friday five #41

01. i work at anthropologie!!! - well, i start monday! yes, after 3 months of pretty much totally freaking out, feverish attempts and business plans and a lot more freaking out i am crazy stoked to have been offered a job at anthropologie! i'm the new assistant home department manager and i can not even freak out enough about it! we all know how much inspiration all of us crafters, nesters and clothing & accessory addicts get from anthropologie, and now i get to be surrounded by it. the word, "blessed" comes to mind! i'm so excited to start on monday, and so relieved to not be freaking out anymore!

02. instagram - here i was all hooked on the hipstamatic app, but then sarah and simone put me on the instagram path when they were here for the martha stewart show. i love how easy it is to share your photos and really love that you don't have to pick your "film" and effects before you shoot and then chance it, you just take the photo and then try out a whole bunch of effects/"films" before you post it. plus... you get a square "viewfinder" rather than having to guess where it's going to crop it down from a rectangle. love it. oh! and it's free!!!

03. on my way - with my little home sales venture, a muse studio, and i love having the catalogs and product in my hands! i'll be able to sell from a consultant website also, which will go live on april 1st, so i'm going to have a whole launch weekend on my blog (with a giveaway) during the first weekend in april. more details and nerdy crafty gushing to follow.

04. the essie train - i'm officially onboard and, now that i am, i can't believe how long it's taken me to buy a ticket. okay, done with the train metaphor now, promise. i've been drooling over the colors on various tumblr's (and now pinterest) and i can identify a lot of the colors on people when i see them, but for some reason i hadn't purchased any until a couple of days a go. i'm currently rocking "sew psyched" and i also got "chinchilly"and, even though lavender is not usually my thing, i think i'm going with "nice is nice" next. love.

05. my first publication! - my, "walking on a dream" layout is in the april scrapbook trends, and my "london rain" layout will be in the create: embellish idea book also out in april/now! this is my first scrapbook magazine publication(s) and i'm so excited to see it in actual print, so far i've only seen the online version of one of the layouts. i'm really flattered that northridge picked my layouts, and love the little scene they shot the layout i've already seen in. i can't wait to see the set they shot "london" rain in!

friday five #18

01. skybar - rhian & i really, really lucked out with the most beautiful dublin weather on wednesday! and, because of our early (read: operating on 2 hours) flight, we had already done and experienced and absolute ton by lunch time, including a little turn about the guinness storehouse that ends in a free fresh guinness at the skybar, which is atop the storehouse with a complete 360 degree view of dublin from above. it was beyond beautiful, as evidenced in the reflection of the sky in the mirror topped table my expertly poured guinness was resting on. (also, look at this stop motion video rhian made. it causes me to explode into a semi-violent giggling fit.)

02. shreddies - i've been having these for breakfast just about every morning since i landed! they are kind of a denser version of wheat chex with a slight sweet taste, almost like a really light honey. super delicious. they may very well be added to my short list of foods that will have to start being shipped to me in the states. also, are you ready for the cutest bit? they're tag line is, "knitted by nanas!"

03. olympic hockey - this is officially the first time i've ever actually cared about anything olympic related, and it is just about completely impossible to see any of the olympic hockey games here in england. grr to that business, but yay to the fact that i've at least been able to follow the scores in real time thanks to the scorit app and team usa is winning across the board! the boy is recording all of the nasty match-ups on sunday, and you can trust that i will be watching them as soon as humanly possible upon my return to the states.

04. tea - i've only ever been a tea drinker as a last ditch effort to stave off illness... until bristol happened. maybe it's the chill i know is just outside the window, maybe it's being surrounded by interesting boxes of tea, or maybe it's simply in the air here! i'm finding it cozy, comforting and actually even pretty yummy. my favorite at the moment is clipper's organic nettle tea.

05. bristol city farm - it was supposed to be hailing today so nicole and i were readying ourselves for a day spent at the blue reef aquarium here in bristol, but what we awoke to was instead a beautiful blue skies kind of day. we threw on clothes and headed out to enjoy it for as long as it would last and our first stop was the bristol city farm! nicole & milo have a little allotment here where they work their own little bit of garden and have some veggies & such. there is also a little cafe there that serves amazing food made with ingredients grown in the allotment. and obviously i'm a fan of anywhere i can pet pig noses, talk to whooly sheep and visit with sweet little baby cows! we also went to bath, which is a story for a whole 'nother blog entry.

friday five #17

as decided on the 10th when i wrote all these scheduled blog entries for when i'm away, haha.

01. "odd blood" - i was beyond excited for the release of yeasayer's latest album to the point of actually pre-ordering to insure that i would have it before my trip. i've given it a couple of full listens and so far "ambling alp" which they released as a sneak peek a month+ a go is still my favorite track. i'm hoping it will grow on me with a few more listens on this trip.

02. bird box - my factory issue iphone alarm clock isn't really doing the trick these days, i think i'm getting too used to it's sound. i'm thinking about downloading the bird box app (which is free) and then buying the woodgrain bird house for it to live in. check out the cuteness.

03. class concepts - love the inspiration that strikes when a whole rush of new product starts to head out into the world. i'm a total nerd and love creating folders in iphoto for each class idea and filling them with all the possible products, editing and getting just the perfect mix of new and current products put together to create classes that i can't wait to teach! so much fun coming up in the next few months.

04. 2011 ford fiesta - convo with the boy; me: "so, how wrong is it that i kind of want the new ford fiesta?" the boy: "very." i can't help it. i think it's really adorable, it comes in a fun orange, magenta, and this sweet green, plus a bunch of fun features and the mpg's aren't half bad. call me sick, but i think it's cute.

05. "mint sprint" nail polish - c'mon, just say it out loud, "mint sprint." love. along with being fun to say it's also a pretty rad color on your nails. loving the way i'm rocking it now, which is "mint sprint" on my ring fingers, grey patent on the rest. love.