Young Sneezy

This is my cat Harvey.

That is a big ball of dryer lint on his head.

I know I talk about him a from time to time on my weblog. But can everyone think strong thoughts and send healthy vibes his way, please?

He has a rare blood disorder that makes him anemic, and he's on a new medication that makes his immune system weak, so he's getting all kinds of sick these days. Poor little guy has a runny eye and one hell of a sneeze. And to add insult to injury, he ripped out one of his back claws while running around yesterday.



Meds he's now on: Prednisone, Atopica, Amoxicillin, Lysine and Genteal Severe Dry Eye drops. It's a pretty rigorous meds schedule. I may have to get one of those pill holder things.

Get better, little guy!

Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society

Hello, yous!

I have been so absent and so inert when it comes to this blog (and wearing pants that don't have an elastic waist).

It's really interesting what having a job that requires you to make your own schedule does to you. On one hand, it's incredibly awesome. I can grab my computer the second I wake up and basically get going. No need (on some days) for pesky things like breakfast and the brushing of the teeth that comes after that. On the other hand, with so much freedom comes the danger of slacking on everything except work. Such as, ahem, blogging.

Now that I've sort of started to settle into things, I've found new ways to coach myself to live a more "normal" existence. It doesn't matter that my motivators are things like: "I need to get dressed so the UPS guy doesn't see me in these red pajama pants three days in a row." and "I need to go out and run some errands so I have stories to tell Marc when he comes home that aren't an hour-by-hour rundown of the cats' napping schedules." Hence, the blogging again.

Plus, I've started going on appointments and meeting my clients, which is so very fun. I basically get to visit people in their awesome shops or studios, learn what they're all about and find ways to help them.

So anyway, thanks everyone for being patient with me and my inertia. Would you believe I still haven't gone to Steak N' Shake to fetch my camera? But hey, at least I'm all showered up today.

OH, and I almost forgot about the title of this grovel-y post! So, Marc was out of town this weekend, and I'm a total baby about sleeping in an empty apartment. It was bad enough that I'd just finished re-reading World War Z last week. I was up every hour listening for creaks and moan. BUT, I was wise enough to opt not to watch a movie about zombie Nazis. Instead I got my spooks from running through old episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?. Do you know most of that shit is up on Youtube? Oh, nostalgia!

I got 5 on it

If anyone is just tuning in, here's the second half of the 10 things that make me happy that I began yesterday.

Obviously, there's tons more I could write about (Craigslist, Red Bull, Harold and Maude, Papa John's pizza, "that's what she said" jokes, Intervention, but I think that's all been pretty well documented in my real life or my online life here on my Internet diary friend).

On to the list...

5. Belgian beer. I can't drink it too often because I need my clothes to fit. But it's so delicious. One of my favorite Saturdays is when we go to beer school at the Map Room.

It's getting really popular, so it's sold out the last few times we've tried to attend. But really, what's better than drinking and learning?

4. Terrariums. My love for plants has also been well documented on this site, but I'm adding them again because they're so important to my well-being.


I love having bursts of life around the house--especially in the winter. It makes everything somehow feel more fresh and alive.

3. This is kind of a two-for-one entry: My co-workers and snacks.


They spelled my name out in donuts for my last day at my current job. Everyone wants their name spelled in lights, but pastries suit me just fine! How literally/figuratively sweet is this?

2. While I'll miss a lot about my job, I'm super excited to kick things off here. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity; it's basically a dream job for me. Plus, everyone has been so nice so far, and I can't wait to be working with some crazy gorgeous stuff.

1. And finally, the three amigos, the main guys in my life: Otis, Harvey and Marc.


They're the cutest, most fun roommates ever...even if they have their faults (howling incessantly at 3 am, digging up plants, being a finicky eater, respectively). They're the best trio in the world to come home to every day!

I'm going to tag someone else today too! Jess at The Wife of an Artist, you're up!

What I got for Christmas Solstice

Say what?

Yes, not X-marks-the-spot-day yet, but Marc and I did our little gift exchange this weekend since we will be traveling to several exotic Midwest locales this week. What's up, Louisville? Hat tip, Indianapolis.

On Saturday, accompanied by some Sufjan holiday jams and some hot spiced cider, we tore into some presents. All ribbons and bows were promptly placed on sleeping cats. Where they stayed in place for HOURS. We have LAZY cats.

So, you want to see what I got/gave?

We had a kind of wishy-washy budget of $50, but I think both of us went a teensy bit over...ah well. It worked in keeping things relatively low-key I think.

He got her:

A very pretty etched glass ornament I'd been fawning over just last weekend. Unlike the one pictured, mine is clear glass and prettier, but they don't seem to have it online.

Somebody reads the blog. I also received a very awesome 2010 rooster tea towel calendar from P.O.S.H. that is also not on their website. Sad face.

Loop candelabra, which is really a vote of confidence in my book. Marc is always afraid I'm going to burn the house down with candles, so this just gives me another chance to prove him wrong (fingers crossed). Also a great gift because I'd love to have three of this to link together, so he's all set for upcoming gifts.

Le Foret eco-keepsake notecards. Definitely needed and notecards he won't feel weird about using either.

I am a very lucky lady.

She got him:

Heather grey houndstooth cardigan. I was into the elbow patches. Plus, we all know how I'm feeling about h-tooth these days, right?

Plaid tie. Again, exact one isn't on the site, but there are options.

Set of custom M&A (mergers and acquisitions?) napkin rings, thanks to the awesome gift guides from Design Crisis. They're nautical and masculine, right?

The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles. Marc loves his bikes, and this book is full of gorgeous bike porn photography.

Plus one more little mystery present to come...

Happy Solstice, gang!

What's going on with you?

Whatever gets you through the night

Cat Narnia: The little bulbs are starting to grow!


Here are some daytime shots


So far, so good. But I have been yelling at one cat when he even looks at that table. I think it's confusing him.

Also, here is a picture that just makes me happy:


(Look at his rickety little legs!!!)

So I walked into a hotel in the Peruvian countryside about three years ago (which I admit sounds a little like, "So I'm rappelling down Mount Vesuvius when suddenly I slip, and I start to fall. Just falling, ahh ahh, I'll never forget the terror. When suddenly I realize 'Holy shit, Hansel, haven't you been smoking Peyote for six straight days, and couldn't some of this maybe be in your head?'")...and there is a baby deer scampering around the lobby! Eeee!

The hotel staff explained that the little fellow was an orphan that had wandered in a few weeks prior and had decided to take up residence. He was SUPER adorable and friendly and even sat on my lap and licked my face. The staff also said he was great about just walking himself outside when he needed to TCB.

I wonder whatever became of little guy. I can't imagine they let him stay in the hotel once he got all hormonal and aggro and antler-y.

But awww.

I needed that pick-me-up. I hope it made you grin a little too.

Rushing the season

Pardon the interruption, but I have to get a quick note out to my cat.

Dear Harvey,

You know I love you. But dude, you need to slow your roll. It's not even Thanksgiving yet.

It was sweet of you to leave three jawbreakers (Two red and one green, natch. You always have had fabulous color sense.) and one rock from the fireplace in my shoe. But St. Nicholas Day is, like, two weeks away.

Let's live in the now and enjoy the present like the gift it is, little guy. If you're really good and chill out a whole lot, maybe Santa Claws* will bring you a pillow with that very saying needlepointed on it.

And you can scratch it all to hell.

Love,
Me

* Why is my love of puns developing much faster than my overall maturity level?

Bits and bobs

I used to have a sheet of paper that listed out everything that popped into my head and could potentially be made into a post. I've lost it (both literally and figuratively), so here are the three thoughts that I'm managing to put down before they go bye-bye just like my to-post list and so many socks in the dryer...

1. I am desperate to get to Ikea (I guess because normal seething holiday shopping crowds in Chicago aren't enough for me. X-TREME SHOPPING, GUYS! We need our own deodorant and Mountain Dew flavor). Here's what I want to eyeball/buy:

Maskros for the bedroom? Maybe?

Dinera plate. Yeah boring. But this is a just a list for me because I can't seem to keep track of paper scraps. We have four of these. 10 would be nicer.

Just a thought: this Kotte wreath. I don't think we'll be doing a tree this year since the living room has already been overtaken by plants. Plus, the cats from hell will take it down within 24 hours of its purchase and loving, painstaking (ok, OCD addled) decoration.

This simple wreath in the wheat color could be nice and low key.

Maybe pick up some fairly cute, non-denominational gift wrap while I'm there.

So ok, four things in all. This should only take about five hours, two helpings of Sweedish meatballs, one drawn-out trip through the rug section and may result in a bickering match in the as-is section and me spending about $2,433.99, plus tax. Let's go! On a weekend! (Which, incidentally, is not going to happen until at least Dec. 12. So maybe scrap the wreath.)

2. Every day on the train to work, I listen to the automated speaker man tell me, "Next stop is Library and Van Buren. Doors open on the right at Library and Van Buren."

He quite clearly pronounces "library" as a three-syllable word: li-bra-ry. BUT, as the train rounds the corner from Adams and Wabash he starts up again: "Transfer to Blue and Red lines at Li-ber-ra-ry and Van Buren." Four syllables. I've been counting them on my fingers for a week now.

Why is this? And who is the man in the speaker? This means he's real and not a robot, right?

3. I finally moved some favorite blogs from my bookmarks to the sidebar over there ------->.
They are:
Designers' Brew
Get to Fixin'
Homebug
I Suwanee
Little Green Notebook
Pony Boy Press
Saffron and Genevieve
The Design Files
and, of course, my friend Leah at Thx thx thx.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

5. Phew, getting all of that off my mind freed up some space, I think! I hope to have some painting projects to share with you soon...

P.S. Pat on the back to me for just spellchecking and not getting anything wrong (except for those damn Ikea names) this time.

UPDATE: Erm, maybe not on the brain clearing. It took me hours to notice that I skipped right from three to five in that little list up there. Crap.

At the bank today

My teller decided to regale me with stories of her five cats: Panthro, Puma, Reebok, Adidas and Lion-O.

Yes, it's true. There is a woman out there who has many, many cats and will only name them after shoes or Thundercats characters.

Peanut butter and jelly

I'm having one of those days where I feel like I'm going to absolutely DIE if I don't get to a hardware store soon. I need paint rollers and sponge brushes and paint thinner and smaller staples for the staple gun and picture hangers and clay pots. It's driving me insane!


Also driving me insane (in a good way) is that you can buy Julia Rothman wallpaper by the yard at Hygge & West, making it affordable for me to THINK about owning a bit of her art on a roll.

I'm still on my geometric kick, so naturally I'm trying to figure out a way to use a yard of this stuff. So far, I'm coming up empty.

Maybe this book would have the perfect solution. Think it's available at ACE?

I need to start a project soon, or the cats are going to be running around in sweaters made from old holey socks and leftover buttons.

Hmm. On second thought...

Just what I needed

So, we have a big, long closet in the front hall (it's underneath the neighbors' stairs). In addition to it being the place where I'm sent for punishment when get in trouble, it's where the cats' toilette is housed.

Since I'm always worried about inadvertently closing the closet door and locking the cats out (or in), we have--quite classily--come up with the lovely solution of using a brick placed on a piece of cardboard as a doorstop.

This tutorial is a perfect solution to that eyesore. And I think I have everything I need to make it happen. Oh yes. I have more damn leftover fabric from the headboard situation. I guess my house is going to be a Joel Dewberry explosion.

I love it when things work out this well.

The cat city is out of the bag!

Here’s what I got Marc at Muji:


New York in a bag!


I thought it was a fun souvenir that was a little more original than a snowglobe or a Statue of Liberty pencil sharpener (though those are cool in their own right).

Once I saw the Guggenheim, designed by Illinois’ own Frank Lloyd Wright, was included, it was a must have. Quite possibly my favorite museum in the world.

Speaking of cats, who’s lazier than these guys?
I swear to god they're sewn to that couch.