Current favorite kitty links

Maru's blog (the comments under each picture and video are the best)







The trials and travails of Winston and his side kick, Rudy.










Cute Overload! (Repository of all things cute, animal-related)








Junku's Flickr Photostream: Cat Collection








Stuff On My Cat










Cat Prin (English version, but the Japanese version has many more pictures) Cat Prin is a popular online clothing store for cats.

Emotionally tired.

In fact, more like exhausted...

Tony and I have been trying to get pregnant for one year and seven months. Why did I worry so much about getting pregnant for all those years? I could have saved my money on birth control, that's for sure.

The doctors are absolutely drowning me in hormones, and it's driving me crazy, literally. This is a very lonely experience, and I'm beginning to wonder how long I can do it. It's isolating in every way...I don't recognize myself anymore. I've always been sweet, cheerful and outgoing; now I'm bitchy, short-tempered, sad and don't feel interested in things I normally love. I can't get the word "broken" out of my head...why won't my body work?

I've always wanted to be a mom; I never realized how much of my confidence and self-worth was wrapped up in this one event. If I can't get pregnant, it will force me to relearn who I am now and rethink who I will be in the future.

I've been scared to write this, scared to reveal to the outside world how terrible I feel right now. But it's starting to kill me to keep it in, and not very many people read this blog anyway :) My dear friend Kikii advised that I start writing down my thoughts, lest they poison me while hidden away in my head, and I guess she's right.

So, here it is. Not fun, not cheerful, not comfortable to read. Not to live either, unfortunately.

More positive postings to come, I promise!

Yay! I've been chosen.

I'm super-excited to announce that I've been chosen as a vendor for the upcoming INDIEana Handicraft Exchange, to be held June 13, 2009 here in Indianapolis, IN. It's run by an awesome group of crafters and handmade lovers and has drawn bigger crowds each year.

Check out further details at: http://www.indieanahandicraftexchange.com/

Now, I've got to get to work making everything I'm going to sell. It's going to be quite a busy summer.

First Chicago show last night for Yuki

We played at Darkroom, a sexy and chill bar in Chicago last night with Tiger Spirit and The Village. It was sponsored by KEXP radio in Seattle, Goose Island 312 beer and The Onion. It was for KEXP's monthly Equalizer event, in which local/regional bands are featured.

Darkroom's decor is right up my alley--red walls, black booths, and erotic photos lining the walls. The tables are covered in a metallic glitter that looks good when the lights are low, and the bar itself features a two vintage cash registers, creating an atmosphere that was fun and easy on the eyes. And, most importantly, it has a nice sound system.

We played first and rocked out, if I do say so myself. It's so nice to play in front of new people. Tiger Spirit followed and, as a hometown band, had a pretty nice crowd. It turns out that Tony knows 3/5 of the band from his straight-edge/hardcore years in Birthright, so it they had a lot of fun reconnecting and recounting the exploits of years gone by. As their blog says, they create "slow burning layered songs." Their singer is rather hypnotic and has obviously listened to loads and loads of PJ Harvey, which is in no way a bad thing. We look forward to bringing them to Indy for a show with us hopefully sometime this summer.

KEXP interviewed all of the bands for an Equalizer video feature they put together after every month's event. We were up for ours immediately after coming off stage, so we were pretty dazed still and in true irreverent form. Conversations involving the four of us tend to go in strange and ridiculous directions, so the results should be hilarious and somewhat cringe-inducing. They'll likely edit it down to only 20-30 seconds, which should work in our favor :)

The KEXP folks are hard-working volunteers, so it may be a minute before last night's video feature is posted, but if you're interested, look for it here.

We had a great time hanging with Chicago friends we don't get to see very often (two of whom were most gracious hosts for our overnight lodgings--THANK YOU!), and fun was had by all. We even bought some moonshine from an unlikely source.

I think we'll do it again sometime :)

PS--Haven't heard Yuki yet? Check us out here.

New kitty pictures

Taken while enjoying the beautiful spring weather and grilling out on Sunday....

(Sigh)....Frustrating day.

I got the official referral to a fertility specialist today in our quest to get pregnant, which is both encouraging and depressing at the same time. After struggling to keep it together whilst on Clomid for the last few months, they've now added in the HCG shots. Yeah, more hormones! Just what my mood swings needed. But, at least progress is being made, and I have actionable items instead of just crossing my fingers and then getting disappointed.

I also have major high-school-level drama at work, where it seems (once again) that a target has been painted on my back. So frustrating, so annoying....can't people just concentrate on their own work and leave me out of it? And my husband had such a typical male response and method of encouragement, it was almost funny. Almost.

So, dear reader, I apologize that I'm a little down, a little negative today. I'll "power through this" and feel better tomorrow, I'm sure.

Have a beautiful night :)

Spring! How I've missed you...

What a gorgeous day. The sun is shining, my windows are open to enjoy the mid-60° weather, kitties are sitting on the screened-in back porch, and my coffee mug is warming my hand. Life is good!

I participated in a bazaar/flea-market type thing last Sunday, which was my first foray into setting up a booth for my sewn-goods. Pretty good crowd, but they were primarily there to snap up all the good deals on used clothing, jewelry and shoes. When comparing a $3 top to a $45 handmade handbag, my stuff probably seemed pretty expensive....

However, it was great exposure, good practice for my upcoming craft fairs and a damn fun time with my dear friends, Brandy, Amber(s) and Kikii. And thanks ever so much to Katie @ Savvy Salon, who hosted the event and was ever helpful, sweet and accommodating!

Here are some pictures of my booth:





Well, time to clean up my sewing studio after the tornado of an upcoming craft fair swept through it and make the pillow that represents my first sale in the CODhandmade Etsy shop! Isn't it super-cute?




Have a great day!