moderncat etsy faves

thanks to moderncat for adding adelie and the orca to the list of favorite etsy shops! there are some other really great shops listed there--be sure to check some out!

obsessed

so i had found this a while ago via this american life, and then recently remember this group and their work. i find what they do clever, hilarious, well-executed, and with great intentions:

"Improv Everywhere is, at its core, about having fun. We’re big believers in “organized fun”. Our missions are a fun source of entertainment for the participants, those who happen to see us live, and those who read this website....We’re out to prove that a prank doesn’t have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them."

their missions and videos are hilarious...i'd love to participate one day! here's one to get you started:

i also recommend to get you started: no pants! best buy, and human mirror. really, they're all pretty good. i hope you enjoy as much as i do!

modern ben and stu

moderncat.net, one of my favorite blogs, was kind enough to show off my new duds featuring ben and stu! head over to check it out!

snuggle sunday

the boys decided to take advantage of this rainy weather and curl up for most of the day...

bad cat behavior, ep.5

well, this one is pretty self-explanitory from the pictures...i like to call this one: chair, or scratching post? you decide...(obviously the cats have put in their vote already)


the good news? this is a chair that brandon found on the street when he lived in san francisco during his 4th year of college, which means it is old and was free. the bad news? brandon loves this chair.

new shirts

so i finally screen-printed some shirts for my etsy site, adelieandtheorca.etsy.com

the benjamin buttons:

and the stuart louis:

benjamin

today ben was messing around in the window, so i decided to snap a shot. this one was actually an accident, but it came out rather well, in my opinion...

run!

today was my first long run of half-marathon training. well, actually my first long run EVER, but also the first long run of training. brandon went to a baseball game, so chris was kind enough to be my running buddy. he was a great motivator--most of my run was spent thinking "just...follow...chris...keep...following...chris..." i was pretty proud of myself, seeing as i've only started training in the last two weeks.

anyway, today i accomplished a 7.1 mile jog. it was slow, but i made it. yippee!

here was our route:

haircut

getting a haircut always makes me feel good. i get a great head massage (always perfect at the end of a workday), good conversation, and i walk out feeling fantastic with my new 'do. here are some pictures i took...i also took one of my eye with my new mixology makeup (although it's sort of hard to see). it's been mentioned that i don't really show pictures of myself--this isn't all of me, but it's a little bit of me.


thanks to my favorite stylist, lee...he always leaves me with a perma-grin, for the hair and the haircut chat. brenna and i like to discuss how he's like chicken soup for the 20-something soul.

another reason...

just another reason i love san francisco...

the grilled cheese invitational in dolores park

i went for it

because i frequently have song lyrics, etc. i want to jot down, and there are times when i want to save a link/picture for future reference, i decided to go ahead and start a tumblr blog. it's basically meant for posting other media (links, pictures, video, etc.), it's extremely easy to update. i have a link in my blog roll to the right, but i made the address easy: comeblowbubbles.tumblr.com

feel free to stop by to see what i'm thinking about!

congratulations

congratulations to chris! chris, via my random selection at random.org, is the winner of my lucky cat giveaway.

mixology makeup

image courtesy of mixology makeup

i heard about mixology makeup on etsy through my friend natalie. she raved about the product (post here) and i looked into it but never ordered anything. never ordered anything, that is, until last week. i decided to order some samples after looking into mineral makeup further. i already use mineral foundation (bare minerals), but i did see some ingredients in bare minerals that i wasn't thrilled with. it turns out mixology doesn't use some of those ingredients, so i figured why not give it a try! i received my samples yesterday. i didn't try the foundation yet (in the morning heading out the door isn't the best time to try and find your foundation color) but i did try the eyeshadow and LOVED it! thanks to the ladies over at mixology! i can't wait to give the foundation a try. i experienced pleasant correspondence (i wasn't sure what foundation color samples to order) and quick turn-around on the shipment--i wouldn't hesitate to order more products from them.

all i need is a moment

in a sort of roundabout way, i came upon this blog, all i need is a moment. the concept is simple--at a time and day chosen at random each week, a group of friends take a picture of whatever they are doing at that very moment. they then email the pictures to one person, who arranges them and posts them on the blog. the result is rather beautiful, and i love the concept. it's a way to share a moment with friends, wherever they are.

image courtesy of all i need is a moment

anyone else think this this is a great idea? this idea really warms my heart...i know that sounds cheesy, but it's true! what a special way to maintain an intimate bond with friends who aren't nearby

tahoe weekend

the post will be brief, since i'm exhausted, but we just came back from a beautiful (snow-filled) weekend in lake tahoe. it was a long car ride there and back, but well worth it! the details will come later, but for now a few pictures.

music

first i want to say i've decided that i want to start dumping some inspiration/things i'm really into at the moment here. i'll test it out for a while and see how it goes. if it's distracting, i might start a tumblr blog where i can dump those things. i'll try this for a bit, and then ask opinions.

back to the post. so, as you can see by my little "currently on repeat" section, i absolutely cannot stop listening to okkervil river's "the war criminal rises and speaks." there's another song i love on this particular album (down the river of golden dreams), so i think i've typically sort of skipped over or not payed attention to the first half of the album. for some reason this week, however, i've been obsessed with this song.

when i went to see him at the talking music lecture series, will sheff (lead singer of okkervil) talked about how he likes to write about characters and sort of portray them in a very human way, even if on surface level they aren't good people. this song is talking about someone who does things they never imagined they'd do in a time of war, and now 30 years later he's being put on trial. this particular verse is my favorite i think...

Now he’s rising and not denying, his hands are shaking, but he’s not crying.
And he’s saying “How did I climb out of a life so boring into that moment?
Please stop ignoring the heart inside, oh you readers at home!
While you gasp at my bloody crimes, please take the time
to make your heart my home, where I’m forgiven by time,
where I’m cushioned by hope, where I’m numbed by long drives,
where I’m talked off or doped. Does the heart wants to atone?
Oh, I believe that it’s so, because if I could climb back through time,
I’d restore their lives and then give back my own, tens of times now its size
on a far distant road, in a far distant time
where every night I’m still crying entirely alone.”

rainy day

just decided to take a few pictures on this rainy day...
raindrops through the screen

and mr. stuart (ben was m.i.a.)

giveaway/belated birthday

well, it has come to my attention that i have missed my blog's birthday. whoopsies! anyway, i realize that this is a perfect opportunity to have a giveaway! when i screen printed that shirt for brandon the other day, i had to test the printing first, and did so on a piece of grey fabric. after the print came out well, i thought hmph...this is too cute to just throw away! i decided to mount it on a canvas, and here is the result!

you, my blog followers, help me stay motivated to keep on making, so i've decided to give this little guy away as a thank you, if anyone is interested. he is on an 8x10 canvas which is 1 3/8" deep. there is a cut in the canvas (it came that way--boo!) so there is one small air-bubble looking thing, but it's very minor.

please email me at: minimarsh6@gmail.com if you would like this very first screen print to be yours! shipping is on me. if there is more than one person interested, i will use random.org to randomly choose a name. i will choose a recipient by monday evening (feb. 16). to clarify, don't feel bad if you know me--this isn't necessarily intended for internet strangers (although i'm certainly not going to rule any out). i'll let you in on a little secret--most of my blog readers are family and friends (and it's a small community) so most of the people who see this are friends with me in real life as well. thanks for sticking with me through this year, and thanks for your comments! i love comments, so feel free to leave them often.

resolution, part two

well, another part of my new year's resolution was getting in shape and running a half marathon, today i officially registered brandon and i for the santa cruz half marathon. i'm nervous but excited--the goal is just to finish. i can work on speed in future races, right?

adélie and the orca

remember my resolution at the new year? overall it was to stop being lazy, but included in that was beginning an etsy account and i'm proud to say we're finally up and running! from the title of the post, i'm sure you can guess our shop name--it's adélie and the orca, which comes from my sister's and my favorite animals. we only have a few things up in the shop, but feel free to stop by and check us out! stop by often as we slowly update...

in addition to this, i've finally done my first screen print test! prep and cleanup are about 90% of the process, but i know i'm going to have a ton of fun. brandon has wanted this graphic on a t-shirt, so we decided to use this as our first test print (we will not sell this design because it is not our image, but we have just created this one shirt for our own use)

the graphic looks a little blurry in this photo, but that's actually because of my picture-taking, and not the design. the edges of the design are actually quite crisp! slightly shaky because i did this using the screen-filler method (which is hand-painted, as opposed to the photo emulsion method), but crisp edges.
and now here is brandon posing in the shirt--he thought he should pose with the cats, to make it look "even cuter."


here's my favorite--the double head-tilt

claire's dedication

today was claire's baby/parent dedication at jen and josh's church. congratulations, claire!

and yes, she still is lacking in the hair department, but she couldn't be cuter.

she was so good and didn't cry at all! no melt-down on stage for claire.

glorious saturday

saturday morning started off with a lovely friend date at the de young with one of my oldest, nearest and dearest friends. we have been attempting to see the yves saint laurent exhibit at the museum and finally got around to it. we started out with a long chat at the cafe, and then we wandered through the many pieces in the ysl collection--it was amazing! it was a perfect saturday morning. i hope to have these dates much more frequently!
if you can't tell, the rain went into hiding for the day.

after the de young, i went home for a few hours and then headed back out for a dinner party with some other friends. we cooked a delicious meal, but afterward brandon and i were exhausted and we had to get up early today so we decided to head back home. on the way, we passed city hall which was feeling a little green, apparently.

i guess many of the monuments around the city have been lit up with green lights in celebration of the arrival of the play wicked.

friday rain

so we are FINALLY getting some winterish weather again. thank goodness because all the little plants in san francisco need the water!

i know i complain about the weather a lot, and i happen to live in an extremely desirable climate, but this time i'm jumping for joy at the rain. i love this cozy weather!

serious art lust

so today on one of my favorite design blogs, design*sponge, i saw a piece of art that i want. badly. it is called ratp carte intégral by antoine + manuel and it is amazing. this piece combines a sort of ryan mcginness-like icon art that brandon and i love (remember our bathroom art project?), the place i constantly feel homesick for (paris), and a map--i love maps, ESPECIALLY those relating to transit lines, as this one does. i feel like this was made for me specifically. now i just need to see if i can purchase it anywhere...

image courtesy of antoine + manuel

saturday afternoon

saturday afternoon was beautiful, sunny...not a cloud in the sky. while brandon helped our friend adam move, i met up with sara for a long overdue (and much anticipated) mojito at our favorite mojito place, the orbit room.

it doesn't get much better than this.