I won!

Ok I won  a long time ago, but I have been busy.  I enter giveaways all the time, and once in a while I win.

I once won some double sided tape.  It was much cooler than you would think.  I have never had double sided tape, it's cool stuff. I think the woman who did the giveaway was a little put off by how excited I really was.  She must have thought I was a nut. 

I also won some personalized moving announcements.  They were awesome.

AND now I won some jewelry!

I really love the two pieces I won, and I got a bonus pair of earrings.  How cool is that?

 

The red earrings are fabulous!  I have worn them more often than any other earrings in ages.  They are comfortable, and sparkly.  

The pearl clips are great, I just need an occasion to wear them.  Too bad my wedding is over, they would have been perfect. 

The purple ones look great too.  I love the way they have several different beads in the same color. 

I must say, it was nice to win something.  I never do all the extra stuff to get extra chances, like blog about giveaways, or Facebook it.  I usually just leave one comment and hope I win.  And this time I did win.  Yay.

If you like this jewelry please check out Mila's etsy store here. 

What about you?  Do you win giveaways?  Do you do all the extra stuff? 

I Let Go

I am on the final stretch of my Masters Thesis and looked up from my laptop to see this:

 

My desk was a complete mess.   I actually had to make room for my little kitty to set next to me.  

Even the floor behind my chair was a mess.  We had that rug rolled up like that for weeks. 

 

The dining room has our picnic basket from the weekend, mail, and some over-sized flower pots I hope to use.  

Hiding behind the dining table is some stuff Jeff brought back from our trip to the in-laws.  I have no idea what is inside that giant black duffel, but it is very heavy.

 

 

These books are in line to be donated...one day.

The bedroom is even worse:

 

To be honest, my dresser looks like this most of the time, but it was a little worse.

The bed was unmade, I hate that.  I also had bags from our last trip still waiting to be unpacked. 


BUT it was not all me (and I had a very good excuse) my dear hubby was to balme as well. 

Exhibit A:

His side of the bed.

Exhibit B:

Jeff left his ties all over the house.  I finally got him to stop leaving his socks all over, and now the ties.  I will never win. 

I let the house go.  I did not clean for a very long time and it all piled up.  You will be happy to know that today I cleaned, did a million loads of laundry, and have returned my house to some sort of normal state. 

Now if I can just get all my footnotes in order life will be perfect. 

Wasted Day

I drove two hours both ways to school today only to realize that I did not look at my syllabus and see class was cancelled for Passover.  I feel like a complete idiot. 

Needless-to-say I don't have any crafts for you today BUT I do have some crafts that are almost done.  I should have a couple to show off beginning Wednesday. 

I feel like I am the only person, besides my mother,  who makes mistakes like this.  When my mom did silly things like drive to an appointment a week early I would roll my eyes and think "how could she do that?"  Now, I'm doing it myself.  The truth is I don't know how I could drive all the way to school without being sure about my class.  I can only say that I made a mistake.

My father was always telling me that I had to be more aware of my actions.  This is one of those moments I realize that once again he was right.

Do any of you ever make mistakes like that?  Please tell me I'm not alone!  :)

The World in Perspective

{Source}

"The spiritual path is truly simple. It is simple because it is not about acquiring, accumulating, or achieving anything. It is all about giving up what we don't need. It's about giving up what isn't useful instead of acquiring things with the idea of going somewhere or achieving something. That was the old game...we have been playing for a long time is like a vicious circle. It has no end." -Anam Thubten

Feeling Glum - Time for a Cuppa

I'm a little glum.  Glum is the best word I can use.  I had a lot to do, but I couldn't do anything.  My mom lives half way around the world and I didn't want to wake her up.  Instead I did what my mom always suggested when I was sad, I made myself a cuppa.  A cuppa ... of tea that is. 

Today was a beautiful day so I made a proper cup of tea with milk and sugar, took a couple of magazines and went to sit on my porch. 

 

 

This tea set has sentimental value.  It was my mothers.  I don't even see the chip.  It was so nice and sunny that I really enjoyed the time outside.  

And there was a silver lining around this little glum day.  As I was sitting outside I noticed that my grass is getting greener.  All afternoon I had "the grass is greener on this side of the fence" running through my mind.  If that doesn't cheer one up what will? 

After

That is a lot more green than my last shot.

Before

And ... while I was out admiring my yard I saw this:

 

OK this may just look like a bunch of grass seeds and grass, but if you look closely  you will see some new grass sprouting.  It is my goal this summer to fill in all the bare patches.  The grass seeds are working. 

I'm still a little glum, but tea and green lawns have helped. 

Housewives vs. Feminism

Some time last semester I found out that my classmates at Graduate School (at a very liberal school) referred to me as the-one-who-changed-her-name.

You see the July before my fist semester I married my best friend (corny but SO true).  I went the completely traditional route, white dress, diamond ring, and I took my husband's name.  You see my family growing up had many different last names - its a complicated story - and it was very important to me that my own family to all have the same name.  Jeff was not interested in changing his, and I didn't mind changing mine, so I took his name.  Somehow to my classmates this became my defining feature.  

Clearly there is some judgment here, but I see the same judgment all over the place.  For example, when a woman says they are a housewife.  Most people do not approve of this choice in life.  There is a sense that the woman is giving something up.  To be a feminist does one have to give up all that is feminine? 

I am a feminist.  I believe that women deserve equality and that they deserve to make their own decisions.  That means if they choose to change their names, get married in a white dress or become a housewife there is nothing wrong with that.  There is also nothing wrong with women who choose never to have children or who put their careers first.  Every women must do what is right for them.


I find myself contemplating this silent war, feminism and housewives.  So often feminism and homemakers are seen as incompatible.  Housewives get the bad end of the stick.  After so much women fought for in the second wave, the housewives, the women who chose to be housewives, to stay home and raise the family, are looked down upon by others.  Not all people do this, but there is always this element, this underground sense that being a housewife is not "feminist" enough.

I am here to say that if feminists really want to fight for equality and the right to choose, we have to stop looking down on women who make decisions with which we might not agree.  We have to embrace the choice to be a  housewife with the same respect as a woman who chooses to be a lawyer or a professor.  There is so much judgment among women, but if the second wave taught us anything it is that women need to support each other.  We need to stop judging.

I was just going to write about how women deserve to be respected for all their choices, but that name calling at my school really got to me.  I didn't realize how mad it made me.  Writing this blog, I feel that my life, and my choices are on display, and usually that is alright, but sometimes it gets to you.  You know?  I wonder who all is reading this, and what do they think about me.  Are they calling me names behind my back?  People can be do mean sometimes.  So if you're not a feminist, or you hate housewives, fine, but remember to try to not judge once and a while and maybe you will realize that the person you are judging has a soul as well.

That's why I love this blog.  The ladies I have met here are all kind, sweet and nothing but supportive.  I can be as feminine as I want and get nothing but kind words.   I can escape from the competitive and judgmental world around me and create a place with beautiful things.  Thank you all for that.  I will be hosting my first giveaway this week for just this reason.  To that you for supporting me.

P.S. My first giveaway has just been posted.  Be sure to head over here and sign up.

Art for Art's Sake

I love crafts, I make crafts, and I read about people who make crafts the rest of the time, but there is a very special place in my heart for fine art.  My father took me to museums all his life.  He knew the metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City like the back of his hand.

When he took me to the museum he would take me to see are the art he knew I would appreciate in certain times of my life.  When I was a ballerina he took me to see the ballet dancers in pastel by Degas.  When I was studying the middle ages he took me to see the tapestries of unicorns.  And when I was in art school he took me to the modern section to learn to appreciate Pollack and De Kooning.  He always had local listings for new shows cut out from the newspaper.  In short, my father taught me to love art. 

So when it comes to my art in my house I prefer to have fine art on my walls.  I got lucky, many people in my family are artists and I am the keeper of their art. 

Without further ado, here is my amazing art collection.

A close family friend painted this.  She took care of me when I was little. I love the colors and softness of this one.

This painting is so special to me.  It actually belongs to my step-mother, but I have been taking care of it.  My godmother painted this when she lived here in America.  She now lives in London and this painting is a daily reminder of how much I care for her. 

This one was painted by my ex-boyfriend, 'nuff said.

I got this water color from my father and step-mother it is of Swayambu (a temple in Nepal) and painted by my father's Buddhist teacher.  It was just a coincidence that the colors go with my living room.

Here is another one by my ex.  That statue on the left is Bertha (my mother's fertility goddess), she is really ugly, but I have to honor her until mom can come retrieve her.

Jimmy Hendrix (yes an original), was taken by my god father.  I treasure this photograph.

Finally, my sister, I am so lucky to have such a talented sister.  I am holding this one for her until she comes to claim it (see what I said about being the keeper of the family's art?).  It is a landscape and in the right light you can see the gold.  I have another one she made with items from my shower.  It is even better.  I have to find a place for that one.

These last two are very special to me.

(Sorry about the reflections on the glass I know it is hard to see. In case you can't tell it is two boats.)

I painted these two when I was in art school and could paint (I keep saying I will get back to it).  I framed the first one and gave it to my husband when we were just dating.  The second painting is one of my many "toilet paper paintings."  I have a whole series of them, most of which have been lost over the years.  

As you can see I'm a collector only of my family's art, but I love to have the original works of my artist family and friends, not only because I love art, but because each one reminds me of them and how special they are.

Crafts have a place in my heart, but fine art will always have a place on my walls.  I feel the art I display tells a little story about my life.  It brings character to my home and fills my house with memories. 

(P.S. Crafts have a place on walls too, don't worry)

Book Review # 2- Lilith's Brood

I returned to my science fiction genre.   Lilith's Brood is a trilogy, Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago.  All three were great.  The fact that they were bound together just made it easier to read all three. 

{source}

Octavia E. Butler creates a new civilization based on an alien spececies.  After the earth ends in World War Three (typical sci-fie beginning) an alien species regrows the earth and populates it with rescued humans.  But the book gets really good when the aliens present thier plan, to "trade" with humans.  The aliens want to create a new race with mixed genes of the aliens species and humans. 

Each of the three books follows a different step in the process. 

Let me just say that her new interpretation of family and love is fascinating to watch.  She manages to create a world that is completely alien while being on earth with humans.  She captures what it means to be human through the eyes of an alien.  She also shows that humans have a great gift for compassion and change.  This is what I love about science fiction, it shows humans in a way that other genres cannot do because the subject is too close.   

Butler is an amazing author.  She has won countless awards.  Her writing is engaging and kept me up many a night.  Her last book I read, Kindred Heart, touches on the subject of race with the same insight. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story.  If you have never read sci-fie you are missing something great.

MIA

I'm sorry I have been MIA this week.  This is actually my first week I have not posted all five work week days.  Life has just gotten the better of me.

Yesterday was my father's birthday.  He passed away last August and it was a really rough day. 

Other than that my only excuse is that I have been working hard on my thesis, but the truth is that until about five hours ago I have been working hard on procrastinating instead of my thesis.  I just can't justify writing my blog if I'm not writing my thesis (I'm paying a lot of many to write the thing).

I'm happy to report that today I got some work done on my giant paper and now feel I can write my blog again (yippeee).  Tomorrow I will take a bunch of pictures and get back on the blog wagon.  I miss all my blog friends so much. 

New Sink (Almost)

It took comments for all my wonderful readers to see that I have a theme going on in some of my blogs.  I use what I've got.  First there was Making Do, then I reused an old window for Better Than Pottery Barn, and most recently there was my big Project Brighten Desk.  There were a bunch of little things I did in between as well, like making my own valentines paper, and painting various objects to fit my new style.  The point is that I have been taking what I have and finding ways to make it work for what I want.

This next project fits right into my theme.  I made my own soft scrub and cleaned my kitchen sink.  OK so this may not seem like rocket science to some of you, but I was truly amazed by the power of my homemade cleaner.

This is what my sink looked like before I washed it (the other side was worse but I had already cleaned it).

The photo is not great, but this is pretty bad.  You can see all the scratch marks and tea/espresso stains.

I thought the sink was ruined.  I had renters in my house before I moved in in August and the sink was even worse.  I thought they had ruined it and I would need a new one (OK I wanted a new sink, and while we were at it we could get one with a bib?). 

Today I mixed up some white vinegar with a bunch of baking soda* (the baking soda I was about to throw away from the fridge).  It reacted and created a sort of paste.  With my little scrubby sponge and some elbow grease (love that elbow grease), I got the sink to this:

Looks new right?  Now compare:

I put all my little sink stuff away and I quite like how it looks.

Like my little scrubby lady?  I got her for Christmas because she looks like me.  :)

It's like a whole new sink and I didn't have to buy a thing.  It will be a while before I can justify getting a new sink.  That's OK, I like my sink now.   

* correction- I used baking soda not powder. 

Going Vegan

One day while I was confiding to my professor she suggested I try eating vegan.  She told me she had been vegan for a year and "never felt better" in her life.  Now my professor is in her sixties so this is saying a lot. 

Now, months later jeff and I decided that we should try it.  We wanted to find a way to eat helathier and feel better.  My professor's suggestion and her enthusiasm for the idea had me hooked. 

Jeff and I have been vegan for about three hours.  We made a meal plan and Jeff almost threw away all our dairy, but I'm hoping to give it to a friend (we have a whole dozen eggs I don't want to just throw away).  Of course as soon as we made this decision Jeff started to get silly; while reading the ingredients list on a package he said we should not eat it because it had yeast!  I think he went too far, and I'm glad he was just joking.  We are keeping yeast, and honey.  The honey is because I like my honey and peanut sandwiches too much.  My favorite bread has honey too.  You can't take everything away. Also, I'm not becoming vegan for the sake of the animals (I believe that the food chain exists and is good) but so that I eat better.  Not to mention, honey does not harm the bees (as far as I know, feel free to correct me, but don't expect me to give up my honey and PB sandwiches!).

We booked a reservation at the local vegan restaurant to celebrate if we make it to Saturday.  I have high hopes, I can't wait to give up my cheese addiction and get healthy.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Inspiration and New Friends

Home Maker on a Dime is hosting a swap following link party.


It is a nice way to meet new blogs and share your blog with new readers.

Well, I need all the above. I'm a new blog and I could use some new readers (not that I don't love my old readers, I love you guys tons, I just want MORE. I'm very impatient.)

How this works is that I write about some blogs at the party I like, become their followers, tell them and then we all have fun. Sound good?

I searched around and picked three I really like.

1. Miss Refashionista- First I just love that she made her own word (I think). I also love her stenciled wall paper (because it is close to the design I want to do in my bathroom). Hop on over and check it out.  I have to say it "She had me at the wall paper!".

2. c.w.frosting had me at the toilet paper rolls.  You don't know this about me but I am a little obsessed with toilet paper.  I have been painting still lives of toilet paper since high school.  I'm very strange.  I'm thinking of breaking out of acrylics and moving on the the real stuff, painting WITH toilet paper.  We'll see. 

3. Sweet Bee Hollow just seems like a really nice person.  I love her taste and can't wait to read more.  The inspiration she posted for a new kitchen has me dreaming big.

So these are my new friends, or at least I hope they will be my friends.  I'm a little shy about making friends, but I will read your blog and follow you no matter what.  

Thanks SJ for hosting this little party, and thanks for inviting me personally I feel loved already!

Book Review #1

{source}

I have decided I will write periodic book reviews for the novels I read. One thing about me is that I love to read. As a child I was called a book worm, and my husband and I own hundreds of books. I am always reading a book, if ever I get caught between books I get a little nervous. To prevent that from happening I tend to stock up on books I have not read.

I just finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Strieg Larsson.  Although I am usually a staunch sci-fie reader, I have read so much that sometimes I have to look outside my genre for new books.  I chose this book because it was recommended to me by my father before he died.  I feel closer to him when I read books I know he read.  However, my dad actually didn't like it that much.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is actually a mystery about a girl who has gone missing (not the one with the tattoo) over thirty years earlier.  I'm not a fan of mysteries because I couldn't be bothered to try to keep track of all the characters and figure out what happened, but I did enjoy this book.  I let the story unravel and was satisfied with the conclusion (all except the last sentence which was pretty horrible and seemed manipulative).  

Larson is a good storyteller and can easily draw the reader into the story.  He intertwines various story lines in the book quite well, with at least one exciting plot thread at a time.  This book was also an easy read.

In general, for a genre that does not do much for me, this was an enjoyable book to read.  The last third of the book is quite a cliff-hanger so don't read it at night if you want to get any sleep (one night I stayed up until 4 A.M. reading it). 

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in my little book reviews so please let me know if this was helpful to you at all.

***I was not paid for this review or any future purchases of this book through amazon.  I just want to help others find good books.***

Also- I want to give a shout out to my classmates in the Sarah Lawrence Women's History graduate program who started the blog Re/Visions, they have a fabulous article analyzing gender norms on the show What not to Wear.  Its a great way to look at that show (which I never really liked, anyway, but feel compelled to watch if I see it on).  This blog is a step away from the normal home blog I read, but it keeps my mind active (in a feminist sort of way, home blogs keep me thinking too, but more about how to paint my bathroom).   If you dig you might find some articles I have written on Re/Visions as well.  :) 

I'm a Night Owl

I'm a night owl, I can't deny it.  So I am embracing my inner night owl-ness and linking up.  Feel free to link up too.

You see the lovely Leslie has a weekly link up party where people amswer questions about themselves.  I see this sometimes on blogs, but I like that this one is a whole bunch of people all answering the same questions.  

Here are the questions and MY personal answers.  I hope this is interesting to at least one person who reads my blog (maybe you don't care?  that ok too, I'll go back to crafts sooner or later).

Here are this week's questions!

1. Do you make a budget and keep it, or just fly by the seat of your pants?

My Hubby and I have a budget.  Jeff makes and keeps track of the budget, then he tells me what I can do.

2. Do you do spring cleaning and if so which month?

I LOVE to spring clean, but I do it when the feeling hits (usually when it is nice and warm and I can take the rugs out to beat them.)

3. Are you a yard sale lover and do you have them and go to them?

I love going to yard sales.  I never have my own (I like to get rid of my "give away" as soon as possible otherwise it makes its way back into our house)

4. What do you take when you have a headache?

Aspirin, three or four of them, or if it becomes a migraine I have a prescription (I get migraines a lot, and they hurt, yoga helps)

5. Name 3 things that you feel lucky to have in your life!

My house, my Mini Cooper (I love my car, even if it does get stuck in my driveway), and my blog friends (the cat and hubby are also in there but obvious).

Tatertots and Jello is hosting a blog template giveaway.  The designs are so nice.  You should enter too.

Meet Rhea

Jeff and I picked up our "fur-baby" today.  

She is the sweetest little thing in the world.

Rhea's first hours were spent exploring the house, and our first hours with her were spent recording these explorations in photography (we have totally become overprotective parents already).

Here is her first day.

This is Jeff and Rhea right outside the SPCA.

See her way back in the shadows?  She's dark and she hides.

 At home she explored the office.

 Timidly went upstairs.

 Climbed around the kitchen (but we are training her not to go on the counters!)

behind the stereo...

and on top of my desk.

But by far the best shots we got were when Rhea was in the plants on the windowsill.

Our new little kitty also has some kind of strange relationship with the radiator in the living room. 

She's looking at the radiator here.

She spent most of the day crouching near the radiator watching...we are not sure what she was watching ... but she was watching it very intently. 

In the end she seemed to want to be near the radiator (guess we keep the heat too low for her) so we put her bed there.  Now she is sleeping peacefully.  Maybe she wasn't watching for something, maybe she was just cold. 

Good night my sweet.  This is the first night in your new home.