goodies.

New goodies added to the etsy shop (finally, I know!) Hopefully more coming soon with tests winding down before the holidays! Check them out before someone else snatches em up.

I'm baaaack.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I promise. Things have been hectic - school, work, etc. Though things have been busy, I've been having some fun. A few weeks ago I was selected as the gonfalonier for the College of Science during the December graduation ceremony. If you were like me and have no idea what that is, let me explain. Each college has a banner that represents it, and the person who carries the banner out during the ceremony is the gonfalonier - and that's me! I was nominated by the biology advising office and gladly accepted the position! I'll represent the students from the chemistry, physics, statistics, mathematics, and biology departments this December. Very exciting! And a great reason to go buy some new shoes (which I did!)

I have been having some fun outside of school, however. Andy and I drove down to Houston a week or so ago to see Ben Folds in concert. I've loved Ben's music for several years now and was very excited he was coming so close and the tickets were affordable. It was a fun concert with a crowd of people who really loved Ben and his music. He was a great performer - engaged the crowd, told jokes, played some goofy songs, and was overall super entertaining. It was a bit of an early birthday present for Andy and I for each other. The only bad thing about the concert was having to drive the hour and a half home at 1 am. 

Things are getting in order and school is beginning to wind down with Thanksgiving break on the horizon. I've gotten two of my graduate school applications turned in and am very close to finishing the others. Then it'll be time to wait and hope. 

Hope everyone had a great Halloween (we stayed in and watched scary t.v. shows) and will have a great November. I've got some new items for the shop, so pictures of those will be coming very soon!

new for autumn.

Finally have something new in the shop. I loved crocheting this hat. It was quick to make and it came out looking so great. It's a perfect color for fall and is warm and fashionable. I have made up a couple more hats in some different colors but haven't had the time to take pictures yet. They should be in the shop by the end of the week, though. 

the duchess. review.

Just got home from seeing The Duchess which opened this weekend in our theater. Since Pirates of the Caribbean I have been a fan of Keira Knightley and see most of her films if I read good things about them. It was Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, for which Keira received an Oscar nomination that cemented her in my list of favorite actresses, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing this film after being teased by the trailer on my television for weeks now.

I enjoyed the movie, but it definitely was not one of her bests. Not because of her performance, which was absolutely great, but due to the lack of development of the different relationships within the film. Central points in this film hinge on these relationships, but I couldn't quite bring myself to feel as emotional about the happenings as I would be if the relationships with the Duchess had been better developed. Overall though it was an enjoyable, beautiful film to look at and well acted by everyone in the cast.

I hope to be able to see The Express sometime soon, but so many great movies are coming out that I want to see I just don't know if I'll have the time between school and work. Lucky for me, movie tickets aren't too expensive here, especially for students, so even with these economic woes I can still afford to steal away to the movies every once and awhile and escape. 

I'm always looking for more great movies to watch, whether in the theater or on dvd, so if any of you have a suggestion be sure to drop be a comment!

falling into place.

School has definitely been taking a toll on me lately. Test after test after test. It's been a never ending cycle that is finally approaching the end. 

In good news, though, I think the Christmas sale season has kicked in because I've been making a sale on etsy almost every day for the past week. It's been a welcome extra "burden" on the plans finding a few couple minutes to package up these slippers send them out to their new homes. So it looks like things are falling into place both in the realms of etsy and school as both things pick up and begin to lead to exciting new places (with a little more money in my pocket to spare). 

Still no sign of autumn here, but the my favorite movie season has begun to pick up. One of my favorite things to do is keep up with movie news and when Oscar season rolls around I get a little more excited for all the great new movies that are soon to be coming out. Next week I already have several movies I want to see including the new Keira Knightley movie The Duchess. I've been trying to keep up with the trailers for new movies, too. Some of the ones I've seen recently that look like they should make good movies are The Soloist (I'm a huge Joe Wright fan), Australia, and Milk. Maybe I'll get around to posting some of my thoughts on these movies when they come out. 

Hope everyone is having a spook-tacular October! 

fall.

The mornings are finally getting a little bit cooler here. Means fall must be around the corner. I say it's about time. Needless of the weather, my fall decorations have been out since mid-September. Unfortunately it's not time to bring out the long sleeves yet. 

the state fair of texas.

Andy and I just got home from a weekend in Dallas visiting his parents. 

We took a trip to the Texas State Fair today before we headed home since neither of us had ever been before. It was an experience. It's in Fair Park which was built for the World Fair a long time ago. It's also home to the Cotton Bowl which I was lucky enough to go to a couple of years ago. 

We didn't get to do much, but did visit some of the little museums located in Fair Park like the Aquarium and the Museum of the State. I wish we could've ridden the ferris wheel but the line was a bit too long. I did get some salt water taffy before we left, though, which I have a definite weakness for and you don't find it very often down here in Texas.

Overall it was a fun weekend, but it's time to get back to school.

busy bee.

School has really begun to pick up with lots of tests and projects taking up most of my time. On top of that I have all the preparations I've been doing to get ready for graduate school including essays, applications, letters of reference - all that fun, inconvenient things that take up way too much time.

I've got my schools narrowed down to four. 3 in California including UC San Diego (Scripps Institute of Oceanography) and one school in North Carolina that I am applying to because one of their faculty researches exactly what I've been wanting to research for years now - whales and dolphins. I think the applications are almost prepared and ready to be submitted which is very exciting. I still have to take one final GRE exam. I have one shot to do well, but it's not until November so I still have tons of time to prepare.

Sadly, though, all this busy work has taken a toll on slipper making (just in time for the Christmas rush). I'm simply renewing items that are already available in the shop to keep myself visible. I try to crochet whenever I can find a spare moment, but those are few and far between and most of the time I probably should be doing something else anyway. Like right now... I probably should be sleeping. 

I suppose that's my signal to get to bed. Hope everyone's week is lovely and cool.

color burst

  

Some great new slippers have been added to the etsy shop recently including these three pairs. They include some old favorites and some brand new colors and patterns. You can see these as well as all my other mary janes by visiting http://brokenhallelujah.etsy.com.

here comes the sun.

I survived the hurricane! It didn't turn out too badly, after all. It just rained most of the day today and was pretty windy, but we just stayed inside and watched it all from the comfort of the sofa. We only lost power for an hour or so - not too bad for our first hurricane. As soon as the sun peaked out from behind the clouds we decided to get out for a little bit before the sun set. Most places were closed up for the day, but it was still nice to just be out of the house. 

I wish I could've spent the day crafting, but sadly school has caught up with me and I had a bit of studying to get done for some exams coming up next week. I have had time to get a couple pairs of slippers made up in the meantime including the one pictured to the left - Chunky Monkey mary janes. I had another pair of these for sale earlier in the summer and they seemed popular, so I used up the left over yarn to make up another pair. They are available in the etsy shop along with all my other great mary janes. 

I hope everyone else who had to go through the hurricane are alright. Things down in Houston and Galveston look messy, but no deaths reported so far. Since I lived down in Galveston for a year for school I am definitely hoping everyone at A&M Galveston are alright and made it out of the storm safely.