my ebay addiction.

Every couple of days I happily log on to ebay to see what cool vintage silverware is there. On Monday there was a posting for an Eames 1960 silverware set. Ok, I do not need a silverware set. But how do I pass this one up? It's an investment right? The really cool part was that no one was bidding on this super cool thing. Ray & Charles Eames were very cool designers in the 60s. They designed famous chairs like this...


So I won the whole set for $23.00. Yeah!

At the same time ebay showed me other things that seller was offering. He was selling a set of 3 vintage Nebraska Postcards. No one was bidding on them either. So of couse I thought they would be so cool framed in my house. I won those today also for only $5.99.



Prayer for the day: Please make my ebay addiction stop :)

so cool...

At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year,

the time and date will be 02:03:04, 05/06/07

This will never happen again.

for crying out loud...

Yesterday was designer learning day. The speakers favorite saying was..."for crying out loud". You know its going to be a good presentation when that is his favorite quote.

Actually the preparations for this day began on Monday. I unwillingly volunteered to be the food committee for the all day event. I already had Honey Baked Ham lined up for the lunch but I had to take care of drinks and snacks. So Monday night I went to Sam's. I hate Sam's. I do not have a membership card. Why would a single girl have a card for a store where the smallest quantity of a product is 1600? So I borrowed the Paulsen card and set out on my journey. I did not know where anything was, since I never go there. About half way though my shopping my shoe broke. It was one of those cute little black ballet slipper type shoes and the button to the cute little strap popped off. Number 125 why I hate Sam's! My shoe breaks there. So I get home with all my supplies and it takes 26 trips in the house to carry in the 10 - 12 packs of pop, 7 dozen muffins and 3 dozen pieces of fruit. All together we were feeding about 70 people.

On Wednesday morning, the morning of the workshop. Mike picks me up @ 7:00 am. I talked him into helping me since he has muscles and a blazer. All that crazy food would not fit in my car. So we start loading up the food. Mike goes to pick up the bananas and drops them through the stairs in the basement. Yikes. The only way to retrieve them is to bend a hanger into a banana fishing pole and fish for them. After a few minutes he retrieves the bananas and we are on our way. We stop to buy ice and then to the event location.

We get there and start unloading the food and setting up. The sign-up begins @ 8:30. It is now 7:45 am and I have not started the coffee. It is generally not a good idea to have the person who never drinks coffee and does not know how to make coffee in charge of that. The first couple of people drank more of a tea than coffee.

The learning began. Designers are kind of a strange group of people. My friend Bobbi said it best...where else can you find a room full of people who get excited about ruler lines? Yes, its true, the strangest things make up happy.

Lunch begins and I realize we have run out of water. Since I did not drive, Mike dropped me off, I borrowed Jon's car and headed to Hy-Vee. You know how if your credit card is not signed the cashier usually checks your drivers license. Well I had my fancy AIGA name tag on. The cashier said...I guess I don't have to check your license. (Note to self, you look like a dork if you wear a name tag to Hy-Vee).

Back to the presentation. The afternoon session was good. I think we learned a lot. Its funny how once you get something like that all set up, you forget that you have to take it all back home with you.

After all that, I was kind of tired last night. I tried to stay up to watch my new favorite show. Shear Genius. (It's like Project Runway, but with hair styling.) I fell asleep before the end of it and missed who got kicked off.

It was good to be back at work today :)

mini vacation :)

I had so much fun this weekend its hard to know where to start. I guess I will break it out day by day...

Friday:
I picked up Bobbi @ 9:00 am and we headed out of town. We talked non-stop all the way to Northfield, MN. We stopped in Northfield for shopping fun. It is a cute college town. They have the coolest vintage buildings and the best shops. We ate at a great sandwich shop and shopped the afternoon away. We both purchased some vintage silverware at an antique store. Now I have brought another friend over to the dark side of vintage silverware :) One of the really cool stores, is a store called Digs. Bobbi saw it in one of her magazines. They have the best fabric, yarn and other cool things. Here is their link: http://shopdigs.com/homepage.htm

We decided it was time to head to the big city. We typed our destination into the GPS (which we named Mac, in honor of our favorite singer) and headed north. We arrived at our destination (thanks Mac). Our hotel was very cool (thanks Shane). It was an old Railroad depot that has been converted into a hotel. It has the best, puffy beds. We felt like queens.

Here is the view from our hotel window.

We continued chatting and getting ready for the concert. We left the hotel. I don't know why Mac the GPS tells us distances in yards. Because I don't know what 1000 yards looks like! So I took a few turns a little early and we went around the block a couple of times. We finally made it to the concert. We had really great seats. It was a smaller auditorium and we could see really well. It was the best concert I have ever been to in my entire life. I did not want it to end.


Then back to the hotel, then to Dunn Brothers coffee for a snack and to bed.

Saturday:
Was happy with hope of more shopping and meeting Bobbi's friend K. We went to her house, of course with the help of Mac. K took us to a cool little coffee shop attached to a yarn shop. It was so cool. We had coffee, yummies and conversation. Next to the yarn shop. It was so cool. I think I wanted everything. There was alot of squealing. 3 designers who love color in a yarn shop is a crazy thing. I purchased 3 skeins of yarn. Bobbi was going to teach me how to crochet. Now I was set. Of course all the yarn I purchased fits into my favorite color category of blue & brown. We actually made it out of the shop and then saw some really cool purses in the window and had to go back in and buy those. They were so worth it. Then on to a more cool stores. Bibelot, lunch at Highland Grill and a super cool store Patina. They had the coolest stuff, I wanted it all!!! And the design of the store is amazing. Here is their link http://www.patinastores.com/index.cfm

I also saw a restaurant called bread & chocolate. If we would have had more time. I totally would have been there. I think it may be my home.

Lunch at the Highland Grill was fun. It was a funky little grill/diner. It has the coolest bright green on one wall. We had fried green beans & sweet potato fries. Yum.

the cool girls

Besides loving pretty, shiny, design things. We all love animals. Perhaps K loves them more than the rest of us (check out her blog to see her zoo...http://39andrising.blogspot.com). She is amazing. So we went to a pet store to see Hedgehogs & puppies. We ended our shopping day by hanging out in the hotel room. We talked some more, B taught me how to crochet. Later that evening we decided we wanted Dairy Queen. Someone was talking about it at the concert and then we wanted ice cream. We pulled out our trusty GPS Mac, and found the nearest location. When he said we had arrived at our destination all that was there was an Arbys that was closed. NO!!! So we drove around for awhile looking for ice cream. The not so smart thing was that there was a Twins game that night. And we were staying close to the dome. So on our ice cream hunt I blindly drove into the parking lot of the dome as the game was getting over. Panic! We made our way out :0, went back to the hotel and went back to our safe zone Dunn Brothers coffee for the 3rd time. Then back to the room.

Sunday:
We left the hotel and headed home. We stopped in Medford and the outlets and bought some cool stuff. Shopping is good. We arrived home around 6 pm. Of course we talked at each other all the way home. Below is a picture of the swag I assembled over the weekend. I guess my purchases were a little random. Some how I ended up with 3 purses and some fabric to make a 4th. What?

Last night I worked on my new crochet project. I am so addicted now. Its so much faster than knitting. I can't wait to finish the scarf I started. Thanks B!

Thanks girls for the fun weekend!

i won!!!!

OK, I know awhile back I swore off ebay after a stupid purchase. But...ebay has some really great silverware. I am very excited about this one. It was a buy it now or a best offer. I offered them $5 and they excepted! I can't wait till it gets here :) I am currently bidding on 2 other auctions, so exciting!

new paulsen website...

Today we are launching a new Paulsen site. It is targeted toward our ag clients. Our cool new site is a story book containing all the funny ag stories that have happened to everyone here. Check it out...
www.WeGetAg.com

my next vacation...

Dad and I watched the travel channel a lot this weekend. They were having a marathon of the show "The Best Places to Find Cash & Treasures". I love this show and I totally want her job. One of the shows was about diamond hunting. They were at a State Park in Arkansas. This is totally my next vacation. They plow up a field and you take a bucket and a shovel and start hunting. I know this could be totally addicting. I think I might have a hard time leaving this place. Here is the link to their site...just incase you want to check it out...
http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com/

april 10 ????

easter weekend

I traveled to Lincoln, NE for Easter. I LOVE my ipod. It is the best car companion a single girl can have :) I arrived in town and went to the ACE store my dad manages. He said he made an appointment to get my car detailed. YEAH!!!!!! I have always wanted to do this and it totally lived up to my expectations! Only down fall, now I was with out a car. We ate at Runza, a Nebraska original, it always makes me feel like home. Then I needed to go to the grocery store. There is one next to the ACE store. It is a little neighborhood store. I call it the blast from the past store. They have a weird selection of foods. The spices for baking are actually in the meat isle?? Everyone knows everyone. All of the customers stand around a chat about their weekend. They do not have actual meat in packages, it all has to be purchased from the meat counter. Which I hate, because I never know what I am asking for. The produce isle has a produce natzi. I put an onion in my cart and he rushes over and grabs it out, weights it and puts it in a brown bag with the price on it. For some reason I like to buy my groceries with out having to deal with a bunch of people, especially the produce natzi. Now I head for home to make a 5 layer chocolate pie that needs to chill for 4 hours. 4 hours I do not have.


Earlier in the week I purchased the Betty's Pies recipe book from Amazon.com. If you are ever in Two Harbors, MN, Betty's Pies is the place to stop. So I thought it would be fun to make my favorite pie from Betty's. Since it is 5 layers it takes a while to make. I actually ended up putting it in the freezer to speed cooling time. The pie turned out pretty good. I think it may have been better if I had allowed it more time to cool.


This is the 20 lb fur ball that helped me make the pie. He loves to sit and meow at you when you are in the kitchen. Especially anytime you turn on the faucet. Doing the dishes around him is very difficult. He is water obsessed!

Around 6 pm on Saturday we went to my aunts for Easter dinner. Baby Grover was there. I did finally finish the baby blanket. It actually turned out a little larger than I thought it would. I guess he can grow into it. Below is a photo of the finished blanket. I kind of wanted to keep it for myself :)

One of our holiday traditions is Rainbow Jello. Or as we like to call it Hell Jello. I was the chosen one to provide this dish for Christmas. It takes about 4 days to make, since you have to let each layer totally set up. Hence the name Hell Jello. My aunt decided to try it out for Easter. I read her the recipe over the phone. I assumed she knew how to make jello...instead of boiling the water to mix with the powder, she used hot tap water. Well, none of the Jello would actually set up or dissolve. It was a runny, gooey mess. It kind of looked like a science project. Of course it was my fault because I did not tell her to boil the water. Who does not know how to make Jello??


The last cool thing about Easter was dad gave me a drill press. YES a drill press!!! I have been wanting one to drill the holes in my jewelry. The regular drill makes my arm feel like its going to fall off. I guess drilling through metal is not the easiest thing. A guy dad works with sold it to him for $30. Which is a great deal. A new one costs around $100. I can't wait to use it!

Happy Easter :)

before

after

happy anniversary...

This week marks my fifth anniversary with my house. Thanks to my super handy dad, many improvements have been made. I do still have a wish list. Someday we will do the complete bathroom remodel. This spring I want to tear out the 80 year old bushes on the south side of the house and replace them with burning bushes. I love spring. So much to do. :)

creative life...

This is how I feel today, creating what feels like a million ads for a client. It has sucked all the creative juices right out of me. My day was spent with these ads. What was more annoying was that they are strip ads. Which mean they run at the bottom of papers. They are all about 10" x 1", some in color, some black & white. I need to do something creative tomorrow. I am crossing my fingers :) Ah, the life of an Art Director.

more recalls

The vet called dad tonight and said they just recalled the diet cat food our 20 lb. cat eats. It is the only dry cat food from Science Diet that is recalled. Dad can't quite decide if the cat is consuming more water than normal because he has a total water obsession. I of course, want to run him to the vet right now. Dad of couse, is more calm and will talk to the vet when he buys more food tomorrow. I think he should be tested. For now I guess I will just be patient!

Recall link...
http://www.hillspet.com/menu_foods/Menu_Foods_03302007_en_US.htm

i (heart) bubble wrap!

Ok, so I guess i am posting happy today. I am going through some old emails from my extra cool friend Eric. I am trying to find this cool website design so I can use it for inspiration. But instead I found this email from him. Click the link and you too can pop the bubble wrap! Brilliant! I love bubble wrap. Mike especially hates me when I am in bubble wrap popping mode. I love how all my online purchases come in bubble wrap. Some day I am going to incorporate it into a cool design...

http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf

stay away...

Now that I am done with round 1 of jewelry making and its currently at Archival Elements. I have been planning round 2. Why do I always have to be planning? I placed an order @ jewelrysupply.com this morning. Wow I need to stay away from that site. :)

dreaming...

Why is it when you have a million things to do and very little time to do them in you think about all the places you would rather be? Today reminded me of Northern Minnesota. My last trip there was in the fall and it was cool and damp. The above photo was taken there. Betty's Pies in Two Harbors, MN is one of the coolest places. I had the best piece of 5 layer chocolate pie. Yum :) (http://www.bettyspies.com/) I should buy that recipe book...oh, I should be working. (Client meeting tomorrow at 10:30 am).

Anyway its getting late and I should really be working. I guess i will quit thinking of all the places I would rather be right now...

my project...

Above shows my insanity. Below are images of my finished product. (Sorry these photos do not include the necklaces. It was really windy outside and I gave up shooting 58 pieces of jewelry :)

the glamorous life of an art director...

These photos are from a tv shoot last Thursday. Its true that all you need is a cute kid and a puppy. Lucky for us we had both!

i won!

This is the ebay item I won today. I actually had forgotten I was bidding on it. What a nice surprise! It is a 5" x 5" college from one of my favorite artists. :)

The crane watching was postponed. The weather was kind of yuck most of the weekend and dad had a pretty bad cold. He also had to teach a fertilizer class to his employees on Sunday night. So I had the weekend to complete my jewelry. I completed 58 pieces, they include charms, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. I hope people like them. I am going to take them to Archival Elements tomorrow. The new store opens April 15th. I am both excited and scared. I am going to take photos tonight. I will post some tomorrow. :)

almost done...

Here are the up-to-date photos of the remodeling. There are just a few things left and we are done!!!! There is a big client meeting here today. I bet they will hire us just because we look cool. (E: notice the projector screen :)

an adventure...
You know how you remodel part of your house and then everything else starts to look not so good? Well that is how it is at the office. Mike and I spent part of Saturday working on the breakroom, now that the conference room is looking so cool.

Dad arrived about 3 pm. We really didn't have any real plans. We went to Lawn & Garden show. (Total waste of money, I want my $5.00 back!) Then we went to Sportsman Warehouse. This is where the Tree Hugger part 2 comes in. So in front of the store they had some canoes and kayaks displayed. The canoe was on sale. Regular price...$560.00. Sale price...$250.00. So dad has been looking for a canoe for awhile now. He was over the moon to see this canoe at under half price. So we get inside the store and find the canoe guy. They have 4 canoes instock and all 4 have been sold. (Apparently we are not the only people who think $250.00 is a good deal).

Of course the fact that all 4 are sold does not deter my father. He starts asking the guy about other locations. The Sportsman Warehouse guy starts calling and finding canoes. The closest one is in Woodbury, MN. Woodbury is a little east of St. Paul. So we purchase the canoe over the phone and make plans to pick it up.

Sunday morning we left bright and early for Minnesota. I was able to get a lot of knitting done on my baby blanket for Grover. We arrived @ Sportsman Warehouse #2 around noon, loaded up the canoe, ate lunch at Applebees and headed or home.

I found my mothership...The Russel Stovers Outlet Store. It is by the Medford outlets. When you walk into the store the best chocolate smell ever hits you. I wanted to stay all day. We purchased a 3 pound box of imperfect chocolate. It all tastes great, its just not perfect enough to make it into the fancy boxes. I love this place!!!

Over all Sunday was a day of 3 pounds of chocolate, a $250.00 canoe and about 8 hours in the car. Someday I am going to write a book about our adventures.

changes...

Our little advertising agency is getting a makeover. Its kind of like our own What not to Wear. We are looking much spiffier. Currently the carpeting is going in right now! By Monday/Tuesday they should be pretty much done. I will post final pictures. Below are photos of the front desk and the conference room. This is so exciting!!!!!!

Tree Hugger

So, my dad is kind of a tree hugger. All our family vacations consist of hiking, biking, camping or some kind of an outdoor adverture. The weekend of March 24 & 25 Dad and I are heading to Grand Island, Nebraska. Why?? The Sandhill Cranes are migrating through Nebraska right now. This is actually our second annual Crane watching trip. The Cranes spend the day in the farmers fields eating grains (which I am sure they love) and by night they land by the thousands on the Platte River. The National Geographic website actually has a live Crane Cam (http://www.ngm.com/cranecam/). You can watch them from the comfort of your own home. Which if you don't have a tree hugger father, I would think this would be the perfered method. Anyway here is the science lesson portion of my post. They are expecting between 50,000 & 500,000 Cranes. This is their peak season they are usually in NE for 6 weeks. They will all have migrated by the first week of April. Last year we went the first week of March and we were a little early. Best viewing times are: Mornings: 6 am to 7:30 am; Evenings: 6 pm to 7:30 pm. It actually is pretty cool to see 500,000 come in and land in the river. It kind of looks like you are being invated. They also make a weird warbly sound. Oddly enough people from around the world come to Nebraska for this event. Hotels are full (we had to make a reservation) and the country side is crawling with people watching the birds. Last year there was even a couple from Australia there. This is definately not a vacation for people who like to spend their time lounging on a beach. Early morning rising is a must. You have to steak out a location along the river or pay to join a tour group which usually leaves around 5 am. So this is my life being the daughter of a tree hugger. Check out the crane cam during the hours listed above. Strangely enough I know all about this. Hmmmm.

Side Note: YEAH FireFox! I just downloaded and changed browsers and now I can post pictures. Happy Day!

wearing cockroaches
Ok, I have to admit I am not a big phone talker. I especially hate calling people I don't know. But everytime I see people with their wireless phones I think of cockroaches. It looks like they have a big bug attached to their ear, sometimes I think it is going to crawl right into their brain. I have a hard time understanding why that would feel good much less look good. Don't you think the phone makers could make these look fashionable and less bug like? Since people feel the need to wear them.

Just my thought for the day...

logo...
The hardest thing for a designer to do is design something for themselves. I have been working on logos for my Silverware Jewelry. This is one of the options. I am sure I will change it six more times. But here is a start...

the dangers of being an art director
Today was a snow day at work. Mike picked me up in the morning and I think there was a total of 5 people here all day. Mike was being his usual trimmer boy this morning and the ruler slipped and the muscle boy almost cut his finger off. All the way to the bone. Of couse he would not let any of us take him to the emergency room, he had to drive himself. We are just happy he went.

2 hours and a bracelet
I spent last night attaching all the charms to a bracelet. It sounded so simple when I started. Two hours later and a lot of frustration it is done. It is kind of loud, which my co-workers hate. I think the jingling when I use my mouse hand is distracting. :)

happy snow day...the charms are here!!!!!!!!
Above is a photo of the charms from the charm swap. I am so excited. I am headed home now, so I can put them on a bracelet. Stay tuned for the bracelet...

This is so exciting :)