big nerd

It's possible that I might be THE BIGGEST nerd on the planet. My significant other gave me a bunch of binder clips the other day, in all my favorite colors, and I was positively giddy about them. It's safe to say that I was more excited about these binder clips than I would have been had he presented a bouquet of flowers – although flowers would have been nice, too. *wink wink*

I love office supplies! Especially supplies that just sit around and look pretty (and supplies that don't remind me of the actual work that I should be doing). Hey, so did you know that binder clips were invented in 1911? I had to look that up.

gee, thank you!

She's almost my own personal marketing and public relations machine: I'm talking about The Ordinary Housewife; not only did she choose my blog as one of her favorites, but she also bestowed me with this lovely Kreativ Blogger Award. However, this award comes with a caveat in that I now must pass it on to 6 blogs and I must then list 6 things that I love.

Before I throw my lists at ya, can anyone out there tell me who originally created this lovely Kreativ Blogger Award? I see it has made its way around to many creative folks out there in the blogosphere. Gosh, where did it come from, how did it get here, what's its purpose on Earth, what is the meaning of its life, what Great Being created it? Ya, I was trying to be funny there in case ya missed it. But really, who started it?

Blogs:
Bread & Honey
Little Brown Pen
Cannelle Et Vanille
La Porte Rouge
Shanks Art
Authors Asia

Things:
Sweet Thai Delight Yogi Tea
Home Decor Magazines
California Rolls
Flowers / Foliage
SLEEP
Silk Soy French Vanilla Creamer

verbivore

Words. I love words. In fact, I think I might be a word snob. I refuse to use abbreviations in my text messages, forum posts and blog posts. I still use proper punctuation, spell words out completely and always check my spelling. And, since I have never in my life actually spoken the phrase "laugh out loud" I find that I have no need to use that ever-so-popular abbreviation in my writing. Never. A little pedantic, I know, but someone has to preserve 'real language' before we all forget how to spell; before we humans start to communicate purely with abbreviations.

I don't know why I love words so much. I just do. I'm a verbivore. When I was in college, our college radio station broadcast word etymology snippets in a program called Chrysti the Wordsmith and I thought the program was brilliant. Word origins are totally fascinating. In fact, as soon as Chrysti published a book, I ran out and bought it (Verbivore's Feast: A Banquet of Word & Phrase Origins From Chrysti the Wordsmith).

Anyway, what's not to love about language and words and letters? This week, my favorite word is invective, a noun that means "highly critical or insulting language."

last of the summer flowers

sweater weather

...simply thinking of warmer and sunnier days because now the temperatures have dropped considerably.

Pretty soon the mittens, scarves and sweaters will be brought out of hiding. The leaves have turned and nighttime descends much earlier than I'd like.

my current crush

Lately I've been on a big Mossy Green + Silvery Grey kick in my illustration work (pictured at left). That particular color combo just clicks for me. It has a lot to do with my current home decor crush, my current design obsession: a Bargello pillow designed by Jonathan Adler. I adore the pattern and the colors, but I could never EVER justify paying $110 for a 16x16 pillow so it simply must remain a crush... an unrequited love. I shall never own that lovely pillow. *sigh*

Through a total fluke I was able to get an amazing deal on a different pillow in his Bargello series when I was in Montana (it's the 'chevron' pattern). We walked into a random store on a very quick walk through downtown Bozeman, and ta-dah! There it was, ON SALE. I swooped it up and brought it home and now, every time I look at it, I grin because I just happen to be THAT materialistic (that's not completely true; I try to lead a simple life). It really does make me smile, though. Good design can cheer a person up and those Bargello patterns make my heart pitter-patter!

tag! i'm it.

I am so new to the world of blogging, that when I was 'tagged' the other day, I had NO IDEA what that meant. After looking into the matter... I finally figured it out. I was tagged by a fellow blogger: The Ordinary Housewife, so stop by her corner of the blogosphere and see what she's up to today! Um, since I've been tagged, I'm supposed to tell y'all seven things about myself:

One: I freakin' LOVE to type... and, yes, I've been told that it's strange that I love typing so much.

Two: When I was a child, a doctor told my mom that I was allergic to milk, so I had to eat cereal with orange juice on it instead of milk. I don't recommend it.

Three: I have extremely brittle fingernails. Ew.

Four: The first three cars I ever owned were blue and I actually really hate blue cars.

Five: My spine curves ever so slightly to the right. Ya, it's scoliosis.

Six: We don't own a functional oven, so we 'cook' with our counter-top toaster oven. A lot.

Seven: I really enjoy my privacy so I don't like to reveal much about myself.

OH MY, I've made myself sound like such a freak! A brittle-nailed, spine-curved victim of milk allergies who also loves to type but hates blue cars. Hilarious. Is it fair to tag people I already know? Well, I'm going to tag a few people I already know since I'm such a rule-breaker. And, can I just say, this was a lot of work! Whew. Time for nap.

The rules of Blog Tagging are:
1) Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4) Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

TAG. YOU'RE IT:
The Search For Nicole
Copacetic Zine
Esthetic / Aesthetic
Krisatomic
Bread & Honey
Adventures of Minco
Elephantine