History is cool!

I am reading The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory. Here is another instance of something I said that I would never like (historical fiction) and it turns out that I do! After reading her popular book The Other Boleyn Girl several years ago I have been fascinated with Tudor England. Phillipa Gregory is a great author and such an interesting person. If you ever get the chance to see her at an author reading, GO! She is fascinating.
Anyway, this book is about Mary, Queen of Scots, who I have heard of but knew nothing about. As I am reading the book I have had to look up a bunch of information on the internet so I know what people are talking about.
That led to me finding all of these portraits of Queen Mary. I think they are so beautiful.
I want to do some kind of arty thing with them. Perhaps incorporate them into journal pages?
Are there any historical periods you are interested in?

LP Covers

I love CD's but I really miss the whole album experience! Go to the record store (Hegwish in Calumet City or in college it was Zapple at UC Davis), browse, browse, browse, purchase, come home, put it on the turntable and listen to the music while staring at the cover of the LP and reading the liner notes. Sadly, I now need reading glasses to be able to read the liner notes that come with CDs! Yikes.
Pictured in this post are some of my favorite album covers. These are covers with great design and whenever I see them I just get the feeling of that album right away.
Tell me that there are some other aging hipsters that still love Whipped Cream!!




Can you tell me some of the album covers you love?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my wonderful friends! Hope the day finds you surrounded by loved ones and good food.

Thankful for: my husband, our home, my Mom, Todd, Dad and Mary, my friends, sweet memories of my grandparents, Bob and Bill, laughing, books, rubber stamps, Tab, antidepressants, pizza, Taco Bell, ephemera, antique shops, cross-stitch shops, Red Lead, blogs, photographs, art, museums, the thought of going to Barcelona, opera, rock and roll, The Beatles, The Who, UC Davis, visiting with Noreen, working with Jane, club, hope for the future, family pictures, cats!, dogs, cars, our new bathroom, having a job, Starbucks, growing up in South Holland but wishing I grew up somewhere less homogenous; road trips; plasma TV's; Bainbridge Island, Chicago, San Francisco; New Carlisle, Indiana; strawberry cheesecake ice cream; Sanfratello's Pizza...........and many more.............

Random (Edited to Add Names of Artists)

I have been tagged by the lovely Jennifer of Sweet Pea Stitches. This means I am to list some random things about myself. So, for all of you Laura Duet fans out there, this will be lots of fun! (GRANT WOOD)
1. I took a lot of art history courses in college. Featured in this post are some of my favorite artists. If anyone can name all of the artists, except for the last picture posted, which is a compilation, you will win a prize!!!! A prize suited just for you! First one with the correct answer is the winner! (JOHN SINGER SARGENT)
2. I once got to go visit on the set of General Hospital and met Anthony Geary! As soon as I can dig up the picture I had taken with him I will post it for you. (JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY)
3. Many times I will hear a song and I think if I had a band I would do a cover version of that song. The song that I would do first is Signs by Five Man Electrical Band. (EDOUARD MANET)
4. Sometimes I get sad because I know I will never get to go to all the places I would love to visit (Japan, China, Barcelona, Africa, England, Paris, St. Petersburg, Maine, etc., etc. (KANDINSKY)
5. I love to laugh until I cry and can hardly breathe. (EDWARD HOPPER)

6. My most favorite thing to do is to read books in bed.

BONUS INFORMATION

7. One of my happiest occasions is when I am on the Bainbridge Ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. It is so relaxing!

8. I briefly had a job as an author escort; ferrying authors from their hotels to bookstores for book signings. The nicest author I met was Ann B. Ross.

I am supposed to tag some people now....however, I think many of you have already done this one; but if you want to share some random self-information; please let me know!!!

Placekeeper

I really am going to try to do a "real" blog entry this week; in the meantime here is a placekeeper. As you can tell by the picture above, I am still consumed with my renewed love of cross-stitching.

Last Friday night I want to a very great cross-stitch shop, The Country Cupboard, in Orland Park, Illinois and had a stitch-in with some women there. There was pizza served and everyone worked on their respective projects, talked and laughed. It was a great entry to the weekend.

This week will be a very weird one. Mike had to travel for work and will be gone all week. I get kind of directionless when he is gone. I have some movies to watch, some cross-stitch to do, and Wally Lamb's new book comes out on Tuesday so that all will keep me busy. But obviously I will miss my husband while he is gone. Before he goes away I think greedily of all that I will do when I am on my own, and then when he is gone I just want him to come back already!

One exciting thing that happened tonight was that I started a new cross-stitch project on linen. I have stitched on Aida and evenweave fabric; but never linen as I thought it was too hard. The stitching on linen looks superior to everything else (to me at least) and so far tonight I have successfully stitched one whole word on the linen and I feel like this is something I can definitely do. So, wahoo on that!

I have the movies Enchanted, The Painted Veil and Memoirs of a Geisha to watch this week. Also, I own the movies Funny Girl and Moulin Rouge which I want to watch again.

Hope everyone has a good week! Things are looking up in America!

October 31st

Don't eat too much candy!!!!!! Happy Halloween!

Must See!

I watched this movie after work today. It is a must see people! It is a documentary about a group of octogenarians who sing in a choir together. The twist is they sing rock songs! They have a younger choir leader who teaches them the songs and then they put their own spin on the songs. Their rendition of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash is priceless. They also do "Road to Nowhere" by The Talking Heads and "Golden Years" by David Bowie.

In addition to the singing shown in the documentary we also get to know individual members of the choir. We really come to understand that their passion for singing and being a member of this choir is so important to them in their old age. It is a reason to keep going, it is a way to be productive, and a way to spread joy. Do whatever you have to; but get this movie! It is out on DVD. I ordered it from our library.

Jaunting

Last Saturday I went on a jaunt all by myself! Mike had to work on some reports so I thought I would drive to the nearby cross-stitch shop. I went and was not too inspired. They have a lot in the shop; but it was all crammed in there and I was just not feeling a friendly vibe. I really wanted to talk "stitching" with people and could see that was not about to happen. So, I thought to myself, why not drive over to The Country Cupboard in Orland Park? It would only take about 30-45 minutes. I have a fun car to drive and great music to listen to. (Usually when I am just by myself I don't really want to go that far, not because of the distance, just because I get kind of sick of myself when I don't have a co-rider to entertain me).
Well, I hit the jackpot. The Country Cupboard is a gorgeous store with tons of samples, tons of charts, and everything is organized very well. Barb, the owner, is so nice and welcoming. She had time for all my questions. As you can see from the pictures above I got some new charts, and most importantly I got the magnifying clamp that you see above. That makes things really easy. I am going to try and stitch on linen sometime soon so the magnifier is a must!

I even went out to lunch solo! I ate a Panerra and had a fabulous bowl of Cream of Tomato with Asiago cheese soup.
Mr. Buddy says Happy Monday night!

Happy Friday!

Well, isn't this the cutest cherry pie ever??? Our last day in Ohio was spent lunching at Julie's mom's home and she made us this pie! The smiley face is an extra touch that I really appreciate.

Today is Friday! A day that is always filled with tons of possibilities and dreams about how the weekend will be spent. I wish I had dreams (and the inclination) of working-out, eating right, and housework. However, truth be told, I have dreams of long naps, reading a good book, hanging out with Mike, going to the movies, spending long stretches of time in a bookstore, spending the day cross-stitching, going antique hunting, going to a needlework store, going out for lunch..........Well you get the picture. I have a long list of ideas and not enough time or money for all of it.

But that is okay, once I settle myself down I am quite content to hang around the house and just be. (of course, I have an ace up my sleeve, I just discovered a darling cross-stitch shop a few towns over and plan to sneak over there this weekend!). I am also hoping to finish my current book so that I can start, The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield. I plan on cross-stitching while watching the Bears game with Mike. And if I got any touch of motivation I will wash a floor or two!

Have a great weekend People!

Cross Stitch in Ohio

My current obsession with cross-stitch continues. However, I have spent more time visiting stitching blogs and looking at designs than I have actually stitched. I think that is because I have been pooped after work; I am hoping this weekend brings the time and energy to get stitching. I plan on getting a book on tape and listening to that while I stitch this weekend.
These pictures are all from Cross My Heart in Columbus, Ohio. Last weekend my friends were kind enough to take me here even though none of them have the stitching fever. I walked into the store and declared myself in heaven. It is chock full of great samples and charts. I really could have spent several hours there.
I bought a pattern that I thought was a woman cross-stitching; but once I got in the car and read it I realized she was looking at a plan of her garden. Oh poo! I do not garden and the chart looks kind of hard. Now this week I am obsessed with two new companies, Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks. (If I understand it right this is a Mother and Daughter team!) I had one of their designs in my hand, but since I could only buy one I decided to go with the one that would be a challenge. Wrong!!! I should have bought the Country Cottage chart. So I am on the hunt; either on the internet or if I should just happen to be in the vicinity of a cross stitch store.........

I love to see all the samples!!!! You probably cannot see it, but if you enlarge this picture do you see the Christmas Fairy who is framed with a red mat???? Someday I will stitch this!!! I loved it!

Going to the Dogs!

We returned from our trip to Kim and Julie's with a big crush on Miss Nellie who is pictured above with Jane. What a sweetheart!!! Oh yeah, and Kim and Julie were pretty nice too! Kim and Julie have 8 dogs! It sounds crazy and it is a busy place; but these are all dogs they have rescued! Jane was really trying to get permission to take Nellie home; but Nellie is a package deal with her Great Dane friend Ruby.
Look at that face!!!!
So you can get an idea in the difference in sizes; we go from a St. Bernard to a Pomeranian! The dogs are: Biggie (above), Vera (below), Kaj, Ruby, Dakota, Parker, Nellie, and Chance Marie. They are all very lovely and well-behaved doggies.
Below you see Jane with the Great Danes, Kaj and Ruby. I have never seen such big dogs before. Kaj is very tall.
We ran around a lot and saw lots of different sites.
Here we are at a very interesting market place in Columbus where you can get any kind of food you want. Above is me, Jane and Julie "peekering" out.
Above is Kim, Julie, and Jane (sitting on a pumkin!)
Of course we had to hit some antique shops!!! I did not buy the drinking glass set above; but only because I have several already. I love the glasses in the holders.
Okay, I usually wear really comfortable clothing (to say the least); but sometimes I wish there were days when I could wear something like this (and fit into it!)
One of our first stops on Saturday morning was the local library where Julie and Kim get their books from. I love to check out other people's libraries. This one is gorgeous!

We had a wonderful weekend talking, laughing, shopping, petting dogs and generally just hanging out with Kim and Julie! Thank you gals for your hospitality!

Road Trip!

Tomorrow night after work my friend, Jane, and I are flying to Columbus, Ohio. We are going to visit our friends Kim and Julie in their natural habitat!!!! Should be a gas; they have been to our homes several times and now we get to see how the other half lives! They also have a few doggies for us to smooch!!! Looking forward to laughing, shopping, drinking Starbucks, and eating pumpkin ice cream, hummus and Mexican food (not all at once, don't worry!).
Yesterday I found this magazine and it is so much fun!!! There are a ton of cool Christmas ornaments that I would like to make. Luckily for me my Mom knows how to finish them into ornaments.
The rest of this pictures are taken from my Prairie Schooler cross-stitch charts. Can you believe I have these sitting around for several years and have not made them! They are all so cool I just want to make them right now!
On the bottom is a new chart I just got. I think I like collecting the charts as much as I do making the projects!
Hope you all have a good weekend!!!! and please let the Cubs advance in the play-offs. My husband is almost bereft at this point...we need a win tonight!