Pink of Perfection's "the whole story"

I'm bummed that I haven't yet finished my quilt or even learned how to knit or crochet yet - I'm still stuck on those damn cross stitch chairs - 2 down, 2 to go!!! But I recently read the author of the blog, Pink of Perfection's "whole story" (her life philosophy) again, and now I can relax and enjoy the simple things, like finishing my last 2 cross stitch pieces. Then I'll learn the rest of what I want to learn (that's what life's about, right?) and finish my quilt - there's still time - it's not a race. Forget bummed-ness, Pink's mantra is dead on:

In the past few months, I have finally been able to pinpoint the ingredients in my recipe for happiness. It's my guess that my criteria for a rich life are not unique to me, and that's what the Pink of Perfection is all about.

A lot of people I know want the same things in life: to give and receive a lot of love (from a cocker spaniel, Mom, or, ideally, a sexy playmate), and find a way to express themselves creatively. I've found that if I can manage to also cook dinner for my friends and loved ones on a regular basis, I am well on my way to to a pretty peachy mood.

From there, a lot of other stuff seems to fall right into place: I find myself having cheerful exchanges with the guy at the deli, the line at the bank bothers me less, and I roll my eyes when I spill my coffee rather than having a Starbucks-style breakdown. In general, I am more present in my daily life and I look more kindly at the world around me. Not a bad worldview adjustment for anyone, I'd say, all for the price of pulling out the knitting needles or inviting a friend over for a slice of lemon pound cake.

I think of the Pink of Perfection as a guide to good living, thrifty la dolce vita. "Thrifty," isn't necessarily about doing things the cheapest way possible, but rather knowing when to splurge, when to pinch, and always being happy with the charming imperfections of doing things yourself. There's no reason why a lush life should come only to those with a plush bank account. When you put your precious time into your apartment, your birthday gifts to friends, your outfit, and your dinner, instead of just handing over dough at the cash register, you're living in the Pink of Perfection.

In the Pink of Perfection, we love the highs (homemade pate and Charles Jourdan) as much as the lows (street hot dogs and three-in-a-pack Hanes tanks), and we adore lots of vintage charm (ladies with gloves and cocktails served with rooster embroidered napkins). We are young, and we live in basement studio apartments with kitchens that may leave something to be desired. We pick up furniture off the street, and we buy chandaliers at yard sales. We plot to make throw pillows for the futon and we roast chickens in cake pans. We have to improvise a lot, but we have a lot of curiosity, creativity, and we love beautiful things.

Personally, I want to turn off my television more often and actively add more beauty to my life with sewing projects, big pots of stew shared with a gaggle of friends, and more red heels. If we're purposefully crafting a life, then we're consciously adding to its beauty. I have one window in my apartment; I need all the beauty I can get. Don't you?

So this website is at once my promise to myself for a creative, yummy, party-packed life, and a place to share those ideas with you. I have some party tips up my sleeve, lots of ideas for crafts with ribbons, and I may even break out the fondue pot.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, the Pink of Perfection is not about doing things flawlessly. I will make mistakes along the way, rest assured, and I will definitely opt for the lazy route in my projects. I'm not a faultless maven of the domestic arts, and I'm still learning along the way, too. After all, perfection is so boring and inert, but the Pink of Perfection -- that's dynamic, totally fun, and imperfectly lovely. So thanks for reading, visit often, and comment as much as you like. Let's play!

--Sarah

Check out Pink of Perfection

Shiny Happy Kitties Holding Paws!

My family makes fun of me because I am a borderline crazy cat woman. They'd probably even tell you that I'm not borderline, I'm already there.

Melissa made the comment that I won't need to potty train my kids, they'll just use the litterboxes too.

But here's my declaration as cheesy as it is: I know of no other thing that greets me on a daily basis with such happiness. I often get home before Eric and when I walk up our basement steps, I already see Boss's paws in the crack of the door. That's love.

For some reason, maybe because I am crazy in love, they follow me around all over the house, and could care less where Eric is. That's love.

And when my cats look at me with the sweetest longing in their eyes... I know that's love. And they do the most silly, dumb things like chase around receipts crinkled up just so and PJ chases around a ball in circles that she'll never get (damn cat toy). And Boss watches me eat popcorn so that he can catch any dropped particles. And this all just makes me fall even more ridiculously silly in love.

When I brought my babies home from the vet the other night, they looked sad and acted funny, so much so that the next night they hid away from us. So nothing could make me happier this morning than waking up to Boss purring in my ear. That’s the sweet sound of love.

I’d go so far as to say that these furry-butts keep my sanity in check. And maybe that’s insane… but it works for me.

Ready for winter!

I haven't had waterproof boots since I was a kid! I can't wait to put these on and run in the snow and jump in some puddles! There's nothing worse than wet, cold feet.

Holidays here we come!

Put your Santa cone hat on!

Oh the love I have for thee....

One of these (more commonly referred to in these parts as "UDF") is right up the street from our little neighborhood. And in the fall, the pumpkin icecream always makes me go "MMMMMMMM!!!" And for the first time ever this year, I tried a pumpkin MILKSHAKE!!! So. DAMN. Delicious. Everyone needs to try one in their lifetime!!!

Bring on the waterworks

picture from the blog nienie dialogues, from this post

The story of a married couple (Stephanie and Christian Nielson) surviving a plane crash:
http://tinyurl.com/58da27

Update on recovery:
http://tinyurl.com/62sjqc

Stephanie's sister's Courtney's blog documenting their journey since the crash:
http://blog.cjanerun.com/

Stephanie and Christian's love story:
http://tinyurl.com/4wygxs

Stephanie's own blog:
http://tinyurl.com/6md2ke

I've never yearned so much for the healing of people whom I've never met. But because of Stephanie's blog and her sister's continuance of her story, this family is remarkable. Stephanie's online journal is so beautiful and makes you grateful for one thing: family. Oh, and art, creativity, living in the moment, marriage, etc.

Corrupt voting

Why oh why is our voting system in this country so corrupt?!?! Not only did our system (lack of one) create a huge fiasco eight years ago, but now you can be inebriated and vote at the same time!

Last night, we attended the Vote Early Rock Late event in Fountain Square: http://vote-ohio.net/. I've never attended an election event before, and was a little pumped up for this one, thinking maybe something cool would happen. However, I was less than inspired. First, the accoustics at Fountain Square are horrible. I could barely tell the difference in melodies between some of The Breeders more popular tunes. Then, the lineup of speakers did little to pump up or engage the audience. Thirdly and most importantly, they were selling alcohol and encouraging early voting (right there in fact) at the same time. And since this rally was all for Obama, I also wouldn't be surprised if he was the only name on the ticket. Since when did alcohol and voting mix? And why the early voting? What happened to election day just being a singular day after all of the tireless campaigning was said and done?

One of the main reasons Eric and I stuck around was to check out Natalie Portman. She was announced with little fanfare, and before I knew it this little pixie girl was dropped out of the sky from fairy land. We could barely hear her, all she said was "There's my grandma. And my mom went to Ohio State. and blah blah blah. Oh, and go vote." Of course she was chic in her navy blazer, huge scarf with white T, super high heels and tiny dark jeans. Her whole booty was the size of just one of my booty cheeks. And that was that.

BOO EARLY VOTING!

Caesar salad dressing and homemade croutons

Karen, you'll be glad to know I've been cooking from this book that you gave us for our wedding! Courtesy of Sensational Salads, I made some Caesar salad dressing and delicious croutons! Everything was so easy too.

For the dressing:
2 cloves garlic (halved)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp heavy cream
4 anchovies (optional, but I used them!)
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, grind up the garlic with the lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Then through the pour spout, slowly add the olive oil until mixture becomes thick. Add the rest of the ingredients until well blended. Dressing will keep covered in the fridge up to 2 days.

All you do for the CROUTONS is take some crusty bread and break it apart into 1 inch pieces (about a cup full). Pour 2 tbsp. olive oil in a saute pan and heat on medium-high heat up to 7 mins. If the bread browns too quickly, turn down the heat. Stir often, then place on paper towels. YUM!

"The Business of Blogging"

From marthastewart.com:
It may have started as the stepchild of reality TV for voyeurs seeking 15 minutes of fame, but contrary to stereotypes, blogging is not just for people who want to post pictures of their cats or rant about their political views to anyone and everyone.

OH MY! That made me chuckle.

Here's another pic of my cats:and another political view: nah, I'd rather look at my cats.

Oh birdie, you don't have to be in the dark anymore!

Because we have power again! After almost a full week without, we can now shine the outside light on our little friend again. Living in the dark is not for the birds!

Some observations on this pretty fall-like day

Glendale, Ohio kind of reminds me of Savannah - some sun near the gazebo on my lunch break was just the ticket.

I want a camera and a Flickr account.

Cats like Louisiana spices too. My black and white buddy in just about one of the only Glendale shops enjoyed licking some remnants of my Popeyes' red beans and rice. And I thought I had licked them all off already - those are some strong spices.

When I get nervous, I can feel my pulse in the back of my head.

Yogi Chai Black tea is darn right tasty.

Yogi has also run out of motivational sayings; after about 10 different ones, I've realized that's all there is.

I want to get back to cross stitch - a monkey could do it, but for some reason, it's fun.

Em and I are going to score some wool at Young's on the 20th! I bet a monkey couldn't knit. Well maybe a really smart monkey could.

After rubbing pink goop off of my teacup, I'm wondering how my Nars lipgloss isn't bad for my arteries. What is in this stuff I inevitably ingest every day?

To clarify...

OK, no more political forum here after this, even though I do like hearing from friends and their views - I'll just save that for email! Until then, I'd like to clarify my last post. What I meant by openly dissing - both sides are always dissing - was lacking concrete facts to support a diss, don't just go and downplay somebody's job. What Palin said comparing her job as mayor to Obama's as community organizer wasn't even a good defense to her detractors and seemed silly; she was unintentionally comparing apples to apples.

Politics! P-SH! Off I go to read all of the candidates' convention speeches, check out websites, etc. (not right this minute unfortunately, I'm at work)!

I want to see U2 again so badly...

Go here to see why U2's last tour rocked so much.

One of his comments I like that applies to the election right now:
".....you [Bono] refuse to dig at Bush or the US Government. You are about solutions."

Why are the Republicans openly dissing and criticizing the Democrats? Boo! I certainly wouldn't diss anybody in a job interview, so how is an election different? (e.g. Sarah Palin saying with an annoying smirk that her job as mayor of a 6,000 person town was way more challenging than Obama's as a community organizer - puhlease!)

I don't wholly side with either party; I just want to learn more than I attempted to last election, which wasn't much.

But what I already know is U2, I love you.

Stuff White People Like

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/I am not on top of things. This blog and book have been around for a while and I first saw the book at Joe's bday party a few weeks ago - you will enjoy the website if you are just now discovernig it like me. Have any of you seen it before? Tell me what you think. I am white and I like it.

First outfit

This getup is kind of PTA yuppie mommish isn't it? I like the top, pants and earrings together, but I'm not sold on them paired with the jacket and shoes. This site is fun! Get on it!

P.S. I just ordered that shirt on clearance a few days ago! - should be on my doorstep when I get home. SWEET!

New obsessions...

Daily emails from The Very Short List - "Very Short List is a collection of distinct, free, daily e-mails that each recommend one must–see gem a day." I haven't received one recommendation that's let me down; the VSL always has something interesting.

Creating outfits on Polyvore - "Polyvore is a unique web application that lets people mix and match images from anywhere on the web, to create outfits, interior designs, or any kind of collage." I've just started; I'm going to go make my first outfit!

1995 - it was a very good year

Saved by the Bell was HOT! Go to Flickr, enter any year and pick a photo. Check out those jackets! When I was in 5th grade, my grandpa died, and my immediate family inherited all of his coats. I remember wearing one of his green Members Only ones, thinking my grandpa was part of some sweet secret club.

Quote of the day

From LC of Fops and Dandies (one of my fave fashion blogs):

"I hate the whole ex-pat thing, mostly Americans who were in places like Europe and Asia. They're so into being ex-pats! And when they come back they think they're like f****** Ernest Hemingway or something."

I wish I had..

YouTube when I was in school.

Bowlin'

I'm sooo giddy over this set of bowls that were marked WAY down - best lunchbreak ever - first Martha Stewart purchase for myself - been drooling over these since they first came out - even before I bought the lil guys for Em - I never knew bowls could bring such happiness. Man, those colors!

Eric painted most of the extra room yesterday! Sewin', craftin', readin', writin' - this room will be havin' it all! And these bowls will bring some happy snackin' in from the kitchen! (I couldn't refuse the matching lil guys either, more aptly called mini prep bowls), nor the powder blue recipe box!

Please take a moment to watch...

"Christian the Lion".
"I Will Always Love You" as the soundtrack?!?!? You've gotta see and laugh/cry your eyeballs out! It'll make your day! hahahahaha. (Thanks for the link Stephanie!)

Just the thing to cure Monday blues.

My mom just sent me this pic of my niece Kyra wearing the dress we got her for her b-day.

Embarrassed by embarrassment

Hey readers! How do you get over embarrassment of how you handled initial embarrassment? What a cycle, I tell you! I guess it gets better as you get older, but why wait that long? Going to work on a Monday doesn't help; it's like solitary confinement when all you want to do is talk to your best friend.

The writer of the tea bag slogan knows better than I do:

"feel great
act great
and approve of yourself"

Sometimes this is so hard to do.

Cincy love!

Man! I was so excited when Em told me about Cincy on Design*Sponge a few weeks ago. We made the DS "City Guide", and pretty much everything good about Cincy made the list! Reader comments are great too. This city rocks. If you haven't seen this beaut' of a feature go here.

More green

This photo featured in a recent Design*Sponge post resembles our bathroom to a T - the green tile especially - but we don't have our TP artfully arranged atop the toilet. It's uncanny how this shot could've been taken from the vantage point I have when stepping out of the shower. Although our only full bathroom is small, it's one of my favorite rooms in the house because we didn't have to do much with it (besides scrub it down), and the tile color just speaks to me! Some evenings, the setting sun beautifully glows on that green tile, making it a relaxing place to get clean.

Pillow love

Green and gorgeous. And big and fluffy for squeezing too!

tea time...

monday, monday and a new brand of tea this morning, when i come to find little sayings attached to the tea bag string:


"feel great
act great
and approve of yourself"

"experience is wisdom"

"feel the love and warmth of your soul"

ah, a hot cup of tea that leaves me feeling warm and mushy inside! i may just have another cup to keep the lovin' feeling alive!

PROJECTS!

Chairs, chairs - Our chair love is immense, but our house just cannot provide room for all of the lovely ones out there, and they cost a lot.


So I'm going to stitch some up and hang them on our wall - genius thinking from an Etsy seller from whom I bought all of these cross stitch patterns (btw, Etsy rocks my world).

These are photos of her final works. I'm thinking I'll stick the "Love" one on a pillow (as the seller did) and leave out the artist's signature. I've bought all of the beautiful floss and fabric and am dying to start once we hit the road for the beach next week!

Say what you need to say...

POST EDIT: John Mayer is a JERK! I recently read one of his interviews and PUKE! Dude just eeds to shutup. It was so bad, I don't even want to listen to his music anymore. And that says a lot because his CD Room for Squares was the first gift Eric ever gave me when we first started dating back in '01.

At the end of jazzercise we've been stretching to John Mayer's "Say What You Need to Say", and I'll sing along (we're bent down and the music's loud). I love his music. Some people think he's a big tool, and he probably can be but so can everybody. At least he can write beautiful music and blog passages like this one (wish I had written these words):

FROM THE HEART....

I need to write this.

I've been traveling alone in Japan for the better part of three weeks now, and It's been so remarkable an experience for me that I can't book a ticket home yet. I haven't spoken very much out loud these days, but I've been thinking to myself in what feels like surround sound. I can see so many things clearly, and feel so connected to myself and the world around me that I need to share the perspective with you.

I'm already aware that when I sing, say or write anything, 50 percent of the response will be in support of it and the other 50 will want to discount it. This blog, though, is directed to 100 percent of people reading it. If my blog truly does have any cultural effect, then it should be used for more than just pictures of sneakers and funny youtube videos. (If you don't think my blog has any effect, than you can't by definition be reading this right now and therefore don't have to respond to it in any way. Isn't that tidy?)

What I'm about to write isn't about fame or success or celebrity or the media. That's my business.

This is about us all.

This is about a level of self consciousness so high in my generation, that it's actually toxic.

This is about the girl in her bedroom who poses in front of the camera she's awkwardly holding in her outstretched hand. She'll take a hundred photos until coming up with one she's happy with, which inevitably looks nothing like her, and after she's done poring over images of herself, will post one on her myspace page and then write something like " I don't give a f*ck what you think about me. "

This is about the person trying out for American Idol, who while going off about how confident they are that they were born ready to sing in front of the world, are trembling so badly they can hardly breathe.

This is about me, the guy who walks through a throng of photographers into a restaurant like he's Paul Newman, but who leaves a "reject" pile of clothes in his closet so high that his cleaning lady can't figure out how one man can step into so many pairs of pants in a week.

This is about a young guy who maintains a celebrity blog that subsists on tearing other people down but who has wrestled with a lifelong battle for acceptance as a gay man.

This is about us all. Every one of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it's incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we're all just one sentence away from being brought to the edge of tears, if only it was worded right. And I don't want to act immune to that anymore. I took the biggest detour from myself over the past year, since I decided that I wasn't going to care about what people thought about me. I got to the point where I had so much padding on that, sure, I couldn't feel the negativity, but that's because I couldn't feel much of anything. And I think I'm done with that.

I'm not the first person to admit we're all self conscious, Kanye was. But what I want to do is to shed a little light on why we're all in the same boat, no matter the shape of the life we lead: because every one of us were told since birth that we were special. We were spoken to by name through a television. We were promised we could be anything that we wanted to be, if only we believed it and then, faster than we saw coming, we were set loose into the world to shake hands with the millions of other people who were told the exact same thing.

And really? Really? It turns out we're just not all that special, when you break it down. Beautifully unspectacular, actually. And that truth is going to catch up with us whether we want to run from it or not. The paparazzo following me to the gym ain't gonna be Herb Ritts and the guy he's following ain't gonna be Bob Dylan. It's just a matter of how old you are once you embrace that fact. And for me, 30 sounds about right.

What now, then? I can only really say for myself: Enjoy who I am, the talents and the liabilities. Stop acting careless. In fact, care more. Be vulnerable but stay away from where it hurts. Read. See more shows. Of any kind. Rock shows, art shows, boat shows. Create more art. Wear hoodies to dinner. Carry a notebook and hand it to people when they passionately recommend something and ask them to write it down for me.

Root for others.

Give more and expect the same in return, but over time.

Act nervous when I'm nervous, puzzled when I don't know what the hell to do, and smile when it all goes my way. And never in any other order than that.

And when it's all over, whether at the end of this fabulous career or of this life, which I hope takes place at the same time, I should look back and say that I had it good and I made the most of it while I was able. And so should you.

I'm going quiet now.

John

Here's my new wheels...

Eric posted his new wheels, but check out my beast on wheels:
This picture, thanks again to Google Images, is a very accurate representation of what my car looked like when we saw it at the lot. (except my seats are cream colored)

Great things about my car: it keeps my bum nice and toasty. And it tells me how many miles I have left until I run out of gas. And it shows me if I pedal to the metal too much through my MPG avg. - for mom if she's reading, pedal to the metal does not mean I'm speeding, just getting up to speed too fast after many stop signs and red lights on my way to work test my patience. And my car starts automatically when I'm a million feet away. And it tells me who's singing on the radio (XM - only for 3 months). And after XM expires, I can listen to my CDs and when summer comes, I can let my hair down because, here's the BEST part, it has AIR. WAHOO! New cars are great!

-the book which includes the color wheel quilt. I would not even attempt this if I didn't have Emily's help (she'll be making this quilt too). Danger though, she and her mom, who also happens to be an EXPERT sewer, do not know how this could be considered an easy, last-minute project:

From Anaheim to LA to Mesquite to Dallas

to Cincinnati in the next few days. These fabric bundles will have come full circle before I even quilt the pieces together into a color wheel. I was preparing to title this blog post "Waiting on my doorstep" because today's the day UPS said my package was due to arrive. However, according to UPS tracking: "THE STATE SHOWN ON THE LABEL IS INCORRECT. UPS IS ATTEMPTING TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT STATE TO COMPLETE THE DELIVERY / THE ADDRESS HAS BEEN CORRECTED. THE DELIVERY HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED"

Well, since I still don't know how to sew, I guess I can wait.

Oooh dahling, you look prrrrrfect!!!

What a deal - for 50 bucks a pop your cat can transform its image and exude a different personality!
I'd totally buy one.... IF I had a million dollars.