Geek+Nerd

CHRISTMAS SPOILER - MOM NO PEEKING!

2009-07-05T19:41:00.003-04:00

Over the years, my mother has inherited much of my grandmother's incredible family photo collection. Some of the photos date back to the early 1900's, and they are sitting in piles in shoeboxes. (I'm sure that the archivists out there are having a heart attack)! She even has my great-grandmother's wedding album where the women are dressed as if they are about to board the Titanic - hats, dresses, gloves, the whole nine yards.

I decided that it was high time that I pulled some of the photos out and transformed them in a way that they would fit into my parents' living space.

Inspired my friend Lisa Congdon's decoupaged plates and an altered plate tutorial by Cathie Filian I set to work.

I bought the plate at Goodwill for a whopping 99 cents. My mom has always loved strawberries, and anything with a strawberry motif on it - so I knew it would be perfect for this project.

It was difficult to choose just one photo, out of so many lovely ones, but I settled on a photo of my mom taking her first steps outside of the farmhouse that she grew up in, in Candia NH. The woman behind her is my Memere, Yvonne, who passed away in 2008. The tagline of my mom's blog is a journal of moving forward, but never forgetting the past. This photo reminded me of the sentiment, but also I just love the sweetness of my baby mom in a giant bonnet!

Here I must insert the requisite apology for the CRAPPY photo of this. My web cam does not do the plate justice at all! (I can't wait for my Nikon to return to me when Matt gets home from tour)!

I surrounded the photocopy of the picture with various washi papers, bits of tissue, an old soap wrapper and gold wrapping paper. It's finished with glossy Mod Podge. All in all this project took me about an hour and a half from start to finish. I'm going to include a plate hanger and hardware to put it up on the wall. There is a perfect empty spot near a pie plate in my mum's kitchen where I think this will fit right in! I hope she likes it - what do you think?

Christmas in July KICKOFF!

2009-07-05T16:27:00.002-04:00

first snow, 2008

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are definitely aware that I have a ~~minor~~ major ~~obsession~~ soft spot for the winter holidays. This year, my quest for bringing handmade goodness back to the holidays took a delightful turn when I started the Holiday Handmade Crusade. Each month, I am newly inspired by the participants creativity, excitement and mutual zest for the holidays.

So, dear blog readers, as July rolled around I realized something. I have been very selfishly keeping all of these wonderful people and their creations to myself! In order to make amends, I am declaring the next week (and maybe some spillage into the week after)...

CHRISTMAS IN JULY!

Each day will bring Christmas-themed posts with content from the participants of the Holiday Handmade Crusade. I hope that these posts will inspire you to make a few gifts ahead of time this year. You have the power to make the holidays special without maxing out your credit card at the mall. Really, you do!

Feeling inspired? If you are moved to post something for Christmas in July, leave me a link in the comments!

Small Town 4th of July

2009-07-04T12:44:00.002-04:00

Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow American folk! I wish that I had more pictures to share with you, but alas, Matt still has the nice camera on tour in California, so this photo will have to suffice! Do you like my 4th get up? It's missing the red cowboy hat that I was sporting this morning, but I'm still feeling festive in my white country girl dress.

Today my dad and I left the house early to go visit my brother Thom and his girlfriend Michelle's family up in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire. Michelle's family owns a sweet little breakfast place called the Iron Kettle. I put away three blueberry pancakes with crispy bacon, YUM! Sadly they did not have real maple syrup, but leave it to my dad to come to the rescue. He had a single serving syrup bottle in his car! Have syrup, will travel. The Duclos family doesn't mess around!

After eating, we settled in lawn chairs in front of the restaurant to view the Main Street, 4th of July parade. Believe it or not, this was the first 4th of July parade I had ever been to in my life! I had a blast watching the little ones closer to the sidewalk scramble for bits of candy thrown by the people on the floats. It was too fun.

My 10 month old baby nephew Aaron was taking in his first parade too! (Pictures from Thom's camera to come later). We danced and sang and had a grand old time.

On the way home with my dad, we jammed out to Johnny Cash: Live at San Quentin all the way down Route 16. The sun was shining for the first time in weeks, and even though we're supposed to get scattered thunder showers later, I wasn't about to dwell on it. It's moments like these that make life great. Small Town U.S.A at its very best.

GUSH aka "Why you should go buy Molly Wizenberg's book"

2009-07-03T16:35:00.000-04:00

FYI: I am writing to you from my parents house - my temporary home until Matt gets back from tour. Moving is officially OVER! Well...at least for a short while.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg, of Orangette bloggy fame. I must admit, prior to picking up the book, I had not been a regular Orangette reader. I knew of Orangette, but I had just never stopped for a good look around. Then I started reading reviews of Molly's book on blog after blog, and I thought to myself, "Hmm, they must be on to something good."

After reading A Homemade Life, my conclusion is this:

WHERE THE HELL HAS MOLLY WIZENBERG BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!

Seriously. It is so terribly cliche, but I laughed, I cried and I devoured the book like a piece of chocolate cake after a three day fast.

Let me explain why Molly, and subsequently her book, is so awesome.

Each chapter is a short, autobiographical story. The way that she writes about her life experiences and the way that she writes about food are inseparable. Molly's prose is casual, like reading letters from one of your very best gal pals. The book has all of the lovely qualities of a great blog - terrific writing, but short and easy to digest. Each of the chapters culminate in delicious recipes. These recipes are very much main characters in Molly's life and her writing. So often at the end of each chapter I found myself thinking, "Dear God, that sounds so delicious, I want to go into the kitchen and make it NOW!"

*SPOILER ALERT*

The bottom line is that Molly is a like-able person, so, as a reader, I became very engrossed in her story. Tears literally splashed down my face onto the pages describing her father's painful battle with cancer. Then later on, I "HURRAYED" out loud when Molly gets together with her husband Brandon.

*SPOILER OVER*

Not convinced yet? Let me just throw out some titles of the recipes that I'm itching to try. Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystalized Ginger, Butternut Soup with Pear, Cider and Vanilla Bean, Pistachio Cake with Honeyed Apricots... Do I really need to go on?

Often throughout Homemade Life, Molly describes her late father as someone who had love and enthusiasm for life and everything in it. This is clearly an inherited trait, and Molly's zest for life and the kitchen is contagious.

So what are you waiting for? Go. Read. Cook. Laugh. Cry. Live life to the max.

Handmade Holiday Crusade Announcement

2009-07-03T01:00:00.003-04:00

Announcing the Holiday Handmade Crusade theme for July!

Your theme for July is: Save the Summer! Save a little sunshine for the winter holidays by saving a piece of summer. You can literally do this by trying your hand at making jam, or canning some homemade pasta sauce. How about pressing some beautiful flowers into a frame? Inspired by the summer beauty around you? Sketch, paint or photograph your surroundings and frame that in a recycled frame from Goodwill.

Entries to be eligible for the raffle are due on July 31st by midnight EST

Prize winner for June will be announced ASAP!

Want to join in the year-long crafty goodness and have the chance to win fabulous prizes? Read all about the Holiday Handmade Crusade here.

Be crafty and prosper,

<3 Your Craftastic Christmas Crusader

P.S. If you are visiting from Gingerbread and Snowflakes, hello! Thanks again for the mention, Pam!

Neo in New York

2009-06-17T07:45:00.004-04:00

Just four days after the Boston debut, ten of the Neo girls, plus myself departed New England and headed towards New York City!

We were there just two and a half days. Here are some of the sights that we saw...

On day one we pretty much checked into our hotel and headed straight to City Center a few hours later. We arrived for our technical rehearsal and discovered quickly that like most of New York, the building was old, not air-conditioned and HOT! Warming up was not an issue for my dancers at all.

Our "dressing room" was nothing more than a stair landing with these neat-o old wooden lockers. Hey, you've got to start somewhere right?!

You can see the lockers on the left...

The company teched...

Then we found out that my piece was the show closer for both evenings. Primo spot!

So they performed...beautifully...

On night two - the of age ladies in the bunch went out for a night on the town to celebrate! We went to this great bar called Faces and Names right off of Times Square. We might have celebrated a little too much, since we returned to the hotel room at 3:45am and did not go to bed until 5:00! There is a reason that they call it "The city that never sleeps!"

After a good long rest, and some greasy spoon breakfast, it was homeward bound for the New England girls.

For me, this is where the fun stops.

About 10 minutes outside of the city, I was following an 18 wheeler going about 50 MPH, when I saw a HUGE bump in the road, like a frost heave, the size of a milk crate. Since I was behind a truck, I saw it at the last moment and had no choice but to go over it. And over it I did go, and flew through the air Dukes of Hazard style in my little Jetta and came down with a crack. Immediately we knew that we had done some damage to the car, but we didn't know what. I had to pull over three lanes of traffic and check it out (PERILOUS!!!)

When I got out of my car I discovered that the bottom half of my bumper was 3/4 of the way ripped off and dragging underneath. Lovely. With nothing to secure it, I had to get back on the highway and drag it some more, to the next exit. The we got duct tape (classy) and taped it up and hit the road again. I haven't even gotten it looked at yet...because I don't even want to know how expensive it's going to be!

Then, when we got back on the road in Connecticut, it took us 3 1/2 hours to go 75 miles. Aaaaaand, my car is a standard. Clutch, brake, clutch, brake. So irritating. We left NYC at 1:30 and we arrived in New Hampshire at 9:15. It took us almost eight hours to make a 4.5 hour trip!!! Not fun!

However, that aside, having my work performed in NYC was thrilling. Lifelong dream - checked off and done! Now I'm dreaming of going back, again and again and again.

I've already started working on my next piece, which is to a live version of Distant Lover by Marvin Gaye. I'm pretty psyched about it - maybe I'll try to get some rehearsal video up to give all of you a sneak preview.

More soon - maybe some craftiness :)

Dance for World Community

2009-06-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

I literally started this post over a week ago. When I finally catch you up on all of my adventures, you will understand why I haven't posted until now!

On June 6th, my recently resurrected dance company, Neoteric Dance Collaborative, had the pleasure of participating in the first annual Dance for World Community Festival, hosted by Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre. We arrived at 11:30 and did not leave until 10:30 at night!!!

The festival featured free performances by local youth troupes and dance companies, near forty total! There were four different performance venues within the block, so there were always four stages presenting something simultaneously. There were also free dance classes, in all genres and levels of dance. There was an entire street dedicated to informational booths devoted to dance and other social causes, environment, gay and lesbian task force, shelters, etc.

Here are some shots of our booth:

DWC was also Neo's Boston debut, which was quite exciting for us all! Here are some of my favorite performance shots:

After the performances were done for the day, the event culminated with a "Dancing in the Street" party, featuring a variety of local musicians.

It was then that we met some b-boys from Losst Unnown, and we had a little dance off. (They win, HA! Although, they were impressed when I pulled my leg over my head and did a split. HAHAHA - no big deal - I wish I could spin on my hands on pavement, much more impressive!) They were friendly and awesome guys, and whooo boy could they dance!

We busted it as well...

As I looked around me at the end of the evening, I was amazed to see, little tween ballerinas, still in their pink tights, bouncing around to an African band, my own company of contemporary jazz dancers breaking it down with the b-boys, it was like something out of a cheesy dance movie...but it was really happening. I was just awestruck at that very moment soaking in the incredible diversity of people there dancing in the street. All so different, but with one thing in common, the desire to move, the need to speak with our bodies, and bring some beauty and joy to the world.

It was a very good day.

Next up, we traveled to NYC for the big City Center debut! I will try to post soon.

Holiday Handmade Crusade Announcement :: May Winner / June Theme

2009-06-01T22:38:00.003-04:00

Announcing the raffle prize winner for the month of May!

The May raffle winner is: cosmomouse via Craftster! I got so busy last month, that I never did confirm a May raffle prize, so cosmomouse's prize will be announced shortly. No worries cosmomouse, it will be awesome.

Want to join in the year-long crafty goodness and have the chance to win fabulous prizes? Read all about the Holiday Handmade Crusade here.

Announcing the Holiday Handmade Crusade theme for June!

Your theme for June is: Crafty-papa!: Surprise, surprise, last month's theme is being tweaked to honor the awesome men in our lives. Use a little extra Father's Day crafty mojo to make a gift for the winter holidays. Feel free to expand the theme to craft for your grandfathers, stepfathers, new fathers, any man that is special in your life.

Entries to be eligible for the raffle are due on June 30th by midnight EST

Prize for June will be announced ASAP!

Be crafty and prosper,

<3 Your Craftastic Christmas Crusader

P.S. If you are visiting from Gingerbread and Snowflakes, hello! Thanks for the mention, Pam!

Eye Spy...My morning ritual

2009-05-31T10:20:00.003-04:00

There are three major components to my every morning.

1. Food
2. Blog-reading
3. COFFEE

Those three requirements must be met and enjoyed for at least one hour to an hour and a half post waking up. I am a SLOW riser in the morning, and I need to putter before I can function. I always get up around two hours before I have to be anywhere, no matter how early that might be. If I have to leave the house at 7:30, I'll be up at 5:45. Otherwise, I will not be able to get out of the house!

Strange, maybe, but it's how I function.

***

There is so much happening right now that I have not had time to blog. It's not for lack of wanting to, I assure you! I am going to have to get creative with my images, because Matt left for tour yesterday and took the nice camera. He will be traveling all over the United States in the next two months, so he is going to take pictures galore and e-mail them to me.

Not gonna lie, I cried a bit when he left. Sigh - I miss him already!

Roasted Pepper and Spinach Pizza

2009-05-16T06:56:00.004-04:00

Firstly, let me apologize in advance for the following post which will be devoid of pictures.

Secondly, let me tell you that the following post is devoid of pictures, because the recipe that I am about to share with you is SO DAMN GOOD we inhaled it before I could take any photographic evidence.

First off I made pizza dough following the Best Pizza Dough Ever Recipe at 101 Cookbooks, with one major exception. I substituted two cups of wheat flour in the dry ingredients. This will make your dough take considerably longer to rise, since the wheat flour is a little heavy. Just take your dough, plop it into a bowl, cover it with a cloth and leave it on the counter for a couple of hours. It will be fine.

Once you've rolled out your dough, this is what you'll need.

Ingredients

Olive Oil
A bit of marinara sauce
Baby Spinach
Roasted Bell Peppers (I used one yellow and one red)
About 6 ounces of Cheddar Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Roll out your dough. Wait...we already did that part.

2. Spread a thin layer of olive oil onto your pizza. Add as much marinara as you want. I eye-balled it, since I was using leftovers.

3. Layer your toppings like so, baby spinach, roasted peppers (I roasted my own, 450 degrees with a little salt and pepper for 15ish minutes), grated cheddar and parmesan cheese.

4. Bake at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

5. Revel in the deliciousness that you have created.

The end!

Holiday Handmade Crusade Announcement :: April Winner/May Theme

2009-05-12T19:20:00.003-04:00

Announcing the raffle prize winner for the month of April!

The April raffle winner is: oneredboot via Craftster! Oneredboot has won a Merfish Necklace from Resurrection Fern. Visit Margie's amazing blog Resurrection Fern, photo stream and Etsy shop for endless nature inspiration. Thanks go to Margie for making this giveaway possible!

Want to join in the year-long crafty goodness and have the chance to win fabulous prizes? Read all about the Holiday Handmade Crusade here.

Announcing the Holiday Handmade Crusade Theme for May!

Your theme for May is: Crafty-mama!: Let's honor our mum's this month by using a little extra Mother's Day crafty mojo to make a gift for the winter holidays. Feel free to expand the theme to craft for your grandmothers, stepmothers, new mothers, any woman that is special in your life. Got kids? Craft for them, they made you the crafty-mama you are today!

Entries to be eligible for the raffle are due on May 30th by midnight EST

Prize announcement soon to follow!

Onward ho Crusaders!

<3 Your Craftastic Christmas Crusader

SWOONAGE Blog friends are the best...

2009-05-12T17:48:00.002-04:00

C'mon, I'm not the only one that cuddles with a piece of Pyrex like it's a baby, right?

*CRICKETS*

I'm not crazy, I swear!

Blog friends are the best! Pam of Gingerbread and Snowflakes sent me this sweet Daisy Cinderella Round Casserole after my recent casserole dish binge posts. I've been on a strict no thrifting for a month diet, since April 15th, and Pam's Pyrex arrived just in time to scratch a thrifting itch. Thanks for feeding the addiction Pam! (HAR HAR HAR HAR).

***

Pam also reminded me, via e-mail, that I hadn't posted the May Holiday Handmade Crusade theme here on my blog! I've been so busy it completely slipped me by. I can't believe it! The month is half over and I didn't make announcements! Silly me! I'll share that info with you promptly in the next post.

Thanks again Pam, I love it!!!

Mother's Day Sunday

2009-05-10T23:39:00.004-04:00

Today started off with a lovely family breakfast. This year, we revisited a familiar Mother's day haunt, the Wentworth by the Sea. If you have a minute, visit their website, just to see a few pictures of the place. It's a gorgeous resort!

Mom's pick for her special day was eggs benedict served over lobster hash. I snuck a bite and it was incredibly tasty!

I opted for a more traditional favorite. Pancakes and bacon, NOM-NOM!

My nephew Aaron was there, entertaining all, as babies do!

my mum and dad with aaron

Mom has a magic way with the baby-folk. I guess that's what happens when you have four children!

mum loving on her grandbaby

After leaving mum with an appropriately sappy card and half a pound of penuche, (one of her favorites), I headed off to rehearse for the day in Marblehead. Rehearsals for our upcoming shows are going very well! BB is kindly lending me gorgeous studio space for rehearsal, and the crop of dancers that I'm working with are incredibly talented. I feel so lucky!

Matt and I both found ourselves free tonight, which is SO rare, therefore we headed out for a movie. We saw The Soloist which was a little slow going at times, but it is a wonderful story, and I enjoyed the movie immensely overall. I would be interested to read the book upon which the film is based.

Tomorrow...I will share with you more Pyrex lurve. And no, I did not thrift it. (FIVE MORE DAYS UNTIL MY ONE MONTH THRIFTING DIET IS OVER, WAHOO!)

NDC's Choreography Reel is Now Online

2009-05-04T11:01:00.003-04:00

Hi friends,

I have been a bit stressed and busy with arranging dancers, rehearsing and preparing for our big shows in Boston and New York! So to make up for lost posts, I would like to share with you our 09/10' choreography reel which is now online. You can watch it via YouTube or Vimeo.

When we perform in Boston we will be presenting "Burst" which is the last piece in the video (rose petaled leotards and red pants), choreography by me, and "Don't I Look Good Doin' This?" (first piece with the bench) and "Spy Underground" (blue and yellow leotards) choreographed by my assistant director Jess Soucy. We'll be presenting "Burst" again in NYC.

Check out our 2009-2010 Choreography Reel on YouTube or Vimeo:

Neoteric Dance Collaborative Choreography Reel 2009-2010 from Neoteric Dance Collaborative on Vimeo.

All choreography is by Artistic Director Sarah Cost and Assistant Director/Resident Choreographer Jess Soucy.

This is my non-crafty life - although I find it to be very crafty indeed. Crafty with bodies instead of fabric and yarn! Please view and rate and comment! I would so appreciate it!

xo - Sarah

I've been so busy - and this is why...

2009-04-29T23:06:00.001-04:00

Last Friday night I witnessed an exceptional theater/dance performance by a group of twenty girls from the Dover area, in 7th grade through high school. Entitled "PROUD," this theatrical experience gave me chills. It was strong, uplifting, and fun!...

Read the full article at Fosters.com

And there is big news beyond the next link:

Dancing Through Life Newsletter - April 2009

How to Make a Recycled Stationary Set

2009-04-22T19:23:00.000-04:00

In honor of Earth Day and April's Holiday Handmade Crusade Theme, eco-crafting, I completed two Christmas gifts this month. My recycled magazine sets are for my two teenage nieces, but they would make a perfect gift for a letter-writing fan of any age.

This project is cheap, because it uses common found materials, earth friendly, because it is made from upcycled junk that is totally recycle-able and the finished product is just plain cute. What's not to love?

Materials

An envelope. I think the one that I used was 4"x5"

Paper with fun imagery on it. Think magazine pages, junk mail, old catalogues, etc.

Paper with a clear enough surface to write on. Think recycled office paper, lined paper, graph paper, etc.

Glue Stick

Writing Utensil

Tools

Scissors

Pinking Shears (Optional)

Step One: Make the envelopes.

Take your envelope apart carefully, and unfold it. Use your unfolded envelope as a template to create your recycled envelopes by tracing around the template envelope onto your fun paper with a writing utensil of your choice. Fold in the appropriate tabs and glue with your glue stick. Careful not to glue the top tab shut, or you won't be able to use your envelope! Repeat for however many envelopes you would like per set. I made five envelopes per set.

Step Two : Making the Stationary Flats

Use more of your fun paper. Choose one side to be the "party side" of your flat. Use your scissors to cut the paper down to a size that will fit into your envelope.

Decide how much of a margin you would like on the "business side" of your paper. Cut your writing paper to reflect that margin, and glue to the business side of your flat. Trim around the edges with pinking shears if you like.

Repeat for however many flats you would like to have in your set. I made ten flats per set.

Your recycled stationary is now ready to use!

Eye Spy...A Magic Elixir

2009-04-19T10:58:00.004-04:00

This weeks "Eye Spy" theme was provided by BadSkirt. Play along weekly over at Bug and Pop

Being a life-long dancer causes certain unpleasant ailments. At the elderly age of twenty-six I already have a nasty bit of arthritis in my left knee. My mom has been trying out an apple cider vinegar and honey remedy for a few months now and has noticed a significant difference in her shoulder pain (from all of that chopping and stirring and cooking!). Interesting facts about this remedy can be found at Arthritis Reviews.

Today, in honor of the "magic elixir" theme, I stirred up my first batch.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey Remedy

1 tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon of baking soda

Mix in a glass and cover with chilled water. Take twice daily!

Reasons Four, Five and Six Why I Need to Go on a Thrifting Diet

2009-04-17T07:10:00.002-04:00

Four

Pattern name "Casablanca" by the Royal China company. Three of these came home with me to match the other five already in my cupboard. I've been seeing sets upon sets of these lately at thrift stores all over. 99 cents a piece.

Five

Twin Fitted Sheet

Six

Pyrex, 1.5 quart casserole in the "Summerfield" pattern.

Sigh...and there is still more.

Reasons One, Two and Three Why I Need to Go on a Thrifting Diet

2009-04-16T12:52:00.006-04:00

I've been going a little crazy with the thrifting lately. So crazy in fact, that I'm going on a diet. No more thrift shopping for me until May 15th. I swear. I even bypassed a community wide yard sale today. It was hard. I will be strong.

One

Fire King Peach Lustre casserole

Two

Glasbake oval mini casserole

Three

Pyrex "Snowflake" divided casserole

And there's more...but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Five Senses

2009-04-15T23:00:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! I have so missed blogging regularly, but life has just been so busy lately. To sum it up there have been some amazing developments in the dream job arena. In addition to Taking Steps, Citydance and administrative work, now I've been approved to substitute teach for the children's program and I'm going to be trained as an Adaptive Dance instructor. Sometimes I pinch myself to make sure this is all real.

Aside from all of that big stuff, I've had scarcely any time for myself! So, I thought I would dedicate this blog post to the little things that are making me happy these days.

see

New treasures in my home...and that's not all! There is much more to be shown soon!

smell

A nice lemon grass candle my dancers bought for me

Open windows. Yes.

taste

Orange date bars that I made with my mum. These are ridiculous!

touch

The feel of my super cozy new jersey dress which you'll be seeing many pictures of in the future, I'm sure.

yarn through my fingertips

hear

I Don't Know by Lisa Hannigan - The video is amazing, and makes me smile.

Soul of a Man (Live) by the Legendary JC's - This diva-tastic song popped up on one of my Pandora stations. Love it.

Vintage Glass Mystery

2009-04-09T12:53:00.002-04:00

Let's talk about less heavy topics today, shall we?

I've been zooming around the internet lately trying to solve a vintage mystery. I picked up the glassware below at Goodwill a few days ago. The decals are in good shape and fairly distinctive, so I thought I would have no problem identifying who manufactured them with a quick internet search. Boy was I wrong about that! I can't seem to find anything about this set!

I have one decanter/carafe, five juice glasses and three stumpy little glasses that kind of look like oversized egg cups. The motif is gold and white and features stars, eagles, a cannon, a covered wagon, the Liberty Bell, a spinning wheel and a large ship among various other Americana. My best guess is that it was a collection released for the bicentennial, but aside from the obvious American history references I don't have any proof to back that up. The bottom of the carafe is marked "5" on one side and "6" on the other.

Does any one have any guesses? Now I'm just curious!

Oh P.S. I got all nine pieces for $4.99, yippee!

NDC's Performance : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-04-08T12:38:00.002-04:00

Two of my dancers, Allison and Angie

This past weekend, my dance company, Neoteric Dance Collaborative, performed two pieces at a local dance showcase for the first time in four years. It was the first time that I performed a "real" work, i.e. not walking around and gesturing in The Nutcracker, in four years as well. It was mildly terrifying.

Hanging out in the dressing room

I experienced stage fright like I had never experienced before while waiting to walk out on stage. My heart was slamming in my chest, my parents were in the audience, one of my friends from college who was in the international tours of CATS and 42nd Street randomly showed up. Combined it was so incredibly overwhelming and intimidating.

Then came the technical difficulties to make matters worse.

Twisted Obsession, my piece

My piece started out in a tableau far downstage - some of the dancers holding their poses on one leg, (thankfully, not me). The lighting/sound guy did not bring up the lights or music for, oh, two and half minutes. Sadly, we were not the only dance group that experienced technical difficulties that night.

The dancing portion went well for both of our pieces. We received many compliments and it was nice.

Then I saw the video.

Monkey-ing around

I knew that seeing a video of myself dancing after all of these years was going to be difficult, but it was much worse for me than I imagined. I knew I was not going to enjoy seeing how large I am in comparison to every one else or that certain elements of my technique had gone by the wayside. What I didn't expect was the feeling that I'm not capable to use my body to express my ideas. That was the most frustrating. I looked at my choreography on my other dancers, and it looked right. I looked at it on myself, and it looked wrong. I feel like a painter that has to tell other people to pick up my paintbrush for me in order to get my idea across, and that hurts.

Duality, Jess' piece

Beautiful Allison

It's taken me four years to step back onto that stage and I'm certainly not going to turn back now. My self-confidence is just feeling pretty bruised. I'm trying hard to celebrate this as a small victory, but the mental roadblocks popping up all around me are making that difficult to do.

Stretchy Arabesque

This is the life that I want back, that I've been crawling back to. I know that everything important in your life is worth fighting for, I'm just feeling a little deflated that it always seems to be such an epic battle.

Blah, cheese, whine, and I'm done.

Holiday Handmade Crusade Announcement :: March Winner/April Theme

2009-04-02T21:49:00.003-04:00

The Holiday Handmade Crusade raffle winner for the month of March is: GumInMyHair via Craftster GumInMyHair has won a copy of Mixed Media Self-Portraits: Inspiration and Techniques by Cate Coulacos Prato courtesy of Interweave Press. GumInMyHair will also be receiving a copy of the CraftyPod zine, courtesy of Sister Diane of Craftypod.

Want to join in the year-long crafty goodness and have the chance to win fabulous prizes? Read all about the Holiday Handmade Crusade here.

Your theme for April is: Eco-crafting!: Let's honor Earth Day this month by doing some recycling, upcycling and eco-friendly crafting. What does that mean? Well, it can mean many different things, maybe you can repurpose and revamp something that you purchased at a thrift store, or you could make something from recycled materials. Perhaps you could make a nature inspired piece of art or craft with materials that have been produced sustainably.

Need some inspiration?

Check out how to fuse plastic bags into a sweet laptop case over at Threadbanger: http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/THR_20090320 While you're there, you should pretty much check out their entire archives. Lots of recycling goodness to be found there.

Make your own laundry detergent: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

This simple t-shirt shrug tutorial is rockin' my universe: http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/tshirt_shrug

There are so many ways to interpret this theme - I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Announcing the raffle prize for the month of April!

The prize for the month of April is a Merfish Necklace from Resurrection Fern. Visit Margie's amazing blog Resurrection Fern, her Flickr photo stream and Etsy shop. Thanks go to Margie for making this giveaway possible!

Entries close 4/30/09 at midnight EST. The winner will be announced on 5/1/09

Coming Out of the Crafty Slumps

2009-03-30T08:56:00.003-04:00

When trying to crawl out of the crafty slumps aka crafty overload, start by taking small steps...

Tiny, manageable and DONE! Triumph!

Eye Spy...a rediscovery

2009-03-29T08:39:00.004-04:00

This weeks "Eye Spy" theme was provided by The Byron Life. Play along weekly over at Bug and Pop

This week's Eye Spy theme happily coincided with my first ever Naked Lady Party! If you've never heard of a NLP, here are the basics:

1. Ask your friends to clean out their closets and invite them over.
2. Sort the clothing into categories; shirts, pants, skirts, shoes, etc.
3. Dive in and search for new clothes.
4. Donate the leftovers.
5. Oh yeah, and appetizers and bevvies help too!

Having an NLP is great for so many reasons; The economy has tanked, but you can get new cute clothes for free, NLPs keep clothing out of a landfill and this is a great motivator to clean house for the change in season. Not to mention it's pretty fun!

My tiny living room was FULL of clothes - you literally had to dive in to piles to pick stuff out...(my photos came out funky because my camera was on a weird setting unbeknownst to me)...

This is my "Eddy" outfit a la Absolutely Fabulous. The denim mini vest was definitely the star of the evening.

Jess made out like a bandit. That mini skirt has BUILT IN SHORTS! Man I wish I was a size 8 - so cute!

Here are the leftovers, which will be heading off to Goodwill later this week. I can't believe how much clothing is packed into those boxes!

Here are some of my favorite "rediscoveries."

Cute ruffly brown shirt and JEANS THAT FIT aka Unicorn aka Mythical Creature that I did not think existed...

Awesome plaid high waisted secretary skirt and knee high boots

And the "boobylicious" dress

The dress is a little over the top in the cleavage department, but it was so silky and swingy and pretty I couldn't resist. If I'm feeling demure I think I might wear this with a lacy slip underneath that covers up the girls a bit, or if I'm feeling bold I might rock it out with a big necklace to distract from the "fanny front" as my sister calls it.

Have I convinced you to have a Naked Lady Party yet? Go on! Re-discover what is hiding in your friends closets!