Newest project

I’m very excited about my newest project. I bought a pair of knock off chuck taylors, and spent 10 minutes with very sharp scissors and my favorite pair of eyebrow tweezers ripping out the only visible logo. While my friend Molly talked to me, I scoured my new Mucha book for inspiration, to come up with a plan.

Here is my plan. I am making a pair of Alphonse Mucha inspired electric blue sneakers. I sketched out the shoes briefly, and I think I am going to start painting them tonight. If you don’t know who Mucha is, he is this guy:

They are going to be awesome. Just you wait.

It was a good weekend, and unseasonably warm which means that we could take the kids outside to play. Until Sunday, when the temp dropped like a rock and I almost froze to death because I was wearing thin work out pants and not a coat. Super fun. My in laws were in town for the conference so we got to eat Jack stack and a bag of desserts from Dean and Deluca. A bag. I’m having a hard time writing a coherent update for you, mostly because my stomach thinks it needs more food, and it does NOT.

I managed to get my self out of bed to go to the gym this morning, and even finished every work out I’d set for myself. This is a big deal, as I often leave feeling like I wussed out.

I may dye my hair. Wow. Maybe I had too much coffee this morning and now my brain is melting?

Paintings Are Going on a Trip

My friend Alice Scott is the new director of Forerunner Arts, and she’s doing some amazing new things. The Partners Department asked for some paintings by IHOP artists. They are setting up some rooms where Partners can relax, and they wanted some paintings to hang in those rooms. I submitted some of my favorite pieces, and they were chosen!

After selling a couple pieces last weekend, and then getting a commissioned piece as well, it’s feeling like I’m actually making art on a regular basis. I’m trying to sell enough right now to buy a artograph prism projector. It’s been a much desired piece for a long time, but it’s pricey at around 120, so I’ve been putting it off. I’m so slammed for time when I DO have time to paint, that not having to draw something more than once would be nice. I could do a drawing of the painting at work, get to the studio at night, pop it into the projector and away I would go!

Yesterday the lock/power button on my phone stopped working. You wouldn’t think this was annoying, until it happened to you. I can’t power off my phone, or turn off the screen when I’m done. So I’m doing a lot of butt dialing. Sorry if I butt call you. Or leave a butt voicemail.

I’m on day 12 of 14 straight days of working. Lots of stress eating and forgetting simple things and accidentally hitting hang up when I mean to hit transfer. I’ll be thankful for sleep on Sunday.

I’m very excited, my paintings are going to be displayed at onething! Pray that they sell. I’d love them all to have good homes.

Why Her Toms are Cooler Than Yours

I finally got a client for the project I’ve been dying to do for a long time.

Paint some Toms shoes! The lovely Katrina Styles asked me to paint her new ash colored Toms with leafless trees, and of course I jumped at the chance.

I’ve had the supplies to paint fabric for a while, and have painted some cute onesies for Riker like this one,

and I had such a blast. It’s very close to painting in acrylics, with a slight twist in that you can’t layer as much without the fabric becoming stiff. But once it’s heat set, it’s very easy to launder (gentle cycle and low heat in the dryer) and very durable. And as you’ll see, the possibilities are endless for painting fabrics!

Terrific Lady Day

There is a show I like, where one of the men talks about how once every couple of months, he gives his wife a terrific lady day. It’s all about going and doing whatever she wants to do, and looking interested the whole time. Once every two months.

I’m lucky, I don’t have to convince my husband to be interested in me, or to care about what I care about. He just does, because he’s a great guy. Last night he took me out to my favorite Thai place, Lulu’s, where I ate bit sized deliciousness and drank two fantastic martinis. After a great (and thanks to happy hour, super affordable) meal, he took me shopping at the Plaza, where he bought me a terrific pair of pants that may be black, or blue. We can’t decide. Awesome Guy at the Gap says “cobalt black.” Sure dude. Sounds good to me.

I even got to wear my new (new to me) vintage teal, brocade, satin-lined fur collared coat, which got rave reviews from every man working at the Gap. We oo’ed and ah’ed over the only tag in the coat, a labor union tag from the 20′s. I am going to take it to the furrier and ask them what kind of fur the collar is. In a coat that old, it has to be real. But, onwards to my point. First though, here’s my awesome coat. Well, the collar anyway.

Back on The Wagon

Yesterday I ate: latke’s and eggs for breakfast. Fruit for snack. Biscuits and gravy with bacon from first watch for lunch. Aaron’s macaroni and cheese with grilled chicken for dinner. Dessert? 9 home made chocolate chip cookies. At least, 9 is where I stopped counting.

Every bite was delicious. No, that’s not a typical day of food for me. I was bingeing just a little bit, because today, it’s back on the wagon.

That’s right, it’s week one all over again!

Before you go off on that schpeel people do, let me stop you. It’s ok, you don’t need to. I have a goal, a realistic one, for my fitness and I’m not there. In order to get there, I need accountability for what I eat. Weight Watchers works great for me, not because I need a ton of input on improving, but mostly because a)it’s an easy app and website to use on the go, and at work. b) If I’m paying for something, I’ll do it. Much more so when I know I’m wasting money if I cheat. c) It’s the holidays, and I’m a stress eater. I am on the verge of regressing big time in my habits.

I don’t have much time (none) to work out right now. That means locking down the food consumption. I probably ate about 4000 calories yesterday, because I could. Yikes. I have a variety of other reasons too. Like:

I am running a race in April with Shelley Paulson. I’d like to be able to be fit when that happens. Thin, or slender, doesn’t mean fit.

Despite what you think, I’m on the heavy side for my height. I have a TON of work pants and tops that don’t fit, but they are very very close to fitting. A few inches of fat loss in the place of some gained muscle will open up about half my wardrobe.

I never made it to my goal weight when I began my fitness journey last year. I got within about 2 pounds, and just couldn’t get there. I want to get there.

My pregnancies are tough. I am hoping that by being in the peak of physical fitness BEFORE I get pregnant will help me maintain a healthier pregnancy and possibly, an easier labor next time. A healthy foundation will motivate me to keep healthy habits during next baby’s gestation.

I’m willing to post pics and measurements on a weekly basis again, if anyone found that helpful. You can vote for a weekly stats update like I did on my previous weight loss journey last year. (To read these posts, just search for all the other posts tagged weight loss).

I’m excited to get really healthy again. I’ve been coasting for a while, and much as I don’t want to knuckle down, it’s time. Join me, won’t you? Leave a comment if you’d like the weekly stats/photo update as well!

Brief Thoughts (Not Thoughts On Briefs)

I have a moment here to toss up a blog post for you to read in the morning. I listen to a podcast by a very liberal comedien, and today he was talking about perception of Christians as targets for comediens and the media. He had some very interesting points to make, primarily about how aren’t Christians supposed to be loving the poor, and caring for the orphans and widows? Not shutting people out of churches and protesting at funerals of soldiers and vilifying women who choose to end the lives of their unborn children?

It made me wonder, about Christianity, and his complaints about “our” religion’s interactions with the world. Because he’s right. Some Christians do some weird-o stuff in the name of Jesus.

I found myself asking the Lord, “Jesus, how can we care for your world? How can we love the homeless, save orphans, fight for life without demonizing the life-makers? How can we show the world we aren’t a bunch of hateful close minded bigots?”

You can’t please everyone all the time. If you take a stand, there’s going to be someone who disagrees with you. I get that. I know you can’t be of the world. I get it.

Love. Love is the only answer. All we can do, is cry out that the Love of God would be shown to the world through us. Maybe then it won’t be about our religion, which can be a farce. It will be about our God, who so loved the world he gave his only son.

I might fail often, but I want to be the person who loves well. Now who wants a hug?

Ramblin’

I sat staring at my computer screen for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to write about. The friend that showed up, only to disappear again? The fact that I find when I have the opportunity to make new friends, the idea exhausts me, because I just want to jump to the part where you know each other so well you can sit side by side at a coffee shop, reading, and still enjoy being together?

The new shoes I got yesterday? How I miss my family every day? The long work weeks, the money stress, the fact that my new phone case is so slippery that my iPhone has basically become a greased up air hockey puck?

Yeah, I don’t know which to talk about either.

Describing a Saturday Morning

This time of year, I work 7 days a week. This last week, due to overwhelming amounts of extra projects (I don’t just answer phones) I clocked in at 6am, and out at 5p. They were long days, but there was total grace for it. I didn’t feel burnt out, and other than fighting a head cold I procured from my children, I actually felt great. I’m just really thankful for my work. It provides for my family, and we don’t have extra, but God has provided exactly what we NEED. Keeping my heart grateful makes it easy to clock in even though it feels like I just clocked out.

I woke up this morning around 5, even though I didn’t have to be up until 5:30, because some tiny child needed a paci or milk or thought that two hours before sun rise was when the day should start. Not! Not! Go to sleep, tiny people!

I showered, turned the heat on, picked mascara out of my tear ducts. I wandered into the kitchen, fired up Eleanor (our espresso machine, that has inexplicably lived a very long life for such an inexpensive machine), put a frying pan on the stove for an egg. I laid out my vitamins, I drank some water, and debated if the inside of our pipes are rusting. I ended up dropping a tiny vitamin D capsule down my shirt, and never found it.

The Real Thing

You’ve seen them. The sheepskin boots on every college girl in the continental US. They’re called “Uggs” and they are amazing. Soft, durable, the uggs I bought 5 years ago are still comfy and in great shape. The natural animal material breathes, so your feet don’t get too hot, or too cold, or heaven forbid, sweaty.

There are lots of skeepskin looking boots on the market, available almost everywhere. They’re made of sythetic or faux leather and fur, and they don’t breathe right. Because they are made of lesser materials, they are cheap, which is awesome. But, they don’t hold a candle to the real thing. They don’t last, they stifle your feet and aren’t nearly as comfortable or satisfying.

This holds true with many of the products I know and love. Oreos, (fake oreos are repulsive), shoes (cheap shoes don’t last), sheets, shampoo, and food. Synthetic or copies of a natural or real product just don’t hold up. I know it’s not always the most cost effective thing, but if I can, I try to buy the real thing. Call me pretentious, but I like brand names, natural products, the genuine article. They just last longer, they hold up better, they don’t break or fall apart or crap out like generics or make me sick.

I was walking up stairs to work this morning, and commented to a co-worker that I liked her furry boots. She told me, “they were super cheap, I got them at old navy.” I thought how interesting it was impossbile to tell them apart from “real” sheepskin boots, and how much less they cost. I mean, if you didn’t know what you were looking at, you’d never know her’s werent’ “real.”

How true this is with spiritual life. I want to be a girl that has the real thing, because the real thing, the genuine article is the thing that lasts. Thank heavens Jesus already paid all the costs involved. All I have to do is search out the genuine article, a inner life that isn’t just a copy cat of someone elses’ “real thing.”

In other news, I need some Uggs with buttons.

Wisdom

If you need more wisdom in your life, and like a little dose of the Emerald Isle (Northwest addition) then head over here:

www.marcarius.wordpress.com
Because rumor has it, my dad is blogging again. And he’s kind of the best, even if he’s not on facebook.