Live at The Fox!

Yes, Chris and I saw Loreena McKennitt last night! "Magical" is probably the best word to describe her performance, and the performance of the nine other musicians with whom she wove the musical web. If you like her music and ever get the chance to see her perform live, do yourself a favour and go for it. The only way you could be disappointed is if your fellow concert-goers were annoying.

*commence rant* What is it with people? Why are they so stupid and obnoxious? Though the liner notes clearly asked people not to use any kind of recording devices (and there were signs as well), some morons right near the stage were using flash photography. Hello!! Do you not know anything about how dangerous it is to use flash photography with onstage performers? They can forget lines, at best, and fall, at worst. Also, it's just plain rude. I thought that Loreena handled it very well, though, never losing her cool. Two other things that got me were the food and people's clothes. Now, I am not a snob. People who know me well will tell you that. However. There was just something so bizarre about watching folks trundle into the beautiful Fox Theatre with their hotdogs and huge tubs of popcorn. Whaaaa-t? I'm sorry, did I get confused and this is TURNER FIELD?? As if I want to smell your disgusting hotdog while this ethereal music is trying to take me to another world! As for the clothes: I'm not saying that they have to be expensive, because the good Lord knows that mine aren't. But I was raised to believe that you should dress appropriately for the event in order to show respect for it. I mean, ok, there was nothing WRONG with the jeans and flannel shirts, but I just thought, "Hey, let's show a little respect for the performers and the theatre by dressing up a bit". I dunno, I guess I'm crazy. Chris was wearing jeans (as he does to just about everything) and he's rolling his eyes as I type this. I'm just saying. The final thing that got me was the clapping. Yes, of course, we should clap to show our enjoyment of the music. But on some of the quieter pieces, it would have been nice to have had a moment between the end of the music and the clapping in order to just let the music hang there. But no! It was as if people weren't even paying attention to the music, they were just waiting for the moment that they could begin clapping. sigh Ok, look, I'm an awful person, and a freak. I accept that about myself. *end rant*

In any event, it was a great anniversary present to ourselves (4 years on 11 October, go us!).

Hope you have a great day,
Kimberley (your resident blogosphere freak)

Bleargh

Isn't that pretty? I especially like using my wooden bowl (an anniversary present from my parents last year) during the fall and winter, and having a Halloweeny cloth in it, along with apples, pears, and oranges just makes it better :)

I'm home sick today-- feel quite wretched. Chris has been sick for a few days, but I thought I was holding it off pretty well. Yesterday, though, I had to go get a massage (my left shoulder was about four inches higher than my right one, and my neck muscles were so tight that my head had been drawn back towards my shoulder, eeeek! Talk about appropriate for Halloween!), and I think that the massage therapist hit a lot of trigger points which released toxins and finally overwhelmed me. Oh, well. I guess it's better to just be sick and get over it, rather than dragging around for a week, partially sick. Right??

Here's the beginning of a Halloween tableau:




It looks kind of sad and colourless now, but its only the beginning. I luuuuurve those white china pumpkins :) The b&w photo is one of the holographic kind that, when you move it from a different angle, transforms the subject into something horrible. I love it! It was a gift from Stacy and Andrew. Stacy said that she thought of me as soon as she saw it, to which I responded, "What does that say about me? And, hey, what does that say about you??". One thing I know that it says is that she's thoughtful and sure does know me pretty well ;)

Well, it's off to take 1000 more mg of Vitamin C, and perhaps a nap.

Hope you have a great Friday,
Kimberley

Japanfest!

My friend Maggie had two extra tickets to Japanfest, and offered them to us! (She's nice AND smart-- she had the tickets off the Japanese Consulate, which gave them to her because she has a Fulbright to go to Japan in October!)

Here's Chris in front of one of the banners:





We headed inside to get something to eat. Here's a picture of one of the food lines:





I stood in THREE of them, only to be told at each one that there were no vegetarian options! I finally bought a chocolate croissant in desperation (yes, it DID seem WRONG somehow that I couldn't get anything vegetarian at an Asian event-- usually they come through for us).

Here are some lucky non-vegetarians enjoying their lunches:





After that we went to a Japanese archery demonstration:



It was very cool. If I had any discipline at all, I'd really enjoy learning that.

Then it was off to see some Okinawan dancing. I don't have any photos of that, OR of the kendo demonstration that followed because it was just too dark. But, I do have this:




Aren't they cute as buttons? :) I'm just loving those sneakers!


We were going to stay for a drumming exhibit, but I was fading fast due to lack of food (and increasing discomfort with large crowds-- ssshhhhh! Don't tell anyone, but I really, REALLY don't like being in indoor spaces with tons of people). Sweetie Chris took me to lunch at a place close to home where I could get miso and udon, since he knew I'd been looking forward to it. Awwwww :)

When we got home I worked some more on assembling my rodent army, and then packed up my work baskets until I have a chance to do some more. I think that bats are next. I want to hang cutouts inside of our lampshades :) It's all in the details, people, all in the details.

Thanks for stopping by!
Kimberley

So you want to build a rodent army...

Good thing I'm here to help, then! :)

Our theme for this year's Halloween party is "Nightmares & Fairy Tales", and I've decided to go for the decaying mansion look (it'll be no easy task in our tiny, 1949 Cape Cod, but hey! I'm counting on the magic of Halloween... and gloomy candlelight-- that'll help!) The colour scheme will be black and white-- not even orange pumpkins, maybe, as I'm thinking of painting them white and attaching black ribbons. That idea is still brewing so stay tuned.

On to the rodents! This year's Martha Stewart Halloween issue was a great help in pulling this theme together, due in no small part to the mouse templates. First I downloaded them and then cut them out (pssst! Check out the glass dome I got for practically no money yesterday) :





Then I traced them onto black construction paper, stacked three sheets deep:





And, once I finished cutting, voila! Instant Rodent Army!




I still have more mice to trace and cut out, and then I'll cut out some mouse holes. I also plan to have spiders of various sizes crawling up walls all over the house and plenty of artfully draped spider webbing. More on that later, as well as info about dyeing cheesecloth to make creepy, moth-eaten-looking curtains. Oh, yes, we are all about Halloween here at Tallulah House :) I will really miss having my Halloween rubber duckies out this year, but they hardly belong in a decaying mansion!

One other project I finished today was stringing a banner for the dining room:




Have a look at my little workspace at the dining room table:




(Please note that that candy is not for me! I plan to put it into jars and attach creepy labels. I just like having it out for inspiration)


Here's a better picture of my spooky companions:





Can you tell that I've been having fun? :)


Hope you had a great Saturday!
Kimberley

I'd wear it every day, if I could...

Hi, everybody! It was another tiring and busy (but good!) week at work, and I really missed blogging. But now it's Friday! To celebrate, I decided to share pictures of this dress. No, I didn't make it. The Valaar did not imbue me with that talent, unfortunately. Rather, I found it on E-bay, source of myriad goodness!





Surprisingly to those who know me, this dress ISN'T for Halloween! Nope, it's for a wedding. In November, I'll be officiating the ceremony for our friends, Julie and Brian. I'm ordained through the Universal Life Church, and this will be the second ceremony I've performed. The first was back in June and, oddly, was also outside and I also wore black. Hmmmm... :)

Julie and Brian are into Renn faires and such (they also play MMO's, like World of Warcraft, and that's how we know them), and their wedding will have a bit of a medieval feel. I wanted to dress appropriately of course (my eagerness had NOTHING to do with the fact that I love these sorts of dresses and look lovely in them-- ha!), and when I found this one, I fell in love with it. Julie approved, and now I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival. I'm going to have to wear my tallest boots with it, and it will STILL be a bit long, but that's nothing new when you're 5 ft., 2 1/2 inches tall and refuse to take everything to the tailor :)

In other news, I found a great little glass dome at the Salvation Army shop today! I've been wanting one of these for a while, but refused to pay full price. My plan had been to etch the word "patisserie" on it, but then I decided that I would just stencil on something appropriate for Halloween and then wash it off afterwards. I need something gory to go under it, perhaps some eyeball candy and an olive fork...

Oh, last Sunday we hosted our first Sunday Night Supper, and it was a hit! We had about 15 guests, the food was delicious, and some of us played a fun game called "Apples to Apples". I meant to take pictures of the table, but wasn't feeling very well and then was too busy having fun! You'll have to take my word for it that everything looked warm and inviting, and that I was as stunning as usual ;)

When I got home today, I sat down and worked for a bit on Halloween decorations. My camera battery is charging right now, but I plan to post a few pictures tomorrow. If you need inspiration NOW, though, I suggest you hurry on over to Artsy Mama's blog and see this! I got so excited that I almost needed to reach for an inhaler-- and I don't even HAVE asthma!

Happy Friday!
Kimberley

Little Chef

Hi, everybody! It's been a rough week at work (I know, I know, I give all appearances of being an indolent sloth, but even *I* have to put forth some effort some time ;), and I've had no time for my blogging fix! I've been reading, though, oh, yes, checking in all of my favourites just to see what everyone's up to!

Continuing the Teapot of the Day series, here's a favourite of mine: the Little Chef. We got the Little Chef on the same trip to the UK as when my mom bought this one, though under entirely different circumstances.

We toured around Scotland and England for three weeks and were trying to be thrify in our meals, so we were glad to discover the Little Chef restaurants. They were tasty. They were inexpensive. They were EVERYWHERE!!

I became quite enamoured with the teapots, cute, sturdy, little things that they were, and one day my mom asked our waitress if she could buy one for me. Our waitress went to ask the manageress, who came over and said, "You just take it, as a wee present from me to you." (Yes, she really did say "wee"!) I was as thrilled as a teapot-loving teenager could be, and promised to take good care of it. I remember being VERY concerned with packing it in a carry-on bag, wrapped in a bunch of clothes :) 17 years later, it's still going strong, safe and sound, and I'm as enamoured as ever.

Dear Manageress of the Little Chef somewhere off one of the main highways somewhere in England: Thank you. Your gift of kindness, every bit as much and even moreso than the teapot itself, has stayed with me. Whenever I see it or use it, I think of you :)

Kimberley

Teapots and Halloween

Isn't this a lovely teapot? With its cute size, shape, flowers and, of course, butterfly, it has everything going for it :) This is another of my mom's teapots, and it originally belonged to HER mother. I just love things with family history and age. I like the idea of using the same things that earlier generations did, and of caretaking them for the future.

In other news, you (all three readers out there, lol) may have noticed that I was gone for a few days. Well, I blame it on HALLOWEEN!!!! I tried to not get swept up in it lest that be all of which I'm capable of blogging, but I think it's too late! My "Country Living" was a wee bit disappointing in its Halloween offerings-- the one article was good and I did get some ideas, but, like the crazed little sugar junkies that will soon be ringing doorbells, I NEEDED MORE!!!! :)

So, on Friday after work I stopped off at Borders and got Mary Englebreight's "Home Companion" magazine and the Martha Stewart Halloween issue.



(from ME's "Home Companion")


(Duh, Martha Stewart!)

I played "World of Warcraft" Friday night because I am determined to hit 70... well, soon. I've taken a ridiculous amount of time to do it. So it wasn't until Saturday morning that I sat down with my honey toast and tea to completely indulge in Halloweeny goodness. ME's "HC" had some VERY nice stuff in it, including a 20% off your total purchase coupon for Michael's!! (The coupon is good through 30 November, so I plan to hold onto it until the Halloween stuff is on sale). However, the best was Martha.
(Ahh, Martha. How conflicted I am about you. You don't seem like a very nice person, but you had so much to do with bringing about respect and admiration for the art of homekeeping. I don't care much for "Martha Stewart Living", with it's insanely time-intensive recipes, hard-to-do crafts, and articles that don't have much to do with my life, but oh! Your holiday issues are wonderful, and none moreso than the Halloween ones! )

Yes, the MS Halloween issue is WONDERFUL! I got lots of good ideas from it, and am just itching to begin decorating :) After years of refusing friends' offers of help with party prep, I am actually going to take people up on it. I love decorating for and hosting this party every year, but usually I'm so frazzled by the night of that I don't have much fun. So, this year, I'm recruiting left and right! I sat down with my calendar yesterday and figured out when we need to do what and I'm feeling more in control already! ... We'll see how long that lasts ;)

I'll continue with the fun "Teapot of the Day" feature, but I'm just warning you to prepare yourself for lots of Halloween talk! Also, I would love to hear about your decorating ideas! Fair warning: if they're fabulous I'll most likely steal them for Tallulah House ;)

Hope you have a great day doing something you enjoy,
Kimberley