Inside Kimmy's Mind

I started going to hot yoga with my sister Kat at YogaOne Studios. It’s intense but oddly satisfying, during my first session I kept thinking I wouldn’t make it. Yet here I am on day 3. I feel horrible for missing the majority of this week though. I paid for the 30 day, and technically I’m on day 6, I’m hoping to go every other day, but the key is to have fun. After my 30 days, I don’t think I’ll do the monthly membership but every once in a while I might just pay for the day.

Here are the things needed for hot yoga….

• Yoga mat- the studio lets you use one, but I figured I would buy myself one if I enjoyed attending the sessions. I found one at Ross for $8. It has purple, grey, white, teal, and black stripes on the front and just solid grey on the back. 🙂 Thank you Ross.
• Water bottle- (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) you must have water with you when doing hot yoga, I bought this water bottle from Target for $10. I even use it at work, Kat and I just got a water filter so we can start filling our refillable bottles vs using just regular plastic bottles.
• Hand towel- I’d recommend a small towel so you can wipe down your face when you sweat. It’s hot yoga, so you’ll be doing this a lot and sometimes it’s distracting.
• Long Towel- it’s also nice to bring a bigger towel to lay over your mat, drops of sweat may cause you to slip. Having the longer towel is helpful, and can add extra padding when doing certain stretches. There are yoga towels, but I just use a beach towel. They are longer than regular towels and don’t cost as much as a yoga one.
• Duffel bag- bags are just great in general but I love using this polka dot duffel bag, it holds everything I need.

I’m really enjoying my hot yoga sessions, a great way to detox and just let all of your stress go. I have my sister to thank for introducing me to yoga. Next yoga post will be about yoga clothes and the studio itself….until then. 🙂

Thanks for reading and commenting

I’ve been stuck in front of my computer finishing up a presentation for class. Due to all the work I needed to get done,  I didn’t get to spend the weekend with the Boyfriend. But I did last and the weekend beforehand. He was supposed to meet my parents then, but the weather prevented it from happening. This was the second attempt and I’m not sure when we will  be able to reschedule. But since we didn’t go to my parent’s house, we decided to go out to lunch, made a trip to Half Price, and then grabbed some ice cream for dessert. :9

We went to a different Half Price thinking they’d have more of a selection. They did!!! I’m super excited about my discoveries, plus I’m excited to share them on the blog.

• Slog’s Dad by David Almond- The reason I purchased this one, it’s illustrated by Dave McKean!!! I love his art style, he’s magic personified. The story itself is magical yet dark and uplifting, the story and artwork just mesh so well together that I just absolutely love it. I always thought that Gaiman would be the only person I wanted paired with McKean’s art.  But boy was I wrong, McKean makes any story come to life, Almond has another book with McKean’s illustrations so I’ll be on the look out for that too. Along with McKean’s art books.

• The Unruly Alphabet by Aaron McKinney – I saw this book first, and I thought it had a McKean-esque feel to it. It’s has that grittiness to it and can be slightly disturbing in the best way possible. I know, I’m weird. But the cover immediately made me pick it up and read it and even after reading it I just had to buy it. It’s images are of the alphabet with weird personalities and alliteration. I’m fascinated by it and by McKinney, it must be  McK thing. XD

• Alien Isolation: Nostromo  Edition- I didn’t get this third item at Half Price, but I wanted to just add it in this entry. The last time  Kat and I did go home, was during Easter weekend and we found this at Hastings and couldn’t resist. I’ve been wanting to play this game since I saw the trailer. When Colonial Marines fell flat, even though I really enjoyed shooting Aliens, I was was really excited to see that there would be a new game. It’s definitely intense. Plus, I like the idea that Ripley’s daughter also faces a Xenomorph. Because of school, I haven’t been able to indulge in gaming. But I will soon once the semester is  over, what I have been able to play of the game has been difficult. I’ve screamed several times. That tense feeling you get when you’re excited and scared at the same time, it’s great.

I came home today after work to find someone parked in my spot. -.- I’m tired of this happening, I pay an extra 15 bucks a month to have a reserved parking spot in my complex. I’m not paying for someone else to park in my spot! I told myself that the next time someone parked in it, I would have them towed. With that being said, I called to have them towed. Kat and I went out to get something to eat and they said they would call but they never called me. Once we got home, the truck was gone but I have no way of knowing if it was towed or if they just left. Now I just keep looking over my shoulder, I just don’t want the punk to do do anything to my car. -.- For once I would just like to be a badass and not worry about what may happen, just be confident in my decision.

 That’s all for now….thanks for reading and commenting.

I haven’t updated in awhile and  it’s been driving me crazy.  But I’m changing that now, here I am attempting to update a short post. I have so many things that have happened in the past month and I still haven’t had a chance to update about any of it. But for now, I’m just going to post a little update and some random thoughts I’ve been having. Such as knitting! I created my own jellyfish pattern, I updated about it awhile back and I’ve been improving it. I even gave one to a new friend that I met on campus. I’m thinking of selling them on Etsy. But I’m a bit scared about this whole selling items I create. But I’ll just keep practicing and improving.

Another thing I’m excited about is forming the knitting loop on campus! It might take awhile for it to develop into what I hope it turns out to be, but I know it’s heading in the right direction. I’m alsoexcited to meet new people. I’ve made several new friends already this semester and it’s a wonderful feeling. Especially since it hasn’t always been very easy for me.  But I actually have friends that I can meet up with on campus, do you know how much I wished for that when I first started UH. It’s wonderful to have it now, so in that since I’m glad I’m still in school, even though I met two of my new friends outside of school. We just happened to attend the same college.

I said I would do my best to make this a short update, I need to make time for my blog. I’ve missed it, and I still have tons of drafts that are waiting to be finished and posted. Ok, it’s late, until next time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I’ve been wanting a lot of things recently. And most of these things are related to crafting in some way, especially since I now work in a craft store. My inspiration meter has been going off the charts. I just want to create all the time, sadly I’m not left with the energy to do so on some days.

After work, I try to head on over to my desk to doodle or knit something, ANYTHING really. And it’s weird, because there are times where I want to create and have the time but I’m not feeling motivated to do so. Now I have the motivation and the inspiration and I just don’t have the energy. My eyes are heavy as I type this entry out. Blogging is another way I can feel creative, because I’m sharing something with others. And recently I’ve been adding doodles to entries so it makes me feel happy when I can post my progress on the whole doodle front. And when you see progress that always makes you work harder, even if it’s small improvements. Like this knitted jellyfish I made. I bought a crochet version that I mentioned here awhile back and I’ve been wanting to recreate it in a knit version. I’ve finally gotten around to doing so and here is the first prototype. It’s pretty raw, but I am proud with how it came out. Need to work on fixing the stitches on the i cord tentacles, and then need to stuff it with a more sturdy stuffing, I didn’t have anything aside from yarn, so that’s what I used. Still pretty good with no pattern. I a basically created my own pattern for it, based on techniques I have learned in the past. Go me!!! I’m really excited about this. Because usually crochet is the skill you need in order to create cute little plushies. I mean, not always…I’ve seen some talented knitters created plushies by changing a pattern into a knitted version. I’ve still got long ways to go, but this project has made me feel really good about my knitting skills, even with all of it’s flaws. It’s nice to pinpoint the areas I need to focus on the next time I knit one. Hopefully, that one will be an improvement.

 Real quic, so NBC has this new show, it’s called A to Z, which doesn’t premiere until October but Hulu has the first episode on it. Watched it right after Sailor Moon, and it’s a bit cheesy, but I love Cristin Milioti. She was the perfect mother in HIMYM and I’m glad to see her in another show. I just hope America can embrace the cheese and give it a chance, because what’s wrong with sappy rom com tv shows? I know they sometimes create unrealistic expectations, but that’s why you escape to fiction in the first place. For something that doesn’t always happen in reality.

Go watch the episode, let me know your opinion on it, I think it could be cute and interesting. That’s all I wanted to say in this post, until next time….

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I’ve always wanted a travel size watercolor kit along with an aqua brush and ever since I saw this particular post over on Michelle’s blog, I’ve been on the hunt for supplies. This is part of her blog series that she calls Journal Diaries,  she features a guest artist and their journals in each post. Seaweedkisses has always inspired me, she’s one of my favorite bloggers. And the other day I stumbled upon the greatest little art store.

I was very bad yesterday, I spent so much money….but let’s just ignore that part and focus on the goodies. 😀

Decided to stop by this fabric store in midtown, I’ve gone in a few times but have always walked out empty handed. One reason being, I’m still a novice when it comes to sewing so I get really intimidated when I enter this store. But today I finally bought some pleather, that’s right pleather. And I haven’t tried to make anything with it…yet. But I’m already in the mood to work with real leather. Perhaps a bit too ambitious for me, but we shall see.  Anyway, so I bought a yard of that and some sturdy interfacing.

After hitting that store I made my way to the Houston Press office to pick up my first paycheck, have I mentioned how much better direct deposit is? -.- Well it is. But on my way to the office I noticed this art supply store, I’ve must have walked by this building a million times but have never really noticed what it was. To be honest, I thought it was abandoned and was excited to go and look around. Sitting on the counter was this chick, her head was shaved minus the top part that she pulled into a ponytail and it was this neon green color. She chewed on a pen when she talked to me and asked if I needed help finding anything. I was so overwhelmed with the store that the words aqua brush came out without me even realizing it. She showed me the different ones they had in stock. While I was looking over which one I wanted she asked me if I was looking for anything else, and again my voice just answered on its own. It was as if my brain were on autopilot, answering the neon girl’s questions while I examined the brushes.  She showed me the only travel watercolor kit they had and then returned to her position on the counter. After deciding which brush I wanted, there were multiple sizes and I have decided on buying more later, I looked at the watercolor kit. Luckily, she offered me a 20% student discount. Didn’t actually help too much though but I was still very grateful and I’m in love with the items I purchased. I painted a few pictures using the brush and my normal watercolors. I also have tube watercolor, I’ll pull those out when I’m home and use the pallets for when I’m out and about. Still painting my character with minty green hair, I think it’s a great color and would love to sport it myself…if only my job would let me. >.< I’m thinking of getting some extensions and just dying the ends of those and then use those as a compromise, I’ve never dyed my hair before so I don’t know how it will react to it.  Also, my drawings tend to come out with an awkward smile, almost as awkward as mine in real life. hehe

 Well, I’m off to paint some more, let me know some of the art brands you like to use. Also, if you’ve dyed before, did you notice a huge change in your hair? Until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I finally cracked and bought Animal Crossing New Leaf. After Kat bought it I totally made plans of getting it myself, it’s unbelievably adorable and I couldn’t resist.

The weirdos also have it and when I went to visit Jobro’s town I stopped by his museum and to my surprise his T-Rex matches one at work. We call him Y Rex and he’s a bobbed tail dino. I found it hilarious how they matched, also isn’t my character cute? Nina gave me the buns and minty hair color, seeing as how I can’t have it in real life I can live vicariously through game and art doodles.

This is definitely a game I’d suggest if you own a DS. It’s the kind that never ends, so you can put it down and pick it back up without worrying about starting over. Plus, customizing things is always fun, so if you’re a fan of that option then that’s another reason to get it. You should totally save up and buy yourself a DS if you don’t already own one. If you don’t consider yourself a gamer then again, this game is perfect for you and you will have tons of fun. Unless you’re the type that gets bored easily or hates games with no actual ending or point then this isn’t for you. -.- I get excited over simple things so easily, but I don’t care I find it fun. Here’s Kat’s character and mine watching tv in her house. Since I just got mine, my house is still small but reservations are in the making. The siblings and I always start off conversations with, “I got stung by bees…”Or “I missed an appointment…” So now as a rule we have to start by saying, “In Animal Crossing…” So we know we are talking game not real life. XD I’m late to the game but oh well. Ok, enough playing…off to bed I go.

Lastly, I gave my first dino tour on Saturday, and the next two dino parties I will run on my own. I will have a trainer shadow me, but I will be in charge. >.< I am so freaking nervous. My first impromptu tour was not too terrible but I did not know how to time myself and went too fast. It should be 45 mins long. :/ I think I made it to 20 but that’s because my trainer kept reminding me to slow down. I know I will just need to practice, but I wish I could already be a the point where I know what to do. Here’s to practicing and improving

Kat and I went to Half Price Books last week where I found this comic illustrated by Matthew Forsythe. I had several books in my hands that I had planned on buying, but after I found this one I put the others down. I’ve been looking to illustrators a lot lately, they are again very inspiring and I really wish I could express myself creatively through illustrating.

Doesn’t mean I won’t attempt it. >.< I’ve been doodling a lot for fun, but I find myself getting frustrated when a picture doesn’t come out as well as I had hoped. The photo is from the comic mentioned above, how adorable is the art style? The artist is a one of the head illustrators that works on Adventure Time. Here’s the synopsis according to the cover of the book:

After eating everything in sight, Voguchi is sent to the market where a chance encounter introduces her to Jinchalo-a mischievous shape shifter. He sets our hungry heroine on a strange adventure into the sky, leaving her home far behind.

A little girl who eats everything?! Totally made for me. Speaking of which, my place is definitely in need of some groceries. -.- I keep putting it off, I’ve been eating cream cheese on graham crackers for dinner. Hopefully on my trip to the Kroger’s I don’t have to deal with a shape shifter. 😛 The ending sort of confuses me, so if you’ve seen it, I’d love to hear your interpretation of the ending. There are no actual words so the entire book is made up of pictures and your interpretation.  Moving on to Anya’s Ghost. Vera Brosgol is wonderful, she worked on Coraline and Paranorman, I can definitely see similar art styles there.  This and her comic, “What were you raised by, wolves?” is a bit darker. Anya’s Ghost is about a Russian immigrant who is trying to fit in her American high school, she’s bullied a bit and tends to see life in a negative way. And one day, on her way home from school she falls down a hole where she isn’t alone. Frannerd recommended this novel in her vlog a couple weeks ago, and it seemed interesting so I had to go and pick myself up a copy. I’m glad I did. I’m really loving this limited color pallet, along with watercolor. I want to start buying more Copic Sketch markers, they give off a watercolor effect. But they’re pretty pricy so it might take a while for me to get a decent collection. Plus I want to be able to use them correctly and I don’t think I know how to at this point. Also, I’ve been loving these illustrated notebooks from Scout Books. This post totally turned into things I’m currently loving.

I haven’t been keeping up with my disposable camera challenge, but the month isn’t over yet so I will make sure to try and get some nice pictures. I’m excited not knowing how they’re gonna turn out. Thinking back, that’s what I loved about it when I used them on class field trips back in the day. XD Of course, we would always wait years until we got them developed. I don’t intend to wait that long with this one. Let me know if you’re attempting the challenge.  That’s all for now, until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

I’ve always loved blog entries where the blogger shares the contents of their bag. I don’t know why, I guess I find the photos interesting so I figured I’d try my hand at posting my own.

On a normal day out, I’ve been using my olive green satchel that I bought from Forever21 a couple months ago. It’s on the smaller side so I can’t carry as much as I usually do. This bag causes me to condense the items I choose to bring with me so I enjoy that. Sometimes I add or remove a few things from the list, but this is what I carried in my bag the last time I went out.

1. Pocket Juice: This is my favorite new thing, as long as I remember to charge it after using it. It gives me enough battery power to last the day after I use my cell to take tons of pictures and navigate me on my travels. It’s a nice thing to have and a good size, I’ve seen smaller but this one is rechargeable by outlet not double AA batteries. I absolutely love it.

2. Keys: These don’t really need an explanation, apartment, mailbox, bike lock. That’s it.

3. Mini wallet: This is what I carry when I use my smaller bag. It has my Q card, debit, license, campus id and some loose change. It’s actually falling apart so I’ll be needing a new one soon. But it’s a nice size.

4. Ipod: I love having my ipod around, it’s an older one so it only holds 1000 songs but it saves me from having to use up my cell battery listening to music.

5. 3DS: I love my Ds, and after buying Bravely Default I have been carrying it around more often but I don’t always carry it with me all the time. Especially when the weather is poop.

6. Altoids: I love mints compared to gum, and I love Altoids, but these are pretty chalky so it does get in my bag…I miss the sour ones but those were more like candy than actual mints. I’ll probably switch back to Tic-Tacs…got to have some type of mints.

7. Nivea bliss chapstick: a kiss of shimmer, I love how soft these leave my lips feeling. But I also have a fruity one that tastes yummy but sort of defeats the purpose of chapstick. So it’s nice to have this on hand, I have very thin lips so lipstick looks odd on me and lip gloss is messy. -.-

8. Star Wars Moleskine: When I use a bigger bag I carry my Star Wars planner but with this bag I like to carry this smaller notebook. It’s the perfect size and having something to write notes or ideas in is important.

9. Cell: HTC DNA. Like everyone else, my cell phone is something I carry with me everywhere. It’s my GPS, and contact with the rest of the world. Makes meeting up with people a lot easier. Of course I remember a time before cell phones were a necessity.

So that’s pretty much all I carry in this particular bag, like I said it changes when I change the bag I use. Now I’m off to make some dinner and finish washing some clothes. I start my first event on Thursday for Houston Press. I’m hopping it goes well, I’m a bit nervous about it. Wish me luck and until next time…

Thanks for reading and commenting.

This past weekend was Pop Shop, which is this amazing craft event that lasts two days and happens twice a year. They have smaller events known as Mini Pops that I’ve mention in the past but this was even more amazing and being apart of it was absolutely wonderful.

Photo by Marisa Brodie

My sisters and I were asked to host a craft table, we share an art blog known as Mind-Speaks where we each post creative projects that we are working on. We wrote a guest post over at the Pop Shop blog. And of course Mija updated about it over at M-S and on her personal blog as well.

It was a blast, I was afraid people wouldn’t be interested in it but luckily there was a great turn out. There were a couple of people who were very enthusiastic about it too. They came back to make more or they brought along friends with them. It was a nice feeling to inspire someone creatively. I hope we managed to do that if not more. The little kids were adorable, the ones that were old enough to stamp the corks down themselves were still young enough to find it magical. But who am I kidding, even the teens and adults thought it was magical. Their excitement after stamping a background pattern was just priceless. There were a few people who just weren’t interested and that’s fine, but some of those who weren’t interested ended up returning after seeing tons of people with the cork necklaces. Even vendors started looking for us.

Jellyfish by Nothing but a Pigeon//etsy//blog

Mug by The Barking Bunny//etsy//site

On to the goodies! I bought this adorable jellyfish to ease the pain of losing a great stewardess bag that only cost 12 bucks!!! >.< I waited and of course someone else bought it. But Mr. Jelly totally made me happy. How cute is he? The artist was unbelievably friendly. Being a knitter myself I always find crocheters fascinating. One day I hope I can learn how to crochet. Correction….one day I WILL learn how to crochet. Moving on, this adorable mug was given to me by my friend Ginger. I was debating whether or not to buy one after she had purchased a set of mugs from The Barking Bunny. But before I went off to buy it, she handed me her bag and said they were for Kat and me. How wonderful is she?! I absolutely adore her.
There were so many things I wanted to buy this weekend, but things tend to be more pricey at craft fairs. For understandable reasons.

Along with the craft fair, Sunday just so happened to be Star Wars day. I didn’t get a chance to go to the Star Wars art fair that was happening a couple blocks from Pop Shop. But I stayed up all night making this skirt. It was completely rushed and had so many flaws, but I love it nonetheless. It did its job and served me well. I’ve learned that I should always have trimming, no matter what. I need to buy that stuff in bulk. You never know when you might need something trimmed with pretty ruffles or pleats. Any who, it’s filled with tons of mistakes if you examine it closely, so don’t do that. I need to buy more Star Wars fabric so I can better prepare for next year. I ran out of fabric so I had to use some left over galaxy fabric I had. But it came out alright for doing it in one night, rushed and messy but I was glad I made something to wear. Did some buns too, Leia buns look more like cinnamon rolls but doing the whole sock bun makes them all round and perfect, so I went with that approach. I was hoping we would make it to the Star Wars art fair, but the line was too long and we were all tired from being at the studio two days in a row. So we went out to eat instead and just relaxed and talked. It was a wonderful weekend, we had so much fun and we hope to continue doing these fun art fairs.

I think I should end this entry now. But before I go, a few small things that I’ll talk more about on my next post. Went to an interview for Houston Press on Wednesday. Got the job, and this Thursday was my last day at the deli!!! Also…I’ve passed two of my grades so far with an A and a B!!!! I made a B in Biology!!!! Crazy, I was afraid I wasn’t even going to get a C but I managed to get a B!!! Damn, I’m so happy. This means I won’t have to retake it for my science credit. Yay!!! I’m such in a good mood. Ok, more next time…until then.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

So as I mentioned in my last post, I went with the weirdos to a craft event that is held here in Houston and hosted by Pop Shop Houston America. This was a mini version of a large event that happens I think twice a year? I could be mistaken so don’t quote me. I was pretty excited to go and see what each vendor had to offer. Plus, just being around creative people is inspiring and motivating.

The first thing we saw were painted plates and cards then several tents that had vintage clothing. We moved on towards the booths that had jewelery but I stopped and noticed a woman sitting at a typewriter with the sign Poems for Sale Barter or Trade. So I traded her a marker that I had in my bag and gave her the topic of motivation. I wanted something to remind me when I need an extra push of motivation. Next time I’ll ask for one that’s about positivity. She began typing away, the look on her face while she was typing was complete focus. You could see her pull out words from nowhere and somehow create this well thought of poem. I could never write something like that on the spot. Her name is Traci Lavois and you can find her over here. After receiving my poem we walked on over to this table in the corner. On the table were different types of jewelery…rings, bracelets, and necklaces. I was in awe. They were amazing, and there were something for every type of movie addict, gamer, and music fan in the world. AND….he does custom orders. You can find his work over here. These are great as gifts, because even if he doesn’t have something you’re looking for, just email him and send him a design you’re interested in. He does plaques too, so we’re hoping to request one for father’s day. And I wasn’t sure which one to get the boyfriend, but since he bikes and bought me a bike for my birthday, (I never mentioned that did I? >.< Well, he did.) I thought getting him the bike one was the best choice. Maybe next time, provided Yamin is there, the bf can pick one he likes more. Because frankly, it’s not like you could own too much. We also want to request Mind-Speak key chains for the three of us. Just something to inspire us to continuing working on MS. So there were tons that I wanted while browsing, however I had only enough cash on me to purchase two and my goal was to buy one for the bf and for Kat, as a Valentine gift. So I bought the bike and a Dr. Who one for the little weirdo. There were so many Star Wars ones, but I couldn’t buy it. So I went on browsing and when I rejoined the married weirdos, Jody told me that the AT-AT was gone. While I was bummed he had put it around my neck. The sneaky Jobro bought it for me along with a mushroom bracelet for himself. Then we went halfsies and bought Mija a Day of The Dead skull. Great purchases and totally want more. The craft fair was wonderful, and I can’t wait to attend a larger scale one that is coming up in May, but until then there is another mini one coming up in March so I have that to look forward to.

Any craft fairs in your town/city? If you’re not sure, try looking it up…you’d be surprised what gems you might find. Houston continues to amaze me, I really enjoy living here. 🙂 That’s all for now, until next time.

Thanks for reading and commenting.