It's so hard to say goodbye

Well, this might be expected to some of you, after such a long pause. After nine years of blogging in this space, I've decided to say goodbye to Geek+Nerd. But, I am not saying goodbye to blogging! I hope that you will join me in my shiny new space, Life is Like Gum.

I will leave this URL up for awhile, until I've properly archived it, but eventually it will be taken down. Thank you so much for your readership, and your kind comments through the years! Now, on to a new chapter!

P.S. For a more detailed explanation of the blog move, read here.

Hollah for Halloween 2012!

For years now, I've had a hard time getting into the Halloween spirit. As a performer, I love dressing up, but it's something that I do as my JOB, so dressing up for Halloween doesn't really seem like a big deal.

However, I have a slew of intensely enthusiastic friends that have started to rub off on me!

Last Sunday, I attended a Spooktacular Brunch hosted by the fantastic Jasmin Hunter. A lady of many talents, in addition to preparing a smorgasbord of delicious food, Jaz set up a spooky photo room. Jasmin happens to be a professional photographer, and everyone should "like" her official Facebook page!

I arrived dressed as a flapper...

...but minutes later dipped into the communal costume bin (and yes, we're theatre people, of course there is a communal costume bin) and was transformed into a butterfly loving fairy! 

There was wedding dress modeling...

Velma and Daphne from Scooby Doo showed up...

Disturbing treats were served...

And there was lots of fun to be had with a horse mask from a production of Equus.

The lovely hostess, Jasmin, herself! 

Was I done dressing up yet? Nope. A few evenings later, I attended Meghann and Lindsey's annual Spooky Soiree dressed as Holly Golightly. 

And yes, the cigarette holder is made from a pen. 

I think I've found my enthusiasm for Halloween again! 

Dover Pride

When I was in high school, I never would have imagined that I would end up living in Dover, New Hampshire. You see, I went to high school in Dover. I had no affinity for the town, because it was not my home town, and not where I hung out. I simply commuted to private school there. When I was a teenager, Dover was decidedly UNCOOL. There was only one place for my friends and I to congregate, a local coffee shop, and it was definitely not as cool as the coffee shop in Portsmouth - where are the cool cats were at and where I spent 85% of my life outside of school.

Fast forward to this week...I've just been having a week filled with little positive interactions with local businesses, both new to me and old favorites.

Good JuJu, 108 Main Street, Newmarket 

Okay, I've been waxing poetic about Dover, and Good JuJu is not even in Dover,  however it's in Newmarket, only about a 10 minute drive away. I drive by this store everyday on my commute, and I finally had to stop. Oh, it's DELIGHTFUL! Handmade goods by local artisans from all over the seacoast. The selection is really great, there is something for everyone. Terry, the owner, was super friendly and kind - and I walked away with a jar of plum, vanilla, ginger jam, made by Lori Morse of Bejeweled NH and a Christmas present to tuck away for later. 

Speaking of Christmas presents, I've been knitting cowls like crazy. I was in need of some new circular needles, so I stopped by Spinning Yarns on 511 Central Avenue in downtown Dover. While there - I spied this beautiful sweater on the wall - 

One of the owners, Margot, was very friendly, and told me that the pattern was called Levenwick. She explained that the store was running a knitalong of the pattern, beginning in a few weeks. I told her that I had been knitting for years, but have yet to tackle a sweater, and would be interested in joining along. I asked her to write down the pattern name, so that I could remember it, and when she wrote down the designer's name, "Gudrun Johnston," I gasped! Gudrun Johnston is the designer of the very cowl pattern that I went to buy needles for in the first place! I felt like fate was smiling, and have a feeling that I'll finally be tackling a sweater soon! 

Adelle's Coffeehouse. Sigh. I love this place so much. The baristas always greet me with a huge smile and  tell me that I look pretty nearly everyday. If this is is a ploy to inflate my ego so that I will buy more coffee, it is working. Yesterday, I sat there munching on a bagel and sipping a pumpkin cafe latte for over an hour. With my job change up - I can spend most of my mornings preparing for the day in a leisurely way. It's freaking glorious and Adelle's just makes it better. 

Yesterday, while driving home to meet my mum for a cup of tea, I was on a mission to pick up scones (to eat with the delicious plum, vanilla, ginger jam). Instead of hitting up the chain grocery store, I decided to swing by a bakery in Dover, that I had never been to. Cafe Ciabatta is on Pierce Street - and let me tell you, they make some delicious scones. I arrived half an hour before their closing time, and was the only customer in the store. However, the woman behind the counter was warm and friendly, did not rush me, and chatted with me as I settled my bill. 

I walked out of there practically skipping. All of these little interactions converging have just filled me with an incredible sense of gratitude to live in such a lovely place. 

Oh yeah, and I think I can safely say that Dover is officially cool. 

Artwork and Spatial Awareness

These were two separate conversations that I had with students yesterday:

Student looks up at the Edgar Degas painting on the studio wall. 



Student #1: That painting is weird.
Me: How so?
Student #1: She looks like she's giving Degas the stink eye!
Me: (Laughing) I guess I never looked at it like that before!
Student #1: She's TOTALLY giving him the stink eye! Like, "Stop painting me!"
Me: (Laughing) Now I'm never going to be able to look at that painting without thinking about this.

...

Student #2: At my old school, I was dancing in a production of High School the Musical, and doing fouetté turns on a table, when I kicked some boy in the eye.
Me: OUCH!
Student #2: Yeah, I felt kinda bad - but it's not like it was my fault. I was all like "Get your face out of my leg space!" 

Finished Knitting: Crofter's Cowl

Pattern: Crofter's Cowl by Gudrun Johnston (Ravelry link)

Needles: Size 8 double pointed

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Pure Alpaca 

Colorway: 3029

Dye lot: 8488

Color family: Blue-green

Started on: September 4, 2012

Finished on: September 25, 2012

Hurray! A finished knitting project - my first in quite a long time. The Crofter's Cowl is an easy straightforward lace cowl with an interesting construction. The pattern asked to knit three repeats of the lace chart, place those stitches on a separate circular needle, then cast on and knit three more repeats of the chart. The two halves are then grafted together using the kitchener stitch. 

The grafting was easy enough to do, but slightly tedious. I wonder if the same effect, with the lace repeats opposing each other, could be achieved by simply reversing the chart after the first half of the cowl is knit? I may experiment with that. 

For a first attempt though...not too shabby! 

Terra Cotta Pots + Geometric Shapes + Metallic Paint = Magic!

I've been in my new digs for a a little over three weeks now. When I first got here, my nesting instincts began to kick in, and I knew that my first order of business would be brightening up my front entrance with some greenery and flowers. I bought a few chrysanthemums, a lemon verbena plant and a pretty succulent at my local garden store Wentworth Greenhouses - and terra cotta pots to re-pot everything. 

My Pinterest perusing had given me a few ideas to dress up my terra cotta pots. I liked the look of these Colorblock Terra Cotta Pots via A Beautiful Mess, but felt overwhelmed by color choices, since I wanted the mums to really shine. Then I came across these white and gold painted pots via Lovely Indeed, and thought, "A-ha!" These were closer to what I was looking for...but I thought the white paint would cause the pots to disappear next to the white siding of the house. 

My creative brain train took a turn and dug deep. 

I remembered seeing some stationary some years ago at Artstream that featured delicate metallic designs on brown kraft paper. Susan, from Artstream, was kind enough to jog my memory, and informed me that this stationary was designed by Oh Joy. I remembered loving the look of the fancy schmancy metallic design in contrast with the plain Jane kraft paper. 

All of that, led to this! 

I'm all about the hexie trend. 

I've been dying for these beauties to bloom for weeks, so I that I could share here on Geek+Nerd. I think my little planting project brightened up the door way considerably - don't you?!  (P.S. I made the hangers as well, using this video tutorial from Lovely Indeed, and used Martha Stewart metallic finish craft paints). 

Crafty Days Are Here Again

I do not know what has gotten into me lately, whether it's new home nesting, the onset of autumn, a new school year, another year of life, or what, but my crafty mojo is back! I've been knitting, planting, painting, and dreaming up delicious things to cook in the kitchen nonstop!

Here is a pretty cowl that I'm working on right now. The yarn is Cascade Pure Alpaca and it is delicious to knit.

What crafty projects are you working on lately?