Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Big Snow

I went on a cleaning spree, and finally organized some bookshelves, and gave Hans the bottom part of the small one, to add to his cavernous box hoarding habits.
Tomatoes are doing very well!
And then the snow came. Apparently its the second biggest snowfall Philadelphia has seen since they started recording.As I was taking pictures of the snow, I noticed this guy, hanging out atop the bar across the street:
My once rooftop garden:
Hans pondering this stuff!
Now that I am so used to spending my time alone, and rather calmly, any sort of movement makes me nervous. I went to Sarah's this weekend for her Christmas party, but spent much too long fidgeting about the trip. Of course the snow didn't help, but everything turned out just fine, and we had a lovely time.

Sarah, Megan, Amelia, and Sarah's sister Kate.
So much fun! Cleaning off the cars!
In addition to feeding everyone, Sarah's parents even got us small gifts, mine was this lovely candle. Our first candle, and of course Hans wants it all for himself.
It really does smell nice in here. I just need to avoid temptation to play with the wax, I always ruin my best candles by playing with them!
And Hanukkah is over, but I hadn't gotten around to photographing this beauty: my grandmother found this awesome sake set at her thrift store. Of course all she does is gape at how much beer I consume, so I can do my part by finding some sake and at least being foreign and therefore classy about it? Haha!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Tea Shelf!

I have been dying for an adorable tea shelf for ages, but it turns out that one from Ikea works just fine!
And the shelf that the tea was occupying, is now home for everything that used to occupy the table! Making progress!

Looks like Hans will be getting a shiny new cardboard box for christmas!

In other news, I have been applying for jobs like wildfire! Well, more like 2 or 3 per day, which really isn't bad at all. Although, there is a limit to what one can find on Craigslist, Monster, Careerbuilder, and Monster via PhiladelphiaInquirer.com. But at this point I have a few few-days long trips lasting until January, so I'm still enjoying it, much to my future dismay!

So after I applied to Third Federal Bank, which is a few blocks from me, I realized there were a lot of cats hanging out in one spot. At first I thought it was only two, but no:





That's a lot of cats!

And then I went to Circle Thrift and ran into some girls I knew at MICA! Sam is living in Philadelphia, and Susannah was visiting her, but her place isn't exactly around the corner, so it was extra cool. How delightful!

And I'm not going to tell the tale of how someone smashed my tiny car window for fun, and how insurance doesn't cover it but they referred me to a place that was charging $178, but luckily, the auto place next door said they would do it for $140, tomorrow morning. So, tell me, did I actually just save $40? Sure!

Well fellow bloggers, its almost xmas, and I still have some shoppin' to do!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Tippler's Tour, Print Auction, and Happy Hanukkah!

The End Of Year Party at Eastern State (which is different from the Last Day Happy 6 Hours, and also The Christmas Party) can be summed up by the following image (its Eastern State, for those of you without the creative interpretive eye):

It was what they called the Tippler's Tour: basically we went to several hot spots in Fairmount, like, Eastern State, the houses of staff members, and Jack's Firehouse. All stops were loaded with drinks, snacks, and ...us. We had a really nice time, and then wonderful Andrew came to drive me home because there was just no way.

Thursday I took the trolley for the first time, all the way down Girard Ave, to get my car.

The basil plants finally died. I thought it was because it was so hot in the apartment, but maybe its because they needed more sun.

Hans is doing well. He is currently tormented by a tiny fly, of whom he cannot get the better.

Last night was the Print Auction at Project Basho. They are doing a whole month of fundraisers, some of which are doing well. Here is the newsletter that Grisha made for the Print Sale. Notice anything awesome about it? That's right, my donated print was featured. Sweet. It did sell too, for $50, of course it went to Basho which is cool: I gave Alex, the highest (and onliest) bidder, my business card so that he can further his collection. He was really nice, and insisted that I sign it. Cool dude.

Lastly, Happy Hanukkah! Nearly 6 months ago, I bought a cover for my down quilt from IKEA, but since it is too hot for the down quilt, I never had it brought from mom's house. However, it has been under 32 degrees outside lately, and especially at night, which means that it is finally cold enough inside the apartment, to use all of my blankets! (For most of the night, at least). And so, I was able to open my first present, sponsored by the Great Check from Nanny and Poppy, and it was a good first night of Hanukkah.

I have also been knitting again, which is awesome, and productive.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Spring 2010 at Basho: Complete!

So today was food shopping and laundry for the first time since Halloween. I got a wonderful amount of painting done the other night, and I'll work a bit tonight too! Really, I just wanted to share the Spring 2010 course listing for Project Basho that I have been working on for the past two months. Anne started it, and she also finished up the last bit yesterday. Thank you, and goodnight.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Art!

Friday night was fun: my friend Erika took me to the Crane Arts building. It was First Friday, and she knows the woman who owns the building. We stopped by the Slingluff Gallery, which I have been eyeing for some time: I think that the wonderful Ms Darcey Young's work belongs in this space. Just a feeling.

Yesterday I went to Reading Terminal Market again, to have lunch with Victoria. I lost my umbrella, which I really liked and Amelia's grandparents got me for Christmas a few years ago! Well, I suppose all good things must come to an end. And besides, Claire bought an absolutely stunning umbrella last year that I can't stop thinking about. I hope losing mine wasn't a freudian solution to this obsession!

Here is a video of Hans jumping into the box, and out of the box, and into the box, and out of the box:



Last night Celia and I went to a sort of continuation of First Friday: the 2424 Studios had a craft fair, as well as at the Rotunda, which also hosted the 10th Annual Puppet Uprising show. Celia had been dying to go, and so we did. A lot of it was good, some of it was excellent, and some of it was silly and a little obnoxious. Over all we had a great time, and of course we ran into Jovanna, who lives downstairs and who might be dating the emcee of the show?

And today, is painting day.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Tis the Holiday Season!

I am officially "on holiday", as I am choosing to call my current unemployment. Honestly, it feels great! I have worked hard for 6 months, and saved enough that I can afford some time off without having to take time off from a job, as that always makes me feel guilty.

I am applying for several totally awesome jobs for which I am totally qualified! I won't list them here, but when I get hired, ya'll will be the first to know. In the meantime, Celia helped me rewrite my resume last night, and I have never seen anything more beautiful!


Please share at will!

In other news, Thanksgiving was lovely, and no pictures were taken. My mom came to visit, and we had so much good food at Celia's house-sitting house, with her parents and nana, as well as her roommate and roommate's boyfriend. I can't believe it was only a week ago! Since then, I had my last 3 days at Eastern State, followed by drunken celebration (the first night of many leading up to the Christmas party). Here are some images from that fateful night!

Collen!Julia!The crew donning Joe's infamous masks (often made while working, or not working, in the store)

This week was also my last days as Assistant to Project Basho, and Anne returned yesterday. I spent my last two days sorting Onward submissions, and Anne is finishing up the webpages and final information for the course listing. I have plenty of monitoring hours to redeem, and so this month will be wonderfully art related!

Andrew and I went to Reading Terminal Market:
And believe it or not, I finally met his boyfriend Andre! We had a really nice time, and I even stayed for dinner and against my better judgement, did not embarrass Andrew to death with stories from High School!