StellaLand

A big ball of wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey stuff.

The last David Tennant Doctor Who episode airs tonight on BBCamerica. So sad to see him go, but looking forward to what Matt Smith will bring to the character and what new projects DT will get up to now.

Daughter.

This is a post about my dad. I spoke at his funeral and this was what I said:

 

I think my dad would laugh if anyone called me "daddy's little girl." I left that role to my sisters, who used it to their advantage, which he never seemed to mind. He was totally outnumbered by women in our house and I think (probably after those adolescent years) we were able to share an easy friendship. Our relationship was filled with a lot of small, simple moments.

My first memory of my dad was at age 4, when I got my tonsils out. He came to visit me at the hospital and made milkshakes out of the bowls of ice cream on my dinner tray. It was the only way to get me to eat. He also made paper chains with me and gave me a panda bear clock. It was the kind where the eyes moved back and forth in that creepy way… but it hung in my bedroom until I went to college.

I remember dad picking me up from ballet class and letting me sit on his lap to "drive the car," long before Britney Spears did it.

When I was in middle school, he tolerated my Michael Jackson obsession with mild amusement and we'd spend Sunday afternoons at used bookstores hunting down the latest Sweet Valley High books for my collection. He laughed when I told him that I still have them all.

I remember him driving me to school in 9th grade and giving me "the talk". You know, the one that starts off,"Boys only have one thing on their minds…..." I think I was too embarrassed to do anything but sit there and listen, but it is probably the best advice he ever gave me.

I remember driving to Philadelphia in a U-haul with my entire life packed up inside it, my cat, Ginger, trying to sleep on his feet while he was driving.  And how we arrived to my new home on my 25th birthday. We went out for hoagies to celebrate the move and my birthday. When we went out to buy groceries, he couldn't believe we couldn't buy beer at the grocery store! I remember him asking me if Philadelphia was a dry town.

I remember coming back to Florida to visit and sitting with him and talking about work, movies and all of my traveling adventures. It was nice to just sit and talk and be satisfied just spending time with each other.

I'm so glad I had a chance to see him at Thanksgiving when he and mom came to visit. On our last night together, over a pizza, he told me how proud he was of me. How happy he was that he didn't have to worry about me.

I'm going to miss the little things, like our chats and hearing about the movies he liked. I'm going to miss coming to visit and hearing him tell me that I look good, that he liked that I was growing my hair longer or that the color of the shirt I was wearing looked nice.

I'm going to miss him asking how many miles I have on my car and when was the last time I got my oil changed.

All those little things add up to leave a really big hole in my heart.
I love you, dad.

P. Jeffrey Singleton
September 25, 1947-December 15, 2009

Hello Twenty-Ten.

Happy New Year. I'm a little out of sorts this holiday season. Since the death of my father on December 15th, I feel like I've been moving in slow motion, living in a bit of a time warp. It's hard for me to believe it's really a new year, that Christmas is already passed, and that Thanksgiving was the last time I'll ever see my dad again. It doesn't seem possible and I'm not sure it's even really hit me yet.

Before I got the news and spent 12 days in Florida with my family, I was already thinking about how I could make 2010 different, special. There are so many things I want to do, things to try, places to see.

In 2009, I chose a word to help inspire me throughout the year. The word was "listen". I struggled with it, but really made a conscious effort to listen to others, myself, my body, my intuition, etc. I did, probably, a half-decent job with more successes than failures.

This year, I'm deciding if I want to choose a word for 2010. I keep thinking of the word "Reconnect". Instantly I think of the re-connections I made with family when I was home for my dad's funeral but I think it goes deeper than that... a reconnection of a spiritual walk, reconnecting with what I want my future to look like, reconnecting with a social life, etc. I'm going to think on it a bit more and if I choose a word for 2010, I'll post about it here.

As I do each year, here is the Year in Review Survey for 2009:

Best Packaging #best09

I love packaging. I think it says a lot about the manufacturer and how they perceive themselves. Are they serious, stuffy, silly, green, sexy? How something is packaged is an extension of the actual product. The packaging that most made me say "OOH! Clever!" was the Moo Cards that I ordered from Flickr. The cards came shipped in an envelope, but the way the cards were protected from being bent or folded was clever and smile-inducing.

See for yourself:

Right now you can get a free 50pack of Moo Cards!
If you want custom Moo Cards using your own photos, you'll need a Flickr account (free!).

Catching up with #Best09

I'm playing a little catch up with my #Best09 lists.
I got derailed on Favorite Restaurant because I can't seem to find the photos I took at Liberty Market. I did, however, upload them to Flickr before misplacing them, so I'll just link to those photos. And now, without further procrastination... here are the next #best09 installments:

Favorite Restaurant of 2009: Liberty Market

What can I say about Liberty Market? The food is super fresh, the staff is always nice, it's clean, funky, and cozy. It's not unusual to strike up a conversation with the people sitting at the next table. The market is filled with unique, interesting gifts and food items. It is, in a word, fab. I've been a few times with different people each time. Everything I've ordered has been amazing, the Liberty Bowl (meatballs & sauce), caprese salad, minestrone soup (get the bowl, it's worth it), any of the sandwiches and be sure to leave room for the red velvet cupcakes.
Check out my Flickr set here.

Best Book of 2009: Shelter Me by Juliette Fay

Shelter Me is the story of a woman's emotional journey after the unexpected death of her husband leaves her a widow with two very young children. After his death, Janie can barely make it through each day and ends up relying more and more on those around her to help her cope with life. Not only does Juliette Fay write both humorously and beautifully, but she also knows how to surprise and delight the reader. This is a slow brewing read. . . take your time with it, but once you get hooked, you can't stop reading. I was worried the story was going to be supremely depressing, but was sucked in by the humor and true human emotion that Juliette Fay was able to capture.

Best Night out of 2009: Snow Patrol @ Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA with EmmieM (09/09)

Probably the best show I've ever seen them perform (and I've seen them quite a few times). The show was topped off when they launched into The Lightning Strike as the encore. I even scored a set list after the show. Could not have asked for a better night, especially the 1am mad dash back to the venue, in our pajamas, in the rain, to get a picture of the marquee before the lights were turned off.

Best Workshop or Conference of 2009: Inspired Artist's Workshop, Concord, NC- May 2009

Blog find of the year 2009: Old Red Barn Co & Crazy Mom Quilts are two blogs that constantly sparked my creativity and inspired me to cut the fabric in my stash instead of just hoarding it.

Moment of Peace 2009: Picking up lunch at the Public Market on Granville Island in Vancouver, sitting by the waterfront, and really taking in the moment. When I travel alone, I'm always surprised at just how quiet I am. It's a great time for me to take advantage of some personal reflection time.

Challenge of 2009: Two Words- Weight. Watchers. This will most likely be the challenge of 2010 as well, as I am finally taking this getting fit thing seriously.

Album of the year 2009:

Easily Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. This has rocked my world all year and seems to be in constant rotation in all of my iPod playlists.

The Best Place 2009: Philadelphia

I found a lot of refuge in my return trips to Philadelphia this year. It was the healing salve my lonely heart needed. By reconnecting with good friends, I was able to recharge my batteries and better deal with my newly altered life.

New Food 2009: Dark Chocolate Covered Honeycomb. I found it at Sprouts. It's freaking amazing.

What's an article that you read that blew you away in 2009? #best09

What's an article that you read that blew you away? That you shared with all your friends.

Hmm, since most of the articles I share are pop culture and music related (because I'm shallow like that!), I think I'll tell you about a YouTube video that I shared with just about everyone I know. It still cracks me up when I watch it.

[click the picture to go to the video]

Enjoy!

What was your best trip in 2009? #best09

beer & pretzels

Hands down, my best trip of 2009 was my trip to Munich, Germany in October.

Two days of travel, two days of work, and one-and-a-half days of being a tourist. I've never packed so much into a trip before. I actually didn't even have time to be jet-lagged!

Here are some of my favorite shots from Munich.

fruit stand

sweet couple in the Garden

breakfast at the train station

wooden birdhouse

resting bicycle

beautiful fall leaves

The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge

via www.gwenbell.com

I'm totally going to take part in this! Tonight I'll play catch up on the first three prompts. You should play along too! Comment with your blog url so I can read your 2009 memories too!

Get all the details and daily prompts here..

Copycat Starbucks Yarn Wreath

Last year, I was smitten with the Starbucks Christmas decorations. They all featured balls of yarn and were and so cool... yarn wreaths, yarn topiaries, yarn swags- it was a knitter's Christmas dream! I was especially obsessed with the wreath, so I shop hopped, asking if I could buy or have any of the decorations after the holidays and was told "no" by multiple stores. After my last rejection, I said to myself: "NEVERMIND! I can do that myself!"

I went to my local craft store and bought a wire wreath form, ornaments, and multiple skeins of green yarn. I also went through my stash and picked out green yarns I wanted to include. I wound three balls of yarn and gave up. The holidays were over after all.

Enter Christmas 2009. I was talking to my crafty girls via email and  the subject of handmade wreaths came up. I told them my story of the elusive Starbucks yarn wreath. They encouraged me to give it another go. I decided to check online to see if anyone else had made one. Duh, of course there were people who had made it! After reading about 25 tutorials, I decided to use this one over at Inspired Kara's blog. She made it sound SO EASY. AND she introduced me to the concept of using styrofoam balls as the yarn ball bases. GENIUS! I honestly did not think of that on my own! And when I mentioned it to the crafty girls, Sooz responded with this gem: "Of course it was styrofoam balls!! You weren't going to hang up FULL BALLS OF YARN WERE YOU????? Holy crap that would be SO EXPENSIVE!" Sooz knows how to keep it real. (LOVE HER!)

But I digress.

I wrapped the styrofoam balls last night and tonight I set to work GLUING THE HELL out of them with my hot glue gun. I glued them to the metal wreath form, I glued them to each other, and then I glued the ornaments to the yarn balls. I glued so much I ran out of glue sticks. Then I went back and reinforced the yarn to the wreath form with floral wire. I think I want to add a few more small balls of yarn and a few more large ornaments. I definitely don't want to go overboard though.

So, you decide... here's the original Starbucks wreath:

{photo from Inspired Kara}

and here's mine:

So internet, should I add more yarn balls and ornaments or STOP TOUCHING IT & HANG IT ALREADY! Let me know in the comments!

Thanksgiving o9. Done.

My dinner turned out fabulous! Everything was perfect and so tasty!
I'm still thinking about the awesome stuffing!

The Menu:
- Salt & pepper turkey
- Simple stuffing
- Mashed potatoes
- Homemade gravy
- Roasted brussel sprouts
- Orange cranberry sauce
- Cole Slaw
- Mashed rutabega
- Rolls & butter
- Olives/Celery with Cream Cheese
- V8

After dinner, I took my parents for a drive. I showed them where my office is located, we drove through the ASU campus, and then down to Historic Downtown Chandler. It was weird to see everything closed for the day!

 

When we returned from our sightseeing drive, it was time for pie. The pumpkin pie was served with the obligatory tub of Cool Whip! 

Now the kitchen is closed. :)

We've changed our plans for tomorrow. We'll be staying in town instead of making the trip to New Mexico. We've got Mimi's Cafe on deck for breakfast and then we'll hit the movies to see New Moon, of which I have heard mixed reviews. Ahem.

In any event, it was a lovely day and I hope yours was as well!