Just a Minute: April Edition

recovering...I cannot wait to get home from this conference I'm attending. Sunday through to Saturday night makes for a looong week. For some reason I am unable to sleep in hotel beds. Every morning I wake half an hour earlier. Considering that my internal clock is still on central time, I'll be waking up at 3 AM before I can get home to my own bed again.

reading…I am currently reading Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, which is an 80's music related memoir. I have laughed out loud a few times already, and I'm only halfway through it. I'm really enjoying Rob Sheffield's take on Glam Rock and New Wave, but I just cannot get behind his recommendation of Haysi Fantayzee's Shiny Shiny though.

waiting...for our newest edition to the family! Maybe is getting a furry little baby sister. Her mother is a Mainecoon British Long Hair so our house will be filled with even more hairy tumbleweeds, but I'm so excited to get to experience the kitten stage, especially since we got Maybe as a two-year-old.We are deciding between Peut-être and Quizás for her name because both mean "perhaps" in French and Spanish, respectively. So far I'm leaning a bit more toward Peut-être because I like the nickname Tetra slightly more than the nickname Sauce.

 
watching...I just watched the last episode of the first season of Downton Abbey, the English period drama that follows a wealthy family and their servants beginning in 1912. I know I'm late to the party, but it really is sooo good. I am terribly worried about the future of one of my favorite characters. I'm so attached to him that I tried to make sure the actor is still on the show for the third season without finding out any other spoilers.

listening…Oh, you already know my faves this month.

loving…Mmm, have you tried these ? They are little bites of amazing. Be careful because it is really really hard to eat just one. I practically have to tape the box and bury it in the cabinet every time I break down and have one just so that "one" doesn't turn into six.

making...You know that too, actually.

Credit: Michael Kraus via Saveur

baking…This month's issue of Saveur is about bread. I am dying to try out some of those recipes, but I'm gonna have to wait until next weekend because I plan on being a lump for my one weekend day off before I have to head back to work on Monday.

Funny and French Illustrations

I just discovered this lovely graphic app by pepillo, a French stamp/stationary/booklet/print/crafty company. It's called Plic, Ploc, Wiz. It starts as a simple puzzle, but then you can use the shapes to create your own picture which you can email and save in your gallery. This is one children's app I don't mind having on my phone and iPad for when the little girls upstairs ask to play on it. The pictures are playful, quirky, and colorful. (One picture is free, to have access to the other nine, you pay $0.99 for iPhone or $1.99 for iPad. The pictures are somewhat different on each).

I Did That!

Just wanted to share a couple of projects that I did around the house this week.

At work I've been creating an hour-long workshop to present in just a week (my first one-I'm super nervous!), but even though my work hours have been longer than usual, I've found myself inspired to tackle some big projects around the house when I get home.

Last weekend we hung a new flatscreen in the tiny bedroom (it's on a moveable arm, so it might look a little off center in this picture), but I actually got the cord situation under control! And see that little hidden shelf for the cable box? Oh yeah, I did that!

It suddenly hit me how much nicer the dated wooden headboard in our guest room would look if I painted it. I could use a fun, bright contrasting color to all the deep reds in the room, and it would make such an impact. I chose Moonlit Pool from Behr.

While I was moving the bed, I came across these folding wooden chairs that I bought at a garage sale two years ago to fix up as a "project." I used a floral canvas and striped oilcloth I already had on hand, the paint I was using on the headboard, and white paint in our storage closet.

Almost to Etsy

I've made a few fun pieces of jewelry in the past few months with the plan to finally get something new up on Etsy. Happily though, before I could, I sold them!

I wanted to share them somewhere since I went to all the work to take pictures of them...

How I used the cool vintage metal pressings from Paris I found:

Laure Necklace

Frances Necklace

Now I'm working on some pieces with small colored vintage glass domes:

Stanton Earrings in Emerald

An Eggcellent Time

My sister, mom, and I spent Saturday morning decorating eggs. We managed to hit every current trend in our egg decorating-chevrons, color-blocking, washi tape, jewel tones, and even neons!

Photo by my sister, Jessica

Five for Friday

If you haven't heard these five songs you need to!

Cults: Never Heal Myself

I find myself humming this all the time.


Goyte: Heart's A Mess

I'm sure you've heard of Somebody I Used to Know by now, but he has other great stuff too. This video alone is mesmerizing, but the song itself is just as great.


fun.-Some Nights

These guys live up to their group's name. I'm sure you've heard We Are Young, but that's just the tip of the iceberg! The odd mix of styles and influences makes their whole album fun; it's tough to choose a favorite from it because every song is good.


Kimbra: Settle Down

If you watch this video of her at SXSW, you'll understand my obsession with this song.


Kate Miller-Heidke: The Last Day on Earth

Sad, but so lovely.

Sweater Pep

I just bought this sweater on sale from The Loft. I like its subtle details, but I decided that I wanted to pep it up a bit and make it truly unique.


With the addition of some vintage buttons and colored stitching, this sweater went from this

to this:

Dark red orange buttons with purple thread