Sorry But This Is Not a Real Post

This is just a quick update to let you all know I'll be going home to see my parents tomorrow and coming back the following Saturday so there won't be anything posted on here.  Have a great Christmas.

Luck

I think I've mentioned this before but I tend to have really good luck on Friday the 13th.  Which is great because I don't always have the best luck.  But today was not a lucky day for me.  I had a doctor appointment and my doctor prescribed an antidepressant but it turned out that there was no way of knowing if it contained gluten or not, so I couldn't get it.  I did get a counseling appointment scheduled, but not until February, which seems so far away from now.

But that's not what I want to write about.  I want to write about luck.  I've had some good luck and some bad luck in my life.  The worst luck I've ever had was when my grandma and step-grandpa died three days apart.  I had to go to Idaho for a double funeral over Spring Break that year in high school.  We had to stay in a really awful trucker motel because that was before my parents got a credit card and that was the only place we could stay at without one.  There was mold on the shower curtain in our motel room.  I ended up with chronic bronchitis, strep throat, an upper respiratory infection, and asthma.  Needless to say, that was not a fun time.  But let's talk about good luck.  I have always had really good luck with contests and giveaways.  I don't know how many coloring contests I won growing up, at least 5, and they're not based on coloring skills.  They rely on randomly choosing a winner.  And I've won three blog giveaways, which is a lot, especially when you consider the fact that I only enter giveaways that I really want to win.  I've won $50 to Doubledutch Boutique which I spent on two necklaces and a belt, a sweet giveaway from Ella where she sent me some really cool stuff including shells, pretty paper goods, feathers, and a ring, and most recently some really cute purses from The Tragic Whale.  Not only is the owner of the shop one of my blog friends but I already owned a purse she made and I love it.  My honest opinion of these bags is that they are very well-made, sturdy, and long-lasting.  I have had my purse for over a year and it is still in great shape.  Plus they are made out of super cute fabrics and actually inspired me to get back to facing my sewing fear.  I ordered some Space Invaders fabric yesterday!  Stay tuned because at some point (probably next month) I'll be giving away two of these lovely bags.

What's the best or worst luck you've had?

A Nature Walk and Gift Ideas for Nature Lovers

I went on a walk in the park last weekend.  There are some nice trails and I took a bunch of photos.  These six are my favorites.  I love living in Seattle but sometimes I just miss being in the woods.  I'm glad that this park is so close that I can go for a nice walk there whenever I'm missing nature.

If you've got a nature lover in your life, check out these gift ideas.  (Some of these are affiliate links and I will earn a small commission if you click them and make a purchase.)  Click the picture to go to the product page.

These earrings are from Vanishing Tribe, one of the indie artists I discovered at Urban Craft Uprising this summer.

This backpack from Moorea Seal is perfect for holding everything you need for a day hike.

Beetle dress, beetle dress, beetle dress.  Well, that didn't make it appear in my closet but I'll keep trying.

This sweatshirt is from Make It Good, another great indie business.

This handmade double finger claw ring is so cool and unique!  Snash Jewelry makes some great pieces.

Slide Sideways makes all sorts of cute screen printed items, and these nature patches are no exception.

I think this dreamcatcher print from my Etsy shop would make a pretty cool gift, but I may be a little biased.

I certainly wouldn't mind if these boots from ASOS showed up in my wardrobe.

And if none of those gifts are quite right I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with a cozy hoodieor a comfortable sweater.

Comic Book Haul

I bought some comic books yesterday.  I wanted to get something small for my 7 and 8 year cousin for Christmas but don't have much money, so I thought comic books would be good.  I bought all of these for them, except for Hoax Hunters, but then I read through them after I got home to make sure they would be appropriate and I'll actually be keeping two of them.  Princeless was hilarious but did talk about killing, which isn't exactly child appropriate and Wonderland #2 was great except at one point Mary Ann says "Bloody Hell!" and that's not a phrase the girls need in their vocabulary at this age.  I really enjoyed all of these comics and want to read more of all of them.  Road to Oz surprised me.  It's a completely different story from The Wizard of Oz, which I like.  Also Dorothy is an awful child.  I really adore the art style in both Oz and Wonderland.  Princeless made me laugh out loud multiple times.

I'm really excited about all of these comics and I hope that the girls like the ones I give them.  I think they will because one is a voracious reader and the other has a short attention span but will read books with pictures.  I'm a little disappointed that Princeless wasn't appropriate though because they love princess stories and their mom and I both love stories with strong female characters.

3 Things you Might be Surprised I Enjoy

Unless you've been here for awhile, the following things I enjoy might surprise you.

1. cars and car shows:  I don't drive but I like cars and car shows.  My dad is a mechanic and it's something I grew up with.  I also like learning how to work on cars, like when I learned how to do an oil change last time I went home to visit my parents.  My dad is really fun at car shows because he wants to see what's under the hood on everything...even if it's at an antique auto museum and the cars are behind velvet ropes.

my first oil change

2. football: I grew up watching football with my dad and my brother.  I asked a million questions and must have been so annoying, but they put up with it because then they got to watch the game.  It was a 3-1 vote to have the game on instead of 2-2 if I hadn't liked football.  My mom doesn't like football and will usually only watch part of the Super Bowl.  I haven't missed a Seahawks game all season.  I get really into it and yell at the TV and everything.  I know they can't hear me but it makes me feel better to yell at the refs.

3. woodworking: This is the one that I don't think any of you know about.  In high school, wood shop was one of my favorite classes.  I love the smell of fresh-cut boards and getting to make something really cool that would have cost a lot of money to buy.  Over the course of three wood shop classes I made three shelves, one large pine storage box, two big planter boxes for my mom, and a recipe box for my mom.  I really miss woodworking, and I was lucky to attend the high school with the best wood shop in Washington state.

What interests do you have that might surprise people?

Where to Eat in Seattle: Chutney's Bistro

If you're gluten-free and live in Seattle, let me tell you all about Chutney's Bistro.  The major selling point (other than gluten-free Indian food in general) is gluten-free naan bread!  There is also a buffet but if you are ultra-sensitive to any gluten like I am, you know buffets are too risky.  I got two dishes, because I had not had Indian food for about a year and I love Indian food.  I got the lamb korma and the chicken tikka masala with gluten-free naan bread.  It was all phenomenal.  I liked the lamb korma the most and had plenty of leftovers of all of it for the next week.  I didn't have any symptoms of glutening either so I'll definitely be back again.  It was a little pricey for my budget, but definitely a place to go for special occasions.  I highly recommend Chutney's Bistro if you love Indian food and can't, or don't, eat gluten.  I also highly recommend it if you just love Indian food.

Saturday Style: Seattle Artist

Seattle Artist by jaythejedi

Friday Fashion is now Saturday Style, since it seems to happen on Saturdays now.  This outfit is really special because it features a tote bag with my original art on it!  You guys can order them here or see my other tote bags here.  My mom already ordered one : )  My art is also available on pillows and I want one, but I don't have money to buy one yet.

If I had my dream closet, this is what I would wear with a Seattle Starry Night tote bag this fall.  I am all about layering, and shorts with tights are one of my go-to looks for fall.  Throw on a cozy sweater with a printed scarf and a slouchy beanie and you're ready to go.

Watching, Playing, Reading #3

Watching:

the gorgeous sunset above at Golden Gardens last night for my friend's birthday (It totally counts because this is my blog and I make the rules!)

Monsters University: from Redbox when I was recovering from being sick; I loved it and would watch it again.  You guys know how I love nice monsters.

Escape from Planet Earth: on Netflix; it's a cute movie about aliens trying to escape from Earth; very silly and perfect to watch when you're sick like I was, because there's not a complicated storyline for you to keep up with

Fangasm: on Hulu; I found out about this show because one of the bloggers I follow is on it!  It's about a house full of nerds interning for Stan Lee for his Comikaze.  Every episode makes me feel better about humanity.  And I refuse to believe it's from the producers of Jersey Shore.

Lawless: not my choice of movie but I watched this with my guy friend, N, and liked it more than I thought I would;  I had trouble taking Shia Lebeouf seriously as a bootlegger at first though.

Emily Owens, M.D.: on Netflix; I started watching this because I thought it was a comedy but then I realized it was a medical drama; I kept watching it because I liked the characters and then I stopped watching it when I found out my grandma was going to have heart surgery later in the week, because there are a lot of heart surgeries on this show that sometimes go wrong and I didn't want myself worry about my grandma's surgery any more than I already was.  She had a double bypass and it went perfectly and she is recovering nicely, which is a huge relief because nobody even knew she had anything wrong until Monday two weeks ago and she had surgery Friday of the same week.

Love Actually: on Netflix; I hated it and turned it off after 15 minutes and I'm not sorry

Love Birds: on Netflix; a romantic comedy set in New Zealand;  I loved it and it made me laugh out loud repeatedly;  It's about a man whose girlfriend leaves him and then he finds a wounded duck and becomes attached to it.  He starts to fall for the bird expert at the zoo after she helps him out with the duck.  Bonus points for no cliched airport scene.

Standing Up: on Netflix;  At first it seems like a children's movie but it is way more than that.  It reminded me of Moonrise Kingdom and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fame High: on Netflix;  I loved this documentary which is about kids attending Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.  It's amazing to see how talented these kids are and what happens after they graduate.

After Earth: from Redbox;  I loved this one as well.  It has the perfect amount of danger to seem realistic (like way in the future realistic) with lots of suspense and emotion.

Playing: not much of anything lately; I played through Insert Title Here on Desura.  It was pretty experimental and involved a lot of insulting the player.  It was also a lot shorter than I thought it would be.

Reading: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly; sometimes judging a book by its cover isn't so bad;  I chose this book because it has a great cover illustration;  it's an amazing story and beautifully written; it's about a young boy whose mother dies during the time of the Holocaust;  I can't tell if he actually lost touch with reality or if he really discovered an alternate reality but that's part of why I like this book so much.  It reminds me of Coraline, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I'm not very far into the book yet but I am really loving it so far.

Wishing for: Ankle Boots

Ankle Boots Wishlist by jaythejedi featuring Liz Claiborne

I really want some great ankle boots, in either black or brown.  I would be pretty happy if any of these ones found their way into my wardrobe.  But since I refuse to buy shoes online (I know if I get the wrong size I can send them back, but that's a huge hassle), I have to wait until I find the perfect ankle boots in my size at one of the local thrift stores, so I might not get any for awhile.  My feet are pretty big, so I can't find shoes that fit very often, and even less often shoes that fit, which I like, and are in my price range.  But a girl can dream, and wish.  So I will be content with that for now.

Sick Again

Hi guys, sorry for being MIA but I have been sick again.  I couldn't keep food down for four or five days in a row, then had to go to the emergency room for dehydration.  The doctors think it's hormonal, but they want me to get an endoscopy just to make sure there's not something they're missing.  I am able to keep food down now, mainly miso soup, but I lost 7 pounds in two weeks, which is not good.  If you recall, before I was diagnosed with celiac disease I lost 15 pounds over the course of three months, so this new weight loss happened much faster.  I am not going back to work until I gain back half of the weight I lost, since I always go back too soon and then overdo it and end up being out for even longer.  So Netflix is my best friend right now.  I hope you are all doing well.

Friday Fashion: Studded Peplum Top and Floral Jeans

top and shoes: Crossroads Trading Co., jeans: 10DollarMall.com, necklace: hand-me-down from my mom

I've been looking for the perfect peplum top for about a year and I finally found it!  It was just $8 at Crossroads Trading Co.  It fits me perfectly and is the perfect balance of cute and tough.  I wore it with my awesome floral jeans, which I got for just $5!  Seriously check out 10DollarMall.com (not an affiliate link).  They have some really cool stuff, all for below $10.  I have bought quite of bit of clothing from them including a pair of purple feather print jeans, a blue and black houndstooth pattern motorcycle jacket style hoodie, and some jeweled skull flats.  I have loved everything I bought from them and the sizing is very accurate.  These are my favorite jeans because every time I wear them I get a ton of compliments on them.  The day I wore this outfit, one of the girls in my house told me she wants me to redo her entire wardrobe.  Now that's a compliment!  My mom gave me this necklace ages ago because she never wore it, and I hadn't worn it yet, because I never wear gold-toned jewelry (I prefer silver-toned jewelry) but I think it went really well with this outfit.  It's so cool.  In case you can't tell it's a zipper.

Most importantly this outfit was super comfortable while looking awesome, so I felt extra confident all day.  I think I've mentioned it before but these jeans are as comfortable as pajama pants. 

What awesome outfits have you been wearing lately?  What item of clothing have you been hunting for for ages?  (I have a few.  Right now they're black-and-white striped skinny jeans, camo skinny jeans, and a black faux leather jacket.)

Printing with Signazon

This is a sponsored post, but all of the opinions expressed in it are my own.

Signazon is a website that provides printing services that are great for businesses or individuals.  There are a lot of products including (but definitely not limited to) business cards, stationery, banners, and posters.  I found the site very easy to navigate and had no trouble finding anything that I was looking for on it.

I looked at the business cards first, because that's one of the things that pretty much everyone uses.  They have some really great customizable templates and also the option to design your own.  These are some of my favorite business card templates on their site.

You can also design your own stationery on Signazon, whether it's for letterhead or personal use.  You can upload your own graphics or use theirs.  The customizer tool is very user-friendly.  You just click on each item to change it, such as the text or the picture.  There are 40 different font choices, so you'll probably find one that you like.  One thing that I really like about the customizer tool is when you pick a custom color, it shows you a palette of four other colors that look good with that color.

Signazon also offers you the option to create stylish invites for your next party.  Some of the invitation templates look great and some look fairly amateur, but it is really simple to customize any of them and make them look fantastic.

You can like or follow Signazon on Facebook and Twitter.  I haven't purchased anything from Signazon but I have read some of their customer reviews and they have over 1,000 very satisfied customers!  If you're still unsure about online-printing with Signazon.com, you should definitely check out their free samples, which allow you to see the quality of their products before you buy.  You can also sign up for their newsletter to receive information about exclusive offers, new merchandise, business marketing tips, and more.

Movie Reviews: Dread and Oblivion

The pictures link to the movie on IMDB.

I watched Dread on Netflix over the weekend.  I am still deciding if I liked it.  I think I did.  It's sort of a thriller that starts out very slowly and doesn't get very thrilling until about the last 30 minutes (aside from some intense flashbacks).  This movie is about college students doing a project on people's greatest fears, but then one of the students decides to make everyone face their fears and the results are horrifying.  This movie is not for young people or people who can't handle gore or squeamish people.  I think it was pretty well done and I think I liked it (although it is strange to say I liked something which left me with a bit of a disturbed and sickened feeling).  I'll give it 3 stars out of 5.

I loved Oblivion.  The scenery was breathtaking and the story was great.  When Morgan Freeman appeared I wasn't even surprised because he's in everything lately!  (even more than he was before)  Oblivion is the story of two people on a ruined Earth trying to harness energy for the rest of the population, who have left.  Things get complicated and they begin to question their orders.  It's a great sci-fi film, which kind of reminded me of Independence Day at some parts.  I highly recommend it to everyone who is a fan of post-apocalyptic settings.  I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Friday Fashion: Let's Pretend It's Still Friday

Lace Dress by jaythejedi featuring a quilted moto jacket

I bought this lace dress from Wet Seal and I am loving it  (It's sold out now.).  It has short sleeves so it will work in any weather, and right now it's fall, which means layers!  I've been wearing it with my brown "leather" jacket and brown motorcycle boots, which are different than the ones in this collage.  I actually bought the jacket brand new from Wish and so far it's lasted me through a full year no problem, completely worth the $50 I spent for it.  I thrifted the boots from Goodwill for $15 (and later discovered they would have cost me $300 new!) and they are my go-to boots.  I want to get a satchel but I haven't yet, so I carry either my big camo skulls bag or my brown crossbody bag and wear jewelry that I made myself, such as my bee key necklace, which I originally made with the intention to sell it in my shop, but I decided to keep it for myself.  That's one of the perks of making jewelry.

Lately I've been slightly obsessed with lace dresses (like for the past year!), so I finally bought this one.  And yesterday I thrifted another one from Buffalo Exchange.  That one is a black body-con style dress that makes me feel like I look amazing (for just $15, not bad!).  And while I probably won't have any reason to wear it for a long time, I'll definitely wear it dressed down with an oversized cardigan in the meantime.

New Work Schedule

Hey guys, I will be working from 2 to 6 Monday through Friday for the foreseeable future, because that schedule will be less stressful for me.  For me lots of stress causes seizures, and that is not good.  So hopefully I'll feel good enough to blog more and also to do some stuff for my Etsy shop.

Wall of Artsy Awesomeness

This is the wall behind my computer desk.  It is full of all of art and design that makes me feel inspired and motivated.  It is always a work in progress, and I'll be adding to it as long as there is still empty space left.  Some of my favorite parts are the business cards, the mask I made, the rose photo, and the art by Rachael: those prints can be purchased here and here.

Gluten Free Cough Medicine

If you have celiac disease, you probably know that gluten is in a ton of medicine.  When I had the flu last month, I went into the pharmacy at one of my local drugstores and asked the pharmacist if any of the cough medicine was gluten free.  She said no and I left feeling sick and disappointed.  Because while I hate taking cough medicine, I hate being sick for two weeks straight because I can't take cough medicine even worse.  After a week of misery, my boss emailed me about a new gluten-free cough medicine she discovered and told me I should try it.  So I found a store near me that carried it and bought some.  It did the trick and knocked my flu out most of the way the day before I was leaving to visit my parents.

Now one month later, I have a cold and I'm taking this medicine again.  And let me tell you, it tastes disgusting.  It's got that nasty menthol flavor mixed with honey, but does not taste like honey.  I visited the Dayquil site again and discovered that now they make cold and flu relief caplets that are gluten free, so when I run out of cough syrup, I will definitely be picking those up.  The way that I take the cough syrup is plug my nose, toss it back, and then eat an entire packet of fruit snacks that I have open and ready to eat and then I unplug my nose.  It tastes that bad, but it does its job.

It's probably obvious that I wasn't paid to write this, but just in case here's that sentence:  I bought this product with my own money and my opinion is my own.  I was not compensated in any way for this post.  I just think more people should know that there is gluten free cold and flu medicine available now, and you don't have to just suffer through it.

Aside from the medicine I have been drinking massive amounts of tea to soothe my sore throat and getting a ton of sleep (14 hours last night).

Adventurer's Checklist

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Adventures can be great fun and are a wonderful way to pass one's time, but you don't want to embark an adventure if you're not prepared.  Here's my checklist of what you need to have for an adventure:

a cool hat - your hat should declare that you are a serious adventurer; popular hat types include a fedora (with or without a big feather in the band), a wide brimmed hat, or a bowler hat, but are certainly not limited to those

good walking shoes - adventures are never as fun when your feet hurt because you wore the wrong shoes

comfortable clothing - your outfit should not get in the way of your adventure; for example, you might not want to wear a fancy dress if you're going on an adventure in a blackberry bush (although a blackberry bush is a strange place to go on an adventure in the first place)

a camera - you might see a lot of amazing things on your adventure and a camera will help you capture all of those sights and look at them again later

a big bag - like a backpack or messenger bag; this should be large enough to carry anything you might bring back from your adventure, as well as anything you're bringing along on your adventure

a first aid kit - hopefully you won't need this, but if you do you'll be glad you packed it; you could get stung by a bee or scratched by a stick or fall and skin your knee while adventuring

snacks - sometimes adventures take a while and you might get hungry

water - being dehydrated is never a good idea, but it is a doubly bad idea while adventuring

your imagination and curiosity - without these, an adventure is impossible; you should maintain a childlike sense of wonder at all times and thoroughly enjoy every sight, sound, and smell

What else would you bring on an adventure?  Have you been on any fun adventures lately?

Webcomics I'm Loving Lately

I discovered a pretty cool site about a month ago that is a feed reader for webcomics.  It's called comic-rocket and it's awesome because it allows you to know exactly where you are in all of the webcomics you're reading and also discover new webcomics you might like based on the ones you read currently.  (They aren't paying me to write about them.  I just really think they're cool and wanted to share.)

Here are my favorite four webcomics I'm reading right now, not including the ones I shared before.  And the links go to the first strip in each webcomic.

Pizza for Guys:

It's a webcomic about the webcomic it's about.  This is a webcomic with a stick man and a talking slice of pizza.  They argue a lot.  It's funnier than I'm making it sound.

Romantically Apocalyptic:

My favorite rockstar recommended this one to me and it did not disappoint.  It's super silly but there's incredible artwork.  And I'm a sucker for a post-apocalypic setting.

Seriously, check out this art!

The GaMERCaT:

An awesome nerdy webcomic about a cat who is a gamer.  Lots of video game humor and adorableness.

Invisible Bread:

A hilarious webcomic full of stick figures and snarky quips about life.  Plus there's a secret hidden panel in each comic!  I didn't even know about that until I was about 30 strips in, so I had to go back and read all of the previous bonus panels.

What are your favorite webcomics?  I would love some recommendations.

What I Did this Weekend

This weekend I went to G's and cooked a lot of yummy food.  Since being diagnosed with celiac disease, I have gotten a lot more confident in my cooking skills, since I have to cook a lot more or become a bunny rabbit and just eat fresh fruits and veggies.  I successfully (and by successfully, I mean G loved it too and said it was restaurant-worthy) cooked corn pasta and hot dogs with veggies, chicken wraps on corn tortillas (gluten-free but not as expensive as fancy gluten-free tortillas), and omelets with the leftover chicken, green peppers, onion, and mushrooms.

I watched two football games and three movies.  The University of Washington Huskies won and didn't get scored on once!  And the Seattle Seahawks won too.  I got a new Seahawks shirt from the men's section at the mall.  They had women's ones but none of them had the player's names or numbers on them.  I got a Russell Wilson shirt.  I wanted Marshawn Lynch, but they were all sold out except for size XL.  We watched the Seahawks game at Roosevelt Ale House, which is a truly amazing bar because it serves delicious gluten-free food.  So far I've had a delicious breakfast sandwich there, a good burger, and amazing and ginormous nachos.  All of the food I've tried there has been really good, but I don't think I would order the burger again.  For burgers, my go-to restaurant is Blue Moon Burgers.  They are good burgers period, not just good for being gluten-free.

We got some movies from Redbox: World War Z, Now You See Me, and Olympus Has Fallen.  Have you noticed how many movies have Morgan Freeman in them lately?!  I've seen three recently that had him: World War Z, Oblivion, and Olympus Has Fallen.  World War Z was pretty great, and not just because I love zombie movies.  I really enjoyed it and I especially liked the look of the zombies.  They didn't look like their flesh was rotting right after being bit.  They were also fast zombies, which I'm not a huge fan of.  I give it a 4 out of 5.  Now You See Me was really good.  It kept me guessing the whole time.  It had a really original story (as far as I know) and a good cast.  Plus Jesse Eisenberg was in it, but not as the goof-off guy who never grows up, which was refreshing from him.  I give it a 4 out of 5 as well.  Olympus Has Fallen was better than G or I thought it would be.  It was the one I thought I might not like, but it was actually okay.  It was very action-y with lots of shooting and politics, but the story was pretty good anyway.  I give it a 3 out of 5.

We also watched The Office and The League on Netflix, which are always favorites of mine.  All in all it was a good weekend.

And in other news, my boss told me today that she's looking for another person to help out at work, which is fantastic and will hopefully relieve a lot of my stress.

I Read Some Comic Books

So remember how I said I'd never read comic books, aside from Sonic the Hedgehog?  Well I can't say that anymore.  I bought all of these at my friendly (seriously super friendly) neighborhood comic book shop about a month ago.  Sidenote: I discovered this place after I was super stressed and starting to withdraw from socializing with humans IRL.  It pretty much saved me from becoming a hermit, but now I haven't been back for awhile and am kind of pretty much a hermit, because work is super stressful and that's my coping mechanism.  Anyway I asked for suggestions for comic books on Google+ and bought some of those and some of my own picks.  I bought all of these with my own money and my opinions are my own.

I bought: American Vampire, Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Star Wars Knight Errant: Escape, Hoax Hunters, and The Secret Service.

First things first, I want to know why they bold words seemingly at random in comics.  It drives me crazy!  Second thing, despite the randomly bolded words driving me crazy, I would be interested in reading more of Hoax Hunters.  There's some serious foreshadowing in this one and I must say that I'm intrigued.  Everything else, not so much.  I love the X-Men movies to death but the comic books weren't my cup of tea.  Maybe it's because I didn't get the first issues, since they weren't at the shop, but I think it's more like it just seemed repetitive to me.  They did make me laugh out loud, but I expected more from Joss Whedon.  I think I disliked The Secret Service the most.  I really don't even know why I chose that one.  It's about action and politics, which is a combination I only rarely enjoy.  American Vampire was kind of interesting, but not enough that I want to read more.  However I did buy issue number 34 so maybe if I had been following the story from the beginning, I would enjoy it more.  But the art in it was my favorite of the whole batch.  And I wanted to love Star Wars Knight Errant, but I just didn't, and I'm not even sure why.  Maybe it was all of the weird names that I couldn't get straight.  I don't know.

I am not saying that I'm completely opposed to comic books.  I just think I made some poor selections and one really great one.  And honestly it takes a lot to live up to Sonic the Hedgehog comics.  I'll definitely be trying out more comics and also reading more of the Hoax Hunters series.  I love that comic books are so inexpensive to try, compared to most things.

Watching, Playing, Reading #2

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 Watching:

Once Upon a Time (on Netflix):  I found out that season 2 is on there now and I've been marathoning it.  It's gotten strange this season, but as far as I can tell I like it.  Who else is super excited for the Alice in Wonderland spin-off series?!  It involves a mental asylum!  (I'm not sure if I've told you this but I love mental asylum settings and mental illness themes.)

Our Idiot Brother (on Netflix): This was a really great indie comedy movie with one of my favorite actresses (Zooey Deschanel).  G and I both thoroughly enjoyed it and I recommend it to people who like funny things.

State of Emergency (on Netflix):  This is the worst zombie movie I have ever seen and you better believe I have seen a lot of zombie movies.  The number of zombies can be counted on your fingers and there is never any actual danger.  Never watch this movie.  I am serious.  It's not even so bad it's good.  I love those kinds of zombie movies, but this one is just slow and boring and awful.

Playing:

new (used) video games! from Al's Music Video and Games in Seattle.  This is a cool place I haven't been into for awhile.  It's just a small store with walking spaces narrow enough that you can't go past people when you're going down the aisles, but it's worth it.  There are CDs, records, video games, consoles, movies, and even guitars for sale.  I bought Tak and the Power of Juju and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, both for PS2.  When we were leaving the store, I spotted The Legend of Zelda board game in a display case!  But alas, it was not for sale.  Not that I could have afforded it if it had been, but still.  I am very pleased with both of my video game purchases.  They will give me hours and hours of enjoyment for less than $10 each.  Not bad at all.  Tak and the Power of Juju is completely silly and ridiculous, yet sometimes difficult.  I find it so hard to swing on the ropes!  Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is amazing and sometimes frustrating.  I just got the dagger and then unlocked the hourglass thing, so I can go back in time when I mess up my wall running and jumping stuff.  Plus the graphics are incredible!

Reading:

still Watchers by Dean Koontz:  It's still really good and getting better with every page.  Right now the suspense is building and foreshadowing is occurring., so I think something very exciting will happen soon.

lots of comics

lots of webcomics

as always blogs

What have you been watching, playing, and reading lately?  Anything good?

Blog and Shop of the Month 8

This month I'm going to do something a little bit different.  I'm going to share a few of my favorite blogs and shops that I've discovered last month and then tell you which ones get the coveted free ad space.

Blogs:

Entrepeneur.com:  This is a pretty cool blog for small business owners, such as myself, to learn how to run their business better.  Some of the posts go way over my head, but there are a lot of really helpful ones too.

Design Your Own (lovely) Blog:  This one is all about how to make your blog pretty and unique and personalized.  There are a lot of great tutorials and free resources.

Love from Ginger:  This lady makes some cool stuff and shares a free stock photo every single Friday, which is something I can really get on board with, since a lot of my blog posts are photo-less but I haven't wanted to use a stock photo that looks like a stock photo, and I can't always photograph something for the post.

Lolaloop:  Life. Books. Geekery.  What more could you really want?  Humor.  It's got that too.

My Life as a Teacup:  I'll try not to gush but I completely in love with this blog and it is my Blog of the Month.  For starters, there's the design.  It's the prettiest blog design ever, in my opinion.  Kristin is all about books, nerdiness, being cozy, and wearing super cute outfits.  Plus she writes posts about awesome words, which I love so much!

Shops:

Cosmic American:  This shop has the most amazing dreamcatchers!  They also sell artwork and jewelry.

Nastalgame:  This shop sells the coolest acrylic jewelry based on stuff from video games like The Legend of Zelda, Pac Man, Starcraft, and Portal.  I bought a necklace from them and I love it.  I want so many more things from this shop.  Some of the jewelry, including the necklace that I bought, is even double sided!

Furrow and Feather:  My Shop of the Month, Furrow and Feather, sells shadowbox art.  The designs are made by cutting white vinyl and placing it on glass in a shadowbox frame, and they're quite lovely.

Trend Jumping in Indie Business

Unless your business is all about selling the latest trendy pieces, it's probably not in your best interest to jump on every trend that comes around.  It's fine to try them here and there if you are still trying to figure out what your brand is all about, but I think the most important thing when establishing a brand is to strive to create something lasting.  Add your own touch to every piece you create and don't worry about being like everyone else.  Because having your products stand out and be unique is way better than selling a version of what everyone else is.  That's how you create your niche.

It should be obvious that I am not saying that your business should never change.  Your business should definitely change as you do.  But too much change happening all of the time can drive customers away.

For example, I run a jewelry business.  My pieces are all very unique and in a range of styles.  They all reflect my personal taste.  I have never jumped on the statement necklace trend, the ombre trend, or the neon trend.  Despite the fact that those things were all the rage and couldn't stay on shelves, I stayed true to myself and I stayed true to my brand.  Why?  I guess it's because of my motivation for making jewelry.  I make jewelry because I love to be creative and make things that I am proud of.  If I was just in it for the money, I wouldn't mind jumping on trends.  Because let's be honest, I have made under 50 sales in the two years I've had my shop, and some people have made 50+ sales in their first month.  That's not a lot of money and it's definitely not enough for me to quit my day job.  But I make jewelry because I love it and I take pride in it.  I'm not really sure where I'm going with this.  I guess I'm just trying to say that if you're trying to make a quick buck, go ahead and jump on every single trend that comes your way, but if you make things with passion and pride, forge your own path and you'll create something that lasts.

What I did this Weekend

I went back home for four days to see my family.  It was fun.  We went to a car show (I saw a Delorean!), went to Multnomah Falls, had a picnic, and played Apples to Apples.  I also learned how to do an oil change, and changed the oil in G's car all by myself!  (Pictures coming soon.)  Plus I ate lots of delicious gluten-free food and had a great time seeing my family.  It had been too long; I hadn't seen them since February!

Now I've been employed making jewelry for a whole year.  You may remember that I was hired last year on Labor Day.  Things have changed a lot at work.  I am the only employee now and since I missed nearly two whole weeks of work when I had the flu, we are completely swamped with orders now!  It's a good problem to have.  Last year around Christmas (normally the busiest time of the year), we had so few orders that everyone got laid off except me.  I still do wish that my boss would hire another employee though, because I feel so bad when I'm sick because she's the only one making jewelry then.  I am trying not to feel so bad though because it was my boss' decision not to hire anyone else.

Window Shopping: Tee Shirts

I don't need any more tee shirts, and I certainly don't need to spend any more money.  So all of my shopping lately is of the window variety.  I have found a bunch of really cool shirts that I wouldn't mind having, so I wanted to share them.

for everyone who puts stuff on the internet; also it's in the store for an awesome webcomic so double win

Link has a lot  in his inventory.  This is what it would look like if he was carrying it all without a magical storage system.

This one's pretty adorable.

He's a Stormtroopa.  Get it?  This one is out of stock, but that's okay when you're window shopping.