Special Delivery: Share Your Love 2010

I want to share this with everyone because I think it is amazing. It’s so easy, can be done for next to nothing and will make someone’s day. Here is yet another reason why I LOVE Etsy…

The day of hearts is almost upon us, and here is an opportunity to open your heart to a large circle of people. You may recall our Special Delivery project from last year. It was so heart-warming that we’ve decided to make it an Etsy tradition. Once again, we’ll be working with Citymeals-on-Wheels to bring nutritious meals, handmade greeting cards and companionship to elderly New Yorkers. A few of the details have changed, so please read on.

Sounds great? How do I get involved?

Easy! We need your help to supply the cards. Citymeals-on-Wheels serves over 18,000 people, so we need as many as we can get. There are two ways to do this. The first is (you guessed it) to make your own card or send in a vintage card from your shop and fill it out with a nice message. Please craft as many valentines as you would like and send them to us. Before you send them, you can also post photos of your cards in our Special Delivery Flickr group.

If you don’t have time to make cards, you can buy them and have them delivered to us. The deadline for us to receive the cards is Tuesday, February 9, 2010. There are a few other important guidelines for this, so please carefully read the FAQs below.

“Ok, then what happens?”

Special delivery! We will collect all the cards and bring them to Citymeals-on-Wheels, where each will be delivered with a meal in time for Valentine’s Day. Several of the Etsy Admin will be volunteering at the Citymeals-on-Wheels’ Senior Center’s Valentine’s Day party. We’re going help to decorate, serve meals, and spend quality time with our neighbors.

“Is that all?”

No, there’s more. Please post photos of your valentines in our Special Delivery Flickr group. Then, post a link to your photos (or to an Etsy item, if you bought or sold one) in this Forum thread. Once we’ve received them all, we’ll post a list of all the participants in this article.

“Is there anything else?”

You can also help by donating to Citymeals-on-Wheels, or by volunteering or donating to your local organization.

Now stop asking questions, read the FAQs and get crafting! February 9 is closer than you think. Oh, and thank you very much for helping to spread the love. 

FAQ

1. How do I participate in Special Delivery?

There are two ways. Either make or purchase a handmade Valentine’s Day greeting card (or several). Please mail them to:

Etsy
Attn: Adam Brown
55 Washington St.
Suite 512
Brooklyn, NY 11201

2. When do the cards have to arrive at Etsy?

The deadline is Tuesday, February 9, 2010. This is important!

3. Are there any rules about what the cards should look like?

Yes. Please follow these guidelines, otherwise we can’t use your card(s):

• No glitter! This creates food safety issues.
• Please make your cards cheerful by using bright colors. You can decorate cards using paint, crayons, markers, pastels, collage or anything else you can think of.
• Please avoid dark backgrounds and religious symbols.
• Please write clearly and in large print, and avoid using the abbreviation “V-day.” Please say, “Valentine’s Day.”
• You should not give out your address or suggest that the recipients write back to you. Initiating an ongoing correspondence is not appropriate.
• Please make sure that the cards are appropriate for the intended audience. That is to say, pretend it’s for your sweet sweet grandma, not your snarky, angst-ridden teenage brother.

4. How many cards should I send?

As many as you want!

5. Is this open only to Etsy sellers?

Nope. This is open to anyone who wants to help brighten someone’s day.

6. Can I send vintage cards?

Sure! The more, the merrier.

7. What’s that deadline again?

We need to have all of the cards in our hot little hands by Tuesday, February 9, 2009. Thanks!

(I bought and had these sent)

Fifty Three

Last week I really missed my Grandma. It hit me like a ton of bricks, my chest tightened up and I wanted to cry. I can’t believe it’s been thirteen years since we lost her.

She and I, we had a special relationship. She took care of me while my Nana (on my mom’s side) was dying. Every day they’d drop me off while my mom went to the hospital. I would play, follow Cicero around the house, eat top ramen from a coffee mug with tomato sandwiches, take a nap while she watched The Young and the Restless, and read a book about a tadpole becoming a frog. It was the only thing I wanted when she passed, that book about tadpoles. But no one could find it.

After my papa died (on my mom’s side) we moved to California. That’s when everything changed…

My dad got a lot meaner, a lot more often. It was like living with a monster. I can’t describe what it felt like growing up hating your dad. Not to mention believing he hated you. My physical scars have healed, but every day I discover just how deep the emotional ones go. Some days I am so confused because I miss him.. The man who would beat the shit out of me and my brother when my mom wasn’t around.. The man who cheated on my mom many, many times.. The man who chose drugs and alcohol over his family.. The man who made it very hard for me to trust men.. The first man who broke my heart..

I struggle with the decision to invite him to our wedding, but I haven’t seen him in 12 years. I wish so badly he could have been normal. It all could have been so different. Little girls need their daddies.. Forever.  

This part of me that gets caught up in that emotion forgets what he is really like.. Forgets that he isn’t normal.. Forgets that he never really was my daddy. I reached out three years ago and it didn’t go well. I was the one who got hurt, again.

I have so many questions that will never get answered. The grown-up me knows this and has moved on. The little girl inside still doesn’t understand.

***

Happy Birthday, Dad. 

You’re the only one I will ever do butterfly kisses with. Sarah by Jefferson Starship is still our song. I see you in Nick’s jaw line, Sarah’s temper, and my eyes. I can still smell your cologne.  I think of you when I eat Almond Joy and York Peppermint Patties. I hold the good memories that I have close to my heart, even if they were few and far between. I hope and pray for you to find inner peace  and happiness. Thank you for choosing mom. She is amazing and made everything ok for us.

And I don’t hate you anymore.

Made in America

“One, two, three, four… We don’t want your superstore..”

I don’t talk much about politics on here. Mostly because my views and opinions are much different than that of mainstream America’s. I often get told I am a racist because I don’t care for Obama and called greedy because I don’t believe in welfare. For the record, I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but rather a Libertarian. I don’t care for many of our politicians and I never though Sarah Palin belongs anywhere but in a cabin hunting moose in Alaska. I don’t watch the news because it is ALL bullshit, funded by deep pockets with ulterior motives and agendas. I believe the United States is NO WHERE near the end of this recession and it is only going to get much worse. I would own a gun and don’t because I have nowhere safe to keep it. Please don’t mistake me for a radical or an anarchist, as most of the media outlets want to portray people who believe and follow movements such as the Tea Party or Campaign for Liberty… Oh, and I totally dig Rush Limbaugh.

Where am I going with this?

I am starting to be a more responsible consumer. I am becoming more aware of where things are made and trying to buy more things that are Made in America, even if they cost a little bit more. I have become a HUGE supporter of the Etsy community. I REFUSE to shop at Wal-Mart, even if I can save a lot more. (Click here  or here to see one of the many reasons why) Now, it isn’t always possible to get everything from the good ol’ US of A, but when I can, I will. If everyone did this, we could become a self-sufficient country. We wouldn’t be dependent on countries like China. Maybe even unemployment rates would drop…

Just some food for thought.

Because this is just awesome

I’m stealing this from Jennie (again).

My Enemy List

People who put loud, obnoxious exhausts on their car.

People who put loud, obnoxious sound systems in their car. (Cars are depreciating assets people!)

People who love to complain about their life or situation and then never do anything to fix it. They just like to hear themselves bitch or wallow in their own pity.

People who act as though there is no consequence. Then when they realize there is or was consequence they expect to say sorry and be forgiven.

Sick people who refuse to take medicine.

This barista at Starbucks that flirts with the married men.

The married men who flirt back.

Evil bitches that try to meddle in your relationship… (Yeah, I didn’t know it happened after high school either!)

Women who look at my engagement ring and snidely comment how they don’t need expensive jewelry or make some comment about the size of the stone. To which I want to reply “Jealous much?” (And for the record I don’t NEED it either. But if he’ll buy it, I will take it!)

People who have a negative opinion about our long engagement.

People who comment about how much they think our wedding will cost based on the venue, then make indirect comments about how spending a ton of money on one day is a “waste.” (Are you paying the bill?… I didn’t think so. If my parents -aka the check-writers- don’t mind than you shouldn’t either. Jackass.)

People who have a negative opinion about the fact that we don’t live together and won’t live together until we are married.

Two-faced people.

People that I would love to list by name but won’t because I don’t want the drama if they happen to find this site.

Spiders -aka- “Ninjas”

Bullies. (Again, I’m surprised this shit still happens, but I’ve experienced it.)

People (my sister!) who can eat WHATEVER they want and not gain a pound even if they wanted to!

Carbohydrates.

Drivers who you try to pass that speed up when they realize you are trying to pass them.

Liars. Cheaters. Thieves.

People who talk loudly on their cell phones in public places about things that should not be made public.

People who don’t know what they want when they get up to the counter/drive-thru and then proceed to take FOREVER to decide with a million people/cars behind them.

Um, wow… Maybe I should just say people in general.

Just kidding.

Chianti, I don’t think we’re in California anymore

It has been raining for four days straight. I actually love it and I hope it continues for a while so I can wear my Burberry Wellies that haven’t seen the light of day since my trip to Ireland, EIGHT MONTHS AGO. I want to break those puppies out and play in puddles. Or just look really cute.

What I don’t love: the TWO tornados that touched down in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. Now, I’m a girl from the midwest, which means I’m no stranger to rain, lightning, thunder, and yes, tornados. However, tornados in California are MUCH scarier because they aren’t supposed to be here, and us Californians don’t have basements or storm cellars. We don’t have anywhere to go when a tornado decides to rear it’s ugly head. And that’s REALLY scary, especially to someone who has seen firsthand a tornado and the damage it causes. The last time I experienced a tornado I was  an innocent four year old, safe in our basement, playing Mario on the original Nintendo. The twister didn’t touch our house, but it did uproot the big, old tree on the corner and place it a few feet down the road. I LOVE weather. However, I don’t love tornados in California.

My Honda is in the shop today getting fixed and I have the BF’s car. I am super nervous about driving his car in the rain.

This weekend is our four year anniversary. Due to the weather, it looks like wine tasting in Temecula is out. I’m sure we will find something great to do instead. He is so amazing. He -like me- can’t wait to give gifts and gave me my anniversary present early. He got me tickets to U2’s last show on their 360 Tour in June at Angel Stadium. I AM SO EXCITED. It was such an awesome show and I totally wanted to go again but didn’t get tickets in time. Unbeknownst to me, the BF was on it and already got them. These past two years have been really hard on our relationship, but things are really moving in a positive direction. I love him so much and I don’t say that enough.

That great opportunity I mentioned… Yeah, I got the offer, but it wasn’t so great. Oh well, everything happens for a reason.

Oh the possibilities!

The trip to our new city last weekend went great. The BF got all his stuff moved in to storage and we looked at a few condos, which I LOVED! We even found a pizza place that we love and will probably frequent… Quite often.

Rent up there is definitely less than Orange County. I can pretty much assume that everywhere else is LESS than Orange County. For the same rent I pay now for my TINY beach apartment, I can rent a  HUGE 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with W/D hook-ups, a fireplace, and a little private backyard, to name a few of the perks. This excites me to no end and it got me thinking. In this past 5 years I have paid $48,000 in rent. YIKES! That’s money I will never, EVER see again. Condos up in that area run around $80-90K. That means my mortgage payment would be the same or possibly less than the rent I am paying now. Long story short, I am looking to buy a condo by the end of the year. I would only need a 3% down payment (piece of cake) and then I wouldn’t be wasting my money, but rather investing it. It would be paid off in 10 years and I would own it forever. I could rent it out after we got married and that would be an extra paycheck in our pocket each month. We also plan on moving out of California and could keep the condo for when we decide to come back and vacation or visit people who live out here. It’s time to invest my hard-earned money into something with a return. I’M SO EXCITED.

I have an appointment today that I am SUPER nervous for. It could end up being a great opportunity that would open MANY doors for me and my future. That’s all the details I can give for now. So just say a little prayer for me.. (Especially around 11a.m.)

Oh, and I am applying to go back to Cal State in the fall.

I can honestly say that for the first time in my life I don’t fear the uncertainty of this year to come. I am embracing and loving every moment of it.

God is GREAT!

***UPDATE***

Test went great. I passed with flying colors and will complete the second part of this process tomorrow morning. I can’t even described how stoked I am!

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this

I joined a book club. I am now a proud member of The Book Lushes!

It’s awesome.

I’m a day late.

Yesterday was “National Delurking Day.” And I did delurk at the few blogs that I read that I haven’t commented on, but I forget to welcome out all the Lurky Lurkertons who occasionally make their way over here. WELCOME! (I’m convinced that it is just Brittany and my BF who visit this site, but if there is anyone else, feel free to tell me who you are. Or not.)

Hopefully next week I will be back to blogging. Life has been crazy lately with the big move coming up and it’s been a lot to take in.

The Mission: Tell Somebody!

Remember when I mentioned the amazing organization ItStartsWith.Us?

Well our mission this week is to tell somebody about it. So here I am, passing along the awesomeness.

Go here. 

Let’s change the world together.

Only twenty-two days left in the OC..

On January 30^th the BF will move from the OC, leaving me and the ocean behind to start his new job. We have decided that since this is the last month that we will living in the same half of the state, that we should enjoy all the things that have been here all along that we have taken for granted.

Last weekend we drove up to Malibu and visited The Getty Villa. It was free (always a bonus) and breathtakingly beautiful.

This weekend we are going to try to visit The Getty Museum and then the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

The following weekend we are moving his stuff up to his new town.  

Then the weekend of our four year anniversary we are going wine tasting in Temecula and (if I can convince him) taking another trip to the San Diego Zoo.

Since I will still be living in my little beach house until I find a job up there, he will still come down and visit but I just want to soak it all in before it’s gone.