So, it’s been a long few weeks since I updated. Lots of stuff and things went on in my offline life, and I thought I’d share a few of them with you, just in case you were all wondering what I was up to. But before I do that, let me draw your attention to something more important than my September escapades.
This is via my friend Skyla Dawn Cameron. It’s a signal boost, and it would help loads if you’d re-blog/Twitter/FB this info for maximum visibility. I know you probably don’t know any of the people involved, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a stick to the bushes and see what you could flush out for a good cause. From Skyla’s Facebook:
They’re raising money for a woman battling metastatic melanoma and her family. It would bring you good karma and honor to your ancestors if you helped out. Direct donations, auction items, and gift bag goodies for their gala ball fundraiser next month. Please boost the signal!
http://www.michellelachmund.com/
You can read Skyla’s blog about it here. There are loads of links with more information in it if you’d like to know more, and about how you can help. From the post:
In less than three weeks, they’re having a gala fundraising ball which sounds fancy and I wish I could go but it’s in Australia; though we can’t attend, there is still loads we can do. They’re accepting donations through the website. There is also an auction. AND…they can use swag/samples for their gift bags.
So here’s what you can do: first, head to Facebook and “like” their page and the event in case you’re able to attend. If you have some pennies you can toss their way, everything counts (remember my fundraising for my dog Sophie? $5-$20 added up FAST). And you writer types? You with pens and mousepads and such lying about? They need goodies for their gift bags! Get in contact ASAP and see if you can help them out.
Lastly, please take a moment and signal boost The Michelle Lachmund Appeal. It costs nothing but a few minutes to spread the word.
Sometimes bad stuff happens to good people–here’s a chance to make a difference in the life of Ms. Lachmund and her family.
So there you go. Onward!
So you might recall I mentioned that I was going to be having company. Well, “company” is one word for it. My mother came to visit for a couple weeks. I’ll pause a moment for that to sink in. My MOTHER came to visit. Dina’s mother. You know. The one who still has my very first “book” hidden somewhere for blackmail purposes? The one written in crayon with a pink cover about a unicorn? (SHUT UP. I was FIVE, okay? SHUT UP.)
Yeah. Anyway! Dina’s mom was here for a bit, and We Did Stuff. Lots of stuff. Nothing that resulted in a subpoena or incarceration (She’s my mother! I save those kinds of things for people who will bail me out. Mom warned me when I was young that if I ever landed in jail not to call her because she raised me better than that and if I was in jail I deserved to be there. So yeah. Best Behavior Dina while Mom was here.), but stuff. Let’s just go chronological, shall we?
Mom arrives bearing gifts, because she is my mother and cool like that. She has come to accept her baby’s Gothdom over the years and brought me something pretty. She knows I have a special affinity for Swarovski crystals and brought me a couple lovely bracelets made by the daughter of someone she knows. Maeve of Beaded Graffiti made this gorgeous leather wrap bracelet and this mosaic bracelet. Go check out her shop!
After Mom arrived we went to our local farmer’s market, out to several awesome restaurants in our area, a few things outside our area, and general random life-stuff, like grocery shopping and so on.
Shopping. Oh, there was much shopping. Let’s get one thing clear. I DESPISE SHOPPING. Unless it’s for yarn or tea, shopping is not high on my list of fun things. But with mom, it’s kind of fun. Now, I do admit to being somewhat girly in that I love shoes. I’m not quite the Imelda I was in my younger days, but I still have a huge boot fetish. I love boots. Well, Mom loves shoes, too. And there’s a Bass outlet not far from me. Well…you see what’s coming? The yarn shop I love so much isn’t all that far from the Bass outlet. You see where I’m going here.
I didn’t go overboard. And with my new clean house policy, if I bring a new thing in, two old things have to go out. So two new pairs of shoes meant I had to sacrifice four pairs of shoes I already had. It was hard, but it’s done.
Also, since I’d never been and Mom was here playing tourist, we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was fun and they have the most awesome ice cream. They also have SO MUCH CHEESE (yeah, I like cheese) and a cafe and fudge and candy and did I mention ice cream? Also, I got CHEESE CURDS! Why am I so excited about this? Because it means I can make a REAL POUTINE. OMG. I’ve made two since our visit to the cheese factory, and I’m going to have to make the near-two-hour drive a regular thing just so I can have my salty, guilty pleasure as the curds aren’t sold anywhere but there (and I can’t find cheese curd anywhere else despite looking!). I don’t know why Americans don’t eat poutine. I mean, it’s fries, cheese and gravy, and that’s just the basics. You can add all sorts of things to a poutine and it’s awesome. Canada even has a whole restaurant chain based on them, and the next time I’m in Toronto, I’m GOING.
There was more shopping and more eating, then Mom had to go home. While we fight (dude…shut up) and fuss, she’s still my mother and therefore awesome. She’s my hero and I love her to bits. It was great having her here and I was sad when she left. We had a great time.
So that’s a little bit of what I was up to the last couple weeks. Other people were up to things, too. One thing was that my friend’s BRILLIANT, AWESOME, WONDERFUL band, Silent Wings, released their first single off their debut album, REVOLUTION UNFOLDING:
That’s my friend Rhea singing there. She’s the lead vocalist. (Not to mention gorgeous!)
Here’s another track preview, “Into the Void.”
The whole album is due out this November, and I can’t wait. It’s so gorgeous.
And now we return you to your life, already in progress.