Packing Extravaganza

One week from today we will be heading east!

Ryan has been amazing (as always, really) with packing for the move.  He has done almost all of it. I usually end up following him around like a puppy.  I try to be helpful, but the truth is I am really bad at packing so I am more of a hindrance in most cases. I think there is an end in sight though. We are sitting at about 70 boxes right now and Ryan is still packing as we speak.  That leaves the beginning of next week to paint the walls and clean everything before we start loading the truck on Thursday. Friday is more truck loading, and finally we start our 2-day trek on Saturday.

Today I was at least able to be of some help.  I cleaned all of my planters inside and out so that when we get to the new house I will have a fresh place to start some new plants.

 *Please excuse the quality of the pictures, my good camera is packed too!*

I also insisted on getting into a "sword" fight with the empty wrapping paper rolls. Turns out those are not strong enough to withstand a sword fight. Ryan turned his into nun-chucks and I turned mine into a bo. I think I lost that fight. But it was fun nonetheless and a good example of why I love that man so much. When I start sword fights he doesn't look at me like I've lost my mind, he just joins the fray <3  

Kansas City...

Cowtown, BBQ Central...


The good:There are a lot of amazing things about Kansas City that I will miss a great deal once we leave (which will be in 10 days by the way). 
The food! Kansas City is known for its BBQ, but it goes so much farther than that.  There are awesome steak houses, cute bistros, tons of ethnic foods.  There are so many food options in this city that it is often hard to convince yourself to eat at home. There are so many options that even even my fussy-face fiance has started branching out.
The Irish! There are lots of opportunities to get your fill of Irish music, beer, and culture in this midwestern hub. Ryan and I have regularly attended Irish Fest both at Crown Center and farther north in Weston. This will be the first year we won’t make it to either of them. Not to mention great little pubs like O’Dowds on the Plaza and O’Malley’s in Weston. And of course our favorite Irish musicians Eddie Delahunt and Bob Reeder. So many of my favorite memories have been accompanied by their music.
Trees! One of my favorite things about Kansas City is the way it incorporates trees.  No matter where you are in the city, you can see some type of greenery. That was one of the major reasons why we left Buffalo.  That city was overwhelmingly grey and dreary.  I love the blend of high rises, highways, and trees.  It makes the city prettier and more welcoming. The skyline coming into the city from the west is especially beautiful because of the treeline in the foreground.

The bad: There are also some things I could do without..
Most notably, the Heat! I am a northern girl through and through and after 4 years in KC the summers are no easier to bear.  I just can’t handle 3 digit temperatures. I know that everywhere has air conditioning but I die in the 3 feet between the car and the building.  Not to mention that while air conditioning is very cooling it is also dries everything out, and makes buildings stuffy.  I like throwing open the windows at night and feeling the breeze and waking up to a fresh room.

The ugly: all cities have them, the ugly under layers that they try to keep secret...
Kansas City tries its best to be a progressive, liberal, culturally diverse metro, and in a lot of ways it does succeed.  Unfortunately, it remains smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. My intention is not to offend conservatives. I value opinions that differ from my own, but in the midwest even the “liberals” are conservative and sometimes the conservatives take things a little too far. I am looking forward to getting back to the east coast where there are a few more people that share the values I took for granted growing up. So, I suppose I should thank the midwest for giving me a better appreciation of the values I was raised with.

My Space

All of my crafting supplies are packed in boxes waiting to arrive at their new home. They may be out of sight, but they are certainly not out of mind. I get antsy when I don't have a project in the works and I have to remind myself that I need to be packing now. I will have more projects than I know what to do with after the move, I am sure. 

I am excited to move into our new house for so many reasons! Not least of which is because I have claimed my own little craft room off the master bedroom. It has been labeled a “closet”, but really its a room. There is even a window on the door to this “closet”. It is 10’ x 5’ and it is next to a second (normal sized) closet. Right now I am working in about 4’ squared, so this new space should be perfect. Not to mention it already has some built in shelving.  On top of all of that it has track lighting and 2 windows. Having 2 windows in such a small space should make for wonderful natural lighting for working and photographing. It is a little plain right now, but that won’t last very long.




Ryan is confused at my excitement over such a little part of the house, but I have never had my *own* craft room before. I am thrilled at the idea of having my own space, that I can arrange and decorate and adjust to fit my needs without worrying about what room I am making a mess in or who I am in the way of. Really, he shouldn’t be surprised after how I reacted when he bought me a craft desk.

The Realities of Baking

Because it is so true...

Apartment Anxiety

We are getting down to the wire on our move. The good news is we have a place to move to.  And a house even! When we first decided to move I wanted to move into a little house that we could rent. We quickly found out that looking at houses from 1400 miles away is nearly impossible. So, we turned our attention to apartments.
 
The search for apartments was much easier. We had a friend look at a couple and we quickly settled on the one we wanted. We hadn’t anticipated very much trouble. We’d done this before and it was no big deal.  

Boy, were we in for a surprise! For starters, there was nowhere in Rochester that had an apartment available for the end of June/beginning of July. That was our first road block. The problem with this is that our lease in KC ends on the 30th of June. This means we have two weeks of time to kill and nowhere to house our stuff. My mom was willing to house us and I worked it out with the moving company so that our stuff would be held until the middle of July when apartments were available.  

Ok, now we are back on track right? Wrong!  As it turns out no apartment will rent to you if you don’t already have a job lined up in that city. We’ve never had this trouble before. When we moved to Kansas city we were in the same boat, Ryan and I were both looking for jobs, and both still working at jobs in Buffalo. Apparently, this is no longer sufficient. Well crap! Now what are we supposed to do? This is when the real, life-shaking panic set in!  I have applied to a number of jobs, but now I have nowhere to live and my stuff is only being held until July 16th, what am I supposed to do after that? Lots of kind words were offered in my despair, but the fact remained that we still had nowhere to live!

I started looking into every option there was within our price range, even on craigslist. Then I started talking to one of our friends that had moved to Rochester earlier this year. Turns out, he was still willing to get a three-bedroom with us, he just didn’t want to live in an apartment complex. Oh? We thought he had decided against living with us all together. Well thats good news. So I return to the search and find what looked to be a lovely 3-bedroom house on the northeast side of the city. I send B the link. Two days later he visits the house and I get a phone call.  “Can you guys get together a security deposit? I think this is the one” Me: I already have it I will get it to you Monday!!!

So after weeks of anxiety and very little sleep, we have a house!  Now to finish packing and get back to the job search!!

Just look at this adorable kitchen!


Also I am simply thrilled to have windows facing more than one direction!

Kansas City Zoo - one more activity off the KC bucket list

I love the zoo!
But then, what’s not to love?  Well there are the parents who seem afraid to discipline their children, but we’ll leave that topic alone for now and focus on the good bits.  

Ryan and I have walked the whole zoo several times, but we wanted to make sure we took at least one more trip before we left Kansas City.  

It was a typical June day in KC so, needless to say, we only spent a few hours walking around in the heat.  But we got to see all of our favorites the Elephants for me and the Gorillas for Ryan, along with the Hippos, Lions, and Tigers.

The two highlights of the day were
1. four adorable red river hog piglets.  Turns out they call it a "pig pile" for a reason.  

And 2. geese, fish, and turtles fighting over the bread a little girl was throwing into the water.  None of these animals are exhibits at the zoo (obviously), but it was hilarious to watch them.  Plus, that particular bridge was nice and breezy.

I, of course, walked away with a lovely sunburn on my shoulders, but that was to be expected.

Custom Designs

I have been crafting for nearly my entire life. Sometimes I work from someone else’s idea, sometimes my own, and most often a blend of the two. There is, however, no better feeling than working with someone to create a unique custom piece that I can love as a crafter and they can love as a buyer. Turning someone’s idea into something tangible is one of the great joys of my life.   

I got the chance to start another one of these projects first thing Monday morning! I honestly couldn’t ask for a better way to start the week.

A very dear friend of mine recently had a beautiful baby boy. I received a message asking if I would make a banner for his Baptism reception. Is there any other way to answer that question...of course I will! The fact that she thought of me for this project means the world to me. It’s lovely to have people admire your artwork, it’s even better to have people seek you out for it!

This type of project is not what I am usually drawn to, but after browsing some of the banners other people have put together I think I can make a lovely one for baby Grant and his mommy.

Upon drafting some ideas for this current banner, my mind started drifting to all the other beautiful banners I could make...this is why I have so many projects on my to-do list!




UPDATE:
The lovely family received their banner and they love it! Now I can share some pictures. I wanted to keep the surprise and make sure they were the first ones to see it =)

Wear Sunscreen

talk2thetrees, one of the blogs I follow pretty regularly, posted this earlier today. After a very stressful and worrisome week dealing with moving, job searches, timelines, and just life in general these words were exactly what I needed to hear.  So, I will share them because we all need a little advice sometimes.

 

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen
would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved
by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more
reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this
advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You
will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until
they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at
photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much
possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You
are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying
is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things
that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you
at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with
people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead,
sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's
only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank
statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with
your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22
what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most
interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them
when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children,
maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the
funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do,
don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it
or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument
you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living
room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel
ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone
for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your
past and the people most likely to stick with you in the
future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people
who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you
soft. 

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians
will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll
fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable,
politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust
fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when
either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it
will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over
the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

 

~Mary Schmich

[not Baz Luhrmann, like many of my generation (myself included) may think] 

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