The Quiet Life of Violet

Renegade SF

On Saturday, My sister, Dustin and I piled into the car, blasted the heat and adventured our way into the city to visit a little show called Renegade.

If you're not familiar, Renegade is a sort of indie-craft fair where hip/indie/scene/urban/eco people sell their handcrafted goodies.  It was like I stepped (rolled!) into an Anthropology ad, a Teagan and Sara concert, an indie art-mart and a green-peace meeting all at the same time.

I only ended up getting some vintage button earrings (SO pretty!) because I have the classic  "I-can-make-that-so-I-won't-buy-it" syndrome. I plan on wearing them on Christmas Eve when we trek out to grandma's house for a huge, family filled dinner, so I'll be sure to take a picture to share. :)

Anyway, here are some sweet pictures I took of the event:

Alcatraz, on the way into the city.

Pretty boats and the pier as we drove over the Bay Bridge.

Pretty little banner outside the venue.

This was only the middle of the venue, there were booths up on either side as well.
Holy big!

 
Who's that pretty lady? It's miss Viviana from Oh Shoot and Polka Dot Robot! Viv was there helping Miss Chelsea, of Seablanket, with her booth.
She (Viviana -- I didn't get to spend any time with Chelsea) is a total doll and has the cutest face and a killer butt from all that bike riding around SF. Yes, Viv, I looked.. butts are in my line of vision, remember? (We had a nice conversation about how the world crop dusts me since I'm nice and in everyones butt path in my wheel chair.)
We have wild plans to hang out (since we're so close in distance) and take pictures and blog it all, so stay tuned!


A blurry (thanks for trying, Bubby!) picture of Miss Twinkie Chan and I. Dustin couldn't get over how her first name was Twinkie and then I brought it to his attention that she probably wasn't born a Twinkie. They talked craft show business for a few minutes and it  was so neat to see Dustin talking with someone that I've only ever talked to (briefly!) on-line.

Halfway through the show, we decided to go find some food since we were starved, so a we had a quick bite at a little taqueria around the corner form the venue. It was COLD. Not Winnipeg cold (poor La-La -- all that snow!), but San Francisco cold. I had a nice little taco and a little bowl of hot, hot rice and beans and perked right up. ( Have I mentioned that I'm a total monster when I'm hungry? Hella grumpy.)

After toodling back into the show and paying $2 for a bottle of water (no tip for the rude "bar tender" -- what a  jerk! People are always nice to the girl in the wheelchair!), we decided that we were done and headed back to the car.

Sissy, I love you. Serious. Forever.

So yep, that was Renegade. After being around so many hipsters, I decided that I needed a good night in grubby jammy pants. (No pictures of that.. I try and keep my grubby-ness to myself.)

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Tonight, Bubby and I watched one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, Love, Actually and I bawled like a baby. *swoon*

Goodnight (good morning?), loves.
Hope your days are as wonderful as mine have been!

Thursday -- Holy Crap!

How is it Thursday already?

I've been lucky enough to have the luxury of just loafing around all week while all of my loved ones are either working at their jobs, working on their new and old businesses, finishing up the school semester (Brother, Sister and cousins!) or healing (my poor Momma broke her arms).

And me?  I've made some phone calls, I went grocery shopping, I napped like a large cat (even though the sun is on vacation), I've almost completed my Christmas shopping and watched movies -- lots and lots of movies. I am so dang lucky. SO lucky. My Sissy never ceases to remind me just how so I am as she's rushing off to one of her two jobs or trying to complete essay after essay. I'm thankful that she serves as a reminder for just how lucky I am and I hope (hope, hope!) that one day, if she'd like, she gets to be a stay at home wife/Mom. (I love you Sissy!)

What's up with this blog? I have two amazing new series that I'm dying to share with you guys, but they're both gunna need a couple more weeks worth of work before I share. I can't WAIT!

Also, I have another  series that I'm thinking of starting and it will have to with diet and healthy eating and will be laced with more practical recipes and tips. I'm still in the brainstorming stages of that one, though.

Oh, also, I now have 24 followers on here! I'm 76 away from achieving my "100 followers goal"  and each time I see that a new person  has joined, I do a little dance, laugh a little laugh and check out their blog.

I've been getting about 350 readers a day which just blows my mind! I know it might not seem like a lot to our more super fantastic bloggers, but I squee like a little girl each time I check and see that I've had a bunch of readers each day!  Teehee!


On the home front, I need to show you guys our Christmas tree, large and in-charge, but we ran out of lights (we've never needed more thant two strings!) and we're having a heck of a time finding another string of yellow mini lights. I think we're gunna try the hardware store  tonight.

I have the mantle all decked out with a garland and pretty beads and bows and twinkle lights that feel like they're gunna give me a seizure at any moment. We've been burning fire-logs and eating peppermint taffy and watching movies at nighttime.  Totally romantic and just what we need!

We also need a new couch, a real couch because this guy is kind of weak-sauce. We're totally scouring Craiglist in hopes of finding a great piece at a good price.

 On the body/mind front, I've decided to just let go and let God. I can only control so many things (even though I'd like to control most everything), so these past few months have been a lesson in just learning to sit back and let go. Let things happen when they're meant to. From cancer to babies to jobs and money, I can only do so much, you know?

I found this awesome quote on a wonderful little blog and though that it was entirely appropriate for what's in my heart.

"I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me--that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns."  —
- Anne Lamott (Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith)

May your day be filled with little rays of  light and paw-fuls of peppermint taffy. 

An Anniversary Re-cap (what we didn't tell you)

Dustin and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on October 24th. Remember?

Things I did not share:

• We cuddled and kissed a lot.
• We had a delicious dinner, like we said we did, but we didn't make it to the drive-in. It was raining, so we decided to head home and watch a few episode of TrueBlood (we're addicted)
• I brought my left-overs home and ate most of them cold before bed.
• We didn't buy each other anything and we were okay with that.
• The best gifts in life are free, like this one that we discovered first thing that morning:

 As of today,we are 3 months and a few days pregnant, due July 3rd.

We hope you have the happiest Christmas weekend.
Don't forget to be thankful for the smallest things in life!

I Hope...

...you love this song as much as I do.

Giants, Song Birds *swoon*

If you know anything about or even follow base ball at all, you'll know that The Giants are on their way to winning the World Series. Last night, they played a game out here in San Francisco and the sense of SF pride was just amazing. To see a stadium full of people with a common love,  just come together and sing the same song.. it takes my breath away.

The crazy guy who is singing and flailing like a nerd on camera?  The one and only Steve Perry, lead singer of Journey, the band who sings the song that the crowd is singing.  Brings tears to my eyes!

Here's another video from earlier this week where agian, Steve Perry sings with the crowd. Not only is Don't Stop Believing one of my all time favorite songs,  but the whole "city-wide bonding" thing just toots my pretty little horn.

 

Northern California... I love you.

Temporary Blues

I'm feeling really sad today about the baby and the one that hopefully will come to me someday. You never realize (and I've probably said this on here a few times) just how hard having a child can be. Growing up, you don't think, "Oh, I'll lose my first and then try for six month for the second with no avail! How fun it's going to be!"

I'm usually pretty positive and chipper and see the beauty and total wonder in each day, but somedays I feel really down and it's okay. I allow myself to feel the hurt and the pain in hopes that one day I can feel the joy of having my dream come true.

[Isn't this one of the most beautiful covers you've ever heard?]

Hold my hand... pretty please?