Hi Kids! Your Uncle here with a wee update. I'm going to be taking a little blogging break for the next week. I am currently working on a project for a magazine (!!!) (sorry mum's the word for the moment) and have a deadline looming with much to accomplish. Between flushing out those ideas and paying the rent I'm gonna need all the extra time I can get. But I hope and trust that you'll join me again soon...won't you? I'll let you know when the tea is back on! (Thanks for your patience and understanding.)

(In the meantime, a little inspiration thanks to Krissy. It's a video of Mike Long, a self-described "social rocktivist" (awesome!), dancing all over the place - 6 months in 6 minutes. This is a serious testament to having the courage to be oneself. Party on, Mike! Party on, Kids!)

See you all again soon!

This may also help keep you smiling until my return
...too flippin' cute!

Ooh!!! And check out Housemartin's posts on my town Seattle! Pam did features on some o' my personal favorites and a fine, fine job she did indeed.

Seattle Design Meet-up

Many of you may already be well aware of Grace's ingenious Biz-Lady Meet-ups that take place all over the country. Well, after her recent visits to Portland & Seattle, Paola from MirrorMirror took hold of the reins to put together a local Seattle group. And Grace kindly filled me in that this would allow boys in too (hooray!). The first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16th at Velocity Art & Design's new South Lake Union location with the fantastic Matte Stephens presiding as first guest speaker!

If you are a Puget Sound artist, designer, creative, /entrepreneur this should be the perfect means to take hold of your own reins and help guide your career. Let Paola know if you'd like to be added to the address list! (You can click the "email" link below or visit Mirror Mirror.) Hope to see you there!

(This is from Paola's first announcement....)

"After the Biz Lady meet up in Seattle, I left my email addy on Design*Sponge to see if anyone wanted to continue meeting up.

And lo and behold, one of the people who responded was John Tusher of Velocity, who wanted to keep the inspiration going and was offering the new Velocity store as a location!

So on Monday I had tea with John to have a chat about the format such meetings could take.

We thought that it would be good to aim for monthly meetings and we would get a guest speaker or panel of speakers for each one (John's obviously got some great contacts he can tap). We also wanted to set aside a bit more time for socializing and networking afterwards.

We thought it would have more of a general design focus rather than just a business focus, though we might touch on small business-related topics at some point. Oh and given John's involvement, and the general design focus, we thought it would be odd if it were exclusively for women, though it would probably have a preponderance of women attending given what it has sprung from.

So I really just wanted to open this up to get people's thoughts and ideas on the above. I've sort of ended up doing this by default and am keen to create something that everyone feels a part of and will enjoy.

All ideas, comments and suggestions are hugely welcome - either via email or in the comments below. We'd particularly love to hear from you if you've got good ideas for a great name; know someone who would be a good guest speaker; can point us in the direction of wine/cheese/bakery sponsors; or want to get involved in any way. If you're a Seattle-based blogger and think your readers might be interested it would be immensely helpful if you could point them in this direction.

Most importantly, email me if you would like to attend the first meet-up, which we're aiming to have organised for mid-April."

So I was tagged the other day by Pia of Pia Jane Bijkerk. I'm to list 7 things about myself that others may not know about moi. So here is a little peak into my ever fascinating life (Hey, you in the back, can you please not yawn...at least not right now? Oh, and wake up that guy beside you.) Anyhoo.......

1) One of the first mediums I ever worked in was paint remover. Long story short...I'm a tiny wee baby, my parents come to get me from my crib, I'm not there, they search frantically, find me in garage, Mom has been stripping a rocking chair, I make it through baby-gate, grab can and brush, proceed to paint with said paint remover...on the side of my Dad's brand new Volvo. It's a miracle I'm even here to write this.

2) I LOVE mayonnaise. Sadly, the United States doesn't permit me to marry my mayo...even if it's a consenting condiment. The atrocity of it all!

3) I'm half Canadian. And proud of it, eh! Shout out to Nova Scotia...holla!

4) To put it mildly, I do not like acronyms. I like words. Acronyms are exclusionary and the linguistic form of a couch potato.

5) I detested the person who is now my best friend. (Oh, don't worry, he knows ALL about it.)

6) In my dreams I am a baker. (In reality I couldn't take the hours!)

7) I have two cats, Winston & Riley. They're were born blind but cute. Oh, and I have a dog named Fergus. He's was born small and French.


Mmmm, riveting isn't it. Well, I hope it was a bit entertaining at the least, if not altogether illuminating.

Now, based on the rules, I'm supposed to "tag" seven others. I do have some reservations about this part. (I'm not always a big rule follower. Uh oh, that's 8 things about me! See...what did I just say?) However, there are a few folks out there in the blogosphere that I'd genuinely like to know a bit more about. But, as with Pia's qualification, I have no issues if they do not wish to participate. I mean tag can be fun but after so many times of being "it" even kids wanna take a snack break. Y'know? So with that said.....

...my tagging "victims" shall be:

Rachel @ BlackEiffel
Dana @ Blush & Flax Hues
Denise @ d. Sharp Journal
Jess @ Lobster & Swan
Cheryl @ Stash Studios
Paul @ Sweet Paul

Spoiler sport.

Okay, today (and in the past) I've received a few emails from people regarding "spoilers". So I'm just putting you all on notice. One, if you didn't see the finale of ANTM last night...do not scroll down and leave immediately! Two, some of the things I am most likely to "spoil"... ANTM, Project Runway, Top Chef, Deadliest Catch, Rachel Ray (not!). I'll update as necessary.

I'll try to be more conscientious with you, gentle reader, and your series finale scheduling issues. But please make a note of these shows and judge your blogging accordingly.

This has been a public service announcement brought to you by the letter "B"!

Indie Shopping Weekend

Just a reminder that this weekend is a great weekend for indie shopping in the Seattle area! There's Urban Craft Uprising at the Seattle Center (read my previous post here).

Also, on Bainbridge Island, is Christmas in the Country. A vast number of independent merchants that collect themselves in various locations around the island (including some beautiful private homes) and show off some amazing handiwork.

(The Fortner House - my favorite stop during Christmas in the Country!)

I know, it's not as delightful as the mall. And, granted, I doubt either location will have been thoughtful enough to have set up a Hot Dog On A Stick franchise...but these are the sacrifices we sometimes have to make people!

(Sidenote: It's supposed to snow here later today!!! I mean, what could make it any more atmospheric?!)

With I in my kerchief...

My current holiday reading list. Domino & Blueprint magazines just to inspire and get me in that holiday state of mind. (Is there a magazine cessation program of any kind? I'm not ready to quit, mind you...just asking. You know, for when it becomes a problem.) And, of course, David Sedaris' Holidays On Ice. A collection of short stories about all the things that should probably, in theory, make one avoid the holidays altogether. But y'know, you take the good, you, take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have...uh, let's not go down that road right now. Suffice it to say, how one family produced two such hilarious people (David & Amy Sedaris) I am not entirely certain, but I do believe it may have started with a little dysfunction served on the rocks with a side of shag carpeting. Love it!

Not gone to the dogs.

On something of a more serious note...

Some may be aware but it would seem many others are not (myself included) that grapes, raisins, or anything containing said fruit is toxic to our four-legged friends. As few as 7 raisins/grapes could cause renal failure in dogs and even death. For more information just Google it or here is a link to a brief article.

Just a head's up to those with puppy love.