Fancy That

We've been terribly busy these days... when we wake up in the morning we realize how little time we actually are able to focus on each other even though we are physically together every day. Things should settle down by February. I think to myself quite often, "I miss Aaron," and sometimes that is simultaneous with me looking at him. 

Well, in the midst of the weekend's crazy schedule, of which we were happy to depart (and I mean, actually happy to start the work week so things would settle down), I went to Paolo Soleri's house to have a sketch done. I'm very happy I did it. At some point towards the end he said to me, "Do you know what I would do if you weren't engaged?", and I said, "I don't exactly know..." and then he concluded with a subdued exclamation, "I would kiss your boobs!" "Oh!," was all I could muster. Anyway, it was harmless and a good story to have in the repetoir. Perhaps slightly uncomfortable for some to hear though... sorry:) 

Crapizoids! I've Been Tagged and Must Write 6 Random Things About Myself...

1. Nearly every person who has walked into our apartment has said 1. "I love it! It's so warm and weird," and a few minutes later 2. "You know, it has a grandma'ish vibe." I do love things that remind me of my grandma.

2. I love to cook but have not done much of it in the past year because of the verge-of-extreme-minimalism square footage of our studio... I don't have room to cut anything, or mix, or lay out sheets and bowls, and utensils, etc. We're shooting for a 1 bdrm with a larger kitchen in Chicago!

3. I don't like answering my phone during the weekday. Aaron gives me a hard time, and rightfully so, for this.

4. I love to run around and jump and dance... wherever I may be... including our teeny tiny studio. Especially when Ilo and Aaorn join in too. I like Stereolab, weird transient tunes, and booty music best for this.

5. I LOVE ACCESSORIES AND SHOES AND CLOTHES. It's true and everyone knows it. I like cheap stuff and expensive stuff and normal priced stuff. All of it. I look for texture and funky patterns and interesting juxtapositions of color and lines.

6. I like succulents and anything that looks and feels like it's been covered in epoxy or enamel. These things are all fun to touch and I can't help but imagine myself sticking them between my molars and chewing into them as if they were gummy fish.

They Didn't Take Our Sunshine Away

Thank you God!

We can now attest to our freedom, our rights for all, our equality, and our hope, and press forward in making healthy relations within our world rather than fearful ones that have lead to recession (not just financially, but mentally and spiritually, as a nation).

I only wish that Arizonans were not so fearful of allowing all persons to vow their love for one another. Prop 102 posters should have been honest in saying "Vote Yes for Hate". Ha! I'll keep vying for anyone who wishes to love, be it me and my fiance Aaron, or our friends in same sex relationships. At least God has blessed all of them with wonderful spirits, strong relationships, the realization to acquire their dreams, and health and prosperity. What man unrightfully takes away from another man here on earth, I pray him to find in some other form within himself or the galaxies.

Yay for Obama!!!!!

Mustache Party

So, our friend Andrea themed this fabulous party - the Mustache Party. We had so much fun even before we left for Andrea's house. We started off around 6:30 pm donning our staches, the three of us Amanda, Aaron and I, and dancing our hearts out to cheezy techno music and drinking lots of vino. Amanda won Best Not Real Mustache, and I won the same title with suffix #2 ... Andrea made awesome trophies with a laser cutter.

Amanda

Me

Aaron

Russian floutist... piccoloist?

Amanda eating at the party

Aaron and I

Andrea

The fabulous prize

For Jovi... Well, At Least the First Part

Okay, so I love etsy now by the way. Thanks Jov!! Look peeps: I decided to do a little at-work perusing since I'm eating lunch and I saw this kick-ass scarf! Isn't it marvelous? This is what I thought you would like, Jovi.



Additionally, I was looking for a faux fur or vintage fur shawl to go over my wedding cocktail ensemble and I ran into this pretty sweet scarf. Totally doesn't go with my outfit so don't worry, Becka, I'm not buying it:) This part is more for whomever rather than Jovi (unless you're into it of course). It reminds me of the White Witch's wardrobe from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie when they go to battle and the snow has melted.



Lastly, I'm getting one of the two gold feather hair pieces below to go with my outfit. BUT, look at the peacock head band at the bottom. Isn't it fabulous? Very inspiring for Halloween. I think I'll be a bird (fitting) and make a few feather pieces for my hair and tail. Maybe some fab feather cuffs for my wrists as well.

Dance Dance Dance

Please post a comment with 5 of your favorite songs to dance to. Fun songs... not slow. Thanks.

Stuff of Life

Well, the news has kept me tuned in today. This week should be very interesting...

Dad and Patti came to the city this weekend and saw Cosanti at night. It turns out we get to use the entire complex and not just the courtyard, so that is exciting. I think people are going to love exploring a little, though, it's not a huge space... just a lot to ponder and appreciate. Aaron, his mom, sister, and I made 15 dozen tamales on Saturday and froze them for the party. We'll make another 15 dozen soon. We purchased almost all of the decorations on Sunday. So, looks like we're on a roll and things should run smoothly in that arena.

I have a meeting with my friend Laurene today to discuss the logistics of our move to Chicago and to go over a list of neighborhoods to start diving into in search of apartments. Aaron, Laurene, and I will share a 2 bedroom 2 bath place for 6 months so that we can afford a place close to downtown. We'll then have the opportunity to search for other neighborhoods we like and may want to move into once our 6 months together as roomies is up. I'm glad we aren't tying down to a place with a mortgage right now... too if'fy. But I'm no economist.

Best. -Bird

Chicagoland

Well Folks, Aaron and I plan to be settled in Chicago by mid-winter... after our wedding of course. We have several friends there and another good friend is moving. We've been talking about trying this move if no sooner than at least after the Peace Corps (or whatever type of volunteer venture we are offered). It should be quite an adventure and I'm excited to be in a city again with as much depth (hopefully) as New Orleans. At least in terms of food, music, and art venues. Yippy Hippy.

Ring a Ling a Ding

As requested




That's Mr. Pog.

To Blog Upon Demand

I don't have pictures.
I think I haven't blogged for that reason.

Last week was hectic at work. My boss is anal, sees the small picture before the big (good for clients, bad for employees), and was driving me crazy. So, I went home drained Monday through Friday and didn't feel the desire to write anything.

Saturday was a long day but a fun day. Aaron's grandma had her 75th birthday and the family went to Cheesecake Factory in Sun City... it was cute. We had summer rolls and herb crusted salmon as our 'healthy choice' from the menu. We received a lot of envious oos and awws for our meal versus the lunchtime soup and sandwhich with french fries which was very popular at our table. Both his Dad's grandma (birthday girl - Grandma Ruby) and his Mom's grandma (Grandma Tempurado) went and towards the end of the meal Grandma Ruby was talking to Grandma Tempurado about the senior citizen club she joined for a $7 annual fee. You get a nice lunch and they have exercise opportunities including ballroom dance, Nintendo Wii (which she plans on buying soon), and belly dancing:) And then Grandma T. said "Oooh, belly dancing? I don't know about that," as she giggled. Grandma R. says "Yeah girl, belly dancin' and they have a real good time. Nobody takes their clothes off." And then we all chimed in and Aaron's dad said something about pastie tassels, and then we thought that the senior citizen's club should put pasties on their t-shirts for belly dancing class. Anyway, Grandma T. and Grandma R. are going to check out the class together. I can't wait until I'm 75.

Saturday night we went out with our friend Amanda for a much-needed drunken night. All three of us have been busy with work and life and haven't gone out. Our fun nights have included watching heavy indie flicks at our studio. We met in Tempe at 6:30 pm at a bar to see Amanda's brother play. He plays accoustic guitar and is an awesome singer. There were a lot of high school kidlings there and a band with a sorry attempt at thrash. Aaron and Amanda were wasted by 7:30, so we headed to Phoenix and I drove Aaron's Rabbit for the first time and it was a lot of fun. The clutch doesn't really care about anything... you almost don't even have to use it. We met a friend at a bar that overlooks an ice rink. It was a birthday of our friend's friend. The bar was cool - very dark and normal but good music, darts and totally bizarre atmosphere because the bar area is lowered and sits at the edge of the rink. So I watched this 30 something year old man in a black sweat suit twirl his heart out while I sipped on my vodka tonic. I can't drink cocktails anymore btw. Too much sugar and it makes me ill. By 10 pm we were on our way back to Tempe to meet a friend of Amanda's at our regular hang out spot Casey Moore's. We ate potato skins to keep things kickin' with the fat-kid diet. Aaron and I left close to midnight feeling smug with our too cool for school evening out.

Yesterday we picked up Aaron's parents to get a few wedding celebration basics from IKEA. That's all we did really but I was beat after all of that.

Oh, Aaron gave me a wedding ring and we had it sized on Saturday as well. It was his mom's and it's dainty and perfect.

Lata'

Inspiration

Aaron and I went out to First Friday Artwalk near the house on Friday. We ran into a friend of Aaron's who recently set up a dance company in town and she was doing a small exhibition to promote their performance for the following night. It was great so we decided to go to the performance at the Herberger Theater on Saturday night. I miss dancing. We are looking at a larger apartment (2.5 times the size we have now) that is in our price range downtown tomorrow. Hopefully something larger works out because I would love to practice choreography at home again. So, this is all just to say that I'm inspired to get back into dancing. I might take a class at her studio if I can keep up with the drive... it's a 20 minute trek but worth it I think.



On another note but the same blog, I've decided that doing consultant graphic design from home would be ideal for me after quitting my current planning job in November. That will allow me flexibility to work with volunteer agencies whenever they need me, and to get paid while keeping up with my design skills... hopefully it would award greater creative license on the jobs I go after as well. No more icky politics. I'm thinking it will also allow me to target firms, personal parties and organizations whose work / purpose I respect. So, here are some examples of work that I (and Aaron in some cases) have done in case you know of anyone who needs a flyer, brochure, postcard, book, menu, etc put together. The examples are not set up to print and were recreated simply as jpegs to get an idea. K. That's it for now.


This was a small flyer (4" x 5") that we made for a refugee outreach organization for them to hand out to ASU students to gain interest in becoming a volunteer and participating in org events. We made them small and in black and white so that they could print 4 to a page, saving money in both paper and ink.


This is, as you know:), the save the date postcard that we made for our wedding. Our theme is funky art nouveau and we used only our color scheme to fill in the black and white collage. We printed on cream paper because that was our fourth color: burgundy, dusty blue, brass and cream.


This is an architectural style sheet that I made for a client. I made 4 sheets, one for each architectural style: Modern, Spanish Colonial Revival, Adobe, and Bungalow. It was printed on 11 x 17 front and back. The front gave an overview of the style and designated images to capture the text. The back provided additional, larger images of the style. The client loved them!


This was a proposal cover for a firm. I took the photographs and Aaron did the layout inspired by the colors and angles of the images. We love this one. It's so simple and beautiful.

Ilo at his Architecture Job

Ovaries

Well, I've been eating a lot lately and not exercising and not getting fatter. I've also had pains in my pelvis area. So, I thought maybe it was a tapeworm and was secretively somewhat curious about it... I wasn't afraid or worried... just curious. You mean, I can eat and eat and look the same all the while? How curious. One cookie, two cookie, here you go Mr. Tapeworm.
Well, it wasn't a tapeworm. Which I will say is a good thing because as curious as he seemed, I would have also been, as I'm sure you are while reading all of this, disgusted.
I went to the emergency room yesterday with terrible shooting pains that made me hunch over in tears and not able to walk fully upright. I couldn't see the regular doctor because special tests needed to be completed for abdominal pain cases. So, I spent 8 hours doing five tests and I felt silly once it all started because my pains subsided by the time I got to the ER. So, I was a perfectly perky person being wheeled around the hospital in a bed while other bedridden lads were groaning and sleeping and looking real ill.
Turns out, it was just a large, abnormally placed, fluid encased cyst. Still gross? I'll get it checked out more thoroughly on Monday, and as my dear sister Rachel has already informed, I should eat better and exercise. I'll do yoga today. Unfortunately, we're broke as hell so I'll eat salty noodles as well. Everything will be back to normal next week. I'll eat vegetables and very little salt, sugar, dairy and gluten. I promise.
One last thing: Aaron has been so wonderful in being right next to me through it all... even the scary gynocological part in the ER! We both just shut our eyes during all of that.

Funk it Up but Keep it Sweet

I'm surprised I made time to do this today. Well... I didn't make the time at the right moment but let's not discuss that. Here's the 'theme':) I needed to do this since we only have a few months and could not even tell my friend what we wanted for the save the date cards, or Aaron's sister what we wanted for decorations. We are thinking lanterns, candles everywhere, paper roses that we'll make in our studio, simple flowers, and red velvet floor cushions.

i love aaron

My favorite outfit

By Robin Main

Good News for Funky People

Well, gals and pals, it looks like Cosanti is going to work out! Sorry, Jov, it's not Arcosanti but it's still cool - I promise! It's just less driving for everyone if we have it at Cosanti rather than Arcosanti. And, we aren't restricted in food and drink service like we would be at the garden or buildings at ASU. So, all around that will save us money. Plus, they have a supply of tables, chairs, patio heaters and tree lights. Aaron and I were talking last night about making tamales and pozole, and Rachel mentioned chilaquiles (corn chips mixed with chile salsa and lots of oil, sprinkled with queso fresco and cilantro) which sounds divinely delicious. Aaron's mom's side of the family makes the best tamales... really, their masa is key. They make green chile chicken and jalapeno pork among the other traditional recipes (carnitas with red chile sauce). Rachel has a good vegetarian tamale recipe that we can also make. Any thoughts on what other foods you would like to see there? We'll need a salad or vegetable dish of some sort. I make a nice bean salad. Simple: black beans, pinto beans, lemon, red wine vinegar, olive oil, parsley, red onion, spices - yum. I know of a place that makes the best red velvet cake too! So moist and they use cream cheese icing with just a little sugar.

I like my Volvo. It makes a grinding noise when I turn on my AC though. I need to take it to a mechanic but it's really a great car and I'm happy I sold the other.

What else?

I'm excited for the trip to Becka's wedding in Pismo in two weeks. Love the beach.

Extra Extra...

READ ALL ABOUT
it... the weekend. a lot happened.
Actually, the entire week was hectic.
Monday: check out condo in mid-town... it's cool
Tuesday: make empanadas and cookies with Aaron's sister and think about wedding stuff
Wednesday: get blind sighted by stupid frickin' Urban Outfitters with a $650 charge for a couch we ordered three months ago and no confirmation e-mail!!! yeah, and I called the week before to ask when it would be charged and the lady said after July 20
Wednesday night: WTF... Billz billz billz
Thursday: lets sell all of our cars (3 to be exact), buy two 'beaters', pay off Aaron's loan, pay off most of my loan, and there you go = better = something we can afford = we can focus on the wedding
Friday: sell my car
Saturday: buy the Volvo and the VW
Sunday: take it kind of easy and go to Cosanti
Monday: work. fix the mercedes to sell. write on my blog upon requests:)

AUTO UPDATE
Well, it's Monday and we're selling two more vehicles. The goal is the end of the week.


This is Aaron handling a car deal via cell


This is my new, old 1984 Volvo. It's quite cute inside too.


This is obviously the back side


This is Aaron's adorable powder blue 1981 Volkswagon Rabbit



RAINY SUNDAY UPDATE
It was pouring on Sunday and quite lovely, I must say. We went to Cosanti which was a nice retreat after rummaging for cars. It's cool. You should visit. Unfortunately, the suggested donation for renting the space is $2,000. Hmph. Their bells and pots are cool, though, and I recommend them as gifts.


The bells


More bells and pots


Vault with Soleri's work, and Aaron




This is the apse where you can have events


This is the courtyard adjacent to the apse... rentable space


Swimming pool

PUPPY UPDATE
Here's Monster Puppy Wag. Our dear Ilo. He looks nice against standard street signage, doesn't he?


Ilo in the handicapped parking


My photo experiment with Ilo in the mirror


Ilo sleeping with his eyes open and tongue out

Our Possible Near Future

Okay, so we were on a brainstorming freak out last night and stayed up yet again until after 2 am figuring it all out. This, in addition to our constant 2012 epiphanies, has really led to some otherworldly-ability-to-grasp-weird-ideas-and-make-them-applicable-to-the-real-world-quickly development.

We are looking into this teeny house in downtown along the edge of the city that is in a transitioning phase. I mean, right on the edge! Like 50 feet away. It's just a hop skip and a jump away from dozens of art galleries, a funk / jazz bar, a fav dive bar, and a grassroots level music venue, as well as a few cool eateries including our favorite Paisley Violin restaurant. It's approximately 500 square feet, which is monstrous compared to our current 236 sf studio, is along a small stretch of alley and a triangular vacant lot that can totally apply to our alley project idea plus a small community park or garden, and the back yard is huge! Okay, so that and we're selling our three cars and buying two small, old, reliable, fuel efficient cars we found on Craigslist. I'd buy a scooter but it doesn't really meet the mindset of Phoenix life and it's friggin' hot'n'her. And, since this is all cheaper than what we're currently paying monthly for everything we can PAY OFF OUR STUDENT LOANS!!!!!!! OMG THIS IS AWESOME! And, we can still apply for Peace Corps because it's in an artsy part of town and if we fix up the alley and yard I think it will be easy to rent.


The cute little house that Ilo will look so cute in!


One of the cars... 1991 Nissan Sentra. Hell ya!

Away to Arcosanti Perhaps

Well, I'm sorry to keep posting wedding planning stuff. It is what has consumed me these days, though, so here I am writing about it once more.

Planning a celebration at the Secret Garden has seemed a bit taxing because of the alcohol restriction and unobtainable interior space, which includes an ever so necessary bathroom. Renting space at the only building on campus where we are permitted to serve alcohol requires a bit of planning and perhaps more money as well, though the building is quite pretty, dating to the late 1800's.

So, today it hit me... why not do a destination'ish wedding at Arcosanti? Their spaces are actually cheap to rent. $50 to $100. I just need to call about catering prices and options, the number of available rooms (they are also affordable), and figure out shuttle options and time frames because it's 70 miles north of Phoenix. It could be super cool and a little bizarre. Totally Aaron and Robin.

Idea for Celebration

I was really sick yesterday and the night before with a 102 degree fever and weird muscle aches and dizziness. The good news is that I stayed home from work and Aaron stayed with me, so we talked about the ceremony options more. We are thinking that the Secret Garden at ASU will be best. We went here a lot when we were friends in Architecture 5 years ago. Once, we walked to the garden after a party and layed down in the grass below one of the trees and were so comfortable (and drunk and happy) that we stayed there until the sun came up. It was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever watched because our eyes were looking up nearly the entire time. And, of course, we were secretly in love with eachother so that also made it magical. I read online last night that the space can be reserved for weddings. Also, it has a fireplace, which will make the space even more fanciful and intimate. We'll most likely just have the celebration (other words: reception) here, and the vows at the courthouse. There's something old timey and cute about the courthouse. We've decided that we're old people at heart because we want to get married in the courthouse, have an evening garden party, and then take the train to the Grand Canyon for a two day honeymoon in a cabin. That's all old fashioned isn't it? Sounds perfect. December 12 in the evening is what we are thinking at the moment. Below are images I captured from a 360 degree video of the Secret Garden.