Amazonite & Gold

I've been working on a few new jewelry pieces over the summer. This one I made a few weeks ago. To me, it has a vintage-y feel to it, but the asymmetric design keeps it modern. The cloudy blue stones are amazonite, and that's a burgundy pearl in the back for a little interest. All the metal is 24k GF.

Oy. I'm using the decapitated neck display. I didn't want to get one of these at first--they're a little creepy to have around the apartment, if you know what I mean. But it actually worked really well for the May jewelry show, especially for pieces like this so you can see how it is supposed to hang. More new jewelry pix to come soon!

Hello Sunshine!

A lovely and rare sunny day in the TP. Here, Oliver and Rusty enjoy warming up in the little rays of sunshine we get in our apartment. I love the first picture! It looks like Rusty's smiling and Oliver is goofing for the camera! On the right, Olive takes a little lie-down while Russ keeps a watchful eye out.

I'm really appreciative of the good times like these. Pigs are such delicate creatures. We got a pretty harsh reminder of this a few months ago. We found out that Oliver's back molars were overgrown due to malocclusion, which is when bottom and top molars don't line up. Since guinea pig teeth continuously grow, pigs need to be able to gnaw and chew in order to wear their teeth down. When they can't do it naturally, that's when the vets (and vet bills!) come in.

This all happened shortly after our San Diego trip. Oliver's appetite was down, and he was getting slim. He was also in obvious pain: his eyes were teary and he had an all-over sad, hunched demeanor. When we got him to the vet, it turned out that (on top of the tooth problems) Oliver had contracted pneumonia due to pain and stress. So we had to treat that first with antibiotics before the vet could anesthetize him for the tooth trim. Luckily we have a wonderful, smart, experienced exotic vet in SF, Dr. Herman. She said that Oliver's back teeth were so overgrown that they were touching in the middle and trapping his tongue underneath, which prevented him from swallowing. And, because his teeth weren't occluding, there were a few long, sharp points on his teeth that were poking him in the cheek and tongue, causing lacerations! Poor thing was in so much pain before the tooth trim.

So Dr. Herman got Oliver all treated and trimmed up, and a few days later we were able to bring him home. His recovery was slow. We were really worried about him--he wasn't bouncing back very well at all. He wasn't eating on his own and lost a LOT of weight. The BF and I were up til the wee hours every night and waking up at dawn every morning for two/three weeks so we could assist-feed him Critical Care (a powder from the vet that we mixed with water, formed into a mash, stuck into a needle-less syringe, and squirted down the pig's throat). It's messy and feels like you're torturing the poor thing, but it really was the only thing keeping him alive. We averaged about 50cc a day of Critical Care, and still Oliver was losing weight. He was down to about 860g and looked anorexic. And believe me, the Nicole Richie-look is NOT a good look for pigs!

Miraculously, Oliver started eating on his own again. He's had one tooth trim since May and is due for another one on Monday. He has to go to the vet's every month for a tooth trim. I always get a little (more like a lot!) worried whenever he's up for another trimming. I drop him off in the morning, and the vets keep him there for the day. I think I worry the most about the anesthesia, which is always a risk. But lately Oliver's feeling really good, he's happy, and his weight is way up (almost 1100g!). Rusty helps out by keeping Oliver company and scampering about the apartment together, not to mention he's put on some serious "sympathy grams" too. (Russ is up to 1250g and he's not even a year old!) They're buddies and are inseparable.

(Left: Rustopher Jones hangs out under the dining table, while M. Olivier gives us his best side; Right: Two pigs and a banana.)

And yes, Sting is still hot.

Last night we saw Elvis Costello and The Police at Shoreline. It f'n rocked. If you can believe it, Elvis was the opener! It was a bit sad, actually, him up there playing while it was still daylight, people milling around, not taking their seats, chatting and eating nachos while up on stage it's ELVIS F'N COSTELLO! I mean, come on. He deserves better than that. Sting popped up on stage with him for a duet during "Alison," then Elvis finished up with "Peace, Love, and Understanding."

Once The Police got up on stage, all the uber fans started going apesh*t. Everyone (all 12,000 of us) were standing up and dancing around, even the peeps on the lawn (who I think end up having the most fun, if all the funny smoke wafting down was any indication). They played all their classic hits, including my faves "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "Every Little Thing She Does." Overall, a pretty MF epic concert. Weee oohhhhhh!

Happy 5th of July!

Mmm. There is no tastier way to celebrate the 5th of July than with cherry pie. Emma made these gorgeous cherry pies from scratch. Twelve pies in three days (oh, all while taking care of her three-and-a-half-year-old son and three-month-old daughter). She's so fancy in the kitchen. Knowing better than to attempt this on my own, I stuck to what I'm good at: tasting. And man was it good! Thanks Em!! (As I write this, the BF is currently on his second piece...)


I will leave you with a shot of Ocean Beach taken today--surprisingly not foggy!

RyanBaby Turns One!

My nephew Ryan celebrated his first bday last weekend. It was a good ol' fashioned bbq/picnic in the park. Lotsa other kids, friends, and eats makes for a good time! Here he is just before he decided to wear his birthday cake. Later, it was a dip in the pool to cool off. I don't mean to sound like some deranged, biased auntie, but Ryan really IS the cutest baby ever, don't you think?

OK, so to commemorate his passage into single-digits, I decided to stencil some tee shirts, you know, big boy tees. That's right--no more onesies! Since the whole fam loves soccer (and they have a foosball table), I decided to create a foosball stencil. I found an image of a little foosball player online and printed it out 3x to sort of hobble together a basic picture. From there I took some artistic liberties and created a stencil. As usual, I used shirts from American Apparel. Even got fancy with my crafty self and used three colors this time!

Now, birthdays are special moments worth celebrating, and this got me thinking, what does a baby wear on those more formal occasions? You know, like when he really needs to impress the ladies? Well, then it dawned on me: a stenciled tee with a gold chain and clock a la Flava Flav! Obviously.

In the same way that I created the foosball stencil, I found some examples of chains online and a picture of a clock. From there I put together my own drawing, making sure to draw the chain so that it fit around the neck hole. Of course, for the full effect, you can't forget to do the back of the shirt! So, am I crazy? Please fill out the poll!

Sprucing Up in the TP

It takes a lot to get me out of bed before 9am on a Saturday. Hell, me being up before noon on any given weekend is just shy of a miracle. So if I'm going to get up, it had better be good. And for a good cause. And I'd better get a free bagel out of it too, dammit. Well, every so often, the unlikely happens and I wake up early. Through Hands on Bay Area, the BF and I get a chance to do good and spruce up our neighborhood. Twin Peaks is the second highest hill in SF, draws a lot of tourists at the lookout area up top, and is literally our backyard. HoBA volunteers team up with REI and the SF Recreation and Park Department to clean up and restore the hilltop, which is the indigenous home to lots of plants and wildlife, but most notably to the endangered Mission Blue Butterfly. Basically, we spend about 3-4 hours pulling weeds. The first time we did it, it was cold, wet, and extremely windy. My hands and feet were frozen and my knees were soaked and muddy. This last time was the polar opposite. It was unseasonably hot weather and, tugging at those roots, we were sweatin' big time. The BF even busted a shoe. It sounds miserable from the way I've described it, but it's actually a lot of fun. We learn a lot about the local animal, bird, and plant life, and we get to meet cool people who live in the area too. It's a pretty satisfying feeling--toiling away and then taking a look around you. You get to see how much you've accomplished and how different the landscape looks. Definitely worth getting up early for on a Saturday morning.



1. Snapped a few of the other volunteers; 2. Tugging at those pesky radishes; 3. Filet of sole (the BF's busted shoe); 4. Looking up the hillside.