Addiction

Well...I have to confess...I have an addiction....a craftster addiction. I love every single aspect of it. There are so many fantastically crafty people out there and they are all on craftster. It is a place where you can seriously forget all your troubles. Jeff is jealous of it because it consumes so much of my time so he has built up a bit of resentment toward craftster. I figure I am not really down with the ultimate fighter championship (which he watches all the time) so...I spend that time on crafster. Why should I have to sit next to him on the couch and engage in watching men beat each other? So...really...I think it is Jeff who is subconsciously isolating himself from me by watching UFC. Well anyhoo....I will save the social work analyzing for another day :-)
I participated in a swap recently. It was an altoid tin swap. The point of it is that you go out and buy an altoid tin (btw....dark chocolate covered altoids sound incredibly putrid but...they are remarkably yummy) and decorate it and then make some crafty stuff to put into it. I received from my partner last week. She did a wonderful job. I sent mine out today but forgot to take pictures...I'm an idiot :-)
Here is what she sent me! She made the altoid tin into a pin cushion! How adorable. For the swap I was able to pick out 5 different themes and my partner got to choose which theme she was going to craft. She chose my sewing, vintage, and cherry blossom themes.

She also made a cherry blossom thimble out of polymer clay! How adorable!

These little pins are adorable. She made them out of polymer clay too. They are little flowers. I cant wait to use them!

She also made a button pin. It has a very vintage look to it which I love. I can't get too much of vintage things.

Last but not least is this fantastic crocheted cherry blossom. Wow!

I love Craftster! If you have no idea what I am speaking of then check it out under my links. It will seriously take your stresses away (and drive your significant other crazy)!

La Vie Boheme

I just had the most wonderful weekend in such a long long time! I was on-call for my work for the past 7 days and as of 8 o'clock Friday morning I was free!!!! It started with hanging out with friends for Happy Hour on Friday. Then on Saturday my boyfriend Jeff and I went to the Flying Saucer to see our friends Pablo and the Hemphill Seven and got our boogie on to a little local Reggae music. On Sunday I decided to top the weekend off with RENT! I have waited for years to see RENT. I feel like I have seen it so many times before because my boyfriend and his cousin would always play the soundtrack when we all worked together at Coffee Haus in Sundance Square, downtown, slingin' cappuccinos and mochas.

I knew all the songs and the storyline without even seeing it. I recently watched the movie too and thought it was wonderful so... it was only fitting that last night on a spur of the moment whim, my friends and I went to see RENT downtown at Bass Hall. It was absolutely magical! The whole evening! I saw people that I have not seen in quite some time. I was thrilled. My friend Robert who I have not seen in what seems like decades was there. He works for the theater and when I went to pick up the tickets at will call he upgraded us! We had nosebleed section seats because on a spur of the moment whim, unfortunately that was all we could afford. Way up high on the upper level was where we were going to sit. The stage and performers would have looked like little tiny ants. But Robert, he put us on row A! Right up next to the stage we were! We cold hardly believe it! I could have reached out and touched the cast. RENT was just magical! It is one of those stories that helps me put things, including my life and what I do for a living, into perspective.

For 4 years I worked for a local AIDS organization. I owe a lot to working there as I learned so much and it helped me grow as a person and a professional. All of the stress and worry that came with the job paid off because I learned something so important. I learned to take life as it is and make something of it because our days are numbered. I learned that life is so precious and we should never take it for granted, no matter what we are faced with. Having worked with people with AIDS and watching them achieve their goals and live their life to the fullest in spite of the disease makes the little challenges and obstacles I experience seem so easy and meaningless. RENT was amazing! It was just absolutely amazing.