Friday, October 26, 2007

5 days of Christmas

Yup, that's how we have felt every day this week. Why? Well we decided to reface the kitchen cabinets (and if you have been at my house you know how terrible the kitchen looked). So someone has been in our house working on our kitchen every day this week. My husband noted the other night that he feels like it's Christmas every day when he comes home from work. We both look forward to see the progress done for that day. Just the same way you look forward to open your gifts on Christmas day (I know I am not a kid anymore, but I still look forward to ripping pretty paper to see what's inside the box with my name on it!)

We took the "before" pictures and we are going to take the "after" pictures. Maybe I can get my act together and post some here.

Have a fun weekend!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Trying again

Most of you know that I do not drive. Actually to be correct, I do not have a license, I do drive now, but with someone in the car (leaner's permit).
My big goal is to have my license by the end of the year. I figured that since I am turning 30 in less than a month, I should at least add that milestone to my life. So I am taking driving lessons (again) and driving everywhere during the weekend. I even made a deal with myself : I can have the week between Christmas and New Year's Day off if I have my license by then, otherwise I have to go to work (not Christmas day though :)

I am not a bad driver. And that's not me beating my own drum (is that what you say?), my husband says so too! I can drive, I am not afraid (anymore, at least), I know what I am doing. But I act like a complete idiot when it comes to have the state trooper in the car. Like, really bad (for example, who forgets to back up first before turning to get out between 2 cars! you had to have been there to see it!)

This time I am determined. To pretend that there is no one else in the car with me (I only hope that I will not forget though to follow their instructions...)

I will keep you posted!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Black and red!

In case you were wondering, the jewelry party this weekend was such a blast! The whole morning I agonized over the idea that no one will come (my poor husband was getting tired of re-assuring me that it will be ok), but in the end it went so well! I had fun seeing people liking my jewelries, trying them on, and, of course, buying it!

At the end of the day, after the dust had settled, I was finally in the black! The first time since I have started this whole thing in May of this year. Of course the positive income did not last too long since I had to buy more supplies for more parties and fairs, but nonetheless it was thrilling to see numbers in black and not red into the spreadsheet (if any of you know my husband, you know that he has a spreadsheet for everything... :)

Though the next few months will be very busy, I am looking forward to more victories in this area (as well as some other areas). Positive re-enforcement never killed anyone!

See ya!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Finally Friday!

I can not even believe that it's Friday! This week has been so crazy with work and trainings, but guess what? I have the day off! Nothing to do (ok, just some house cleaning for the party tomorrow, but compare with having to be at work that's nothing), nobody to answer to (maybe just the cats), no where to rush... what a bliss! I am waiting for my husband to leave for work so my fun can start.

Have a great weekend and maybe I will see you tomorrow!

Monday, October 15, 2007

All beaded out!

I have beaded, strung, wired, coiled, wrapped like crazy for the past month, but now I am finally ready. My Open House jewelry party is this weekend and I can't wait for it! I even took Friday off to make sure that the house is in order (my husband worked on some home improvement projects over the weekend and you can not even imagine the cleaning that needs to be done), my displays are all set and the food is ready to go.

In between all this work around the house, I have decided to give "handmade soap" a try. So, I purchased a melt and pour kit and a book to read along. Who knows, maybe the products of my labor will be a great addition to my jewelry table for the upcoming fairs.

See you soon!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Saving time!

As I was complaning yesterday that there is no milk in the fridge and that there is no time to go food shopping in the middle of the week, my friend K suggested Peapod! So, I got to the office earlier than usual today, and checked it out. I feel like I have discovered sliced bread all over again! My life for the past 5 years has been a continuos race to make the most out of every second. I don't know if this is an American thing (we sure don't eat at our desks in Romania), but it feels like unless I do at least 2 things in the same time, I am wasting time.

For example, I always bead on my way to work (45 minutes with the commuter rail), I read and listen to the ipod in the same time, I watch TV while I run on the treadmill (ok, that is more because I hate running and I need something to distract me from doing it), I cook dinner while I talk with my sister-in-law, and don't even get me started on how I answer emails while in the middle of a training!

While I am all excited for discovering PeaPod (food will be delivered while my husband and I are painting our hallway), I am wondering if I will ever feel that it's ok to just focus on one thing at a time.

Enjoy your weekend!

Friday, October 5, 2007

How do cats know?

We have 2 cats at home: Poomba and Timone (yes, I do like Lion King). Strangely enough, we gave them their own pretend voices and personalities, meaning that if I ask one of them a question, then my husband will respond with a certain voice and with a certain personality.
Funny enough, Poomba who is not a cuddly cat (he is not found of strangers trying to touch him, or even me trying to cuddle and kiss him), has a deep voice and in all "his" answers is a "smarty pants" cat. He always has something mean and obnoxious to say! Timone on the other hand, is really cuddly. Her voice is really high pitch (I do it a lot better than my husband) and she is always the nice one who admonishes Poomba for being a "smarty pants" fellow.
Yes, we know this is strange, but my friend K's cat, Pumpkin, blogs for her. So how much stranger are we?

The story is that Timone, knows the time! Don't ask me how, but every morning without fail, exactly at 5:40 am (when I get up), she comes to our door and starts miaouning and tries to jimmy the door! If we let her come in, then she starts butting heads, and purrs loudly. The problem is, while she can apearantly tell time, she can't tell the days of the week, so no matter if it's Monday or Saturday, she is at our door at 5:40 am. In her defense, I would probably not be able to tell one day from the other if all I did all day long was lounge around, eat and maybe chase some toys.

How does she know what time it is? What about when it's winter and it's darker out, or it's summer and it's lighter? I have no idea!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Another day!

Why does it always feel like the week days are dragging by while the weekend flys by? I know there are 5 days of work and only 2 for play, but why can it be the other way around?

On another topic, I promised that I will post a link to my etsy shop so people can look at my stuff (and maybe buy some too). My friend K listed a link to my shop on her blog (if you are reading this, thanks K! You are the best!), so I feel it's my duty as a crafter to do the same. Without any further due... here it is:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5202443

The cool thing is that things really started to pick up. I was at a birthday party on Saturday with my husband and I was so excited when one of our friends, S., offered to host a party for me. Even though I know my things are really nice and well priced, that's only my opinion. So when people show interest in what I can make, it gives me confidence that I really make things that are worth it! This statement might not make sense to you if you are not creating stuff with your own two hands and then try to seel whatever that is...
This jewelry making started as a hobby until my husband mentioned that I either stop buying stuff, either I start selling (no, he was not being mean, our house was bursting at the seams with all the stuff I had). My dream is that one day when we have kids, I can do this as my part time, contribute to the budget, type of job. Maybe if I dream enough this will happen.

Later!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Not quite a baker! But making progress!

Yesterday we went apple picking with my brother and sister in law. I loved it! It reminded me so much of being back in Romania, in vacation with my family. We used to go to the mountains where you are surrounded by apple trees, blueberries bushes, pear trees, grape vines...

Even though I have been in Boston for over 5 years now, I still can not get used to the idea that you go to the supermarket and buy your fruits... and the farmers markets are a pale substitute to going to the market in Bucharest or picking your own.

So yeah, I went a little overboard with the apples. Even though I am not a baker (I could not bake a cake if my life depended on it) I still picked 12 lb of apples. I picked them and Alan carried the basket :)

Last night I gathered all my courage and tried my hand at an apple crisp. And I must say I am actually impressed with myself. It was quite good! I almost went for seconds and I not the one for sweets to much!
But since there is still plenty more apples around our house, my friend K send me directions for an apple pie. Must try this weekend... I might not be quite a baker, but I sure am making progress. Wish me luck!