Holy cow! So many crafty things to report...

Monday Brooke and I met up in the morning for our first weekly work/craft day. The idea is to spend an entire day each week sewing/knitting/spinning for our shops. We started out by stopping by two local fiber stores to pick up roving. We headed back to my place and got ourselves situated and managed to finish...one bag. Kind of lame, but still a pretty good start to this whole enterprise, I think.

Later on, we found our way to the spinning wheel. Neither of us have spent any time on spinning wheels (Brooke can drop spindle) but I was fairly impressed by our progress. After the Hogan family left for the evening, I spun for a couple hours more while Ashley and I finished The Singing Detective. How hunched over was I by the end of the evening? My chin was practically touching my knees. Gotta work on the whole spinning posture thing, I suppose.

Tuesday we loaded up on Japanese craft magazines (SO MUCH BETTER than most of the American swag...) and later on headed over to craft night at Memoir.

Today Brooke and Kerry (along with Sebs) are going to visit their very ill father in California. Send all the good thoughts in the world their way! I miss you guys already!

Brooke and I are thinking of heading to Fabric Depot today after work to find material to make bags for both of our shops. I think it's a great idea - the more I can be involved, the better. I just have to get over being afraid of my sewing machine. We are going to start setting aside a day a week to make things for our businesses. One less middle man!

Doris brought by her Ashford spinning wheel for me to borrow! I am SO FREAKING excitied! I'm considering spinning lessons, but with everything else that's going on, I doubt I have the time right now. If we get any money, oh say around August 13th, I'd really like to get my own wheel...maybe even spin a little for the shop.

I will not drink another Diet Coke today. Gross.

It's Wednesday and....blah. Wenesday is my late night and I can't get into it today. I want to be watching The Singing Detective (the show , not the movie - SO GOOD) and hanging with fancy pants and the dog. I love my morning into day shifts, but sometimes these evenings can be a killer. It doesn't help that they are STILL drilling pavement across the street beginning at 7 am. Yipes.

This morning Lottie and I went on a run because I couldn't face the gym. I should have known then that it would be a day of not wanting to face things. A hide-under-the-covers day. In New York I would have called in sick (shame), bought a ton of magazines and spent the day in bed. Heaven. Those days feel ages away. Sometimes being the boss lady feels overwhelming.

But that's not to say I don't love what I do. I do! That doesn't mean I don't want to call my mom and tell her make it better for me. Pathetic.

Ha! Anyway...I assume a good night's sleep will clear the gloom. That and a month's vacation! I tell you what!

We went to Seattle with Brooke, Matt, Sebastian and Spud yesterday. For me, the highlight of the trip was stopping in Centralia on the way back for awesome Mexican food and a quick stop at the Goodwill.

It was Sebastian's 2nd birthday (his party was the day before at the shop) and he was so good on the trip that Ashley and I can't stop freaking out about it. He's such a little man, complete with manners and a sense of humor. One of his parents is always paying attention to him, which I think is the key. He never feels ignored and therefore never needs to throw a fit. It makes hanging out with him really fun.

I had guilt all day about leaving Lottie alone. She spends so much time on her own during the week, that I think it's important fo us to try to be with her on our weekend. She really is a good girl, but I'm beginning to think she could use some training. She gets sooo excited when we have visitors (especially little cute ones) that she can't contain herself and it's exhausting and annoying for everyone around her. Poor girl. I wish she had some doggie friends, but even they seem to have a limit when it comes to our little girl.

Tonight is book group (we're reading Ladies & Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning) and the rest of my day will be spent trying to finish the book! Tra-la! Some things never change.

People received our wedding invitations yesterday, so we should start hearing back from our friends and family in the next couple of weeks. I'm surely looking forward to it.

Yesterday I splurged and bought a new skirt and hooded sweatshirt from Memoir (on Mississippi in PDX - I will post links as soon as I know how). Everything in the store is handmade and well selected. My skirt is denim with a red felt horse appliqued on the front and the sweatshirt is black with a skull and bones on the front.

Ashley and I went to the Farmer's Market this morning and got some nice looking carrots and radishes. Since the shop now opens at 10 on the weekends, it feels like a whole world of activities has re-opened to us. We can even start going to yard sales! Because we need more crap!

I found the haircut I want for the wedding, so I'm going to see if Mary can give me a test run this week. Very short bangs and even (gasp!) some color.

Friday, friday....a funny day in the shop. It's either crazy or dead. Today is crazy. It's cool and a little rainy and that usually means it's fairly hopping in here. I love it. I can't believe our good luck with the weather this summer.

I sent out a big email to everyone who has given us their address about the new additions here. Some nice responses have already started coming back. Yay for booze and ice cream! Yay! Is it time for me to stop talking about this and move on? Oh, I guess so.

I still haven't picked a next project, though Brooke suggested trying to design some knitted jewelry. I think it's a rad idea and I'm going to work on some sketches. I thing cotton or cashmere would work best. Maybe Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere? The colors are so great and the gauge might work nicely for this project.

Ashley has his first root canal today. Poor fella. He was WAY freaked out, but it turned out to be small peanuts. Hopefully it won't be too painful later on tonight. Maybe we'll be too busy with the 4th season of the Sopranos for him to notice his little ol' tooth.

It's slow in the store this morning. There is crazy drilling happening outside of the natural foods market across the street, and I swear it's keeping everyone off the street. So unpleasant.

Yesterday was a good day for us, though. It's still so surprising to have a decent day when it's warm outside - it feels like a treat. Like we should celebrate!

The wedding inches toward us. I feel so excited about it, but am dreading the flight so much that it gets in the way. Why, why, why? The fear of flying thing is so, so lame. Hopefully I can come up with some drugs before the big day. I've taken Halcyon in the past (worked fairly well) and Valium (didn't even work a little), and as my fella and I discovered rather alarmingly two years ago, I can't fly on nothing at all. We bought seats that are about 15 rows apart, because it seems my fear is heightened if he's next to me. Ugh...lame. I need to straighten out.

I also need to start a new project today. My cabled riding jacket that I was working on from Loop-D-Loop ended rather spectacularly when the pattern COMPLETELY STOPPED MAKING SENSE. Sad, as it was so pretty and looked like it might be flattering with all it's sexy shaping. So yeah...a good warm project is just the ticket.

We've been struggling with ways to bring people into our shop during the summer months. We finally, after more than three months, have received our liquor license. This is big news! This small infusion has led to all kinds of energy directed toward the shop, and then to other places beyond that. When it finally seemed like we would be approved for our license, we went crazy with other ideas - ice cream, espresso shakes, new classes - and we really have started looking forward to September, when business goes through the roof. We know so much more than we did a year ago, and everything is so much less terrifying.

With the new rush at the shop, I felt like it was time to (finally) focus on some things that I'd wanted to do on my own. Since opening in June of last year, every inch has been taken by running the business...but a year into it, it feels like there is space to concentrate on other things. I'm working on a small magazine that I'll publish on my own, and this blog - both called The Gauge.

It's going to be a good summer in other ways, as well. My fella and I are getting married in Vermont in August. I am from Vermont and haven't been there for two years. The thought of spending a month there makes me want to freak out with joy. We're renting a camp on the lake I was raised on, and I can't wait to show him...everything. I'm also hoping that leaving Portland for a spell will make me fond of it. I could use that.