Walking around town!

Walking around town!, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

My dog likes to stop and smell the sunflowers!

Lovely evening for 1

Lovely evening for 1, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

Grey Gardens and coffee!

blurrrry

WIP, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

:D I have some ladies in progress! I have been on again off again sewing and getting some new little girls sewn up. I will probably have them up this week, I am making a whole little click. clic? How do you spell that? I know my desk looks messy but it is sooo organized right now. Actually the whole house is pretty organized right now.

Today was nice, we went to Ocean Beach in San Francisco and now we all smell like the ocean and our hair is salty. We were cold and it was windy and sunny and the dog wasn't playing for the most part she was being guard-y which can be annoying but other than that it was totally relaxing.

Happy Father's day to all of the daddies out there! Mine is all alone in Ohio. And by alone I mean he spent the day with his family and my brother and sister and had a great time, but I wasn't there so I know he was probably crying inside. haha just kidding.

Now we are settling down to watch a movie and relax, we got Zack and Miri make a porno and Synecdoche new york. We will see how it goes!

Love

Love, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

Sometimes I am just happy to be around him(and the ocean, obviously) :

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. I am! I had a lovely relaxing Saturday just me and the pup. Relaxing, sewing dollies and watching Conan.

Tomorrow we are planning an out of San Francisco trip again, we are both ready for our week and a half vacation that we have planned that is in one month. So just a little trip to keep us sane till then.

Can anyone say Burnt Out?

today was a weird day.

new doll, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

I am having some reservations about today. Something that will work itself out, but I don't want to let Ryan down. Hmmm.

I made this new doll and here she is in all of herself. I quite like her. :D I painted her eyes on and I love them.

My dog and I are relaxing on the bed.

I am starving, I think I am hitting up the sushi joint down the street. I am missing the energy to cook. So much for making a meal plan this week. Good thing that there is always next week.

I will also watch the netflixed movie I got in the mail. Then I will watch it again when Ryan is back. I like watching movies so whatevers.

Then I will work out, go to sleep and get up to do it all again. :D

Shooting Star

0612091117.jpg, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! I got to spend mine with my boy and my dog and I do not need much else in my life!

I forgot to show you this pretty little pin I picked up on etsy! It is a shooting star and it is much more lovely in person. It sparkles like you wouldn't believe! I am always loving on pins. I think my mom turned me onto them. I don't know...

I was looking up patterns this weekend of things I want to make and I think I have found an essential skirt pattern, a lovely little jumper and a gorgeous dress. I will show you my progress when I get them in the mail.

I spent way too much of my Saturday in the embarrassing to say JoAnns debating over the prettiest fabric that would make the world's loveliest quilt. I was short on cash because I don't get paid every two weeks like most of the world. I will have some more scrilla tomorrow and maybe I will go back for that fabric. I could always use a new blanket! I use the same quilt that I made when I was in college and scarily enough it was 10 years ago that I made it as a scaredy pants little freshman. It is my favorite thing, but I could totally always use a new snuggly little item in my life!

Anyways, I am rambling. I am sleepy and I will be back tomorrow!

glooooooorius coffee

glooooooorius coffee :D, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

Oh hey! Look I made coffee.

At. My. House.

I have been without a coffee pot for toooooo long. 9 months to be exact. For that long my caffeine intake has consisted of only some fancy Blue Bottle coffee if I got to go to Ryan's market, or the same fancy pants stuff at the market down the street, or foldgers icky brown dust water from work. And all of those options left me without my much loved and much needed evening cup of joe being as it was that for some reasons all my markets around me won't make coffee after 5pm!

So, when Ryan's work started carrying the drip coffee ceramic thing, I knew I was back in business. I bought one up. No it doesn't matter to me that I had to make it in a water glass today because my coffee mug Joan made me is in the dishwasher(from wine drinking, wait is that weird) All that matters is that my sweet sweet night time coffee ritual is back.

And that means more sewing. Cause right now, after I finished that big cup of the good stuff, I am jazzed and hyper and out of control.

Yay.

walking home

walking home, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

I have now started(for about a week) walking to and from the BART station. It is awesome. It takes about the same amount of time as riding the bus, and its less icky, more entertaining, saves me $3 a day and I feel better about myself when I get home.

I love getting to experience San Francisco from this sort of perspective. It is especially fun because I get to see all sorts of different types of people in the 30 minutes or so it takes me to get from A to B.

In the morning, I start out is Russian Hill, where I live, full of well off people, a lot of which during the morning are getting their coffees and pushing their kids in strollers, I then venture through a tiny part of Chinatown which is just waking up. It is neat to see all of the stores opening up, putting out their produce, and people already shopping for their days. After Chinatown, I venture through North Beach, which is San Francisco's Little Italy. It is also a huge place for tourists and is empty in the morning. After my tour through North Beach, I end up in the Financial district which is hustling and bustling with the office folks(like myself) starting their day.

In the evening it is opposite, Financial District is empty, North Beach is full, Chinatown is shutting down, and home is filled with families and people ready to relax after a long day. Just like me.

A day away

Ryan and Baby in the ocean, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

We packed up our blanket, some toys, some food and the pup and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge up to Stinson Beach today! It was so lovely.

Well, at first it was frustrating. We drove to Stinson Beach, found out that there were no pets allowed on the beach. After a quick discussion we decided that we could not enjoy ourselves on the beach with Baby in the car hanging out. So, back to the car, and more driving up annoyingly wind-y highway 1 for about another half an hour looking for another beach. There were none to be found and we kept going further and further into trees and forests and away from the coast. Needless to say we were hungry and frustrated at that point and we just wanted to go the beach! So, after another quick discussion, we decided that we could in fact enjoy ourselves on the beach with Baby in the car.

But as luck would have it, we are unobservant people and went 10 feet further down Stinson Beach after we got back and found the Pet Beach. D'oh! So unpack we did, and all of us snuggled up on the beach with some cheese and crackers and fruit and tomatoes ! Yum!

After a little while, we decided to take Baby down the beach to run! She loves to run into the water and bite it, then with a huge burst of energy, run out of the water and weave and chase and overall have a nice time. So for awhile we were ran and played and took pictures and all of that. Finally, we decided to go back and lay on our blanket. But wait! When we looked at our spot we discovered that our picnic was taken over by giant seagulls! We rushed back to our little place and chased the birds away(one of Baby's favorite pastimes!) and found that they ate *all* of our yummy food, even our Rontel onion and garlic cheese spread (they stuck their mangy beaks in and then helped themselves to the bag of crackers! )Those silly scavengers. After a good laugh about it we all snuggled on the blanket for a good long time sitting in the sunshine and just hanging out. It was so nice.

Then, when it started to get a little chilly, we packed on in and headed home. It was a lovely day and a lovely way to escape the busy city for a few hours! I love living by the ocean!

Sunshine, an alley, and the end of 1984

0606091755.jpg, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

There is an alley right by my apartment, I love just sitting on the sidewalk against a building and escaping my busy city life. Sometimes it can be too much, you know? :D For me it is all about getting to sit in the sunshine, toasty warm, with a nice breeze and a good book in my hands!

I finally finished my book today! I have tried to read 1984 by George Orwell before and I have always had a very hard time. It is very dry, and I have a habit of falling asleep when I get into it. I decided this time was going to be the one and I really got into the story, it is very political, which is not really the types of stories that I enjoy, but for some reason it really hit home for me! It was a weird little parallel with how the times have been and I really enjoyed it and was a tiny disappointed in the end. I loved Winston's courage and was disappointed by what happened.

I didn't get to go to Santa Cruz today, but the time by myself has been relaxing, I walked my pup, read my book, and now I am going to go find myself some dinner!

my hair loooks weird

SPT 6-4-09, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

Here I am working in my spot on a lovely thursday afternoon! Working has been nice but also trying for sure. Today was good, we were busy and my day was short feeling. I am ready for my weekend. I am ready for my Ohio vacay, seeing Missy and my fam will be a recharger for sure. I am glad to not be there full time, but I need the warmer summertime weather! SF is a freezing tundra, sort of like Alaska I would assume...:D Soon Lauren, soon...

I am hopefully going to Santa Cruz on Saturday for some sun, relaxing and sewing and of course hanging out with a lovely plush friend, Danielle :D San Francisco can make me feel dirty and city-logged sometimes. I just made that word up I think hehehehe Sometimes you need to drag yourself(however hard it is to convince yourself that you actually enjoy driving in a car)and drive to somewhere just out of the city limits. I love Santa Cruz. I am pretty sure they issue you a beach cruiser and a Santa Cruz hoody when you move in, and maybe a skateboard and a surfboard(j/k) but its lovely and there is good food and great company! And Seals! :D

The rest of the weekend is a tossup. I am going to try and sew and also, hopefully there is some red wine and good food,,, :D Lets hope I get through Friday!

Sigh...

sigh, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

Sometimes you have to give up and try again tomorrow. Yes, I think tomorrow will help in the making of this doll.

I had a lovely day today. I worked and my day went fast. I walked to work and back home from work. I jazzed up a frozen pizza with fresh organic jalapenos, we had a nice salad from Ryan's work, I talked to my sister in law and my brother(and my mom for that matter).

I tried to make a doll, and failed. But, I do see what I did wrong and will correct it tomorrow :D That is why I have extra supplies. I am in the trial and error phase with my design. Remember, I said I was enjoying the process? I am! But now I need some rest.

goodnight sugar plums! :D

More stolen time drawings!

0601091016a.jpg, originally uploaded by laurensmashtoys.

Drawing at work today was fun. :D I had a lot to do so it made it more enjoyable to sneak some draw time in. I watched Changeling last night and it bored me to tears, but I loved the 20's and 30's fashion! so pretty! I think that came out in one of the little girls I drew.

I can't believe that it is June! Holy geez! Before you know it, it will be my birthday and then Christmas! yay! My favorite things.

I am thinking very seriously lately of buying a new computer. We are having problems with the one we have and so I am totally considering it. Such a big commitment though, especially since I want a mac book :D I could get Illustrator and Photoshop and that is really swaying my decision. Maybe that will be my birthday gift to myself. I really want to make spoonflower fabric!

I would love to turn my little ladies into fabric! :D