confessions of a blueberry bandit

The seven-year-old in me is forever heartbroken...

This is how I choose to remember Michael Jackson...  Fresh-faced and so tremendously talented... my biggest childhood heartthrob, my first concert, still one of my all-time favorite pop stars.  To be honest, I can't help feeling like he died long ago...  It pained me to watch his life turn so tragically sad and scandalous.  His sparkling glove will shine in my heart and my memory forever.  Rest in peace, Michael...

(Now I'm going to listen to Off the Wall over and over again to chase the sadness of it all away.)

Reluctant Progress Note #17: Goodbye September...

Hello, hello on this second-to-last day of September! 
I am SO EXCITED about the arrival of October, not only because it is my very favorite month, but also because of a wonderful surprise adventure... 

I am going (back) to New York!!! 

M Coast is will be driving up to perform at  CMJ, and then Andy & I are lingering several more days to have our first proper vacation in three years!  We will be staying with my BFFs Kasia & Tal  in beautiful Brooklyn and then taking a train (a train!!!) home.  Kasia is already planning an extensive cupcake tour of all the best bakeries, among other things.  We have been friends since the seventh grade, despite the fact that she once (accidentally) set me on fire.  I was pretty sad when she decided to relocate the the big city.  I am hoping to spend some time with another of my oldest friends, Chris, as well.  And crossing my fingers with  all my might that I might get to have a rendezvous with my TV boyfriend, Conan O'Brien!  I tried several years ago to wait for standby tickets to a taping of his show at some ungodly hour of the morning, only to realize the show didn't tape that day!  I was crushed, to say the least.  Maybe it will work out this time.  (If not, there is also my other boyfriend, John Stewart...)

On the Progress front, I still (very typically) have several unfinished projects and dozens of partially-formed ideas floating around.  October seems to fly by faster than any month, and that means The Holidays are right around the corner!  I am hoping to be a little better prepared this year and to participate in some holiday craft sales.  Hoping. 

In the mean time, please meet Marnie!

How nice to have a little garden on her head!  I have to finish attaching said garden to her head, and then I will be listing her in my shop. 

Most of my unfinished projects involve sewing, from which I need to take a little break.  (I know, I know, I should just finish them, but...)  If I can steal a little bit of time, I am feeling in the mood to paint and to...  break out the Print Gocco for the first time in many long months!

I am trying very hard to maintain focus these days, never quite keeping up with work or crafting.  Perhaps it is the growing fall fever I'm experiencing, or maybe because of this:

See what I'm up against?  She is absolutely RUTHLESS! 

Well, free time will not magically appear if I keep meandering through this post. 

I hope everyone has the loveliest of weekends! 

Reluctant Progress Note #10: Gertalicious

Indulge me for just a moment... I just have to say, D to the E to L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!! There.  It's out of my system. I promise I will never do it again!  Very much to my chagrin, I am currently obsessed with a certain repetitive song by Fergie.  It's an unpleasant consequence of working with someone who loves Top-40s radio.  Anyway...

Please welcome Gertie... She's Lola's slightly more attractive sister!  I have very reluctantly listed her in my shop.   I spent a very romantic Valentine's evening on the couch with Junebug and a giant heap of felt (and one of my dearest TV Boyfriends, Conan O'Brien...) What a lovely love-child I produced!  It may sound terrible, but I am so in love with this little creature!

I don't have time for a full post today, but I promise I'll be back soon.  I hope everyone had a lovely Wednesday/ Valentine's Day!   

I Choo-Choo-Choose You... To Be My Valentine!

This is Lola... I made her for Emily's birthday, which is so conveniently close to Valentine's Day!  (Sorry for the somewhat blurry pic...)   I am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day, but I do love any excuse for pink and red and, of course, hearts! 

I suppose I am a lucky gal, because I have some very dedicated and sweet Valentines:

The first being Junebug, who very thoughtfully brought me a tiny bird yesterday... She had never done this before and, sad as it was, I was awfully flattered.  I think the little hint of Spring in the air has brought out her feral side.  My little runt of a feline has suddenly revealed herself as the neighborhood bully and insists on picking fights with an orange cat who is three times bigger.  I'll have you know, my Junebug is one tough broad!

And of course, my beloved Andy... The poor thing has to work tonight and is currently trying to catch up on months of lost sleep.   We sort of decided not to spend any money on Valentine's Day this year, but I think I'm going to sneak out tonight and get him a little treat.  (Something boy-like and totally unromantic...)  He works so hard!  And, yeah, it's been said before, but there just aren't enough words or gifts or gestures to express how much I love him.  Sigh...

And then there are all of my special Valentines in Blogland... You didn't think I would forget, did you?  Here's wishing lots of love today and every day to all of you!!! I'm going to share some yummy pink strawberry milkshakes (made with fresh strawberries!), served in my favorite glasses.  I hope you enjoy them!   

xoxo,

sara k.

Unrequited Love... by Sara K.

Do you remember your very first crush?  I do... I was five years old, and I was madly in love with Ponch.  Every time CHIPS came on, my little heart went pitter-patter... (My sister liked the other guy, but I never went for the blonde pretty-boy types. ) My love for Ponch was intense, but it did not last forever.  Ponch was quickly replaced by none other than Handy Smurf.  Really, I had a crush on a Smurf...didn't everyone?  He was, in my opinion, the most well-balanced and handsome of all the Smurfs-- brilliant, yet, humble and so darned handy...  What can I say, I guess I'm a sucker for a guy with a pencil tucked behind his ear at all times.  (But, oh, how I loathed that hussie Smurfette and her constant need for attention!)  Handy sort-of fell by the wayside after I watched The King and I with my grandmother and instantly fell for Yul Brynner... Somehow it seemed like a forbidden love, and I kept it very secret until I was a teenager.  He was so otherworldly with those pointy ears...

Of course, all others paled in comparison to the true love of my young life: Michael Jackson.  He was still human at that point, and I loved him.  I had a poster on the wall which I dutifully kissed each night before bed.  I made my mom buy every magazine in the grocery store with even the slightest mention of him.  (I don't have to tell you that I was devastated when his hair caught on fire during the filming of that Pepsi commercial... )   I even had a Michael Jackson doll.  He sported tiny white glittery socks and glove, and he was close enough in size to date Barbie.  By some amazing stroke of luck, my mother managed to get tickets for the Jacksons' Victory Tour.  My sister and I wore matching mini-skirts and Michael Jackson t-shirts.  Our seats were in the second-to-top row, but it didn't matter.  We both screamed the entire time.  Eventually I worked up the courage to write him a letter professing my undying love.  He never wrote back.  I was only seven then, and my heart is still broken, to this very day...

 

I confessed all of this to Emily tonight over a peppermint mocha, and I swear I detected a little tear in her eye as she acknowledged an old flame for Richard Dreyfuss.  Ah, such is life!  With my long history of unrequited love, I can't help but to feel incredibly fortunate and thankful to have met my sweet Andy.  He possesses so many of the qualities I so adored in my early loves.  I just wish I could convince him to wear a sparkly glove or at least a pencil...  Oh, and if I could just get Progress to love me, too!  

Please forgive me for this silly post...  I promise the next one will involve some actual Progress!  I wish everyone out in blog-land a lovely Thanksgiving /week!