Saw this while I was poking through a recipe site looking for ideas on repurposing five thousand pounds of holiday cookies.

http://www.chow.com/stories/11925

It is adorably simple advice.

We take turns watching each other :)

I hope everyone has a sweet and peaceful holiday season. I didn't have time for holiday photos this year so CATS is what you get!

Love,
Lindsay, Em, & Sprout (& tyler too!) ♥

Just wanted to wish everyone in here a wonderful Holiday season whichever way you may celebrate it!

As I did a few years ago, posting a little holiday song from someone near and dear to most of you in here...

I've finally finished posting my Dragon*Con photos from this year. It took a lot longer than I had hoped it would!

They're at: http://photo.oscarc.net/Conventions-Cosplay/DragonCon

Not sure if this is actually the correct place to post this sort of thing so I'm putting it up both on this community and Dragon Con Rooms in hopes that somebody lets it through. I would like to spread the word that I am available to DJ at room parties and other con related events next year. I have a massive music collection and I use Ableton Live for laptop mixing. I am also a dancer who is into costuming. All I would need are speakers and an RCA jack to get your party jumping. I have all sorts of music spanning from nerdy to sexy to classic to poppy to glitchy to noisy to hard and beyond. Just tell me what you like and i can most likely accommodate. Interested parties should contact me via livejournal messages.

I just got a reservation for the Westin. Has anyone ever stayed there? If so, can you tell me a little about your stay, both the good & the bad?

Despite my decision to not do card exchanges this year a couple of you sneakily sent me sweet Xmas cards. Thank you, April and Amanda <3.
I'm in Blue Ridge this week with Brian and his family, enjoying a very laid back Xmas. I did bring materials to work on three pairs of angel wings for customers, and need to get cracking tomorrow. My back has been getting progressively worse in the last few days and I have not been as productive as I have been wanting to be. As usual, any lack in productivity makes me feel incredibly guilty and down. Especially when I'm sick, I am super hard on myself not not being able to work and lament the days wasted. Gosh I need to learn one day to set clear vacation days aside for myself. It's so tough to get my brain to shut down from "work" when I am the one making the schedule and feeling like I HAVE to do something everyday.

This is one of my New Year's resolutions. To manage my time better and especially take days off when I can afford it and learning to feel good about those. I have other resolutions too and am contemplating writing a year summary and goals toward 2010 post. But man, so much happened this year that I feel intimidated just thinking about all the typing and remembering. Still, I think it would be a good conclusion to this year.

For now though I am forced to only have limited internet access on my phone so nothing big will be accomplished till next week. As soon as we go back home, it will be a whilwind of prepping products for Ikkicon, LADY GAGA concert on Monday night with Riki (Holy Batman, what will we wear????) And packing costumes for the con AND photoshoots in LA. Wish these photographers would get back to me with exactly what they want to shoot so I can be sure to pack it! Not to mention all the partying and driving we'll be doing soon.
Until the craziness hits next week I am in a semi-forced state of social cut-off and relaxation. Meaning I am somewhat bored. So I signed up with this forumspring questions/answers application. Please feel free to ask me whatever you'd like! I need entertainment for ze brain!
http://www.formspring.me/yayahan
http://www.formspring.me/yayahan
http://www.formspring.me/yayahan

Thanks and Merry merry Xmas and Happy happy holidays! Hope you get what you wished for. :)

It was, in fact, a kitty nipple! A lot of you guys guessed kitty nipple or chest so good jorb! Although I liked the suggestion that it was me wearing a santa beard. HA!

Next time I'll have to make it tricker. You guys are too good. I've unscreened all the guesses if you wanna go take a peek!

Win 5 imaginary magic beans if you answer me this:

What is pictured below? Answer coming on Friday.

ONE guess per person :D All comments will be screened and revealed on Friday with the answer!

Last night I went to Neil Gaiman's reading and signing at Decatur GA held at Agnes Scott College organized by Little Shop of Stories. There were about 1,000 of us there and he signed for everyone all night, till after 1AM. It was so great to see him here again, the last I saw him was at DragonCon in 2000. One of the most interesting things occurred during the Q&A, when he answered the question of why he hasn't been back to DragonCon since. He told us that he used to enjoy going to DragonCon in the early 90's, but the last time he attended in 2000 it was not organized well for his appearance. He was told to go up to his room and wait for someone to come get him in a few hours for some activity. When he asked why he couldn't go his own way for a few hours instead of going to his room and doing nothing, he was told "No", he had to stay in his room. Hours had passed, and he asked if they were ready, and (I believe) was told that the activity had passed and someone forgot to get him. He also mentioned that he was presented with a lifetime achievement award, except for the fact that the award was not ready in time for the con and showed up in the mail a few months later. He wasn't mad about the award, pretty sure just about waiting in his room. He said whenever he is asked if he wants to come back, he still remembers having to sit in his room. So, take note here, he hasn't been back for 9 years now because of that. Do you want to have Neil Gamain come back to DragonCon? Maybe DragonCon organizers need to tell him he can make his own schedule and work around what he wants. I know there is a lot going on, but if you give him the freedom to do what he wants, when he wants to, maybe he might come back. Just something to think about.

I just got a new candy bag in stock from our good buddies at Bored Inc and it's the ultimate in cuteness!! Super cute and functional with an adorable sweets print featuring lollipops, candy, cupcakes and ice cream! Vinyl bottom keeps bag clean, two snap side pockets for extra storage. Printed canvas with pink satin lining and inside zippered pocket.

Don Maitz has been a regular fixture in Dragon*con's artist alley for as long as I've been attending. I recently had a chance to interview him, and I thought the D*C community might be interested in it. He talked about his early convention experiences as a fan, and then as a vendor. He also discusses why he loves painting pirates, and why learning a bit about copyright law is important for aspiring artists. Link: An Interview with Hugo Award Winning Fantasy Artist Don Maitz.

If you haven't had a chance to see him at Dragon*cons past, definitely stop by the artist alley and say "hello." Don is one of my favorite regular D*C guests. (And if you buy one of his calendar's, he'll usually do a little sketch just for you in the back!)

Taking a break from the long London reports.
I have been completely unproductive since our return on Tuesday last week, lol. I apologize to those who are waiting on email responses, promised meet ups and phone calls. I really needed a few days to just do NOTHING, get over jetlag, and my post-London depression. Truly, every time I go back to Europe, I miss the lifestyle there more and more. If it wasn't for my career being here, I don't know if I would maybe end up back in Germany or somewhere else in Europe... But alas, I do love my life in the States and most everyone I care about is here, too, so I will content myself with more frequent visits to Europe in the future!
Starting this week I have to get back to being productive! One bedroom in the house is 2/3 way painted and needs to be finished, orders have to go out, house needs post-con season cleaning, and my new site needs to be finished before the New Year. That's not even counting preparations for Ikkicon, three angel wing orders and finally feeling like sewing on personal projects again!
For it being the middle of December, I completely do not feel the Christmas spirit yet. I knew with the Europe trip and the following exhaustion I would not have the time/energy to do Christmas cards (again) so I am not giving out my address to receive any cards nor expecting any. We planned to do a lot of Christmas shopping in London but again, the over stuffed luggage was a problem and we hardly brought anything back. Hopefully before too long we can get the rest done.
After a hopefully very mellow Christmas, things will get crazy again for me. Ikkicon in Austin is January 1st so I'm looking forward to NYE in Austin, a fun town I've never been to. After the weekend Brian and I will continue driving to Vegas, to get the last of our belongings from storage. And since we're only 4 hours from LA, we'll go on for a week or so to see direly missed friends, do some fabric district shopping and I'm setting up a few photoshoots. So it should be a fun leasurely trip!

Next post will be a Thank You shoutout to all my London friends! <3

Ladies t-shirts, plus tees and totes have been printed and are up on the site!


Also! We have a gift for you :) There are only 5 more days for domestic people to get their orders in and have them in time for x-mas, so until the 18th take 25% off all orders using code: cutesurprise - THANKYOU!

Hey everyone, I just thought I'd update with a new photo.
Been a long time since I posted a self-portrait.


Hope everyone is well, and see you soon!