Hello, Nice to Meet You.

My favorite color is pink. But let me clarify-- not just any old pink. I like Pink-- shocking, bright, bubble-gum, magenta, fuschia, loud pink. Not baby pink or mauve or rose. Now, a good, satiny, pastel pink can look very stylish in small doses. It's just that people who don't really understand often give me gifts that are downright Mild and don't really do justice to either my appearance or the color pink itself. Unfortunately, pink gets a bad rap for being overly 'girly' and unsophisticated. For me, it's part of living life brightly, as an individual (albeit in the same Isaac Mizrahi for Target sweater owned by hundreds of other girls). I own more pairs of Pink shoes than brown shoes. Hmmm.

I'm getting married this summer. I have a wonderful fiancee who is an amazing artist and soon-to-be art teacher. We are the best of friends and, I believe, a sensational duo. We bought our first house just a few months ago and we're really enjoying the experience of being homeowners together. Our 'family' also includes two hound dogs who have loads of personality.

We're sort of going for a no-frills approach to our wedding, which we're planning by ourselves on a fairly small budget (in wedding standards, our entire budget is what some girls might spend on just the dress). And, I'm considering wearing a Pink dress. Because, why not? There is a slight chance that, as we approach the wedding date, this blog may become an outlet for my bridal insanity. I hope not, but I'm giving everyone fair warning.

I work for a non-profit and I (mostly) love my job. My day-to-day responsibilities involve running a program for school-aged kids in the same 'urban' neighborhood where I received much of my education. I also work in partnership with the parents of these kids to help support their success in school. I have developed close ties with many families over the years through this line of work. I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at my job too, although I know I have my flaws.

I think I've always been sort of an open-book type, as I don't like secrets and I'm a terrible liar. Most of my friends know about my successes and failures in school, relationships, my creative pursuits, etc. I've been lucky to hold on to many of my closest friendships for many years--some of my best friends are people I met in high school, middle school, even grade school. That's kind of rare for someone growing up in a big(-ish) city, isn't it? I also have a very close relationship with my parents, for which I am extremly grateful. They rock. I also have one younger brother, a computer whiz and all-around fix-it guy who, thankfully, is usually willing to trade his fixing skills for a well cooked meal. Thank goodness I can cook.

I see this blog as a place to share with friends and total strangers the things that I'm creating like this: as well as stuff that's on my mind (like the fact that the school where I work is closing in the Spring) and miscellaneous other things like recipes and dreams .

Hope to 'meet' some fellow bloggy-types and share crazy ideas. See you around?

Crochet Fever

Yesterday I came down with some sort of virus or flu-thingy. It was something I undoubtedly picked up the day before while at JoAnn fabrics, where throngs of sick people spent their Christmas money and touched and sneezed on all the good clearance merchandise before I found it. On a lighter note, they had lots of yarn on sale, so I bought some with my Christmas money.

Anyhow, I woke up very late yesterday and had a nasty headache and nausea all day. By 6pm I felt achey and by 10 I was downright feverish and chilly and curled in a ball on the couch. I took some Tylenol and went to bed, where I laid moaning and shivering (although I was apparently burning up) for about an hour before falling asleep.

Now here's the good part. Maybe I've been spending too much time online. Or maybe I've learned to channel the powers of the Medium. I was dreaming about crochet patterns. Particularly, patterns I haven't seen before (mostly from the roxycraft website) because I haven't bought them yet. Scary. I saw what appeared to be clearly written patterns and a tutorial for some cute amigurumi toys. Alas, when I woke up, I couldn't remember any of the instructions. I guess I'll have to keep a journal by the bed for just such occasions and scribble down every detail when I first open my eyes. Or, just buy the damn patterns.

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I think I've finally quit smoking. New Year's Eve will be the real test.