Arts & Crafts

Here are some wreaths that I have made recently! With all of my free time from having one job instead of two, I have been able to finish some projects. I will post pictures of the re-finished tables and bookshelves, but for now, these wreaths will  do!

Dinner Conversations

Me: Umm, today I was at the store and someone knocked over a lamp. It completely shattered!
Chad: You were the one who knocked it over, weren't you?
Me: No! I was in the corner, getting chocolate.
Chad: I love you.

Shoes

When I was little, I had these shiny red shoes. They leaked glitter, leaving an obvious trail of every place I had been and thus, every place I had caused some sort of mischief. The would leave scratches on my legs from when I would kick myself, and dye all of my socks with a pink rings. But... I. Loved. Those. Shoes.

A couple of years ago, I was Dorothy for Halloween. I got an ugly pair of heels from the Goodwill, dunked them in Elmer's glue and red glitter, and it was magical. I felt lovely and otherworldly, and without a doubt had the best costume in the office.

I think about those shoes now, all the time. They are sitting in a box somewhere, between a witch's hat and a plastic pumpkin, and I wish they weren't part of that costume category. Without a point or any moral to this story, I just want my Ruby Slippers back. And I want to wear them every day.

I wonder who would write me off as a crazy person, or who would be inspired to find their own shoes... I imagine that in my ideal dream world, people wear costumes from any time period any day they choose, like non-scary Halloween every day. Maybe it would just take one person to start the trend.

But then everyone could follow my red glitter trail and find what kinds of trouble I get into... Time to rework the plan.

Wedding!!!

Well, the wedding is over and we are back from the honeymoon, and we are just as happy as ever. I don't think I have been through a day yet where I don't stop to think about how wonderful the wedding day was, and nice it was to see such lovely people there. We haven't gotten our official photographer pictures back yet, but with such talented friends and family, it's hard to tell. Here are some beautiful photos people took on October 15th. Thank you so much for sending your love, sharing the day with us, and creating this gorgeous mementos of one of the best days of my life.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It is such a funny thing, how easy it is to wake up in a good or bad mood. What decides that? I slept well, listened to good sing-along music in the car, and hardly had any traffic to deal with, but still at work, I was so grouchy today! I realized that I was being dramatic, and needed to take five minutes to calm down, so I went on a search to find a quiet place. Unfortunately, those are hard to come by in a lab, so without really considering what I was doing, I found myself literally hiding in the coat closet. It was a peaceful five minutes, standing under the emergency shower and leaning on the wall cushioned by dozens of paper lab coats. At least, it was until I was found by one of the sales reps. I had no reason to offer as to why I was in there, so I just walked passed him and back to my desk, leaving him looking confused in the doorframe. I wonder if someday he will be asked to describe me someday, and say: "That's Elizabeth. She hides in emergency shower/coat closet. We don't talk about it."

The Start of 2011

I've always been really bad at keeping a diary (and obviously, since my last post was in November, blogs too). But, in school, my academic life depended on a planner. The week I couldn't find my little DayRunner, I missed almost all my readings and was late on a paper. So, I've decided to blend the two. I am now officially recording my dreams, keeping my schedule, collecting quotes, recipes, facts and interesting superstitions. If you have any submissions, they would be very welcome. January and February are going well, and I have little diary entries or at least one thing written on almost every day, which is a huge accomplishment.

In other areas, I am still working at the lab, and I am still job searching for a position in which I have even the slightest bit of interest. I finished reading Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, The Bell Jar, and several books in the Princess Diaries Series. I have just started Animal Farm, which I am enjoying quite a bit, and next up is Gulliver's Travels. My newest goal is to be able to run a 5k this coming April, which is about 3.1 miles. I tried last night, and I ran a mile and a half, so halfway there! Also, I am 24 now, which doesn't feel so very different from 23.

Nettie and Jacob are now far away in San Diego, but their new place is so pretty and suits them perfectly. I am excited to visit! What I learned during the move was that the best moving skill I have is climbing over piles of boxes and furniture in a moving truck. I got to sit on top of the stuff and feel like a dragon sitting on piles of treasure.

Wedding stuff is moving along nicely. Something like 230 days until the wedding, so lots of time to finish planning everything. Next up is finding a photographer and a DJ that the venue approves of. With DJ names like Mixterious Force and Mystical Vibrations, how hard could it be?

The Library

On an hour lunch break, I decided to go for an adventure and find the Newport Beach Library. I like to think that if my wallet was ever to be stolen, the thief would take the time to at least go through it and notice the different items. If they saw that I had six different library cards, I might be wallet-less and poor, but at least the thief would think me to be well-read.

I drove down Pacific Coast Highway, ready to add a new card to my collection. Although I went directly to the library, and walked out with several books, I forgot to get the card. You see, the bookstore was having a massive sale of antique and used books. The sale officially began at one o'clock, and by 12:45, the bookworms and collectors were in a line that went out the door and around the corner. Even when the books were mostly falling apart and in languages most likely not understood by the people purchasing them, they were perfect. I could almost feel the written words around me and smell the decaying paper. It was divine, and the people around me all understood.

Today a group of oddballs came together, their grocery bags and weathered cardboard boxes in tow, ready to be filled, over-brimming with the works of Hawthorne, Bronte and Huxley. When he noticed me hold a copy of Kipling's Kim, a stranger dropped a copy The Little French Girl into my hands, and started telling me the story of Kipling's imprisonment. An old woman was nearly in tears in the corner, hugging a book she said she hadn't been able to find since she was twelve. Everybody held at least one book, and whether it cost fifty cents or three hundred dollars, we all had our own treasure. There was an instant connect with everybody else in that room, a way we could look at each other and know: we are the literature nerds, the romantics, the bibliophiles.