Tiny Little Blog

Tomorrow morning Mark and I are going to be on the road back to Ohio. My blog is also moving to www(dot)tinylittlelife(dot)blogspot(dot)come. See you there!

Moving- Phase three

finding a job.

Allow me to be completely honest here. Answering questions about this topic makes my stomach hurt and my hands sweat. I'm moving without a job, something I said I would NEVER do. I'm giving up a GREAT job, something millions of people right now would practically kill for. I'm sure many people think I have gone crazy. I sometimes think so too.

My dream to one day own a bed and breakfast reverberates in me every day. I can't ignore it. I know that it is years away but I need to start working towards that goal. So let me just get this all out in a FAQ format:

Q. What are you going to do when you move?
A. First of all I need to gain experience in hospitality. I would love to work in a B&B or a really nice hotel. No job is below me. I would really like to start as a housekeeper and work my way up. I want to learn ALL aspects of running a hotel/B&B/Inn.

Q. How are you going to get a job in this economy?
A. Luckily there are hundreds of hotels in Columbus and daily job postings for them on craigslist. Finding a job in Columbus is a lot like finding an apartment in L.A., it is a full time job and it's practically impossible to do if you're not there.

Q. So you won't be using your degree.
A. Well... Actually I will be designing a whole business and Bed & Breakfast. Also I would like to make art again along with creating a handmade housewares line. I'm also going to be actively seeking freelance design work and possibly teaching some art classes. My degree is a piece of paper but my education taught me how to think creatively and problem solve, something I will always be using.

Q. How are you going to finance your own business?
A. There is still a lot of research I need to do before I can answer this accurately. I'm sure that it will be some mix of personal savings, loans, grants, and possibly investors. Point is, this is not some little fantasy to me. I'm very dedicated in making it work and there will be TONS of research done before I jump into it.

Something that I have learned about myself in the past two years is that I'm a very hard worker. I am completely aware of the challenges ahead of me and I'm going to work just as much as I hope (which is a lot).

Lasts

Today marks the beginning of our "lasts". It is our last saturday, tomorrow is our last sunday and so fourth. I'm beginning to feel a sea of mixed emotions. One minute I'm soaked in excitement and the next in sadness, and the next in stress.

Things I'm looking forward to in Columbus:

* Thunderstorms
* Autumn & all the colors
* Taking a leisurely bike ride around the city
* Columbus Public Library downtown
* Rush hour actually being an hour long
* Being around my friends

Things I'll miss in Los Angeles

* The architecture
* Flowers year round
* Reading on the metro
* Seeing Castledoor play live
* Glasses of wine on the roof
* Being around my friends

Weekend Forecast

We have finished a lot but there is still plenty to do:

* One last house party at the Cunard Complex
* Packing up
* Buying the cat kennel and getting them use to riding in the car (HA!)
* Tailoring some clothes to come up with interview outfits
* Sewing a few special gifts

photo via me

Moving- Phase Two

Pack everything and move it and ourselves and two cats 2,284 miles. Easy, right?

I'm not always the most organized person but I can be if I try. I knew I would really need to be after our move out here which was just short of disastrous. I didn't want it to be like that again so I have been keeping this insane moving calendar where I have planned everything from cleaning the apartment to getting the cats use to their harnesses. I also made a lovely binder to organize our maps, hotel info, receipts, resumes, etc... I'm feeling pretty good about it right now but I know there will probably be some unexpected road bumps along the way.

Danni came up with this amazing package exchange project that I'm planning on participating in. I'm only swapping one package since this is sort of taking place in the middle of our move. I'm hoping to find a creative way to incorporate the 2,400 miles from L.A. to Columbus. So many ideas are swimming through my head but I'm going to wait for my swap mates interests before I get started.

Simon

If anyone in the L.A. area needs an adorable kitten name Simon this one is looking for a home.

home

More inspiration for our new abode from around the web:

TERRARIUMS

via designsponge

DIY DAYBED- It's very important to me to have a guest friendly house and I just love this creative way of creating a cheap guest area that can easily be part of the everyday living area.

via designsponge

MAPS- I keep seeing the use of maps in home decor but I especially love a good functional one where people can pin up their travels.

via ohhappyday

CLOTHES LINE- Saving energy (and $$) is really important to us and I'm soooo excited about having some space for a clothes line. Crispy jeans here I come...

via apple a day

URBAN GARDEN- Mark and I are slowly trying to transition into eating only foods that we know the source of (easy right?). Along with finding some good local farmers we really want to try to produce some of our own produce as well.

via flickr

PLANTS- I just love the feeling of life in a space. Maybe thats why I love pets so much.

via flickr

Moving- Phase One

Find a house. Check.

In just a short 15 days we'll be moving into a lovely 3 bedroom duplex in Clintonville with Evie. I have only seen the place via google street view but I know it's marvelous by Evie's excitement in finding this gem. She busted her butt for weeks looking at places and dealing with weirdo's (why is it that 90% of landlords are weirdo's?) before finding a normal landlord with a fantastic rental. My excitement swells every time I think of all the upcoming dinner parties, creativity, music making, and laughter that will fill this place. I'm still stuck on this darker space but I also love these for inspiration for the decor:



















(Evie, please tell me if you hate any of this!)

most pictures were found at apartment therapy. The rest I'm not sure :(

Tourists

My parents flew in to L.A. this weekend to hang out. Really I think they wanted to come one last time while I was still here. When you live here is seams sort of silly to walk around with a camera and take picture of all the stuff you pass every day so it's sort of nice to play tour guide and get to take pictures and go to all the tourists traps.



The view from the Observatory



My parents and the moon



Downtown.



Santa Monica Beach.



Mark and the ocean.



Eating at Cha Cha Chicken



View from the Ghetty



La Brea tar pits (saddest thing ever)



LACMA art museaum

We're moving...

to Columbus Ohio. We are chasing our dreams. Ironically most people come to L.A. to chase their dreams. Our dreams are in Ohio and we decided that it was time to go after them. We moved to L.A. with the intentions to expand our skill sets and get us out of our comfort zones. Well we definitely accomplished both. The city has given us this strange confidence boost. We both feel like we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to. We have such a concrete idea now of what we want out of (and in) our lives.

The blog will be moving to this address in two weeks: tinylittlelife.blogspot.com

More details to come :)

photo via flickr

Weekend Forecast

I'm in need to some major R&R this weekend. I'm trying to fill this weekend with fun and relaxing things to keep the stress away.

* L.A. Renegade Craft Fair
* Finish skirt
* Farmers Market
* Make a lovely floral arrangement
* Cooking up vegetarian meals thanks to this

photo via naive

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I decided to combine the Chocolate chocolate chip muffins with the Banana muffins and created an amazing chocolate chip banana muffin. They turned out really good and I got several compliments including "this is my favorite thing of all the things you've made" and "this is the best muffin I have ever eaten".

So here it is:

Ingredients
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter- melted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour*
• 4 medium size banana's (or 3 large)- mashed
• 1/2 bag or 6oz chocolate chips**

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree's and grease a 12 reg. muffin pan or a 6 jumbo muffin pan
2. Blend together banana, sugar, egg, and butter
3. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients together, including chocolate chips, really well
4. Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Do not over mix.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

TIPS
* If you really do not want to use whole wheat flour (even though it makes it taste like a yummy muffin and not a wimpy cupcake) you can use all purpose flour, just use one less banana or you will have soggy (cupcakes) muffins

** I love chocolate more than anyone else I know but the perfect balance between banana flavor and chocolate is what makes these muffins so good and that is why I recommend only 6oz

Lovely liberty

I finished my shirt in time for the 4th. I absolutely love the fabric so I kept the pattern simple. Ok, so mostly I kept it simple because I'm just not that great at pattern making yet. Andrea helped me a lot on Friday. I really took my time on this piece and had to redo a couple of things but it was worth it.

4th

We celebrated our independence with blueberries, $2 movie theaters, and fireworks.

p.s. ignore the lame commentary on the above video and Mark who is on the phone.

p.p.s. saw Food Inc. it was awesome.

Stolen flowers

It's been a while since I've made any actual art. Lately I've been dreaming up a series inspired by flowers (could I be any more cliche?). So on Thursday night Mark and I took a little stroll around the neighborhood and I nonchalantly picked some flowers from different yards. I mean, they were practically on the sidewalk, which is public property and there were lots of them so no one will be the wiser.

I started a watercolor of the colorful flower. I guess I'm going to have to start learning real names so I don't say ignorant things like "colorful flower". Point is, I took these pictures and now I'm posting them and hopefully sometime in the not to distant future I will post some art work inspired by them.

Weekend Forecast

I've been feeling especially motivated lately and I've got four project going on (on top of my projects at Mage) so I'm a little in over my head right now and really need to focus. Luckily Mark and I have the day off and I can hopefully finish the shirt I'm trying to design/sew. Mark has been researching recording equipment constantly and is hoping to record his friend's band soon. I have a very busy July 4th weekend ahead of me:

• Finish sewing my shirt at Andrea's (I'm going to need some help on this one)
• Do more sketches and watercolors for a new series of art I'm working on (more on that later)
• Sew a mock up of my third animal that I've designed
• BBQ and make smores over flames as opposed to the microwave which I've resorted to the past couple days
• Take more evening walks around the neighborhood with Mark

Dead Flowers

I swear that I'm working on some very substantial things that will eventually turn into interesting blog posts. But while they are still in progress I will offer you these gracefully deceased flowers. Because sometimes when your broke and busy dead flowers are just as pretty. I'm a poet! K, back to work.

p.s. My Lincoln collage (also not finished) made a lovely backdrop.