Friday's *A week of Photos* from my walk to work

I missed *a week in photos* last week.

This week I am posting just one photo.
The photo quality is not the best, as I used my iPhone (as per usual)
and had to zoom in so that I didn't scare this guy away...

This guy was REALLY proud of the giant nut that he had found.
He stood on the fence with it in his mouth for a good while, taking side glances at me,
as I tried to get closer. Eventually he flew off, with the nut in his mouth.
I hope he shared it with his bird wife and children. :)

PS22 Chorus

The other day I stumbled on a link for a PS22 Chorus video.
And I found myself watching video after video of these AMAZING 5th Graders and their teacher, Mr. B, from Staten Island's Public School 22.

To say I am inspired by these kids and this teacher is an understatement.
I got tears in my eyes more than once while watching their videos.
What Mr. B does every year with the school's 5th graders is so spectacular and it really makes me want to make a difference in others' lives.

They sing popular songs from artists Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Owl City, Journey, Coldplay, Bjork, Jay-Z, Matisyahu, and so many more!

But enough from me.
Please check their videos out.
They have many videos on YouTube and they are always adding new ones.
Check out the videos I have posted and definitely go to their YouTube channel: agreggofsociety and see more!

Here is PS22 Chorus doing Bjork:



And PS22 Chorus doing MGMT:

glass bottles!

I wish this was my windowsill... (as seen on You Are My Fave)

I have a fun collection of glass pieces and could totally pull this off.
But Olive and Brooklyn would knock them down as fast as I put them up, I'm afraid!

I am pretty obsessed with glass containers... uniquely shaped or just cute.
And fortunately for me, my boyfriend was able to find a bunch of really neat old chemistry bottles and others (don't worry- they are washed) to add to my growing collection!

Simple and beautiful, from Design Sponge.

This was a simple way to use a couple of my own bottles for a

centerpiecefor my dear friend Jenny's going away dinner.

These, as seen on Little Bird Secrets is such a cute way of storing

glitter for the craftsters out there!

This was our display outside of my store a couple of months ago...

The bottles were from my collection, filled with rice and beans,

and then the paper flowers (from Mexico) stuck perfectly inside. I loved the result!

This is a little stark white for me, but I love the look of using all

different glass bottles as vases, from Design Sponge.

Even regular ol' brown beer bottles can be so cute! (Design Sponge)


This image just has all kinds of different glass pieces...beautiful!
It's not considered hoarding if it's beautiful, right?

And finally I present MY collection (or part of it, anyways!) :

It is high up on a shelf above a window that the cats can't get to.

Knock on wood that there isn't an earthquake to knock them all down!

reinventing school portraits

When I have kids, I sure hope that Stomping Grounds does their school portraits!
These are so fun and show a kid's personality so much better than the standard school portrait.

Friday's *a week of strolling to work in photos*!

Here is the second installment of Friday's *a week of strolling to work in photos*!

Enjoy!

Look down

Look up

Garlic! at farmer's

The scene of my accident!

a different kind of inspiration...

So I think almost all of the times that I am inspired, it is by something beautiful, colorful, tasty, comfortable, and just in general POSITIVE.
Well this week I was inspired by not-so-positive events.

I was hit by a car on my bike on Tuesday on my way back to work from lunch at home.
I walked away with bad scrapes on my knee, elbow, and hand and a lot of "what ifs" running in my head, but THAT'S IT.
And man, I feel so so so so so so lucky.
For. Real.

So what inspiration did I get from this accident?
1. To wear a helmet ALL of the time.
It is only a short 5 blocks from my house to work and I usually do not wear a helmet. And I was not wearing a helmet on Tuesday. This fact makes me feel even double lucky that I didn't get injured worse.

2. To ride my bike more carefully ALL of the time.
Often times I am just on auto pilot. After all, I do this "commute" several times daily.
But I am going to be more aware of everything on my rides from now on.
Not to say that the accident was my fault, but if I would have been paying more attention would I have not gotten side swiped by the car? Possibly.

3. To drive my car more carefully ALL of the time.
I am definitely guilty of being in a rush (for no reason) or just impatient on the road.
And it is just not necessary.
Since Tuesday I have walked to/from work every day and I watch people just not paying attention as they are driving. It is pretty amazing that there are not more accidents!


Before I get off my soap box, I want to ask that everyone thinks about these things and implement them in their lives if they can.
Because an accident happens so fast.
And much of the time they can be prevented.
So, please wear your helmet, ride aware, drive aware, and slow down.

a hand-made Christmas (using the supplies I currently own)

It's going to be (another) hand-made Christmas.

I know it's only October.
But it's October 11.
And it seems like just yesterday it was August.

I always make gifts during the holiday season- not ALL of the gifts I give are hand made, but I try to make a lot.
This year is no different.
BUT there is a new rule to the production.

I am using material and supplies that I ALREADY OWN.
I have an obsession for fabric. And yarn. And beads & charms. And paper.
Really the list could go on and on.
My point is that I have a lot of supplies for making many awesome gifts.
And for the sake of saving money and clearing out my dresser (I have 3 large dresser drawers full of fabric!), that is exactly what I am doing!

And, since I can not post something on here without an image, here is a video of my sweet cats (Olive and Brooklyn) playing with a q-tip. (And for those of you wondering- no I did not eat a box of butter... that is the cat's box... they love it)

Maru the Cat....

If you are like me, and find animals adorable and hilarious, then you should know about Maru, the cat.
He is an internet superstar with lots of high traffic videos...
This is just one.
And I will post more. But do look at his youtube page.
He's on Mugumogu's channel.
He is just so darn cute and funny!
Enjoy!

Friday's *a week of strolling to work in photos*!

So, as mentioned in my last post, I am finding myself taking lots of photos with my iPhone on my walks to work (and back home for lunch, back to work after lunch, and then back home after work). It's a whole 5-6 block walk, but there are many different ways that I can go and I see different things each time that inspire me.

Starting today, Friday's *A week of strolling to work in photos* is implemented.

So here we go, for this past week!

"Spend time with the ones you love"
How cute is that??? It's a big clock in front of the court house.
(click on photo to see it bigger)

the sweet Fremont... I remember seeing Fantasia at that theater with Mary when we were kids... The inside of the theater is more beautiful than that outside!

lion.

steps. post rain.

art.



I love the imprints from the leaves!
(ps. my feet don't really look all splotchy like that!)

walking in rainboots!

We had rainboot weather for just a couple of days this week!
It was pretty great, especially after the heat wave we had last week... everything just got refreshed and sparkly.

I used to ride my bike to work every day but lately I am trying to make a point to walk.
So, walk in the rain, in my rainboots I did!
And for some reason, I very often found myself looking down at my rainboots on neat textures and colors...

my poor table and chairs... got rained on... but looked cute in the process!
Also, as a side note, my cats usually love going out on the landing... but this day was an exception. They were perfectly happy watching the rain from the other side of the screen door (and they did sit and watch, with their noses an inch from the screen!).

PG&E and plaid!

so cute!

I hate to say it, but my iPhone 4's camera has kind of replaced my point and shoot! I still take my point and shoot everywhere with me, but I love my phone's camera!!! And it is so easy to post to this blog and facebook, etc...
My original iPhone's camera was terrible and I rarely used it. So I am happy to have this one!

San Luis Obispo's BOX ART

San Luis Obispo is a really great place to live... it is beautiful, has (most of the time) amazing weather, it is close enough to both the bay area and LA, most residents are super friendly, and lots of other stuff as well.

We were written up in last week's "Parade" magazine as "Happy Town, USA"... See article here (it is actually pretty neat facts/notes about this town!): http://www.parade.com/news/2010/10/03-youll-wish-you-were-here.html

All of these things have contributed to my own quality of life increasing, leading to a happier me!

BUT... The town, at times, seems to be growing into a direction that I do not appreciate... bigger stores coming in, less character down town, more corporate, and as a result SLO is turning into more of a SoCal town than I would like.

So as I am starting to get down on this town that I really do love, something like this happens...
Public Art.
"Box Art"
The goal of this project, put on by the SLO Downtown Association, was to use utility boxes as "canvases" for local artist's original artwork. The results are really cool!!! There were 16 boxes painted, all over down town. Here are photos of just 3 of the boxes, a few of my favorites (and honestly, the ones that are on my walk to work!).

This one is one of my favorites- it is of Bishops Peak, one of the mountains that surround SLO.
If I had taken a wider shot of the area, you would see Bishops Peak towering above in the background.

On the day that the artists started painting, (which was during the heat wave and got up to 109 degrees!) the artist who painted this one started painting in a glittery evening gown.

This one is just plain beautiful.