Five things I've been doing, other than blogging

Shopping: This is only one of the many fantastic vintage dresses I've bought on eBay lately. I love shopping vintage. Not only does it mean that I get a dress that nobody else has, it's good ecological sense. Re-use is the first and most important part of the three Rs. And I love how a vintage dress is cut to suit my, ahem, womanly figure without my junk being out all over the place for everyone to see. Most of the new dresses I find in my size are wrap dresses, or low cut V necks. The idea is to play up ones "assets", but too often, I feel like I'm flashing everyone when I'm wearing one of these dresses. Most vintage dresses are more modest while still giving a good look to my figure.

Oh, and oddly enough, it's cheaper than buying new. Most of the dresses I've bought lately are less than $30. Even the most expensive vintage dress I've bought is only about an average price for what I used to pay for a new dress.





Watching: Dexter- season 1. Actually, I was able to watch this as a download from Netflix, rather than having to wait for the physical discs. So very convenient. Almost like I actually had a television. Darn the internet for making the fact that I don't have a television increasingly irrelevant.

Also, oddly enough, I went to school with Michael C. Hall. We're both Earlham grads, class of '93

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_C_Hall

Of course, while he's been grabbing Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, I've been. Um, really, what have I been doing?




reading:
Death Comes for the Archbishop

I loved this book. Such an inspirational book, with gorgeous descriptions of a part of the country I've never been to but hope to visit some time. In the end, I thought this book was about the power of love.








Doing: Going to the gym, specifically, I've been taking Pilates twice a week. I love it. It makes me feel so strong, capable and graceful. I do both a one on one class and a group session during the week. I wish I could afford to do the one on one twice a week, because I feel I make so much more progress when I do this, but darn it's expensive.


Listening:


This video made me cry the first time I saw it, just after election night.

Five things I'm loving right now.

The mere idea of the Something Storemakes me happy. It's like a surprise present to yourself.

It could be anything. One person got an iPod shuffle, but I suspect most people get things that cost considerably less than the $10 per something price. They say that it'll probably be new, but that it possibly could be antique or refurbished or just about anything. I think we all need more beautiful randomness in our lives.







I've been rather dutifully slogging my way through Northanger Abbey. Yes, I'm still not done. It might help if I stopped reading other things for a while, but I can't help myself. I've been tearing through the His Dark Materials trilogy. Yeah, they're juvies. I read juvies sometimes. Just because a book is meant for a younger audience, doesn't mean it won't speak to someone of any age. The young girl character Lyra is so brave and bold. She makes me wish I had been her when I was younger, instead of the shy, reclusive bookworm that I was. I just finished book two of the three this afternoon and if I hadn't gotten home from my Girl Scout trip so late, I would have rushed off to the library to check out number three, the Amber Spyglass.






"Ice Cream" made out of coconut milk. I tried the chocolate last night and it is so good. I like it better than real ice cream, I think. This product from Turtle Mountain is dairy free, soy free, and sweetened with agave, to make it lower glycemic. Oh, did I mention, its really yummy. If I can still have ice cream, or rather, something like it, but better tasting even, then that makes it a lot easier to consider the vegan path.





I've been loving the website Cake Wrecks. It's seriously even more hilarious than the late, lamented blog "You knit what?!". No pictures here because I'm not sure of the copyright status of the pictures, but go visit and you'll see what I mean. Each time I read the blog, I start laughing so hard I get the hiccups. Just be warned that there are a couple of cakes of dubious taste towards the end of the page.








This video by Sigur Ros. It just makes me happy every time I hear the song. Even better to see the video. The band is from Iceland and I believe they sing in Icelandic. I've got not the slightest idea what the lyrics mean, but that doesn't seem to matter. I know, I can tell just from the sound of the song that its a song of joy and hope. This is the first time I've run across Sigur Ros, but they'll definitely be added to the playlist of my life. In a weird sort of way, they remind me of what I love about early Jane Siberry.

Five things

eating: Peaches. We still haven't finished all the peaches that we bought at the farmer's market last Saturday, and it's just the start of the season thankfully. I know some are partial to Georgia peaches, but to me, the best will always be Michigan peaches, and that's what we get at our farmer's market.




thinking about: How am I going to arrange all my random pieces of art on the wall over my Chinese chest? It really intimidates me, especially when I all the amazing ways that people have done mixed arrangements of art. And it's not just these ones you see that have to go up on the all. They're hiding a whole other layer of prints. And the sweetest little Chinese screen I have with Japanese maples and a couple of little birds.




listening: Tegan and Sara- The Con. Where have they been all my life? I've needed a compelling new band to listen to and I've finally found it.




wearing: Every chance I get, I've been wearing my new dress by Jane Bon Bon. Well, not to my work, because I don't want to chance getting it dirty. But if you're a dress wearer at all, check out her etsy store. She's especially nice for the full-figured. Her specialty is the "braless dress". And she means it.

Jane



,

reading: Northanger Abbey. I'm not sure I like it. Catherine is not as foolish as Emma but nowhere near as sensible as Fanny Price.