Good Times In Simi Valley

Well, I can wholeheartedly recommend visiting the Reagan Presidential Library! Even my reluctant partner in crime ended up having a good time & was bummed closing time arrived so quickly. Along with Air Force 1 (not as glitzy as the Lisa Marie, but nicer than any jet I've been on) there is a Marine 1 helicopter, Reagan's limo & motorcade.



There are many other interesting exhibits, such as a full scale replica of the Oval Office. We wished we had more time to poke around & check everything out. There was definitely more to see than we had expected. We hit up the gift store on the way out, so a couple of my lucky family members will have a cheap & cheesy memento coming their way!

Once you exit the library/museum there is a piece of the Berlin Wall on display in the garden & a little further down the path is Reagan's tomb. Once again not as fancy as Elvis', but I suppose more fitting for a head of state.



The grounds of the library are gorgeous & the Simi Valley views from the hilltop location are stunning. There are picnic tables & shade trees outside, and Danielle & I thought we should make a day of it sometime & bring a picnic lunch. No, surprisingly enough we are not eligible for AARP membership yet :-p

Important Things To Do Before I Leave

I'm only working a half day today, so I can take care of a couple important things before I leave LA.

First I'm finally going to use the gift certificate for Burke Williams Spa that I got for my birthday way back in March. I'm getting a full facial, so I will be all beauty-ful for my trip.



After that the excitement goes into overload! I'm going to the Ronald Reagan Library to tour the old Air Force 1! Yes, I'm actually very excited about this.



I can only hope I will have as much fun as I did touring the Lisa Marie & Hound Dog II at Graceland! My nerdiness knows no bounds. I am dragging my poor friend Danielle along, although she does not seem to share my excitement at all. I don't know what's wrong with her - some people just wouldn't know a good time even if it hit them right upside the head ;-)

Better Late Than Never!

I spent a good deal of the day taking care of fun car maintenance stuff, so I can make my epic journey at the end of this week - so unfortunately no time to post :-(

I'm pretty sure that a cute dog picture will make up for it! It's always good to have a few of these on hand in case of a blogging emergency ;-)

Crafty Wonderland

I'm not even in Portland yet, but I'm already set up to dive into the local craft scene. I'll be participating in September's Crafty Wonderland on Saturday 9/14/08 at the Doug Fir Lounge. Only Portland would have a lounge by night, craft fair by day ;-)



Stop by & see my tees & maybe you'll even get a little felt up ;-) The show runs from 11am-4pm & admission is free. There is also a free DYI table with a beading project, so bring the whole family & poke around. Even if you don't buy anything, you know the people watching will be awesome!



T- 5 days & counting on the moving countdown! I have lots of boxes, when are those little elves going to come fill them up for me?

Help Me Decide On My Ad!

I'll be running a month long ad on Modish in September, but I don't know which ad to use.

Number 1






Number 2






Number 3








Which do you prefer? Or, should I start from scratch & do something completely different? Please give me your feedback, I'd appreciate it!

Packing & The Wonder of Craigslist

T- 6 days & counting! I'll be moving back to my hometown of Portland, Oregon this coming Sunday. I did not spend the weekend up to my elbows in felt, working on my t-shirts, I spent it packing & getting ready for my LA exodus.

I have a love/hate relationship with moving. I LOVE to move, but I hate packing. Luckily each time I move (at least every two years it seems) I get rid of more & more stuff - therefore less to box up! There is something very zen about clearing all the clutter & crap out of your life & starting fresh. Well, either that or I'm just too lazy to pack it all ;-)

Thanks to the wonder that is craigslist, I got rid of all my furniture except for my bed! Mid-day Friday I finally decided I better put an ad for all of it on craigslist & by early afternoon on Saturday it was all gone! You've got to love that website. I'm hanging on to my bed for one more week, so I don't have to sleep on the floor.

I only take what will fit in my car, so yes this will be me next weekend. If you see me heading up I-5, give a honk & a wave!

Pearls + Etsy = Cute!

Diamonds are a girls best friend? No way! This girl loves her pearls! Thanks to the beautiful high quality Chinese freshwater pearls that are available now, I've managed to amass a nice little collection of pearl jewelry.

I have a lovely opera length strand of pearls, but I sometimes find it too dressy for every day wear. What's a girl to do? Double it up & add a fun crotchet brooch!



I love how this instantly makes the strand look casual & vintage-y.

It's easy to hear the word "brooch" & immediately think "grandma", but they are really versatile & a lot of fun to play around with. There is so much more to do with brooches than just pinning them to your lapel. I got the snazzy little number in my pictures from missindie on etsy. Check out all the adorable styles she has.

Have a wonderful Friday & enjoy your weekend!

Embarrassing Confession

What fun is having a blog if you don't occasionally make quasi-anonymous embarrassing confessions to the nameless, faceless internet masses? No fun at all, I say! So here's one of mine.

I seriously cannot wait for this movie to come out!



For real! Who does not love a talking animal movie? Milo & Otis anyone?

Anyway, my slight obsession with the noble little chihuahua might also have something to do with my anticipation. Small in stature, but mighty in spirit! It appears the release date has been pushed back to October 3rd, per the official website. I know what I will be doing that Friday night. This grown woman will not be ashamed to wait in line on opening night to see a movie about rat dogs! Who's with me?

My First Shot At Web Advertising

I need to get the word out about my tees, so I decided to venture into the world of buying ad space on websites. I got my toes wet by purchasing a week long slot on majaba.

Majaba is a site used by etsy sellers to easily see who hearts (added as a favorite) their shops & individual items. With this venue I'll pretty much only be marketing to other folks on etsy, but at less than $2.00 a day it's a great way to test the waters without sinking in much of an investment.



It will be interesting to see how much traffic this drives to my store & hopefully I'll get a sale or two from it!

My next shot at advertising is a month long slot on Modish in September. Modish is a blog about handmade style, that should reach some "regular" folks, along with the etsy crowd.

I'm having fun playing around with my differnt options for promoting my little venture & just learning as I go :-)

Knights of the Round Table or Dungeons and Dragons?

I ordered a bunch of hounds tooth printed blank tees that I thought were really cool. They make me think English with a modern twist. So... along those lines I though I'd make a dragon applique for one of them. Sort of Knights of the Round table-esque. I wanted a dragon that looked threatening & medieval, but that wouldn't be too complicated to cut out. I ended up designing this little guy -



He's not as distinguished looking as I had hoped for. A little less "old world cool" & a little more "I got beat up in school". Oh well I'm sure there's a market for that somewhere ;-)

My First Post - Wahoo!

Hmmm... another personal/business combo blog. How in the heck am I going to make this interesting enough for anyone to voluntaraly read? Will my witty words convince you to look at my little tee shirts & actually buy them? Are these my real thoughts are just a clever ploy at marketing. Who knows? We'll see as we go!

Anyway everyone loves happy little animal pictures.


see more dog pictures