Halloween and Christmas and Memes, Oh My!

First off, Happy Halloween, y’all. I don’t think there’s any trick-or-treating to be done on our apartment complex tonight, but it’s just as well, since Monkey and I will be en route to Charlotte. I’m looking forward to when we’re in a house of our own again next year and can deck out the place big time for the trick-or-treaters!

Secondly, I know it’s only Halloween today, but I think as a shopgirl I’ve come to learn the pressures of marketing for the seasons to come. Didn’t it always bug you way back when you hit the stores around Halloween to find that Christmas goodies were already infiltrating the shelves? I know! Me too.

But now I’m singing a different tune. Because I get it, the need to plan for the upcoming winter holiday season early. Plus, there are lots of great proactive shoppers out there (yay, you!) who want to get a leg-up on their holiday shopping (I get that too. Time is an incredibly fleeting resource for so many of us (me included, most definitely), esp. if you’re also a mom with activity-laden kids and jobs and social obligations and so on and so forth….getting tasks checked off early is one of the best gifts you can give yourself). Anyway, that was a lot of hoo-hah to basically let you all in on the new holiday cards I’ve got going over at The Walrus & The Carpenter. Swing by, won’t you? I’m taking the laptop with me to the UK, so on some of the quieter nights (we’ll be in Wales for most of our visit this time), I’ll be working on some more designs. I love the winter holiday season!

Finally, I’ve been tagged to do some fabulous memes…I hope I’m getting them all in here:

Memento Around the World ~Alright, this is not technically a meme, but it kind of is. Marie of Girlfactor shared this very cool project to pass on a disposable camera and take snaps of where you live in the world. Although Lori was great and got this to me weeks and weeks ago, I finally got my ass out there and took 3 pics of my town. So! I need to pass this torch on. Who is game? I am making a post office run this morning, so if you can comment and then email me (link to email is in upper left corner of this blog page) with your mailing info quicklike, I can get this camera back into motion today. Basically, you will need to take 2-3 snaps and send onward again. Please no spoilsports or menaces! This is a fun project that should keep going until it’s completed. When it fills up, the camera should then be sent back to Junnie. 

20 things
Misty, Janee, and Kathy all tagged me to do this one. I’ve only been up for a few hours, so I hope the brain works out ok…

1. I am the older of two girls.¹


2. I can be wordy.


3. I was an Arts & Letters School grad.


4. I double-majored in American Studies (lit & history concentration) and Computer Applications.


5. I did take a lot of great art electives, though.


6. I worked in the corporate world as a business analyst and systems/software tester. Blah.


7. Now I try to make a living as a crafter and aspire to be an artist.


8. My husband is Welsh/English/Japanese.


9. I am kind of an Anglophile.


10. I am a night owl (much to the chagrin of my early-bird husband).


11. I get fits of energy and inspiration often around 11.15pm.


12. I like apples.


13. I don’t like when things get sticky.


14. I like to have handi-wipes around for when things get sticky.


15. I love my family.


16. I wished we all lived closer together.


17. I like to cook and entertain.


18. I love redecorating the house every now and again.


19. I daydream sometimes about the most boring, realistic things.


20. I’m easily distracted.

I would like anyone who wants to play 20 things to go ahead and leave me a comment that you’re playing along!

Sevens
Yvett tagged me for this fun one.

7 things to do before I die

1. have children and raise them well


2. travel the world (and especially visit Vietnam)


3. write a book


4. be wildly successful at making a living doing something I love


5. make a good impact on the environment


6. get my huge extended families together for a mega-reunion


7. earn a post-grad degree

7 things I cannot do

1. cook good Vietnamese food


2. not get distracted


3. talk on the phone and have another parallel conversation with someone in the room 


4. throw things away (we recycle like crazy)


5. downhill ski


6. go on rollercoasters


7. keep my creative areas (craft room, hijacked dining table) neat (they get messy as soon as I start a project)

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex

1. eyes


2. hands


3. sense of humor


4. compassion


5. intelligence


6. creativity


7. cuddle-ability

7 things I say most often

1. nuts!


2. fun!


3. motherf***er!


4. turkey!


5. oh my gosh.


6. hmmm.


7. say again?

7 Celebrity crushes

1. Cillian Murphy


2. Justin Theroux


3. Evan Farmer


4. Christian Bale


5. Brandon Flowers


6. (I can’t think of anymore.


7. I’m fickle.)

7 people I want to do this

Misty

Marie

Kathy

Kathy

Kim

Mipmup

Sunni

¹Lizzie’s my younger sister and one of my best friends ever. When we were kids, I tormented her, as older sisters are wont to do. I am lucky she’s forgiven (though not forgotten) the things I did to her. Sorry, Lizzie. I love you!

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Big Props for Swaps
And Other Fab Snail Mail!

This post is going to be a big one since I’ve loved you and left you for so long. My time has not really been my own over the last few weeks. Work has been busy at The Walrus (it’s a wonderful, but crazy-busy time lately!), and we’ve tucked in a few days of hanging out with good folks here and there, so time, it’s just been fleeting. I still have many blogs to catch up on reading (thank goodness for Bloglines; I don’t know how I’d keep up with all you fabbies without it–which reminds me, some of my fave bloggers don’t use an RSS feed in your publishing system…it’d be so dandy if you did!)…so don’t think me a bad blogworld person. Just a slow one!

Ok, onto the goodies and props to fabulous snail mailers of the world!

Swaps!

• A few weeks ago, I stumbled across the most delightful Misty. She is an artist of such an amazing caliber. I swoon over her work. Imagine my joy when she offered up a swap. She spoiled me rotten (it was like Christmas morning x3) with all her crafty treats! And I am loving the mix of tunes she put together. It’s fun and funky and causes little sparks of creative urges to come up. I am still collecting and compiling bits and bobs to make a worthy return package…

 

• The Swaps at the SwapMeet have yielded some fun goodies:

  

My Snack Swap has been outstanding (thanks, Anthony (no URL)!), and I got 2 of the 3 postcards I was supposed to get from the Postcard Swap: a handcrafted postcard from Ai-Lin and a new postcard from Jessica (sadly, I did not ever receive the vintage postcard). This is the package I recently sent off to Francesca (does anyone read/understand what this page says?) in Italy for the snack swap. I hope I catch a break and get a US recipient next time; it cost me $23 to just send this box!

• A few weeks back, Paula proposed a CD swap. I sent her these (1,2,3,4), and she sent me these (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) . I love them!

• Aimee Roo hosted a Halloween swap recently. I got this great stash from Lauren:

 

Inside the batty bag: a fab pair of striped socks and a cool little candle!

And I sent this stash off to Terri, who I’ve come to learn is getting married Halloween weekend (woot!). I am so flattered and honored that part of my Halloween mix to her made it onto her wedding favor CD’s!

• I’ve had a lot going on, so if you know I got a swap from you and it’s not here, do let me know. I have been known to be a bit loopy with too much going on…

Other Snail Mail!

Outside of swaps, I’ve also gotten some great snail mail from all over blogland. Yay!

• Sunni of Two Rabbits sent me one of her fantastic Halloween door hangers. It’s so sweet! Thanks, Sunni!! =)

 

• JustJenn sent me a yummy stash of Halloween treats! Thanks, Jenn!

• Steph at Turabian Girl sent me some fun handcrafted notecards and this outstanding book of Gnome Christmas Crafts. Swoooon! Thanks, thanks, Steph!

• Lizzie sent Monkey and me a great set of personalized luggage tags she made from one of our wedding pics. She is such a sweetie pie. Thanks, Lizzie! Love you!

 

Fabulous Fall

This past weekend was spent in fabulous fall weather in Alabama, where much of the weekend was spent on soccer pitches. Charlie and Wills (Monkey’s 2 nephews) kicked royal butt all weekend long (it was regional semi finals and finals). They are champs.  Really exciting matches!

Anyhoo, it was nice and chilly. Like wear-2-heavy-sweaters-and-a-down-throw-and-still-shiver-chilly. Socks are out in full-force. We’ve been making lots of autumnal meals (I love coming in from the chilly outdoors to a warm house redolent with the scents of yummy comfort food). Tonight, it’s chili (yum!). Last week, my favorite meal was this. It smells just like a sweet, smoky autumn evening to me. It was even better on reruns for lunch! I highly recommend it. I upped the apples ratio and halved the sausage ratio and it was about right for us.

Yum fall! I am very much looking forward to fall in the UK shortly. It will be the first time I get to partake of Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night. I LOVE a good bonfire! 

I will try to squeeze a few more posts in this week, as I’ve been tagged by a few of you fun ladies to do some fun memes….back soon!

The Joy of Sox and Other Good Things!

Heh heh. Did I make you read that title twice? I’m just thrilled to bits that the weather has cooled off enough to actually feel like fall, necessitating the breaking out of sweaters and socks. Oh, glorious socks. You know I love me some socks. And sweaters! I’m wearing them! In South Carolina!

In fact, it was our splendid trip to NYC which first coaxed my socks and sweaters out of hibernation. It was such an incredible, whirlwind trip. Leslie, Kathleen, Hope, Dawn, Jes, and Yvonne are such an exuberant bunch of gals. It was really magnificent to be able to meet some of your favorite blogworld folks in real life. And in such a world-class city! It’s even better when you know you share so many of the same interests for real…creativity, snapping touristy pics, crafty business brainstorming, shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Each of these gals was an inspiration in her own special way, and it was fun going back to college-dorm-mode in our hotel rooms, gabbing and dropping into one another’s rooms pre- and post- city trawls. It was such a short, packed weekend! I didn’t get to fit in a visit with my buddy Kramer (so sorry, Amy! we’re coming back for a special visit to see you and your growing brood next time!!), but I did get to experience the wonders of webworld friends, Pearl River Mart, MJ Trimming, Kate’s Paperie, Little Italy, Chinatown, Soho, midtown, Central Park… Monkey had whole other pre-me experiences with NYC, so it was really wonderful to be initiated into this great city with these great gals. I really couldn’t imagine my first NYC visit any other way now! There were so many fun and good things that happened in this short weekend that it’s really hard to pare it down to the mere highlights. We did spy Ethan Hawke walking in Central Park with his kids and not-Uma…we were serenaded by a group of 4 Columbia University swimteam boys in Speedos…we hit the Be Creative event hosted by Country Home (thanks to Jes for scooping this fun event for us!), where we met Nicky Epstein and I got a little starstruck when I spied Danny Seo in the VIP dining area…Hope snapped a great pic for me with him! He was nice as can be. I’m having issues seeing pics in Flickr the last few days (is anyone else?!), so here’s the pic Hope took:

 Hee! I think the other gals have a much better round-up, so you should pay a visit! It took me forever to post this because I’ve been playing catch-up with Walrus stuff since I’ve been back. It’s good to be busy, but it sure makes me a bad blogger.

* * *

Happy Anniversary to my Darling Monkey!

It was three years ago today that my amazing life as Mrs. Monkey began. I can still recall the magical day. It was warm for autumn in Chicago standards, I was excited beyond words for the ceremony to begin, and I was a mix of joyful jitters and tears as I walked down the aisle to my beautiful, smiling Monkey. We were surrounded by our wonderful family and friends. We had such an amazing day…it was just the kickoff to an extraordinary journey together. The past three years have just flown by, punctuated by so many ups that the small downs have been worth every single second. I know I am so blessed to have my very best friend as my husband. I can honestly say that I have loved every moment of my life as his Mrs, and I can’t wait to see what new adventures we’re yet to embark upon together.

I love you, Monkey!

* * *

Monkey was such a good sneaky husband and surprised me by taking the day off today. It was such a treat to just hang out and do chilled, fall-appreciating things together. Oh, the joy of sox!