Future head of mechanical engineering

So you know those clippy elastic things that keep mittens attached to coats? Seems my child has an aversion to stuff she cannot toss to the ground. I purchased a pink pair of them last night and victoriously ratcheted them to her winter coat before we left the house this morning; all the while thinking, "There is no way in hell she will be able to open these. No way." Then in the car on the way to daycare I hear her precisely rip each one off from her purple-sleeved jacket and throw them slowly and deliberately to the floor.
I. Can. Not. Win.

Just browsing, thank you

I often type search words into Flickr and look at the pretty pictures from random accounts. I then say things to myself like, "Oooh, wow," and, "Oh, my goodness," which my daughter now repeats several times a day. It's a weird pastime that I enjoy when I'm waiting for a phone call, trying to ignore someone or, in today's instance, just had one too many caffeinated beverages.

This is a gorgeous lamp post that I'd like to find and stand under if I ever make it to Florence, Italy.

from Flickr account Curious Expeditions

Cats

A little late in posting this, but Halloween was wonderful. A few highlights:

glowsticks as bracelets, Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (one of my absolute favorites), Hershey's bars, lions and their adorable tails, jack o' lanterns the old fashioned way, cooking pumpkin seeds while sipping hot, spiced cider, carriage rides through downtown with family, fall candles.

That sums it up nicely. Okay, now I'm ready for Spring.

All Hallow's Eve

I love Halloween.
Currently listening to Jill Tracy, drinking Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, and mentally piecing together my costume for the night's festivities.
Be safe everyone.

Animal lover

This little girl loves her some animals. She talked about this pony for the rest of the afternoon and cried endlessly as we were leaving because we wouldn't spend another 4 dollars on a second ride.

She ran through the parking lot cursing our names and tried to hitch a ride from another visiting family from West Lafayette who were attempting to stuff their small son into his car seat as he was also spewing profanities to his parents about wanting to take another hayride and they were all, no way, mister, hayrides don't grow on trees, to which he smartly responded, but you know what does grown on trees? bad, mean parents, to which they quickly slid their minivan door closed and sped off down the dirt road.

I am liking this necklace and am considering an early holiday present to myself

It's got to be the change in the weather that's prompting me to want to wear something like this. It's feminine and quite kitschy. I love it lots.

from etsy seller lechic

Befitting of her middle name

We enjoyed a really great weekend which included a free children's movie (no thanks to the crabby, grumpy lady who wouldn't move her damn coat for us because she said that someone was sitting there. Um, unless you've got yourself an invisible friend in that fleece jacket there, sweetie, I didn't see anyone come sit in that last empty seat in the theater and my 2-year-old daughter spent every bit of 75 minutes squirming in my lap and grinding buttery popcorn kernels into my crotch, thanks to you), pumpkin spice lattes, a trip to the wind farm in Benton County (look it up, super cool) and many other fun autumnal activities. I'll be sure to remember these days as I'm cursing the cold weather in just a few short weeks.

My dwelling just might look a little like this if I lived in a fancy New York space without baskets of mermaid and animal plastic toys to trip over

I've always had a great appreciation for clever design and color; despite the fact that my own wardrobe is mostly the same 6 colors and none of them are actually all that bright, come to think of it. My chameleon-like tastes include lots of things which could include painfully modern, silly vintage, highly dramatic and heavy baroque; and I'm a Pisces, so it all depends on, you know, my mood.

I also spend oodles of time and brain power thinking about, sketching and looking at interesting shapes and style. This contemporary wall radiator (yes, that slip-n-slide banana-yellow thing on the wall) is a great example of an innovative mind. It kind of reminds me of that sketch on SNL with Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen where they play a German couple who live in an all white apartment and have unrecognizable modern chairs and she wears a white 1/2 dress, 1/2 pantsuit, has a severely asymmetrical haircut and she and her husband (who wears a lavendar jumpsuit) cannot properly pronounce the very common names of her daughter's dates. Okay, yes, I do need a night out; thanks for asking.

from trendir

Change of pace

I camp with this wonderful bunch every year for a weekend at the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. We sing songs, play music, cook amazing campfire meals and catch up with everyone. I've been going to this event since the early 90s and I'm so happy that we're going to now start taking a yearly group photo like this. Can you spot me, Chris and Rosemary?

Reflection

Without going into too much sap and sadness and kleenex, yesterday marks the eighteenth, I hesitate to say, 'anniversary' of my taking a handful of pills to, um, chase the blues away.
I remember the room, smells, sounds (The Smiths, Strangeways, Goddamn awesome album, by the way) playing on the boom box on the dresser, my depressed state of mind and all of the stupidness of that afternoon's decision. After being rejected from the campus hospital ('Hey, we don't take suicide situations!'), an awkward stomach-pumping, hours of crying, inept hospital counseling, failing miserably at trying to explaining myself to my devastated mother, I never thought that I'd be talking about this on an open forum like this (I mean, this was before Al Gore invented the internet, for goodness sakes); but as I get older, I find that sharing your own difficult experiences makes you confront your own deficiencies, and maybe even help someone else feel less embarrassed by just coming out and saying, 'I've done dumb things, too; and I'm here for you if you need me.'

I have a friend who often says, 'It ain't all rainbows and unicorn farts.' That, my friends, is honest, eloquence defined.

Something for me to remember when I'm resisting the urge to bang my head into a bloody mess on the floor

My little sweetpea turns 2 next week. I'll post more later about her, um, delightful behavior as of late; but for now, I'll just repost this little reminder that someone recently shared with me.

The "Toddler's Creed" appeared in the syndicated weekly newspaper article "Families Today" by T. Berry Brazelton. It is a nice reminder of the stresses we feel with normal behavior of toddlers.

If I want it, it's mine.

If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.

If I can take it away from you, it's mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

If it's mine, it will never belong to anybody else, no matter what.

If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.

If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

Lovely organization

I don't know if it's the picture I like or the actual concept of keeping delicate jewelry from becoming a vining mass of chains with cutesy, bright mismatched china pieces; but this speaks to me.

from martha stewart

Heading out first thing tomorrow to get this dog a chewy, messy rawhide bone

From having pacifiers and sippy cups energetically pushed into her face, to toddler offerings of toothbrushes and mermaid dolls piled on top of her back; Natasha endures countless moments of this sort of canine humiliation without complaint. Go out and get yourselves a dog just like this. She's great.

Although probably not for a Moose Lodge audience

I recently saw the band The Henhouse Prowlers for the second time and it just reinforces the fact that I adore this kind of music. They also sang a song about 'the first train robbery in Indiana' and also boast the alias name of Sexfist to ensure placement in punk/rock venues.
That, my friends, is brilliant.

Helping others

I heard about this story from a fun, little blog I frequently enjoy and I feel horribly for this family. Please visit here and here to help out and score some great stuff, too:

"Nie Nie Day on Thursday.
For those who haven't heard, my blogging friend Stephanie Nielson and her husband were in a terrible plane accident. They are in critical condition and Stephanie has third degree burns covering about 80% of her body. Recovery will be long and very expensive. To help raise funds, Design Mom has declared Thursday Nie Nie Day. Starting tomorrow all over the internet there will be auctions and things for sale--including here on Oh Happy Day. I've heard some whisperings of some of the things that will be auctioned and there is some seriously amazing stuff. Design Mom will post a comprehensive list of all the auctions going on.So tomorrow get your pocketbooks ready...and please forward this information to all your friends."

If there is anything you can do to help, please consider doing so. The internet is a wonderful thing.

Added to the list of a musical chameleon's summer soundtrack

Pandora radio is quickly making my workday that much less productive. Is it overdramatic to say that I think it is life-changing? Yeah, I think so too. I realized just this morning that not only can I listen to my favorite workout stations on my phone (hooray for technology!) while at the gym (Stevie Wonder, Fugees, Erykah Badu, etc); but I can also yank out the cord for my xm radio dock at work and hurredly run back and forth in my heels and flared capris from my work bench and the connected iPhone to see which new artist is currently playing.
I now have a rapidly growing list propped on top of the amplifier and I'm jotting down artists that I'm loving.
Here are just a very few from my first two hours of messing around with workplace music:
Nouvelle Vague (with my love affair of most things French, how have I not heard of them until now?)
Lisa Ekdahl
Emiliana Torrini
Pink Martini
Catherine Feeny

What's on your playlist?

Matching dishes are for sissies

Here's that photo I was looking for last week and if I had my way, this is how the inside of my cabinets would look. My roommate, however, is all matchy-matchy about stuff and would certainly develop an awful nervous facial tic if exposed to this level of disorganization.

Working girl

I'll admit that maybe I have a wee obsession with photos of my daughter; but, seriously, are you stinkin' kiddin' me? She provides the best photo opportunities.

Five things I will not do again, at least for 10 or 11 days

1. Go to the gym, forget to put socks in my bag and decide to run anyway. My heels are a bloody mess. Literally. I mean, Target was like 1/4 mile away.
Upon realizing my amateur mistake, I sheepishly walked up to the counter at the gym with my head down and said, "Um, do you sell socks?'.
To which she replied, "Aren't you the girl who asked me last week if we sold deoderant?".
2. Go to the gym, forget my deoderant and decide to run anyway.
3. Be deep in conversation with my husband at the end of the day and grab the first small tube of 'toothpaste' out of the medicine cabinet that's available. Let's just say that he has a case of The Athlete's Foot and is messy about keeping his junk on his own shelf.
4. Assume that friends are forgiving.
5. Underestimate the vining ability of a backyard pumpkin patch.

What I've loved most about this summer

I've received countless dandelions, leaves, acorns, pieces of mulch, fancy flowers from neighbor's yards, clover and dead tree twigs from her this summer. It's the best.