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Clearance Shoes

Posted on by Anna

Sometimes the coolest stuff in the store is in the clearance aisle. Especially at the Tulsa DSW, where fashion-forward shoes don’t seem to be the most desired.

I found shiny tie-dye-style Steve Maddens…
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..and all shoes of this style of CL by Laundry were regular price except for these mustard lovelies.
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I don’t usually get pumped about shoe shopping, but cheap plus cute equals yay!

Of course, I found the real shoe bargain earlier in my trip, but probably somebody has snatched those up by now.

Gospel with Your Acrylic Yarn?

Posted on by Anna

In the past I’ve had trouble finding the right Oklahoma souvenirs for my New York friends, but Hobby Lobby came through for me on my last trip with Testamints, sugar-free gum that is officially holier than whatever gum you’ve been chewing!

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I had heard of these before, so probably they’re not unknown, but I thought it was extra great that they were available where I was shopping for polyester stuffing. And according to the Testamints website, they are currently ONLY available at Hobby Lobby (and online via Oriental Trading Co).

What makes this gum special is not, as you might think, a Christian message printed on each piece of gum, but instead it’s just a Bible verse printed on the back of the package. So the idea is that you have to give whole packages of gum away to spread the word, and not just a piece. Sweet Jesus that’s clever.

My Sister’s Invites

Posted on by Anna

I recently had the honor of designing my sister’s invitations for her upcoming wedding, and I just saw the results in print for the first time!

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We had them printed by Pinball, an excellent company whom I’d previously seen do a beautiful printing job on projects for CWC-i. The envelopes are from Jam Paper and are made of recycled Kraft paper.

It’s so exciting to see my design printed so nicely! It’s also exciting that my sister is getting married.

Meatballs

Posted on by Anna

Update: I didn’t realize, but the the trailer is already out. I could probably watch computer animated food gloriously falling out of the sky for two hours, but it looks like most of it will be a not-so-interesting backstory.

This seems to be a big year for classic children’s books turned into movies. That is, I just heard about one more aside from Where the Wild Things Are, so I’m calling it a trend.

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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was another one of my favorite books as a kid, and Sony Pictures is apparently releasing the computer animated movie this September. Unlike Wild Things, It looks like there isn’t an attempt to capture the fun visual style that makes the picture book so special, so that makes it less exiting. But my favorite Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live is in the cast, it seems, and that’s a big plus.

Stephin Merritt’s Coraline

Posted on by Anna

Music-genius Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields just opened a new musical based on Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, with no relation to the recent movie.

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The heroine has a bit of a more mature look in this version.

The New York Times review that came out earlier this week is a little mixed, but it made me think that I might like it for all its strangeness.

Coraline is playing at the MCC Theater in the West Village through July 5. I’ll be seeing it later this month!

New Jersey Transit Art

Posted on by Anna

Yay another trip to Oklahoma today! It is one of my top 50 favorite states (in the US). And getting there is fun too, sometimes.

Anyone been to the fancy New Jersey Transit waiting room at Penn Station? I’ve taken the train to Newark Airport from there before but hadn’t seen the waiting room before this trip for some reason. It’s such an interesting atmosphere, combining the dinginess of contemporary American rail travel with what seems like an attempt to recapture the glamour of trains from the past. So homeless people nap and tinny classical music plays overhead. Also: an art installation!

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This is “New Jersey On Parade,” a piece by George Mossman Greenamyer that was commissioned by NJ Transit in 2002, according to a plaque on the wall. It’s actually a pretty neat display of New Jersey landmarks and icons made of steel suspended from a track and constantly in motion. You see, because of trains and stuff. And here is Mr. Peanut.

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The nostalgic style of the piece and the clicking mechanical sound it makes going around the tracks seems so very 1940s, I think, and strangely complements the old flickering monitors, the surly passengers, the piped-in classical music, and the smell of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels mixed with body odor.

Free Cross-Stitch Pattern: Stackable Cats

Posted on by Anna

At long last, it’s the pattern for the Stackable Cats in cross-stitch!

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Click to download the PDF:

Stackable Cats Cross-Stitch Pattern

This is my first-ever cross-stitch pattern, so I would love any feedback on it from people who are nice enough to try it out.

If you’ve never cross-stitched before, it’s very easy! You can find some basic tips at the Yarntree website.

The finished size of the Stackable Cats cross-stitch is about 9 inches wide by 5.5 inches tall. You’ll need 14-count fabric and 5 colors of thread. (The DMC colors are specified in the pattern.)

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Update: Thank you to Whip Up and Natalie at the Craft blog for posting about my cross-stitch!