i hope everyone had an awesome labor day weekend. luckily for me, alley-cat was home. even though she spent the ENTIRE weekend at grandmother's house, we still got to hang out a little bit.

she enjoyed her first week of school as a 2nd grader. i can't believe how big she has gotten! 2nd Grader?! i dont care what anyone says, it does make me feel aged... like fine wine. heehee.

isn't she just the cutest?

last week was also a huge deal, on the same day that alethea started 2nd grade, one of my betsies gave birth to her very first baby. a beautiful girl named Allegra! i am a very proud godmother to say the least!

friday alley-cat, Total MayHem Designs, and Jim Dandy's carpooled down to the very last Street Market in San Jose. this was the third STRT Market Jim Dandy's has done this year. i am sad to see the summer coming to an end, as i was really starting to enjoy them. i definitely hope to join them again next summer (if they will have me). the entire event is put on by this awesome gallery Anno Domini. one of the owners, Cherri, really truly does kick ass (in real life!). if you are ever in the area, you should defo stop by and say, "yo yo yo! jim dandy's sent us!", or just go in and admire what's going on in there. ;p

for those who don't know, Total MayHem Designs, is a new store opened up by my little teeny tiny youngish yet mature and crazy sister MayBird. she took this apron idea me and amanda pants had, and has flown the coop. she is now designing aprons for vendors, bartenders, waitresses, gardeners, teachers, senior citizens, housespouses, etc.

while her shop is still under development, maybe you want to stop by to add her as a favorite to show your support , or send her a little nudge of "hell yeah!" (and tell her to hurry up and upload some listings already!!)...

maybird you rock too!

saturday the greek and i went to see inglorious basterds with my favorite couple. it was a great movie, and i highly recommend it. i was super tired though, from all the crazy driving, bart riding, etc with the bay bridge being closed. but on a serious note (as serious as you can get with Quentin) GO SEE THIS MOVIE.

sunday was topped with a delicious salmon dinner my pops and mom cooked for me and alley-cat. then we all went to a used bookstore and dorked out for about an hour, before going to overdose on cold stone creamery ice cream. yum yum.

monday i spent slaving away at the office. NOT. thank god it was a holiday. my parents, maybird, alley-cat, and sasha bear all made sandwiches, went to the local organic farmer down the street, and had a gorgeous picnic at lake elizabeth. it was sweetness in the form of a national paid holiday, good family times, warm summer breeze, and the euphoria of thinking you are playing hookey.

sasha bear san, sunbather.

the spread and the beautiful amazing alley-cat.

the entire weekend was closed off with a top secret, etsy focused, crazy bad ass project meeting in the city. it made for a long night, but wowza. are we going to blow your mind soon!

:D

i've been sick since yesterday morning, with a horrible situation in the kidney's. the antibiotics are not working fast enough.

i do find the pain a welcomed distraction to some other things that have been going on lately.

to break the time away, as i vegetated on my couch or bed, i started intensely looking for a vintage bicycle.

in my day dream, i imagined alley-cat riding her roller skates at lightening speed, and me... riding my beautiful shiny red vintage cruiser around the lake in lieu.

what about poor sasha? i even dreamt up sasha, following our lead with a special dog leash for bicycles.

how do i make this all a reality?

well, craigslist.com.

and i'm eagerly awaiting a message from my good friend billy, as he is on his way to go check out a beautiful 40 year old english cruiser.



and, as i was uploading this photo of my bicycle of dreams, billy called to tell me the bicycle is in the car and was a total steal. my new bicycle!!

i must come up with a name. i can't wait to see the bicycle in person. and add a cute basket.

and get this amazing nifty gadget for sasha:



and even though i can barely move at the moment, i can already feel the freedom of my first ride.

alley-cat and sasha in tow.

i took alley cat to get her very first journal after school yesterday. she chose one with a lock and a key, and was pretty impressed when i told her she didn't really need one with a lock, as i super duper promised to never EVER invade her privacy in something like a journal.

i got two awesome books as well.

Book #1: Love Listography, Your Love Life in Lists by Lisa Nola

i havn't done any of the lists yet, but i will keep you posted!

Book #2: The Secret Language of Birds by Adele Nozedar

this book has a beautiful peacock on its cover. and! anyone who knows anything about me, is that I LOVE PEACOCKS and any kind of bird really.

while reading the first few pages, there is was! it hit me right in the face:

"For thousands of years, and in cultures all over the world, birds were used as a divinatory tool. Divination by watching birds is known as orthomancy."

EUREKA! just the sign i was looking for to validate my decision to get my peacock feather tattoo.

after that we went to the lake for a nice walk with sasha. as a compromise yesterday for not allowing her to wear her new roller skates to bed last night, i promised to bring her skates when i picked her up from school.

before we got around the corner from her school, she had the skates on and laced up! she skated around the park, and didn't really need me to help her at all.

this weekend was scrumptious to say the least.

alley cat had her first girl scout cookie booth sales on friday. my troop is just absolutely adorable. what seller's they are! we have two booth sales scheduled, but friday we went through our entire cookie stock. our cookie mom is off to restock for our next booth sale date next sunday.

as i was watching alley cat, i glowed with pride. once (just two years ago) she was too shy to even say hello to people she knew since birth! now, here she was coaxing complete strangers to buy some of the the nations best tasting and over priced cookies.

and she did an amazing job.

while other moms would say... wow, she would make a great avon lady. or... mary kay here we come! or, she should be in sales when she grows up. i couldn't help but think that she has the same talent and skill in talking with people and making them glow (and buying cookies doesn't hurt anyone!). i couldn't help but think, wow! when she grows up and goes off to university and/or travels this beautiful and diverse world..... she is going to ROCK IT!.

as a side note, alley cat also lost one of her back molar teeth while handing out a box of trefoils! as anyone who knows me would only imagine, we both did a bit of freaking out, as teeth falling out FREAKS ME OUT. ;p

this weekend (unplanned) revolved around my parents, who spent most of their weekend in our home.

friday we had dinner in a greek diner with my mom. the food is always yummy at Baldies Diner, and the greek owners are very handsome. if you are ever in the area, you should definitely check it out. yummmeee!

the next day alley cat and i went to go see Jonas Brother's Live in 3D with her very best friend and her mother. It's refreshing to have a mutual friend that is also the mother of alley cat's mutual friend. we have the same ideals and hopes for our children, and also... i don't feel different because i'm not married or with alley cat's father. you would be surprised how often i feel a bit "left out".

like at pta meetings when they say things like... "so don't worry, this won't take too much of your time, and your husband won't even know you are gone..." (or things to that extent)

my husband? i sure as hell hope he doesn't know i'm gone. i havn't seen him in years.

after the movie was over, and everyone was high of the 60 bucks we collectively spent on nachos, sour candy, chocolates, popcorn, and soda... alley cat and i were off to get some much needed groceries from our favorite trader joes.

my parents came over for dinner and alley cat and i made a gorgeous shrimp, garlic, basil, spinach pasta with mozzarella salad and deep fried eggplant.

it was so good, my mom decided to spend the night. she gets withdrawal symptoms if she and alethea spend longer than 2 weeks apart. obviously alley cat was thrilled, as my mom really is one of her best friends.

the next morning we all went bargain hunting at my favorite thrift store.

wow. wow. wow.

this particular store in fremont has YET to leave me disappointed.

yesterday, at in our local thrift store heaven, alley cat found a brand new pair of vintage retro Rally Roller Skates in an awesome burnt orange color that she HAD to have:


she wore them for exactly 6.5 hours yesterday, and was gravely shocked and confused when i told her it was inappropriate to wear them to bed. she happily took sasha out for a walk, and as i kept my eye out for her, i could see sasha getting a work out as she pulled alley cat around the complex.

what a team!

i was half tempted to give in and just let the kid add roller skates to her pajama wear....


i did jumping jacks when i found this vintage edition to my brand spanking new movie camera collection:



a handy stitch:



i also found a portable hammock set (brand new in the box!), a book on the the lovers of grace kelly, an awesome cookbook, and a few other thing-a-ma-bobs.

not bad for about 30 bucks?!


later my mom and i made one of our favorite greek dishes, Fasolakia, which consist of green beans, potatoes, garlic, onion, parsley and tomato sauce. we greedily pour it over white rice and voila! a perfect vegetarian dish for those who are fasting or.... hate the taste of dead animal in their mouth.

don't get me wrong... i am a sucker for carpaccio and a nicely cooked steak, but on rare occasions.

as i am forbidden to give out our secret family recipes, you can try this one i found that is a very close match.


as for the whole weekend? i think sasha was finally happy when it came to an end.

wrapped my head around some things today. as in---- finally! got a blog created specific for creating, progressing, and living.

my other blog (private) is not so appropriate at times, and i'd much rather leave it private for strangers. along with the other reasons that come along with privacy, it also give me a certain level of freedom to be raw and unhinged. without judgment.

still working through template issues, and finding a look and feel that will impel me to write, document, and transcribe creative journey.

i started my etsy store just a few weeks ago, right here, and had two sales so far. one from a dear friend of mine in Scotland and the other in Germany.

*thank you!!*

still super excited about it, despite the inaction with sales aside from these two.

after joining the sf etsy street team, i am now signed up for sharing a booth at an upcoming craft fair in pleasanton, ca.

more will obviously be written and posted here.

what i love about all this, is that it feels like..... at.last.


****

today we had a really enjoyable daisy girl scout meeting. we had it here again, as we live across the street from the lake. our intent was that they would walk through the premises of the lake/park and clean up litter.

there are 11 girls in the troop all 6-7 years old. they are all magical in their own rite. when they are all in a group it can be sometimes tiring, but also... seriously entertaining.

the girls paired up and picked up recyclables and trash. they hated the gloves! but really enjoyed the whole concept of keeping our world a better place.

i was able to take sasha along for the long walk, and the girls thought she was really smelly and rude when she went to the bathroom in the field, and also... felt a lot safer walking through the fields knowing that sasha was scoping it all out.



overheard while guiding them through littered field:

dgs #1: this is soooooo disgusting.

dgs #2: i KNOW.

dgs #1: who would want ever make the world a disgusting place?

dgs #2: poor little birds.

dgs #1: poor stinky sasha.

the cookies arrived, so now my dining area is full of girl scout cookie boxes. bleh! the ocd in me wants to organize and store them away from viewing. but as this is something i know im consciously trying to work on, i staggered them in different piles, and am just avoiding making eye contact on that side of the house.

;p

***

its almost the weekend, and alley cat goes to her dads for his week on friday. loads to do in the city this weekend, but i just feel like snuggling. who knows.

***

happy manifesting to all of you in the future, and now-- presently.