the z life

Next on the tour...

2009-07-27T18:10:00.006-04:00

... my "office." And I use the term office fairly loosely. Its actually more of a corner of the living room. But I actually like that better than being closed off in a room by myself. Since I do a lot of my "work" here in the evenings, this way I can still watch TV and chat with Mr. Z while I'm working. And by "working" I mean editing photos, crafting, or now (apparently) working with all the foster dog files for the Humane Society of West Texas. It would seem that somehow I've managed to get myself appointed as the new "person in charge of knowing where our dogs are."

Its a giant L-shaped desk from IKEA and I LOVE it. The left hand side is for crafty type things and has my sewing machine and a big basket for works in progress, etc. The pictures above the sewing machine are actually just two really pretty pieces of scrapbook paper matted in some IKEA frames.

The right hand side is for photo stuff. The big pictures over the computer are two gorgeous canvases from simplycanvas.com. In the middle is a smaller print from WHCC. Eventually I will have a desktop computer sitting there and the monitor will fill in the weird space between the two canvases, under the cat.

And behind the couch is a bookcase that doubles as a sofa table. Its full of craft books and baskets of yarn and other appropriate things to go in the space. Oh yeah, the bookcase is from... IKEA.

Hopefully this stylish space increases my productivity. If nothing else, at least it frees up the dining table for actual dining.

Grown up furniture

2009-07-14T16:14:00.002-04:00

Wow, its been a long time since I posted here. Yikes! Its been a busy couple months with graduation and work and traveling and dogs and blah blah blah.

But one of the most exciting things (yes, I've turned incredibly lame, I know) is that we finally got some real furniture! Nice, non-hand me down, living room furniture. And I LOVE it. You can also see Ken's paint job, as well as the picture arrangements we finally managed to hang.

the little dog butt belongs to Penny, the springer spaniel we are dog sitting

Behind the couch is my office/craft space that is still getting organized. I'll post a picture of that once its all neat and tidy. After that, we're painting the kitchen. And I have to say, after getting it all set up the way we like it, I actually quite like this house... except for the stupid laundry room set up. That, I will never understand.

Also, for family and friends, you can see my photos from Adam and Jessica's wedding here. Don't worry, I'll send an email.

Foster parents

2009-05-21T10:33:00.003-04:00

If you don't read the Nizhoni blog, or haven't checked it lately, you may not know that we are foster parents.

Isn't she precious?! There are more pictures on the dog blog. (Oh, and sister, notice the link to Nizhoni there on the right ---> That's just for you)

in which i reupholster a chair.

2009-05-12T22:15:00.003-04:00

kind of.

So a few months ago, my mom gave me this super cute little telephone chair that used to belong to my great aunt. Considering that I haven't had a land line in ages, its unlikely that it will ever function as an actual telephone station. But I still love it.

What I did not love was the nasty seat. The fabric was dingy and kind of gross looking, and it was practically worn through in places. So I decided to recover it in my spare time (which I seem to have a lot of suddenly).

Luckily it was not a complicated project. It consisted of lifting the seat off, pulling off both layers of nasty fabric and worn-out padding, then stapling more over it.

I used some sample decorator fabric from my grandma that I've had in my fabric chest for AGES. And now I love it even more! yay :) How cute is this chair??

best hundred dollars...

2009-05-09T15:44:00.002-04:00

... I have ever spent. Not even kidding.

I have a thing for swings, porch swings in particular. We always had one growing up and we all spent many an afternoon napping on the back porch, swaying gently. I would love to have a porch swing, but not having a porch makes that somewhat difficult.

Enter hangloose hammocks. I found these guys (or this couple, rather) at an art show in Tubac, AZ. He convinced me to sit down and put my feet up and it was love at first sight. After a lengthy discussion about my shoes (which may have been a scheme to keep me in the chair until I couldn't imagine not having one) I decided to pony up and buy one.

I think I see a second hammock in our future...

God-baby

2009-04-23T12:41:00.004-04:00

Oh hi, remember me? I finally have some cutie-patooty pictures to post! The last few weeks have been mostly just relaxing but I did get to see my god-baby at least. How cute is this guy?? And... not only is he cute, but stylin too! :)

I did knit that blanket it the background though...

I even knit him some cute little white booties for his blessing ceremony, but I didn't remember to take a picture of them. At least not one I could find on the mess that is my computer.

Hop on over to the Nizhoni blog to see what else I've been up to!

New Website

2009-04-02T12:28:00.001-04:00

I have an official website!! yippee!!

hello??

2009-03-24T21:02:00.003-04:00

i'm still alive, honest! my internet connection here is rather spotty, so getting my computer online long enough to do anything worthwhile can be rather difficult. and next month i'm going to stay with my grandmother, where internet connection will be more or less non-existent. which makes blog posting difficult.

i've been doing a wee bit of knitting and a lot of just hanging out and having girl talk with my aunt. its actually been a pretty fun month here in dallas. and my rotation rocks, so that's good.

one thing i have been working on while here (with much help from cynder) is my NEW BLOG
(here's a sneak peek)

i don't know how successful its going to be, but if nothing else it should at least be fun.

A few more from the American southwest.

2009-03-08T15:08:00.002-04:00

So despite eight weeks seeming like a relatively long time in theory, they actually go quite quickly. Particularly when one is having a good time. Not only are my eight weeks in Tucson, where I stayed with my parents and worked (albeit for free) at Walgreens, over; but so is my first week in Dallas.

Here are a few last shots from various outings in Arizona.

there are no shortages of cacti in the Tucson area. I can't say I will miss them...

yes, people actually ride their horses to the bar in Tombstone. however getting a shot without a lot of tourists in it is somewhat difficult.

ok, so this shot is actually from the last time is was in Arizona, but whatever.

and one last shot from New Mexico, from the eight weeks before Arizona.

Southwest details

2009-02-17T23:05:00.003-05:00

its been busy around here the last week or so, with various extended family members coming and going. turns out everyone likes to visit Tucson in january and february. saturday i spent the afternoon poking around Tubac with my parents and aunt and uncle. tubac is a quaint, artsy, little town south of green valley with lots of neat stuff to see.

ristra on a saquaro skeleton

water pots hanging outside a store

i am infatuated with vintage actions

some bones in the wash behind my parents' with PW's seventies action processing

i've been trying to take more pictures and tubac presents plenty of opportunities. it also presents lots of opportunities to spend money, but i managed to stick with just taking pictures this time :)

A lonely mitten

2009-02-16T23:30:00.004-05:00

i was flipping through A Knitter's Almanac and there was a passage about how the author thought that mittens should be knit in the summertime when the knitter could take their time and make beautiful mittens, rather than in the winter time when the mittens would be more utilitarian. while i did not end up making the mittens from the Almanac (not yet anyway) i did take the advice and decided to try a pattern that has been on my "to knit" list for a very long time while i'm soaking up the sun in Tucson.

Pattern: Anemoi mittens by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in camel heather and rainforest heather
Size 1 dpns

it took me just over a week to finish the first mitten and i love how it turned out! this project also marked numerous firsts for me... first tubular cast on, first stranded colorwork project, first project in which i held the yarn in my left hand (one of the colors anyway), and first project knit on rather small needles in the round.

palm view

there is a section of the "diamond" pattern up above the swirly bit that can be repeated to add length. due to my freakishly long fingers, i had to repeat this section once and i feel like it makes it look funny. too much diamond pattern and not enough swirly bit or something. or i'm being overly critical, but whatever. the plus side of knitting one's own mittens (and i assume gloves if i were masochistic enough to try knitting gloves) is that you can make the thumb (and fingers) as long as you like so they fit just right.

now i just need to get moving on the other half of the pair...

chrome

2009-02-15T00:30:00.004-05:00

let me preface this by saying that i am totally NOT into cars. i know nothing about engines or makes and models or whatever else it is that people talk about when they talk about cars. but i don't mind spending an afternoon wandering around a classic car show because it means spending a little quality time with my dad, and also because i happen to like shiny things. and these people LOVE to shine their cars.

my favorite part of car shows is all the shiny chrome details; this also applies to photographing large motorcycle gatherings. in cars, i am particularly drawn to old school hood ornaments and script writing. the shiny-ness is mesmerizing, plus sometimes the reflections make for neat pictures as well. and for car shows there is the added bonus of getting to make fun of how ugly cars from the 70's and 80's were.

ok seriously?? this car is salmon pink and black... the only sweeter color combination in a car like this is turquoise and white, and its a close second. i want this car.

some fun reflections PLUS script details... double bonus.

i said i liked hood ornaments, but i never said they weren't a little bit creepy sometimes.

this one is a head too, but without facial features. its a little difficult to make out through the blur though.

so i'm wondering, did this weird thing with putting heads (with or without actual faces) on the hood ornaments stem from the women on the front of ships or something? because there seemed to be a lot of humanistic hood ornaments. there was also a sweet one that was supposed to look like an airplane but the picture didn't really turn out.

this was my first real chance to experiment with the lensbaby that mr. z got me for christmas and its a lot of fun. (these were actually taken before the ones at st. xavier) the crazy blurred look probably isn't for everyone but i think it works well for some pictures.

a little culture

2009-01-27T00:06:00.003-05:00

took a drive through some beautiful but desolate landscapes today to visit the San Xavier mission on the Tohono O'odham reservation. its difficult to capture how pretty the mission is, because its hard to get it all into the frame, and there are lots of people wandering around getting in the way. but it really is pretty sweet, and the history behind it is really interesting as well.

the blurriness is part of the lensbaby charm

other than the fact that its beautiful, my only other observation is that putting a bright white building in the blinding desert sun is a surefire way to blind yourself. i'm just saying.

equally mesmerizing, but in a somewhat different way, is the indian cemetery just down the road. at first i didn't think they had headstones, but they do. they are just disguised by the jungle of white crosses. its kind of like a silk flower factory exploded in arlington cemetery... without the grass. these people take their cemeteries seriously.

this little guy was hanging around outside the mission. i just thought he was a cutie.

a croqueted baby orphan

2009-01-25T20:38:00.003-05:00

also known as a crocheted baby afghan... or a knit one in this case.

apparently at some point in the far distant past of the z family, my parents were driving somewhere and had my older sister in the car. at the time, she must have been quite young and her reading skills were somewhat less developed than they are now. they passed a sign in someone's front yard that said "crocheted baby afghans" which must have baffled my sister because she asked my mom why anyone would want to croquet baby orphans.

its become a bit of a joke in the z family that pops up every so often when someone mentions baby blankets. just in case you wanted some insight into the randomness that makes up the z life. if not, don't worry, the pictures are up next.

pattern: Baby's First Blankie from Lionbrand.com
yarn: Queensland Collection Softwave in Cream (cotton)
modifications: yarn was much thinner gauge so knit on size 5 needles and doubled all stitch counts

i actually finished this blanket back in November over the Thanksgiving weekend but since it was made as a gift, i couldn't post it until after a baby shower for its intended recipient. The baby shower was last weekend and it was a really good time. and i heard today that the baby Lahman might be on his way a little early...

i thought the yarn made for a very nice blanket. It soft, but not too heavy; and its washable... which is probably a good thing for new babies. the white might not have been the best choice for an infant, but i didn't know if it was a boy or a girl at the time. and the white seemed so clean and fresh. hopefully baby lahman likes it!

pet photographer extraordinaire

2009-01-16T20:22:00.005-05:00

(is that word or did i just make that up??) so it seems like forever ago, even if it was only two posts back, that i posted some pictures of what was (at the time) the cutest hound puppy ever. but a few weeks after dozier's arrival, i was proven wrong. THIS is the cutest hound puppy ever.

apparently you can't hunt with just one hound dog.... you need two. i don't know about all that, but who am i to judge. if i wasn't heading off to live with my parents, i probably would have ended up with a hound puppy of my own. i mean, how can you say no to this face??

they named her gypsy. she was so sleepy the first few days. and she would eat too much and then get this huge distended belly. we were afraid her little tummy was going to pop!

but after a few days she was just as rambunctious as dozier, and a whole lot louder. and she loved the big floppy duck as much as he did.

too bad there's not much of a market for natural light pet photography. i'm much better with dogs than i am with people! (edited later to add: according to google, there are actually photographers who do this for a living!! might be worth some thought...)

another instant gratification project

2009-01-15T22:42:00.003-05:00

that was anything but instant.

a few months ago, I posted a baby knitting project that I whipped up in a couple hours worth of knitting over a day or two. it was a project i knit for a friend who needed two of them for a gift. for whatever reason, the second one took FOREVER. i think i was just in a non-knitting phase and so was more or less completely unmotivated. plus, i thought i had tons of time to finish it but the babies came uber early, so no such luck. as it was I finished the second blanket several months after the babies were born. and then it took me almost as long to get around to blogging about it.

another hooded baby wrap from the lionbrand.com website. knit in Vanna's Choice acrylic. like i said before, its an alright yarn and nice because its washable but i don't think i'd use it again. i'd rather use a nice cotton, me thinks.

i modified the pattern a bit because i didn't want to knit the hood part separate so instead i decreased down to three then back up for the hood part. then i just folded it over and seamed the sides. i did a row of yarn overs at the end to give the hood some interest.

and then i made some attempts at artistic shots. whatever.
i bought yarn for three more projects that arrived a few days ago. i'm itching to get started on something, so it looks like the knitting bug is back. maybe its the lovely weather here in arizona :)

i knit...

2008-12-31T18:44:00.002-05:00

...who knew??

i feel like its been forever since i had a knitting post. almost forever since i posted period, actually. honest, i just don't spend much time on the internet when i'm at sister's. i'd rather just hang out, but i have been knitting a bit here and there. the nice thing about knitting is that i can knit and carry on a conversation at the same time, thereby making it a preferred hobby when spending time with people.

when i was in lubbock in october, i found a lovely little yarn shop. it was quite the boost to my spirits and made texas seem more like a place i could actually live. while there, i signed up for the email list and bought this pretty skein of yarn. the only email i've ever recieved came yesterday... saying that the owner was closing down the shop. even sadder is the fact that i won't be in texas to take advantage of the sweet sale. boo.

Interlacement's Periwinkle Petite

but the yarn i bought was gorgeous and was the perfect amount for a long skinny scarf. i added a fringe and in the end used up all but about six inches. and once again, due to the lack of human models around when i finally get to photographing projects, nearby animals had to suffer the indignity of scarf-wearing.

pattern: multidirectional scarf

how can you not love that face??

Waffles the cat looking super pleased to be wrapped up in yarny goodness

meet dozier

2008-12-13T12:51:00.004-05:00

this is the newest addition to sister's household; he is a treeing walker coonhound. he's actually matt's dog and will someday be trained to be an actual hunting dog. in theory. sister and i are doing our best to undermine his transformation into a "real dog" by snuggling him and spoiling him with toys and kisses. matt seems thrilled by our efforts...

is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen???

a busy weekend

2008-12-07T20:44:00.004-05:00

it has been a busy few days here in gallup, a state made all the more difficult by the fact that i spent saturday running on two hours of sleep and am pretty sure i was still drunk when i woke up at 7 am. which i am surprised i even managed considering we didn't make it to bed until 3. neither my liver nor my head was all too pleased with me, but the friday night comedy show was pretty fun. i just don't recover as quickly as i used to.

but why on earth was i getting up so early anyway?? this weekend was the red rock hot air balloon rally at red rock state park. i have to say, the mass ascension was definitely worth the pain of getting up. my only regret is that i wasn't able to make it to one of the glows because we had stuff going on both nights. i also never managed to climb all the way up the rocks (because i am a chicken shit and have a healthy fear of death) to meet some work friends, but in the end it worked out because i got some way better shots walking around on the ground. and the friend that said shooting into the sun was a bad idea... i have to disagree. it makes the balloons look like they are lit up!

and the 24-70L performed beautifully. this is a lens that i had constant access too back in the days of my ex and his truckloads of camera gear, and probably the lens i miss the most. it is a perfect range for so many different subjects and it takes beautiful pictures. it also costs a small fortune that i cannot yet afford; however, i have discovered the delightful concept of renting lenses. its very sad to have to part with it (i boxed it up this evening) but i enjoyed having it for 4 weeks at a fraction of the price.

i'm definitely glad i had it for the rally. and just to warn you, its going to be a picture heavy post because i just couldn't chose between them to narrow it down.

i never realized how giant the balloons were. it takes a team of people to get them all laid out and inflated. and the baskets are super tiny; they fit three people but it looks pretty cramped in there.

at first they sort of went up one at a time, and then all of a sudden there was just this rainbow of color all over the ground. there were some pretty neat ones too... like the ladybug on a sunflower (you can see it from the backside in the photo above) and a wicked witch, complete with hat and broom, and even humpty-dumpty, floating around on his head.

i've actually done quite a bit of picture taking in the last few days. there are some cute kids to share and a knitting project that is finally finished, but i will have to hold on to that one for a little while.

an arizona holiday

2008-12-05T19:52:00.005-05:00

So the most of the clan, including mr. z and the pups, made it to Green Valley to spend Thanksgiving at ma and pa Z's new house. It was really nice to get to spend a few days with everyone (a few days that did NOT involve freaking out over wedding related activities). We mostly just hung around the house and vegged. There was no Black Friday shopping, which was a-ok with us... but there was a bit of driving around to check out the scenery, and to eat at Pinnacle Peak. yummy!

little bro and his gal

some sunset action... the more yellow one is probably more accurate coloring but i like the purplish one better

sister at a scenic pull off in the white mountains

All in all it was a lovely, relaxing weekend.

Mexican hog roast

2008-11-18T21:19:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday we (meaning me, sister, and Matt) spent the day at one of Matt's buddies house enjoying a hog roast, Mexican style. Matt got up at the ass crack of dawn to join his friends to kill and disassemble the pig. Sister and I, on the other hand, being less than enthused about seeing our food still in the form of a living breathing animal, slept in and made our way out to the roast around noon-ish. By the time we got there, there were several cook fires going, one of which was roasting some delicious ribs, another a pot of red chili, and the third a big vat of fat and meat. Think bacon, but all in chunks rather than thin slices.

they called them chicharillos, or something.
and they were delish... once they were cooked

Once these bad boys were done (muy tasty, by the way) they sliced and diced the skin, which had been hanging on the end of the horsetrailer all day. (I didn't say it was appetizing...) Then those went into the pot to make some homemade pork rinds. Now, they tell me they shaved the pig before they butchered it, but apparently its hard to shave a pig entirely. Needless to say, I was unable to eat any pork rinds. And jokes about picking pig hair out of your teeth are not funny. Just for the record.

if you look closely, you can see the hairs. *gag*

I also got some good pictures of the kids running around, but I feel it would be a disservice to include them in a post containing raw pork and hairy pig skin.

Official Wedding photos

2008-11-16T20:48:00.003-05:00

Many apologies for my absence, but I have had limited time and limited internet access. And to be honest, its been kind of nice. I've been reading lots of books (i.e. the entire Twilight series, the Inheritance cycle, and a handful of other random paperbacks) and doing some knitting. But I do have some things to blog about... eventually.

spending some family time together the day after the wedding.

BUT, this post is just to let those of you who aren't yet aware know that the official wedding photos are now up on the photographers website. you can see them here. Just enter the code 081011.

baby stalking

2008-10-29T11:15:00.005-04:00

the day after my bridal shower/bachelorette party i managed to haul myself out of bed and halfway to Cincinnati for the renaissance festival. it was, to say the least, an interesting experience. While watching a sword-fighting show, pegasaurus and i were seated behind an adorable baby. so i practiced my baby stalking skills.

is she not the cutest thing?? even her little crocheted hat is cute.

and just to avoid any confusion or potential alarm (amongst my ten readers)... baby stalking is mr. z's affectionate term used to refer my propensity for getting really excited about taking pictures of babies. I don't REALLY stalk babies... much.

debauchery

2008-10-27T21:46:00.006-04:00

once again, we will take a break from my own mediocre photography and pointless rambling to indulge in more stolen wedding photos. this time from a friend who just happens to be married to our officiant. while everyone else was taking pictures of the decorations and other pretty things, she was capturing the pure ridiculousness that the night deteriorated into.

she did also capture some good ones from throughout the day, so without further ado... our wedding day, more or less. (a few of these are from other friends as well)

we got married.

we ate.

we danced.

we posed for photos.

maybe the absurdity started around this point.

we smoked cigars.

my mom is probably wondering who the hell that spanish guy is.

and from there on out, it just got absurd.

the shrug was perfect... until i lifted my arms. then, not so much

there are probably a lot of similar pictures floating around out there with more of our male guests.
and i have no idea who's hand that is.

As Tracy pointed out, there are no pictures of Mr. Z taking part in the craziness. Perhaps he was out with the guys fixing the generator. Or perhaps he was talking to the guests... which I probably should have been doing, instead of leading the locomotion, but whatever.

Texas Tech

2008-10-25T17:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I went onto campus with mr. z in search of a notary for some of the name change paperwork. Afterwards we wandered around Texas Tech, enjoying the sunny day and the lovely architecture. (Almost) all of the buildings are a beautiful spanish colonial style, with gorgeous tile roofs and ornate details. There is an unfortunate math building designed to resemble a calculator... a tragic carryover from the 80's I assume.

the lanterns along the ceiling are fantastic

but the campus totally redeems itself solely on the basis of this sweet arched walkway along the side of the chemistry building. it is spectacular in every sense of the word. it is difficult to capture just how awesome it is.

a little cross-processing treatment

i can totally picture engagement or wedding photos here. at least, i can picture them in my head. even if i did have models, i'm not sure i have the technical ability to do them proper justice.

a more vintage treatment

there is also this other sweet building, with a rocking staircase that would also make for some sweet portraits. i had to use the fisheye to get the whole staircase in, which is further proof that i need that 24-70. the distortion wouldn't work so well for portraits.

talk about an amazing blue sky!

there are several other spots on campus that would make for some fantastic portrait shots as well. lots of archways and stairs and quaint details.

they also have some cool sculptures scattered around campus, many of which seem to have books as a theme.

this was a life size "man" made of books. there were also giant marble books scattered around a fountain, and a wacky sculpture of tiny characters climbing all over a mountain of notable titles.

Ohio State is a beautiful campus, don't get me wrong. There are lots of very pretty nooks and crannies scattered around (i LOVE the secret labyrinth garden) and some stunning architecture there as well. But Tech seems to have a more cohesive building appearance (aside from one or two wacky structures) and I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty it was.