January

January is almost over, to me, it was over Thursday night when I walked out of the All*Star awards ceremony and dinner. After a 13 hour day, I am glad it is over. This was the 9th All*Star I have planned, however, this year I wanted more of a say in the styling of the event and I had a vision and a boss that backed me and it all came together. I learned a lot and already have some notes for next year's event.
Here are some shots...

Monday Night Skating!

I heart Monday nights on the ice with Tim!

Great Weekend

What a great weekend I just had, even though it was cold and rainy, it sure was fun!

Friday:
We to my studio after work until about 8 PM and finished my first book (my journal for the New Year). I know selfish, but I didn't have a journal yet so I had to make myself one and sort of break in my new digs!

Saturday:
Met Debbie at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum. We were excited to see the Embroidery that is on exhibit currently, but it was all sort of tech based, lit up, etc. Still kind of cool but the museum is literally one room so it took no time at all to check it out. By the time we left it started raining so we walked over to the Metreon to look at Chronicle books and then dashed through the drops to Samovar at Yerba Buena for tea and lunch. I had only been to the Samovar in the Castro, the one at Yerba Buena is awesome, they have a wonderful menu so lunch was fabulous! They make a mean cup of Chai that is for sure, yummmm. We sat and talked for a long time, Debbie showed me some old photos of her from when she was younger which all had a story attached - I loved it. I love hearing about my friends lives before I knew them and looking at pictures. It was a blast. After lunch we went over to St. Patrick's Church, Debbie had never been inside, so we took a lap around and checked it out. I love the smell in there, incense, wood and rain...a great combination in an old church if you ask me. Debbie departed on the 2:35 bus back to Oakland and I had some time before Tim was to meet me at 4:00 PM so I decided to check out the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum. They had an awesome exhibit on the Torah where I learned a TON. They have someone there who is a Scriber and she is currently writing a Torah (it was Shabbat so she was not there), they had a video of her talking about how she came to write the Torah and the entire process. It was super interesting. When I was done at the JCM (also pretty small) I walked around just a bit and then met Tim at the rink for some ice skating. The rink was crowded! It was like dodging landmines the way people were falling all over the place. We had fun though albeit very slow skating at some points when we would get caught in a pack of beginners. When we were done skating we were super hungry so we went to Mel's Diner and had dinner before going home and relaxing for the evening.

Sunday:
Slept in, called Mom and Dad, chatted online with Emily and then at about 1:00 PM went to run errands at Target and then out to lunch with Tim. We played wii in the afternoon, I read a bit and just puttered around the house (which I love). My day concluded with 3 hours of The House of Elliot, I sent my discs back today and CAN'T WAIT for the next 2 to arrive, the episode ended with a cliff hanger.

Monday, so far so good. Skating tonight should be good, maybe not so many kids as on the weekends (fingers crossed). We have been on a Monday before and it was awesome!
Hope your Monday was grand!

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

Coming up for Air

Decided to take a little break and let you all know what is going on lately in the real world of the Maltese Kat.

On top of the event I am planning (coming to the end of planning as it is next week) and this being the most stressful time of year due to many things happening at work the following has also presented itself to me to deal with at this time:

1. I have a mass of antibodies floating around in my right eye, thought it was just a floater, but I have a condition called Pars Plantis that has reared its ugly head again causing me distraction in my eye with this little thing floating around in there. I went to the retinal specialist and he is very conservative so he put me on steroid eye drops for a month and I see him again at the beginning of February. If the inflammation has not gone down by then, then we have to look at other options (steroid shot in the eye or internally take steroids). When I was first diagnosed with this issue about 3-4 years ago, I was tested for everything under the sun that can cause this problem including MS and Sarcoidosis and many other scary things, nothing presented itself so we are not retesting, just hoping the drops work for now. I see the Dr. again in Feb.
2. Email this morning from our adoption agency that took care of our home study and they want an update of our adoption plans. Although it is a rule of mine not to cry at work if I can help it, I read the email, forwarded it to Tim and once he called me I lost it. I mean, I knew this was over a while ago, we just had not officially written to the agency to let them know we are not going to continue seeing as there is no movement at all and we have lost a significant amount of money and tears on this entire thing only to have it fall apart, thanks to Government policy which we are not blaming anyone for but the Government. We did some research on switching countries, but are trying to come to grips with the fact that now that Tim is 40 we cannot get a child between 3-36 months old and we really want a baby. The entire thing just blows, I mean, seriously, because Tim is 40 we can't be suitable parents to a baby? WTF?

OK, those two things alone are enough for now, I swear my next post will be fun, maybe a new fabulous find or something sassy!

Thanks for letting me air my issues.

I want...

• 4 more hours in the work day to get my stuff done
• an Assistant (or a trained Monkey)
• people to understand deadlines and follow-through
• RESPECT

Just my little bitching session...
Things here are rough in the trenches at the moment, thanks for listening.

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

PS - The House of Elliot obsession continues, I love the 1920's fashions!

Yeah Skates!

Today, Tim and I both got Hockey Skates!

We went to the rink this week and rented skates, but had a plan to go and try some on this weekend and low and behold, we both got some for a super deal since the shop was closing out all of their '09 models.

It is quite an ordeal getting hockey skates, first you have to try them on until you get the perfect fit (toes touching the front while standing, but not touching when you bend at the knees). Once you find the right fit and a pair you like, they toss them in this special hockey skate oven and bake them for about 10 minutes. When they come out of the oven all toasty and warm you put them on and leave them on for another 10 minutes while they mold to your feet. When that is complete, they then take them over to the sharpening station and put a nice edge on them so they are ready to go. The store was crowded and we were probably there about 1.5-2 hours total. It was strange to be around all of the San Jose Sharks stuff, only one Red Wings jersey in the entire place (that would be a crime in Michigan!).

Turns out Tim and I both ended up with the same skates so of course, I had to style mine out and change the laces to red. The worst part of getting the skates was having to wait 24 hours before using them so the heat molding can set. They are here at home, resting in their boxes and will be used on Monday.

Check em, out....(imagine them with red laces)....pretty sweet huh?

PS - Dad, remember playing "Blades of Steel"? "SHOOT THE PUCK!" - "FIGHT!"
PSS - Yes I am a tomboy at times! I prefer "sporty spice".

Little known fact - did you know ice skating is great cardio? Depending on your weight you can burn 500-800 calories per hour of skating! Can I get an Amen?

Update

I know, I have been a bad blogger. To be honest, and I hate to be repetitive, this is my busiest time at work for sure - usually the first quarter of the calendar year is all event and meeting planning for the rest of the year or at least through the first quarter.

On top of work taking up a lot of my time, I have also been busy setting up my new studio space! I found a lovely little "nest" to create in and I am very excited about it. Recently my projects have been book related and have been taking over the kitchen table and beyond. So, when I found this spot, Tim and I went to look at it and both decided it would be best if I do my creating out of the house since we are already cramped enough without being surrounded by books, paper, and other art supplies. It is about a 10 minute walk from my front door too!

Here is a sneak peak - of course it will evolve over time, I don't have much on the walls, but would like a large bulletin board. I need to move my sewing machine and fabric over and also my typewriter (after it gets tuned up).

This is my little sewing and gluing table - I covered it Monday night, thanks to instructions on Yvestown. I have loved this idea forever and am so happy with the results! The best thing is, if I get tired of the top, I can change it very easily not to mention, when it gets gluey, I can scrub it right off without ruining the original table top.

So far, I love it. I have been there after work and on the weekends and there has not been anyone else there. The space is huge and broken up into 5 studios which are occupied by other artists (mostly painters). My space has a window that looks down into the landlords art space, which is pretty cool, she does AMAZING work with vintage photos! I have to admit, I feel under qualified a bit to be in the space as I think I have always thought of myself more a crafter than an artist - but have been thinking lately, what is the difference and where is the line drawn? I mean, when some of my handmade books are done (especially my personal journals that I have drawn and painted in), they are like an evolving work of art more than just a craft thing, I don't know. Any thoughts?

More photos to come as the studio gets used more. I don't believe it will always be this clean, this is just the beginning!

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

One more thing I love right now...

Can't believe I forgot this one (two)....

• Flannel Sheets (it is COLD at night)


• BayLee in the morning, once I make the bed he is right up by my pillow for the rest of the day (don't tell my allergist, I do clean it with a lint roller every day though).

Things I Love Right Now

Here is my most recent list of things I am loving at this moment....

• House of Eliott - totally addicted to this on NetFlix

• Loreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara

• Benefit Bad Gal Lash in Plum (when I feel like mixing it up)

• Clinique Superbalanced Powder Makeup (great to balance out oily/combo skin and is pretty sheer plus the top shaves off what you need and leaves the rest solid!)

Bath and Body Works - Coconut Lime Verbena (shower gel, lotion, body spray)

• iphone - how did I manage without it? (sorry blackberry)

• Summer Summer Thai Eatery's Pad Thai (one block from my office...dangerous)


• Sanford Expresso Extra Fine Pens (I went with Pilot V Ball extra fine for a while, but am back)
• FAGE total 0% fat Greek Yogurt (always have loved it, but now the large one is on sale at Whole Foods Market!)
  

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

Awesome!

Photo by Aga Ines

While catching up on my blog reading, I came across this lovely photo posted on Twig and Thistle.

So smart and super cute!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the best in 2010.