amanda lynn wilson

is it classy

2011-07-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

that i think this may be about sean and i? yeah, it's pretty much our story.

playing dress up

2011-02-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

on the job. oops.

sure do love my job

2011-02-05T20:13:00.001-08:00

real life:

2011-01-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

sean is snoring like a bear and i'm trying to catch it on video. also, kyl's kittens are obsessed with tearing rolls of toilet paper to shreds. little bastards.

dream kitchen table.

2011-01-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

oh the eames chairs with the super girly/retro fabric! loving the crisp white with wood and teal accents. it's killing me.

unfortunately this table belongs to dottie angel and not me. which is a shame, because if you know me you know that my vintage pyrex collection NEEDS to be in the same kitchen with this set up. sigh.

why murphy's law is real life:

2011-01-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

because when you're babysitting an adorable little girl and you agree to let her play with your cell phone for two seconds, just to make her stop screaming her cute little head off, she will somehow manage to call your ex boyfriend. three times.

that's why.

airstream.

2011-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

an airstream wedding. photo via once wed

yoga

2011-01-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

on hulu is saving my life. seriously. my guy bought me a yoga mat and a video for christmas and it has made me the happiest girl alive. i switch back and forth between the dvd sean gave me and the videos on hulu and i never have to leave my house.

if you search "yoga zone" it brings up a ton of different 20 minute videos. even though the instructors are more than a bit cheesy their classes are great.

it's definitely keeping me from becoming a blimp this winter. so if you're wondering where i've been these days, well i'm either working, eating, or doing yoga. the end.

2011-01-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

2011-01-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

click clack to enlarge

what happens

2011-01-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

when sean doesn't pay enough attention to me. great girlfriend or GREATEST girlfriend?

dear 2010,

2011-01-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

it goes a little something like this:

suddenly you wake up and realize that you've always had everything you've ever wanted. and you panic for a moment. because now you know that you've been chasing nonsense. the ridiculous clothes. the excessive booze. the bad but glamorous friends. what was that about? and then you breath easy. because fixing it is simple. you just let it all go.

2010 you showed me how blessed i am. which is strange considering that this was the year where i lived most simply. had so very little. but had so very much. i have a boyfriend who is the world's best hugger. and a best friend who would love me even if i didn't deserve it. a family that dishes out so much wisdom it makes my head dizzy. and friends who make me laugh so hard i fear loss of bladder control.

2010, you taught me to work hard and let the rest work itself out.

thanks for that.

so much lovin,

your amanda lynn

this is my 2011 goal

2011-01-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

summed up rather perfectly.

i want this year to include a lot of: carpentry, painting, loving, reading, canning, cooking, sewing, baking, exercising, fixing, traveling, writing.

i want to DO things. i want to live simply. i want to eliminate the excess. and get back to the basics.

good heavens

2011-01-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

it's hard to be away from home when i know this little guy is there.

plus i know that my dad has some apricot moonshine waiting to be made and i forgot to bring back all of the anne of green gables videos on christmas.

i just wanna go home again basically.

2010-12-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

blogging for abode here and there these days!
it's basically the opposite of what i do here, very bright and girly and cheesy, which is nice! it makes me put on my positive polly shoes. and that aint a bad thing. go check it out, including my cute headers and stuff.

and if you live in salt lake come in and visit me at abode! right now! and bring me food!

gone to istanbul in my mind

2010-12-07T22:56:00.000-08:00

these pictures are making me salivate.

come with me?

via this rad chick's blog

hilarious

2010-12-06T09:23:00.001-08:00

pie chart on the number of mormon bloggers

why my family is the best

2010-12-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

From: Sister Sue

page four and i laughed out loud already
9:08pm 12/1/10

Sent:12/1/10
9:11pm
Received by Sister Sue 9:11pm
Message: i made cookie dough for dinner

From: Sister Sue
Victory
9:12pm 12/1/10

that's why

send us up

2010-11-26T11:17:00.001-08:00

to the spirit in the sky.

2010-11-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

we were driving cross country and stopped at some random gas station in omaha for cigarettes and ham sandwiches. we were really happy.

recipe swap

2010-11-18T14:36:00.001-08:00

i was doing so well on the domestic front for awhile but i've lost all motivation lately. so i thought it'd be lovely if everyone, and i mean EVERYONE who visits my ridiculous little blog (that means you, the one person from denmark who checks it daily for some reason) leaves a comment with their current favorite recipe.

please save me from my baked potato and veggie burger rut! please.

ps as soon as i get home i'll leave a comment with a recipe too, promise kids.

why the movies are not real life part deux

2010-11-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

because in a movie you would never be wearing dirty long johns and a darth vader t shirt when your guy's ex girlfriend walks into the laundry mat on a sunday night.

that's why.

i want to make one!

2010-11-16T10:21:00.001-08:00

if i find the right cabinet, maybe i can make one for miss eden.

jesus?

2010-11-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

oh wow.

2010-11-15T15:26:00.001-08:00

these australian honda ads just made my day.

oh the fixed gear bike.

and just when i thought it couldn't get any better, they have to bring in bangs:

now THATS a sweater i would pay $80 for.

if you don't know who bangs is, you should probably you tube "meet me on the facebook" right now. i'm just saying.

the new

2010-11-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

urban outfitters catalog makes me want to light things on fire for some reason (ahem, the w lounge, ahem)

someone would really pay $80 for that bunny sweater?

the only cure for this kind of anger is to go to look at this fucking hipster and laugh at things like this:

we had

2010-11-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

the best brunch ever at ruth's diner on sunday. AND they serve booze. new favorite breakfast spot.

ps if you look really close sean is wearing his new favorite thing in the world...his brick and mortar t. we love brick and mortar and you should too.

oooo foxy lady

2010-11-13T12:41:00.001-08:00

why am i late for work you ask?

that's why.

on a much brighter note

2010-11-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

(literally)

did you know i work here?

friday night

2010-11-12T19:55:00.001-08:00

and i'm just dreaming.

scribbling in my notebook. abillionandahalf ideas stocked up for the day when it all comes true. i know it'll happen. and i know why i need to wait (it's all that money and education i don't have yet right?) and i love the work i'm doing now, but i'm growing impatient.

cuz i know my store would be magic.

darth vader

2010-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

does your coffee maker remind you of darth vader when you open the lid? cuz mine sure does.

my guy

2010-11-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

From: Jed Head
I wonder if there is anywhere you can rent puppies
7:28pm 11/11/10

From: Jed Head
We should have a pay to view puppy parade, it could be a smashing success. who doesn't want to watch a bunch of puppies on floats
7:31pm 11/11/10

where did i get him from? oh that's right, the bar.

big ol bell bottoms

2010-11-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

with a polka dot top? why yes please. thanks emerson made

why planned parenthood is scary

2010-11-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

earlier this year when i started dating my guy i attempted to get on birth control. the result was an extremely disheveled version of my already slightly on edge self literally crying over spilt milk and somehow finding a way to blame my boyfriend for everything from the state of my hair to the state of foreign affairs. it was not pretty kids. thus, we stopped the funny business to reassess.

a couple of months later i made the trek out to planned parenthood to see what kinda hormones they suggest i eat to lower the chances of me murdering someone. first off, we all know that any gyno office is not a warm and fuzzy kinda place. there i was, freezing my nipples off in their paper gown, staring at diagrams of vaginas and charts on std's as i explained to the doctor that i didn't need a pregnancy test. i just got off my period. and i hadn't gotten any lovin in months. still, she insisted. so i peed in her cup and waited as she went to dip her little omnipotent stick in my urine.

now, i am no stranger to the at home pregnancy test. i know it takes three minutes to give you the plus or minus. three minutes passed. three more. ten minutes. ten years. and the panic began.

what if i'm pregnant?
how could that be? it would have to be some kind of immaculate conception!
would i have to start a church?
oh no, i drank at least half a bottle of whiskey last night!
great, there is a possibly divine creature living in my womb and i've already given it fetal alcohol syndrome!

the door opened and in came the doctor; avoiding my puppy-like pleads for eye contact she sat down at her computer. fiddled with her mouse. fixed her hair. knit a sweater.

at this point i felt as though my uterus had begun to crawl its way up my body and was trying to exit via my mouth. i swallowed to push it back down and the silence was broken by my womb yelling: oh hell no!

excuse me? the dr said as she painted her nails.

what was the test result? i croaked.

oh, ha, you're not pregnant, she said.

at this point i didn't know if i was going to cry, hit her, or fling myself down a flight of stairs justtobesure. (oh don't throw a hissy, i'm kidding. of course i know that children are a blessing, and children are beautiful. but sean and i possess, between the two of us, the stability of an anorexic tight rope walker on lsd. it's a pretty scary thought, ok?)

the rest of the visit went just fine and i walked away the proud owner of a three months supply of nuva rings. still, i can't help but think that the doctors at planned parenthood use some serious scare tactics on their patients. and me already being the kind of hypochondriac who could think herself into being pregnant with some drunk holy child, i just don't think i can hang.

so if you ever wonder why i get a lump in my throat when you mention the double p's...

that's why.

do what deer woman says

2010-11-10T11:19:00.001-08:00

2010-11-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

how to make me drink 3 glasses of wine in 30 minutes:

introduce me to your parents. it's not necessarily the fact that your dad has the intimidating nickname of "the badger" that has me swigging boxed merlot, but more the fact that i am about as emotionally developed as an amoeba.

how to make me want to throw up above mentioned glasses of wine:

announce to your parents in the first five minutes: amanda got scared and chugged a bunch of wine.

charming.

mold

2010-11-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

i wish i could say that it's not real life, but it is. a leaking hot water pipe in our basement turned our house into the amazon jungle. expanding door frames, oozing goo, and the highly unattractive smell of mildew are just a couple of the joys kyl and i will have in our lives for the next little bit.

dear dream apartment, really?

it was also comforting to see via facebook that all my friends and family are so very concerned for our well being.

keep your hands off my lamps lemon. you hear me?

speaking of lamps:

oh hi. lovin this image via halligan and jess and figured i should end this post with somethin' at least kinda pretty.

how to please me

2010-11-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

tell me it's okay to close the store early so i can go with my guy to a jazz game. (i'ma lucky gal.)

2010-11-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

"if i could have one wish in the world it would be tim gunn reading me a story every time i'm sad. it's normal."

getinmylife

2010-11-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

lovin the etsy shop tiny vintage wardrobe

looking for alaska

2010-10-31T19:51:00.001-07:00

last winter my ever-increasingly adventurous cousin told me, around a fire on a california winter night, that i would enjoy a book called looking for alaska.

oh was she ever right.

thanks mister green, you did good.

and you too becki. if i had novels like this as an adolescent, and maybe just a teacher or two like you, perhaps thinking back on middle school wouldn't make me want to piss myself, cry, and toilet paper all grown ups.

"i wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. but for now, at least i knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets need tails."

as for the rest of you. perhaps you should pick this up. just sayin.

how to make sure i never attend your yoga class again

2010-10-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

actually ask me to smile as you torture me with five more breaths in the plank pose. i'm not into s&m, thanks though.

happy halloween

2010-10-31T10:51:00.001-07:00

i was

2010-10-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

planning on venting about some work stuff right now, but then decided to maybe be just slightly professional for once and not talk about business on the interweb.

SO, instead, i'll just show ya'll a photo of the "full blood" event put on by aiga salt lake featuring local artists and furniture by abode.

(cuz if ya can't say anything nice you mine as well just show a pretty picture.)

OR

2010-10-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

just send me a picture of this kid dressed as a kangaroo.

cuz i mean really, i'm not made of stone.

how to make me less grumpy

2010-10-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

show up at my work just to kiss me and say hi and ask what kind of beer i'd like for you to pick up at the liquor store. oh, and don't forget to knock everything over on your way out. cuz you wouldn't be you if you didn't break stuff, and i mean that sincerely.

2010-10-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

this room is oh so charming.

and i'm envious of their record collection. some day.

love is a rose

2010-10-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

but you better not pick it. it only grows when it's on the vine. hand fulla thorns and you'll know you missed it. you lose your love when you say the word mine.

see ya later summer

2010-10-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

see ya later music festivals, and farmers markets, and daisy dukes. you are sorely missed.

how to make me gag

2010-10-29T13:06:00.001-07:00

every time i see a guy and a girl chatting over beers at a bar like twilite i can't help but think the look in his eyes must mean: i'll see your red itchy bumps and i'll raise you some funky colored discharge.

and then it's not the whiskey that has me running to the bathroom.

pepper pond town rants

2010-10-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

this week:

1) look, i'm not saying fur is right and i'm not saying it's wrong, i'm just saying it's warm. and pretty. and that i dontwannahearaboutit from a straight edge vegan tattoo artist city boy who's never even seen a rabbit in real life and likes to feel all warm and fuzzy about himself cuz he gets buzzed off orange soda and shops at whole foods. pretentious motherfucker.

2) for someone who is perpetually sober your "art" sure does look like you were pissingalloveryourself drunk when you created it.

3) i'm going to need more than this tiny shot-sized beer to make me feel as though i didn't waste these shoes on a shitty night.

4) raise your hand if you haven't swapped std's with 75% of the people at this event at some point in time. no takers? didn't think so.

5) how to get sliced: go ahead, ask me one more time if you have to help me move all the furniture you borrowed (for free) back into the store.

why movies are not real life

2010-10-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

because when there is a babe using the washer next to you at a real life laundry mat you will invariably drop a pair of holey bambie panties on the ground at his feet and then run into the change machine in your haste to escape. everytime.

that's why.

abode and salty streets join forces

2010-09-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

brother,

2010-06-25T18:17:00.001-07:00

i am beginning to form a prejudice against the educated.

it's awful, really.

it's just the way they regurgitate their professor's lectures back to me.

hands waving enthusiastically like that of a used car salesmen,

or a presidential candidate,

as they carry on and on about the themes of dostoevsky's later novels.

meanwhile,

i am calculating,

in the tiny little corner of my mind that operates mathematically,

how many packets of top ramen i could purchase with the four dollars they spend on their lattes.

yes, we have read the same books.

no, we do not have a thing in common.

these days i am seen out and about with a boy

who often forgets the difference between you're and your.

but when he talks to me about bukowski his eyes light up.

and when i slip an ee cummings poem into his back pocket

i find his favorite lines scribbled on the back of his hand the next day.

today i wandered like a zombie through the library of the university

and fought the urge to hide all my favorite books

from the dirty fingers of the pretentious savants and their collegiate snobbery.

i fear this is going to become an issue for me.

i'm too old to be this narrow minded.

too young to be so jaded.

(though i shoot whiskey like an old man i talk shit like a tenth grader and i'm beginning to think i am not my age at all i'm nothing but a combination of a strange upbringing and some wildly intense genes but hey, this run on sentence is nonsensical and a bit off the subject)

still, the prejudice grows.

any suggestions?

homie hoppin hipster whores

2010-06-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

hit the highway.

(it's called alliteration kids)

a 12 passenger van

and 6 of the best babes i know.

plus chicago

and about a gazillion and a half amazing bands.

that's right,

i said a gazillion and a half.

tonight i'm getting extra excited for our august girls trip to lollapalooza.

the 15 year old in me might cry when i see spoon play:

and the really embarrassing girl in me is stoked on the fact that lady gaga will be there:

ps that video is worth watching just for the amazing black and white striped sofa and all the wallpaper, oh the wallpaper!

not to mention the strokes, grizzly bear, metric and so much more.

is it august yet?

found

2010-05-04T09:30:00.001-07:00

on the side of the road on my way to the flea market on sunday.

and turned into this:

on monday.

who's blog has more photos and pricing. love it.

salty streets

2010-05-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

was a complete success.

come next month and bring everyone you know. please and thank you?

one man wolf pack.

2010-04-29T15:09:00.001-07:00

we hide him around the house. and when you find him it's your turn to hide him again.
(concept stolen from my family and our ninja man.)

take a look at the bottom picture. how sad is it when someone hides something from you in the SHOWER?! hahaha. i know i'm a dirty hippie girl, are you trying to tell me something kyl?

the cusp of love.

2010-04-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

i woke up this morning and i realized that i almosthate him.

i suppose that's what happens when you stay in that almostlove phase for too long?

so what does one do when the cusp of love becomes the cusp of hate?

well, i don't know about everyone else but i ate chocolate cake for breakfast and went about my business as usual.

i submit that the only cure for a broken heart might be chocolate cake and sweet and spicy tea.

it's normal

2010-04-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

moonshine bambie and stardust amber raven.

they're sisters.

today was

2010-04-24T20:41:00.001-07:00

the first day of my new job.

and i wore these shoes and my birthday girl pink socks.

i think today

2010-04-23T11:56:00.001-07:00

i need to take a lesson from this girl:

cuz i'm feelin a little bit on the theworldisamessmylifeisamessandivewastedtoomuchtimefixensomeoneelsesbullshit and i'd rather not get outta bed to be honest.

but when i look at these pictures i understand that the only cure for the fadetoblues is to get up and do something (no matter how bitty) to make your little corner of the world a more lovely little corner.

as if to say: oh well hello world, i hope you'll be happy i was here when i'm gone.

come get fleas!

2010-04-22T10:37:00.003-07:00

here:

who vintage will be bringing this sort of funk:

and our gypsy loves will be bringing this kind of noise:

i can tell that you're getting the itch. come scratch it.

we've made a pact.

2010-04-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

every april 20th and every other new years.

and yes, that is a denim jumpsuit.

god?

2010-04-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

if you're on here reading this noise you should be on here instead:

http://mragecon.blogspot.com/2010/04/left-vs-right.html

i can't figure out how to add links these days. yup. i'm technologically challenged. just go there. i'm sure you can figure it out. you're god. duh.

three conclusions about america.

2010-04-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine died in afghanistan last week.
has that happened to anyone else yet?

i don't think i've ever understood the word "senseless" so. quite. much.

and i thought about writing his lovely blonde wife.
just to tell her what a good friend he had been to me.

but it was too sad to bear. and there's a baby over there.

(he's got red hair.)

so i let it pass.

put on some comfortable shoes.
took myself for a walk.

outside i started to think about how
when i was a kid
my best friend's name was erica.

well they call me amanda, you see.

and we had black hair.
oh, and we had barefeet.

we swam naked in the river.

and they called us america.

we climbed hills turned mountains.
we made towers outta trees.

(we weren't bothered with the birds back then.
we didn't give a damn about the bees.)

we danced to our parent's records.
we told secrets of our own.

and they called us america.

and then nothin really happened.
but everything went down.

the next thing i knew that girl's mom had passed away.

the marathon runner
got breast cancer

and goodbye.

and i thought about calling her raven haired daughter.
just to tell her what a good friend she had been to me.

but it was too sad to bear. her cryin out there.

(and her mom is whoknowswhere?)

so i let it pass.

now i'm back on that walk.
in those comfy shoes of mine.

and i pause next to a bus stop.
inside the bus there is a woman.
mid 40's and awfully obese.

i want to write her a message.
i want to yell:

get off the bus!
get off a block early!
walk!
it's not too late for you to walk!

but i just stand there. match her frown with a blank stare.

(it's not that i didn't dare.)

the bus passes.

i wonder if they would still call me america?

by the time i get home i've come to three conclusions:

1) i know that i am.
2) that my friend was.
3) that his son will be.

i suppose there's a lot more pavement in between me and the rest of it all.

but it's not too late for any of us to walk
america.

u and a

2010-04-20T10:33:00.001-07:00

move in together.

turns out that when you mix a bit of this:

with a dab-a-this:

you get some serious magic:

and how could you not when one girl owns this:

and the other owns this:

our home is heaven.

and our coffee table is a playland:

come visit. i know you'll do the right thing.

flea markets

2010-04-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

from etymology online we learn that the term flea market came from paris in 1917 "especially in reference to the Fr. marché aux puces in Paris, so-called because there are so many second-hand articles sold of all kinds that they are believed to gather fleas."

and since i know that most of my friends are downright dirty vagabonds, i hope to see you all here:

if you

2010-04-05T10:25:00.001-07:00

can watch this video and not find it somewhere in your heart to love it...well i'm not entirely sure what you're doing on my blog.

rosa and manda's day in the sun

2010-03-23T10:30:00.001-07:00

an entire day in the sun. quite literally. start to finish. resulting in a ridiculous farmer's tan for me. and some beautiful photographs for rosa.

almost positive that my parent's neighbors think i'm on drugs. i'm always outside, clunking around in my tie-dye leggings and combat boots. putting window frames in trees and blasting bob dylan, so who can blame them right? who's blog has even more photos of our sunny sunny day, so head that way.

i do apologize for the fact that all i talk about anymore is furniture, but it's really all i do. that and collect vinyl. i'm boring, i know, but i'm blissfully happy so who cares?

the kinks, crosby stills nash and young, and joni mitchell albums. favorite songs: lady genevieve, teach your children, and you turn me on i'm a radio.

ps the album art for crosby stills nash and young "so far" was actually done by miss mitchell. beautiful.

the knives out table

2010-03-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

a work in progress.

my talented and increasingly beautiful dear friend karamea is going to have a flea market this summer and i am just oh so excited that i'm already making plans. more info on that and other events that who and the gypsy itch will be participating in will be available soon!

these last couple of days it's been so warm i've pulled all my projects outside and painted in a tank top and my daisy dukes. does it get more heavenly than that?

i sure don't think it does.

sister sue

2010-03-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

how do you do? koo koo kachoo.

it is this beautiful girl's birthday today. i cannot believe she is only 20. seriously. she's such a wise little soul.

my opposite. my same. my love. many happy returns.

ps wish her luck, she's applying to intern at some pretty cool organic farms this summer. my little country hippie. love her.

per say

2010-03-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

if someone asked you, per se, who the most arrogant person you've ever met was...who would you say? per se?

how about i give you a two-part response?

kyl

now, if i had walked up on virtually any girl alive having this conversation with my ex boyfriend:

kyl: i just want you to know that i'm totally on your side. she's crazy. i know that better than anyone.

i probably would have given the chick a "god cross" across her cheek. but when i walked up on kyl saying those exact words to alex i just said: no it's fine, keep going, i've had this exact same conversation with your ex boyfriend.

i love her like i love my right arm. i need it, it's part of me, and sometimes it pisses me off but it's still my damn right arm.

and i know the feeling is mutual. especially since someone once said about us: amanda and kyl think they're so unique and artsy, but outside of utah they're just like every other girl who shops at urban outfitters.

you're the u to my a. i love you like a mandarin coral loveseat.

brandie:

god? is that you? because you look like a unicorn and you smell like colombian devil's breath. because you let me sleep on your couch through an embarrassingly dramatic break up and kept me entertained with your tale of two cult brothers.

brandie to a boy that i had over one day: who the fuck are you that i would have seen your facebook pictures?

plus you love vintage sewing machines, and cowboy dance nights, and trailer trash horror films.

i want to grow old with brandie so that we can wake up every morning in vintage slips, throw on our fur coats, and smoke a cigarette at the kitchen table while sipping mimosas...when we're 70.

so basically the moral of this story is that i'm jealous you two are together right now, and i am just sitting at home blogging. i'm not so sure i enjoy this responsible thing.

rosa part deux

2010-03-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

she is coming along slowly but surely. i would prefer to have had her finished by now but she and i...we have big plans. she's gonna be a beauty to photograph, and she's going to be a big part of the spring/summer photo shoot i am planning.

think cherry pie and chickens...that's all i'm sayin.

also, i want on design sponge's "before and after" somethin' bad. is that too much for a couple of gals like rosa and i to ask for? eh? eh?

so here she is in her current state:

a rose pattern and an old salt lake tribune lining her drawers. she's going to be a super distressed red with peek-a-boo blue spots.

also, did a little photo shoot for the zooey table today. love, love, LOVE the back splash with old book pages. head over to who's blog to see more of that!

happy thursday to everyone. come visit me at urban renewal? i'll be moving furniture and spinning vinyl there all day. i got two joni mitchell albums today and i MAY just have to purchase my boss' old turn table (it converts records into mp3s. really? really.)

but now i'm just rammbling. good evening folks.

rosa in the making

2010-03-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

my office

my uniform

denver

2010-01-28T00:08:00.000-08:00

this weekend for this:

brandie and i badly need to get out of town and denver has been a missed city so...the shifts are covered, the furniture is sold, let's gas up and get out cuz this class act is going mobile.

pictures coming soon.

god?

keep our

2010-01-25T02:29:00.000-08:00

rivers clean.

blanket religions and melted clocks.

2010-01-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

"i am the only human being to have been created with this, single, unique and precise genetic make-up, in this specific place and time in which we find ourselves. i'm special. no one sees the world quite like I do. i have a role to fill. fill yours" - alexander edam.

thank you for spaghetti dinners and rhubarb pie. thank you for salvador dali. never enough time.

a new gypsy den

2010-01-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

for the next couple-a-months or soish...
thegypsyitch.blogspot.com

the money man's mistress

2010-01-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

dear money man,

this city's sidewalks
are littered
with condoms.
and yet you,
you spiff your shoes
to walk
to work.

still, my tits are swollen
with unwanted milk.
i lie in the tub
all day.
i ash
in my hair.

you treated my love
like a brothel.

and i treated your lust
like love.

oh money man!
how foolish we've been!

as foolish
as your pennies on my nightstand.

woman is a devil

2010-01-18T00:10:00.001-08:00

woman is a devil,
that's what i've been told.
she'll take all your money,
then she'll spend all your gold.

the doors

lessons learned

2010-01-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

and as a side note to the post below, this alcohol influenced conversation took place last night:

boy: sorry i was an asshole
girl: you aren't an asshole
boy: but i acted like an asshole
girl: yes, and i was an awful bitch

perhaps, in addition to avoiding troubled assholes, i should work on not having to make the above apology again?

mmmm, no, never mind. that's hard.

i have

2010-01-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

a rather humorous addiction to troubled assholes.

no more.

a lot

2010-01-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

of really bitchin things are happening right now.

i'm still working on my furniture refinishing:

see that sunshine at whovintage.blogspot.com

but i've also started sewing and fixing up vintage clothing, shoes, and more; you can see that hoopla at thegypsyitch.blogspot.com

and the best news out of all these bitchen things is that i am officially moving to seattle in march where i will work on opening a little store (most likely called the gypsy itch) to sell all sorts of fun vintage stuff.

i would just like to thank all of you lovely people who have supported me every time i change the course of my life drastically (which seems to be every other tuesday and every time it rains.)

i can honestly say that i feel like i'm on to something with this nonsense. and that i am ridiculously and peculiarly happy these days.

from the girl who spent all her money on shoes to the one that paints all day in her long johns, you have loved me.

i think i'm really on to a "me" that fits.

peace and love,

mandalynn

dear 2009,

2010-01-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

you were mad.

you brought me champagne for breakfast and left me thirsty in a way i still can't comprehend.

you taught me to love every freckle on my body as a beautiful boy loved them in a summer of brown skin.

you brought me campfires where i danced in circles, barefoot and tipsy and wild, wearing war paint made of mud and a daisy headdress.

you showed me that jealousy tastes a lot like cheap whiskey and a little like some cheap girl's perfume.

you showed me that strength tastes a lot like jameson and looks a little like a cheap zombie film.

you brought me gold sparkly sweaters, records, giant chalkboards, owl sculptors, and vintage sewing machines.

you taught me to be more capricious, more insane, more passionate and loud and loving.

2009 you threw me for a whirl but i...

i became the kind of woman who enjoys being dizzy.

thank you very much 2009.

lord am i glad you are over!

peace and love,

your mandalynn

blaspheming bodhisattva

2009-12-25T22:56:00.000-08:00

come back for me boy
bring me blasphemy

or shall i come to you?
sojourn to your stubble
your sacrilege

where i lay my sorry down at your sandals
along with my pens
my many notebooks

a sacrifice to your insincerity

if you'll let me worship you boy
i will lay down my worries
i will bathe your feet

i will take my advice from snakes

you will be my bodhisattva
and i don't need your name

not if you come back for me boy
not if you bring me blasphemy

don't think twice

2009-12-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

it's alright

I'm a-thinkin' and a-wond'rin' all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I'm told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don't think twice, it's all right

drawers

2009-12-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

the dresser from the post below. work in progress.

and this was my friday night.

click click clack

2009-12-16T02:03:00.000-08:00

it took howlong?
for me to relearn
how to fall asleep without the sound of your typewriter

but that was when? and this is now
and it aint so much that i'm thinking bout you
its just the sound of your click click clack
that's got me drifting back
as it freuds its way into my sleep

when that midwest winter had crawled into my bones
i crawled into your bed
and didn't leave for about a week

saying, baby touch me in the places that got so soft
as i got so comfortable loving you

so when that click click clack
started persisting through the night
had a feeling you might
maybe be clickin bout me
so brown and pink
in between your sheets
all limbs, and eyes, and hair

saying, boy you best not be calling me child
i got thoughts that'll make yours seem mild

it's just that i was never content
being some great man's muse
knew i had to get your click click clack outta my head
if i ever wanted to produce any of my own
and we both know i'm no nice girl
but you had me wanting that life
for about a week

and now you're saying that aint much to you
but baby, no one's made me feel so soft like you do
so if your click click clacks got the fade to blues
come crawl into my bed for a week
maybe two

unrequited love.

2009-12-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

she is wooden with pearl and gold accents.

i want her.

and i will never have her.

now i finally understand why charlie brown says that nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.

before.

2009-12-10T16:52:00.000-08:00

after coming soon.

sure do love my job.

2009-11-14T20:17:00.000-08:00

i will always remember us as the season of iwastooskinny

something had nothinged my body to bones

(this time not on purpose, she swears and they shrug)

and in that customarily contradictory nature of mine i gathered up said bag of bones and offered them to you with the courage of a coward and the hesitation of a locomotive

thank you for taking me in

i cannot imagine i was a pleasant thing to hold

tonight

2009-10-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

just for a moment. i wish i was in between brick buildings. lights from the gaps above creating phantom blobs on the river below. and someone somewhere is playing a nina simone record. so i take off my shoes, and you take pictures, and i twirl.

will you put your arm around my waist? i'm terribly tipsy. keep me from tripping?

2009-04-19T08:52:00.001-07:00

Brother,

I have taken to church-going since I moved to Salt Lake. Sunday mornings often creep up with the taste of whiskey on my tongue. Did I forget to brush my teeth? I plant my zeppelinesque skinny legs on the ground and it spins a bit but I make it to the bathroom all right. Here, at the holy sink of Blaine Ave I begin my morning's worship; I submit that a clean mouth (in the absolute literal sense) is the key to a pleasant church service. One cannot pray with remnants of camel light on their breath, you see. A quick tousle of the hair and I throw on last night's clothes- I am on my way.

I suppose I might not be such a regular church-goer were it not for the convenience of the church just around the corner from my home. Here, a motley crowd of sunday worshipers gather around papers and books and coffees and teas and cigarettes and vegetarian quiche. I am at home. I am greeted by the leader of our procession as "book soulmate" and am asked to confess all my weekly readings. Kerouac and DiFranco, and I just purchased Travels With Charley for two quarters at the thrift store. He asks what is written on my hand and I say, scribbles. He smiles at me and says, oh book soulmate, you are a writer, and I, I serve coffee! He has no idea how important it is to me that someone else appreciates Salinger and it makes me tear up a bit in a happy sort of way. I take my coffee to go.

Outside, the old war veteran is laughing out loud, boisterous and deep, at something in his paper. We smile and say good morning, and I think: peace be with you, and also with you. On my walk home the neighbor who is perfecting the art of throwing his tennis ball on the roof and catching it again, is sitting cross legged with the paper on his grass. He does not notice me walk by and I like it. I like the independence of this congregation. I like how we all worship in our own way.

I write this to you, brother, because you are one of the exclusive few who read this blog that I actually giveadamn about. And because I know you will laugh at my little church. And because the only thing I have in my life right now that is better than my sunday church service is the feeling of when I hold your little girl and she laughs at me and grabs my cheek with her hands and i know how lovely the world really is.

I hope you had a beautiful sunday, my brother.

Love,

Mandy

There is

2009-02-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

something so wrong about you. You are all twisted, all tied up inside. I imagine your organs mangled, covered in knots- the trunk of an old tree. Only these knots do not come from age. They are not marks of your wisdom. They come from that disease of yours, and in my fantasies I am your healer. I hollow you out, (goodbye stomach, lungs. goodbye liver, goodbye heart.) I fill you with cement. You are all better.

But I am no healer. Instead, we are mutually parasitic. You rhapsodize about ideals you do not practice and I wonder how you came to sink into this hypocrisy and spread your roots so thick into it that you cannot find your way up and out.

And I, the enabler, I bury myself in the shallow grave of my unfailing affection for your fucked up soul. Meanwhile, you take me in pieces; a little square child that you push through circle holes.

I melt. I yield to your ego. I feel your presence throbbing sick in the most instinctive quarter of my guts. I fall asleep in your shade.

i would

2009-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

like to find a man with morals. one who understands the difference between blindly following rules laid out by others and actually blazing a trail of right and wrong with your own two feet.

one who knows that asking why? is a matter of spirituality and not of disrespect.

he would say that the greatest thanks we can give for the gift of life is to live it to the fullest. and remind me that any god worth his salt has a sense of humor. for lent we would indulge in all our favorite things...as a symbol of our faith of course.

i think this man would understand how i feel in mountains. he would understand how i feel in cities. that they are both forms of temples. one erected in honor of the earth. the other in honor of life.

he would forgive me for all the idiotic things i did with vanity and unhealthy levels of hedonism in my heart. and his forgiveness would mean more than that of any priest i ever faked hail marys for.

for him, i would give up everything. but that's just it, a man like this would never ask me to.

today's blog

2009-01-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

is directed at you, kay.

we wish you were coming with us today and we want you to know that we are planning to come see you very very soon.

you're the grey to my christina. fuck the white picket fence. and i love you.

food for thought.

2009-01-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

lance said: society views an artist as someone who produces art. i say, nonsense. being an artist is a matter of spirit, not of practice. put down your brush, silence your voice, close your notebook. are you any less an artist? of course not. you are now an artist without a voice.

i said: and do you think there are artists who are better off without their art?

this is a tiny excerpt from a fantastic conversation between my friend lance and i. do discuss. amongst yourselves or on my blog. if you would like to be just as cool as us you could discuss it over dinner with friends. maybe turn off the tv and cook something like this:

chicken terriyaki meatballs with snowpeas and edamame

*also can be made with tofurky, or some super lean organic turkey meat. drink some moscato. sutter home. because it's only 9 dollars for the whole huge thing and because it's yum yum yum.

oooh, and play some bob dylan. some early bob dylan. i just found a dylan-baez duet record for $1.50 at the DI but that is all mine people.

because i owe it.

2009-01-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

this old debt that comes up every year; creeps purple-grey underneath my eyes. it rips the sarcasm right out of my mouth. rages something acidic inside my insides.

and i've said it once, i'll say it a million times: it is not okay for a girl to wish she was a snake. or a coma victim. or an anne sexton.

it is not okay. but when it leaves, this bookie on my back, i say: i don't want my emotions watered down.

i forget what it was like. or what it must have been like for my mom to witness.

no, it is not okay. because i owe it. if not to myself. than to her. to those of you who have seen or heard it. and have worried.

so i'm actually gonna try this time, okay? try to fix it. try to pay some of it back. because i don't really want to sit here anymore, riddled in the middle like some oddly asphyxiated junky addicted to her own issues.

and because i just plain owe it.

just know

2009-01-11T17:51:00.001-08:00

they'll chase you if you play their little games.

so you better run. run fast. sugarcane.

noteworthy:

photo credit
quote/song credit

data="http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/mp3player-othersite.swf?config=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/config/config_purple_noautostart.xml&mywidth=435&myheight=270&playlist_url=http://www.profileplaylist.net/loadplaylist.php?playlist=56978279">

value="http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/mp3player-othersite.swf?config=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/config/config_purple_noautostart.xml&mywidth=435&myheight=270&playlist_url=http://www.profileplaylist.net/loadplaylist.php?playlist=56978279">