i feel like my sweet tooth is dominating my bloggity these days, but i think that's okay. today i made nerdy America-colored trifle: white cake, vanilla (and chocolate) pudding, whipped cream, fresh strawberries and fresh jersey blueberries. it's not quite as fourth grade as the amazing fourth-of-july mixed sprinklepack from last year, when i decorated the amazing cupcake-cones that i toted around the city on my bike, but it's close.
have a great night!
for those that don't already know, this weekend is the annual ice cream festival at penn's landing. oh yes. all you can eat ice cream, for $5. just don't accidentally throw away your spoon. it's amazing how cranky those volunteers can be when they have to give you a new one... i'll be there, along with some of the funnest etsy admin i know.
the girlscantell shop is inching closer to 600 each day, so if you want a lovely, marvelous trivet and some $1 shipping, hop on it. also, i happened to catch this beautiful print gracing the front page this afternoon, and i love it. so if you were itching to buy me somethin' pretty today, this may as well be it.
this weekend i was a total list-making machine, and i completed dominated. i got tons done, and i owe it all to the handy dry-erase board in my kitchen. tomorrow is cute erik's birthday, so this evening i'll be trying my hand at a recipe from the cake doctor cookbook (the cake doctor has a blog? who knew?) for the first time. i'm going to try the lemon - lime cake with pineapple icing / topping (she calls it a pineapple curd, but that sounds too hansel and gretal for me). it sounds summery and delicious (though full of corn syrup, now that i'm thinking about it), so we'll see.
one of the things i was able to cross off the list was a trip to the art store, to return some stuff, but also to check if they happened to have any emulsion in, and miraculously, they did. so cute erik and i coated some screens last night, and if all goes well (ie, i didn't muck up the screens *and* we don't get coerced into having a pint with neighbors at the tap room after the neighborhood meeting), we'll be burning some new screens this evening, and reclaiming old screens for new designs. yay!
i couldn't be more excited that it's friday. not only do we have a great afternoon in brooklyn planned, but i have very few plans for the rest of the weekend, and i'm looking forward to burning some new screens and doing a lot of printing and organizing.
hooray for summer days!
so, i've been getting a little more serious about this 'training to run a race longer than 3.2 miles for the first time in three years', and it feels good! i joined the freshly opened sweat gym (warning: their website makes weird noises) just on the other side of broad, and it's awesome. not only is it super convenient, but the space is great! it was a nursery school that had a fire, and the building sat vacant for a few years (to my knowledge, there were no injuries in the fire, and the nursery school just moved across the street to a different space) until the gym bought it and just did a brilliant job cleaning it out, removing a couple floors, and creating a really open, raw, well designed space there. (yes, i'm an architecture / space loving nerd even when it comes to choosing a gym - i mean, if it's not a space i want to be in, what's the point of paying a monthly fee to be a member, right?)
so, for those who'd like to follow along at home, here are my mileage goals for each week between now and the run on september 22. they're based on the mileage i did when training for a full marathon with team in training:
in other news, i finally listed these napkins in the shop, by the way. one of my goals for the week is to sort my 'sewing' room by what is currently listed and what should be listed on etsy, so look for more goodies (fresh stuff! at last!) coming soon to girlscantell shop. yay.
ps. it's thursday! three things to remember on thursdays: spt, workshop, csa!
ignite philly was as every bit as intriguing as i knew it would be. i learned lots, for example, that etsy's own media-awesome team member bre pettis actually founded ignite, back when he was in seattle. crazy!
in any case, the videos should be up soon, so those of you who weren't able to make it can check it out. i totally made notes for my five minutes (i can't believe how nervous i was about the whole thing, i honestly don't get nervous very easily), and then proceeded to glance at them but not *really* read them at all while i was up there. which means i didn't say half of what i thought i would, although, i did get out most of what i intended to (crass analogy between a creative space / coworking for makers and a gym included... i didn't actually mean to compare elliptical machines to letterpress machines, but...).
if you have questions, comments, ideas or opportunities you'd like to share, i'm, of course, delighted to discuss! you can email handmakerphilly [at] gmail [dot] com and i'll happily reply. or you can comment here, of course, and i'll get in touch.
so, apparently, it's bike to work week. i did bike to the train station today for work, and maybe i'll bike around the block and back to my house every other morning to celebrate. speaking of bikes, i'm listing all the goodies i made for squidfire that didn't get bought up all week. yay.
i have this habit of buying real simple magazine on days i commute up to brooklyn, and then i usually read it on the train on the way home and i get so amped about whatever lame thing they have on the cover - like "99 ways to organize your shoe closet" or "best herb gardens for your backyard" and i'm like YEAH! then i get home, file the magazine away on my shelf (see? i don't even need any help being organized), and don't ever think about doing all those silly things ever again. surely, i'm not the only one who does this, right? i mean, have you even seen my backyard? (hint: at a whopping 7'9" x 14'5", it's probably smaller than that shoe closet they've been working on...)
okay. i'm curious why there aren't more guesses are left via comments on the change jar post. i'll give you all about a week... how much do you think is in there? maybe you'll guess lucky and a set of beautiful girlscantell placemats will arrive at your doorstep... you never know. and you certainly won't get any goodies without guessing.
so, squidfire, in typical squidfire fashion, was a pretty great show. not super stressful crowded, but a fun trip to baltimore (which, since we're pretty deeply entrenched into season one of the wire, was kind of entertaining in and of itself), and a really nice day (once those am showers cleared up...). we got to see some great etsy sellers - built in pittsburgh (remember when they were jetsetter in philadelphia?), drgceramics (i bought a mug! yay!), rebounddesigns, imogeneandannie and so many more... this was cute erik's first time helping at a show, and i think he was surprised at how... relaxing? (i kind of never relax, so this was probably surprising...) it is once you're there and set up, just sitting and enjoying the weather and conversation with whoever stops by. so nice.
you need to watch this amazing, robot-lovin' video by crankbunny. so amazing, beautiful and brilliant.
in other news, i'm planning on visiting the penny arcade change counter thing at commerce bank soon, with my nearly-full half gallon of change. so, since last year was fun, i'm taking guesses again at how much is in the jar. to give everyone a fair shot, last year's total was $186.37, but the jar was a bit more full than it is this time around. price is right style rules apply (again), and two other commenters who leave a guess will also get a little girlscantell treat. so, comment away with your guesses!
um, if anyone knows of a good tutorial for full on getting ready for a craft show while working full time, planning a fundraiser, cleaning your house in preparation for your parents visiting for mother's day and generally doing a zillion other things, kindly do share. thanks.
on the bright side, i'm totally happy with the good stuff i have been making. yay. let's just hope the weather in baltimore saturday is beeeee-autiful.
