Monthly Archives: March 2013

Time For a New ‘Do

I’ve been wearing my hair in a ponytail almost exclusively for over a year. What’s the use in having long hair if you can’t be bothered to take care of it? I’ll let it down with a brush and blowdry on special occasions, but most of the time it’s just easier to tie it up. Here’s what it looked like at my sister’s baby shower (she’s due any day now!). I’m the one without a tiara.

esteyandishower

As you can tell from my recent posts, I’m in transition. New city, staying in a motel, job-hunting, all that. I’ve decided that it’s time for a new look. Something to pep me up and help me be more confident in my appearance and hopefully that confidence will trickle down to other areas as well. So here’s what I’m thinking. Something dramatically different like this:

haircut3Here’s something similar in blonde. I think I’ll stick with just the cut for now, and experiment with color later.

haircut2

I’ll post a photograph of myself post-cut. Haven’t done it yet, but this is the plan.

What things do you do to increase your confidence? Eating fish reminds me of my honeymoon and makes me feel special. I’ve also found that wearing dangling earrings makes me stand a bit taller.

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It’s Also a Bathtub

Motel living has me really appreciating everything for its multi-functionality. Our nightstand holds the laptop computer and (clean!) underwear. The ice bucket holds our utensils. The bed, of course, makes a nice surface to assemble and sew quilts. It’s also a fun kitty fort. A spotlight is clipped onto the vacuum handle. I’ve taken to scooping kitty litter twice a day. Why? i’m usually pretty lazy about cleaning in general, but take a look at this litter box location.

Nevermind; don’t look at it. My camera’s battery isn’t taking a charge. No photographs for now. Grrr….

Anyway, the litter box is snuggled in next to our mini refrigerator. Ew. Also, we’ve seen a few bugs. It’s not too bad, just one or two tiny things each night. So as not to attract them, food is stored in airtight containers. Our food, and the cats’ food as well. The shower is where we clean our bodies and wash dishes. They dry on a towel over the dresser.

Ah well, do what you can with what’s available.

An Artist’s Motel Room

At the beginning of March my husband and I, along with our kitties, moved into a motel in a new city. We moved out of our two-story, three-bedroom with a garage rental house into this bold new adventure.

Here are some modifications I’ve made to our little room here that help me continue to make art.

* Space. I’ve created more space in this room by asking the motel staff to remove the second bed and bringing a desk here from our storage unit. We also now have a folding table stored under the bed… which means that I can set up my sewing machine AND computer.

*Handwork. As a quilter, most of the stuff I make uses some combination of machines… sewing machine, rotary cutter, iron, etc. When I knew (mid-February) that we weren’t moving in to a lake house, or master suite, or duplex… all solid plans that fell through last-minute… I got busy preparing handwork to bring. I’m working on a hexagon crumbs quilt by hand. Photos soon.

*Food. Real food. I thought that I would be just fine eating sandwiches, cereal, and fast food. Turns out that two weeks without vegetables is quite long enough. My body has been a lot happier with me since we bought an electric steamer, swapped for a larger refrigerator, and went to the grocery store.

*Sleep. This is a new place. It feels new, sounds new, even smells new. It’s exciting but also scary. Fluffy blankets from our storage unit, good pillows, and soft pillowcases borrowed from a friend help us sleep better. So does keeping the A/C fan running all night. That way we’re not awakened by every strange new sound. And at our pet-friendly downtown motel, there are many.

*A notebook. I’ve had more ideas for art I’d like to make in these past few weeks than in a very long time. Paring down to the very essentials makes me think of new uses for… well.. everything! A shampoo bottle could be cut and decoupaged into bangle bracelets. Soda tabs could be sewn together into a pretty tray. The cuff off a stretchy sweatshirt could be the base for a baby’s headband. What if I cut plastic grocery bags into strips and knit them into bags for beach toys? A notebook is useful for writing this stuff down.