on all of my clothes, so it’s hard to find a reasons to actually get dressed. In order to stave off craziness and possibly depression, I’m making myself a list of crutch-life resolutions to help keep me going.

• Keep my nails lookin’ good
• Keep my space tidy and edited down
• Get a haircut
• Buy new clothes
• Get rid of clothes and edit down what I have
• Figure out an exercise regimen and stick to it
• Go out whenever possible– be sure to get out of the house
• Read at least 1 new book a week
• Keep a daily to-do list and follow through with it

Short Hair (After)

It’s hard to see exactly what my haircut is supposed to be by looking at this, but that’s okay. I think the lady who cut my hair and I had two completely different ideas about what “please keep these parts long” means. She had already cut too much off by the time I realized what was happening, so this was a compromise. Whatever, my hair will grow out in, like, two weeks because that’s what it does.

Things I Packed

On our way to PGH to see the doctor.

After seeing the doctor yesterday, I’m still on my broken-ankle vacation. I received strict instructions to elevate constantly and to rest up. Not much else has changed, except I have a soft, removable boot that I can take off to shower (hooray!)I have another 2+ weeks to kill and I’m back at my parents’ house, for the foreseeable future. I wasn’t sure what I needed for 2 weeks, so I made my best guess at what would keep me entertained:

• All 3 Lord of the Rings movies
• A thick X-Men graphic novel
• 9+ kinds of nail polish
• A typewriter
• A computer
• Sketchbooks
• My journal for joke-writing
• Regular journal
• Computer
• Art/comic-drawing supplies
• Books for reading
• 6 kinds of eyeliner and toiletries
• 3 kinds of fanny packs
• 3 kinds of messenger bags
• A bag of left shoes
• Digital camera
• Clothes (mostly athletic clothes, shorty-shorts, and dresses)
• 4 crossword puzzle books
• Moose, and his many belongings

A blurry pic of just some of my goodies

Friday Favorites: My Favorite Necklace

One of my favorite things that I’ve been rocking lately is my bike-piece necklace. It’s a part that works with the derailluer but I always forget what it’s called.  It was a piece that came from my bike when I converted it from a muti-speed to a single speed. This necklace is actually incredibly ridiculous because it is made of leftovers. The chain is from a chain wallet I work in middle school, that I later converted into a punk-as-eff necklace. The rings are…keyrings. Yep. They’re huge and impractical. It’s kind of beast but I love it so much. Plus, it makes outfits look super fancy.

Other things I’m pretty into these days:

The new Deathcab for Cutie album Codes and Keys / Non-photo blue pencils for sketching out comics /Almonds dipped in a little bit of peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut spread. Yummmmm. / Thai Iced Coffee (no dairy) / Deep pigment eyeshadow / Potato salad / Roller skate modifications / PB&J on wheat with triple berry preserves / Roller skating outside / Crossword puzzle books / Multi-colored nails / Writing long-distance letters after midnight

Friday Favorites: Who's Sleeping In My Bed?

This weekend is yet another action-packed adventure in over-extending myself every-which-way. It seems like I can’t get a weekend off (let alone a month of weekends). I’m not complaining though because all of my activities are fun (bday parties, going away parties, scoping out Hand(made) in Marriage, watching roller derby, hanging out with the DZR, and gardening…just to name a few).

"Long Distance Love" by me

Painting! This week, I started exercising my hand and eye at painting with acrylics again. Not the best quality photo, but it’s the only one I have right now. My blending gets a little better every time but I never mix the right amount of paint. I like the way the word bubble turned out (which is kind of hard to see here)

Street cart food vendors in the Strip / Strong coffee / Shopping around for new wheels and gear / Cheering on your friends’ successes / Oven-roasted potatoes / New books! (seriously can’t wait to read Rat Girl by Kristin Hersh) / Book Club Meetings / Last ice hockey class for the season (for now) / My new exercise routine (P90X) / Reading the Eat Your Lipstick blog and following the comics / Working on checks and hits in derby / Planning out the zine-slash-book layout by hand (really, really tough for me to imagine so I have to make a comic about how my comic will work) / Being a big nerd, in general / Scheming trips in the Summer / Post-workout protein drinks / Watching my garden’s progress / Fake Christmas nail polish/ Brainstorming the re-organization and layout of this blog

Oh yeah, and this morning after I turned my alarm off, which is purposely all the way across the room, I walked back to my bed to find this happening:

What a jerk.

He took the best spot on the bed. And I rewarded him with attention. And I didn’t force him to move. Clearly I need to re-establish who is boss.

Friday Favorites: Grow a Thing

Another Garden Picture

At this point, you’ve no doubt seen my post about my garden (which is continually growing!) My landlord told me that I can use the side plot in the yard (he actually pre-tilled it for me to use it). I’m really obsessed with looking at my garden and doting over each plant.

 

Moose. Love Love Love.

I’m also obsessed with my dog, Moose. He is amazing. The picture above was taken when he was in disbelief that I would watch a show about “ugly” dogs. He is definitely saying “WTF?!”

Planning Summer trips / My new phone / Working on leg traps (roller derby) / Boy shorts underpants / Learning how to transfer plants with care / Using my new weights set / Sitting outside, in my hammock, with Moose / Making dinner plans at SALT for my friend’s bday / Jokes about Mana / HOLGA toy cameras (thinking about getting one!) / Spring Cleaning (still) / Making ammends with others / A clean email inbox / (1/2) Peanut Butter Cup & (1/2) S’mores mix from Pittsburgh Popcorn / Watching The Power Puff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends reruns on TV / Bonnie N. Collide, 9 to 5 comics / Testing new pizza dough recipes (this is the first one that’s proofed correctly for me but the instructions lack important details) / Alone time / Drawing pictures of dogs 

May: A Month of Quiet Decisiveness

Can you believe it’s already May? I can’t! We’re five months in to 2011 and I’m thinking about my progress (or non-progress) on the resolutions I made a short while ago.  There’s always more work to be done.

April was absolutely nuts. I was busy almost every day. I’m determined that May is NOT going to be like that– because I started to lose my cool in the last week or so. Isn’t  it weird how personal time is a hot commodity, regardless of your relationship and life status? I don’t know about you, but I go a little crazy when  I don’t have quiet time to myself.

I’m all about being decisive and sticking to the plan for the month of May.  Sometimes, we spend so much time going back-and-forth through the “should-we-or-shouldn’t-we’s” and the “pros vs. cons” that we’re worse off for considering our options. We can waste so much time and energy deliberating over the costs and benefits of our decisions– that we end up stressed out and unable to do anything effectively.

Just the other day, I spent 20 minutes pacing around my kitchen, “tidying up,” while I tried to decide if I was going to go to a pick-up hockey game or if I should stay home for 2 hours and get my life straightened out. I ended up deciding to go at the last-minute– so I had to rush around, walking the dog, packing a snack, finding my keys, etc. I almost missed the game! Instead of just going for it and figuring everything else out later, I spent almost an hour worrying about all of the various “wouldda, couldda, shoulddas” and I still went with my original decision. What a poor way to manage life!

I’m wondering how my month might be more pleasurable and less stressful if I am decisive when making choices about how I spend my time and then stick to my plan. Sometimes things just don’t get done and I have to be okay with that too, however, cutting out time being wishy-washy may create more time in the end.

May Resolutions:

• Be selective about the activities I take on or agree to participate in
• Schedule in time for myself
• If I make a decision, stick to it as much as possible, but be flexible
• Make a realistic to-do list and follow it
• Spend 5 minutes each morning and night, going over what is ahead of me so I can be more organized

Friday Favorites: When Friends Come to Visit

 

Nothing says "We're BFF's" like a portrait of your teenage self on your friends' arm.

I love having company over. I double-love having best friends stay in my home. Most of my closest friends live far away, so seeing them is always a treat. April has been such a busy month, but it was worth it. Highlights included a visit from my life-long best friend, Rocky, roller derby stuff, hockey, meetings, and a long weekend with the DZR.

Rocky and I have known each other since we were in the 6th grade. We have best friend tattoos. How many people would rock a tattoo of a pin-up girl that looks like you at age 13?! She’s incredible!  Not only is she a super rad person, but she’s also an amazing seamstress who is making preparations to launch her own clothing line! Hopefully, when she does her dip back into Pittsburgh before heading West again, I can convince her to do a mini photo shoot.

These are some of my other favorite things right now:

My new BEAUTY bag / Burt’s Bee’s Pink Blossom tinted lip balm / Large lined Post-It sticky tablets / Walking the dog / Homemade Pho Soup /Notebooks for everything /Roller skating (always) / Drinking tons of water / Nail polish in over-sauturated Spring matte pastels / Showing off favorite spots in the city to out-of-towners / Coconut water with aloe chunks / Fresh strawberries / Best friend tattoos / Indie craft fair scores / Vinyl pouches / Drawings of dogs/ Trying to do a pull up / Braided hair / Trail mix / Coconut yogurt / Non-fiction with its own sense of humor and snark / Pretty necklaces / Resusable coffee cozies / Trusting your instincts /Standing up for yourself /