I accept gifts at all times of the year.

So the good thing about colder weather is getting to shop for warmer clothes. 

You may be saying "Oh Kayla, that's not true.  Autumn and Winter are magical times of snowflakes in the moonlight and romantic hot apple cider evenings.   Sledding merrily with children down snow-covered hills.  Giving gifts to the ones you love.  Pumpkin pies and Christmas songs on the radio!  These are the things that make the cold months so wonderful!"  And you would imply through your lack of mentioning that you disagree that the best thing about this season is the excuse it provides you with to buy more things to put on your chilly bod.  How wordly!  How materialistic one would have to be!

And you'd be right.  But deep down, deep deep down in your cheery, charitable, Winter-loving soul a teeny piece of you would be nodding its head and saying "Oh Kayla, you are so wise."

Not, of course, that drinking cider with loved ones and gift-giving are not completely noble and wonderful things to do, but aren't they made all the wonderfuler when you're wrapped in cozy and stylish new winterwear? 

Say what you will, but I'm confident part of you will be nodding in empathy as I dream of raking leaves and having snowball fights in a delicious sweatshirt, like this one from MungoCrafts:

*Sigh*  And thus starts the silly Christmas list dreaming.

Saying "sanpellegrino" makes me feel fancy.

This is probably my favorite drink.

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I might like it better like this:

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But it tastes good in can form too.

WHO NEEDS IT

So, I've decided to write a blog post.  I don't know yet if it'll be the big humongous catch-up post I've been needing to write, but we'll see.  The day is still (quite) young.

My mind's all full of this and that and the what-not.  I'm exhausted, but once I laid down to bed I found that sleep (oh, that tantalizing mistress) wasn't interested in me.  I knew this because Maya (the dog) was snoring a snore that sounded like phlegm was actually alive and thriving inside her nasal cavities in like little phlegmy towns and communities, bustling and talking to eachother with their gurgly, gasping voices.  The other reason I knew sleep wouldn't come is because my finger (this one, right here) was twitching.  A lot.  And it was so very annoying. 

So I got up.  And I played video games. 

And I rocked.  At.  Video.  Games.

A moment for twitching phalanges and muscles.  I've had a lot of those lately.  I recently went through a solid week of a different muscle in my face twitching each day.  Is that normal?  It didn't feel normal.  I'm ginormously positive it didn't look normal.  Then I guess I calmed down or something cause they went away, until tonight with the finger.  For Pete's sake, how annoying are muscle twitches!  Is there a witch doctor for that?  Give me her number.

(NO TIME FOR A SEGUE WAY SO JUST GO WITH IT)

Are you interested in seeing the mix I made for that swap thing?  Joke's on you cause you don't have a choice.  Here it is!

1. Sea of Love - Cat Power
2. Fools Rush In -  Lick The Tins
3. Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
4. Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
5. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? - Jimi Hendrix
6. Love You Madly - Cake
7. Bad Romance -  Lady Gaga
8. Love Fool - The Cardigans
9. Beauty *2 - Ladytron
10. All You Want - Dido
11. Lost Cause - Beck
12. I Don't Love You - My Chemical Romance
13. Too Pieces - Yaz
14. Better Days - Josh Joplin

My plan was to create a fictional love story with the songs, using the idea that love is most commonly very stormy to tie in with the theme (radical love storm.)  That's been my experience, anyway.  Love tastes so good when you first bite into it, you practically fall head-first into it's deliciousness.  Sometimes not able to tell if it's a good one or not.  And things can change drastically.  Go back and read your journal entries from high school if you've forgotten what it's like. 

I ended the mix on a happy note, as though the fictional characters made up and things worked out in the end.  ("Better Days" is a happy song, and has personal meaning for me.)  You'd probably have to listen to the whole thing to know what I'm talking about.

BY THE WAY, I've yet to receive a cd from my partner.  I'm lookin' at you, Kreutz.


Guys, I'm going to bed now.  This is way too long.  Send me some good vibes, okay?

What are you into?

How CUTE are these polar bears?!?

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Nostalgia, the good kind.

Found this old Livejournal post in my archives from before we were married or even engaged.  Tony was living with my mom and stepdad and me, right after he moved from California, and then as always he had to leave for work early in the morning.  (This was also back when I refused to capitalize anything, which I'm still getting used to not doing.)

excruciatingly broke, and a little lonely.  but otherwise very good.  spending time with the boy left nothing to be desired except more time.  i could spend every night wrapped in arms and pajamas, talking about everything we can think of, falling asleep to indiana jones.  and every morning hearing my door softly open and close followed by whispered kisses on my cheek.  it's like he's already a part of the family.  we know that neither of us are in a hurry, and neither of us are going anywhere with our hearts.

i like that he's someone who will cover himself in fake pirate tattoos with me, and give me puppy dog kisses.  it's very soul happyfying.

{edit}
Had to include this one as well, cause it makes me giggle.  (It's a list of "quiet thrills".)

the male nurse who said "if you do, i'll judo chop you" to my sister when she said she wanted to take the tube out of my dad's nose at the hospital.

my brother telling my dad they shaved his eyebrows and then re-drew them on angry style while he was in surgery (they didn't, but my dad believed him.)

not seeing a friend for a while, and then going out for dinner with him and feeling as though you still talk every day.

trying to keep a laugh attack silent in the middle of church.

the baby birds in the low nest in my front yard.

"more like a nonja."

summer.

Yadda Yadda YAY

Sometimes, I log onto my blogger account and see that I suddenly have 15 followers (!) only to realize that no, the group art blog I belong to has 15 followers.  Then I chuckle ruefully to myself and write a sentence or two about it.

Okay, so the official deadline is upon us.  You have until midnight to finish and send your cds.  Oh okay you can put them in the mail tomorrow, but that's it.  I know some of you are over-achievers and have already sent your mixes, but I am just a born slacker.

Goodnight everyone.  Tomorrow I will share pictures of the latest exciting thing in my life and maybe talk about my California trip a little.  

But right now I have to drink tea, and put me and T. Wade to bed.  Night y'all.

Let's Not Be Hasty

Hi, I'm just calling to say that due to circumstances being what they are, I'm gonna go ahead and push the deadline to this swap thingy back one day.  

Because I'm just not going to make it.  And it's probably only fair that I give everyone else an extra day to get their mixes mixed and in the mailbox.

Now I have to go to the store real quick to pick up a healthy snack for a church meeting tonight.  (Why is healthy so much more difficult to produce than unhealthy?  I can do unhealthy with the greatest of ease.)  

Here's to hoping 5 other people don't show up with a veggie tray!

Peace Out

Hi!

So I'm scampering off to California for the weekend and won't be back until Monday night (and will absolutely not be posting on the blog whilst gone) and wanted to get one last reminder out there to the Mixdisc Swap participators to HAVE YOUR CDs IN THE MAIL BY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12TH.  This reminder is also to me because my mix isn't even all the way finished yet and I just realized that TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12TH is this coming Tuesday.  I know, I'm bad with dates (calendar type and boy type).  

So, have an awesome weekend, see you Tuesday!

love,

kayla

For every good one, there's 10 bad.

Time for another romp through Etsy! 

I need these.

A bit bulky, but cute nonetheless.

I love the colors in this pretty garland.

Rad.

This baby blanket is so sweet.

Can you tell what I'm thinking about tonight?

 

Excited for Conference

This pretty much sums up most of what my mind's been on lately.

Found here.

Mixes & Pumpkins & Good TV

Alright, the Mixdisc Swap is fully underway!  Participants should have received an e-mail from me tonight giving you your randomly-generated partners (literally pulled from a hat.)  I hope you're all working your magic in iTunes or whatever other music program you prefer.  My mix is in the refining stage and I think it's turning out pretty sweet.

Remember, the deadline to have your cd IN THE MAIL is Tuesday, October 12th.  Go ahead and give the rules another read-over, but mostly just remember to burn your disc as a cd, not an mp3. 

Not that that's a big deal either, just...you know.



So we spent our Friday eating voluptuous pork burritos from Cafe Rio and watching "The Good Guys", while cuddling with the pup (whether we wanted to or not.)  Then Tony went to bed early because he ate the WHOLE burrito like a crazy man and had to lie down and digest.  I ate a more reasonable 3/4s of my burrito and so was able to stay up later to make a pumpkin.

I know most of you have probably already seen this tutorial a dozen times, but I really really love it and want to share the love.  Crissy and I have plans to get together and make some, but I wanted to make a practice pumpkin - and plus I've been really dying to try it for about a year.  Mine didn't turn out all that great, mostly because I don't have the right needle to sew the yarn through the pumpkin with, nor the right stuffing.  (I used pulled-apart cotton  balls.  Not ideal.)  Maybe I'll post a picture of the little guy later, but in the meantime I hope to find some better, Autumn-esque fabric and the right tools for when we try again. 

Yay for decorating for Fall in this Indian Summer we're having!

Any plans fo the week en?
love, kayla