Saturday night was a blast but with a sad premise– my boyfriend’s band’s last show. He’s only been playing with them for maybe a year or so (they’ve been around much longer than that), but I’ve enjoyed seeing them even before he joined. They played their last show in his Allston basement on Saturday night. It was such a fun night despite going to bed hours before everyone else, but I woke up feeling miserable so I didn’t stay at work long. I’m not sure if it’s allergies or a sinus infection, but being in that zillion-year-old house’s basement with dirt floors surely did not help (I woke up to black boogers, ew). I saw the NP at my doctor’s office today and it turns out it’s a sinus & ear infection so she put me on an antibiotic. It hasn’t helped that I’ve been really over working myself lately. Last week I worked a sixteen hour shift (7am to 11:30pm), I’ve been doing architectural photography for a management company in Boston, Worcester, and the South Shore, and I’ve been packing and selling all my stuff.
On the upside…
- I’ve found my east coast dream house in brookline! I don’t know if I’ll ever move back here, maybe when I decide to pop out some babies some day. I love that it doesn’t have a traditional American lawn. The street is all windy and tree-canopied, too. It might be an apartment building though, I’m not really sure.
- Alright so Work of Art kind of sucked, but I’m liking watching it and coming up with my own ideas as far as what I would have done. I’m having trouble deciding whether the problem is that they didn’t pick terribly talented artists to begin with, or if it’s just the fact that they really don’t give them much time to complete the challenges. Overall, the show/ artists are pretty unimpressive but their failure is inspiring. (I haven’t watched all of the episodes yet, so be forewarned I may change my mind. Though, I doubt it.)
- Only two episodes of True Blood left! Why is it that crap cable shows get 20 episode seasons and the good HBO/Showtime/etc shows only get 13 episodes? I’m really looking forward to my birthday on Friday; my awesome sister is making me a True Blood cake!
- Lastly, here is my secret to surviving my crazy last month here in Boston before the mini vacation & big move. Poketo for Target bottle + skim milk (not pictured) + Starbucks Via. It’s really, really good. I’ve been getting about 3 small cups of coffee out of each Via packet, which means 15 cups of coffee for $5 (there’s 5 packets in each $5 box).
source: the internet
It’s official. I just gave my boss 3 weeks notice. I know I’m going to cry on my last day. I’m really going to miss my coworkers. I have the best job and work with the greatest people. But I have to move on! Now’s the time to do it, while I’m young. (Though I don’t feel young, I’m turning 23 at the end of the month!)
We’re planning out more intricacies of the trip West. My idea of planning is making a picture like this, which describes the tee-pee motel I would like to spend a night in and the turquoise jewelry I plan to buy when my boyfriend’s not looking during a rest stop in the Southwest. GoogleMaps Navigation via our Motorola Droids will be our main guide to taking Route 40 which follows the old Route 66, though we have a standard paperback atlas from Target for back-up. I’m not so sure we’ll need it though. I’ve been driving around a lot the past couple of weeks and GoogleMaps on my Droid is treating me very well. It keeps up the pace when I miss a turn or need to circle around for parking.
We’re planning on getting some audio books for the trip. Any suggestions? I’m planning on asking my sister & brother-in-law if they have any David Sedaris ones to lend us.
My new car came with a free trial of Sirius radio as it’s built-in so we’ll be listening to plenty of Howard Stern. I was so happy to hear about Prop 8 being overturned in my new state of California, and then when they were talking about it on air, I was excited to hear this guy telling George Takei on Howard Stern about how he was raised not to accept homosexuals or gay marriage but that hearing Takei talk about it changed his mind.
I had a really great weekend off! My nephew turned five years old so we ate an amazing cake made by my talented sister. Peanut butter frosting, yum. Spent the whole day outside with many small children and family. By the time I got to the boyfriend’s place that night I was exhausted. We just hung around drinking PBR and talking. The next morning we got breakfast/lunch at Deep Ellum and it was so good. He got the breakfast burrito and I got the vegan burger. (I’m not vegan, or vegetarian any more, but their regular burger is HUGE so I opted for this.)
I spent Sunday being lazy and recouping, worked almost fifteen hours yesterday and thus have also assigned today as a lazy day. As much as I love my job, I am looking forward to having one where I have a bit of a routine or schedule. The upside of my crazy hours is I don’t have to wake up early again until Saturday!
Oh, and sorry for the down time the past couple of days! I had a bit of trouble getting into my Go Daddy account where my main website is registered. It’s all sorted out now, though.
I’ve been packing, not much time for the interweb! I do have a few links to share, though.
image courtesy of Nucleus Gallery
Nucleus is an art gallery and store in LA that also offers workshops. I’m so looking forward to take advantage of the figure drawings sessions of the Sketch Book Society!
Joy posted a great chevron building that houses Malo Restaurant on Sunset in Silverlake. I’m hoping this can be an exception to skimping on small luxuries like eating out… Maybe the breakfast burrito will convince the boyfriend.
I’m currently obsessing over the work of Hernan Paganini. I can’t wait to get back into painting larger scale when I have the space after I move.
I want to be a kid again. For now, I’ll just pretend. J.crew’s “crewcuts” offspring for the offspring unfortunately doesn’t have a brick & mortar store near me so there’s no chance of me trying to see if I can squeeze into their biggest kids sizes, but their selection of toys & accessories is sweet.
Essie nail polish in tart deco, girls necklace, neon field notes, canvas overnight bag; jcrew.com. Not pictured are the Fjällräven classic & mini backpacks. I wonder if the mini looks silly on adults?
I’ve finished moving over to AndSheWas.org! It’s such a relief. I feel free from the confines of Word Press. And She Was is one of my favorite Talking Heads songs and unlike other songs or bands that I like a whole lot, they’re extra special to me. Before I was born, my parents went on a date to a Talking Heads show, I recently inherited some of their vinyls from my Dad, and one of the first times we hung out as a couple, my boyfriend and I were watching Stop Making Sense. My love for them is not just musical but sentimental; the best people I’ve met love them and the best car rides have been spent singing along.
I’ve had some days off from my day job for the first time since May. Much of this free time has been devoted to reworking the blog and my etsy shop. Though, I have managed to do a lot of swimming, film-watching, and quality time with my family and my boyfriend.
I was so focused on getting the technical work done on this move that I haven’t had much time to work on the post I’ve been planning, so here’s a quick rundown of my current favorites.
- Inception in Imax was amazing. I think I will go see it again, though probably not in Imax (much too expensive). At the very least, I’ll buy it when it comes out. I love it when a great film (or song, book, painting, etc) has you thinking about its concept for days afterward. Not to mention JGL looking dapper. (Find an interview of him at NY Times’ T Magazine.)
- I’ve been going through all the videos, and watching T Magazine’s video of Ryan McGinley’s Spring opening at Team Gallery is just about enough to cure any nervous post-grad feelings I’ve been having.
- Speaking of dapper, Annabel’s latest outfit post is exactly what I want on my body right now, but it’s so hot I can’t manage to get out of shorts and a men’s Hanes v-neck.
- I know a lot of people who read this are people I know in person and thus probably from Boston, so I have to recommend stalking the blog Wicked Cheap in Boston. It’s pretty new, but Molly is quite the motivated cheapskate (I mean that in the BEST way). There’s also a good amount of information and links that apply to people that don’t live in Boston- or you might as well bookmark it in case you decide to plan a visit.
Krysten Ritter’s new show on Starz, Gravity has been cancelled. I really liked it, but I can’t say I’m surprised. I saw this coming and watched one episode at a time, but it still wasn’t enough. I want more. So a lot of the show is cliche (the “empty” tattoo on her neck, the whole plot of friends that meet at group therapy after trying to kill themselves in very unusual ways reeks of every Palahniuk novel I loved in 10th grade), but I have kind of a girl crush on Ritter. She’s played a kind of type cast goth-girl bitchy best friend of the lead in so many movies like 27 Dresses and She’s Out of my League (I will admit to seeing the latter, but she made me laugh the most) and for that I find myself able to relate to her.
Hi, I moved from ithrowyouin.wordpress.com to finally have my own domain for my blog. If I’m entirely new to you, my name is Kristine. I’m a 22 year old college graduate with a racing mind and a need to put things in a proper place. And She Was will function as a conglomeration of the hot mess that is my head, my inspiration, my own work, and my thoughts.
Oh, and that up there, is me when I was around seven years old.
My sisters kids (ages 2-6), especially my niece, are really getting into music. Lately they’ve been settling for whatever’s on on demand, so I thought I’d make them a mix of danceable, kid-friendly songs.
Download: Lykke Li – Dance Dance Dance (You Send It)
© kristine asta helgason
Summer’s pretty much here as the birthday season has begun. My boyfriend turned 23 on Thursday and my niece turned 2 yesterday. Tim took the day off on Thursday so I took him to American Firearms School in North Attleboro where we did the “Learn to Shoot” package. Neither of us had shot a gun prior to Thursday and neither of us expected that I would like it so much. The instructor was really friendly and informative and the atmosphere at AFS was so less weird than I thought it would be, it really helped me feel more at ease. And it was only 45 minutes south of Boston. We shot .22 pistols and did pretty well for our first time! We’re planning on going back for dates, our anniversary, my birthday, etc…
That night, we looked into acquiring/owning guns more for the convenience of not paying for rentals and being able to adjust the sighting than anything else. We’re not hunters and we’re not violent at all. Both of us were surprised at how easy it is to own and carry guns. After having the experience, I think it’s worth knowing how to safely operate a gun even if you aren’t planning to own one. I also think it’s well within our rights to own and carry guns. My moral dilemma is in the fact that it’s easier to own and carry guns than it is to drive and own a car. Around 13,000 more people die in car accidents than by gun per year, but you never hear about intentional vehicular homicide whereas around 40% of gun fatalities are homicides and 56% are suicides.
On a lighter note, we’ve been talking about decorating a wall of our future apartment with targets. Here are two from Etsy, if you click on the images it’ll take you right to the listings. I’m not sure why I like the crow one so much. It’s kind of morbid, but the placement of the head target looks like an eye coyly looking in my direction.
© kristine asta helgason
My niece’s birthday party was this weekend and her birthday was yesterday. I may be bragging, but my niece and nephews are such good, sweet kids that they make spoiling them justified by the big, long hugs and smiles upon opening a gift. It’s also really fun to buy toys for kids, but perhaps I’m just a kid at heart. I really love wrapping them too, even if only to have the kids wildly tear it off. I’ve had this roll of brown Kraft paper for four years and it’s only now starting to dwindle. I made the little dots by punching holes in round labels and using them as stencils. The ribbon is from a collection of vintage sewing supplies I bought from Savers a while ago. I like using rick-rack and pom-pom trim too.
