.how i spent my valentine's day.

so for valentine's day, we ate dinner at our favorite restaurant (julians) and then came home for an evening of chocolate, flowers, wine and THE FINAL DISC OF LOST SEASON 6 which CONTAINS SPECIAL FEATURES AND NEVERBEFORESEEN FOOTAGE!!!

how did my man know exactly what i would love?

dinner was a 6 course, fixed-price meal (like last time) and the food was great . . . but not nearly as good as last time :) the atmosphere at julian's was great - table cloths, candles, live music. we had a really great time talking and catching up too. it's been a while since we've had some one-on-one time. life gets busy.

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in other news:

it was PRD's river rat home team mascot "The Cheese's" birthday this weekend. we sent her a singing telegram in the form of a lobster with a hip hop routine. tonight we are having a cheese themed party. bring it on, lactose intolerance!

went hiking yesterday in the snow with dogs and good friends. it's been "warm" the last two days (i.e. in the 50s rather than below 30).

had a "chinese new year - year of the rabbit" potluck with friends. bunnies were the theme.

i ordered my seeds for the 2011 garden!! i can't believe it's already time!

all of these things deserve their own posts with photos.

let's see how well i do.

.good day.

new-ish mural on the street where i met the man-friend for pizza (this was taken by ME back during the last time it snowed)

today i slept in, watched LOST on my laptop, met the man-friend for lunch (subsequently received free pizza- yes!), had a great walk in the sun, bought some cute leg-warmers for my sister's new baby, drank my first iced americano of the year (yum!), got a new straw cowgirl had for my HUGE head, took hudson to the dog park, finished planning my garden, planted the first round of seeds in my starter tray, set some beans to soak for a nice batch of vegetarian chili tomorrow, had some dinner, ordered some goodies from neo hippie mama, and am now about to get ready for roller derby practice!

whew.

i do have some awesome photos to share with you . . . a fun announcement about an art show i have a painting in, and hopefully a GREAT announcement about what home team i have been placed on for the providence roller derby and what my derby name will be (still narrowing it down . . . and still accepting ideas, PLEASE give me your ideas!).

so, hopefully i'll fit some of that in tomorrow before or after work at the massage studio.

for now? off to practice giving good solid hits, checks, blocks and whips at roller derby practice.

.day of adventures.

miss N and i were able to hang out yesterday. she finally had the day off (she's supposed to always have wednesdays off . . . but you know), so we went on an adventure! we hit up the modern diner for grits and challah raisin french toast. mmmmmmm.....

next stop was lorraine's fabric the last remnant (pun!) of the once thriving textile industry in rhode island. it's a warehouse full of fabric and notions. and the top floor? $1.99 a yard for EVERYTHING!!! sigh. needless to say, i splurged on some awesome goodies, future plans include a bib for the wee one my sister is set to have in a few weeks!

we made our way to the "new" goodwill in attleboro, MA and proceeded to spend HOURS browsing the goods - both fantastic and hideous.

but the best part? the handful of picture frames i picked up for .99 cents to 1.99 each . . . there's nothing in them yet, but i cleaned them up and stuck them on the wall. i feel so grown up finally having something on the wall in the living room. hey, they are empty frames, but they are a start. right?
plus i got to drink 3 cups of coffee in an entire day.

{all photo credits: ME!}

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now back to tattoo designs and pondering the meaning of tuesday night's episode of LOST.

.things i am excited about.

this shirt is awesome. it says "support your local roller derby; give blood, give often" . . . i want it. anyone have an extra $29.99 lying around?
i got my first real roller derby bruise last week. its awesome! i fell on someone's skate . . . and then took some extra hits on top of it :) it's healing with some nice greens and yellows. i'll try to remember to take a picture before it's gone.

and also? it's time for the final season of lost to begin tonight!!! gonna get some snackies (it's a word) and some beer and head over to a friend's house (we don't have tv) tonight for the revelry!!!

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tonight is my "friday" night . . . day off tomorrow. think i might get coffee and go thrifting/to the craft store with miss N . . . and sleep past the sunrise . . . and keep working on the drawing for my sister's tattoo. all nice things.

.brrrrr.

take life one good "huffle puffle" at a time

well, i've been hunkered down, keeping warm (it was in the teens yesterday and today as far as temperature), working hard (the students are back from break and are eating at the cafe again - though not tipping well . . . per usual), and prepping things (such as watching more LOST in prep for season premier on tues! and continuing to sort through and organize my art space - getting so many great ideas!).

yesterday was my sunday . . . i visited the classic cafe with a sweet crafty girl (we've planned a winter beach trip in the near future!) yesterday for brunch as well as met up with some fellow bridesmaids with our future bride, miss M. that was good times. we got kicked out of a sushi restaurant and then headed to the local pub where we proceeded to get warned about offending other patrons. all before 8pm!!! we ended the night with the bride-to-be playing darts with some random men at the bar. they were purposely loosing to her so that she could get a bulls eye!!!

haven't caused a ruckus like that with those girls in quite a while . . . it was nice! and i was home by 10:30 (i'm an old lady) since i had to work in the morning.

i have to work in the morning again tomorrow . . . followed by a derby bout tomorrow night, more work earrrrrrly monday morning and then STUDIO TIME!!! i'll be desigining a tattoo for my sister! i'll let you know how it goes!

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currently listening to live recordings of J Tillman . . . soul-soothing.

.good day to stay in.

spent most of the day curled up on the couch watching old episodes of LOST online with the man-friend. i also spend about 3 hours browsing around on lostpedia. this was either a total waste of time or a fantastic decision. not sure yet. based on all the things i wanted to accomplish today (filing, finishing organizing my new amazing studio space, getting my package in the mail for my sister and the little sprout due next month, etc) it was a horrible choice. it was, however a fantastically windy and rainy day. the perfect kind of day for an after work nap (left the house at 6am for work, arrived home by noon, soup in the crock pot by 12:30, head on the pillow by 1 - woken up by crazy wind shaking the house about an hour and half later) followed by coffee and snuggles on the couch.

also, due to the fact that i was entertained by lostpedia, the man-friend was able to get 3 hours of school work done without my interrupting him.

the man-friend made an AMAZING pizza for dinner tonight (with whole, roasted garlic cloves! yum! cut the top off a head of garlic, set it in a tin foil hug, drizzle with olive oil and leave it in the oven for at least half an hour. scoop out the cloves with a knife. put it on your pizza. or spread them on crackers. so. good.)

i, in turn, made an entire crock pot of soup (kidney beans and garbanzo beans [soaked overnight] veggie broth, onion, sweet potato, gold potato, garlic, coconut milk, curry spices and honey) so that he will have stuff he can just heat up to eat while he keeps studying. he's in the last mad dash for his prelimenary exams for his phd. i am so proud of him! he's put in so much work. he still has so much more to go - but as of thursday next week, he'll have a huge portion of it behind him. he will be what is called ABD (all but dissertation), meaning he will have finished all necessary work to complete his phd except for writing his huge-ass dissertation (which will take years).

anyway, that's how i spent this crazy, rainy, windy day. tomorrow? more early morning work and roller derby practice. maybe i'll finish sorting through my studio in between?

what is your favorite rainy day activity?

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currently listening: fleetwood mac "rumors." never gets old.