Shameless Self Promotion

fortunately. unfortunately. by ReeesaT is having it's first sale EVER!

In honor of Cyber Monday (and my official swearing in to the California Bar), I'm offering 20% off in my shop on Monday, December 1, 2008. This includes custom orders that are convo'ed to me tomorrow. Wait for me to go in and fix the price before purchasing.

(Discount will be taken before shipping.)

Hurry though! Prices go back to normal on December 2, 2008 :)

Alright. Enough of that ...

What's in a name?

If you were to name this kitten, what would you call her? The only name that is completely off the table is "Luna" ... which she was going to be called, but for reasons too in depth to explain here, she cannot now be called that.

She's a siamese mix, is mostly white/creme, with a grey "tabby" lookin' tail, light grey ears, and a light grey nose. Also, though you can't really tell from the picture, she has pretty blue eyes.

Soooo????

Thank you, adorned7!

Yay! Another trade arrived this weekend. So pretty!!!












These are from adorned7, and her jewelry is fabulously colorful! Great for a fun night out on the town :)

<---- These lovelies are for me (shhhh, don't tell anyone on my Christmas list!). The other two are going as gifts!

I PASSED!!!!

I found out yesterday at 6:00 pm that I passed the California Bar Exam. I fell asleep smiling and woke up smiling!

They say that everyone who takes the bar exam has a story. Something that happened or didn't happen that the person will never forget. Mine is a three parter, and I thought I'd share.

A month before the exam.
About 4 weeks before the exam, the Bar sends all the applicants their admission ticket. It comes in the mail, is printed on this weird green paper, and is required to be on your person all three days of the exam. The day mine came, I was at the library studying, so my BF put it on my desk with all my other bar papers and study guides. Turns out that Mo, my then very young puppy, decided that day to eat some stuff on my desk, which he had never done before. He absolutely mangled my letter from the Bar. Miraculously, however, the actual admission ticket, with is just one third of a page, was pristine. I have no idea how that happened, and I don't want to know. I'm just very very thankful :)

Two nights before the exam.
All the advice I had heard was that you shouldn't study the actual day before the bar. You should just take it easy and be confident in what you've managed to learn/memorize up to that point. So two nights before was my last day of studying. I came home from the library late, and for some reason, when I walked into my apartment, I had what can only now be described as a panic attack, and I started crying uncontrollably. Luckily my BF was there, and he hugged me, and reminded me to breath, and tried to calm me down. I was sure I was going to fail, that I didn't know anything, and that there was absolutely no time to learn anything. He set up the couch for me, brought over some of my study materials, made me a pot of coffee and told me to just keep reading for as long as I needed. He went to bed because he had work the next day, but I sat there until about 3:00 am, just reading. If the BF wasn't enough, my cat Pheona sat right by my side that entire night. I kept accidentally bumping her as I would turn pages - which would usually convince her to go sit somewhere else - but she didn't budge. It was like she wanted to support me however she could. When I went to bed, she slept right by my side, which also didn't happen very often. Animals are amazing, and I'm so thankful she was with me.

Thirty minutes before the exam.
I saw on the end of an isle almost smack-dab in the middle of the huge monstrosity commonly known as the Oakland Convention Center. I had all of my "geekery" - a pillow to sit on, a footstool to rest my feet on, insanely too many mechanical pencils, highlighters I would never use, erasers that smelled like fruit (for good measure), and, most important of all, my clock. My BF got me the clock special just for the bar. It had a silver finish that was insanely shiney under all the floresent lights. The proctor for my section - an absolutely lovely older lady - stopped at my row and admired my clock. I explained to her that my boyfriend bought it for my especially for the bar. She placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Oh honey, you're gonna pass!" I'm very glad she was right :)

Thank you, Baggavond!

Yesterday's mail brought me my first traded item! I got these awesome chalkboard bags from Baggavond. They are going to be PERFECT for my cousins :)

So happy!

New Paper Tags ... and Things My Dog Eats

Okay, so I made some new item tags out of card stock. I generally like how they turned out. It was actually a lot easier than I thought (what can I say, I'm very new to crafting with paper products!) I just took some card stock scraps, cut them in a tag-like shape, punched a hole in the top, printed out some small images of my items - and my URL - and glued it all together. Oh, and then I wrote on it with a Sharpie so it had a more "me" feel. !Voila!

On a completely different note, I made a list of things my dog has recently attempted to eat in protest:

• a grocery store savings card
• my right shoe
• a cd case
• a left slipper
• a mostly empty peanut butter container
  
• audio wires
• 4 socks
• my BFs left flip flop
  
• the cat (don't worry - just a nibble)
• a couple of my brand new paper tags ... grrrrr

He waits for me to get home before he goes for the stuff. It makes me think he's fighting inner demons and, deep down, wants to be a good dog (and thus get caught).

Wonder what he'll get today ...

I miss her ...

As some of you may know, I lost my electric blue kitty (i.e. the cat I use for my avatar) a while back. She was literally lost for two months, and then she was found - passed away - by a neighbor. It was devastating, and I still think of her and miss her everyday.

I'm an animal person. Like a big animal person. Like if you saw my room as a kid, you'd think I owned stock in stuffed animal stuffing. My mom has pet allergies, but when I was about 13, she was put on a new medicine that allowed her to be less allergic. So we got some animals - real ones. It's been down hill ever since. I'm somewhat thankful I've only lived in apartments for the last 5 years ... apartments that have animal restrictions. I fear one day, when I own a house of my own, I will have a whole menagerie, like Dr. Doolittle (the original, not the Eddie Murphy remake).

I say all of this because, even though I'm still hurting from the loss of electric blue kitty, I'm finding myself wanting to get another cat. There are so many in the shelters that have been there such a long time. I feel guilty having just the one cat now, especially since I know he would love to have a friend. I predict that I will get another cat - NOT a replacement, just another cat - in the very near future.

The Process

I've thought about writing a couple blogs about my creating process. Today is a good day to start because I cannot for the life of me find my eyeballs, so the two plushies I've been working on over the weekend can't be finished.




I made a blue-themed mini 'Zibit, and a great fall-themed 'Zibit A. Now if I can only find those eyes ....















Here's the mini 'Zibit on my hand! It's almost like a puppet :)









In this pic, you can see the back side of the 'Zibit A. See the little spikes?? They will look much better once they're stuffed. All these guys need to be complete are some eyes (where are they??!!), some stuffing, and then fleece bottom pieces.

Window Shopping

If I had any $$$, I'd buy these in a heartbeat ...

Patchwork Skirt by demandablue

Logs by GollyBard

Apple Ring by TackyChic

Voltige Hoodie by roselabicheVintage Head Scarf by rubybandicoot

Elephant Painting by devotees

The End of an Era

My fellowship ends next Friday. Next Friday is also the day California bar exam results are made available to the people who took the test in July (me!). So it's sort of a tumultuous time.

I didn't get paid anything, and often felt like some form of an indentured servant, but I made some good friends and I got to work for a wonderful attorney/mentor. I'm ready for it to be over, but it feels like the end of an era, rather than the end of a 4 month fellowship program.

Last night, my boss took myself and another fellow out to the local watering hole for some drinks - it was the first time he's ever invited me, and it was awesome. Drinks are on him again next Thursday ... woo hoo!

Snow Lizard

I finally finished my extra long scarf. It took forever! I love how it finally turned out, and I think it will make someone very happy - not to mention warm - one day. :) I called it "Snow Lizard" because that's exactly what it reminds me of. What do you think?Now on to the next project ... I've got a new idea of my 'Zibits. Hehehe.

First attempt at recycled envelopes

For some reason I was stuck on the idea of recycled envelopes over the weekend. There's a Good Will book store very close to my house, so I stopped in there on Sunday, and found a great copy of One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss. It broke my heart to tear the book to shreds, but I got over it ... (hehe)

Here's some of the envelopes I made. They aren't standard size. More like "thank you" size.
This has inspired me to make some stationary gift sets for my friends and families for the holidays. As for the Dr. Seuss envelopes, I think I might put sets in as a freebie to my customers. I'll have to make custom note cards to go in them, but hey, any excuse to get crafty is fine by me :)

Pics at the Dog Park

I've been taking my dog to this dog park for a couple weeks now, but I always forget to bring my camera. I finally remembered it yesterday!! Here are a couple of my favorite shots ...

Here he is being the trail blazer.
Here he is pretending he was just in the water. (He was not ... he's sort of a big baby when it comes to the bay.)And here he is looking regal. What a little prince :)

Trading for the Holidays?

I just finished graduate school and have quite a bit of student load debt. My family would be completely understanding if I just gave cards or something similarly "budget conscious" for Christmas, but it would just kill me to have to resort to that. So I'm seriously considering trading with other etsy sellers so I can get some nice gifts.

I've never traded before, but it seems like it could be a good deal. There are a lot of traders on etsy, and some have really tempting items. The process, as far as I understand, is that two sellers contact each other, they find some item(s) they like, and then they attempt to make the trading amount even.

Hopefully I can get a good thing going! :)

To Sleep, To Dream

I always love it when I wake up in the morning and can remember what I had dreamed the night before. What's even better though, is when I can remember if my dream was in color or black and white.

I had a dream in full color last night - that's the best! Unfortunately, in involved a semi-tame bear and the maiming of my boyfriend when "petting the bear" turned into "everyone running for their life from the bear." So, I suppose it wasn't really a dream. It was a nightmare. One that woke me up and made me extremely thankful my boyfriend isn't horrible disfigured by a large brown bear.

On the bright side, it was in color. That bear was definately brown. :)

New Pics

I recently revamped a bunch of the pictures at my etsy shop. I wasn't thrilled with my indoor shots, so I headed over to the pool at my apartment complex, and went crazy. Not sure they're entirely appropriate for the season, but I thought they turned out well. :)

I'm also considering redoing the pictures of my scarves and scarflettes. Here are some of my first attempts ... I'm happy :)

ELECTION RESULTS!! California Propositions - Win Some, Loose Some, Die a Little Inside Some ....

Okay, I'll start with the OFFICIAL results - i.e. the propositions that have been called one way or another.

PROP 2: Treatment of Farm Animals. PASSED. 63.2% voted yes. 36.8% voted no.

PROP 3: Children Hospital Bond. PASSED. 54.6% voted yes. 45.4% voted no.

PROP 5: Sentencing Guidelines. FAILED. 40.2% voted yes. 59.8% voted no.

PROP 6: Law Enforcement Fund. FAILED. 30.4% voted yes. 69.6% voted no.

PROP 7: Renewable Energy Generation. FAILED. 35.0% voted yes. 65.0% voted no.

PROP 9: Victim's Rights. PASSED. 53.1% voted yes. 46.9% voted no.

PROP 10: Alternative Fuel Vehicles. FAILED. 40% voted yes. 60% voted no.

PROP 12: Veterans. PASSED. 63.4% voted yes. 36.6% voted no.

These are the propositions that have yet to be called one way or another as of 3:55pm California Time (approximately 100% of the precincts are in). *** NEARLY ALL RESULTS ARE IN ***

PROP 1A: High Speed Train. PASSED. 52.3% vote yes. 47.7% vote no.

PROP 4: Minor Abortion Notification. FAILED. 47.7% vote yes. 52.6% vote no.

PROP 8: Same Sex Marriage Ban. PASSED. 52.2% voted yes. 47.8 % voted no.

PROP 11: Redistricting. ??? 50.5% vote yes. 49.5% vote no.

How I'm voting on the CA Propositions and why

Here's a review of the California propositions and how I'm choosing to vote. If you haven't voted yet and you'd like some input about the various propositions, read ahead.

WARNING: I'm giving my opinion. I tried to make them short, but I may have failed ... I encourage you to read the voter information guide for more info and for other arguments on both sides of the issue. This is how I'm voting and why. I hope you find it helpful or, at the very least, entertaining :)

PROP 1A - SAFE, RELIABLE HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER TRAIN BOND ACT. Yay! This is that fast train :) It's expensive, and will probably take forever to build, but I'm a HUGE fan of public transportation. Even the snobbiest car driver would probably give this train a whirl. There are a lot of propositions asking for bond money, and for most of them I'm opposed. Our economy sucks, and it just doesn't seem like a good idea to be accumulating more debt. However, I'm a fan of this one. If you really want to reduce dependency on foreign oil, create jobs, and help the environment, we need to take a chance on new public transportation options. I'm voting yes. (Note: It's sort of worth it to read the first page of the Prop 1A supplement - those against it call it "boondoggling". HA! Great word.)

PROP 2 - STANDARDS FOR CONFINING FARM ANIMALS. Yes! If this proposition passes, it means egg-laying hens, pregnant pigs, and calves raised for veil will have the simply ability to stand up, lie down, and turn around freely. (Note: Based on my knowledge of how veil is "made", I'm not entirely sure how giving the calf room to turn around can still be "veil", but since I think veil is a barbaric practice anyway, I'm not entirely worried about it.) Opponents are worried about bird flu and the increased cost, but I believe both of these are only speculation at this point. The reality is that these animals are currently being treated horribly. Voting Yes.

PROP 3 - CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOND ACT. Just the name of this proposition sort of screams "vote yes!". Sick kids? Who's not going to want to vote yes?? Well, voters passed Prop 61 in 2004, approving $750 million in bonds, and thus far, only $403 million has been paid out to eligible hospitals. Why has it taken 4 years to pay out just a little over half the money? The fiscal impact of this bill is expected to be $2 billion when interest is taken into consideration and Californians will be paying for this for 30 years. The economy sucks right now. I'm probably voting no. But 99% are probably voting yes, so it will all come out in the wash.

PROP 4 - WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR'S PREGNANCY. To be clear, this proposition is seeking to amend the California Constitution. That alone should put people on guard - amending the constitution is a big deal, and should be undertaken carefully. A similar proposition failed just two years ago. Sadly, groups that are interested in this sort of thing can continue to add it to the elections (wasting time and resources) so long as they get enough signatures. I'm voting NO. Not all girls can tell their parents about an unplanned pregnancy. This would require them to - or to have a physician first report the parent to the authorities OR get a judge involved. It's probably horrible enough being pregnant at 14 and having abusive and/or unsupportive parents. We shouldn't make it harder. I'm voting NO.

PROP 5 - NONVIOLENT DRUG OFFENSES, SENTENCING, and PAROLE/REHABILITATION. Okay, this one does good things and bad things for criminal defendants, a.k.a. my people. On the plus side, it recognizes that drug crimes usually stem from a person's drug addiction and thus, creates more drug rehabilitation programs. Also, the argument against states "county prosecutors overwhelmingly oppose", which in and of itself is enough of a reason for me to vote no. (just kidding) Seriously, this prop has potential to really deal with drug crimes. It also extends parole for more serious felonies, so if you're afraid voting yes makes you soft on crime, don't worry - all the really scary criminals will get extra punishment under this scheme. So it's a win, win! VOTE YES!

PROP 6 - POLICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNDING, CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND LAWS. No!! I'm voting no, but NOT because I don't support cops. I do. (NOTE: This prop also gives money to district attorney's offices, but not public defender officers - go figure. Here in San Diego, the DA is hiring 20 new attorneys. The PD is hiring none because of a hiring freeze.) What bothers me about this proposition are the changes to criminal laws. There are ALREADY harsher crimes for gang members ... this proposition just piles it on some more. For example, just attempting a crime (whatever that means) and being suspected of being a gang (which, in real life, is a really low threshold of proof for the DA) = 10 extra years. That's just crazy. Also, this would allow the police to impound a car if a gun was found in it and the gun was linked to a crime. My guess is that the car would be allowed to be impounded while WAITING to see if the gun was connected to a crime - that's no good. Please vote no. I'm guessing this one will pass because it's lumped in with funding for police officers, which we all know they need anyway. But stand up and be a dissenting voice anyway!

PROP 7 - RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION. Okay, I tried my best to read this one. It uses a lot of acronyms and I admittedly got lost. It seems like there is already a renewable energy requirement in place right now - this prop would increase it. There do seem to be some problems - the price of electricity could increase (and there doesn't appear to be any regulation contemplated to keep it at a minimum) and it eliminates the current requirement that any electricity provider that failed to meet renewable targets compensate by adding more in subsequent years. On the other hand, when is more renewable energy a bad thing? And in the long run, it probably could bring down the cost of electricity. I'm probably voting yes. If you know more about this proposition or know someone who does, I'd ask them. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

PROP 8 - ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. (Everyone already knows about this one and is probably already decided) Just keep in mind that this is the another proposition that seeks to amend the constitution. I already discussed this above, so I won't do it again. I'm voting no. I don't see any reason to have discrimination actually written out in our Constitution. I don't care if two women or two men marry each other. It has absolutely no impact on me, but likely means a great deal to them. Voting no.

PROP 9 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, VICTIM'S RIGHTS. Also seeks to amend the Constitution. Right off the bat, I'm against this one. As you all know, I have some experience with the prison system. Victims already get to testify at sentencing and at parole hearings. In fact, it is usually ONLY the victims who testify at parole hearings. So don't necessarily be swayed by that reasoning. The worst part about this proposition is that it won't allow inmates to be paroled early due to overcrowding. This applies to ALL inmates, regardless of the reason for their incarceration. To be clear, serious crimes and serious prisoners don't usually get out early. So this proposition appears to affect lesser criminals - people in jail over drugs or theft type crimes or people who were already on parole and picked up any sort of new criminal case. The prisons are already over crowded. I do believe people who commit crimes should be punished - but overcrowding, when you actually see it, is inhumane. Don't let them make the jails and prisons even more crowded - the jails, Department of Corrections, and guards are doing the best they can with a horrible situation and we shouldn't make it worse. NO!

PROP 10 - ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY. Alright, this one isn't as tough to read as Prop 7, but it's still no cake walk. Essentially, it seems to give rebates for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. There's not a whole lot of detail as to HOW these will be distributed (though it does say how much will be given for different types of vehicles). The estimated payout - in the form of bonds - is $5 billion, with an additional $5 billion in interest. Like I said before, the economy sucks. I'm all for alternative energy, but I'm somewhat disappointed that the lion share of the money here would go to encourage people to buy new cars and a much lesser portion would go to research. (Note: Buying a used car, so long as it isn't a polluting P.O.S., is actually better for the environment than manufacturing and selling new cars.) Ask someone else, but I'm probably voting no. (I'm a horrible person).

PROP 11 - REDISTRICTING. Man, just the title is boring. Apparently, this is another constitutional amendment and would change how the legislature determines redistricting. I guess they want some voters involved, but right now just the elected officials pick the districts. Here were some questions that popped to mind: 1) can anyone apply to be a "voter district picker"? 2) when drawing up the districts, can the "voter district picker" use a crayon? If the answers are both yes, I'm totally applying. Seriously, I don't know much about this proposition. The League of Women Voters appears to be in support. That's a horrible reason to vote for something, but hey. Like I've said before, if you know someone more informed, asked them. I'm probably voting yes (crossing my fingers for crayons!)

PROP 12 - VETERANS' BOND ACT OF 2008. Okay, if you're feeling guilty and actually want read the voter information guide on one whole proposition, this is the one to do it - its so short! Looks like the legislature wants us to approve 900 million dollars so that veterans can buy homes and cars. This apparently goes well for the taxpayers in the long run because the veterans actually end up paying the cost of the bonds. The taxpayers would only be left with the bill if the difference between the amount of the bonds and the amount paid by the veterans wasn't equal. Since it probably won't affect me, I say let them have homes/cars. I'm voting yes.