Happy Friday!

I'll leave you with this thought: Maybe, just MAYBE, our Giants will be World Series Champs on Sunday. Just maybe....


A love letter to the San Francisco Giants (via Rocketshoes):

This is why I’m a Giants fan. This exact moment. Scratch that: this is why I like stupid, grunt grunt sports in general. San Francisco, this very moment.

It’s legitimately a magical time in San Francisco right now. I have the fortune of working approximately two blocks away from AT&T/”For Christsakes, it’s PacBell” Park, and it’s been absolutely surreal. If a unicorn came around the corner and high fived me right now and said, “Go Giants”, I wouldn’t even take an earbud out. I’d just high hoove him right back and point and smile.

For people who don’t understand why people love sports so much, move to a town where this kind of thing might happen, and you’ll get it.

This team has done something to this city that is unreal. It’s even more unreal because this is San Francisco. Home of the polarizing “I hate your district NO I HATE YOUR DISTRICT LET’S MAKE OUT THOUGH BECAUSE WE BOTH LOVE SAN FRANCISCO” landscape. Hipsters hate marina guys. Marina guys hate hipsters. We judge every goddamn thing on the planet that isn’t organic, and then can’t understand why people judge the crap out of us right back (irony alert). I mean…I work down the block from a fucking artisan grilled cheese store. This town is, by no means, indicative of the rest of the American landscape. We’re just weird, and we embrace the living crap out of it.

And right now, everyone is a Giants fan. Everyone. Your grandma. That homeless guy directing you into a wide open parking spot and then expecting you to congratulate him for his non-feat with a dollar. Right now? I’d give him two. Because this town is effing electric.

You know what? To all the people who hate “bandwagon” fans? Let it go. Who cares. You know who you are? You’re the guy who liked the Kings of Leon and then got mad when everyone else did. You’re the guy who said “this band is SO good”, and then when someone said, “hey I agree” you said NO YOU DON’T ONLY I CAN LIKE THEM. That’s silly. Knock it off. Let them in. Buy them a beer, or a kombucha. Whatever it is. I don’t care. Just let this happen and stop Eeyoring the crap out of our unlimited happiness we’re on the brink of.

I love sports for this reason. Every now and then, everyone just stops being so damn frumpy and acts like our city is just a big college. You ever been to a college town that really loves their team a scary amount? Like, Ray Finkel’s Mom amounts? It’s great. You know why? Because everyone is just actually nice to each other. You have a common bond. And whether or not it’s a bond that is contingent upon a guy throwing a ball or waving a wooden stick, it’s an awesome bond.

I love this time. I find myself smiling at people when I buy coffee. I see my friends who bicker over ridiculous crap calling each other and inviting each other to hang out. I see strangers hugging because a guy from the Dominican Republic is hitting sac fly’s. Marina guys are wearing the same goddamn t-shirt hipster guys are wearing. HOW CAN YOU NOT BOTTLE THIS MOMENT UP? We’re in a vacuum. Enjoy it.

I have grown up with the Giants. My brother and I spend half of our “that’s so adorable that they are ACTUALLY best friends” time talking to each other about them; it genuinely brings us together. It’s in the blood of my family, and I was taught from a very young age to bring a blanket to the ‘stick because it’s never a comfortable temperature in this city. My mother and father brought our family together with this ridiculous game. If you never lived here or you’re just getting on the bandwagon? Let me be your creepy metaphorical father and open the front door and hand you a beer. Welcome. We love you, too.

So fear the Just for Men beard. Embrace the fact that every woman in town is in love with the good guy (THAT NEVER HAPPENS IN REAL LIFE). Embrace the fact that we have a pitcher that resembles one of the greatest characters in film history, one Mitch Kramer (he even smokes pot…how San Francisco is that?). Embrace it.

No matter what happens, San Francisco, embrace it. This is why we like sports. Because they are ridiculous, and they make people really happy when we’d usually just bide the time complaining about what we don’t like about each other.

Embrace it, San Francisco. This is why we like each other. Right now.

Fear the goddamn beard.

Game 1: Believe!

sfchronicle
Phew! I'm so glad Game 1 of the World Series is over and that the Giants have a big fat WIN! Last night I headed to Petaluma and watched the game with my bro and sister-in-law. And what a game it was! The Giants offense finally started making some hits, and they pulled away from the Rangers and their hot pitcher Cliff Lee. It was an exciting game, but I'm so glad that it's over and we have one under our belt! Let's not get too cocky Giants fans....we've still got 3 more to take. Hummmmmm-baby!!!

Crafts and Work and Fun oh my!

The NWP are Craft Magazine and partnering up to host a small Make! at the 2010 NWP Annual Meeting! It's like, my dream come true - my work and crafts together!

The whole idea behind the Make! is that creating and writing go hand in hand. When you create something and want to show someone else how to do it, you write about it. As I've found out, writing instructions for projects is actually pretty hard! (I sometimes wonder how Craft and Instructables do it). Anyhow, I've been invited to be a teacher at the Make, and so I've had to develop a small project that can be done and taught to folks in 1 hour. After that, we'll write about the process, take pictures, and create a tutorial. Here's what I came up with:

Market bag
This bag is made from a pillowcase and decorated with fabric. And did I mention, there's no sewing (the seams, at least) involved? I had to adapt what I would usually do to the environment we'll be in (i.e. a huge conference room) and the materials we can use (i.e. no sewing machine, just irons). I can't wait to report back on how it goes and share with you the tutorial!

22 days old (3 weeks)

The chickies are officially 3 weeks and are doing great! So far, Foghorn, Leghorn, and Rafiki's personalities have started blossoming even more. Foghorn is the friendliest of the bunch, and doesn't mind when I pick her up. She's always the first to come when I have treats. Leghorn is the bravest - she was the first to hop on the water feeder, then I found her perched on the top of the brooder! (I finally had to put a screen over them so there were no escapes). Rafiki definitely has "short hen" syndrome. She's the smallest and therefore pretends she's the biggest. She's always pushing the others out of the way, and has started gently pecking Foghorn and Leghorn when they are on the roost (she's having a hard time getting up there). Anyway, their antics continue to amuse all of us!

Vintage pillows

I'm kinda in love with these pillows found on Tuuni:


Think I could make them myself? They are such a great idea (and a perfect way to reuse all of the doilies and lace I have around these parts...)

Home

A scene from Soulemama's house
I've always known that I'm a domestic person. I like to sew, bake, garden, cook - use my hands in any way to create something. Now usually, these items don't turn out exactly how I want them to, but that's not the point. The point is that I like creating. Now that we have our own home(!) these domestic urges are like, 10 fold. I want to paint and clean and garden and cook...and..and..and...the list keeps growing, but I don't mind! There's something to be said about investing in something and making it your own. Paul could really care less about the color of our curtains or the fact that we don't have a bed skirt - but he loves his garage and everything in it. It's actually been a struggle for me to focus on my work ("career"), knowing that there are so many exciting things to be created at home. I didn't realize how much this would really change my routine, as now I'm constantly thinking about new recipes, vegetables to can, or how to make my own dish cloths. In my dream world, I would live like SouleMama (who recently moved into a new house, complete with a barn, pigs, and their 4 kids). She gets to create things at home, with her kids and honey around. That simple(r) life sounds pretty great right about now....

Post-season fever

I haven't been this excited about post-season baseball since the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. These Giants are just rockin' it and pulling through. Sure, the games are torturous to watch, but I like it that way!

I've posted this photo before, but I thought I should finally explain what it is...

So, as a child growing up in San Jose, my family had season tickets to Giants games. My mom (who worked at an elementary school), had summers off as well, so we spent most of those days at Candlestick Park, eating hot dogs and watching baseball. It was pretty awesome. Anyway, one of those summers,Roseanne Barr sang the Star Spangled Banner. She sucked. People booed, and she spat on the ground and flipped everyone off. The media went crazy....

A few days after that,(unrelated to this), I wrote a song about the Giants, to the tune of "Take me out to the ballgame." I wrote it in the middle of the night and showed it to my mom. She made a few edits and said, "you're gonna be on tv, Shannon." Long story short, I sang my song on KRON 4 with the Bay Area's own Gary Radnich. And so, my friends, while I don't have this uploaded on YouTube (yet), here are the lyrics for your own singing pleasure. I've added some links to those players who you might now know/names you might not recognize....

Hummmm Baby!
(sung to "Take Me Out To The Ballgame")

Take my out to the ballgame,
Take me out to the 'stick

Go get Jeff Brantley and Rick Reuschel
Please don't forget Kevin Mitchell
And it's root, root root for the Hummm babes
If they don't win it's a shame

For it's Brett, Matt,Jose and Will at the old, ball, GAME!!

(not too many lyrics, but I was 9! And I wrote it in my sleep!)

They played a clip of Roseanne singing, and then Gary Radnich said, "a little sweetness from the ballpark....Shannon's here to sing the right way". I had the HUGEST grin on my face, a permed 'fro, and all my Giants gear on (including those big 80's buttons). And I sang. It was the only time I've ever been on tv. It's the video my parents played for my boyfriends in high school - hence, I've always been embarrassed by it. But, finally admit that it's a pretty rad story!

Here they are!

my new 10 day old baby chicks
Here they are, our new girls: 3 Barred Plymouth Rock hens from the feedstore. They are (in no particular order), Rafiki, Foghorn, and still-to-be-named. I'm seriously in chicken heaven. I'm so excited to have these little cuties here (and it helps that Paul likes them as well, along with the neighborhood kids). I had originally ordered some Rhode Island Reds and an Orpington, but the feed store in Vallejo was unsure if they would even be making the order. So, we went to Napa instead, and the Barred Rock were the best egg layers/friendliest there. (incidentally, they are making the order, and I think we'll be getting 1 orpington next week!)

So, what's up with the 2 strange names? And why is one still unnamed? Well, Rafiki refers to the monkey in the Lion King that has no hair on it's butt (this is due to the fact that she had an unfortunate poop accident, and the only remedy was to remove some of her feathers leaving her a bare ass). This is called "pasty butt" for all you non-chicken people. Anyway I think Rafiki is already pissed at me for this and peeps loudly when I pick her up.

Foghorn (short for Foghorn Leghorn) refers to the chicken (rooster, actually) in the old Warner Bros. cartoons. You know, the big white rooster? Anyway, Foghorn has a big white spot on her head, and is a sweetheart. She doesn't mind being picked up and eats out of your hand.

The final, no-name girl is also a sweetheart. I think she may be the tamest of all, and she lets me pick her up and doesn't freak out. I need to think of a good name to call her - I feel bad that she doesn't have one yet.

I really have had chicken on the brain for the last few days, and now that they are here it's worse! Last night I spent an hour just watching them peck around in the little brooder I made them. They drink, they peck, they eat, and they clean their feathers. So far the cats know that something is up in the spare room, but they haven't been too curious. Let's hope it stays that way!

Our (soon-to-be) newest additions!

I have mentioned a few times that I've wanted to build a chicken coop and have chickens in our backyard...and that dream is (almost) a reality! I've finally convinced Paul that NOW is the time to get them - originally, we were going to get them next spring. However, it takes them about 6 months to start laying, which would mean we wouldn't have eggs until next fall. If we get them now, they will be laying by spring. Yay! Fresh easter eggs! So, we went to Home Depot, got a plastic tub and heat lamp for the chicks new nest. After a month, they'll go into the coop in the garage for a few months until they've gotten all of their feathers...then they're out to the backyard! I've ordered 1 Buff Orpington and 2 Rhode Island Reds. I really can't wait. I've been doing so much research on Backyardchickens.com, which has been a great resource. I'll post pics as soon as they arrive!

Kitchen prints

Spotted on Design Sponge a few days ago - John Holcomb's state-inspired food prints. Here are a few of my favorites:





I'm really wanting to fancy up our kitchen soon - just a few coats of paint and some new artwork will suffice until we have the funds for new cabinets and flooring. I think these are perfect for that!

To Utah!

Last week I was in Utah under different circumstances - rather than floating down rivers, I was there to look for venues for upcoming NWP events. Utah was in full fall bloom - the aspens were turning a golden yellow on highway 80 through the mountains of Park City, and snow was barely visible on the Uintahs. Our trip was quick - 2 days and 6 venues to visit. My favorite out of all of them was Sundance. I can't believe I've never visited there before (though I've been through Provo Canyon many times). The grounds were lush, the hills covered in grasses, and the pines were high up on the mountains. The accommodations were amazing (a no-brainer!), and I was surprised at how eco-friendly their practices are. I even came home with a recycled-glass handmade tile. I want to tile my bathroom with many of them!

I mean, what's not to love? Robert Redford lives there! (or so rumor has it)

Garden Love

I am LOVING my little garden and planter box! I've already picked tons of arugula, and the pumpkins and yellow neck squash are going wild. I don't know if the pumpkins will be ready for Halloween, but hopefully they will be ready for Thanksgiving (pumpkin pie anyone?)

aruuuuugula

squash/pumpkins galore

Turkey burg with garden tomatoes and arugula!