Organized Chaos

Meet my kids

Meet Plato (top) and Sophie.  A big addition to our family since I posted last (eons ago, I know). They are mischevious, crazy, insane, happy and oh so lovable. You would think having two insane dogs combined with my own insanity would make a person go completely nuts, but they actually keep me grounded. Usually.  Depends on what day you're asking.

I love how hyper they are (again, usually).  I love the way Sophie curls into a ball to go to sleep, or the way she plops herself down right against me when she wants to relax, as if she doesn't have an ounce of energy left in her. I love it when they run up to me while i'm scrapbooking as if to check up on me, then run back outside to play. I love the way Plato's tail is constantly wagging and how it sometimes hits Sophie in the face because she's at the perfect level yet she doesn't even seem to notice.  I think it's hilarious how they always fight over the same bone even if there's another one just a foot away. I love the way they are so eager to greet me when I come home, that I feel like a rockstar. I love how Sophie's high-strung yet loving personality reminds me of myself and Plato is just like Jerry- goofy, clumsy and easygoing.

Pssst

Yes, I'm alive.  I'm doing well, but more on me later.  How you been? 

All sorts of news!

I had x-rays done on my hand and everything looks normal! So far it just looks like tendonitis that I didn't take seriously enough to rest it the first time around. I'm being better about it this time, as you can see from my lack of updating this thingymajigger.  It's still not 100% better, but I can type for a good half hour before it starts to hurt- ahh progress! I have no doubt that within a month i'll be as good as new. Thank you for being SO patient with me on email and facebook!  It feels like I owe a million people, emails.

I think I mentioned joining the college newspaper but I just want to say i'm LOVING IT!  Deadlines are crazy but it's a whirlwind of fun. Oh! And I get to do the advice column, too!

I have a couple of classes in the works but everything is sort of on hold as it looks like an avalanche invaded my scrap desk.  I don't even want to begin to think about cleaning it.  I'll probably have photos for the projects next week.

I'm going to be helping out with Ever After's blog!  I know, you're thinkin' this is probably going to mean even less updating here, but I have a feeling it will force me to blog regularly.  Ghia will be helping me and she don't mess around! =)

I'm suddenly horribly, insanely addicted to garage sales. Yes, it's that bad.

So.  Nothing's confirmed yet and I don't want to SAY ANYTHING and risk jinxing things.  So i'll just post a photo and leave it at that.  Draw from that what you will. =)

Happy weekend everyone! ♥

After these messages, we'll be right back (remember that 80's cartoon jingle between commercials? anyone?)

i'm not sure whether i mentioned this somewhere in my last few posts, but i hurt my wrist about a month ago.  the doctor said that it's tendonitis and put me on anti-inflamatories for a few weeks.  it was starting to feel better but this week it suddenly took a turn for the worse.  i can barely move my left wrist without screaming out in pain.  it's fun, because i've sort of turned it into a game where i like to see just how much i can push myself before i break out into a sweat.  turns out it doesnt take much.  don't feel sorry for me- this is what i get for not taking it easy, lifting things i shouldn't and not wearing my brace for the prescribed length of time. basically this all translates to i need to take a break from internet activity for a while.  well, i fib.  i still haven't taken a break from shopping for stuff i don't need on ebay because hey, that only requires the use of a mouse for me to click "buy it now!"  other than that, however, i can barely respond to email, post on my blog or chat on AIM without being subjected to an immense amount of pain (this should also explain the lack of capital letters in this post- those require two hands).  so... i apologize for my absence for a bit.  know that i'm thinking of you. hope everyone is well.

xo

casey

Quoted

Today's quote is actually courtesy of my dear friend Kimmie. 
Basically, I stole it from her blog. ;)

"If you want to be successful, be excellent.
If you want the best the world has to offer,
offer the world your best." -Oprah

Quoted

A quote from an odd and a-bit-out-there but quirky-funny movie that a friend of mine forced me to watch a few years ago and which I somehow found myself in love with for its sheer brilliance.

You don't appreciate the chaos and absurdity of life on this planet. You don't understand irony, or ethnicity, or eccentricity, or poetry, or the simple joy of being a regular at the diner on your block. I love that. You don't drink coffee or alcohol. You don't over eat. You don't cry when you're alone. You don't understand sarcasm. You plod through life in a neat, colorless, caffeine free, dairy free, conflict free way. I'm bold and angry and tortured and tremendous and I notice when someone has changed their hair part, or when someone is wearing two very distinctly different shades of black or when someone changes the natural temperment of their voice on the phone. I don't give out empty praise. I'm not complacent or well-adjusted. I can't spend fifteen minutes breathing and stretching and getting in touch with myself. I can't spend three minutes finishing an article. I check my answering machine nine times every day and I can't sleep at night because I feel that there is so much to do and fix and change in the world, and I wonder every day if I am making a difference and if I will ever express the greatness within me, or if I will remain forever paralyzed by muddled madness inside my head. I've wept on every birthday I've ever had because life is huge and fleeting and I hate certain people and certain shoes and I feel that life is terribly unfair and sometimes beautiful and wonderful and extraordinary but also numbing and horrifying and insurmountable and I hate myself a lot of the time. The rest of the time I adore myself and I adore my life in this city and in this world we live in. This huge and wondrous, bewildering, brilliant, horrible world.

-Jessica, from Kissing Jessica Stein

Hit the Books

School started this week and despite the fact that I felt jipped for being busy over the summer break, I'm really looking forward to the semester ahead. I'm even thinking of writing for the school newspaper. It'll throw a bit more chaos into the mix but I'm excited for the challenge. I have a great group of professors- my favorite being English, though I MAY actually enjoy math this semester. Anyhow, while things have suddenly been kicked up a notch, I'm making progress in the email department.  If I owe you an email, look for a response over the next few days. =) 

p.s. What do you think of my new glasses? Last semester I had a hard time seeing the board and decided to get it checked out- turns out I need glasses for school. ♥   

A Few of My Favorite Things

Here's what I'm crushing on lately:

• Facebook.  Thank you, Emily, for introducing me to what can only be deemed as a horribly intense addiction.  I no longer call my friends.. I simply prefer to leave them messages online. With that said, if you have a profile, hit me up!
• Cameos. I remember often admiring my grandmother's peach-colored cameo as a child, running my fingers over the ornate carvings, despite the fact that I've never really had a fascination with frilly, eccentric things.  That seems to have changed as of late, seeing as how I've recently added 70+ cameos to my scrapbooking supplies. Obsessed much?
• As if cameos weren't enough, I've discovered an affinity for anything vintage, especially Victorian.  I'm going to blame part of this on my San Francisco roots as well as the history class I took over the summer.  A friend of mine (thanks, Janelle!) showed me this book by artist Anna Corba and I fell instantly in love.

• Still running with the vintage theme; I heart wooden spools. At the scrapbook Expo in Atlanta, there was a tiny booth that sold vintage things, as well as wooden spools in a variety of sizes.  I actually didn't buy any that weekend- something I've kicked myself over ever since. I've rectified that by acquiring a bazillion of them since then.  Basically, look for an upcoming class involving these.
• I want this lamp.  Bad.

• Anything woodgrain. Hambly and Love, Elsie have both done papers in this pattern and I find that I simply can't get enough.  It screams 70's to me, in an oh-so-cool way.
• Yoohoo! Yes, the drink and yes, this one definitely came out of nowhere.  I don't particularly like sweets, especially chocolate. And yet..  I can't get enough.
• I need this phone.  It's imperative to my survival. I'm CONVINCED it will change my life.

That's all for now. Carry on.  ♥

Quoted

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.

-Pablo Picasso

House Hunters

Owl Doormat from Pottery Barn

Yes, we are in the market for a home! We've only been looking for the last 3 weeks and we've already seen a handful of homes that have piqued our interest.  We want to stay here in Oceanside (possibly Vista) since J's job and both of our schools will keep us here for the next few years. He graduates in December but wants to immediately start working towards a second bachelor's as a way to kill time before he applies to for the MBA program at Stanford.  He dreams of Stanford, I dream of living in the Bay Area again.  le sigh. As it turns out, though, i'm a total girl when shopping for a house.  I try to look past the cosmetic stuff and yet.. I can't help but feel the pull.  Despite how stressful the process can be, we've found ourselves in fits of laughter every now and again over so many things.  Gotta have humor, right? Here's a peek into our crazy world..

I happened to see this home first without Jerry.  I was really excited afterwards and tried to sell my description to him..

Me: It's HUGE!  There's THREE bathrooms! And an office off of the bedroom!

J: Wow.  What's the yard like?

Me: It sits on almost half an acre! And it has an outdoor kitchen!  AND, AND! it has BANANA TREES!

J: Ahh (as if my desire for this house has just become crystal clear to him). Banana trees, huh?  You want that house just because of the banana trees, don't you.

Me: (sheepishly) Well..

J: I'm SO not buying a house with you.

♥