Social Media: Brands and Facebook

As some of you may know, I am in my final quarter of my MLIS program (woohoo!). I didn't coast out of the iSchool by any means; I'm signed up for 12 credits this quarter (in addition to my full-time job and my part-time job) and one of those classes is Strategic Management of Social Media. I've been learning about transitions from traditional marketing and outreach techniques to new, innovative social transmedia. This includes thinking about how to plan and implement a social media strategy, evaluate and reach your desired audience (even determine who your desired audience really should be), create meaningful content that engages consumers, and SOMETHING. You may have noticed that I've ramped up my Twitter presence and have been working to improve my blogs (this one and http://libraryoutloud.blogspot.com). Most of my efforts have been incorporating things that I've been learning. How have I been doing? Do you feel more engaged?

Anyway, one of our assignments is to write about how brands are leveraging Facebook to engage their customers. So here are my thoughts (which are informed primarily by our in-class discussions and lectures and Jeff Bullas' writings on his site). Let me know what you think!

Brands use Facebook in several ways, some more successfully than others. They are working to get their consumers engaged with them on Facebook's platform by trying to get them to post about them on their own walls, write comments and respond to the brand's post, "like" their page, and provide feedback. If you're on Facebook, I'm sure you've seen some of these efforts. They look like this:

Right smack-dab in the middle of your News Feed. But they're offering a deal! You have the opportunity to "Like" their post, comment on that post, even share it on your own wall or on your friends' walls. And it's easy for the consumer.

These promoted News Feed posts are a lot like standing on the sidewalk and shouting at your customers as they walk past with their friends. It's a bit jarring for the customer and it frequently goes more or less ignored, but sometimes you have something valuable to shout and your customer stops, listens, and, hopefully, engages.

In my opinion, the most successful brands are offering something in return. Sometimes it's a deal or a special offer. Many brands offer exclusive savings or giveaways to consumers who "Like" their page or leave a comment -- some way of visibly proclaiming to all their Facebook connections that they support the brand. Other times, the brand is offer superior, quality content and not just "advertising". They aren't sharing promotions or deals. They are sharing informative content that the consumer finds valuable in some way; it's entertaining or educational. This type of interaction with the consumer creates a more stable relationship than just clicking "Like" (a superficial metric if ever there was one) and if the content really is good, then you'll get repeat consumers who share your content with others.

What do you think? What have been your experiences with brands on Facebook?

Apartment Therapy January Cure: Assignments 8 - 12 - Party Planning (Not), Landing Strip, Media Fast (Not), Project, and Bedroom

This post starts out pretty negative, but gets better I promise!

Assignment 8: Get a Get-Together Together (Nope)

During January 31 - February 2 (or somewhere in early February), I'm supposed to be planning a party to celebrate the completion of my January cure. That just isn't going to happen. With two jobs, job interviews, full-time graduate level coursework, my new fitness regime (post coming soon...), and trying to maintain an outward semblance of sanity, I really don't have time to plan a party, let alone host one. So maybe I'll have my get together towards the end of March when I graduate, rather than right before midterms.

Assignment 9: Create a Landing Strip

Sort of like the Outbox is purgatory for things possibly going out of your home, a landing strip is a screen for things coming into your home. Rather than just dumping everything on the kitchen table and letting junk mail, un-needed receipts, your bag, your lunch tupperware, whatever accumulate, you have an organized area right when you come in where things go. Possibly most importantly, once your standard items (coat, keys, purse) get put in their spots, you are supposed to immediately filter the other stuff, like the mail you picked up on the way in. It all sounds terribly grown up and responsible...

Makes getting in the front door with grocery bags tough, but at least I'm not paying for sq. ft in the hallway...

My apartment is quite small and has a *very* narrow entrance. I sort of already have a landing strip; there are a few hooks inside the pantry, which is immediately to the right of the front door when you come in. This is where my keys, coat, and purse are supposed to go. Unfortunately, my pantry has been pretty much unusable because of the disorganization, but this has improved once I got the pantry organized!

Something I don't really have a landing strip for is other miscellaneous stuff. And my boots -- which I wear a lot, particularly during the fall, winter, and spring (anyone else from Seattle?) -- now live in a basket near the living room, which is practically the length of the whole apartment away from the front door. I'm working on getting a spot for them in my closet with the rest of my shoes, but that's even farther away. My mail still gets dumped on the kitchen table, as does anything else that isn't able to be hung up on one of those little hooks. I'm not sure what to do. Do I really need a space for this other stuff? How much other stuff do I really bring into the apartment? Something to think about in the coming weeks, I suppose.

Assignment 10: Try a Media Fast (Nope)

I would so love to do this, but this is totally unrealistic for me right now. The majority of my coursework (I'm studying to become a librarian) is online and with work and everything else, any spare moment that I have, I need to be online and listening to lectures, participating in discussions, or reviewing the reading. Maybe after I graduate, I can disconnect...

Assignment 11: Project Progress

Done! Mom came over and helped me go through the pantry this weekend. We went through all of the food and got rid of what I don't use and what was past date. The hooks that I use for my landing strip are available. The spices are alphabetized. All of my canning stuff is organized at the bottom of the pantry and my vacuum cleaner even has a spot for it now. I feel so relieved when I open the pantry now. I know what's in there and where it is. I can even step into the pantry to get to the stuff that is (organized) at the back and to the left of the closet!

TA-DA!

Who doesn't love alphabetized spices? Shelf-baskets are from the Container Store.

As a bonus, I also changed the light bulbs in the dining area. They are a different color than the rest of the light bulbs (they seem quite a bit brighter and ... whiter? more natural? I don't know) but they are what I have!

And I hung up the birdcage thing. I'm going to get some fake topiary stuff to stick in the bottom.

Birdcage from Molbak's.

Assignment 12: Flowers, Bedroom Cleaning, and Wardrobe Organizing

I washed all the pillows, swapped out the bedding for some lighter, spring blankets, and (thanks to my initial Outbox set up) have a tidy closet and wardrobe. I still want to vacuum, dust, and clean up the stuff that is hidden along the far side of the bed, but I think I'll have time to do that tomorrow. When I think of this area -- something I generally avoid doing -- I think of it as The Crevice. Actually, since I've finished my big January project, I think I will make finishing up the tasks in my bedroom the next project to tackle!

Some of this stuff has already been moved and put away... but not much.

I didn't make it to the store on Sunday (I have leftovers that should get me through the next few days) but when I do, I will be sure to post some more pictures of the flowers I get. The two bundles I got earlier this month are holding up pretty well and are still hanging around the apartment.

Apartment Therapy January Cure: Assignments 4 - 7 - Playing Catch Up

I've fallen a bit behind on my January Cure. This week was the first week of the quarter (I'm in my final quarter of library school!) and I really wanted to start school off smoothly so I spent a lot of time getting everything set up and ready. That means that this weekend, I'll be working on schoolwork and catching up on my January Cure!

Assignment 4: Set Up an Outbox

An Outbox is like purgatory for your apartment. It's a space (or box) dedicated to put things while their fate is being decided; keep or donate/sell? The things in your outbox should stay there for at least a week. The idea is that by placing them in this space, they lose their hold over their owner, allowing them to be disposed of free of guilt or other complicated, material-related emotions. My outbox is going to be mostly full of clothing, I suspect. Yeah, my giraffe t-shirt is super cute and I really like it, but it is too snug under the arms so I don't wear it. Nobody likes pinched armpits.

Anybody want to dibs this size Small giraffe t-shirt from Threadless.com?

My outbox is sort of tucked behind the couch, next to the sofa back table.

Assignment 5: Pick a Project to Cross Off Your List

The pantry. It's happening. I'm going to go through everything in there and organize it. I may need to get more shelves or hooks or something, but no matter the obstacle, by the end of this Cure, it will be organized.

As it is now...

How it will be! Hopefully. Maybe.

Assignment 6: Prep Artwork for Framing & Display

My friends Pete & Britt gave me this awesome frame filled with pictures of Curtis and me (and other friends too!) from their wedding for my birthday in September last year. I'm planning on taking the pictures out and putting them in some other frames that Curtis and I have and making some silhouette art of queen anne's lace or dandelions or something and putting it in the frame. Then I am either going to hang this on the wall above the stairway or at the foot of the stairs to the right of the TV. Pictures later.

Assignment 7: Flowers, Kitchen Organizing & Cleaning, Make a Meal

  

I am really not looking forward to cleaning out my fridge. What I am looking forward to is a pristine kitchen!

I have to admit, I'm also really looking forward to doing a new flower arrangement this weekend. Today is Saturday, so I won't go to the store until tomorrow, but I'll post pictures of my new arrangement then.

How is your Cure going?

Apartment Therapy January Cure: Assignment 3 - 10 Mindful Minutes

You know how at the end of a yoga practice, there are those 10 glorious minutes where you get to just lie there and take a little nap? That's sort of what this reflection was like. Granted, I didn't actually get the vacuuming done (surprise, surprise), but it was still nice to just sit and relax and think very specifically about one small thing.

For today's assignment, we are supposed to just sit somewhere in our apartment where we don't usually sit and think about that space from a new perspective. I sat right in my doorway, looking into my pantry. I actually spent most of it with my eyes closed because looking at it is sort of stressful. If you recall from my Assignment 1 post, it looks like this:

 
So instead, I imagined how it looked when I moved in and how I would like it to look.

Okay, really, I want it to look like this...

Maybe in a dark wood?

 ... but given some significant spatial and financial limitations, I think that is perhaps not very realistic.

I would like to get the cleaning supplies organized and the vacuum cleaner out of the way of the shelves. I would like the food to be organized and straightened up. Most importantly, I need to know what is actually in there, get rid of the old food, and make it easier to find what I am looking for. My spices are disorganized and I frequently come home with expensive bottles of spices that I already had or without the spice that I need that I thought was in the pantry, but wasn't. Right now, this space is just barely functional and it makes cooking more challenging.

You can't see it from the picture of my pantry, but the back and left of the closet is stuffed full of sweatshirts and coats and craft supplies (sewing mostly, but I have a light table back there too). To get to them, I have to climb over the pantry area at the front and crawl under all of the coats that are hanging up. It's a mess.

On the plus side, my flowers still look nice!

Apartment Therapy January Cure: Assignment 2 - Flowers & Floors

I had three assignments this weekend: buy flowers for the apartment, clean all of the floors, and stock up on cleaning supplies.

1. Buy Flowers
Arranging flowers is not one of my talents. When I have bought flowers in the past, I've always just bought a bunch of tulips and stuffed them in a vase. After reading Apartment Therapy's guide to picking out flowers from the grocery store (available here) I felt inspired. How did I do?

Besides the tips on how to pick fresh flowers from the store, there was also some advice for how to pick out a good combination: pick out the prettiest flowers you can find, something green, and something spiky, edgy, or slightly offbeat. For my main flower, I picked those purple fluffy ones. I thought the colors was really rich and pretty. Those leaves are my something green and the white flowers with all the petals in bunches are my something slightly offbeat. I also liked the white with the purple together, bright and colorful without being too summery.

2. Clean the Floors
Well, I cleaned the floors before Christmas...

I canned instead.

Lemon & Herb Garlic anyone?

I'll vacuum next week. Or at the end of the Cure. It seems like a lot of people prefer to do their floors last anyway. Maybe I'm one of those people?

3. Stock Up on Cleaning Supplies
I already had just about everything that I need, but I bought a scrub brush to scour my tub and some of Mrs. Meyer's surface scrub. I've never used her surface scrub, but I like her all-purpose cleaner, so I'll give it a shot.

I peeked at the Cure's agenda for tomorrow (calendar PDF here) and it looks like tomorrow is going to be pretty light in terms of workload. Maybe I'll vacuum then... Or try to get a jump on my schoolwork since tomorrow is the first day of my last quarter!

Apartment Therapy January Cure: Assignment 1 - Make a Project List

Okay. Every few months, Apartment Therapy does a "cure" program that helps guide you through updating your apartment's look, organization, or clutter in some way and ends with a party. I have signed up the last three? four? times and wussed out. I've been too busy, too cheap, too tired, or fallen too far behind on the program and given up, but NOT THIS TIME.

So, here it goes.

Date: Thursday, January 2
Today's Assignment: Create a Project List

Trouble Spots by Room
Highlighted problems are the ones I'm going to focus on fixing for this cure.

Hallway
- Nowhere to put stuff down when I come in
----- Solution: Apartment Therapy calls this a landing strip. I don't know. My apartment is tiny and the entryway is virtually nonexistent. I'm not sure how practical dedicating already limited space to a landing strip really is.
- Hall closet/pantry is a total disaster
----- Solution: This is the big one. I'm just going to have to go through everything. Organize the craft stuff that is stored in the way back and go through all of the food. I am really tired of this storage area not being usable. I suppose I could also take the packaging off of the wire shelves on the door.

The closet extends several feet to the left as well and is even harder to get to.

Kitchen
- Cupboards and drawers are unorganized
----- Solution: Organize cupboards. Throw out/donate food that is either old or I am never going to use. Tupperware drawer especially needs attention.
- Fridge and freezer need to be emptied, cleaned, and reorganized
----- Solution: Throw out old food, wash containers, wipe out fridge and freezer. Restock as necessary. 
- Tea collection needs to be organized
----- Solution: I need to get some nice containers for my loose leaf tea. Dust the shelves. Make labels for the tea. This has been on the mental to-do list for ages.
- Get hook for birdcage thing
----- Solution: Go to the grocery store and buy one of those sticky 3M hooks so I can hang up the birdcage topiary thing. Even though this is low-priority, it is so easy it will probably get done. We hope.

Dining Room
- Shelves underneath bar could be more organized
----- Solution: This is an "if-I-have-time" project. I need to go through my cookbooks and the small appliances that are stored here and figure out if there are better places for things or things I can get rid of. Also, I have a small shelf full of books on tape under here.. maybe a new home? It might also be nice to get a curtain or something to cover this area up... This area just isn't very nice to look at.
- Burned out light-bulbs
----- Solution: Replace light bulbs. There are two out in the overhead lighting.

Living Room
- Cable box needs to be set up
----- Solution: Get help moving shelves so I can actually plug the cable box in.
- Wires need to be organized
----- Solution: Get help moving shelves so I can actually organize the wires. This can be done at the same time that I get the cable box set up.
- Burned out light bulb
----- Solution: Replace light bulb. There is one out in the sofa back table lamp.
- Christmas stuff needs to be put away
----- Solution: For the decorations I need to buy some storage tubs (x3 for garlands, x1 for decorations and ornaments) and presents and stuff from my parents' house need to get put away.

Staircase
- Hang new frame from Pete & Britt
----- Solution: Make the paper art to go in the frame. Then I will need help actually hanging the frame.

Bedroom
- All the stuff on the far side of the room that is hidden by the bed...
----- Solution: Go through it and either put away or give away. There isn't that much really...And getting a new, sturdier and nicer bedside table would be fantastic. It's a really narrow space so I'll need to do some serious hunting to find something that will work.

Stuffed animals, iPad, clothes for Goodwill... Just needs tidying! A new bedside table would be nice too...

- Hang wooden art thing above bed
----- Solution:  Get picture hanging stuff (hooks and wire and nails) and get help hanging it.

That thing is currently perched on top of the bed frame.

- Do something about plants
----- Solution: Get the plants back from Mom and try not to kill them. Get a new plant for the small round container.

Bathroom
- Shelves could stand to be reorganized.
------ Go through shelves and throw out what I don't need or use and tidy up.

Eh, good enough... This project is on the long list.

Porch
- Tear out dead plants (dead from natural causes; I didn't kill these. They are annuals, I swear!)
----- Solution: I'm going to wait until it is warmer. It's cold outside. Then tear out the plants and see if Mom will help me pick out and plant new ones for spring.

To sum up, I want to organize the pantry, replace the light bulbs, hang up some art, and get the entertainment center fully functional and organized. Okay? Okay!

Wanna play along? Sign up for the cure HERE.

Apartment Therapy Style Cure: Day 2 (Weekend)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/117157676/peace-queen-annes-lace-looking-glass?ref=col_view

The weekend's assignment is to go out (or online if you're busy) and get some inspiration photos. In all their glory...

http://pinterest.com/kristinemarie54/style-cure-august-2013/ 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/97858571/set-of-three-seed-head-candle-lights?ref=col_view

I'll probably keep adding to this pin board through out the project, but this is what I've got now. You'll notice that there is jewelry and other non-home stuff on this board too. I figured I'd just pin anything that I liked and liked the idea of my apartment having a similar feel.

Let me know what you think :-)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/116079210/sugar-bowl-jar-aqua?ref=col_view

I'm also planning on updating my bedroom. Maybe not so much updating it as finishing it...

Apartment Therapy Style Cure: Day 1

I have been so busy I can't even remember the last time I posted here. (Apparently it was April. And then before that October...) I am still working full-time at Nordstrom and have accepted a second, part-time job as a librarian at a retirement community and I am in my last year of library school. I'm also trying to have some semblance of a social life... This past month has been especially challenging because of the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. Very exciting, but also means increased stress and increased workload for the reporting team. I am really looking forward to a morning where I wake up and the first thing I do *isn't* log onto my computer.

As a treat for myself and to help make my apartment a little more filled in and finished, I've signed up for Apartment Therapy's Style Cure. Apartment Therapy is a neat little website full of great ideas for your home, whether a teeny tiny apartment or three bedroom house. Every once in a while, they do these "Cures" that are essentially month-long intensives that help you focus on one or two problems in your home and fix them. Last January, the Cure was focused on de-cluttering and organizing your home. I was busy moving then and some of the steps were out of my budget so participating didn't really work out. This Cure has to do with finishing up those unfinished areas and working towards a unified style in your home. I'm looking forward to coming home to a more put-together space.

Each day, there is a new post from Apartment Therapy with instructions on what to do that day (or that weekend). Day 1 was pretty easy. I just had to fill out a little "style quiz". While some of the questions seemed a bit silly and I left blank (favorite restaurant?) I get that they were on there to help hone in on what style I really like best. I thought the most useful questions were focused on what rooms I already liked best. Anyway, here's the quiz and my answers:

• List your favorite in each category: (This part was tough! I don't really have favorites...)


• Actor: George Clooney?
• Actress:
• Artist:
• Writer: Connie Willis? Guy Gavriel Kay? Neil Gaiman? Jane Austen?
• Music: Singer-song writer?
• Restaurant: New places! Gastropubs especially.
• Automobile: Classic Bentley (Or, you know, anything from the first half of the twentieth-century that probably comes with a chauffeur...)
• Movie or TV Show: Downton Abbey? Buffy the Vampire Slayer? American Beauty? Bridget Jones' Diary? Pride and Prejudice? Dr. Who?
• Clothing:
• Furniture:
• Choose three words to describe your personal style.
• Clean lines, feminine & occasionally floral, classic
• Think back over all the homes you've lived in. Which rooms would you choose as your favorites and how would you describe them? 
• The basement in Walla Walla: cozy, organized, everything went together, distinct spaces, room to entertain, tidy, no "junk" just hanging out
• Whom do you consider a role model? What three adjectives describe the qualities that you admire in this person?

• Kate Middleton? Put together, Classy, Infinitely presentable
• Every home as areas that are "just right". Which three spots or things in your home do you feel are beautiful and feel proud of, right now, as is?
• Couch, sofa back table, votive candle holder, and mirror
• Porch (but maybe needs lights?)
• A month from now, at the end of the Style Cure, how would you like your friends to describe your home?
• Put-together and classy, but not stuffy and too formal. I still want people to feel like they can sit on the furniture.

I'll work on getting some Before pictures up here as well. Looks like I'll be doing some cleaning...

Cookie A & Elizabeth

I just got home from a lovely evening spent with Elizabeth -- fellow librarian and knitting conspirator -- and I am exhausted! Our Cookie A packages arrived this week so we got together to open them and cast on for our new socks. I'm pretty excited... I'll have another post about the Cookie A sock club and April's shipment coming soon, but for now, good night!

Here I Am

It has been a doozy of a few months. I've gone on a vacation to Disneyland, taken a quarter off from library school, been ill, broke up with Curtis, moved to a new city, started knitting socks, got back together with Curtis, got promoted, started working out (Jillian Michaels), joined a co-ed soccer team, had my debit card information stolen by some butthead in the UK, and have seriously started considering a career change from corporate information management and analytics type jobs to public librarianship. My life has been topsy turvy and not always in the fun, colorful way that makes you think of chaotic circus routines involving sequins and somersaults (though maybe it does...)

So here I am, on Capitol Hill, in my bed on a rainy Sunday, thinking about getting some tea and how exactly I want to start revamping my Library Out Loud blog and how long I think it would take me to finish knitting my socks (four hours?).

My first pair of socks ever!

Accomplished!

It's Monday night, day one of spring quarter and I feel so accomplished! I've read one article, listened to two lectures, printed two more articles to read tomorrow on the bus, and emailed my group for the projects for LIS 530. And I'm going to bed before 10:30am.  Hah Hah! This semester will be organized and non-procastinating.

My APR for Nordstrom is tomorrow morning too. Hopefully that will go well! :-) I think I do a great job and I haven't received any feedback to the contrary...

Not accomplished = knitted golf club covers for Daddy. I MUST finish those this weekend! Determination!

To Do...

Sometimes making to-do lists makes me feel better about all of the things that I need to accomplish before a deadline.  Since it's been a while since I've posted, I thought I would make my to-do list public.  This should give you a pretty good sense of what's going on in my life...

By November 21 @ 11:45pm Done!
- 7 to 10 pages on the information behavior of Mrs. de Winter from Rebecca (1940). [0 pages written, but I have a plan!]

By November 23 Done!
- get groceries for Thanksgiving Mac & Cheese


By November 24 @ 12:00pm Done!
- get macaroni and cheese into crockpot and prepare for Thanksgiving in general

By November 28 Done!
- complete group project on information behavior of locavores (website, VoiceThread, executive summary)

By December 12 @ 11:45pm Done!
- reflection paper

By December 15 Done!
- Knit a pair of fingerless gloves (for my mother for a gift) Done!
- Knit a pair of fingerless gloves (for my mother for a gift) Done!
- Knit a hat (for my mother for a gift) Done!

By December 16 Done!
- All the course work for INFX 502 and INFX 503 [as of right now, 11 3 assignments] 

By December 20 Done!
- Knit a pair of fingerless gloves (commissioned)  

By December 24
- Knit a sweater vest for Jack (original one frogged. New pattern, new yarn, new outlook on life in general)
- Finish Daddy's golf club covers [2.5 knit, 2.5 to go and finishing]

By December 31
- Get "Alyssa's Diamond Mitts" revised pattern out to the lovely women who test knit for me

By December 31 @ 11:59pm failed
- Read 9 8 more books (or 18 16 more audiobooks)... looks like this goal won't be met this year. *sigh* {read 25 books in 2011; audiobooks count as 1/2}

By January 1
- Finish blanket for apartment... new year's present to us! 

By January 15 Done!
- Finish baby set (shrug and booties) for friend at work who is due in February

And apparently I have to keep going to work.  This doesn't look that bad! I can't definitely get all of this done.

Oh man.

It seems that having a real life is a major time drain...

I'm going to bed.

Strawberries!

Today Curtis and I went to the Strawberry Festival in Bellevue! Despite my sunburn, I had a lovely time.  There were all sorts of neat things to look at and live music and, of course, strawberries!  Curtis and I left with 12 pints of strawberries.  Not surprisingly, I am quite pleased.

We also got a caricature of us done (by Over the Line Productions). Since I forgot my camera (how could I possibly forget my camera?!?!) I think it's particularly fun to have. Check out Gumshoe Curtis and Femme Fatale Kristine!

I am a little uncertain as to the accuracy of our 1940's apparel, but whatever, it's still fun.

No camera also means I didn't get to take pictures of some of the things people were making for the festival.  I got a lot of neat ideas (without stealing others', I promise) just looking at the work that other people were doing. Knitted applique flowers on sewn handbags? I think so. Also, I've been thinking about making little knitted flowers to wear as hair accessories, but I wasn't quite sure how the best way to wear them would be. I was thinking of maybe wrapping them around bobby pins and gluing them in place (have I mentioned yet that I desperately want a glue gun?) but didn't think that was going to last very long. A woman at the festival knitted in a hair tie (rubber band thingy) into her flower. No glue, no pins, just a hair tie with a flower! Genius.

Apartment box countdown: 1 in the living room (small, full of cleaning supplies); 1 in the bedroom (small, full of things I don't know what to do with... my diploma??). That's it. So close! Curtis just has the curtain rod in the bedroom and a bathroom cabinet left to install and that's it! YouTube video of the apartment coming soon!

Headbands and Interviews

Kim S. will be happy to hear that I've finished her headbands!
Pictures can be seen below and they are also on display in my Etsy shop!
If you're interested in commissioning a headband (these colors, other colors, another design?), send me an email at knittinsmitten@gmail.com.

"Emerald City & White" (top) and "Aporto & White" (bottoms)

Ready to ship!

I haven't been getting a lot of knitting done recently because of the move-in (significant progress has been made, but still not there yet... I'm getting a little worn out from all the organizing) and because I've been looking for a job. Since I'm starting my master's program this September in library and information science, I've been trying to find jobs that are applicable to my studies and future career. I haven't been looking for very long, but I already wish I could just show up and get an interview. I'm tired of typing in the same information about my employment and academic history into those online forms that only let you have 50 characters to describe your skills and responsibilities. 

I do have two interviews pending (one is tomorrow at 11am!) for "big girl" jobs (one with an online retailer and one with a property management company) and have one job offer from a clothing store in the Bellevue Square mall. Depending on how things work out, I might try to do one full-time job and one part-time job over the summer until my classes start and then drop the part-time job. We'll see how things work out though; 40 hours a week might be more exhausting than I anticipate. When they say they offer vacation, they mean paid vacation, right?

Apartment Update

It seems I've been neglecting Peasblossom for nearly the past two weeks! Shame on me. I've been ridiculously busy unpacking and organizing and somehow it seems like I haven't accomplished much. I haven't even really been knitting, let alone sewing... no where to put the sewing machine yet! Despite all the work, I still haven't finished moving into the apartment; I only have three boxes in the living room (plus two full of Curtis's things) and two boxes in the bathroom and then I can return all of the cardboard to my mom.

But at least the kitchen is all done! We even have clean dishes, as you can see on the right.

Last weekend Curtis and I renovated our closet. I wish I had taken a "before" picture. It was basically unusable. Our closet is a walk-in that is approximately 5' by 5' with the door (a single fold-out) off-center. Whoever lived here before us must not have had much in the way of closet-fillers, because he/she installed a single shelf at shoulder height (using a plethora of anchors and approximately 8-million screws and plastic clip things... a mega-pain to uninstall) along the left wall and the back wall. The way the shelf was set up, there was no where for folded clothes at all and Curtis couldn't even fit all of his hanging things up. There was absolutely no room for anything of mine... Everything I had was piled up along the wall in the bedroom.

Now we have five shelves along the left wall, two shelves with hanger rod things on the back wall, and a shoe organizer thing from Ikea on the right wall. [Pictures coming soon.] All of my clothes fit in the closet and Curtis gets the top hanger rod thing plus the dresser that is out in the bedroom. I am pleased. With that installed it really feels like I might actually be able to finish moving in. All of my knitting stuff and sewing things fit in the closet too, which is a much better place for them than in the hall closet. Now we can hang our coats up too. It's still kind of a mess in the bedroom closet, but at least the clothes have somewhere to go now.

We have a magnetic knife rack now and two towel rods in the bathroom (all installed yesterday). Curtis fixed the toilet paper dispenser, the smoke alarm (it had come out of the ceiling), the dining chairs, and the toilet seat.  We have one large load ready to go to Goodwill (a shelf thing, the shelves from the closet, two bags of clothes and knick-knacks we don't want/don't fit), and a medium load to go to storage/Curtis's aunt's house.

Other than unpacking and cleaning, I feel like I've spent most of my time in the apartment cooking. I've made a whole bunch of meals and tried several new recipes and made several tried and true ones.
- crock pot macaroni & cheese (new)
- french onion Salisbury steak (new for me, but mom has made before)
- black bean burgers (new, not all that successful)
- spaghetti bake
- stuffed bell peppers
- freezer-to-oven pizza (haha)
- brown lentil & pasta soup (new)
- lamp chops with Greek yogurt & mint sauce (new)
- baby argula salad with chevre and walnuts and vinegar-y dressing
Pretty good for $60/week for groceries for two people (went a little over for the lamb chops, which yielded no left-overs) and only having been here for about three weeks.

I'm going to go putter around the apartment and see how much I can get done in an hour. I'm pretty unmotivated (I don't get much done on Sundays, it seems) so I'll probably just get sucked into playing DDR again... best/worst present ever.

New Apartment! (And Some Graduation Photos)

Here I am in Bellevue, huddled at my desk while the sounds of battle rage around me. Swords clash, guns explode, and everyone is shouting, grunting, groaning.

Curtis, supposedly trying to get some work done on his
accounting class.

Or it's Sunday and Curtis is playing some role-playing monster-defeating game on the PlayStation.

Either way, I'm mostly moved into the new apartment in Bellevue! I officially moved out of Walla Walla last Monday (May 23, 2011) and have been moving into the apartment since then. It's been a very, very long week. My mom came and helped me on Tuesday and we plowed through almost all of the boxes, but now I'm stuck with all of the things that I don't quite know what to do with. And the closet. It's sort of a disaster area, but it's obvious (to me) that a lot of progress has been made.

Also, as I'm sure you guessed, the blanket for the apartment that I hoped to have done so I could move in with it... not done. I'm hoping by July 4.

Once everything is set up, I'm going to try to make a little video of the apartment and I'll upload it to YouTube. For now, you'll have to be satisfied with these pictures of the mess.

Kitchen. The sink is in the middle of this island. Can you see it? Me neither.

Living/Dining area.

Living/Dining Area.

Front Door and Kitchen.

Bedroom. We now have a bed frame, bedside tables, and the nice bedding. New pictures later.

Bathroom. We desperately need some shelves.

I suppose I should also put some graduation photos up here, though I think my dad has most of them on his camera. But here I am, in all my graduation glory:

Whitman! Here's to You!

I'm the hat second from the right.

I'm the hat second from the right. Again.

Aaaaaand.... Diploma!

So that's all my news for the past two weeks. I've been packing and cleaning in Walla Walla (I get my whole deposit back!), graduating, and unpacking and cleaning in Bellevue. I'm sure there will be more graduation and apartment pictures soon.

Queen of Minor Maladies

I'm finally better! I'm left with just a little allergic cough (thanks Walla Walla!) and have mostly gotten my sleep cycle back on track. I've been able to go to my classes and work again, just in time for the end of the semester. This means that I'm back into knitting-shape and have been working diligently on some commissioned headbands (thanks Sami & Katie!), but have been struggling against the Velcro.

That's right. I said Velcro. One of the worst substances in existence for a knitter because it catches and pulls and ruins the fibers. Now I'm fighting a daily battle against it since it's what keeps my wrist brace on.

Wrist brace? Yepp. Because I have tendinitis. From knitting too much. Apparently it really can happen.

I've been working on coming up with a better story (I fell on it climbing over a fence after I saved a baby from a rabid dog?) but it seems my friends know me too well. Most of them haven't even had to ask what happened; they already know. Maybe this injury gives me some knitting street cred.

I have to wear the brace for about three more weeks and then see how it goes from there. The brace is slowing my knitting down considerably, but I'm still chugging along. Sami's headband is almost done (in teal and off-white) and I'll post pictures of the finished product tomorrow or Tuesday.

Knitted Royalty

Who wouldn't want their own knitted Pembroke Welsh Corgi?  Other than people without children and those against pet-related kitsch, I fail to see how this couldn't be universally popular. And look! I found a pattern for one! This pattern is available for *free* here so if you want to knit your own little Corgi all you need is a little bit of yarn and stuffing.

I don't remember exactly how I stumbled across this pattern, but what is possibly even more fantastic is the collection to which this Corgi belongs. This little knitted Corgi is meant to represent one of the more than 30 Corgis that Queen Elizabeth has owned... and they are part of quite an event.

As I'm sure you've all heard, Prince William and Kate Middleton are getting married TODAY (and probably already are married... time zone differences and whatnot). Memorabilia abounds (check out this video) and knitters should not be and, thankfully, are not left out.

Fiona Goble has written and published Knit Your Own Royal Wedding, which is available for sale (though I don't know if it ships to the US) from The Guardian Bookshop.

If you're interested in more information (and pictures and videos!!) about Prince William and Kate's wedding, here's the website.

If you do end up knitting your own wedding party, please take some pictures and send them to me at knittinsmitten@gmail.com. I'd love to see them and I'll post them here on my website!

Congrats to Prince William and Kate!

Mystery Illness

Symptoms:

1. Really sore throat, hard to swallow and almost no voice
2. Headache
3. Fatigue
4. Fever (chills, too hot and too cold at the same time)
5. Ringing/Aching ears
6. Back aches
7. Tight back and chest

Strep throat? Nope. Flu? Nope. Ear/Sinus infections? Nope. Mono? Nope. TB? Nope. 

Bubonic Plague? Maybe.

Diagnosis? "The Whitman College Crud" (quote from the nurse at school).

Not particularly inspiring and the cure is to take Tylenol and wait it out. So here I am, spending day four in bed. Today I went to class (one class.. my only class on Wednesdays) and it completely wore me out. I don't really remember the content of the class (I know what story we talked about at least) and I'm relatively certain my contributions weren't worth much. My professor commented that I looked "heavily medicated". Great.

I suppose the biggest symptom -- the one that should tell everyone just how completely lousy I feel -- is that I've felt too tired and out of it to knit. This might be the longest I've gone since I started knitting without knitting at least a little. 

Here is a list of things I accomplished while I was sick (because I like lists).

• An outline and annotated bibliography for a research paper for "Art Since 1945"
• Watched all of "Harper's Island"
• Ran the dishwasher

And that's it. I did pass my orals last week though! I'm super glad that I got that out of the way before I got sick; I don't think I could have passed in my current condition. So big hooray for completing senior requirements!

On the plus side, Kelsey G. bought the Swirly Headband in "Yakima" today! Woo! Hopefully she'll take some pictures when she wears it so I can post them here.