friday thoughts...

• the invitations are finished! and they look fabulous!!
  
• did you see the moon last night? i don't know if it was this way for everyone (because i know very little about this stuff), but it was enormous. so huge, i actually had to stop and consider the direction from which it was rising, just to make sure it really was the moon, and not the sun. (it was covered in a haze, disguising the detail that would've made it distinctively lunar...) after a little research this morning, i learned that this has to do with it's angle to the horizon... and that's about all i retained because it was a touch over my head. ;)
  
• i threatened to make a few tin can luminaries last weekend, and i followed through:
  
  
  
  they're kinda tough to photograph because they don't emit THAT much light... they look better in person, and they'll look smashing when my porch is littered in carved pumpkins and lit luminaries. :)
  
• heading out to my dad's tonight, and really looking forward to it. i'm even looking forward to the drive out there, because i have a knitting project and a good book for the ferry ride (which is usually just the necessary evil of the trip).
  
• i gave up dairy a few days ago because i've been having some stomach problems... i did some research and found that milk allergies can actually cause obesity and slowed weightloss, so i'm wondering if that's a part of the reason why i'm not losing very quickly (or losing at all). of course, part of it, i'm sure, is my overall behavior and love for all things dessert. so we'll just see what this does. i've never wanted a big, cold glass of nonfat milk so bad in my life. not to mention a splash in my coffee. *whimper*
  
• i finally got my hands on Big Picture Scrapbooking. so far, so good. i love stacy's overall philosophy. i love her album systems. (because i really love any excuse for a "system" about anything. mmmmmm. anal-retentive & organized.) i've had to be careful not to devour the book - i really want to absorb her stuff. :)
  
• really excited about heading out to see my grandparents tomorrow for the 'farm sale'. shameless plug: this is their website. :) they've been raising and showing sheep for nearly 20 years, i think, and they sell wool, yarn, fleeces and skins in addition to socks knitted from their wool.

that's all - pictures monday, i hope! :) happy friday!

is it only thursday?

because it feels like friday. don't you hate that?? well, at least i'm being productive. here's what i've been working on for the last few days:

almost done - just have to add the snaps & flowers to 17 more of them. thanks to my mom who was a huge help in the assembly line today. :) the scan doesn't really do it justice - the cream-colored paper is pearlescent, and the sheer ribbon matches it beautifully. i'm thrilled with the way they turned out.

i'm really looking forward to the weekend for some photographic opportunities. matt & i will head to my dad's friday afternoon, and spend most of the weekend there. we're hoping to make a trip to the top of Green Mountain, where dad says we might have a view of Seattle. saturday afternoon, i'm planning to drive 40 minutes north to my grandparent's farm for their annual 'farm sale day'. most of the women in the family bring their knitting to such an event - i will be bringing my camera.

happy thursday!

hello, hello...

so much going on - and i've had to be careful not to overbook myself. trying to avoid burnout - there's just too much to do to panic now. ;)

my big task this week is wedding invitations. hoping to get them finished before a weekend jaunt to my dad's. i bought the paper & the ribbon for them last night, but now i can't find the right color of flower that we'd intended to affix over the ribbon. i'll be raiding every craft store within a 20 mile radius tonight, in search mode for the illusive candy-red hydrangeas... eek.

i have a handful of other tricks up my sleeve for this event, and i'm having a great time. i really love having the opportunity to use my creativity/craftiness to add a personal touch. luckily, my favorite bride is just as impressed with me as i am with myself. ;) she's giving me quite a bit of creative freedom. and i can't wait to make her big day extra-special.

so, despite the extraordinary amount of time i've spent at craft stores in the last 4 days (and the extraordinary amount of time i expect to spend at craft stores in the next 9 weeks), things are simply normal around here. and besides, i like craft stores.

a great production...

a great production will make me wish i'd stayed with theatre. a great production will have me leaning forward for a "better view" more often than not. a great production will make me wish i'd pursued my dreams on stage. a great production will make me want to see the first act again, before i'm emotionally ready to see the second act. a great production will make me cry. a great production will have me planning what theatre production i want to buy tickets for next, before i even get home from the first. a great production will leave me wanting more. a great production will keep me up that same night, trying to absorb all of the little details before i forget them.

"wicked" is a great production.



i can't even describe in words how incredible this show is. (and it's not often that i'm speechless.) the costumes were colorful and superb. the scenery was detailed and it just roped you in. and the actors. oh wow. the actors. the music was so amazing - harmonies and songs that made me cry at their climax. i'd see it again in a heartbeat.

happy friday!

this has, all around, been a good week. the wedding planning is coming smashingly, and my schedule is filling up fast in nearly every other department. but i like busy-ness.

this weekend, i'm looking forward to getting my house a bit dressed up for fall. i pulled out a selection of silver taper candleholders and a pewter-toned vase that will look fabulous with some harvest-colored flowers. last weekend, i happened across mini pumpkins at the grocery store and brought home two white ones (i have a new thing for white pumpkins) and an orange one. i've also been thinking about making some tin-can luminaries for the front porch, which i think will really look cool with carved pumpkins aglow! i'd also like a wreath... joann's - here i come! :)

i guess that's it for me today...

kayden turns 4...

i can not BELIEVE i forgot to post these! not sure what i was thinking!! i mentioned last week that my little-bitty nephew (who's not so little-bitty anymore) turned four... we celebrated with dinner, cake & presents at our favorite restaurant:

and my favorite:

hello again...

i've been quiet lately - just busy! but busy is good. i like busy - i thrive on busy, and being that fall is my favorite time of year, busy is coming naturally to me.

my biggest focus right now is a family wedding that i'm helping to plan... i love planning - parties, events, you name it. this is right up my alley - i wish i could do event planning full time, really! so, i'm having a great time, but it's keeping me - you guessed it - busy!

and i'm getting into the spirit of the season... well, the holiday season, anyway. right up there with my love of event planning comes my love of planning just about everything else. (surely i've admitted to you already that i start thinking about christmas in May, right??) so, in addition to the wedding planning, i'm thinking already about halloween, thanksgiving, and my favorite: christmas.

and of course, there's other stuff going on here and there. we have tickets to see the closing night of Wicked on sunday - you can bet i'll be smuggling my camera in for that one. if you think i'm excited - you should see my mother. i already had to strongly discourage her from dressing up as one of the characters...

and a few photo shoots coming up which i am super excited about, including one with a has-not-yet-been-born baby girl whom i can not WAIT to get my lens on!!

and what would my life be without a little crafting happening? :) here's my favorite from my latest batch of cards:

ta-ta for now!

good stuff...

is happening all around me...

• hopped on the scale this morning and was delighted to find that i've lost another pound & a half! good thing! after struggling with a plateau and some bad-behavior in the last few weeks, it's been hard to get back on the wagon. but i've been trying - and it's apparently working! total: 32.5 lbs.
  
• today is my nephew's 4th birthday... i had every intention of posting a picture of me holding him just a few days after he was born, but laziness took over last night and i forgot to upload the photo. tomorrow, perhaps. :)
  
• i have a very big opportunity coming up soon, but it's hush-hush now. i'll post about it later. maybe. ;)
  
• for the first time in months, i've felt sincere, honest joy in my heart. the kind of joy that only comes from loving and serving the Lord. i've missed this joy when i was busy serving myself. i'm so glad i've come out of that.
  
• we launched a new service at work this week. we've been developing it for months, and it's finally in private-beta. the service, called "Groupee" is a free social networking that allows it's users to manage their own personal content in one central location. "content" is described as anything you might want to share on the internet. photos & photo albums, blogging, online community interaction (think messageboards, but on a personal level) and even podcasts. the service is in an invitation-only stage right now, but if you're interested in getting in on the ground floor, it looks good for me to have as many people sign up as possible. ;) shoot me an email at kate_thaete@yahoo.com and i'll see that you get an invite!
  

ok, that's it in terms of share-able news right now. more later. :)

feeling autumnal...

tomorrow marks the first day of fall, and every inch of me is feeling autumnal. i'm personally looking forward to seeing the green trees turn to orange, the days grow a little shorter, and the general coziness that comes with the regularly bad weather. and my crockpot. my poor, abandoned crockpot has sat unloved since late last winter. i think i'll make use of it this weekend. my arsenal of favorite recipes will need to be shaken up a bit, as i trade my favorite cilantro-laden summery mexican dishes for more comforting, hearty soups and casseroles. fall decorations will make their way into my livingroom and settle in until after Thanksgiving. and a trip to the pumpkin patch will happen in early october for no good reason other than the need to photograph my favorite fall colors.

it does seem the weather is a bit early though. the last couple of days have been spitting rain, and today's climate even included winds that shook the lamp-posts. this is what autumn is all about for me - the coziness on the inside while the weather does it's "thing" on the outside. i say, bring it on!

they were serious when they said "highly flammable"

i've got a headache. and while that in and of itself hardly warrants a dedicated blog entry, the events that followed, i feel, are worth sharing.

the lights in my space are all controlled on one switch. turning them all off darkens the whole lobby, but having them all on - especially the obnoxiously pink ones - was contributing to my throbbing temple. mentioning this in passing to my mother, she suggested we unscrew the bulbs from the lamps that were bothering me and asked for a papertowel to protect her fingers. dubious, i followed suit, using a paper towel to unclip the halogen directly above my desk. it plopped out of it's casing, and hung from the cable. it was definitely warm.

i craned my neck around, hoping to determine how we might disconnect the bulb from the socket, and it was then that i noticed my right hand feeling awfully warm...

the paper towel, clutched in my fist, was on fire. i panicked, promptly forgot all of the "fire safety" lessons from my gradeschool years, yelped and waved the paper towel around in the air, somehow assuming that enough of a breeze might extinguish the flames. (flawed, i know.) the flames engulfed the paper towel, and bits of ash floated through the air.

but it's not enough that i did this in front of my mother. my other boss entered the room just in time to see the flames, and (thank goodness) provide some real instruction for stamping them out. and even better, the rest of the team was coming back from lunch - walking through the front door just in time to see me stamping (and no doubt, yelping) like a mad woman. by the time the fire was extinguished, about half of our staff was lingering nearby.

so, needless to say - we were unsuccessful in disconnecting the bulbs. the switch is now flipped to the "off" position, and the lobby is dark. and that's fine with me, because it sure beats the heck out of explaining the fire to the first fire team on the scene...

can't you see the headlines? foolish woman burns down 12-story office building with paper towel...