wahoooooooo

They found my bags! woohooo!!

I’m just checking email quick and then we’re off to work out, have breakfast and then hop off the boat to check out Freeport (our first stop in the Bahamas). The water looks very carribean out the window though!

Cruise’s are “interesting”. I am not sure this is my idea of a great vacation.. but we’re making the best of it so far. Suffice to say I was dragged up on stage lastnight w/ 7 other people for some “game”. However, I *was* wearing my neighborhoodie…. BERNAL HEIGHTS represent!!! :)

ok bye!

bahamas here I come!

well we’re off today! minus one little snag that they lost not 1, but BOTH of my suitcases. *weep*

We’re heading back to the airport now to see if the came in this morning. arrggg. The jeans and tshirt I’m wearing will not get me through 4 days on a cruise! Cross your fingers.

We get back here (Mom & Sister’s house in Jacksonville, FL) on Thursday to celebrate Christmas… Getting here lastnight I realized this is the first house I’ve been in this year with a tree! It is a new place for all of us this year, but it still feels cozy and like home.

Sweet Lucia is taking care of the fuzzy pants back home. I miss him already! But I know they’ll have a good time. I can’t wait to get back & do all the crafty projects I didn’t have time to finish up before I left! I’m really looking forward to the last week of 2004. With any luck it won’t be that busy & I can just create, create, create!

I’ll probably be online on the boat, since (taps arm) I can’t stay away. But for now just wanted to say seeeeeee yaaaaa!!!!

obsessions…

As you all know, I’ve been wanting the Altec Lansing speakers for awhile now… and my little sister just showed me the JBL’s, which are more $ but look cool… so I thought I’d see if there had been any tests/comparisons done – and turns out there has been: Operation Gadget’s Portable Speaker Systems for the iPod Compared

Looks like Altec Lansing won out! COOL!

:::

That reminds me, I’ve GOT to update my iPod – and charge it! I’ve been going to the gym so much that I’ve run out of batteries! Which I never thought would happen since I charge it when I use it in the car, using the iCarPlay.

Speaking of working out, we worked our legs hard lastnight! woohoo! With all this holiday stress, thank GOD I am working out. Without that little dose of a mental health pill, I’d really be in bed all day! :p

:::

Another recent obsession for me (and many others) is The Arcade Fire. Check out this featurette on them on CBC Radio (hit Relaunch and you’ll see them in the menu).

holiday blues..

Wow… I gotta say I’m really feeling the Holiday crunch right now! I leave on Saturday, so I’ve got a ton to do before I leave… not to mention I honestly don’t know I’m going to be able to let myself not work on this trip. There’s so much to do, how could I possibly just take a week off? oy!

I’ve been having a really hard time sleeping lately… well mostly getting to sleep I guess because I just have so much swirling around in my brain. That and I’m usually ice cold when I crawl into bed, and even though the electric blanket is on high (THANK GOD FOR ELECTRIC BLANKETS!!) It STILL takes me forever to warm up & then *finally* drift off to sleep. The holiday blues is extremely apparent in the mornings when I can barely pull myself out of bed. Honestly I’d like to crawl back in it right now and not have to deal with anything! Needless to say, I’m just a little stressed. ug.

gifts for dads…

Finding a gift for Dad’s can be the hardest… Here’s a few ideas:

don’t mess w/ texas – even though many of us don’t even like using the word texas due to a certain man who is from there.. this site has some great stuff I think any Dad would enjoy.

Once I got my Dad a branding iron for his steaks :) I think that’s a pretty cool idea. I think I got mine through Restoration Hardware… but here’s a site with a ton of them – or you can do a search on the web for them, too.

Another great idea for the holidays, is to send a pie or a beautiful plant, like the one’s on Red Envelope.

Please leave any great ideas/gifts you may have!

more goodies!

Of course as soon as I posted this I found some sweet finds… check it out:

Ooh ooh! Iron Giant – Special Edition!! yay!!! This is one of my favorite movies!

Veer has some great stuff on their site for the designer near you. Some of my favorites: Lorem Ipsum shirt, and this poster: Speak Up/Industrial.

motelgallery.com < love it all! they even carry stuff by susan ghahremani (boygirlparty) who I love.

And lastly – but possibly most awesome! – is that tonite reading my BUST mag, I found this site again that I saw a long time ago: smallthingsdesigns.com – I am in LOVE with this jewelry! Especially the designs with 1 or 2 birdies, and the pods or stones in the “modern” gallery. Truly beautiful work!! I’d take a necklace, earrings, ring or all 3!! :)

christmas shopping often leads to…

buying for myself! I hardly ever shop for myself, so being online & checking out all the latest things in the catalogs has me eyeing things I want! :p

The latest find are these awesome laptop bags from Red Envelope… (which is a great place to buy gifts should you still be looking for something nice for someone you love). I already have my sweet Booq bag, but that striped one there is soo cute!

Which brings me to my *Holiday Gift Guide*!!

It’s nowhere near perfect, but I’ve been adding to it here & there until I got time to really finish it up – however to be honest I don’t have the time today or tomorrow, so here it is.. now go get your shopping done!

Some fantastic online shops to do your holiday shopping:

Uncommon Goods, WishingFish, and many more on my links page under “shopping” on the bottom left. There’s also some helpful guides I’ve read on alexthegirl and superherodesigns.

I desperately wish I would have been able to get my sh*t together to get an online store up for you all this year. Where does the time go!?!? But it’s coming along, slowly but surely. In the meantime, shop at some of my crafty friend’s stores!

Sarah Hatter’s new handmade laptop bags and purses, and my brother Max’s online store: Om Gallery

Some random items that I think would be cool gifts:

CHOICE! Your body, your mind & your reproductive rights. Buy a T-shirt for someone you love and support this fantastic cause. I already got one for myself, I couldn’t wait! pink on black :) woohoo!

Neighborhoodies! I’ve completely spaced showing off my new one! I got an awesome one that says BERNAL HEIGHTS. I love it!! I’ll try to take a pic soon.

iSight (or other webcam) – You wouldn’t believe how fun it is to talk to your far away family members and friends and actually SEE them at the same time! I just got an iSight and it’s so fun to be able to see my Mom & sister all the way in Florida. iChat allows you to talk right on there, too. It’s awesome! Show off new clothes, hold up the family pet, whatever… it’s fun for all ages! :) (p.s. let me know if you have one, so we can video chat!)

A GC to an art/craft store here in town: Flax, Pearl or the Art Store.

That last one would be a great gift idea to any crafty person you know (hech hemm :) And you could even throw in a little coupon book that has coupons that say “This coupon good for 1 whole day of doing crafty stuff!” and “This coupon good for 1 trip to the museum of your choice!”, etc :)

Random stocking stuffers:

3 pack of Blistex Spa Effects lip stuff. I’m a lip stuff nut and have tried just about every kind there is! So, I just bought these for myself, and they’re all really great. Nice & small to fit in your pocket for a show, too!

Orbit gum, Bubblemint. Best. Invention. Ever. :)

And lastly – Look at how hilarious this is!

Wee Blocks “Designed to keep your baby’s fountain of youth under control during diaper changes.” hahaa! I know some friends who have needed this!

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Wanna hear about some gifts that would stoke little ol’ me?

Well, I’m pretty practical when it comes to gifts… that is, I encourage “efficient shopping” (read my crusade written in 2001). Buy people what they want, so that your gift isn’t sitting in their closet for the next few years, ya know? So besides what’s on my Amazon wishlist, these are things that would be neat to get for the holidayzzzz:

– Brand new bottle of Baileys and a pretty little flask (who’s a lush?)

– Altec Lansing iPod Speakers (on amazon wishlist)

– New Sprint Cell Phone. I know, I’ve been asking for one of these for a long time, and really – who the hell is going to buy me a new cell phone when it’s really one of those things I need to break down & do for myself. But hey – you asked me what I wanted! Ok, umm, maybe you didn’t actually ask… anyway…

– Netflix Gift Certificate – I don’t have Netflix and won’t spring for it as I have enough monthly costs already… but I sure would love a couple months of this awesome service!!

Other than that all I can think of is jewelry – I am a huge jewelry nut and can always use some new earrings or a gift certificate to one of my favorite jewelry shops (Gallery of Jewels).

I also would love a GC to Ambiance – a clothing store here in the city that I never shop at for myself (because I hardly shop for myself at all!) but I want everything in the store!

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The shopping/mad rush to get everything done is definitely upon us. I’m not sure I will have everything out in time… but it’ll be nice when it’s done & I’m sittin in the Bahamas!

YUP! I don’t think I’ve spilled that yet here, but I’m goin on a cruise w/ my Mom & sister! woohoo! This will be the first Christmas I’m not up to my ears in snow and freezing in 5 degree weather. I can’t wait! :)

whaa whaa wonkaa?

There’s a Willy Wonka remake coming out in 2005, which I am stoked to see, [TRAILER] but I have to say, Johnny Depp (as much as I love him) seems really creepy in this. I really liked the original, how you couldn’t help but have a soft spot for Gene Wilder, because you saw that he really is such a kid at heart and full of love for children… Who knows though, maybe they will make Depp endearing. Other than that – the new one looks COOL!