mmm.... coffee.....

who the highway patrol to tell me what is & what isn't a lane?

hoya kerrii (sweetheart hoya)

if i don't go to NYC this weekend will someone please take me out on an adventure in New England?  some place that isn't the east side of providence.  some place where i can see more trees, maybe climb a few rocks & just be outside...  speaking of outside, it's supposed to be record-breakingly hot today (it's already well above 70) so i am very glad to spend it inside the library:

both students that have been working in the lab with me all year are graduating tomorrow & i am going to miss them.  besides being great to hang out with, they completed re-housing the Dated collection in phase boxes.  this is the collection that i had surveyed - we took everything that was in an acidic wrapper or had detached covers with no wrapper & put them into acid-free archival boxes.  all that's left are some small books & they'll be done, oh, by the end of the day!  it's very satisfying to work on a entire collection like this, it may be a teeny slice of the whole library, but it's in much better shape than when we started.  particularly since my time here at the Hay is limitied, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the amout of work that needs to be done.  we need moments like this, moments where we can step back, smile & say, "Done."

then i get to ask, what's next?

half a bee, philosophically, must ipso facto half not be

although no vegans are currently eating these, i baked more treats from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World this weekend.  to make your own homemade hostess cupcakes start with the basic chocolate cupcake, pipe in the "butter"cream frosting & ice with rich chocolate ganache.  they're unbelieveably rich & delicious!  the cupcakes came out very dense so they weren't as filled as i'd like them to be, but i have so much extra frosting i might have to bake another batch today...

i had an unusually social weekend: friday whitney & i went to tom's to watch Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, a fun old Russian movie.  saturday was dinner at neighbor susan's & her friend eric came over with his wife & their 10 day old baby.  providence is so small sometimes - i know eric & kristana because they used to live in teresa's house, but susan knows them from work & they had no idea she used to live on our street, too!  it was great to see them & i also enjoyed chatting about art & community with susan's friend jamie.  then yesterday teresa & i drove up to visit tara.  we brought her the cupcakes & other candies & goodies, made a stop at Osgood Textile so i could buy more glitter vinyl, tara treated us to dinner at a diner & then we all just hung out chatting in her cute house until late.  it was wonderful.

after another cup of coffee i'll get back to cleaning since my roommate returns on wednesday.  i should get my crap out of the way so she has room to pack because she's only here for 2 more weeks!  i'm actually not getting another roommate, at least not right away, i'm taking the summer to live on my own & it's going to be sweet...

the morning sun has come and gone, get up get out & move along

slowly, but surely i'm putting my vinyl goodies up on etsy (click the image above to be transported directly to my shop)  i know, i know, i've been saying i'm going to do this for uh, a year, but it's actually happening this time.  i'm still working out the shipping costs so i apologize if they seem a little high, i'll adjust them as i figure out the exact costs.  i hope to get much more up there this weekend, keep checking in on it!

(i added a little update to the bunny post in case any of you are worried about the little cutie...)

an influx of thousands of kittens

this was my half of the table at the Alumni Sale saturday morning - we were steadily mobbed for the rest of the day.  sales were slow for me at first, but picked up later & amongst other things, i sold the slug messenger bag!  the weather was gorgeous, i had fries from the Idaho potato man & my thermos of coffee to get me through the day.  we had a surprise visit from alison of wonderlandQ which was awesome.  bob & ginny of OrangeBags came by with their new little baby, so did my former boss Michelle & i got to see anna of annabuilt who is totally pregnant.  am i finally at that age?  babies everywhere!

since the sale on saturday i have done nothing!  absolutely nothing!  okay, not entirely true: teresa & i went to our friend josie's house for a little bbq saturday night, but i didn't last long.  sunday morning we went to breakfast & were joined by stacy & allison.  afterwards we checked out a sewing machine/fabric yard sale extravaganza jenine had spread the word about & then there was a trip to savers.  i added to my button collection, stacy almost bought some cool shoes & teresa convinced me to buy a little round, turquoise suitcase.

but if we act all shy, it’ll make it ok, make it go away

there is nothing craft-related in this post.  i just wanted to share with you the insanely adorable baby bunny i found shivering on the sidewalk this morning!  i know i shouldn't pick up wild baby animals because it will smell like me, but it was on the sidewalk & i didn't want either:
a) a college student to try to keep it in their dorm room.
b) a high school student to mess with it.
so i took it over to the little lawn next to the library where i know a family of bunnies lives because i've seen them there before.  actually, they live all over campus & i'm guessing this one wasn't far from home, but home had just been ruthlessly landscaped.  oh, it's so cute!  it didn't really move around when i picked it up & held it, but once i tucked it under the bushes it set about cleaning its face & hopped around a bit:

it was still there when i went for coffee, but i'll check on it again at lunch.  i'm kind of worried about the little guy, but it is a wild bunny & seems big enough to fend for itself.  i really didn't want to let it go, i wanted to hold it or take it home, but that didn't seem right...  right?

update:  by the end of the day the bunny had scampered off & i haven't seen it since.  i did a little research & leaving it was the right thing to do.  it wasn't an infant , it wasn't injured & it has only a 1% chance of survival if i brought it home!  it was possibly old enough to be on its own or it's mother came looking for it in the night & i didn't move it very far from where i found it.  i still keep an eye out for it every time i walk by.

your head is bent out of shape, but your feet are on the ground

to entice you to stop by the Risd Alumni Sale this saturday, here are the messenger bags i have made so far.  they are all fully-lined with an inner pocket, adjustable strap & heavy-duty velcro enclosure:

i am completely in love with the one i made myself & take it with me everywhere i go.  i put the pocket on the inside front so it's quick & easy to find my keys & cell phone.  the strap is strong webbing so it won't stretch out & stays put at the length you choose.  i added more velcro so the bag will stay closed even when over-stuffed.  this saturday i'll also be bringing a pile of ipod sleeves & tons of wrist cuffs in the favorite styles & a couple new ones, too!  here is a sneak peek a some of them:

i might have a few clutch purses with me - depends on how fast i can sew this week...  the weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend so come on by & check out my new haircut!  Benefit Street, 10am-4pm (rain or shine.)