Good news everyone! I've made two more sales on Etsy. Until I become a household name I will post every sale I make.
One day a few weeks ago I was at a session with a producer, Lilian, who works for an agency with which we work. I was showing her some of the things I had up on Etsy and she was totally diggin' my style. She commissioned me to make her a special piece for her bathroom, with only the note that the room is in shades of blues and teals, and she wanted it to be sort of girly.
I made background a combination of blue water-based glitter paint and lyrics from the song "Weakest Shade of Blue" written in iridescent blue ink, so that from some angles you see the words and other angles you see the glitter. and cut-up photos of clouds from magazines with a photo of a damsel wearing a rather cloud-like gown.
Here's "Breathless":
This weekend I sent her an email telling her it was ready with a link to the Etsy page. As a bonus, she also bought another piece! Hot damn!
Here's "Summer Of...", made of red paint, glitter (you know me), Mexican "loteria" cards and silver ink.
This year for Thanksgiving, Shannon took pity on her single city girl friend and invited me to Long Island for the big feast. Her parents were in town for the weekend, and I was thrilled to meet them and to have a surrogate family to spend time with on Thursday. I only wish she would have let me make a pie. Next year.
The only thing I didn't think about until the day of was the tremendous crowds at Penn Station- people who'd just watched the parade, men, women and children from all five boroughs going home to L.I. for the holiday, etc etc. I wish I'd taken a photo of the crowd, but I was too flustered trying to get my ticket and a cup of coffee on my way to the train.
Luckily, I ended up with a pretty good seat on the train with my joe and Discman - what else does a travelin' girl need?
Just a ticket and a bright green coat, I guess.
The day, like every other Thanksgiving I've spent in New York, was rather dreary, but the barrenness makes for some romantic scenery against converging train tracks outside the window.
The LIRR was running extra trains for the occasion, and I think I got stuck on one from the 1950s. The seats were sealed up with masking tape.
When I got to Shannon and Mike's house, all gender roles were in their proper places: the men were watching football and Shannon and her mom were cooking up a storm. Mimi (Shannon's mom) was showing her how to make twice-baked sweet potatoes. Let me say that again. TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES. Oh my God. I learned too.
You put like a pound of butter, some brown sugar and something else in the saucepan and mix it up real good, then you mix it with the innards of the sweet potato. I don't think they're supposed to be called "innards."
We all agreed, "Today is not the day for dieting." I am of the firm belief that no day is, but that's just me.
While we cooked, Shannon's dad and Mike went outside to toss around a baseball for awhile. Definite Y-chromosomes here.
Mimi showed Shannon how to baste.
I looked with lust upon the pies.
We had a little bit of time between food preparations, so we had some soppressata and cheese and played Phase-10. It was divine.
Shannie had a heckuva time slicing that meat, but she showed it who's boss.
I took my turn at basting.
I don't know why, but I really like basting. I think it's because I know I'm good at it.
Shannon and I were both going to peel potatoes for mashing, and decided to have a peel-off. (I wonder if strippers ever have contests and call them peel-offs. haha.) Before we got started, we posed for the photo just like Tyra Banks has taught us on "America's Next Top Model." I think Shannon nailed this one; she's more angled toward the camera. Sigh, I must pack my belongings and go home.
Then we got down to brass tacks. Bet you've never seen me assist in cooking before, huh?
I swear to God, Shannon was more adorably domestic than I've ever seen her. I mean, she is pretty domestic anyway I suppose. She lives in a real house. And she has cookbooks. And her home decorating skills rival even my mother's (and that's saying a lot). But this day she really pushed the limit of June Cleaver-age. I asked if I could capture her perfect domesticity, and naturally she spent ten minutes in the bathroom fixing her makeup for the shot.
Perfect. Adorable.
AND she hand-mashes potatoes. Evidently, she used to have a mixer, but now she only has the handle and not the mixing attachments. We have a theory that Kerri stole them as a souvenir of their co-habitation.
I marveled at how well they timed every little thing to ensure that all the food came out at the same time. Look at this amazing (and amazingly basted) turkey. Gorgeous.
Shannon had some stylin' table settings.
Dude, I want a chandelier.
For two bloggers, no event is complete without copious amounts of photography.
Especially of each other.
We finished putting the last bits of food onto the table, including these perfect (seriously! This is getting ridiculous) dinner rolls.
Where is my butter?
Now it was time for the men to take over. Shannon's papa demonstrated the proper way to slice a bird this big. He is very experienced in this practice.
He taught Mike, so as to pass down the tradition.
Look at this food. Dear reader, I must tell you, I have never had such an amazing Thanksgiving dinner before. No offense to my own family, but I usually have a few bites of everything and then six slices of pie. I'm all about the sweets - Mom's apple pie and Grandma's banana cream pie are what I look forward to all year. But this meal was unlike any Thanksgiving feast I've ever had. I didn't even really have dessert. And that is saying a lot.
It must have been the twice-baked sweet potatoes that did it.
Speaking of dessert, after we spent quite awhile at the dinner table (listening to a CD I made specially for the occasion), we took a break to do some dishes, then began the dessert portion of the evening. Mikey Mike (as Shannon's niece and nephew call him) took it upon himself to hand-whip some cream for topping. Seriously - homemade whipped cream.
It was very cool of him to do that, at least until he smeared Shannon in the face with the goods.
Awww. That deserves some retaliation, no?
He totally had it coming. Don't worry, I didn't escape unscathed either. I got my share of sweet face.
After attempting to stuff a few bites of dessert into my mouth, I was done for. We played a few rounds of Left Right Center, which was some good wholesome fun.
Then it was time to head home. The train was packed, even at 9pm. Plenty of tryptophan-addled thanks givers to be slyly spied upon.
I am grateful for much in my life - great friends, wonderful family, steady job with a good company, awesome home, a new president to look forward to. One part of my life I'm especially grateful for this year is my girl Shannon - astounding friend, literary supporter, art patron, complaint receptor, fellow dancer/reveler/music enthusiast. Shannon, thank you for having me over for Thanksgiving and thank you for being my best betch. Ya gawgeous.
With all of the hullabaloo about Obama winning the presidency, I sort of neglected to mention the gifts I got for my birthday. Regardless of the fact that I only cared about one thing that day - Obama - my friends and family gave me some splendid items for my 28th rotation around the sun.
Shannon gave me the most GORGEOUS earrings. From freaking BETSEY JOHNSON. She told me they represent how I've "bloomed" over the last year. They are amazing and precious to me; probably one of the nicest gifts I've ever received.
Dustin gave me the new Chuck Klosterman book, Downtown Owl, which he knew that I had been wanting. I was so excited to get this, as it's Klosterman's first fictional book and he'd read from it when we saw him speak in March. I have a not-so-secret crush on Klosterman.
And my mom came to visit me the month before. Gift enough! But she also went to the great effort to ship to me this li'l table I made in college and have been missing since I moved away from AZ. Now that I have room for it, I've been dying to get it back.
I made it as my final project for my Set Construction class. Seriously - I MADE it. I measured and cut the wood on my own (with a saw. how scary is that to imagine?). I put the pieces together. I got an A-.
Then, naturally, I decorated it.
It was designed to have removable legs, which makes it easy to store and move. Not VERY easy to ship, but easier anyway. I was thrilled to come home one night to trip over this thing in my darkened bedroom as I went for the light. When I originally collaged the hell out of it, I covered it in old sentimental items, and when I got it back, I didn't know whether - having not seen it for four years - I would find the decoration to be too corny or too sweet or other food-related adjectives for bad. After all, four years in New York City can change a girl's tastes. (there i go again)
But as I looked upon my table, I was delighted to feel as though I was reunited with an old friend. Or all of my old friends.
I know that I can be a terribly sarcastic, unforgiving person, but I do have a very sentimental side. As a Scorpio, once you are my friend, you are in me forever. It takes a lot for me to reject a friend. And this soft heart leads me to save the craziest little things from outings, dinners, vacations, adventures (as my fellow journallers on this year's trip to Italy can definitely attest). Chances are, if you are reading this, I have at least one little token from something we've done together.
So this desk is covered with postcards, museum tickets, wrapping paper from beloved gifts, clippings from scenes of favorite movies, notes from friends, a receipt from my first hair-dye purchase (a momentous occasion in my and Kerri's friendship), a ticket to Disneyland, and even a fortune or two. The sides are covered with movie and concert tickets - Beck, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc etc etc.
A rhyming note Greg wrote to me one morning before school, when I was staying home from college in the summer. A Christmas card Kerri made for me. An angel sticker from an envelope from a birthday card from my mom.
Wrapping paper from a gift from my college roommate, Robyn. A horoscope which commands me to "take cold plunge into future." And my very favorite item - a postcard from Italy from my grandma, which ends with the line, "Life is wonderful!" Oh, my heart.
I told my mom she gave me my 22-year-old self for my birthday. And what could be better than that?
I've just spent the last couple of hours going through all of my photos from the last three years, and I've gotta say..............
......
Mother, (step)father, grandmother, brothers, girlfriends, boyfriends, loves long past and present, sunshine, snow, vacations, Christmases, Halloweens, parades, concerts, cherry blossoms, skylines, beaches, brunches, weddings, wine, coffee, cakes, cheesesteaks, gelato, Monte Enebros, art, walks through the park, talks in the dark, laughing, loving, singing, dancing.........
A few weeks ago, I walked past Madison Square Park and saw that there were dozens and dozens of theater lights hung low, about waist-high, around the perimeter of the Oval Lawn. I wasn't sure what it was, until I walked past at night and all of them were lit, softly flashing in a silent rhythm.
A friend of mine told me he'd heard they were heartbeats, and he was right. Artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer installed the lights and connected them to a device that measures your pulse. Then they all sync up to reflect your heartbeat, casting light across the lawn. If that's not the most beautiful thing you've ever heard of, you're a stone.
So my friend and I met up on Monday night to see it in its last hours.
We stepped up and wrapped our hands around a Pulse-O-Meter (my word, that's not official) and soon the leftmost pair of lights started beating like a heart.
Soon the rest of the lights joined in and the whole park was a flashing pulse. This little girl was lovin' it!
It was beautiful, ethereal, fleeting.
And here's a gorgeous illustrative photo courtesy of NYMag to give you an even better idea.
On Saturday, after a truly difficult week at work wherein even my boss told me I should do anything and everything I could to pamper myself, I treated myself to a delicious brunch and was going to go to a paper store to buy some thank-you notes when I walked past this little place on Amsterdam Avenue.
Outside it doesn't look like much, but as I walked past the window, I couldn't resist the window display. (I think the same thing happened to the fellow above.) There seemed to be dozens of Christmas ornaments, all glittering, shining, beckoning me. I decided I'd just take a quick look inside.
But inside was a tiny little twinkling world of magic. And chandeliers.
There must have been hundreds of ornaments hanging from the ceiling, all draped delicately and carefully beside each other.
It put me in oh such a Christmas-y, autumnal mood.
I looked all around the store and found that it was not only antiques and ornaments, but tons of tiny little handmade, frivolously lovely little goods, like this origami paper.
Oh lovely mirror, reflecting all of the gently swaying decoration.
I noticed I was the only person in the store besides the little old lady running it. There was no music or anything playing - just the wind from outside blowing in through the opened door and the old lady sighing contentedly every few moments.
Forgetting about my week, buying little presents and notes for people, and smelling these beautiful French-milled soaps, it wasn't long before I, too, found myself sighing peacefully.
I bought myself a little treat too, this sweet pinwheel made of bamboo and origami paper, to hang above my window and delight in its quiet embrace of the wind.
So lovely, I never wanted to leave this treasure trove right in my own neighborhood. It truly brightened my day and my week. Thank you, More And More Antiques.
As promised, I have started an Etsy page to sell my li'l paintings and collages, so that I can free up some space in my bedroom. To make more paintings.
I would so love it if you'd go there and pick out something you like. Or, if you like the style of anything, I would be delighted to make a special piece just for you! I've already had one sale, thanks to stepdaddy Tom. He bought one of my favorites, called "On Leave." I'm kind of glad he bought it, because now I'll still be able to see it any time I want (a mere 5-hour plane ride away).
The branches are made of lyrics to James Taylor's "Fire And Rain."
Let me tell you about one of the best nights of my life.
As you know, this election was not only important for the world, but I in particular had a lot invested in it, as 1) it was my birthday and 2) I had spent the last two months volunteering for the Obama campaign almost every weekend and even some weeknights, and went to PA twice to spread the word. I had a good feeling all day, but figured it was probably just because it was my birthday, and the good feeling mixed with great anxiety about how the night would turn out. I kept picturing Cindy McCain as our first lady and would shudder. I spent all day hoping and praying that our country would get their act together and vote correctly for once, and preparing myself for what would surely be a late night.
Meanwhile, my coworkers gathered at Brandname downstairs to "surprise" me with a birthday celebration.
I was on the phone with my dad when Tanya, producer for Brandname, called up and lied to me about there being a problem with one of our jobs that I'd been finishing. "Oh, what, should I come down or something?" I said facetiously, knowing what was in store. Oh yes, CANNOLI were in store.
I came down and pretended to be surprised, anxious to dig into those sweet, delicious beauties.
I blew out my candles with only one wish. You know what it was.
For my birthday, I decided to invite some peeps out to a local bar, Belmont Lounge, to watch the results and celebrate my existence. The bar had set up a big screen to show the results. For the occasion, I commissioned one of our graphic assistants, Michael, to create this image for my invite. I totally heart it.
Naturally, most of my guests were friends from PS. We had gathered in the kitchen and began to watch the results before heading down to Belmont.
Shannon and her boy Mike came out, as well as my new friend Masozi, with whom I campaigned in PA last weekend.
Don't you LOVE Shannon's hair decoration?
We chilled, laughed, and hoped that the evening would turn out right.
It being a rather big night, New Yorkers know how to celebrate - so of course there were multiple election parties going on. By the time 11pm rolled around, Dustin showed up after working late and soon it was just him and me watching the results.
Obama took PA, and I rejoiced, proud of myself. He took Ohio, and Dustin suggested we hang around just to see Florida, because at least then we'd be able to sleep at night. Honestly, I never expected to see the results that night. I was afraid it'd be a recount/Supreme Court situation to endure for weeks to come.
But suddenly, I looked up as they showed a "BREAKING NEWS" transition and saw this.
I could not believe it. The whole bar cheered, laughed, cried, hugged, texted.
I was freaking out and I have to admit I could not stop crying. And it takes a lot to make me cry.
The scene was unbelievable. The good vibes were undeniable.
Everywhere you looked, people were huddled around their phones, texting friends furiously.
I will never forget this feeling.
I didn't quite believe it until McCain came out to give his concession speech - then I knew it was real. Hope, gratification, faith, relief, and pure joy overtook me. When Obama came on to give his speech, the lounge silenced and everyone watched with focused attention.
I watched with my hands clasped over my mouth or over my heart, and with every uplifting statement, I stood up and cheered. I was SO. HAPPY.
Then it was time to celebrate! This girl in the white coat had the SAME BIRTHDAY as me! Born in 1980 and everything! So weird that we celebrated at the same place on the same night.
The bar owner gave a round to the whole bar and toasted us all.
Wooo!
The bar is on a side street near Union Square, and as we left you could hear resounding cheers echoing in the distance from every direction. We reached the Square and there were hundreds of people cheering, dancing, hugging complete strangers. It was like New Year's Eve.
This chick saw me carrying a "Happy Birthday" gift bag and lifted me up, twirling me around in happiness. She was kind of weird.
We would walk down the street towards the train, and to every person or group I passed, I would yell, "WOOOOOO!" or "OBAMAAAHHHHHHHH!" and get a victorious cheer in response. As we hopped onto the train, I shouted, "OBAMAAA! It's my BIRTHDAY!!!" and the whole car cheered. It was amazing to walk around and see every single person in New York with an odd, dazed smile on their face, united for one night in victory. It was the best birthday of my life, and hey! I got what I wished for!!
I cannot describe how happy I am. I have gotten, by far, the best birthday present I can ever hope to receive. I have been laughing, crying, texting, rejoicing.
WE DID IT!!! "Here on the pulse of this new day You may have the grace to look up and out And into your sister's eyes, into Your brother's face, your country And say simply Very simply With hope Good morning."
The Dress: Blue with white lace trim from Bloomingdale's, courtesy of gift certificate from Maury
The Jacket: Bright red court jester ridiculousness from Anthropologie courtesy of 2 Christmas gift certificates
The Necklace: Red heart pendant from my very little girlhood, which I always thought was just like Little Orphan Annie's, and which I almost lost forever at the age of 8 (whaddya know?) in my babysitter's backyard. Two decades later, it's still around my neck.
The Earrings: Mexican
The Manicure: Bad.
The Rings: Rockabilly Roses
The Shoes: Red ballet flats.
The Stickers: BARACKOBAMA 2x
The Music: ABBA Gold on the Discman, which include "Take A Chance On Me" (on my Obama PA mix) and "Mamma Mia"; on my work playlist: The Beatles on Pandora.com, a list which has been rather fitting today, as it has included "Let It Be" and "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" and "Brown-Eyed Girl" and "Don't Let Me Down" and "Don't Worry Baby" and even some Zeppelin.
I'd just like to say that it's seventeen minutes before my 28th birthday and, on my iTunes list of 4,148 songs, the song that just came up was the Beatles' "Happy Birthday." I love this song!!
On Sunday I went back to Pennsylvania to do more canvassing for Obama, this time with a group of strangers (save for one friend, Tom, whom I barely saw all day as we were split up). I didn't take many photos, but again, I had the most amazing time - and as every time I've gotten involved in Obama's campaign, I met some of the most intelligent, well-spoken, energetic, positive-minded people I've ever met. One of them was my canvassing partner Masozi, who I must have been destined to meet, as we discovered on our way back to New York that we are the only two people left on earth who still carry a Discman.
We were followed all day by this Swedish journalist, Jenny, who took down our many statements and wrote an article about the experience. CHECK IT! You can also read the translated version HERE.
No matter what happens tomorrow, I will know that between my vote, the two trips to PA I took, the weekends I spent phonebanking, and the calling I just completed an hour ago, I have done what I can to try to help Obama win. I seriously hope I get the best birthday gift ever, and even if I don't, at least I had an amazing, enriching experience in the process.
I have SO much to tell you. This weekend was full of Halloween-ing and Obama-ing, but I do want to share one thing with you right now.
So... I have all these paintings.
I love to paint and collage; I find it rather therapeutic and relaxing and, well, fun. Shannon and Kerri have always been very supportive of this little hobby as they, too, are artists in their own right. Shannon has started to bug me to put my little things on Etsy, and seeing as I am beginning to run out of space in my bedroom for all of them, I finally got off my bum on Saturday to photograph them.
I didn't like the light in my bedroom, so I took everything downstairs to photograph it in natural light. I took it in halves, and as I was carrying my first half back upstairs, my super held the door open for me and began to ask about the paintings. I showed him what I had and, being a very quiet and shy Russian man, he didn't say very much. But he said he liked them and that he thought I was original. He kept looking at one particular piece and I could see something about it had an impact on him, so I said, "Take it! It's yours!" I really just want it to belong to someone who likes it, you know? He looked at me with the widest eyes I've ever seen and thanked me.
It was one that had gone through many incarnations, and when I'd finished it, I thought it was a little ugly but it felt real to me and honest, and didn't want to change anything about it. So I guess I did the right thing. It was this one.
Then I took my second half downstairs. I was photographing them when a woman stopped by and asked if I'd painted them. I said "Yes!" and she complimented me. I asked if she wanted one. She told me I should be setting them up on Broadway (around the corner from my house) because that's where all the people are.
Something clicked in me. I guess you could call it "blind bravery." I have always wanted to get rid of all my paintings and just sell them on the street, and seeing as it was 65 degrees I figured this is the last day of the year it'll be nice enough to do it. That's what got me. I just figured, "What the hell?" and dragged it all around the corner. I set everything up and read "The Great Gatsby" as people walked past and looked at the paintings, most people moving on but some stopping to look or to talk to me.
I got a lot of compliments, which shocked me! My favorite was an 84-year-old who said she's been an artist all her life and asked me where I studied. I was like, "Uhhhh, I studied theater at ASU?" She was great. I'm kicking myself because I was so shocked I didn't even think to ask her name.
ANYWAY. A young man named Adam stopped by and and asked me some questions about the art. I asked if he liked any of them, and he kept coming back to this one particular painting. It's my absolute favorite, and it took a long time to make because I wanted it to be exactly the way I saw it in my mind. It came from a very personal place inside of me (I know I'm getting corny, just bear with me) and it honors me to say that it is the first painting I've ever sold.
SOLD!
I gave it to him for $20, which is unimportant but I just wanted it to belong to someone who would enjoy it and appreciate it. He seemed to really like it.
A woman not five minutes later bought my other favorite, an oldie but a goodie that I made a few years ago and was excited to pass on to this young lady.
I'm so excited! I'll pass on the link to my forthcoming Etsy page soon. Thanks so much to Shannon and to my mom for giving me the gall to think I could actually do this.
