First I'd just like to say that I just OD'd (and yes I looked up the correct spelling for the slang of overdosed) on free crochet patterns on Lion Brand Yarn's website. I had grand plans to go on a walk for an hour/hour and a half today but now I think that is impossible because I will have to spend the rest of the day attempting to crochet all of these patterns I have downloaded. But I'll have to make sure to leave time to shower and style my newly awesome haircut.
Haircut! I had intentions of writing about three exciting things (exciting to me) and I seem to have started in an order that is not cronological.
So....working backwards starting with this morning's overdose on crochet and moving on to...
Yesterday. First--some backstory: I can go for about a month to two months without getting a haircut. I never actually look at a calendar and say "it's time to get a haircut," but instead one day I'll be trying to do my hair and for a reason seemingly inexplicable nothing is working. The next day is the same problem. Many clips and hats and hairbands later it finally dawns on me: I definitely need a haircut. I don't know if this is just me, or if this happens to other people, but the minute I realize I need a haircut I have to have one right away. I can't wait. I must go to the salon, have my scalp meticulously massaged, receive compliments on my awesomely curly hair, and trade stupid stories with the stylist. I. Love. Getting. My. Haircut. It's the best. Best best best best best.
Alright back to yesterday: I tried to make an online appointment to get my wig split (there's a 5 pound discount for online appointments) but that would mean that I'd have to go the next day istead of right away. Then I remembered there's a 5 pound discount for walkins. This salon is pretty expensive in general, but they have tiers of prices based on the type of stylist. There's the 30 pound "trainee" stylist, the 34 pound not-so-trainee stylist, the 39 pount pretty experienced stylist, and so on. The highest is the 60 pound resident stylist manager person. 60 pounds though? Yeah right. Hoping for the best, I strolled in and wha-la! There was an opening, but only with a 39 pound stylist. I thought about walking out and making an appointment for the next day with a trainee, but every hair on my scalp seemed to scream "Pllllllease?!??!?" So I stayed. I justified it by saying it was my own pre-birthday present to myself.
I've already talked way too much about the process of getting a haircut so let me just say it was AMAZING and I'm not sure I can ever go back to the 30 pound stylist again. I am IN LOVE with the man who cut my hair (in a purely hair-based way) and will now definitely have to get a job very fast to keep the haircuts rolling in. The sneaky bastard also got me hooked on a new goopy curly hair cream. Which is a surprising feat since I'm a devout user of Aveda's curl enhancing cream. Too bad for Aveda, I can't find the salon that sells their product in Glasgow so I'm all about switching anyway.
Where was I? Crochet overdose, haircut bliss...what's next?
My Birthday! It's a mere 6 days away and Eamonn bought me the BEST PRESENT EVER. It was an early present for reasons that you will understand in the next sentence. For my birthday Eamonn bought tickets to see Eddie Izzard! We went on Tuesday and it was amazing! He seems to have toned down the fancy dress (although he did rock a fantastic black waistcoat with coat tails that had red lining. It was wonderful and hilarious and my mouth hurt from laughing so much.
So there are my three exciting things that I felt needed to be shared.
Now I am going to finish crocheting a puff hat while listening to Too Beautiful to Live. And what are the odds...just as I typed that, two crochet books I ordered from Amazon have just been shoved through the mail slot!!!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
And I'm off!
I was feeling really apprehensive about working my way into the production crew of this play but let me tell you, two days and one new black sweatshirt later, I am on the crew. I am working with a bunch of theater students (which is weird because I am not a student and therefore on a totally different wave length) and a few volunteers and having surprising amounts of fun making up new lyrics to overdone classics. I'm not really sure if working on this play will lead to anything in the future, but I have met some cool new people as well as finally succumbing to the call of a cell phone (and yes, I crocheted my new celly a very special case, because I'm just that awesome).
It's definitely rough getting into the swing of technical theater again after a year of doing nothing related to working on shows. Especially when new jargon is thrown at me and I'm left thinking "hmm they keep saying interval and this feels like intermission so I'm going to write that off as the British version. Scottish theater also seems to love having various stages of stage managers and assistant stage managers--much more than in the states, which I suppose is good for giving people more work but forced me to do a lot of "wait, so what does so-and-so actually do?"
And on that note I'm catching the student caravan to the suburbia where this play goes up so I'm off to downtown Scotland (or as they call it "City Center").
I almost forgot, while I'm off pushing around set pieces, poor Eamonn has to come home alone after spending a weekend alone. I don't think lawyer schedules work so well with technician schedules.
It's definitely rough getting into the swing of technical theater again after a year of doing nothing related to working on shows. Especially when new jargon is thrown at me and I'm left thinking "hmm they keep saying interval and this feels like intermission so I'm going to write that off as the British version. Scottish theater also seems to love having various stages of stage managers and assistant stage managers--much more than in the states, which I suppose is good for giving people more work but forced me to do a lot of "wait, so what does so-and-so actually do?"
And on that note I'm catching the student caravan to the suburbia where this play goes up so I'm off to downtown Scotland (or as they call it "City Center").
I almost forgot, while I'm off pushing around set pieces, poor Eamonn has to come home alone after spending a weekend alone. I don't think lawyer schedules work so well with technician schedules.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Yarg
I'm about to spend the day in a not-so-favorable town and try to force (in a friendly manner) my way into the technical crew of a production of an overdone American musical. Wish me luck.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
November November The Best Month November!
Well, Halloween has come and gone (I was a ned--Scottish white trash--it was fun), and fall is in full swing. My birthday is coming up so to commemorate the big day I'm having a Mustache Housewarming Birthday Party. Housewarming because let's face it, I currently have two actual friends and the rest are Eamonn's so it makes it easier to justify inviting people who don't know me over; Birthday because I'm awesome and a year older; and Mustache because well, do I need a reason!? Mustaches are awesome!
Now that there's more than a couple people potentially coming over to the apartment, I have kicked the getting-the-apartment-looking-cool into high gear. Yesterday I decorated some pretty sweet frames with pictures and postcards Eamonn and I have had in a pile forever. I even scrounged up a postcard of Florence that I bought on a grand, very immature romp of Europe seven years ago. Complete with never-been-used Dutch and Italaian stamps decoupaged on the frame. Finally my lazyness is useful (albeit seven years between purchase and use). Once they're up on the wall I'll put pictures.
In other news I've also been crocheting up a storm. So far I've made 4 baby hats, two pairs of baby mitts, 6 adult-sized hats, and a handful of cute decorative flowers (for the girly hats). I'm currently working on a baby blanket that (hopefully) will be awesome. It's my first time making granny squares (shockingly easy) and assembling said granny squares into something resembling a blanket. So far I just have 13 granny squares in a pile.
Since dedicating all this free time to learning how to crochet the right way (instead of the old figure-it-out-myself way) I've been cruising the internet like a madwoman looking at patterns, forums, and a shocking number of really lame blogs about crocheting. I've found that men and women alike make said blogs and post all kinds of incredibly UGLY things they've made. I'm talking crocheted brown coffee cup hats complete with foam and two crocheted cookies attached to the saucer. Oddly enough, most of the male crochet blogs actually have some pretty good designs. But those bastards won't share their patterns without some payment. Jerks.
I've also found that affordable yarn is found on the internet (and definitely not in Glasgow, I've hunted down every craft store in the area), but often website pictures can be deceiving, as I now own a ball of ugly neon green yarn flecked with hot pink and yellow (it looked like pastel colors on the internet, which was perfect for this baby blanket). In addition to going crazy with crochet fever on the internet, I've gone a little nuts with the books. For weeks I've been casually looking at various crochet books on Amazon and then recently Eamonn and I found ourselves at Borders bookstore. Eamonn disappeared somewhere in the cook book area and I immediately headed for the craft section and picked up tangible copies of every book I had been eyeing on Amazon. Expenses outweighed want at Borders so let's just say thanks to Amazon's amazing used book selection I have four crochet books headed my way which should keep me plenty busy making Christmas presents for the rest of my life. If only royal mail wasn't on strike so my books would get here faster.
And that's all I have for now. It's actually stopped raining so I'm going to get ready as fast as humanly possible and spend the rest of the day outside enjoying what could be the last sunny day until spring. Probably not but I'm feeling pesimisstic.
Now that there's more than a couple people potentially coming over to the apartment, I have kicked the getting-the-apartment-looking-cool into high gear. Yesterday I decorated some pretty sweet frames with pictures and postcards Eamonn and I have had in a pile forever. I even scrounged up a postcard of Florence that I bought on a grand, very immature romp of Europe seven years ago. Complete with never-been-used Dutch and Italaian stamps decoupaged on the frame. Finally my lazyness is useful (albeit seven years between purchase and use). Once they're up on the wall I'll put pictures.
In other news I've also been crocheting up a storm. So far I've made 4 baby hats, two pairs of baby mitts, 6 adult-sized hats, and a handful of cute decorative flowers (for the girly hats). I'm currently working on a baby blanket that (hopefully) will be awesome. It's my first time making granny squares (shockingly easy) and assembling said granny squares into something resembling a blanket. So far I just have 13 granny squares in a pile.
Since dedicating all this free time to learning how to crochet the right way (instead of the old figure-it-out-myself way) I've been cruising the internet like a madwoman looking at patterns, forums, and a shocking number of really lame blogs about crocheting. I've found that men and women alike make said blogs and post all kinds of incredibly UGLY things they've made. I'm talking crocheted brown coffee cup hats complete with foam and two crocheted cookies attached to the saucer. Oddly enough, most of the male crochet blogs actually have some pretty good designs. But those bastards won't share their patterns without some payment. Jerks.
I've also found that affordable yarn is found on the internet (and definitely not in Glasgow, I've hunted down every craft store in the area), but often website pictures can be deceiving, as I now own a ball of ugly neon green yarn flecked with hot pink and yellow (it looked like pastel colors on the internet, which was perfect for this baby blanket). In addition to going crazy with crochet fever on the internet, I've gone a little nuts with the books. For weeks I've been casually looking at various crochet books on Amazon and then recently Eamonn and I found ourselves at Borders bookstore. Eamonn disappeared somewhere in the cook book area and I immediately headed for the craft section and picked up tangible copies of every book I had been eyeing on Amazon. Expenses outweighed want at Borders so let's just say thanks to Amazon's amazing used book selection I have four crochet books headed my way which should keep me plenty busy making Christmas presents for the rest of my life. If only royal mail wasn't on strike so my books would get here faster.
And that's all I have for now. It's actually stopped raining so I'm going to get ready as fast as humanly possible and spend the rest of the day outside enjoying what could be the last sunny day until spring. Probably not but I'm feeling pesimisstic.
Monday, October 19, 2009
MiniBreak Me
Anyone who has seen or read Bridget Jones Diary knows how huge a "mini break" is in a relationship in the UK. It's that special two to four day weekend where a couple escape the hum-drummery of daily life and romp wild in the United Kingdom. Clearly a milestone in any early relationship, the mini break suggests seriousness in a previously tentative relationship. Eamonn and I are not in the beginning of a relationship--we already live together and it's been over a year since we got together, but still, when Eamonn came home couple weeks ago and said "Do you want to go to North Berwick for the weekend in a couple weeks?" the Bridget inside me thought Mini Break?! Ohhhh yessss!!!! Images of nature and poetic recitations of Keats ensued.
In the end it was a very lovely, relaxing weekend of sleeping in, watching Robin Hood (the one with foxes) and meeting a cute little baby with very soft brown hair (a nice change from Eamonn's new born niece and nephews--all bald). The only draw back was being attacked by allergies and spending all Sunday, a day dedicated to hiking, sneezing my brains out.
Luckily there was no pressure to have the perfect weekend, a-la Bridget Jones. Because I don't think a mountain waist-high of used tissues really inspires words of adoration.
In the end it was a very lovely, relaxing weekend of sleeping in, watching Robin Hood (the one with foxes) and meeting a cute little baby with very soft brown hair (a nice change from Eamonn's new born niece and nephews--all bald). The only draw back was being attacked by allergies and spending all Sunday, a day dedicated to hiking, sneezing my brains out.
Luckily there was no pressure to have the perfect weekend, a-la Bridget Jones. Because I don't think a mountain waist-high of used tissues really inspires words of adoration.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Same Face, New Place
Hello! I'm trying to think of a more profound greeting after four months if inactivity. It's too late now though, the hello is already out there.
So. Here's the skinny:
I left Japan in a whirlwind of last-minute sightseeing and crying with friends I'd miss dearly. I then spent a fantastic month in San Diego eating my way back up to the original weight I was before I left for Japan in the first place. I felt like the Very Hungry Caterpillar except there was a lot less fruit and a whole lot more pizza and Mexican food on my plate.
Aside from eating my brains out, I also went to my friend's absolutely gorgeous wedding (also with lots of great food), Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, and the beach as often as I could. Other than sightseeing and eating, I did a lot of sifting through boxes of clothes and craft supplies in the garage, purging my way through yarn, markers, and ridiculous 80's dresses.
After getting my fill of San Diego (and showing Eamonn all the best parts) I pulled out the two suitcases I've grown so close to over the past year and a half and proceeded to stuff the shit out of them and curse the scales as they continuously failed the 50lb test.
Then I was in Scotland. I had a couple of weeks on my own with just Eamonn where our time was stretched between sleeping in and being jobless to meeting lots of his family members and newborn nephews/nieces. Between the family time and the sleeping in we somehow collectively signed our souls and patience over to the devil and entered the world of Ikea. One dresser, giant wardrobe, and self-varnished dining table/chair set later, Eamonn and I were still a happy couple with an equally happy-looking, visitor-ready apartment. Then my family came.
Mom and sister in tow, the four of us embarked on an amazing whirlwind tour of Scotland, seeing countless castles, abbeys, countryside, and (my favorite) highland cows. We even saw some famous sights including Doune Castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Rosslyn Chapel from the Davinci Code. The castles are my favorite though, I just can't believe after 800 years or more there is still so much castle left standing. Eventually I'll post pictures. Despite being from Scotland, even Eamonn had a spiffing time, and he learned the sad truth about my family and cars: they put us to sleep faster than Ambien.
Now I think this brings me up to present day. It's fall, Eamonn's started his traineeship with a law firm, and I spend my days trying not to waste money while I wait for paperwork to get sorted for work. This gives me lots of time to explore the city on my own, which I love to do, and to watch insane amounts of British TV (which is highly amusing and surprisingly low-budget), and crochet my brains out.
I've finally learned how to read crochet patterns and have put this new skill to use just in time for winter. So far I've made 4 hats and one baby hat, and I'm working on a second baby hat. In my efforts to look for new patters on the internet I've come across quite a lot of nerdy crochet blogs updated with crochet projects that you couldn't pay me to wear, so I'll try to keep my "Hey look what I made!" posts to a minimal (although I am pretty proud of this hat I made and may have to post a picture at some point).
I feel like I have a lot more to say about Scotland and being here in general but I think I'll save it for another day. For now all I have to say is it's definitely a step up from Japan in the sense that I am much more aware of what's going on around me, but similar in the sense that I really have to strain to pay attention to what people are saying. They don't call this accent/language "Glaswegian" for nothing, having a conversation is really challenging at the best of times. Especially when places, stores, etc are spelled one way, but pronounced in a completely unexpected way.
So. Here's the skinny:
I left Japan in a whirlwind of last-minute sightseeing and crying with friends I'd miss dearly. I then spent a fantastic month in San Diego eating my way back up to the original weight I was before I left for Japan in the first place. I felt like the Very Hungry Caterpillar except there was a lot less fruit and a whole lot more pizza and Mexican food on my plate.
Aside from eating my brains out, I also went to my friend's absolutely gorgeous wedding (also with lots of great food), Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, and the beach as often as I could. Other than sightseeing and eating, I did a lot of sifting through boxes of clothes and craft supplies in the garage, purging my way through yarn, markers, and ridiculous 80's dresses.
After getting my fill of San Diego (and showing Eamonn all the best parts) I pulled out the two suitcases I've grown so close to over the past year and a half and proceeded to stuff the shit out of them and curse the scales as they continuously failed the 50lb test.
Then I was in Scotland. I had a couple of weeks on my own with just Eamonn where our time was stretched between sleeping in and being jobless to meeting lots of his family members and newborn nephews/nieces. Between the family time and the sleeping in we somehow collectively signed our souls and patience over to the devil and entered the world of Ikea. One dresser, giant wardrobe, and self-varnished dining table/chair set later, Eamonn and I were still a happy couple with an equally happy-looking, visitor-ready apartment. Then my family came.
Mom and sister in tow, the four of us embarked on an amazing whirlwind tour of Scotland, seeing countless castles, abbeys, countryside, and (my favorite) highland cows. We even saw some famous sights including Doune Castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Rosslyn Chapel from the Davinci Code. The castles are my favorite though, I just can't believe after 800 years or more there is still so much castle left standing. Eventually I'll post pictures. Despite being from Scotland, even Eamonn had a spiffing time, and he learned the sad truth about my family and cars: they put us to sleep faster than Ambien.
Now I think this brings me up to present day. It's fall, Eamonn's started his traineeship with a law firm, and I spend my days trying not to waste money while I wait for paperwork to get sorted for work. This gives me lots of time to explore the city on my own, which I love to do, and to watch insane amounts of British TV (which is highly amusing and surprisingly low-budget), and crochet my brains out.
I've finally learned how to read crochet patterns and have put this new skill to use just in time for winter. So far I've made 4 hats and one baby hat, and I'm working on a second baby hat. In my efforts to look for new patters on the internet I've come across quite a lot of nerdy crochet blogs updated with crochet projects that you couldn't pay me to wear, so I'll try to keep my "Hey look what I made!" posts to a minimal (although I am pretty proud of this hat I made and may have to post a picture at some point).
I feel like I have a lot more to say about Scotland and being here in general but I think I'll save it for another day. For now all I have to say is it's definitely a step up from Japan in the sense that I am much more aware of what's going on around me, but similar in the sense that I really have to strain to pay attention to what people are saying. They don't call this accent/language "Glaswegian" for nothing, having a conversation is really challenging at the best of times. Especially when places, stores, etc are spelled one way, but pronounced in a completely unexpected way.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
And That is Alllll
I am currently in line waiting to check my bags at the airport. It's really hot in here and I think there is a cranky toddler on my flight. Oh-no face emoticon.
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