underground homes

I have been fascinated by underground homes for as long as I can remember. [and tree houses, but that's a different post.] I stumbled across this posting on Inhabit back in December and it's been on my mind ever since.
I love the idea of living in the country. But the suburban city kid in me wonders if I could ever truly leave the city. On the outer edges of the metro area, I believe it would be possible to have both. No we wouldn't be minuets from down town and in the hart of restaurant heaven, but we could have a small bit of landscape to let go wild, while being no more than 15 minuets to the grocery. Somehow and underground hose seems to fit into this idea quite well.
I think my favorite, at least from a modern architecture standpoint is the house featured from Vals, Switzerland. Because it lacks surrounding I had a hard time understanding the scale from the photos. It seemed that the varying pictures made it appear to be everything from a small cabin to a huge structure. Probably I would opt for some stained concrete, or devise a way to add a change of color to various rooms. I love: the natural light, self sufficient heating cooling aspect, modern look, lack of attack on the landscape and the overall aesthetics. The house is also visible in this commercial. [enter at 23 seconds]

The designer [Christian Muller] won at least three awards for this project and it appears to have gotten quite a bit of attention. [in fact it appears to have its own web site. re: Squee1 photos!] My understanding is that this was privately built, but available for vacation rental.

The blue tub is actually a hot tub.

Lakeside history and pictures

I stumbled across this great little write up today. [and also this one] As you know Lakeside is just about my favorite pace in the world, and now you can see why.

Movies

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Beautiful scenery, great costuming, use of the cold sun of the southwest. And if that doesn't do it for you, the Gatling gun on a stage coach should.

Stars Russel Crow and Christian Bale.

Ladron Que Roba a Ladron (2007)

Set in California, the movie is in Spanish. A classic heist film that is fun and a bit silly. The story of a thief getting revenge on a thief for breaking their code of ethics. Available on Netflix on demand, worth a watch.

Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Not a new watch for us, but one that is not nearly as popular as other 80's films. Probably because John Hughes was not involved. Pretty much everything that happens in this film is an example of the worst fears and warning told by people from small towns, or in this case suburbs, about the Big City. Hijinks ensue, theres a gang fight, carjacking, blues club, hookers and a frat party. The cast includes Elizabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp and Bradley Whitford.

enter 2011

Well, looks like I never got back to blogging in December. I've been thinking about blogs, what i would write, what i would save for another day. Apparently its all been saved for another day. Really what that means is that I should type them all up and have them auto update. we'll see.

December ended up being pretty crazy for me. I worked part time retail. in a mall. Really it went better than I expected. I admit, I had never worked retail, not really. and the thought of being in the mall at xmas was horrifying. In the end I really enjoyed it, worked with some awesome people and found the 2 weeks leading up to xmas to be about as much as my introverted self can handle. I enjoy helping people and i like running around with lots to do. I like going to work at the butt crack of dawn to unload pallets off the truck and I like that i was in food and not clothing. when you hand people truffles and other candy, most of them are nice. I only dealt with a few irritating people.

Looking at last years new years resolutions. it looks like i succeeded in all but one. the one is still rolling around in my head, but maybe in other forms.

This year i am thinking about:

creative projects that i want to get seriously rolling.

picking up the banjo again- I started learning, but got distracted around October. I need to get back on that.

finding a job. a good job. or get those creative projects rolling on a level that get me some income.

Because my memory is pretty much crap [looking back at this in a year will be helpful], here is a run down of the last year:

-started seeing an endocrinologist about my thyroid. [turns out i had, in fact had a problem the last 2 years and it went un treated.]
-started taking banjo lessons.
-lost my job in July. admittedly, i had been unhappy at that job since I started, so it was a good thing.
-went to Tod's wedding in WY, and saw the black hills, took a cave tour and finally saw car-hinge.
-picked up a seasonal job at Harry & David
-went to NYC in Oct, to a fashion job fair.
-we went to St. Louis for thanks giving, had a fun time, met the rest of Tim's relatives.
-experienced seasonal retail
-mom and dad went to California for xmas.
-had a fun xmas eve party with freinds from out of town.
-after a warm, brown December, the temps plummeted and we had several inches of snow just in time to cancel our new years eve plans and watch movies on the couch.

2010 was a very up down year for us, I'm thankful I had Tim by my side. I expect good things in 2011.

busy

for being partically employed and rarely getting moer thant 15 hrs a week. i am feeling quite busy.

maybe once i get the xmas cards done, the packages shipped and some drawings done for a friend i will have time to post some photos from our trip to ST. Louis.

woo. go go go holiday

British Vogue

"British Vogue has just published one of the most beautiful — and original — fashion editorials in ages. It's all about the signs of the zodiac, and it is downright dreamy."

This. This is the kind of magazine spread that make me think December is the most romantic month.

paper art.

ai continue to be fascinated by paper art. the things people make- and how, apparently, they don't completely lose it trying to glue tiny bits of stuff to other stuff.

stumbled across this, this morning. not a new concept, but i do love the example shown, and love that artists website even more.

"As an experiment, artist Sarah Musi sent blank postcards to forty-five famous artists. She invited them to create art with the postcards and mail them back:

So I had this thought the other day: what if I made little pieces of art and sent them to a bunch of famous artists, along with a tiny blank canvas for them to create something and return it? Would I get anything back? Would they even read my request?

Pictured above is the response from cut paper artist Jayme McGowan."

Below is an example of Jayme's work- featured on her website.

love it!

Thanksgiving

This year we are headed to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. The plan is for me to meet the rest of my husbands relatives, and for him to see people he hasn't seen in 6 or 8 years.
There will be several cousins there, who are all over 17 or so. We have a fun couple days planned that include a trip to the City Museum and the Art Museum.
[side note: i love to visit art museums everywhere we go. you never know what unexpected awesomeness you are going to see. in Pitsburgh we saw the largest collection of plaster architectural reproductions in the world... i think. and a wonderful set of sketches of California style houses from the 50 or 60s]

Who knows what will happen. every family has their crazy, on some level or another. Every family has their traditions.

Being away from home for the second Thanksgiving in a row has me thinking about my family's traditions and funny [now] stories.

Story: We were eating with my dads side of the family, who all live in another state. being the holidays things quickly diverged into their usual pattern. some bickering, some poorly worded comments, etc.
my grand mother made a Waldorf salad. it was good. this is the same grandmother who makes my favorite date roll cookies. after dinner my mother asked if she had put dates in the salad- it was different, but good. "No. it was SNICKERS. AND IT WAS GOOD."
heh. dont question it.

on the other hand, my parents have formed a tradition of pulling the deep fryer out into the drive way. making drinks and appetizers and inviting anyone who wants a deep fried turkey, to bring one over. people hang out, drink, eat, have a good time. it lasts all day. usually they have a invite to the neighbors house in the evening, for an actual sit down dinner. i really like the eating all day and seeing lots of different people.

Last year we hit tow different turkey days in Seattle. both involved a large number of people we are sketchily related to due to marriage. the first was the huge family and friend dinner, that i had been hearing aobut for years, on the account of their being just an awful lot of pie involved- like a pie or two for every person there. The other was also a big extended family party. where we were given some more pie. it was a good deal.
we followed all that up the next day with a family dinner involving crab, pie [:)] and ice skating.

Cant wait to see what this year brings.

birthday

my birthday is coming up. it seems quite far away before thanksgiving, but it comes up quickly afterwords. ask me at any point in the year what i want and i can tell you, that is until about October. then i draw a blank. probably its because i don't really need anything. or the things we need are new windows for the house and car repairs.
but what i want usually rides along the line of pretty, sparkling and expensive.
my conscience tells me to ask for things that we need, that are also low in price. but i try to slip something in there that i want, thats also low in price.
price is a problem. the economy is down. we aren't rolling in it, and most people i know aren't either.
will i be happy if i get flowers and a fun trinket?

yes.

Here is my very expensive want list:

Fossil bag
i like to add one bag to my collection each year. some times i'm good and change bags with the season, but quite often i carry a bag for the entire year. This is the bag that currently makes my heart go pitter patter.

Dior nail polish from Sephora.
I tried on this color in the store. It. Is. Amazing. it's also $21, which is crazy. but beautiful.Ugg Slipper
i have been wanting a pair of warm slip on, outdoor soled shoes for a few years now. i love the royal purple/blue of this ugg moccasin. also, since my thyroid med.s have kicked in, i no longer find our 65 deg house to feel like 85 deg. and have been wearing socks and shoes out of my own free will.
Patagonia Down Sweater
i bought the long down coat a few years ago and just love it. i still heart my vintage wool coats, but as an everyday jacket the light weight and warm down is great. Now i have my sights set on the down sweater zip with hood.
Punched Tin Xmas Ornaments.
i love these- not just the ones pictured, but most in general.

Apple ipad
i don't like Mac. but i do like how the iphone and ipad work. so much fun, this is a great media viewing tool. I think it would be great for recipes- so were not printing them out every week, and it does everything i expect a lap top to do. Fox Mug
Darling 4oz, hand made mug, is perfect for tea. support an etsy seller [i also like the bear and squirrel].


Poppy ring
Someone posted a posey ring on a blog i read, about a year ago, ever since i have been on the search to find one that was not $2k and involving actual diamonds. I adore this hand sculpted silver poppy ring, found on etsy.


Branch Bangle
Love the branch design here. need to get back into wearing bracelets. also, i need a nice sized jewelery box. Doesn't etsy have the best finds?

When in doubt, anything sugar skull related is always awesome.

cover those windows!

if you're like me and living in an old house with old windows, you know that winter can mean COLD and that your heater goes into overdrive trying to keep the house at 68 at best.

one option is to buy the window shrink wrap kit. these come with double stick tape and shrink wrap. This works Great! ... except that you cant open your windows on a warm day to air out the house. also its not reusable.

option two, i read about this morning, and would be willing to give it a try.
Basically you spritz your windows with water and then stick up large bubble, bubble wrap. apparently the wrap sticks to the water. sounds like it works similar to the shrink wrap method. but it can be eaisly taken down and put back up, should you want to open your windows, and the wrap can be used for something else later.

Below images and info courtesy www.dailydanny.com

"Spray the entire window surface with water."
"Stick a sheet of bubble wrap on top."

"The entire window covered. "

"My understanding is that this boosts the window’s efficiency by double because the air pockets in the bubble wrap insulate the windows and also allow the sun’s rays to still come through the window during the day to heat up the house."

so cute

My god.. Cuteness that i could no longer keep to myself.


See the full range of photos and recipe at here.

what i learned in my garden today

what i learned in my garden today:

carrots have viscous sticker seeds.

its been so warm in Denver this year that my hollyhocks are putting out new leaves, as well as my rhubarb and the quince are blooming.

crazy.

glad i got some stuff done in the garden today. supposed to get below 40 this week. you know, like its supposed to.

whats flowering?

yesterday, on the 3rd of November, i sat on my back porch in a t-shirt and jeans. the sun was warm and everything was dry. We have only recently had our first frost- and no snow. they trees are still changing color and have many of their leaves. I am thrilled that fall is lasting forever this year. it is, hands down, my favorite season.

i took these photos about 2 weeks ago. this was everything that was still blooming in my garden. a lot of it still is, even after the frost. just bizarre for Denver.

Garden grows

first set was taken June 1, 2010 shortly after we completed a large and almost finishing planting of the front yard.

The second set is from October 1st, 2010. things look good! i cant wait to see what happens next yr. [ i thought i had a photo showing the whole front, but apparently i don't.]