Blog Makeover: Complete!

I am exceptionally excited to unveil my shiny, new, redesigned blog!  The amazing Annie of Wattlebird Designs did such an incredible job incorporating my scattered ideas, and making everything lovely and organized.  I'm just pleased as punch with what she's done, and truly can't thank her enough for all of the love she put into this design.

Happily, there's now easy access to both my poetry and my crafty projects.  I've got work left to do on the "About Me" and "Contact" sections but otherwise, it's full steam ahead! 

Here's to beautiful fresh starts and exciting new prospects.

My Kind of Fabulous

Favorite phone picture from Pride. Another beautiful weekend in San Fran!

Lit Bliss

I'm so excited to be reading in the first "Writing Without Walls" event here in San Francisco.  Come check it out!  (I'll be reading five sections of my thesis piece, all things full of tiny gods.)

Also, Switchback is now accepting submissions for Issue 15.  Send us your poetry, fiction, nonfiction and visual art! 

And finally, check out my sister's blog, Stitchy Quilt Stuff, for a fun fabric giveaway.  Win some funky fat quarters and get your craft on!

I've been doing some brain-storming and have a long list of posts I can't wait to put up in the next couple of months.  I also have a really exciting new project in the pipes, but it's hush-hush for now.... Check back soon for sneak peaks.  

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Rummage Sale Saturday

Celebrating Success in Orange Alley

Amazing Vintage Sunglasses: $1
Mustard Yellow Knitting Needles: $1
Giant Old-School Nautical Painting: $8

Today is a success and it's only 10 AM.

Procrastinating Creatively

Things I Am Dying To Do But Can't Because I Should Finish My Thesis First:

• Relearn / experiment with my Vivitar 3800N (a sturdy, all-manual SLR camera) from high school

• Make miniature granny square blanket with tiny crochet hook and sock yarn.

• Finish queen-size teal/gold/brown ripple stitch afghan.

• Blog make-over - new banner, new "bonus pages", new layout

• Buy and build new bookshelves.  (My IKEA shelf that I've had for five years collapsed on my foot this weekend.)

• Organize books by genre. Alphabetize within genre. Celebrate.

• Take pictures of completed blankets for Etsy shop. Open Etsy shop. Celebrate again.

• Bust out the sewing machine. Make whale and owl softies. Play.

• Finish reading Tao Lin's "Bed." (Update: Finished 06/16/11 at lunch.)

• Finish reading Arielle Greenberg's "Gurlesque."

• Research crafting, blogging and writing conferences for the upcoming year. Get excited about them, pick some, register.

• Apply for fellowships. Apply for residencies. Send poems to journals for publication.

• Respond to emails. Respond to Facebook messages.

• Write letters to my friends. Make them beautiful. Mail.

Oh, and did I mention that I also work full-time? Keeping busy is the best, but of course a few extra hours wouldn't hurt. 

What is your creative approach to procrastination?

Clothes Crush: Kreayshawn

Someday, I want to be Oaklander (Oaklandite?) Kreayshawn.  I want her ink and her ice and her rhymes. I want to ride around on the hood of a car in the East Bay with my posse. I want to wear a bow bigger than my head and still be adorable in a totally hardcore way.

"There were never such devoted sisters."

Subtitle: In Which I Expound Upon the Awesomeness of My Crafty and Adorable Big Sis.

Kelly on tour (plus one stolen dog?)

There is so much "crafty" going on in my family.  Quilting, knitting, crocheting, ice-cream making... My sister Kelly is pretty much the "Jill of all Trades" when it comes to DIY goodness. Her blog Stitchy Quilt Stuff is one of my absolute favorites... I get to keep track of her new projects and get exciting ideas for cute-ifying my apartment. 

Brunch at Kelly's. (See the quilt on the wall? She totally made that.)

Kelly also guest blogs over at Memory Makers (a great scrap-booking resource) and surprised me by doing a special post for my birthday!  (I actually haven't received this card in the mail yet, but the post will suffice....HINT, KELLY.)

In order to keep up with all of this, I've been honing my knitting skills (a new habit I'm using to replace a... well... bad habit I've very successfully given up recently.) Knitting is slow-going for me, especially after years of becoming a crochet master.... But I'm getting there!

Source: Lea Knits

This being said, I leave you now to go work on my thesis, clean out my refrigerator, and enjoy another rainy day in San Francisco.