I'm no Smothers Brother, but...

I can Yo Yo! My cool swap partner, Amy, has this tutorial from Heather Bailey linked on her blog. Yo yos are easy to make! I thought they were hard, and have even seen little tools to help you make them. I'm not going to lie and say it's foolproof - there was a brief incident when the thread broke, and you might be able to see a knot or two, but they're very forgiving in their intrinsic coolness. These have some serious potential for future projects - the two on the left, by the way, are made from my Bundle of the Month from Kyoto Kimono. Pretty cool to think that these were part of a kimono once upon a time, and now they've transitioned into a rather traditional American craft.

Huge, gigantic, wonderful thanks to Melissa, Kinsley, Caroline, Petey, & Torrence for making yesterday fabulous. My parents & brother also rocked the big day on Sunday (Daddy & I tend to celebrate jointly), which was very nice. Special individual thanks to my sweetie for a) finding the IKEA independently, and purchasing these lovely chairs (in red) for our new deck. I am crazy excited, since I love the look of bentwood chairs (we own several), and these just take that style to a whole new level. You'll be seeing an outdoor shot of them soon enough.
Here's what yesterday entailed when I showed up at Melissa's:
That's right. Chicken fries, cool hand-printed card & wrapping paper, and my own personal dozen of Krispy Kreme donuts picked up by the oh-so-fabulous Julie just for moi. It was perfection, I tell you. (We will not be testing my cholesterol anytime soon...)

And to wind things down, I wanted to show you the AMAZING things that arrived last week & today from May's etsy shop. These are paper goods to beat all paper goods, and I've already got a couple of ideas for the tags. The whale tag & pink label are extras she threw in with my order - so generous! Look for layouts with these shortly. The red & blue letters are destined for the new kitchen - it's getting really exciting to have our own house. I cannot wait!

Try the yo yos! You won't be disappointed. :)

Swap Info

Thanks to my Sweet Goodness Swap partner Amy's lovely inspiration, I thought I'd make a little post to help her, and any future swap partners, figure out something about me. For the rest of you, I guess it'll just be worth a laugh. ;)

Favorite colors: RED. And pretty much anything else, as long as it doesn't look like it belongs on an episode of Golden Girls.

Interests (non-crafty): I've taught elementary school for the past five years, and I'm turning into (magic wand waving) an elementary curriculum person, so I care a lot about little kids. I care a WHOLE lot about what & how they read & write, so I could practically open a children's book library/bookstore (and that bookstore is a secret aspiration). I lived in Paris for a year during college, so I'm fairly obsessed with French stuff, and I went to college in New Orleans, which is definitely my second home. It is by the grace of God that I do not weigh 4,724 pounds, because I spent much of my time in both cities sleuthing out great restaurants. Please call before you go for advice, or else I will be angry. ;) I secretly think I should have been this age in about 1950, since I'd kill for that kind of wardrobe & kitchen, and to have people think I was just your average girl, but really be gunning for massive social change. (bwhahahah)

Interests (crafty): The whole thing started with scrapbooking (specifically our wedding pictures, not that I'm done with that yet), and then making some cute little hand-sewing projects, and then .... Let's just say I'm relearning to crochet, getting rather decent at sewing, and still loving to scrapbook. If it's older than my mother (fabric, paper, whatever), I'll probably love it. Just like I love my mom.

Our family: is my husband, me, and a black cat that showed up at our old house one day shortly before we left for our delayed honeymoon. We came back, and the cat was still there, so now she's ours. We are trying to raise her to be a dog, and some days she's better at that than others. We are in the process of moving into Atlanta, and we will have a new house soon.

Phew. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that's part of the fun, now, isn't it? :)

little yellow house

On July 5th, we will live here, God willing.

I'm a Swapper

Ever since I started stalking craft blogs a while back, I've been intrigued by swaps. Now I get to be a part of one! Check out the happening button on the sidebar. It's going to be fun, especially since yellow & orange aren't really my colors, so I'll have to think outside of the proverbial box.

There are other exciting yellow things in the works in our lives, too, but that will have to wait until later today.

House-ishness

For the three of you who care:

We are headed to Atlanta (again - third time in four days) to drive yet another potential commute for Lindsey. Yesterday's was horrific, but we did it at the absolute worst time, and it was raining, so it wouldn't ever be much more terrible than it was yesterday. (Secretly hoping that today's will be just as bad, because I like yesterday's house better.)

We got to see our buddy Chris, and eat some "solid" pizza (as described rather aptly by our realtor), and trot from the pizza place to our potential new house. Due to the rain, the weather was lovely when we started, and humid as mid-July in Valdosta when we finished. And, although I warned the boys that it was quite a trot to the house, they didn't believe me. Now that I have MapQuested it, I know that it was a 2.9 mile round-trip. In bad shoes. Did you know you can get blisters ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FEET? I know that now. :(

Since this is turning into the Sarah's Feet blog, and since Caroline hates feet, we can't have that.

Moving on.

There are not enough bookstores in Atlanta. I learned this last night, when the independent bookstores I found are for, shall we say, niche markets. I am not a member of these niches. However, there does appear to be a cute kids' bookshop in Decatur. There is also a scrapbook store. Once I actually get to visit these places (and they are convenient from both potential houses, by the way), I'll provide you with an update.

Lindsey is analyzing my keystrokes (I appear to be using a lot of As), so I will stop. That means he needs attention. :)

Happy Tuesday, yo.

Randomness from Today

1) The realization that if I can't wear the shoes to teach, I can't wear them to my new job. Although I don't do NEARLY as much standing as I did in the classroom, I do quite a bit more walking (mostly to and from the elevator and my parking spot.) Now that I have blistered every inch of my left foot, I think I am about to learn my lesson. There is a chance, though, that once these heal & callus, I'll be able to wear CUTE SHOES. Hmmm....

2) My friend Peter can't spell "forty." He spelled it "fourty." On a check. That I have to take to the bank. Yes, they're going to give him a Ph. D. Thank goodness it's in Economics, not Rhetoric.

3) My "department" has a groovy view of the capitol from above. It's a better view than the State Superintendent has, although it gets WAY more sun.

4) My "Bundle of the Month" from Kyoto Kimono arrived today. Some gorgeous vintage stuff that will become a pincushion very soon, and some other things soonish. Get excited, people.

5) I am very glad I have my new job. :)