i felt really whiny about last night's post. then, i woke up feeling <whispers> better. the sun was shining. i could stretch like i normally would without wincing. i went for a run and was smacked in the face with the gorgeousness of spring in portland. everything isn't the worst. FINE. i'll admit it.
so, here's a list of things making me happy at the moment:
there is a tree bursting out each and every window of my house. plum trees, cherry trees, giant lilac bushes. awesome.
quentin tarantino. shawn & i went to see django unchained a couple of weeks ago. i then sent kateri this review: "the movie was like all quentin tarantino movies. it started and i got sucked in by the music and the words. oh, the sentences that these characters did speak. some of them were downright swoony. somewhere in the middle of the movie, my stomach turned and i was very uncomfortable. then the tide turned, someone mentioned a tasty beverage, the violence became cartoony and i was happy again. fin. (and like all quentin tarantino movies, i'd see it again.)" and i did. also, i admitted to kateri that when i am watching a quentin tarantino movie i kind of want to make out with him. he's sweaty, manic and ordinarily unattractive (to me) but his movies make me forget all that. smart is sexy. the sexiest actually.
shawn. he's been a rock star while my arm rendered me useless. plus, he's also only occasionally sweaty, never manic, super smart and always attractive.
my new phone case. annie posted a pic of hers on instagram and i, well, busted a move and ordered one immediately. i am no longer a regular subscriber to the cult of retail therapy but this one time i had to and it totally worked. this phone case makes me stupid happy. as my friend, kyle, wisely pointed out, we can all use a steady reminder to bust a move. also, in my email this am was a coupon code from kate spade saturday, good today and tomorrow on everything. you know, just in case you're like my friend becky from high school who saw my picture and had to have one.
this video. i watched an american in paris 4 times over a 2 day rental period and watched this scene again and again. its just so happy. and then at 4:37 he does something that leaves me completely speechless.
my friends. they are awesome. everyone's been checking up on me and i've gotten a few sweet gifts in the mail this week. i owe so many people thank yous. thank you isn't even big enough in most cases.
i could keep going but honestly, my arm is starting to hurt. that's the worst.
i watched this last week, told shawn to watch it and then watched it again. i kept meaning to post about it but you know, didn't. in the meantime, its made the rounds - showing up on a few of my favorite blogs. its a good way to spend 14 minutes. watch it:
here's a bit of what's been going on around these parts:
1. wizard world portland. shawn was asked to peddle his pixelparty wares at the first wizard world in portland, sort of last minute. we thought it could be fun and potentially profitable so we busted ass and did it. lots of hours spent building up inventory, working on display and getting ready for a totally fun, not so profitable show. we made a little money, which is always nice and we have a lot of inventory so shawn can now just concentrate on making new things, which is awesome. plus, really, so fun.
2. making crazy new things. like the necklace below. i keep seeing mass produced things and reimagining them with yoyos. i have to say, its fun and i'm totally loving the what i'm making.
3. editing the book. back in november, i just wrote. sat down at my computer everyday and wrote. tried not to use the backspace key, never reread what i'd just written. there were days i knew what i'd written was going to need some serious work. i also came to a point when i was writing when i knew that something i'd done in an earlier chapter was going to need to be completely rewritten and that i was going to need to add a chapter or two. the writing program i use, scrivener, is really nifty and let's you leave notes for yourself. i left a lot of notes. so, i'm going through, chapter by chapter, fixing typos here, run on sentences there. my goal is to make it readable. i was working on a chapter the other day that was an embarrassing hot mess. its took me 5 or 6 reads to figure out just what i was trying to say. its hard work but i'm sort of enjoyng it. well, i'm enjoying the story i've written. that seems like a good sign.
4. tap dance. still at it. there are many things that i enjoy doing that i'm always working at - making things, writing, baking. then there's tap dancing. i've been thinking a lot about malcolm gladwell's 10,000 hour rule and realized i wouldn't mind spending 10,000 hours tap dancing. not one bit. mastering something simply because it makes me deliriously happy seems like an excellent idea. i'm actually going to start taking two classes every week and setting aside time every day to practice. because, well, how else do you get this good?
5. hanging out with kateri. having her here in portland is fantastic. she's moved into her own adorable place now but she's still only 2 miles away and twice now she's stopped by and ended up staying for dinner. yeah, pretty awesome.
exercise - of any kind: 5 times (i started running again this week. who the hell am i?)
number of smoothies: 3
number of glasses of green juice: 6
meals involving pizza: 1
meals involving tacos: 0
meals involving piles of vegetables: most of them
i cooked: 4 times
letters written: 2
packages sent: 12
things made for cookoorikoo: 36 (holiday season prep is here, y'all.)
things made just for fun: muffins again. nom.
best thing i watched: moonlight kindgom
books read: i'm almost done with the element of lavishness. i finished one dead in attic and above us only sky. i tried to read romeo spikes and only made it 5 pages. so not my thing.
days i wore socks: 7 (double pout)
living room (and kitchen) dance parties: 2
exercise - of any kind: 4 times
number of smoothies: 1
number of glasses of green juice: 5
meals involving pizza: 0
meals involving tacos: 0
meals involving piles of vegetables: most of them
i cooked: 3 times
letters written: 3
packages sent: 15
things made for cookoorikoo: 14
things made just for fun: muffins. nom.
best thing i watched: sinister. i had a movie date with a friend and oh boy, SCARY.
books read: i'm in the middle of the element of lavishness, one dead in attic and above us only sky
days i wore socks: 5 (pout)
living room (and kitchen) dance parties: 1
exercise - of any kind: 3 times (crap.)
number of smoothies: 3
number of glasses of green juice: 4
meals involving pizza: 0
meals involving tacos: 2
meals involving piles of vegetables: some of them. (crap.)
i cooked: 5 times
letters written: 2
packages sent: 13
things made for cookoorikoo: 22
things made just for fun: a necklace for a friend
best thing i watched: bunheads (so embarrassing how much i loved it.)
books read: i finished telegraph avenue and started enchantments by kathryn harrison
days i wore no socks: 5 (i'm so not ready for socks.)
living room (and kitchen) dance parties: 4
exercise - of any kind: 5 times
number of smoothies: 4
number of glasses of green juice: 5
meals involving pizza: 0
meals involving piles of vegetables: almost all of them
i cooked: 5 times
letters written: 3
packages sent: 16
things made for cookoorikoo: 19
things made just for fun: tomato jam
best thing i watched: friends with kids
books read: i'm almost finished with telegraph avenue by michael chabon
days i wore no socks: 7
living room (and kitchen) dance parties: 3
shana is a wearer of knee socks, lover of pie, horror movies and shiny things. she writes about horror and other things, makes pie and shiny things in portland, oregon, where she lives with her husband, shawn (aka shampton). she is the vintage jewelry and yoyo obsessed woman behind the cookoorikoo curtain. email me at cookoorikoo@gmail.com.
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