haute pocket

HELLS YES

2008-09-05T12:22:00.001-07:00

I totally stole this from John, but it's too good to pass up:

Who wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese this weekend? Road trip for the BFFs?!?

bikes bikes bikes bikes bikes

2008-08-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

My life has been overtaken by bikes. Here's a glimpse:

The Pedal Cloud hops mad curbs.

BFF bike derby

Carl and I represent.

Also, Shanai got me hooked on bike related missed connections. Here's one from today:

Wow! We passed right in front of Dunn Bros at the Lake St. bridge at 8:00 last night. I'd have smiled more, but I was trying not to choke on the gnats I just breathed. your gnatty admirer

Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads

2008-06-12T10:59:00.001-07:00

This book is awesome. Who doesn't want to know about flesh-eating beetles or how to stuff a human?? My fun having, film fest coordinating, traveling around the country, busy ass has been taking quite a few months to finish reading it, but I have a feeling that my upcoming 12 hr MEGAbus ride will do the trick.

But seriously - I can't stop thinking about taxidermy lately. It seems to be popping out at me from everywhere. I visited the Milwaukee County Museum for the second time a few months ago and once again my mind was blown by the amazing dioramas they have on display. They even have the very first diorama ever!!!

Did you know that Sam Sanfillippo is one of my favorite taxidermists? Really truly. Squirrels riding rodeo? Genius. Plus he's from Wisconsin. I hope he loves cheese as much as I do.

My old house had a huge boar's head mounted above the fireplace. A REAL boar's head - covered in cobwebs and dust and complete awesomeness. Chris found it in the basement along with over 10 years worth of old roomates' crap. It used to scare the shit out of me when I'd stumble home drunk from the CC Club at 3am. I sure do miss that boar's head...I like to call him Al.

There's this new Minneapolis taxidermy/music blog floating around the blog-o-sphere. It's called Stuffed Pheasant and although I think it has too much music coverage and not enough local taxidermy...it's still nice to see something new and weird pop up. Plus, I heard they're looking for writers...so if you feel like covering the latest and greatest in taxidermy you should hit them up.

What if your job was to paint all this bird shit?

spring break '08!!

2008-03-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

Things that took place during Spring Break '08 in Milwaukee:

Ate too much cheese.

Drank $4 liters of beer.

Watched the buffalo 'roam'.

Inflated my ego by finding a flaw in this diorama.

Hung out with some hungry Dinosaurs.

Witnessed the love between men.

And discovered how much I truly wish I could pee standing up.

thumbs down

2008-03-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when a totally thumbs up day turns into a totally thumbs down night?

Here is how my day started:

The best thing ever happened this morning: the sun woke me up before my alarm went off. It's always nice to start your day with rays of sunshine as opposed to obnoxious beeping.

Too bad today is a shot day. I switched back to the pen style shot as opposed to the syringe because my allergic (?) reactions to the syringe shots were getting stronger and stronger. Hopefully today will be reaction free and I won't have to worry about frantically calling my doctor....

Other good news of the day: my kombucha tea matured enough to bottle yesterday. This morning I drank a cup after waking up and it was delicious.

Good day sunshine. THUMBS UP, RIGHT?

Fast forward to 3pm:
A large, red, itchy bump formed on my leg where I injected my shot. LAME.

Fast forward to 10pm:
Snow started falling on the first day of spring. THUMBS DOWN.

I know this year's slogan is No Hate in '08, but sometimes it's so damn hard.

HM....

2008-02-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

I've ranted about my moral dilemma concerning Mall of America's fast-fad chain stores such as H&M and Forever 21 in this prior post and I've stuck to my guns (and my wallet) since then. I haven't given either of those brands a single cent since writing that rant, but with the spring/summer seasons creeping up on me I'm realizing that I'm in dire need of some necessities. Necessities such as sunglasses. And jeans that aren't full of holes. Necessities that I could probably scour thrift stores for but lack the time, or buy from local boutiques but lack the cash flow. Necessities that could be found in a snap at H&M...

Luckily for me (and my morals) the Low Impact Living blog has done some research for me. This article rates some of the top fast-fad fashion brands such as Gap (includes Old Navy and Banana Republic), Target, Forever 21, and H&M in relation to their environmental responsibility and social practices. Hmmm, it seems that H&M isn't exactly the big bad wolf I've made it out to be. Not that they are perfect by any means - or that shopping there is better than thrifting or buying locally or handmade - BUT the article does let me feel okay to rationalize buying a few things from them here and there.

Hole-free jeans here I come.

Stuporbowl XI

2008-02-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

150 bike kids and a smart, sassy, lady from Chicago invaded my house last weekend.

Since my house was a 'sober stop' this year (wtf??) Becca and I made anyone who entered our territory don a "finger 'stache".

Here is the Chicagoan, Becca, helping my lady Stella model a "finger 'stache":

Stuporbowl XI kicked ass for many reasons this year. But mostly because a woman won all around first place! Hell yes! It made me crazy proud to be a lady biker in Minneapolis.

Here's the champ, Susan, with her "thumb 'stache":

Finger 'staches for all.

namesake

2008-02-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

My two new favorite names:

Char Coal
Corri Ander

Yes. These are real people.

I know because I send them snail mail.

so very metal

2008-01-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

If you can crochet metal you are my hero.

DEMAKERSVAN

the ice museum

2008-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

One of the cool things about living in Minnesota is that, well, its cold. Without the mercury dipping below freezing on a regular basis there would be no ice. With no ice there would be no ice skating on frozen ponds, no amazing icicles hanging from my porch roof, no ice block sledding, and no Art Shanty Projects
. Really, what's a better time to make art than in the dead of winter? When even the thought of leaving the couch brings on a bout of the shivers, the Ice Preservation Fund is taking ice to a whole new level with The Ice Museum.

uniformly

2008-01-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

This is my uniform. That one outfit that you always lean back on when you've overslept your alarm or are just too hung over to think straight in the morning hours... Each item may change a bit here or there, but the components stay the same - and the boots never come off.

tee: buffalo exchange
cardigan: target thrift
bandana: goodwill diggers
skirt: made by me
sweater tights: ?
boots that are surgically attatched to my feet: frye

What's your uniform?

ringing in the new year with a bang...

2008-01-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

...more like a crash actually...

Icy roads and biking do not mix. Hopefully the rest of 2008 won't be quite as eventfull as the first few hours were. At least my gold dress was sparkly enough to draw attention away from my face...

fake blood is fun

2007-12-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

"but it was just a little cut..."

"yeah, but you should see the other guy"

proof of duping

2007-12-06T07:59:00.001-08:00

arctic air, originally uploaded by haute pocket.

Here's a shot of the dress referred to below.

I've been duped

2007-12-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with the Mall of America.

I love that there's a store that sells only magnets.
I hate that there's always a rotunda full of teenyboppers fainting over their latest teen idol.
I love Ruby Tuesday's megarita (seriously, a margarita as big as your head).
I hate that you can't turn a corner without running into a Victoria Secret (how many Victoria Secrets do you really need in one mall?).

I also have a love/hate relationship with H&M and Forever 21.

I love some of the designs.
I hate that most of the good designs aren't even original.
I love that it's one-stop-shopping for when I'm in a hurry.
I hate that the clothes are cheaply made.
I hate that the clothes generally fall apart in under a year.
I hate that I don't know what kind of conditions the clothes are produced in.

I guess that's more of a hate/love relationship than a love one...
Because of this said relationship I have been trying not to buy anything from either H&M or Forever 21 since August. I didn't make a pact with myself or anything - I just wanted to try to make my shopping habits a bit more sustainable. (Check out the amazing Suburban Queen blog for a great post regarding this same dilemma.) Now it's December and I've only bought one $20 basic black zip-up hoodie from H&M since August. I'm pretty content with that.

Anyways, the other day I was at the megamall (do all Minnesotans call it this or was this just my mother's weird nickname for the beast of all malls???) with my friend from Chicago, Reba. Long story short I ended up buying a cute dress off a clearance rack from some random store called Heritage. Later that night I was checking my bank balance online and I saw a charge for $13 for Forever 21.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

They duped me. Dammit.

crazy days

2007-11-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a recap of my crazy life.

Snow was forcasted to fall yesterday so I rode my bike to work in protest of winter. My bike protested back at me on the way home with a flat tire.

My roomate and I finally cleaned out what was once our ex-roomate's room but could be more truthfully described as an 'unusually large closet'. It is now our sewing room and once I'm finished organizing it I plan on gorging myself on food and hibernating within it's walls for the upcomming winter months.

Frida-mania: The art center I work at just opened the Frida Kahlo exhibit that has been in the works for the last few years. It's an amazing show that includes artworks that have never before been shown to the public and/or have never left Mexico. The opening party was crazy - bringing in over 2,500 guests - and my workload hasn't left me much time to recover....let alone rest. I know that Frida-mania has been growing continusly for the last several years and I attribute a large portion of that to the Salma Hayek movie (which was based on the biography of Frida by Hayden Herrera [a co-curator of this exhibit]). This year's Halloween and Dia de los Muertos were no exception. Everywhere I looked I saw trinkets, knicknacks, and calendars with Frida's image on them, articles on how to DIY a Frida costume, or people with drawn on unibrows. Her image (specifically as seen through her eyes) is so oversaturated in todays culture that I'm afraid it has lost some of its poignancy. Whith that said, I have been completely blown away each and every time I walk through the exhibition. I can safely say now, after seeing many of her most famous pieces in person, that every reproduction I've seen of her work (whether it be in the movie, online, or in print form) have not done the orignals any justice. If you live in or around the Minneapolis area I urge you to come see the show - you have until January 22nd. You've been warned...

an ode to the late wesley willis

2007-10-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

i cut my mullet.

stylist for a day

2007-10-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

This thread from wardrobe_remix is still going strong with no sign of letting up any time soon. Yesterday, zoo_gal wore the outfit that I put together for her and it turned out better than I even imagined it would.

I knew how I wanted the dress to look under the blouse, but I wasn't sure if it would turn out right. It really is hard choosing combinations of clothes that you've only seen photos of. I'm ridiculously happy with the end result.

When picking out this outfit I completely felt like I was making up for some lost time from my childhood. Although I owned several dolls and Barbies when I was little, I was more likely to hack up their hair or pull their limbs off instead of dressing them up in preperation for some imaginary date with Ken. I even despised the color pink until I was about 18 years old. Thank you zoo_gal for being my grown up Barbie for a day.

duluth for a day

2007-10-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

The night begins innocently enough with a little punk rock in some kid's parent's basement.

The show gets done by ten (since it is a school night and all) so we start making our way to the seediest bar in the midwest...

The C-Gull turns into a creepy leprauchan after rail whiskey shots the size of a juice cup.

Kyle can now die a happy death.

Jason decides we need to leave after he hears music actually die in some guys mouth.

We then make our way to Pizza Luce to consume more beverages.

Who's the lady? Who's the tramp?

Abigail's childhood officially ends when she learns that unicorns aren't so lucky.

Hotel room? Or jail cell...

Nothing's better the morning after than a bloody mary at the Anchor Bar.

styled for a day

2007-10-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

This thread from wardrobe remix has become somewhat of its own phenomenon. The idea is to look through another user's wardrobe remix photos and come up with a newly remixd outfit that the said remixer will then wear and post in the group and subsequent thread.

The above photo shows the outfit that softspoken styled for me. First off I have to say that I love the outfit. The dress she chose is pretty light and summery and wouldn't have been something I would have generally worn in October, but her addition of the grey tights (another thing I wouldn't have thought to choose) and hooded sweater definately gave the outfit the 'cozy' element I like my fall outfits to have.

Softspoken posted about this idea of "stylist for a day" on her blog. She mentions that although rifling through other people's virtual closets is fantastic, the missing aspect of touch makes the task at hand a lot harder than she originally thought. Now that I have reciprocated her favor and picked out an oufit for her in return I have to wholeheartedly agree with her. Textures play a much larger role in my daily wardrobe decisions than I realized. It was really hard going through her photos and trying to figure out what to combine. This is probably one of the reasons I haven't jumped on the online shopping bandwagon. There's something about walking all the way around the rack of t-shirts with my hand grazing each one until I find the softest shirt of the bunch that I need as part of my shopping experience.

craft night

2007-10-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

I usually try to spend at least one night of each week getting my crafty juices flowing. I've found during busy times in my life that if I go for more than one full week without creating something with my own two hands I turn into a grumpy old lady (and who wants to hang out with a grumpy old lady??). Some nights I'll dive into my ever expanding 'to be altered' pile and get to work with the sewing machine while other nights I'll get cuddle up on the couch with my latest knitting project and a good movie.

Recently I've been having more craft nights than usual. I recently taught myself to crochet from some books and with a little help from a co-worker and I haven't been able to stop since. So far so good:

These arm warmers were incredibly simple to make. So simple in fact that I taught my roommate, Saumer, how to make them the next night.

Arm warmers are all well and good, but what I really love about crocheting (versus knitting) is THE GRANNY SQUARE. There's something about the granny square that is the epitome of CRAFT in my mind. So last night I popped in Kill Bill vol. 1 and started searching for granny square patterns on the Internet. I soon came to realize that I am awful at following patterns (both knitting and crochet). I am way too impatient for them. So after many attempts I finally made one that looked half way decent:

Now I only have a hundred or so more to go until I can crochet them together and make a blanket...
Now here's a question for all you crafters out there: How do you get your granny squares looking tight and compact? I feel as though my singular GS is very holey and loose. Maybe that's because I haven't had as much practice as an experienced GS artist, but maybe there's a trick or two out there that will help me for future GS craft nights...

Here are my first unsuccessful attempts:

Even though these aren't official 'Granny Squares' I think they'll look pretty good sewn onto a wool scarf or cardigan. I love the colors I used and plan to make the entire afghan with fall colors.

channelling my inner Agathe on wardrobe_remix

2007-10-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make: I have recently become obsessed with wardrobe_remix on flickr and the world of fashion blogging. It's an unreal obsession stemming from a very real place (my increasing dislike for my job). Reading about other people's lives seems to make my eight hour day of data entry drag by a little faster.

Trisha, of Bits and Bobbins fame, created wardrobe_remix and if it wasn't for her I think I'd be a lot more productive (yet unhappy) at work everyday. At first I was just another w_r lurker. Every day I would go online and look at all the creative, interesting, and totally ballsy outfits people wore. I was completely inspired. Soon one thing led to another and now I consume over 30 blogs on a regular basis.

My favorite blogger as of late is Agathe from Style Bytes. I can't remember how I first came across this Norwegian style maven, but boy am I glad I did. This morning I decided to pay my respect to Agathe:

first step in making apple pie: go to the apple orchard

2007-09-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

sunday is apple orchard day. at least one carload is going again this sunday after a successful trip a few weeks ago. here are some highlights:

the little pink pill

2007-09-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

i hate benadryl. the little pink pill that makes my head feel like a balloon and a brick at the same time. somehow it's hard for me to believe that this little Super Pill will prevent me from having any adverse reactions to my new crohn's treatment. especially when the warning/side effect chart that came with the injections looks like this:

did you see the line above in bold that says: Serious infections including TB have happened in patients receiving Humira. Some patients have died from these infections. great...

i decided to hang it up in the back entryway to see it in its full glory:

it's so ridiculous that i think i'm going to keep it up for a while. it's one of those things that you have to find the humor in...if it's not funny then it's just fucked up.

hello blog-o-sphere...

2007-09-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

...meet my awesome dog, Stella.

things Stella likes:
*sleeping on the floor with her head on my feet
*playing tug-o-rope (and winning)
*sleeping on the couch with her head on my lap
*chasing dogs that are smaller than her

things Stella doesn't like:
*when Saumer and I sing at her

top 5

2007-09-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

top 5 reasons i decided to start a blog:

5. to rant and rave to no one in particular
4. to post some of the hundreds of photos i seem to take every month
3. to show off how cute my dog is
2. to waste even more time on the internet than i already do
1. because veda said i should