right now ... /  by jen geigley

My lovely friends Tina and Vee posted some sweet little lists over the past couple of days, so I thought I'd jump in and do the same.

listening: William Elliott Whitmore (When Push Comes to Love.) Sleigh Bells (all of Treats.) Spinnerette (Ghetto Love.)

eating: a granola bar

drinking: clementine Izze

wearing: a Star-Wars t-shirt and super dark jeans

feeling: cool and calm and happy to not be outside sweating right now

weather: sunny, extremely humid, 91 degrees (with a thunderstorm on the way)

wanting: a grande coffee frappuccino. with maybe a tiny smidge of caramel on top.

needing: a night out with my dude in the Vespa sidecar. a movie or dinner would be perfect.

thinking: about knitting projects, father's day plans, jury duty, and lots of upcoming summer adventures and trips.

enjoying: lazy afternoons with the kiddo, art projects, and hot sunny days at the wading pool.

wondering: if vending at Renegade in Chicago is in my future (or not) and thinking about a crazy Frank-Lloyd Wright inspired house that we drove by a couple of days ago that's up for sale.
(Passing it on ... your turn.)

hello you ... /  by jen geigley

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Danielle showed me this rad page she made. I found this Blythe pic on Tumblr or something awhile back, and it made me laugh because it totally looks like me and Danielle. Well, if we were dolls. With huge eyes. And coordinating dresses. (Look at us, gazing at each other so lovingly.)
So after she scrapped that pic, I decided I wanted to, too. So here's my page. The bottom pic was taken last summer during a trip to Chicago, and we're making plans to hang out again in a couple of months. Can't wait to see her face. (I honestly hope that we can have adventures like this every summer!)

how we go out /  by jen geigley

Leslie Hall. Words cannot describe. You may have seen her around; she's been all over Des Moines lately and she and the LYs will be performing at the Iowa State Fair this summer.
You may have heard her songs How We Go Out, Craft Talk or my favorite, Blame the Booty.
Or you may have seen her glitter hands/razzle dazzle guest appearances on your favorite kids' show (and mine) Yo Gabba Gabba.
Friday night, I spent the evening at the Des Moines Art Center with 16 of Leslie's fellow successors to her central Iowa time zone, learning the ways of the diva and receiving the gift that is Leslie Hall. (My photos are terrible but I will share them with you anyway.)
Without giving away too many details about my secret and sparkley education and initiation, there were arts and there were crafts. Gem sweaters. Still life drawings. Over-sized fruit.
Hair coiffing and accessory-making. (These are my two new bff's, Paige and Susie.)
Poetry readings. Supervised snack and beverage breaks. Drive-by makeup application. Ramona and Scrappy.
Leotards revived from 7th grade dance recitals.
Hip rotations. Dance lessons.
And a graduation ceremony with hand-drawn diplomas.
Graduation = gold pants. Gold handmade spandex pants.
(Me and my matching pink and black shoe twin.)
And then? Gold pants graduation dance party!!Which carried over to a group field trip to The Garden.(The whole thing was kind of a blur to be honest.)
And I emerged a new girl altogether. A girl who is unafraid of spandex. With a new understanding and appreciation of dance moves, gem sweaters and dollar-store blue eyeshadow. (A girl who doesn't get embarrassed as easily as she did before.)

so, honestly ... /  by jen geigley

(photo from nirrimi)
Lately, there has been a refreshing dose of 'getting real' around the blogs that I frequent. You know, we're crafty and we share tutorials and take pictures of our feet and everything is sunshine, vintage dresses and washi tape.

I think we all sometimes yearn to share a bit more than that. But it's risky to put yourself out there. You could be setting yourself up for disaster ... ridicule. But when you're already putting so much out there, it doesn't always feel authentic to share anything at all unless you sometimes dish out the bad with the good.

For me, it all started with this post from VeryPurplePerson, a fantastically talented seamstress who lives in Japan. I had never imagined from her beautiful photos, perfect dresses and seemingly lovely life that she had some pretty huge things to confess. I was bowled over by her honesty.

Leigh-Ann totally had me when she started writing out her Odyssey on her blog. I've been skimming through most of the things in my google reader lately, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I read what Leigh-Ann was getting ready to share. She promised to be candid, brave and authentic. I started reading and I was amazed at how much the same we all are. Us girls. We all have a long story behind us, whether it's pretty or pretty horrible or a combination of the two.

And then there's Kara, who we can all agree is wise beyond her years. Her fearless sharing and outpouring of her worries and triumphs and mini-freak outs has held my attention and I've long admired her for not caring whether people thought she was emo or not. Encouraging people to stay positive but to also not be ashamed of the bad stuff? Ummm, okay!

I can be overenthusiastic. It's not fake; I'm just like that. I can also be pretty selfish. And impatient. And stubborn. I'm an over-apologizer. I'm socially awkward. I have major OCD tendencies. And I'm a music snob.

For a long time, I struggled with an eating disorder. This is hard for me to talk about but I know it's okay to share, even if it's just to help someone else know that they're not alone (and that it is possible to make it to the other side.)

When I was younger, I had a hard time being friends with girls. I hung out with the art room kids. I loved marching band. I was nerdy, scrawny, awkward, insecure and usually felt like an outsider. In high school, I won the vote for quietest girl in our class. I think I'm finally growing out of my shyness.

My childhood started off pretty good but then got really hard and complicated ... (but this is too long of a story to share today.)

I'm totally afraid of being a not-good-enough wife and mom. With a not-clean-enough house. But I love my husband and my kid fiercely and hold on tightly to what we've got.

I'm a Christian. And I suck at going to church.

I am not afraid to mess things up. And at the same time, I'm really really afraid to mess things up.

compliments to the chef /  by jen geigley

This is my totally gorgeous friend, Brandy. I met her at a local wading pool one day a couple of summers ago, each of us with a toddler in tow, and pretty much thought she was the coolest. She's a stay-at-home mom and a chef. I used to bug her about ideas for meals to make since Bo is a vegetarian and I'm still sort-of a meat eater. Even after ten years of cooking some meat/some veggie or all veggie or whatever, I just sometimes find myself getting stumped in the kitchen. And then, last week Brandy announced that she'd had this idea: once a week, she will come up with a couple of meals that people like me could choose from (who either don't like to cook, don't have time to cook, or just need a break from the kitchen but want something delicious to eat for dinner.) Then she prepares some gourmet awesomeness for you. I knew right away that whatever she made would be amazing, so I signed our family up for her first week of this new adventure. (Extra cool: she offers vegetarian dishes, shops locally and at the farmers' market and sometimes does deliveries on her bike.)
So this is how dinner started off tonight! My mouth was watering as soon as I opened everything up and saw that yummy ciabatta. This is the beginnings of the vegetarian ciabatta pizza with gorgonzola, walnut pesto, pears, (omg ... the pears were so good,) arugula, and per Brandy's suggestion, a little honey on the side.
It was seriously the most flavorful, delicious pizza we've ever had – and Bo has had a lot of pizzas. It was the perfect summery meal and we all were in love with every single bite. More like, freaking out about how good it was after every single bite. Again with those fresh pears. Delicious. We even have enough left over for tomorrow. (Yay!) So yeah, it's a pretty brilliant idea and I'm happy to reap the benefits. (If you're in the Des Moines area and want Brandy's contact info, shoot me an email and I can hook you up.)

'Cause I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes; talking with strangers, waiting in line ... /  by jen geigley

Hello, Motion City Soundtrack!
My friend Erin and I went to see these dudes play at People's Court last night. I was super impressed by how crazy fun Justin Pierre was onstage and they sounded really good. It was my first time seeing them; Erin had followed them more faithfully in years past and had been to their shows several times.
Erin got to hang for a bit with bass player Matt, catching up and remembering past shows from like eight years ago in Minneapolis. He totally remembered her. Because she's a memorable girl, that Erin. Fun show and rad night with my pal. Tell me that you're alright, yeah everything is alright. :)

cool knitting patterns /  by jen geigley

A few interesting patterns that have caught my eye ...
Oversized boat neck sweater from Knit.1 ... I'm very curious about how this would end up fitting, and if it has potential to be one of those go-to favorite pullovers.
Floppy summer sun hat free pattern from Vogue Knitting ... a summer hat! Normally I'm a little bit on the fence about knitted hats, but this one I like.
Crazy cool afghan from Knit.1 ... this might be the first granny blanket I've seen that you can knit instead of crochet.
Chain link necklace from Knit.1 ... like Yokoo's, but on a smaller scale.
Tribeca scarf, a free pattern from Vogue Knitting. Not summery by any means but the attached arm warmers are interesting. Although, I'm not sure this would be practical while wearing a coat. It's always the styling that gets me on these projects ... it looks so cute on her!

Puff Daddy and Puff Daddy's Baby by Anna and Heidi Pickles ... the pouf. I've seen so many people making these.
Striped dish cloths from Lion Brand Yarn ... I have been obsessing over colorful dishcloths. I can't get enough, and I'm loving these color combos.
And saving the best for last ... this Grass Rug by Lion Brand Yarn. I mean, are you kidding me? Killing me with coolness. It uses a TON of yarn, but it's just so incredible.
(So ... do have any particular knitting patterns stuck in your brain this summer? Do share.)