etsy store!!

i finally got it all up and going. check 'em out here!!

don't forget to tell all your friends and spread the good word.

all good things.

today is the day that i get to go and spend my gift certificate at blackbird... as well as return the gift that tyler got me there. i'm really excited to find something fabulous there. there is a small hope in the back of my mind that they will have another of the hat that i wanted... but i suspect it was a one of a kind sort of thing made locally or something. trying not to get my hopes up or anything just to be disappointed. there were also these REALLY cute purple italian leather gloves that i have been dreaming about... and there are countless fabulous things, really.

last night tyler and i went over to his best friend's parents house. it was sort of a guys hang out, but tyler really wanted me to go with him. so i did. for a while we sat upstairs me, tyler, kevin, brady, and andre, with kevin's brother, parents, and a couple of other people they had over. the 5 of us watched true blood on mute, with kevin explaining to his brother who people were and what was happening. it was pretty funny. i think van morrison was playing on the stereo - hence the muted true blood. i commented on how it was funny that eventually everyone just stopped talking and just watched the muted tv show, even though almost all of us have seen it already. and then the tv was turned off. i probably shouldn't have... because after that the boys and me made our way to the basement so playstation 3 nhl shootouts could take place. boredom ensued.

i was suffering from several consecutive nights of not enough sleep and working early, so i had already said i would be going home early to go to bed. at just after 9, i did that. tyler said he would stay and catch a ride home.

i went home, and watched an episode of gilmore girls (yes, i jumped on that bandwagon after hearing all of you talk about it... and i needed something to watch that tyler wouldn't want to watch with me) and then went to bed. i drifted into a very comfortable sleep. at one point, i don't know how long it was happening before i woke up, but i awoke to the sound of my phone buzzing uncontrollably. i think for a while i made the half asleep decision to just ignore it. it was probably just a useless text message. but eventually i picked it up, because it wouldn't stop viberating. it was tyler calling, which i thought was weird. why wasn't he home yet? he told me he was walking home... which is ridiculous. its a pretty far walk. and it was 3 am. he said no cabs were coming to get him... he didn't want me to come get him... but i didn't really want him to walk home and get home at like 5 or something. plus... when i got outside, it was snowing really good. and he wasn't even wearing a coat! sheesh. he tried telling me he was more than halfway by then anyway... but i got up and put on my slippers and one of his nice lined hoodies from his mom, and set out to find him.

i found him way way down bellavista road, and picked him up. we didn't talk on the way home. i was too tired.

but... as always when i get fully woken up... i couldn't fall asleep FOREVER... and now i am in the same place i was yesterday... soooo tired. hopefully things go better tonight and i get an early undisturbed night of sleep. hopefully.

philadelphia freedom.

i am unbelievably tired.

it sort of feels like christmas didn't happen. and i think i have managed to figure out why. the first reason is: i worked christmas morning. it sucked. not being a christmas person... i didn't think it would bug me that much. make good money with overtime, work a few hours, and be on with it. but... dragging myself out of bed at 4:30 after not being able to sleep (i'm sure due to caffeine in my system), showering, dressing, and going down to the station. it was dark. i was the only person here. it was just a bummed out feeling. at 9 tyler came to hang out with me and brought starbucks - which definitely helped me not be so bummed.

that was followed by a trip to the krusel household (tyler's mom's married name). it was pleasant. gifts were exchanged. his parents are always very generous. tyler and i each received a hoodie (which we both asked for - his was lined... so nice and warm), and $200 in those prepaid visa card things. and a stocking full of little goodies. all his siblings waited until i was done work to gather there too - which i didn't think was happening... so that was a nice surprised. only his step brother ryan, the youngest, wasn't there. he had to work till 2. i felt bad for him... because i know how it feels. tyler and i got a board game from his step brother chris and his girlfriend kendra. we're pretty into games. i can't wait to have a game night and play it!! it looks really fun.

at around 1 we took off and went to my mom's. well... as soon as we were in the truck to go to my mom's, i realized that we forgot to stop at the bank and get the cash for andrew's present. tyler was REALLY grumpy about the prospect of having to drive all the way into town to go to the bank. and then he realized that he left his phone at his mom's, and we had to stop back there too - which just made him more grumpy. haha. so i managed to convince him to just stop at the 7-11 so i could use the atm, and then it was a nice loop to go to his mom's and get his phone too.

we got to my mom's and rushed her off the phone. everyone gathered in the living room to open the gifts from us (i guess the gift opening in the morning was over very very quickly). i always get really excited to see people open the gifts i get them. its the best part. tyler and i got dean a sweater (a cashmere blend sweater in charcoal grey). i got rhiannon these purple leggings that have markings on them to try and make them look like jeans - we saw them when shopping at winners and my mom distracted her so i could make the purchase. she promptly put them on. tyler got her a book which she was excited to start reading (books are always a hit with rhiannon). my mom opened her present from tyler on christmas eve - they were really soft fleece pajama pants - blue with multicoloured peace signs on them, which tyler found amusing. i also got her a cashmere sweater. i think it was %100 cashmere though. in a beautiful deep red colour. it fit perfectly and looks really good on her. and andrew, as i mentioned before... got the money he asked for for his snowboard. i think he made a pretty good haul between everyone, actually. tyler got some felted slippers from my mom, which he was quite happy about. a case of beer from dean - which has become the traditional gift from dean to tyler i think. andrew got him a lamp - which he opened christmas eve. and rhiannon made us a mirror thing with some coloured glass and stuff around it (its hard to describe... i'll take a picture, its really cool! and she made it herself... best part).

and here is the second reason i don't think it felt like christmas. i didn't actually get a lot of gifts. NOT that i am complaining - i get to shopping and get some fabulous things i never would have been able to afford before. my mom's present to me isn't finished yet, but i saw the work in progress and i am really excited about it. it is this scarf/cowl/hood thing in a really nice dark eggplant purple. my friend kelsey has one that she wore over once, and i loved it. so i told my mom, and got kelsey to take pictures of it, and i forwarded those on to my mom... and voila. something that kelsey paid A LOT of money for... made for me!... but i haven't got it yet. there was this hat i spotted at a really cool jewellery/accessory store in town called blackbird (they have really cool vintage and reworked stuff) - it was felt, white, and kind of 30's esque in shape and style with a red felt rose on the side. it was gone when andrew and dean went to go get it for me, so i got a $40 gift card for blackbird. i can't wait until i have time to go in there and pick something! there are about a million things in that store that i would love to own. and tyler ALSO went to go get me that same hat from blackbird, like the day after i had seen it even, and it was already gone (which really bums me out... i fell instantly in love with that hat) and so he got me another hat... which... well even if i DID want to wear it... it doesn't fit my head (on a positive note, megan saw it last night and she thinks it is beautiful and can't believe i don't want to wear it every day). tyler's dad and step mom sent us some gifts too. tyler and i each got a card with $100 in it (handy to get a $100 bill... which we conveniently still had to give andrew for his birthday present). i also got a couple other things... which i won't talk about. they weren't really my thing.

so that is that... maybe it will feel more like christmas after i make a shopping trip?

my earrings were well received by everyone i gifted them to - which makes me very excited. anyone want a pair? send me an e-mail (eryn.kleyh@gmail.com) with your address and i will get some in the mail to you as soon as i get the little parts the lady at the bead store ordered for me (also... i ordered a whole bunch of BEAUTIFUL feathers from etsy yesterday - thanks prepaid visa card gift). the only catch is that you have to tell everyone who comments on them about my etsy store. hahahahaha. maybe i should make up some business cards and send them along with the earrings? what do you think?

three little rolls.

i have been growing out my bangs. i love my bettie page bangs... but... i have recently fallen in love with the look of rolled bangs even more (i love to lurk this blog - she has the cutest style). they have gotten pretty long... and don't really curl under very well. so this morning i thought i would try something i saw on before mentioned blog (this is what she did when growing her bangs out). three little pincurls.

also, conveniently, this picture shows off some of my earrings i made. i get a lot of compliments when i wear them. but i will be honest with you... these are some from the first batch i made - the newer ones are much nicer. haha. i still like these... but i will probably make myself another pair as well.

anyway... the whole point of this post was for me to share my hair excitement. i was really happy with how they turned out. i need to figure out something good to do with the rest of my hair to go with them. it would look good curled on the bottom... but i didn't have time to do that. any suggestions on what might look nice? any requests for feather earrings? anyone you think might be interested in purchasing them once i get them up on my etsy shop? i would greatly appreciate that!!




ps. i finally took them over to jordi's to be photographed last night. jordi, megan, and i decorated what was left of my sugar cookies. it was really fun. megan made a ronald mcdonald cookie. and a nacho libre cookie. maybe i will have to follow up with some pictures of those...

the suburbs.

i got really into the new arcade fire album that came out this year. i managed to get in the idea for jen and i to play our favourite song of the year in our new years eve show. this is the song that i picked for mine. i don't know that it is legitimately my favourite song of the year... but it fits our sound here at the station (i think, anyway) and it is canadian - go canadian independent music!!!!

3 french toast, two turtle necks, and a beer.

hahaha. we're playing bob and doug mckenzie's 12 days of christmas. it makes me laugh. 5 golden toques? seriously? hahaha. so funny.

i'm still just not excited and in the christmas spirit. the stress about work has totally consumed my brain and how i feel. i just feel bummed all the time... even if it isn't my immediate emotion, it is lurking there underneath. i don't know what to do. i need to find something else. and the prospects of other jobs around here is just depressing. i have no education. no training. no qualifications. i am just back where i started - looking for yet another crappy time wasting job. why couldn't this have happened in march? and then i could just work my butt off washing windows for the summer - at least leading up to the wedding. it just puts everything else on the back burner. how are we going to make a month back packing in europe happen when i can't even pay half our rent with my paycheque? agh.

so much frustration.

... that's all i'm thinking about right now. i can't even think of anything else to write.

i am decorating cookies with jordi and megan after work tonight. i'm pretty excited about it. me and my mom and my friend tenille (who came at the last minute - she's home for christmas from toronto) made the most delicious chocolates i think i have EVER had yesterday. our order came in from rancho vignola. my mom ordered a big box of dates, and i ordered some expensive chocolate, and so we tried out one of jayme's ideas from my food for thought feature on my radio show. we did a special on edible gifts last week. so what we did was pitted the dates, and filled it with peanut butter, closed it back up, and then dipped the whole thing in melted dark chocolate. then we decorated them with melted white chocolate. it was super fun, they looked really good, and they tasted SO GOOD. next time you don't know what to get someone - i highly recommend this.

still haven't gotten the photos of my earrings... but my stock has massively depleted after gifting a whole bunch of them to people... i need to make some more! and i think i will need to make a few more trips to the bead store for supplies. and order some more feathers too. perhaps some different kinds of feathers. we'll see what i can find...

it would be really nice to supplement my income just by crafting and selling things. do you think that is possible?

my girl the horse

a friend of mine posted this video on facebook this morning. i fell in love with this song... and the album is nowhere to be found for download!!! maybe you will fall in love with it like i did...

don't speak.

no doubt is one of my guilty pleasures. and lucky for me... they're playing right now on the radio.

as of january my work situation is set to change. and not for the better. the schedule for the new year went up last week... and... i will have ONE life shift a week. ONE. my paycheque won't even cover half our rent. awesome. so i suppose i will be searching for a new job if something doesn't work it self out.

my christmas shopping is done. i feel pretty good about that. and wrapped!! the only bummer is that i ordered tyler something online a couple of weeks ago... and it still hasn't arrived. i worry it won't. yikes!!

i still haven't gotten my etsy store up and running... i am waiting on photos of all my lovely earring creations. i am to drop them off at jordi's tomorrow before i come in to work for our weekly staff meeting (where i will complain about the cuts that have been made to our schedule after i was assured that everything would be fine - how is one shift a week fine??). hopefully i can make a little bit of extra revenue... maybe??

i don't really feel like i have a whole lot to report. a lot of my friends are home for christmas and i am thankful for that. i love getting to see people who live on the other side of the country.

snow snow snow.

if i was into skiing or snowboarding i would be REALLY excited... they got 30 cm of fresh snow last night at silverstar. so much snow!!! we got a pretty good dump in vernon too. driving to work was fun this morning... at 5:20 am... i drove really really slow.

i have officially started my christmas shopping. this is what makes me hate christmas every year. i would love to get a million things for everyone, but i never have a budget to cover it. its frustrating. there are so many nice things that i would like to do for people for christmas. rhiannon, my mom, and i had a conversation last night in starbucks after we had shopped for a bit about helping other people this time of year. i always always remember the christmas we came home to find everything we needed for christmas dinner, a tree, and all our presents just left on our porch in winnipeg. it was probably one of the most amazing things anyone has ever done for me. just something to keep in mind.

i am tired this morning. i stayed up too late last night (you aren't the only one who does that, laura). i would really really really like to go back to bed right now. but nope, i'm at work. and i probably won't get to go back to bed after. it will just have to be an early night tonight.

tyler has his finals this week. and then his big exam on the 23rd. and then he is DONE his apprenticeship. i will be much relieved when he is working again. not to mention... he'll be a journeyman, which is cool.

i've been feeling really uninspired in the kitchen lately. and lazy. i'm sick of always having to make dinner. and do all the dishes. there is nothing that kills your want to cook like having to clean up the whole mess yourself after. it isn't a great deal. tyler and i decided that he's going to take monday, tuesday and wednesday dinners (which are the nights i work at the station), and i'll do thursday, friday and saturday. sunday we can cook together. and i said if he comes grocery shopping with me and doesn't just leave it all up to me then i would make his lunches for him during the week too. pretty good deal, right?

i'll get some pictures of my feather earrings happening!!!

producer back in the studios.

that's me! it is vipers hockey season yet again, and i offered to operate the game tonight as there are games tomorrow night, and sunday afternoon as well. so... i gave jen a bit of a break for the weekend. no big deal.

i have read up to date on everyone's blogs. i feel like i have been neglecting my blog horribly. oops.

my hand is ALMOST healed. still a little sore. the scar makes it hard to completely straighten my finger. it sucks. a little bit of the scab did indeed turn black and fall off, but it wasn't enough to necessitate a skin graph, so that was good. it also got infected, and i apparently left the stitches in too long. the infection is basically gone (and without the use of antibiotics, thankyouverymuch) and just a little scab left where the gross black part fell off. it has been an adventure... haha.

i got this idea for homemade christmas gifts - feather earrings!! i made a bunch, and thought - these look good enough to sell on etsy! so i want to create my own etsy shop and put my earring creations on there. but first... some will indeed be gifted. i hope people like them. i used beads and feathers - they're really pretty. i got some really cool glass beads for them too - and used some of rhiannon's. anyone have any ideas for a cool etsy shop name?

aside from that... i haven't done ANY christmas shopping, and unless tyler gets his ei next week... i don't even know that i will be able to do christmas shopping at all. its a little bit stressful.

i found black forest cake in the fridge at the station. score.

the lovely killbots!

this is a friend of mine from toronto... her band is awesome. check out their first video!!!