Fiestaware News Flash

Rumor has it that the next Fiestaware color will be released in June of 2006 and it is called "Heather". No word on the exact hue yet because from searching the 'net it looks like it could go a thousand different ways. So for your viewing pleasure, a lovely image of some Scottish Heather for you.

A Plethora of Parties

This must be the mid-winter blahs party weekend, because everyone I know is having a party.

Last night Mr. Lilac and I went to very exclusive "invitation by birthright only" type of party. Every female there was named Amy. Granted, only four of us showed up with our spouses/s.o.'s, but it was still kind of cool that every woman in the room was named Amy and that we all went to high school together and we are still friends. The best part is that every one of us knew exactly who we were talking about and never did anyone say "which one?" Apparently all of us Amys are used to it by now.

Tonight I have been invited to two parties. The first sounds like a lot of fun and my husband and I have been planning on going to it all week. Steph and Andre are having a party for Robert Burn's Night, a big Scottish Bru-ha-ha that should be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I looked at the evite response list and no one I know will even be there! In fact, I can't even get Holly, Steph's sister, to return my message to let me know she's not coming either! (SEE? She never calls me, not even to return a message.*sniff*) The only people I would know at this party is Steph's family and it's looking like none of them are going to be there so I think we may not be going. I know, how lame. I'd love to go but signs are pointing more and more towards not.

The second party tonight is a drunken bar fest back in my hometown. One of my BFF's BILs is turning 40 and we have been invited to bar hop and play pool. We are definately passing on this one. The last time they had one of these shindigs they were carrying drunk 40 year olds out of bars and piling them up in the back of a truck. Nice.

Don't Piss Off Oprah

Yesterday I just happened to catch the Oprah show everybody is talking about where author James Frey confessed that he made up details in his memoir "A Million Little Pieces." It was brutal. I felt really sorry for the guy. I never read the book (of course I want to now) but the tiny little details Oprah was debating him on seemed ridiculous to me. The exact way someone committed suicide? If he changed the way it was done isn't he only protecting the person who actually did it? Whether or not he had noviccaine during a dental procedure? Is he really wanted in three states? Come on. From what I can tell the facts he changed hurt no one but himself and his credentials. I think Oprah is in a tissy because she backed this book 100% without taking into account that this is a memoir, not an autobiography, not "based on a true story", but a memoir. Maybe she doesn't know the definition of a memoir.

Webster's defines a memoir as "a narrative composed from personal experience." A story based on your memories. Not based on fact, but based on your memories.

The funny thing is I probably would have been on Oprah's side if I hadn't been following a similar story. Nicole Lea Helget is receiving critical praise for her memoirs about growing up on a farm in Minnesota. The problem is that her family claims none of it happened (nor could have happened) and they've got all kinds of proof to back them up. She has also made accusations that are considered slanderous to most of the people in the book. (Her family has started lawsuits but can't financially go through with them.) The thing that bothers me a lot more about this case and not Frey's is that Helget's book was published by the Minnesota Historical Society. A historical society is publishing fictional memoirs? That's not cool, especially coming from a historical society.

So what's worse? Calling your book a memoir and changing some facts or calling your book a memoir and making up entire stories that no one else can recall? And wouldn't a historical society want to lean towards the historical truth rather than stories floating around in your memory?

Apparently Frey placed himself in a train accident (he wasn't there) where two teenage girls were killed. I think one of the mother's of the girls summed it up best on the Smoking Gun- "I figured he was taking license...he's a writer, you know, they don't tell everything that's factual and true."

Do you think this story would have been as big if Oprah hadn't made such a huge deal about it? Probably not since it was published two years before it made Oprah's book club.

More on Oprah and her book club later.........

Remember Sassy Magazine?

If you were a teenage girl in the late 80's then I'm sure you remember Sassy Magazine. This isn't a retrospective of Sassy, I can always do that some other time. This is a post about projects started and never completed.

On page 44 of the December 1988 issue there is a photo of two models laying on a bed, see picture above. I fell in love with that quilt and I was determined to reproduce it. Now mind you, I had been sewing for half of my life but I'd never made a quilt nor did I have any idea as to how to start it. I knew my grandma made a lot of things by making her own patterns so I thought I'd do it the way she did it. I got some newspaper, cut some squares and voila! Instant pattern. Eventually I never finished the quilt and it went into a plastic shoebox labeled "Sassy quilt" and has sat in my closet for years.

Cut to January 2006. EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER, PEOPLE. I'm cleaning out my craft room and I come across this box again. This box of stuff for a quilt that I've been putting off until I have time to do it. Well, seeing as how I'm only working part-part-time right now I figure this is the time to do it. So I dug it out and laid out all of the pieces I had cut while I was in high school.

I have enough pieces cut for a king size quilt. That's a hell of a lot of pieces, baby.

So I started sewing them together and this what it's looking like-
Close but not quite. A little too country for me and I think my squares should have been bigger. Most of the squares are crooked or slanted but that's o.k., I was young and this was my first time. I'll let you know when it's finished.

BTW, the picture of the two girls on the bed is an actual scan of the very same issue that inspired me. I found it in my stash of Sassys I have tucked away at my parent's house.

For Some Weird Reason I Want This.

Venus of Willendorf Soap Molds.

In other news....Chris Penn? And on the day before your movie is being previewed at Sundance? (Of which BTW I am really looking forward to seeing.) So sad. Now, if only someone had him in their death pool....that's big points at only 40 years old.

Speaking of film festivals, I've always wanted to go to Sundance. I've actually been to Park City and it's a beautiful place. I supose I'd have better luck getting over to Toronto for their film festival every September though. Hmmmm.....there's a thought.

I'm working on a quilt right now. I actually started it in high school, I'm just now getting around to finishing it. We'll see how it goes. I'll post pictures later....

Hours of Girly Fun

Go to Paper Doll Heaven for hours of girly fun. There is even a section on "makeovers" that is just like playing beauty shop with those giant doll heads. Check it out!

The World's Largest Christmas Store is a Strange Place To Go Right After Christmas.

It was really strange. Hardly anybody was there, there weren't any after Christmas sales and Christmas music was still all around you. It was just strange, really. And the killer part was everything was still full price.

And for Holly and Stephanie, here is a picture of the Pickle Ornament display they had at Bronner's, the World's Largest Christmas Store. What was really disturbing, was this "Hiding Pickle" ornament that I couldn't get a really good picture of, but I'm sure you'd appreciate it anyway. It's a goofy looking pickle peeking out from underneath a green cape. Just for you.

Mmmm....Chocolate.

For Christmas a friend of mine got me the Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate Gift Set. It includes a tin can of Belgium dark chocolate infused with peppermint oil and a box of giant homemade marshmallows. Dee-lish. My husband and I are hooked.

WTF???

This is my fortune from a fortune cookie the other night. WTF??? Cookies sleep?? This has got to be bad chi or something.

A Salute to Librarians

The other night my husband and I watched the coolest action/adventure movie ever- The Librarian: Quest For the Spear. It was awesome! Definitely the best (and only) action adventure movie I've ever sat through. It was amazing because the hero (the Librarian) had to use his brains to figure things out. Imagine that. Using the facts in your head to solve the problems that lie before you. Who'd have thunk it.

I've also been hooked lately on the Book Lust series written by Nancy Pearl, the Seattle librarian who started the "One Book, One City" initiative, a project that sprouted all of the book clubs you see everywhere these days. Nancy Pearl is also the original model for Archie McPhee's Librarian Action Figure.

I would like to mention that this is NOT a salute to the mean, old children's librarian I had to deal with in my local library as a kid. She was evil, she had the thickest German accent I'd ever heard and she ran the children's section like the Gestapo. She would refuse me the right to check out books she thought were too old for me. (I was reading at a 12th grade level by the 3rd-4th grade.) I distinctly remember her refusing me a Judy Blume book and when I went upstairs (to the adult section) to tell my dad, he immediately went downstairs to check out the book for me with me right behind him. HA. She was not happy after that. Come to think of it, she was never happy before that, either. In fact, I've run into the lady at her church garage sales since then and she's as mean as ever.

Since I mentioned it....

Here's a picture of the picture frame jewelry holder I made. I took out the backing and the glass, painted the frame gold, glued a piece of screen to the back and wala, it was done. I was going to staple the screen to the back but since the frame was made of plastic it wouldn't have worked. Now I'm looking to make more so keep an eye out for cheap, ornate picture frames.

Another project I finally accomplished....

The Dollar store was having a "Picture Frame Extravaganza!" so I finally got my butt down there with some postcards I've been meaning to frame for years. The only sets that worked were these antique postcards from my hometown. The top picture is of a castle located on the river in town, the second one is of the library I went to when I was a kid and the bottom picture is of the church my husband and I got married in. Yippee, I know, but I truly felt like I accomplished something because I've been sitting on the postcards for awhile now. And for $4 (3 frames and a 3-pack of mats) I couldn't beat the price.

Salvation Army Store Finds 1.12.06

Being in need of some retail therapy I took off for the Salvation Army Store today. My, oh, my but were they having a sale. 5 pieces of clothing for $5, I do believe. Needless to say I picked up a few things.
- The best item? The souvenir T-shirt in the middle from the Forbidden City in China. And it actually fits! Booyah!
-The 5 pieces of clothing? 1.) the T-shirt, 2.) a flowy pink skirt that is reversible 3.) a flowy reddish skirt 4.) pink and red capri pants and 5.) my first ever pair of corduroys that are dark Burgundy and are actually carpenter's pants! They have all the loops and pockets and everything.
-The glassware- an old orange juice pitcher that is the perfect size for juice. I also picked up 4 spice jars to hold beads and other crafty items in and I found a set of four atomic patterned glasses from the 1950's. Yee-haw! They will fit in my kitchen perfectly.
-the other two items I didn't mention I purchased for crafting purposes. The picture frame is big and beautiful and has some very detailed embellishments on it. I plan on ripping out the back and glass, painting it(probably gold) and stapling a mesh screen on the back. Wa-la! A picture frame earring holder. I actually have already done this, it's just that I've gotten so many compliments on it that I thought I'd try to replicate it.
The final "crafty" item I picked up was a cushion to attempt to make one of these. I blogged about it awhile ago and I finally found the perfect cushion to try it with. You can barely see it in the upper left corner of the photo but it is exactly what I've been looking for. And there were 2 of them! I got them both in case I screw up one of them. Go me! BTW, does anybody know anything about molding compounds and how one would go about creating a mold of a pillow? I have some ideas, I'm just fishing for more suggestions!

Going All Brokeback Mountain On You

I really want to see this movie. I think I want to see how they explain two "straight" guys falling in love with each other when they are left alone in the wilderness for a few days. I know there is a lot more to the story, that's why I want to see the movie. Of course I can't find anyone who wants to see it with me so I planned on seeing it alone. Guess what? There isn't a movie theater within 50 miles of me that is showing it. WTF?? Come on, people. Don't even tell me it's not going to get any closer..... thank god for Netflix.

Current Food Obsessions

You know how you get hooked on a food and you can't seem to get enough of it? Well, I'm feeling that way right now for a few food objects of my desire. I know it has nothing to do with being on a diet because I'm not, I've just been cutting down. First, I'm addicted to cherry peppers right now. My mom calls them "salad bar peppers". I'm craving that hot and spicy taste even though I can't stand hot and spicy foods. I'm also hooked on string cheese. After watching a pregnant woman at work snacking on it I had to have some and I've been hooked ever since. The final food obsession is Cheerios which I don't understand at all. When I was a kid this was the only cereal we had in the house. Something about my dad being a big baby and having to have his Cheerios. Whatever. I never really liked them but for some reason I've been eating them everyday. They are actually pretty good.

I Heart the Dollar Store

I love the Dollar Store. Any dollar store. I especially love the dollar stores in Canada because they are technically $.78 stores but we won't get into that right now. There's a dollar store chain in California that sells wine and high-end cheeses. There's another chain I've heard about that has a wedding registry. I love the dollar store but I don't think I'd go that far. We went to a Japanese dollar store in Hawaii. That's where I found my tofu strainer. I guess that would be the only place one could find a tofu strainer, eh? I also found the most coveted action figure I own at a dollar store- Jesus. Granted, it doesn't look like the ones above but still, it's a Jesus action figure. A few weeks ago I found my newest acquisition, A transparent human body model. Once again, it's not as detailed as the link but it's still a very cool transparent human body model. Right before Christmas I found "Paint Your Own Pet Rock" kits. I bought them for my neice and nephew and we had fun painting them but they wanted to throw them way when we were done. I don't think they understood the concept of a "PET Rock".

Floor E. Duh

Speaking of God's waiting room, talk around the house is that the husband and I are going to Florida in February. Between the cash we got for Christmas and the money I just rolled from the change jar, we have exactly enough money for two round trip tickets. The rest we can save up before we leave- rental car, gas, addmissions, etc. My parents are letting us stay with them so that's what convinced us to go. My parents are staying between Orlando and Tampa, I think their address is Winter Haven. Here's a list of what our plans are so far-
-Sarasota- my husband grew up there.
-Tarpon Springs- What Frankenmuth is to Germany, Tarpon Springs is to Greece. I guess that means nothing to people outside of Michigan, huh? How about a whole town that makes you feel like you're in another country? Is there a word for a town like that? How about Chinatown but it's the whole town and not just a neighborhood.
-Disney World- I have mixed feelings about this one but my husband really wants to go. We'll see.
There are also a slew of stores and restaurants we don't have in Michigan that I really want to go to down there- Ross Dress For Less, Sweet Tomatoes, and LUSH. And as always I'm open to any suggestions!

Speaking of New Year's Resolutions....

I just thought I'd take a moment to brag. I have officially lost 30-35 pounds in the last two years. I know that doesn't sound like much and it's over a few years time, but hey, at least I did it. And if slow and steady is what it takes to win the race then I'm all about being slow and steady. It's also hard to tell exactly how much I've lost because I have always flucuated 5 pounds. Last week it was 25-30 pounds, but this week it has definately moved to the 30-35 pound range. "Go me!" is what I say. I'm thinking when I hit the 50 pound mark I might have to go out and buy myself something real nice and purty.

Bring on the New Year

So I finally feel recovered from the holidays. I started to after Christmas, then my neice and nephew came to stay for New Year's. After a four hour nap and 10 hours of sleep last night, I feel refreshed and good to go. I've also started a list of many things to do and I plan to stay focused and do them. We'll see how it goes.