just for fun

a picture i took with my iphone a couple months back at my old apartment. i like it....

i left my heart in cuba... etsy treasury

i put together this little treasury on etsy in honor of cuba... even after getting deathly sick, the country and the people captured my heart. i hope to return again one day soon.

(above from CarolFletche...)

Tweet

painting walls

sucks. i thought painting a few walls sounded like a pretty easy job, even fun maybe. i mean i painted my old apartment bathroom pink, so i was already a pro!  boy was i so wrong.  choosing colors is difficult.  i was a color major, so i thought this would be the easiest part!  but maybe it's being a color major which is making this that much more difficult.  i'm looking for just the right color and shade, but i'm just not getting it.

after days and hours of contemplating color options, then a couple more hours of taping up all the walls so the paint would come out perfectly, (i'm a bit of a perfectionist so this probably took me way longer than it should have) i was ready to prime and paint!  several more hours later it was done... and it was awful. it was way to dark and almost unnatural looking, in a bad way.

the next morning we buy three more colors and i start to prime... again.  here's where my painting headache turned into a disaster. apparently you can't just prime over just any paint!  who knew? not me!  if paint has any kind of sheen to it, you must first sand the walls so that the primer can bond with the paint or wall. so every time i rolled over with the primer it would clump up like cottage cheese on my roller!  i had a complete paint meltdown.  here i was, sitting in the middle of the dining room on plastic wrap covered in paint balling my eyes out.  (mind you i was half delirious already from lack of sleep and the 12 hours of paint fumes from the previous day.)

what primer looks like when it's not bonding with the paint on the walls. ugh

i called my dad, the builder. he assured me it was nothing to cry about (did i also mention he's a marine?) and that whatever i had done wrong could indeed be fixed!  fixed, really?  okay, how? he told me to hire someone who knew what they were doing.  although my inflated do-it-myself ego was crushed, i knew he was right.  so the very next day we got a guy in to have a look and give us an estimate. to my surprise it was much more affordable than i thought.  now if i could only pick out the right color!

Tweet

bedroom paint colors...

we'll be repainting or un-painting the guest bedroom this weekend.  can't decide if i want to go with bold, fun colors or go white, and then leave the color for the accessories. i've been looking for inspiration around the internets, and here's what i've found so far...

 

random

on the way to the christening party of the new and improved ffdg, we stopped by lowes on bayshore blvd to pick up a 'gallery warming' gift (a red headed irish man cactus, awesome). and when we came out this bmw (see below) was parked right next to my jeep!  what are the chances?  if you've ever been to lowes on bayshore, (which is a weird enough location to start) the parking lot is huge.  so not only did they park right next to me when there were about a 100 other places to park, but on the very same night we were buying a gift and headed to the gallery!  so weird. and what were they doing at lowes on a friday night i wonder?  home improvement project, weekend gardening project, leaky faucet... who drives this mystery bmw with the ffdg sticker on the back??

it looks awesome on your car by the way. 

Tweet

things for home.... etsy treasury

i put together this little treasury on etsy of things i'd love for my own home...

above from madshome, AGC916, and FlotsamFurni...

Tweet

cat sitting

cat sitting betty's sister, reggie... she's so sweet.

83rd annual academy awards

i finally watched all ten academy awards 'best picture' nominations. all good films (some great), but 'best picture'.... really? below is my rank for 'best picture'. number one being who i think should win, down to my lesser favorite, number ten.

my top six 'best picture' picks are all brilliant films, and i can't wait to watch them all a second, and third time!  but i do have to say expanding to ten picture nominations i'm not sure was the best idea for the oscars. last year maybe i'd agree there were ten deserving nominations, but i think in the long run it might be a hard number to reach every year.

i'm not sure what all the hype over 'social network' is all about. i did think it was a really good, entertaining movie, but i don't see why it's great.

(update - sunday, feb.27th)

here's who i'd like to see win tonight.... there are a few movies i still haven't seen, or are sitting in my house waiting to be watched from netflix, but these are my picks minus those i haven't yet seen.

betty white belly vs the pigeon on the other side of the screen.

ultimately the pigeon wins.

verizon iphone, i love you, and i'm sorry.

brian got me the new verizon iphone as my belated bday gift and i love it!  it arrived on monday, and today (five days later) it took a lavender bubble bath. *tear

in the middle of my already hectic morning of frantically packing and trying to stay warm on one of the coldest san francisco weekends of the year, gizmo decided to pee in his cat carrier on the way home from the vet. i ran a warm lavender bubble bath for gizmo and his carrier as soon as we got home, and by the time i had him all clean and smelling like lavender i was drenched, and freezing!  (by the way... it's cat lavender bubble bath, safe for kitties!) so i threw my wet jeans over the top of the shower, but as i was throwing them i thought to myself why are these so heavy?  well... as soon as i heard the loudest kurplunk i've ever heard in my life coming from the bathtub, i turned and threw myself into the tub instantly remembering my new iphone in the back pocket of my jeans. ugh!  i reach for my new iphone, now drowning in 5 inch deep lavender bubble bath and pull it out.
i panic. i try to text, and make a call but my phone freaks out! i take one last picture (below) and turn it off.

after seeking advice on facebook from friends i grab the vacuum and start sucking the water from all it's openings. it seems to be working, but i know there's still more in there!  i pour a ziplock bag full of rice and drop up my new iphone in, then make an appointment at the genius bar.

i arrive at the genius bar later that night, hand the guy my bag of rice (and brand new iphone), and tell him i dropped it in water. i don't know if it was because i looked like i could start crying at any moment, my pathetic attempt at absorbing up all the water in a bag of rice, or that i told him the truth, but he gave me a new one, and at no cost!  i love you apple.

happy birthday mom.

every year for my mom's birthday i make an angel food cake, it was her favorite. 

happy birthday mom, miss you everyday.

happy valentine's day.

Tweet

saying goodbye..

got the keys to the new place today... very scary and exciting all at the same time!  i've become very attached to my little one bedroom apartment on duboce and pearl st. it's where i've called home for 8 years now with my three kitties.  so with a tears in my eyes, i'm busy packing.

estate sale

for the last couple years, every day on my way to work i pass by st.joseph's village.  it's a beautiful old church that i've wanted to get inside forever now. so i was excited to see the doors unchained and wide open for an estate sale this week.  

unfortunately the old church was sold, and they are planning on making it into condos and retail space. the old man and woman i spoke with said the buyer claims to keep the church standing, and restore it to its original beauty, but i find it hard to believe.  i would love to hear that that's what he does, but i can't figure how they'll make condos and retail space with the current construction. 

 

i ♥ brian wilson

Tweet

big move to treasure island

moved pigeon to treasure island, and bid a farewell to the berkeley marina over the weekend... see the whole story at the accidental jibe. 

Tweet

keep calm...

and snap on.

love these prints inspired by the never released wwii propaganda poster 'keep calm and carry on', originally designed by the british ministry of information in effort to calm the the nation of britain if the nazi's had invaded.

one of the many, and my favorite versions of the 'keep calm' posters... this one brought to you by the keep calm shop on etsy.

and can also be purchased though the folks at photojojo...

Tweet

new prints for sale...

added a few new prints for sale at my etsy store. please stop by and check them out...

(click image to get to my store)

Tweet

hipstamatics

a couple of my photos from cuba made it up on hipstamatics today. in case you haven't stopped by hipstamatics, it's an online blog for hipstamatic photos, with some fabulous work.

thanks hipstamatics!

Tweet

the top 100

i'm honored to announce that i made the top 100 photographers list of the 'one life' photography project.  the first image in the top row and column is mine!

words from the one life photography project-
"The One Life Photography Project attracted entries from all around the world. We've been introduced to incredibly gifted photographers, and we've selected 100 portfolios that reflect the level of diversity and talent we've seen."