Art & Almond Butter

[Scroll down and play the video so you have a soundtrack for reading]*

Hello lovers! Going to put all the notes I've been making into this post -- little bit news, little bit thoughts, little bit IT'S PRETTY AND I WANT IT.

My sister Robin has accused me for at least 15 years, nay, reaching back into the nineteen nineties, remember those? of liking shoes best described as

Space leprechaun. The shoes a leprechaun would wear in outer space.

  

                                                              --- Robin, shaking her head

Begs the question if the leprechaun is an astronaut (ie visitor) or permanent outer space inhabitant. Would the shoes be the same? Anyway you get the picture. (or do you - read this piece I just read during my allergy shot).

These Camper heels are so perfectly space leprechaun I can't even stand it. Love them.

See these two necklaces I snapped a pic of on my way to my speakeasy salon in the back of this boutique -- [a boutique that is 0.25 miles from our house and my very dear hairstylist Erin (hi Erin!) just moved there. Now all of my errands are within 2 miles. And everything else is Prime'd. #momlifehack]

Anyhoo, these necklaces are $315 a piece. Wha???? Some little bitty stones, braided leather, a glittery disc.

I started thinking about how Clem colors and exclaims - My aht! (my art!) - and how it's so cute, ha ha, babies can't make art. BUT WAIT oh yes they can and so can I! Instead of pottery classes, which turned out to be pricey (class fee + (2.5 hours babysitting x4)), my art project for this month will be the creation of a similar necklace (neck-iss, as C would say) with the help of Ann. Let's craft! May aim for a monthly creative endeavor. We can all make aht.

Other March project since no ceramics: Operation Not Hate My House. For each week of March I'm going to focus on one room, purging, rearranging. Mostly purging.

Good listening: composer Jeff Beal's process for House of Cards

Speaking of House of Cards, hating how Luke and I have no time together to watch it. We've only seen the first episode! AHHHHH!

Others to be streamed: Whiplash, Birdman, Theory of Everything, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Considering Parks and Rec but I really can't stand Aziz Ansari - his voice is fingernails on the chalkboard of my soul.

Focusing on clean eats again, trying to bring the grams of sugar consumed/day down. Starting with buying only Chobani Simply 100s (7 g instead of 15 plus) and these single serving Barney butters (I bought plain almond and cocoa coconut. A very satisfying snack. Prime'd it of course.) 

Loving the new NYT Sunday magazine. Caught up with the first issue during my work trip this week. So good --> Sam Anderson's Letter of Recommendation for Fleetwood Mac's 1979 'Tusk' is a great read, including lines like:

It contains many of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest nonsingles, as well as some of the most powerful transmissions ever received from the astral plane occupied by Stevie Nicks.

On that work trip I finally finished Cheryl Strayed's Torch, which I really enjoyed but had to check out three times in order to complete. It's not a long book or a tough read, those three weeks just flew by each time. Torch is the fictionalized account of Strayed's mother's death, recounted in Wild and occasionally in Tiny Beautiful Things. Now that I've completed this trilogy, I recommend* reading them - and definitely read them - in this order:

                    1) Wild
                    2) Tiny Beautiful Things
                    3) Torch but not the introduction
                    4) The introduction to Torch

So glad it's March! February was a slog capped off by this work trip (a lab inspection) which presented a months-long nagging psychic burden and now it's over! Yippee! Rearranging and crafting and studying for an upcoming course and streaming House of Cards and making this margarita cake for dinner with friends next week - here I come!

*C's daycare providers say that she tries to be a little teacher, echoing commands that they give to the other kids. She comes by this bossiness honestly.