One more thought for the day-

Watch this space the next week (maybe even *sooner*) for some exciting news. If you like the look of my "Swatches" (aka little paper books), you may LOVE this news.

Hodge Podge of stuff...

Do you drive *this* car?? If so, stop parking the damn thing in front of my apartment. Your ear piercing squeal of car alarm that CONSTANTLY goes off at all hours is making me insane. I have an idea-you and my "favorite neighbor" can get in the car and drive far, far away. "Favorite neighbor" decided to smoke in front of "new neighbor's" door on Friday night. Well, when "new neighbor" opened her door and sprayed lysol, so "favorite neighbor", he started calling her very very rude names...Then "Favorite neighbor" called the cops on HER when it was HIM who verbally assaulted her. Little did they know-we saw/heard it all...ready to help if help was needed. Luckily it was only verbal...nothing physical (though he has made threats and he DID physically assault my husband in 2005).
The police came an hour later and he blatantly lied to their faces. He also sounded like he was ON something. After hearing what he said and after he closed his door, so the police could talk to "new neighbor", I opened our door and told one of the officers that if she needed a witness, we saw/heard everything. "Favorite neighbor" said "new neighbor" sprayed lysol ON him (no she didn't). "Favorite neighbor" likes to stand right in front of your door/window if he knows the smoke irritates you. The police left. "Favorite neighbor" then in the middle of the night decided to destroy "new neighbor's" property (a decorative sun she had nailed to the wall outside her door) at 4 a.m. Oh fun. When will this jack ass be evicted?? He gets away with everything .Change of subject, on to something funny-Last week coming home from Chicago to LA, Tristan and I got pre-board special needs passes (Tristan. One kidney. 4 1/2 hour flight. Seats near bathroom in back of the plane. 'Nuff said.) So, usually we get to pre-board after those in wheelchairs. Not in Chicago. In Chicago, the woman took the people with wheelchairs and when I went to go next she tells me that she needs to take care of the business class first. Huh?? (this is a first). So the one business class guy gets on the plane. Then she calls me honey and tells me NOW she can take care of me..and (GET THIS) "Since you two are all alone, make sure you sit up near the front." OMG! SHE THOUGHT TRISTAN AND I WERE UNACCOMPANIED MINORS!! I'm frickin' 33 years old! She thought I was FIFTEEN!!!!!!!!!! My jaw dropped. The flight attendant on board told me to take it as a compliment when I told her what happened and that if the woman who took our tickets, needed me, I'd be in the back of the plane with the adults. LOL. I've run the gamut of people telling me they thought I was much older then I look (for example when I was 23, I had a "famous" artist tell me she thought I was her age-40.) to now this...LOL...

On an entirely different note, here's how I spent my day-

On to today, my friend Kara is the BEST. Look what she made me. Inspired by Hanna of IHanna fame, check this out. I LOVE it!!! How totally and utterly cool is this?!?!?!

another view:
She was also extremely kind and generous to make my Mom a pillow for the airplane when we discussed how blah looking and ill made the travel pillows are in the store and how I couldn't find any on etsy that were "Mom-like". This is totally Mom like and she will LOVE it!!! THANKS KARA!!
Kara and I trekked to Burbank today to the Vintage Clothing and Textile sale. It was a ton of fun to walk around and oogle the old fabrics and goodies that they had (most far out of reach for me price wise but I love to look!) Here are some of the goodies I found:

First stop in the door was this husband and wife team. The husband was selling paper ephemera and the wife had buttons and fabrics. YUM. I went a wee bit crazy and bought 3 old photographs, some old books and book pages.

In my travels around the show, I also found these: 3 books (the 1000 Places to see Before You Die book is one I'd been wanting) and this cool bird fabric aka a fun new dish towel!
THE find of the show was a small booth tucked into the back corner. The woman had a variety of estate sale finds. She had pre-packaged paper ephemera into bags (of a variety of sizes) for $20 per pack. I bought two. When we got in the car, as I was driving Kara started going through what we each had bought. OMG!!! OMG OMG OMG!!! One of the ephemera packs (one contained what looked like scrapbook pages), was the following:
Ok, if I ignore "The Olive Inn Los Angeles, CA" part, the name Mrs. E. Sturm IS MY AUNT SIS! How weird is that?!?!! So, that floored me!! Totally made my day and made me smile from ear to ear big time!!!! Inside the two packs I bought were the following:
I had a blast!! Usually, I don't get to attend shows like this because I'm teaching. It's very rare for me to have a weekend off so this was a huge treat!! Thanks Kara!!! :)

We lost my Aunt Joni a year ago today. She died because of a blood clot. She died because when she went to the hospital a week prior to her death and told them that something was wrong with her arm, they sent her home. When she phoned the doctor again a week later, he told her to call the ambulance immediately. She did and they took her to the same damn hospital my Grandmother died in. Her daughter didn't go with her to the hospital because she didn't think anything was going to happen. Andrea didn't even get to say goodbye to Joni, nor did John, nor did any of us. My Mom hadn't even spoken to her in several months (don't ever ever let family rifts go for long periods of time. Pick up the phone and settle it NOW no matter how painful...because you never know what will happen.) Joni, we love you and miss you and think of you daily. There is a big hole in our lives without you.

We Love You, Auntie Joni

After we visited Hammond Castle, our next stop (one of my priorities) was The Paper House. Mom & I went in while everyone else just hung out in the car. Even though the inside is small, I could have spent a while in there just oogling and ahhing over everything inside. It's amazing. See for yourself:

Some close ups:

The inside wall-lined with newspaper and varnish:I love the "cut" look here:
A close up of the side of the fireplace:

The top of the curtain!!!!!

Visit The Paper House in Rockport, MA. More info and an interview with the Caretaker here.

52 Pigeon Hill St., Rockport - Pigeon Cove, MA

Hours: The paper house is open all day, every day from spring through fall.

Admission is $1.50 for adults and $1.00 for children ages 6 - 14. Admission is on the honor system. (I LOVED this. We left an envelope in the designated area for the caretaker. I also bought my Mom a necklace while we were there.)

Rockport, MA is one of my favorite cities. Yes, it can be very touristy but it's well worth the trip as it is right on the ocean and just jaw dropping in it's beauty.