Crafty by Association

Here I am, sitting in my newly renovated craft room, basking in the craftiness that comes with having an organized knitting stash. Here is an album of the renovation of the craft room, which literally makes me tired thinking about, so for the sake of this post (and my sanity) I am going to stick to talking about how much I have loved having it done. A whole recycled glass hurricane on sale at Target just for my knitting needles, including my fabulous new SUSHI NEEDLES from Joy:

They don't look that impressive spread out in the giant hurricane, but in my defense, this does not include my many many circulars, the ones that are currently in use in a project, or my full interchangeable set.

A whole shelf for bags organized by project:

I must have fun bags to hold the fun projects I am working on. From left to right:

Coheed bag I got at a show in Austin. Currently holding my projects for Charlotte's new baby boy, Ryan.

Natalie Dee "Will Knit for Tattoos" bag #1. Currently holding my knit sushi pattern.

Natalie Dee "Will Knit for Tattoos" bag #2. Currently holding my chevron scarf project. I made one for my mom like it.

Strawberry Target bag. Currently holding the massive log cabin blanket that will never be done.

A BIG OL' JUG just because:

OK, this isn't actually in my craft room, but this picture shows it in its full glory, so there ya go. I got this jug, along with many of my other favorite vintage things, at Bloom and Bee Swanky in Waco, right next door to the Museum. Amy is awesomeness and you should most definitely check out her store if you visit the Museum or are just in Waco.

Also, DJ is not amused by the craft room...

At work I am getting to be craft this week, too. My two new part time workers started on Monday and by golly we dove right in! We are spending the week reorganizing all of the artwork ever in the history of the collection it seems like. That kind of work is much more satisfying to me than sitting at my desk all day, but I am absolutely exhausted afterwards. DJ is annoyed with my exhaustion because it causes me to lounge in the craft room instead of entertaining her... She is SO needy!

Also, I don't want to talk about it too much because then it won't happen, but be aware that changes to the sidebar and to the blog itself may be on the horizon as I update things to reflect my evolving tastes in life! Hooray for evolution, right?!

Review: Fresh Sugar Rose

Product: Fresh Sugar Rose
Pricetag: $22.50 plus tax
Purchased: 9/8/2009 @ the Fresh store in the Northpark mall in Dallas
Link: http://www.fresh.com/makeup/lip-treatment/sugar-rose-lip-treatment-spf15

Today while in Dallas on a work trip I found myself with some time to wander the Northpark Mall while The Boss was in a lunch meeting that I was not invited to. No worries! I did fine on my own with a pretzel, cheese dip and a follow-up ice cream. No. Worries. So I knew this was going to be the case and after doing very well on my J. Crew checklist I ate lunch and circled back to the stores I mentally saved for if I had time. The fresh store was one of them. I have always wanted to try their signature Sugar lip treatment but recently saw that they now offer a tinted version! I am a huge fan of lip gloss that is a crazy color in the tube but goes on with the slightest hint of tint. I tried it out and looove it so far. If you follow me on Twitter or facebook you know I swear by bonnebell vanilla lip gloss and it has the distinction of being not only the one lipgloss I have ever finished a tube of but also the only one I have then moved on and finished several tubes of. That just does not happen in my world. So we will see if Sugar Rose can stand the test of time. Negatives include the fact that the tube is bulky and the lipgloss is freestanding in the tube, not poured in, which is just a personal pet peeve not an indicator of quality or anything. Here are some before and after pics of me:

Before, bad light! Sorry bout that...



After, outside, better light...



Here is the tube:



Here is the stuff:



Does anyone else use this product or brand?

New to me

Soo... I just downloaded this new blogging app for my new iPhone. I am hopeful it will allow me to post smaller blogs more frequently in addition to using Twitter, which I love but simultaneously hate because of the character limit. I used to love to blog but find myself making a list of things over time I want to comment on, then more time goes by and the list gets longer and I just abandon it, so maybe this will cure that whole siuation. Also this app does video and pics, so maybe I can use my new phone to it's full potential in some ways. The possibilities are, as usual, endless!!


-- Posted from my iPhone

Distract Me

Here is the deal. My life is not as sweet and nerfy right now as it has been in the past, which is why I haven't posted in so long. But I don't want to focus on that stuff here; I have to focus on it enough on a daily basis without purposefully sitting down and reliving it yet again, so I am just not going to do it.

One of the things that has kept me from posting for a while was the decline in my grandfather's health due to lung cancer that led to his death on June 19, 2009. I don't think it requires a lot of explanation to be able to imagine the emotional stress and anguish the accompanies watching someone you love die from something so deeply self-inflicted as a lifetime of smoking, so we will just leave it at that. However, the process of a family gathering to celebrate someone's life and then work together to iron out the details of the situation that is left behind has been a new, eye-opening experience.

My part of the process were things as simple as researching the printer my parents needed to buy to be able to print out all the necessary documentation and paperwork, or helping them set up the wireless internet in my grandparents' house so we could all be connected to each other. Before the funeral it was my responsibility to compile all the digital pictures we had, then scan in all the older ones that we wanted to include in a slideshow for the viewing. The undertaking of organizing and preserving my family's history is something that came out of all of this, and I am really looking forward to it. I was only able to do a fraction of the overall work while I was there, and I had to focus on scanning just the ones we needed for the various events. In the end I bought a huge tub at Wal-Mart and brought back every photograph that was not specifically being displayed in a frame or already organized in an album. As I work on it, I will share some of the results here. Like I have said in previous posts, it amazes me how well-documented our family history is when so much of it happened in a time when technology was just not an everyday thing. I am grateful, yet not too surprised, that someone had the foresight to make it happen.

Young Army Papa...so handsome!

Channeling Bear Bryant. The guy in the short shorts behind him is making me lol...

That is Papa and me!

This is just him, how we all knew him and remember him.

OK, so I know I said no more reliving bad stuff, but while the process behind his death was REALLY hard and bad, remembering him and being excited about the possibilities of preserving my family history is something I am looking forward to. I have lots of other distractions up my sleeve, so be ready!

Delicious

I have done nothing productive today at all. I slept until 10:00 then snacked and knitted all morning. The only productive things I have done today are be with Dave and see my family for a while; I did vacuum a little, but that was only motivated by the knowledge that my family would be here and I would be embarrassed if everything was dirty. Besides the snacks I grazed on all day I have had bread, pizza, ice cream, and a brownie with cream cheese icing to eat today. Pretty healthy, right? I watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist which was OK. I am still knitting, playing with the pom pom puppy and watching Shrek on TV. Also waiting for Dave to get done with thesis work for the night so we can watch Bones.

"You are literally like my musical soul mate."

I Say YES to Strawberries, Too

www.nataliedee.com

Germany 2009 Style

Courtesy of Kaboodle, here is a styleboard of the things I am going to take with me on my trip this summer. I am very excited, in case you can't tell:)

Germany 2009 by marbt