Hi everyone! Just wanted to pop over here one last time before I delete this journal. I have started a new journal and would love to keep all the friends I have here. Please pop in and visit me at:

hopenathan

This will be my last post under this name. Take care everyone, I hope to see you in my new LJ home!!

wow, sorry everyone! i seem to be averaging a once a month update. not my intention at all apologies all around. i have however changed my LJ name. i've started a new journal all together, and have already friended most of the people that were on my list. my new LJ is:

hopenathan

you may be asking yourself why? well, that will be my new name, as we have both applied for legal, MATCHING, last names. yippee! we've also retired the old twogirlstudios. that idea just wasn't going to happen. it depended so heavily on BOTH of us being into arts and crafts and to be honest, Chris is never going to be interested enough to make that a career focus. hahaha!! so i am once again a solo gig!

with this new found understanding of the dynamic of our relationship, i am pushing forward with my art career. i am in logo developpment with a graphic designer colleague and getting submittals ready for shows. i'm hoping this will open up the door for lots of travel, as i have mapped out the things that are important to me for the next five years:

more travel / more live music
get the books published
gallery shows / annual fairs
lose weight (ugh)
photography
make a documentary
spoil the neices and nephew

yippee for getting my life in order! so, this will be the last post over here. i hope that you will all add me to your friends list again, this newly motivated chick will definitely be updating more, as there will be lots more to report. take care one and all.....

peace

Is anyone else glad that tomorrow is Friday? This week has been so, blah!! My little sister, her husband, and my niece had been here visiting for over a week and left on Sunday. I can't seem to "get over it" yet. I miss them so terribly when they aren't here. Ugh. I'm hoping to get some photography and crafting done before next week. Maybe that will pull me out of my funk.

This is my new Blythe Cherry Berry, and her name is Shalom. She is completely stock and I think she might stay that way. I had planned to send her off to the Blythe Rescue Mission, but I don't know, she is so charming. It's odd to go from having so many to just one. Oddly enough, I'm thinking I might need Star Dancer. I think they would compliment each other nicely. There is something about that wonky eye and her coloring that I am finding irresistable.....
What's going on in your neck of the woods?

I haven't updated in a very long time. Life got away from me for a bit. Should I be offended or hurt that a few people dropped me here and on Flickr? I'm not sure if I should be, but I am.

Massachusetts was great. Not sure that we're going to move there, though. It would be expensive to visit friends and family. With two nieces and a nephew, that is even more of a priority.

Still trying to get a business off the ground. Motivation, inspiration, and confidence are in short supply these days. However, I have been thoroughly addicted to reading online journals.

My Blythe family is now one Blythe. A Cherry Berry named Shalom. She is quite spoiled, having inherited the dolly things of a family of six. Good times.

OK, our trip to Massachusetts is right around the corner. We've booked the lodging, and have a few things we KNOW we'll be doing, including making the drive to Providence to see ANI!!!!! OMFG!!!!!! (RI peeps, any suggestions for dinner the night of the concert?)

We need ideas from ANYONE who lives in Massachusetts or has visited about how to spend our time there. Is there a restaurant we should really check out? What about tourist stuff? If you think there is ANYTHING in Massachusetts that we MUST see or do, please comment with the info. Also, can anyone tell me what the likelihood is for snow the second week of November? Neither of us is super skilled at Wintery driving YET! Thanks everyone!!

(x-posted to VOX!!!! I have invites if anyone here is interested.....)

my wallet was stolen today. while i was at work. right off of my desk, inside my handbag. today was a slow traffic day and I can account for every person that came through the door. someone that works for my staffing company stole my wallet right out from under my nose. then they tried to go on a spending spree at foot locker and a few gas stations. needless to say, all accounts have been temporarily frozen, all cards cancelled, all sense of safety at work, lost.


i've heard people mention how violated you can feel when this happens. I will admit that I never really understood. I figured, yeah, I would be upset, mad even, but violated? I never understood the violated part. until now.

I don't care about the shiny plastic cards that were in my wallet. I'm not even that upset about the fabulously cool wallet my girlfriend handpicked for me from a trendy boutique last Christmas. what bothers me is that someone that I interviewed, spent time with, and GAVE A JOB to, has broken the last shred of trust I had left. my personal photographs, gone. some of the first pictures I ever got of Chris, when she still had blonde tips. my first pictures of my niece, REAL pictures from FILM, not the digital versions that are now so common place. some of my brother and his girlfriend from when they first met. personal mementos that have no monetary value to anyone BUT ME.

I know that people will say that I should be glad. I wasn't physically hurt, neither was anyone close to me. some will say, what can I expect, leaving my handbag out where anyone can access it. however, my heart is broken, because our society is so hateful. so greedy. when I turned to the two people at work that I have been there for time and time again, it was my fault. I was surely mistaken. none of our employees would do such a thing. over half of the candidates I screen for criminal backgrounds have a record. over half the time, that record is violent. over half of the violent records involve children. and we employee them all, some of them, within the school system. I have hired my last felon. I will not return on Monday.

my wallet was stolen today and there was not a single bit of money in it.

I think I am going to let this journal go and just write over at vox....If you are on my friends list, and I haven't already added you at Vox, please add me there. I am using the same name twogirlstudios. If you want to leave a comment here that you added me, I'll add you too!!

Argh! I can't tell you how many times I've felt "scolded" or "corrected" on TIB. I hate it and wish there was a better resource for Blythe stuffs. If anyone on my Flist reads this and knows of a better option, please let me know! Never have I encountered a group of adult women that are so ready to cut someone's throat, and who want something for nothing. Sorry, end rant.

*Today the sky is covered in blah, with a dash of ho-hum for good measure.

*The bunny that likes to rest in the azalea outside my door is entertaining a friend today. How charming. There is nothing quite so lovely as a wiggling bunny nose.

*We are best friends with a couple our age. For various reasons, some unknown to me, they are heading toward seperation. I fear that I will not care to continue the friendship with them as individuals. I dread the complexity of it all. Lately I've realized, most of my current friends are really hard work.

*I want to move so badly, it's hard to be happy here. I love North Carolina, my family is here, my friends are here, a lot of my history is here. I want a clean slate, and a snowy winter, and strolls through falling leaves. I want to see other couples like us.

"Please don't think me dull or depressed. Just random thoughts now off my chest" MH

A dear online friend has pointed me in the direction of Gimme Your Stuff. I love the idea of swapping, and have been trying to join in on some swap communities. Unfortunately, I haven't found ANY that would let me in....Thanks BEA!!

I would like to swap with people from outside the U.S. but am definitely open to U.S. based swaps. I can swap almost anything from the United States:

Art and crafts supplies
Magazines
CD’s
Newspapers
Sweets/Candy or other small American (non-spoilable in the post) foodstuffs / ingredients
Just about anything small, and legal to send through the post!

My maximum value per swap package sent will be 50 USD. I will send by whatever is the fastest and cheapest method of insured post.

I would like:

Handmade clothings, shoes, or re-ment for my Blythe dolls
Jewish and/or Buddhist trinkets
Coffees or Teas from other countries
cute fabrics and/or buttons of all shapes, sizes, and colors
pez dispensers
cute pens/pencils/papers, any kind of cute office supplies
handmade jewelry and trinkets

I have 100% positive eBay feedback (user: twogirlstudios). I'm a crafty gal, just starting down the path towards my own little crafty biz. Leave a comment or email me at twogirlstudios@hotmail.com I hope to hear from some eager swappers soon!