plans ...

i came home last night intending to blog. really, i did. you see, orion was visible in last night's sky. he was just above the horizon, and i found it inspiring. i've always been drawn to orion, and from the time i caught a glimpse of him in the parking lot to the time i got off the elevator, i had a beautiful blog post created in my mind.

well, i thought it was beautiful, at least. but then, i'm inspired by a group of stars. :)

so i came home, put a dinner plate together, and started up the microwave. as it warmed my leftovers, i turned on my computer. and then the lights went out. not ALL the lights - just about 85% of the apartment. we're split between two breakers, apparently, as on a previous occasion we lost power in the other 15%. now, technically, this power loss didn't preclude me from blogging. the router sits in the portion of apartment that still had power. so i still had internet. but as i'm sitting in the dark eating dinner (which is weird. i knew what was on the plate, but not seeing what each bite was as i was eating it? weird.) i lost the motivation. instead i grabbed a flashlight and went to bed.

the power's back on this morning. the post about orion is gone, but on the upside ... the turkey in the freezer is still frozen solid. thanksgiving is saved! :)

sigh

is there a point to blogging when i've got nothing to say?

peppermint hot cocoa

good thyme

we like our chicken roasted with a lot of seasoning. in this case, the lid fell off the thyme ... so it's extra seasoned. :) it was also extra tasty.

tonight, i'm thankful for a roommate that cooked me dinner even though he's not feeling well and didn't stay up to enjoy any himself. it seems the least i can do is make him a sandwich to take to work tomorrow, right? me - i'm taking the roasted neck of butternut squash for lunch. i do love a good butternut squash.

running.

today's the indianapolis marathon. see them there on the right? running? as i sit here in my pajamas next to the heater - i'm thankful i'm not out there. running. :)

grateful

my mind is swirling, and i can only remind myself of how many reasons i have to be grateful. i don't dare promise to talk of my thankfulness every day this month. but i do foresee a large number of posts focusing on gratitude. tonight, i'm grateful for the basics. a home with heat, food in the fridge and a roommate that's usually happy to see me when i come home.

life is crazy. life is hard. but above all, life is good.

every day?

if you haven't checked your calendar today, let me fill you in ... today's november 1st. that's right. today is day one of NaBloPoMo. am i participating? i'm giving it a shot. obviously blogging hasn't been my forte this past year, but who knows. maybe this challenge will get me back in the groove, right?

and maybe needing to post every day will get me more productive on a daily basis so i have something to blog about. :) this morning i started our thanksgiving decorations. halloween's still hanging in the windows, but i figure if i can make the swap by this weekend, all's fair. okay, maybe by tuesday night. i'm off monday & tuesday. yeah, let's shoot for tuesday.

happy november!

letting art fly

so i've begun abandoning art. that's right. abandoning art.

my sister found a group on facebook called Art Abandonment, and she shared it with me. you see, a few weeks ago i started leaving hand-painted quotes in my building's elevator. i knew people would take them, and that was half the fun. so i joined the group to see what every one was doing. the whole idea is to make something and give it away. to leave a piece of art in a public place to be found by whomever happens upon it and gives it a new home. a lot of the members were even leaving little notes with their art to explain that it was abandoned art and leave contact information.

whoa. contact info? i love the concept, but i do things anonymously because it's safer. contact info? really?

well, i got gutsy. i set up a new email account, and i wrote a note to accompany my next piece (the li'l crocheted butterfly you see above). and i left her pinned to the bulletin board in my building's laundry room. tonight, i got an email from her finder, and it included a photo in her new home. plus, the finder joined the facebook group, so i was able to scope out her page ... she's using a photo of the butterfly as her profile pic!

it. felt. amazing.

life has felt pretty heavy lately. it's been very full and mostly serious. and it's been weighing me down. tonight's email was a total mood changer. right now, i'm soaring. and i'm feeling really good right now about my decision to work on new pieces to abandon instead of trying to sleep in this ridiculous heat. :)

and in case you're curious: yes, i do plan to abandon art somewhere other than my own building. in fact, i have a piece all ready to go. i'm off tomorrow and plan to carry it with me in case the perfect opportunity arises.

sometimes lists aren't good enough

so here's the deal: i didn't so well with my list. and you know what? i don't really care. because this past year was so full of fabulousity that no list could contain it. and there's no way to know at the beginning of a year where you'll be by the end of the year. and all the adventures that get you there? sometimes you just can't imagine what those are going to be. with those thoughts in mind, i present you with some of the reasons why being 32 was better than my birthday list could possibly show. it's not all-inclusive and it's not in any specific order, but it's a good glimpse into the greatness of the past year.

i got to spend the year living with a fabulous roommate. rooming with marlana is a lot of fun. we get along really well, we don't drive each too crazy and she bought me a set of eyeball salt and pepper shakers. really, do i need to say more? she's fabulousity personified.

i got to see my oldest niece graduate kindergarten. living 2.5 hours from my family is hard, and i don't like being so removed from the little day-to-day activities. so being able to be home for alicia's kindergarten graduation was great fun. even if it does mean she's growing up too fast.

and i got to help my youngest niece celebrate her fist birthday! were there too many kids at the party for my enjoyment? sure. but as far as first birthday parties go? not too shabby.

i got to crochet like a crazy woman & give away a lot of yarned creations. this year i spent some quality time remembering how much fun it is to crochet. i taught myself some new stitches, picked up some new techniques and even created a few patterns on my own. and the best part? i gave almost every piece of crocheted goodness away to my family & friends. i trust they're all in happy homes and that whoever is caring for them enjoys them as much i enjoyed making them. :)

i learned why a tulip tree is called a tulip tree. just because i grew up in a house with a tulip tree doesn't mean i'd ever actually seen the tulips before. :)

i also learned that i really enjoy photographing cemetery statues. when brian asked if i'd ever been to crown hill (the cemetery situated on the highest ground in the city) and offered to take me - i said yes because i wanted to spend the day with him, not because i was particularly stoked about hanging out in a cemetery. and then we got there. and we started taking pictures. and i realized i'd never been in a cemetery with a focus on the artwork that's there. it turns out that if i let myself sort of forget that there are rows and rows of dead people underneath me - i kinda like cemeteries. who knew?

i found amazing friendship in an unexpected place. when i accepted the job at the craft store, i was expecting to enjoy myself, to be challenged by the new environment and to meet some nice coworkers along the way. i was not, however, expecting to find someone whose company brings me as much joy as brian does. he & i make a good team both at work and outside of work, and i love him dearly.

origami! i made a couple hundred pieces of folded paper goodness for erin's daughter to hang from her bedroom ceiling, and it was great fun. as i was folding each one i just kept imagining her face when she opened the box. i wish i could have seen that. :)

i got to take cupcakes to april on her anniversary. april and i started our jobs at the newspaper within a month of each other. summer of 2011 marked her 10-year anniversary, and i was so happy i got to go up and help her celebrate! 10 years is a big deal. cupcakes with candy eyes seemed like the least i could do.

i got to decorate a birthday cake for my brother. speaking of cakey goodness - being able to decorate a pirate ship cake for jonathan? yup, that was a high point of the year, too. i don't remember why he & laure were in town - but i'm glad we got to spend some together while they were. :)

i got to spend christmas with my family. and speaking of spending time with family - let's not forget christmas. :) working retail means i can't really request time off around christmas. and that means my window of opportunity is small and easily thwarted by poor weather (like 2010's little ice storm on christmas eve). this year my schedule and the weather worked together quite nicely to give me a couple days home with the family. they're a lovely group, as is quite obvious in the above photo, no?

i got the most awesome hair accessory ever. and speaking of christmas (after this one, i won't start with "and speaking of ..." again. honest.) - brian made me the coolest hair accessory ever. we'd seen these really great hair flowers in LA with day of the dead skulls in the center. but they were expensive, and we knew we could make one ourselves. or, rather, i could buy the supplies and brian could make it. so that's what he did. and it is awesome. i wore it out to dinner on new year's eve, too. because i decided is was still a poinsettia-worthy holiday. :)

i got a great pair of mustache socks. two pairs, really. ;) my friend dave has this uncanny knack for sending the coolest things, and these socks were for no reason at all except he wanted to. and THAT is why i love mail.

i planted a garden. my dad made me two garden boxes, and i planted them full of vegetables. lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, watermelon, radishes, green beans. so much good stuff. i suppose, technically, this one was on the goal list, so maybe it doesn't belong here? but i had so much fun with the garden. i enjoyed the whole process of helping build the boxes, going and buying the dirt, mixing it with the peat moss and then actually planting the seeds/plants. i even kept up with the weeding most of the summer! it was more than just planting vegetables (which was the goal on the list) - it was a garden. my garden. and i enjoyed it very much.

i got to see burt bloom. when i moved down here, april bought me a fabulous little striped succulent that makes me think of a tim burton creation. it took burt almost a year, but he bloomed! and every day i looked at the blooms i thought of april and how beautiful she is and how sweet our friendship is.

i got to collaborate on art projects. from photographs to crocheted pieces, i've really enjoyed helping brian with some of his art projects this year. it's fun to be able to contribute at the base level of a project, knowing that he's going to turn it into something completely different. i give him something simple and he gives back something so complex and intricate. i'm glad i get to be a part of it.

i learned a lot about gluten-free baking. in fairness, i think we all want what we can't have. but when what you can't have is wheat and everyone bakes with wheat flour? yeah. no cookies, cakes or pies for you. so this year, i did some experimenting with gluten-free baking. and cooking, but the baking's the most fun. not all the experiments were successful, but for the most part i'd say they weren't too shabby. and i like the challenge. and the smiles that result.

i got to eat lettuce that was growing in a cup. i'm aware that this seems very inconsequential compared to other things on this list - but c'mon! it was lettuce that was growing in a cup! perhaps the lesson here is that being silly is a lot of fun. and you can't always plan silly. you just gotta seize the opportunities as they present themselves.

photo day with april! when we worked together, april and i did a stint of photo lunches where we'd go someone near the office on our lunch break just to take photos. that got tricky once i switched departments and such, but this year we were able to schedule a day to get together and shoot photos. and it was superb.

i shot a lot of photos. with april, with brian, with marlana, by myself ... lots of photos. there's magic in taking photos. i mean, you're literally making a copy of what's in front of you. you're taking a slice out of today's reality (while still leaving it intact) and you have it to look at again tomorrow. it's ... magic.

i learned i like a good glass of wine. this photo is actually a poor representation of my learned love of wine, as i actually greatly prefer red wine to white. but in this photo, the wine is sitting on my patio table. and coupled with my enjoyment of wine is my enjoyment of drinking it out on the patio while staring at the stars and daydreaming about life and love and everything in between. drinking a glass of wine helps me breath deeply and exhale the stress of life.

i got to visit los angeles. when beth saw an episode of cupcake wars that referenced a tim burton art exhibit, she told me about it. when i found that episode online, i proclaimed to facebook that i wanted to go. when brian said he would go with me, i booked tickets. and the trip was phenomenal. the exhibit was great, but i wouldn't call it the best part of the vacation. just being there, taking hundreds of photos, milling around the little shops in the historical district, seeing the day of the dead processional, parading a cupcake around macarthur park ... the whole experience was an absolute highlight to the year. so much laughter. so much fun.

i got to host thanksgiving dinner. again, being 2.5 hours from my family is hard. but this year my parents came down for thanksgiving dinner, and being able to host was a lot of fun. what started as a simple dinner quickly turned into a challenge to create an entire traditional thanksgiving feast that was gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and seed-free. and you know what? it was awesome.

in fact, i'd say the entire year was awesome. so what if i didn't see a bunch of movies or read a book or make ethiopian flatbread (mmmmm ... injera). i took pictures of donkeys, saw my first drag show and colored on the carpet with permanent markers. i learned that brown sugar and mustard are a good combination and that making time for the people i love is always worth the effort.

i've not given a single thought to making a goal list for next year. but here's hoping i enjoy 33 as much as i did 32.

32g: final wrap-up

alright, a final wrap-up on my list of goals for this past year. :)

1. finish The One With 31 book: done! i do love having that book binding machine. it makes keeping a goal book so easy. :)

2. create a book to track my 32 goals: done! "create" and "finish" are two different things, right? i need to get some photos into the book, and update a couple of last-minute successes. and add a cover. and bind it. but it's started ... that counts, right?

3. watch all netflix-available Vincent D'Onofrio movies: bwhahaha! nope! netflix had 41 vincent d'onofrio movies available. i watched ... drum roll please ... 12. that's right, 12. and i'm okay with that. as it turns out, a lot of his movies from the 80's and early 90's? not so impressive. there are a few newer ones i still wouldn't mind seeing. but i think i'll keep d'onofrio as my law & order hero, and leave my movie obsessions to johnny deep and alan alda.

4. watch half of marlana's movies: nope, didn't do this one, either. i watched three of marlana's movies, and i enjoyed two of them. movie-watching just wasn't my strong suit this year.

5. finish watching all netflix-available episodes of The Office: now this one i accomplished. twice. ;)

6. watch Law & Order: Trial by Jury: nope, never even had a single disc of the show delivered to the house.

7. post items on etsy: nope, and this one still scares me.

8. plant vegetables: done, done, done! i had tomatoes, cucumbers, a variety of greens, carrots, jalapenos, bell peppers and radishes that all grew successfully. less successful were the green beans, watermelon and squash. but all in all, not a bad year in the garden.

9. play every game in the house: oh, most definitely not. when the year started i identified 54 games. of those, i played 12.and that doesn't take into the account the news i've gotten. i'm looking to move this spring, though, and i may pare down some of my game collection. nothing major, but the ones i haven't played in years (if ever). just a thought.

10. decorate my bedroom: well, no. i mean, there is a stripe of white foamcore running around the room - but i'm pretty sure that's not really considered a decoration.

11. cut my fabric stash in half: definitely not. i worked on exactly ONE sewing project this year, and it's not done, yet.

12. finish a quilt front or back: this one i accomplished. i finished the front for my t-shirt quilt! okay, i guess that means i worked on two sewing projects this year, as i wasn't counting my half-finished quilts in the previous goal. but, still.

13. cut my yarn stash in half: hahahahaha. okay, here's the thing. as i started projects with the yarn i already had - i needed to buy more to finish those projects. and then i needed to buy more because i was having so much fun crocheting. i did a LOT of crocheting this year. and i don't even slightly regret not accomplishing this goal. i had so much fun adding to the stash to work on projects that i don't even care. :)

14. complete a pattern from ravelry: i heart ravelry. :) i'm not sure i could count how many of their free patterns i was inspired by this year. so much fun.

15. finish the tree scarf: done! apparently a neighbor stopped marlana to tell her he liked it. in the course of the conversation she learned the fellow who runs our homeowners' association is a crotchety old man who complains about everything. but so far, no request for us to remove the tree scarf. yay!

16. make some jewelry: nope, don't think so. i did make some beaded spiders, though, which helped use up some of the beads. and enjoying working with the beads was really more the point than what i made with them anyway.

17. save money for a stand mixer: yeah, not so much. i had a decent stash for awhile, but it all got used on other wants & needs. i've started a new stash with some christmas money. hopefully i can get a stand mixer before getting distracted and spending that money on a food processor or pizza or something. ;)

18. try six recipes from Baked Explorations: done! i made a devil's food cake, angel frosting, grasshopper bars, a chocolate cake, almond buttercream frosting and a chocolate glaze. yes, that only amounted to three different desserts - but i still say it counts. :) they were tasty, that much i know.

19. use my madeleine pan: nope.

20. use my tart pan: yes! for a very tasty pumpkin custard. mmmmmm.

21. make injera: nope.

22. use my ice cream maker: yes! i made a very tasty cake batter ice cream.

23. make pierogi: nope.

24. succeed at meringues: nope. but, in fairness, i didn't fail at them either. i simply didn't try. ;)

25. eat pizza at Bazbeaux: yup! marlana and i went to celebrate my birthday last january. tasty pizza and a muffaletta to go. yum!

26. end the year weighing less than i do now: yes! from last year's birthday to this year's birthday i lost 28.7 pounds. part of that was really gradual and slow as i paid no attention for the first 7 or 8 months. but most of it has come off since september, when i decided to focus on losing some weight before taking a trip to LA. currently, i'm not so motivated anymore - except that i really don't want to regain what i lost. and i just booked a trip to new york city ... so maybe that'll help, too. ;)

27. regrow/replace Bill: yup, bill's dead. and the only thing his pot turned into was an ash tray at thanksgiving. now it's just sitting empty in the garage. looking lonely.

28. paint Bill's pot: oh. guess i should have talked about his pot turning into an ash tray here. oh well. ;)

29. read an autobiography/memoir: i just can't focus on reading. i want to read. but i want to do other things more, and i think that's fair.

30. fast from the internet for three consecutive days, twice: wow. this is almost as funny as watching all the vincent d'onofrio movies. no. i did not fast from the internet. are you kidding me?

31. send mail to my nieces: i sent alicia a card, but not sami jo. good thing she's too little to care, eh?

32. make christmas cards AND send them: done! it was a very limited edition, however, so don't feel bad if you didn't get one. even though they were awesome. ;)

and no, i haven't finalized this year's list, yet. but we'll talk more about that later.

new year's eve

i don't have an image that properly portrays the goodness that was my new year's eve. we'll come back to that in a moment.

i usually spend new year's eve with my family. laure's family joins my family for an evening of games and food, culminating in sparklers at midnight. it sounds low key, probably. that's because it is. we have a relaxed evening and a lot of fun. this year, however, i had to work on new year's eve and new year's day. living 2.5 hours away, that made being with the family impossible. so, what to do? make an evening of fun in indy, of course.

back to the inadequate photos. i don't know what an adequate photo from last night would be. catching that errant piece of pizza mid flight on its way out of the oven and onto the floor? us laughing like school kids as we went into kroger for no reason other than to buy 20 grapes? weighing and counting the grapes because we only needed 20? (thankfully, we did get some extras since once we got home we realized that we actually needed 24.) watching brian's awesome new year's video? multiple times? sitting around for hours watching youtube videos and listening to snippets of random songs? realizing at 2am that we never opened the champagne at midnight? finally crashing about 90 minutes before i had to be up for work?

we had a great night. and i leave you with the video. i know i'm partial because i took some of the photos, i'm in some of the photos, and i happen to think brian's an amazing artist. but watch it, and try to tell me it's not amazing, okay? ;) may you take the time to reflect on where life has taken you this past year, and may your new year be filled with happiness, peace and joy.