What I’ve Been Up To…

<– This is my lair of late. Okay, actually it’s my lair most of the time, but since returning from London, I’ve been REALLY soaking up the time in my sewing room, which I missed like crazy over there. Plus, as I mentioned in my previous posts, I have tons of projects to work on in my spare time (“spare time”: a new and completely alien concept to me). So yeah, I’ve been sewing my tush off, and LOVING it. Well, except during that one heat wave a few weekends ago, when I couldn’t use my sewing machine for fear of short-circuiting it with the bullets of sweat raining down from my forehead. Anyway, behold a wedding gown in its embryonic stages… Okay, the pseudo-artsy-looking angle is actually an attempt to hide how the gown looks, just IN CASE the groom-to-be happens to stumble across this blog! But you get the picture. I’ve been working hard. This is the mock-up, which I’m hoping to fit on my cousin this weekend. I’m excited!

Anyway, I’m going to try to blog about my recent trip to NYC soon, when I find some time. Until then, I’m looking forward to this Sunday, when I return to Charlottesville to work in the costume shop of a theatre at which I used to be employed. I didn’t plan on retuning there, but special circumstances required that they needed some last minute help, and so now I’m swooping in to lend my services… like some kind of seamstress super-hero. Okay, actually it’s nothing like that, but I am excited to return, and I AM thinking about wearing a cape on my first day of work. Classy, no? Hey, costumers like to dress up, too!

The only pictures that came out from the show the other night:

David Rawlings & Gillian Welch

Jenny Lewis – eyes half closed, still fabulous.

Also, it’s difficult to tell from the photograph, but dear Jenny was wearing her headband around the crown of her head, all hippie/renaissance-like, and from now on, I will be wearing my headbands just like that. Yes I will. Because Jenny did.

Oh, yeah…

Summer Goals and Projects

Alright, the heat is getting to me. 4 days straight of 100+ temperatures and high gas prices have left me with a wicked case of cabin fever. How is this possible, you ask? Well, I live in a second-story apartment and mine is the only room adequately air-conditioned. Furthermore, it is too hot to walk or bike anywhere during the day, and I’m trying to drive as little as possible in the interest of maximizing my savings and minimizing my pollution.

So, it’s been easy to fall into a weird summer pseudo-hibernation habit. It’s also been easy to find myself doing daily activities in the buff (my roommates are out of town). Both kind of get in the way of me accomplishing my goals. So I thought I’d share with you the things I want to do this summer, so I can keep you updated on my projects and such–hopefully it will motivate me to brave the heat.

* I want to finish my cousin’s wedding dress. This is a no-brainer, of course, but I wanted to write it down anyway to give officiality to it. Plus, I AM SUPER-EXCITED ABOUT IT. Have I mentioned that?

* I want to open my Etsy shop by the end of the summer. This entails gathering all of my completed projects together (because much of my stuff is scattered about here or at my parents house), and organizing them, and making new things.

* I have a HUGE bucket of personal craft/sewing projects in my studio, all incomplete. I want it to be empty. Maybe not by the end of the summer, but I would like to make a dent. It’s like my “bucket list”, only without death or Jack Nicholson or Morgan Freeman.

* I would like to paint a picture. I just do. It’s happening.

* I need to get back into my yoga habit. I’ve kind of abandoned it, and it’s time to bring it back. Plus, I just bought a new yoga mat and $5 Buddha candle holder to inspire me (yes, from Target, don’t judge me!) and so I’ve no excuses anymore.

* I want to develop all the film I’ve been shooting.

* I started crocheting a blanket for my grandmother a long time ago (don’t tell her, it’s a surprise! ) and it’s time I finished it.

So there you go. I’ll keep you updated. Finally, a few things I want to share:

* Richmond’s Friday Cheers Concert Series. It’s wonderful. It’s FREE. Go to it.

* Hula seventy. I got hooked on this blog through Green Eyed Muse. She’s awesome, and she’s got an awesomer summer project lined up: a summer postcard swap… check it out.

* dooce.com. THIS WOMAN IS MY HERO. Her name is Heather Armstrong, and she’s one of the more famous bloggers out there. If you go back through her archives, she has been amazingly honest and eloquent about her struggles with depression, and a real pioneer in bringing personal issues into the blogosphere as a way for people to connect. I myself struggle with depression, and while in London, I suffered a brief relapse. At the time there wasn’t anyone around I felt close enough to talk to, so instead, I read her blog. Actually, it was more like I devoured it. I was starving for a connection and somehow, reading it made me feel better. But even aside from that, she’s hilarious and I cried laughing as much as I cried from release while reading that blog. Also, she loves to talk about poop, so right there that woman holds a special place in my heart.

And P.S. – Last night, I finally saw Rilo Kiley perform, and it was awesome. And David Rawlings and Gillian Welch gave a surprise performance! I have photos and video, but I haven’t uploaded them yet, plus I don’t really know how to do the video thing. So if anyone knows, teach me.

Settling into Summer.

So I’m back. Though I’m still navigating that wasteland between college and the Real World. It’s scary. And yet, kind of exhilarating. But also overwhelming. It’s a real roller-coaster ride of emotions, I’m not going to lie. But there have been inspirations and revelations abound. Just a few things to share:

I’m making my cousin’s wedding dress for her September wedding! This will probably be my biggest project over the summer. I’m also in her wedding, and let me tell you, I have gone full-fledged Wedding Nerd about the whole thing. I’ve squealed in delight more times over this wedding than I have probably in my life. I’ve always thought I was pretty jaded about weddings, having assisted my dad in photographing about 20 or so in my life (and I have seen some doozies), but somehow a really excitable monster inside of me has been unleashed. I don’t know how she can stand to be around me, quite frankly. But she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sister, and we spent roughly half of our childhood planning our weddings and holding fake ones (with my little brother officiating) so I guess it was bound to happen this way.*

Also on the subject of weddings, my father has begun to let me shoot pictures when I assist him. To give you an idea of how much this means to me, imagine my life is a Kevin Costner movie. When my dad handed me a camera and told me to go ahead and shoot anything I think looks good, it was like he handed me a baseball glove and offered to go outside and play catch with me. And it was AMAZING. Though I learned a valuable lesson about how far I’ll go for the Perfect Shot when, during an outdoor wedding that included the couple’s dogs, I went around the back of the ceremony to get a shot of the bride’s parents. This caused the dogs to start growling and barking at me, briefly interrupting the ceremony. People, I do not blush easily. But my face was on fire as I meekly went back behind the wedding guests, my dad quietly laughing at me from behind his own camera.

I remember always being interested in photography as a kid. My dad gave me an old manual film camera of his to play with, and I would go nuts. My brother & I would go all over our property, looking for nature-y things to photograph. We learned all about f-stops and shutter speed. We would experiment with double exposures. We would even stage little feats of trick photography, like taping a cut-out UFO shape onto our living room window, then taking a picture of the valley with the focus in the distance, to make the “UFO” appear to be in motion in the sky. But I never thought I’d still be so interested in photography now. While I was in London, some sort of passion for it bloomed inside of me, as I spent so much time wandering around with my camera, capturing things that inspired me; things I wanted to remember. It’s pretty thrilling.

Finally, let me leave you with a flickr member whose photographs are totally capturing my imagination:

winter forest light
Originally uploaded by Cate

Until I post again, cheers!

*Evidence of Wedding Nerd-ness: I used some form of the word “wedding” 6 times in that paragraph ALONE.

Sometimes, When You Spill Acid on Your Shirt…

It doesn’t mean it’s ruined.