Au Revoir

This has been a horrible week. Phil and I are so sad, as we lost our beloved, amazing dog and friend (Mr. Sanders) on Monday. At the age of 13, he went to sleep and never woke up. He has been with us for our entire adult lives, and was a gift from Phil on my birthday (the first year we lived together). Sanders was with us through moving around the country, (he lived in Chicago, Seattle, and New Orleans) our engagement, our marriage, college, many jobs, and was such a part of those ever so important years of early adulthood. He shared so much with us and taught us so much. It really does feel as though we have lost our best friend.

Wednesday night, Phil and I planted a garden in our backyard and have deemed it the 'Sanders Memorial Garden.' We will also be giving him a small jazz funeral tomorrow, the only attendees being me, phil, and gatsby (our other dog), who is very lonely right now. These things have seemed to help. We miss him so much, but find ourselves flooded with happy memories of Sanders and laughing at all the silly things he did. And I know that this can only get easier with time.

We are going to make a donation to the Louisiana SPCA in memory of Mr. Sanders, and are raising money through sales in our online shops to help fund it. Shana has decided to do the same. Sanders loved her very much, too. Please tell your friends and please shop at any of the links below through April 15, and know that 20% of your purchase will go to help other animals find happy homes, and that other humans can learn as much from these amazing creatures as we did from Sanders. Sanders, we love you, and miss you so much.

Au revoir and je t'aime.

.

http://www.whitmorephotos.etsy.com

http://www.pbwhitmore.com

http://www.inexplicableconfetti.etsy.com

http://www.pixierolls.com

http://www.shanasays.etsy.com

http://www.cookoorikoo.etsy.com

In Which the Elephant Meets the Bird

I received this adorable elephant (of doom) as a birthday gift this year, seeing as elephants are my favorite animal. And who wouldn't want a purple floral printed one with very cute wobbley legs? He makes me smile.

Then tonight, I made this little bird to welcome in the spring. I am quite pleased with birdy, as she carries a small stack of letters to someone special. She may end up in the shop, along with some friends in the near future. I am trying to decide if I should part with her. Happy Spring everyone!

This is for Aga...

My friends and what they have taught me.

1. Shana: that having OCS (only child syndrome) is perfectly acceptable and legitimate, and that I am not alone. Also, that you can make amazing friends at any time.

2. Jacub: that Polish men can be really sweet and their wives don't even mind when they bring you pretty little pieces of jewelry from the Motherland.

3. Aga: that thirty-something white girls wearing chicken hats can really dance to "Grillz" on cold Chicago streets at 3:00 in the morning.

4. Shawn: that Phil is not the only one who is completely charming. Apparently there are two of you who people cannot resist. Also, that it is desirable to have your midnight breakfast served to you by a man in a leather collar telling you to simmer down, after you've spent the entire night carrying around a bird of paradise as a mascot.

5. Deb: that all friends need code names.

6. Jackie: that it is completely legitimate to with that certain evil people, who are carrying large vases of flowers out the front door, might fall and imbed shards of glass into their face.

7. Anne: More good things than just potatoes come from Idaho.

8. Sara: that 'fuck you, you suck' is an acceptable answer to any and every question that someone might ask you on a tubing trip down the Bogue Chitto River.

9. Camille: that it is possible to avoid the work lunchroom 99% of the time. Whew!

10. Mike: that we are not the only crazy people to move to a seriously damaged, yet completely amazing, city after a huge natural disaster. And that some men are completely secure in the size of their package.

11. Nick: that blowing bubbles at work is billable to clients.

Shop Update - Updated!

There will be a couple new things added to the pixierolls shop tonight, so please stop by and check them out!

Tree-land

Since everyone seems to be in such a springtime mood over the last few days, and with temperatures in NOLA reaching into the mid-70s, but without the famous humidity, I thought I would post some pictures of the amazing trees we painted on our bedroom walls. There is one on each side of the bed, which is under a stained glass window. They are certainly happy trees!

Things I Like and Don't Like

Things I Like: cheese, tim curry, my sweetheart, large dogs, art, the 1920's, traveling, sewing, sunlight, black nail polish (i know - contradicts the sunlight), live oak trees, scuba diving, photography, the ocean, fireplaces, cupcakes, this, mental health days, snowflakes, friends, stingrays, black and white movies, Anna Karenina, music, zombies, flowers, cursters, and surprise packages (in no particular order).

Things I Dislike (again, in no particular order): my job, crime, peas, popcorn, keanu reeves, country music, cell phones, people who never make eye contact with you when they are talking to you, napolean dynamite, chores, and weeds.

I'm making my own tagging game! Shana, Aga, and Phil, you must do this too! Just because I said so!

Crescent City Craft Market Success

Phil took the T-shirts to the Crescent City Craft Market yesterday, to much success. He sold some shirts, but also was offered the opportunity to teach a linoleum block printing workshop, to make prints like this, and was given an art show here, for his paintings! Congrats, Phil! All in all, a successful day!

Knitty v. Pixierolls

Thanks so much Knitty! Shana and I just got a really great review for pixierolls from Knitty! So please, go into our shop and buy up! We will be adding new stuff in the near future, such as knitting totes and stitch markers, but in the meantime, see what we've got!

Birthday Cake

Yesterday was Sara's birthday. She had just thrown the most amazing surprise party for me, which resulted in much confusion the following day over the activities that took place, and so I wanted to give her something amazing too. So, I decided to make her a fabulous birthday cake. She is fond of bugs, so I chose fireflies to decorate it with. I drew out the fireflies, made them out of chocolate, and then made a yummy vaguely chocolatey cake with chocolate butter filling and buttercream icing.

It turned out beautiful!
Oh - and she did wear the birthday hat as well.

Surprise to Me!

My dear new NOLA friends decided to throw me a surprise party for my birthday yesterday. It was fabulous, and I truly had no idea. My sweetie told me we were going here for crepes, and we needed to be ready to leave promptly at 5:00. At 4:30, as I am getting ready to leave, and thinking about what to wear because I am really comfy in my jeans and hoodie, but know that this is not appropriate for crepes, the doorbell rings. We were expected Tom to drop by, but when I opened the door, there was everyone with birthday hats, balloons, noise makers, etc. (oh, and lots of drinks which is why my head weighs 50 pounds today). It was such a great night, and one of the best birthdays I have ever had. So, thank you so much to Sara, Nick, Jackie, Anne, Ben, Jamie, Jane, Tom, Mike, Christina, and Phillip (plus Camille who couldn't make it) for planning such an amazing night. I love you all!