i remember being around six, and wanting these soooooooooo badly…

i googled them earlier today and found that they didn’t make them anymore, but i did find these gems anddd these gems.  i absolutely love the idea of this – kids actually getting to build what they play with – getting hands-on vs. being lazy videogame playing little shits!

i think that this was an amazing idea, although i’m sure there was a handful of weak/moron kids that fell off and cracked their heads open, or something.

boo those children.

my kid(s?) will definitely have this.

an ego confused with confidence will kill my friendship with anyone.

loyalty, honesty, personality and talent impress me, not blindly obnoxious self-admiration or people trying to one-up me.

firstly, i just want to state very clearly that i have loved kevin smith, and his movies for years. i think he’s hilarious and brilliant and i love the way that he references and pays homage to things that he loves. i fall into such a 90′s feel when watching those movies, and i love and miss them times so much… so i love to throw them on often.

at any rate, i went on an anti-brodeur tirade on google today. i went scouring for an “uncle daddy” shirt. if you have no idea what i’m referring to, read this (one of many articles covering the story).

in addition to not finding an “uncle daddy” shirt, i did however find a lot of good videos and NYR articles praising players that are no longer on our team, as well. however, going through articles i somehow stumbled upon this article, and it left me feeling very unsettled about the entire premise of the article.

it can be divided into so many different “arguments/points”, so i’ve gotta start this off with a “read more” link because not only did it spark reasoning/an explanation of the NYR vs. NJD rivalry (even between the fans, we don’t just “HATE” you guys for no reason, kevin), but it close-to-home sparks a NYM vs. NYY debate, as well from one of his interview quotes.

i’ll intertwine both.

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JESS HERE…

at the beginning of this year, i started making earrings with lyrics/words/quotes on them… obviously i can’t fit all that inspires me on 3″ diameter hoop earrings, so i took to the t-shirt template. i have been compiling ideas for new york ranger fan shirts for like 2/3 years that i never put to use, so a couple of weeks ago, i just opened photoshop and went with it. i currently go through a website “skreened(.com)” because i don’t exactly know if the t-shirt business would even take off – t-shirt companies are a dime a dozen these days… either way, i am not trying to step on anyone’s toes – i want to have fun/hitting close to home/true-fan shirts, and this is just my way of paying homage through something that i love – graphic design.

ANYWAYS… i met michelle via instagram at some point in the last few months and we connected on the wu-tang front. i make earrings and she does (amazing) cross-stitch pieces paying wu-tang homage. she’s been on the wu-tang blog before, she’s no stranger to wu-exposure and she included me in my first batch of wu-tang shirts. yeah, i’m actually being featured on the wu-tang blog, insane.

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oh! hey world,

i forgot to tell you…
my boyfriend and i moved into a spacious two bedroom apartment two weeks ago!

how adult of me!

cats sleep anywhere: by eleanor farjeon (1881-1965)

cats sleep anywhere -any table, any chair.
top of piano, window-ledge, in the middle, on the edge.
open draw, empty shoe – anybody’s lap will do.
fitted in a cardboard box – in the cupboard with your frocks.
anywhere! they don’t care!
cats sleep anywhere.

i love and actually understand the sport of hockey, it’s my thanggg. of course, i’m one of those girls that can’t stand puck bunnies…  i don’t feel like going into a whole schpeel about it, so if you’re really curious/don’t know what a puck bunny is, try to ignore the horrifying background, and read this.

anyways, i’ve been dying to make ranger/hockey fan shirts for like, two years now.  i never have the extra money to do it, so i figured for now, i would just go through a website that does the work for me… if it actually takes off, then i’ll consider going to get shirts screen printed… but for now, i just used skreened. so here’s one of my first shirts, puck bunnies // HOP OFF.

i mean, this could be purely coincidental, but i figured i’d document it anyhow. it immediately struck me as a potential replica.

noir: gotham city ring
modcloth: draw the skyline ring

in september of 1981, exactly one week after i was born, my (favorite/bff) cousin marie was born. we have been inseparable all of our lives and spent so much time together over the years, even though she lived/lives in upstate new york. when we were little, we both had this really cute piece of art hanging in our rooms (the image on the left). i kept mine, because i’m a total pack rat, but marie’s is probably long gone. i texted a picture of it to her last night and she wants to try to find one for her daughter.

marie had her baby girl two years ago, and i think that she wants sentimental things like that, just as i would if i didn’t actually have this stuff from over the years. we are very attached to our things and especially our childhood together. i have been googling/etsy searching the hell out of this little piece of art, to no avail. however, i did find some other cute stuff on ebay i might snatch up. mainly some coffee mugs. this line of “dear god” kids stuff is all cute kids stuff focusing on innocent/childlike questions to god.

i think i might want to just scan/print and frame the piece that i have, so that she has the exact one. i hope i can find the actual one, though.

all i want in life is her beauty, style and hair. too much to ask for? lol

<3333333333

i don’t understand why people fake the funk on things…  like, if you can’t name 8-10 attributes of a specific subject, don’t claim it as your favorite anything.

when people pull that shit, i love to ask them lots of questions to expose their bat-shit crazy ways.

acceptance of others isn’t going to fix anyone’s issues, acknowledgment of and working on underlying issues will.

also related: egos fueled by narcissism and low-self esteem are the worst.

“you’re clear like glass, i can see right through!” – mr. mef

man, people are so weird.

DREAM RING

you will be mine… oh yes, you will… be mine.
*hopefully* *someday*

so the artist/etsy seller that made this cross-stitch has nothing in her shop, so i didn’t link from this post.  i must figure out how to make this mine.<333

next up: joseph senior’s hello kitty illustration AKA vinyl dream toys! [flickr]
(i’m a little late on this, he’s been illustrating them for years now, but how amazing are they?)

#PSA

if i know you in real life, and for some reason you’re reading this…  i hope you realize that i’m dead serious about this post…

this year, i have decided that i have NO PATIENCE for ANYONE’S bullshit.  if you irritate me, repetitively force your opinion on me, disrespect me, do some coo-coo bean/retardo high school dramatic bullshit, i’m done.  i’ve also additionally hit a point where i really don’t give a shit if you think my idea of “friend-loyalty” is irrational or immature or not, on this next subject…

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i take my astrological characteristics pretty seriously, only because every time i read them – from a million different places – they all describe me TO THE TEE…

over the years, one of my worst/best qualities as a virgo is being critical (i can’t help it).  as i criticize and analyze situations, i instantly start thinking about how to repair them or how they could have been prevented.  i realize that i don’t have all the answers in life, nor do i believe that my theoretical solutions always the “correct” ones (i’m not a know it all), but most of the time, it’s overlooked common sense shit… and that lack of common sense shit, drives. me. crazy.

it’s hard to not be judgmental when there is stupidity in your face ALL THE TIME – especially on social media. if you’re going to use it as an outlet for your true feelings, and for spitting complaints and issues that are going on in your life, just make your accounts private. that way, you can control who is reading your thoughts, and who isn’t.  what sparked this is someone that i follow went on about “mind your business” about a situation at hand.

i find it so annoying when people don’t filter themselves online, and the first thing it makes me think of, is back to the days where if a teenage girl got pregnant, her parents shipped her away…  everyone has gotten to the point where no one cares, i mean – there aren’t that many “taboo” things anymore, so no one does that anymore (not that i think that is acceptable behavior, i don’t, but it’s less common nowadays, is my point).

the point of doing that, was so that people wouldn’t be shamed, or embarrassed for their family’s pride, and for that girl’s reputation. nowadays, it’s seemingly “acceptable”, but the minute someone opens their mouth with an opinion, it’s nobody’s business to have formed or voiced an opinion?

the world started getting FUCKED when people stopped caring about what others think, in a way, i suppose. i don’t think that sending your daughter off because she’s knocked up is the answer either… you can’t just sweep shit under the rug to solve problems.  i believe that there are levels to these things, it’s not black and white. i guess my point is just to think before you say something that doesn’t belong in the public eye, or get angry when someone forms an opinion. a lot of the time, it’s just human nature.

i tweet a lot of stuff and i may blog a lot on this website about my personal life, but there is A LOT that isn’t on here, either.  almost everything that goes on here isn’t all that “deep”, and i don’t expect people to NOT comment on things that i say. feel free to, and i wouldn’t write back screaming that it wasn’t your business to comment in the first place. if it’s in public, it’s up for discussion, and that’s that.

anything that i post here, is general public, filtered babble, that isn’t too detailed.  that goes for over the years, also. i have never aired my dirty laundry in detail about ex’s, specific “friends”, etc. for that reason…  it’s just not productive, and it’s nobody’s business.

i have cherished everything about my aunt necie’s house for all of my life.  it was just a solid, constant rock for me, always one of my favorite comfort places.  in fact, i cried when she redecorated the living room, lol (it’s that bad).

my grandmother had 10 kids, and my mother was the second to last kid… she died when my mother was only 17 years old.  i honestly think more of my aunt necie as my grandmother, than i do my aunt.  she was so wonderful over the years, and i think that’s why her house is so special to me.

aunt necie and uncle joe have always lived 10/15 minutes away from us my entire life, so we spent enormous amounts of time there.  friday night pizza TGIF sessions, hanging out with aunt carol/aunt judy, playing my cousin michael’s NES for hours, every christmas eve was there, birthday parties, family parties, we practically lived there during the summers she had her pool, sick days from school, etc. – like, my entire life… lol.

anyways, we haven’t gone there for christmas eve in a few years because my aunt has become sick over the years :(  it’s harder for her to host it now.  this year we went, though (and i took the picture floating to the right over there, of her kitchen chairs)!

getting to the point here, all of my first everything’s probably happened in that house.  when i first started walking, i was flying around this house…  when i first started talking, i went on and on and on…  i used to go through all of the cabinets and organize pots and pans and tupperware…  i took baths in that kitchen’s sink.  all of my first memories are in that house, and i also mean my first memories were formed there.  shapes, colours, pieces of furniture, smells, textures, etc.  i can close my eyes and know how that basement smells, or how the cushions from the old couch feel, or how the living room cabinet where all of our toys/crayons were stored smells…  that’s kind of how those chairs make me feel.

i don’t know why, but i started googling last night to try to figure out who makes them, and apparently it’s this company called “the hitchcock chair co.” (founded in 1818, in CT) and this is the “inn side chair” model. the company had closed its doors, but then another guy bought all of the rights and has kept it going since two years ago. that’s nice to hear

it’s kind of cool knowing who created them.  my aunt has had those for decades, i just wonder how many exactly.  i don’t know when she even moved into that house, but i know they’ve been there at least through the 70′s.

i love that. i hope all that stuff never gets trashed, and i hope to god my uncle/cousins never sell that house to anyone but in the family.  i would take that house in a heartbeat<3

back in 1992, i hung out with this cool chickadee named suzie.  i’ve known her since i was like 8 or 9, and we went to elementary school together for many years.  it wasn’t until she graduated a year early and left for intermediate school, that we started hanging out (here in NYC, it’s kindergarten-6th grade and then 7-9 (JHS), unlike most other places that are K-5 and then 6-8 and then high school).

anyways, with her going to a new school, we started hanging out, outside of school.  summer vacation, weekends, we’d watch TGIF, play on my babysitters block (where she also lived) and had tons of sleepovers… i remember we used to have a secret club, and we’d go to the beach with her mom, and most importantly… we’d play with our legos.

i don’t remember which was my first set, but i do remember one of my first sets was pool side paradise set. i remember after i discovered that there were sets like that (ones that weren’t all just red/yellow/green bricks), i was *obsessed*.  i got a bunch of those, and then i started adding in the POLICE lego sets, because they had high/tall lego pieces and awesome/modern windows.

as i was growing up, my mom was trying to become an interior decorator on the side. she got all of these different design/decorating magazines that i would sit and sift through for HOURS/days/weeks at a time.

it was the early 90′s, and i was obsessed with built-in/lacquer furniture (even though i didn’t have it) and modern style.  i was constantly re-arranging my room and putting my furniture together to try to mimic that type of design, since i had to make do with what i had… (view commericals // 01 02).  the magazines had floor plans and layouts and i started drawing up my own.  i was constantly drawing up dream houses and started building them in lego form.  i also got really into frank lloyd wright that year (i still even have a few books on him, and his works).

i don’t know where i went wrong, but i fell off of the architecture-dream-future wagon, i think it was because i was horrible in math and really just wasn’t a book-confident kid.  i guess i was just always more of a street-smart kid.

i STILL collect legos and even have some of mine from 20 years ago.  mainly smaller sets and minifigures, because my apartment is too small at the moment for displaying cool/large sets.  funny enough, lego released frank lloyd wright lego sets (which i do NOT own, yet?).  i think it’s super cool seeing your interests come together that way.

in closing, i thank suz and mom for leaving me with interests that still hold strong, 20 years later.

funny enough, i just found suzie on instagram again recently (i forget how), but she still also has lego interest going on.  she has a few big pirate ships hanging out on top of a book case, and she also built a light house that even lights up, lol.

SO. my favorite bar evarrrrrrrr closed it’s doors last new years, and i wanted to see if there was any update on what’s going on with it.

i vaguely remember that the awning was still up, and that there was filming being done in the bar?
…either way, i needed an update.

i found this article and i feel slightly relieved that the restaurant owner next door bought the space. from reading the article, i feel like it’ll be safe and sound. i hope it doesn’t turn into some yuppie spot, because it was my favorite dive bar in NYC…  i can’t wait to see what is on the way.

RIP // holiday<3

i swear, i need a damn intern, lol.

i have been thinking about how i don’t really market #JAEJESS products enough.  i’m always thinking about how we should have a twitter and/or at least a facebook for more exposure. We started this whole thing on instagram, so that’s the only place that we’ve been doing any type of marketing.

if you follow me on IG, you’d see a lot of the stuff that i’ve been doing post-pop-up shop has been wu-tang related…  it’s my biggest seller (i mean c’mon, it’s the wu…), so i’ve been trying to have more options for people where the clan is concerned.  i made some black and yellow earrings and started creating some cool pin combos for earrings.

i have only posted seven pairs on the site so far, but one is actually a templated pair of hoops and you get to choose which pins you’d like… there are ten to choose from at the moment.  i feel like it’s kind of OD and i want to start posting other stuff that i’m making also, but i want to get these wu-tang earrings out there in the world.

click here to see the ones that i currently have in the shop.

the bird:

i was sitting down in what i thought was my house or apartment with miss sheena she, when a little brown/blue bird landed in my hands. after the initial confusion of why a bird flew to my hands inside, i got up and brought it to the front door.  after i brought it to the front door, i plopped him gently down on a patch of grass in front of the door.  as soon as he hit the grass, from the point of where he landed, blue filled the floor and spread outward.  it crawled up anything standing and even to the sky.  everything turned blue with a luminescent glow, then the same spread started over the blue with thin, white, glowing floral outlines.

after being in awe at how pretty all of this was, i turned around to look at sheena’s expression and the same thing happened behind her, but green instead of blue.

(the image provided was found a few days later in the subway. i found it while walking through a station near my house.  i stopped and couldn’t believe my eyes.  the outline and how it takes up the entire surroundings is almost exactly what it looked like in my dream (although the floor was the starting point and the outlines weren’t filled in).)

the demon:

i went into an apartment on the first floor of a house, i walked in and there was a door to a second room. after going through the second room, i went to the third room. i think that i initially thought it was “haunted”, but i didn’t care.  i had to go in to drop something off to a small child that lived there (i think it was a toy).

when i got into the third room, i realized that no one was there, and that it could be very dangerous. i turned around to leave and i felt super strength holding me down and preventing me from leaving. i remember grabbing the door and pulling forward, and looking down at short/blue shag carpet. whatever it was, it was almost dragging me, but i think it was just holding my entire body back from moving forward. i got through door number one and in the second room, it was short/green shag carpet. this room was worse. it got stronger and i got very fearful. i had to kick and pull myself out of that room.

back into the first room, short/mustard yellow shag carpet. it let go a little and i dragged myself out of a window.

i immediately went to go get oscar. i ran into my boyfriends friends, i tried to tell them what was going on, but no one was listening to me. they were all laughing and talking amongst themselves like they didn’t even see me.

i went to my apartment and was knocking on the ceiling to my neighbor rose for help… frantic knocks, she never answered. i scooped kitty and went upstairs to her apartment, rose had a house full of kids that she was tutoring? i got angry and confused…

i woke up.

i can’t believe that someone actually let this go as the front page image for the post.

i get the shock value, i get the fact that no one else has this shot but him, but this seems so sad and disrespectful to that poor mans life that was about to be taken. seriously shameful. BOO, to you, new york post.

what i don’t understand and have a problem with, aside from that issue, is why this guy didn’t smush himself under the platform or go between the trains into the middle for safety?

that train doesn’t seem express to me (wouldn’t it be in the middle if it were?), and if it were pulling into the station, it would have been going somewhat slow.  i mean, slow enough to where i’m sure he could have made a quick decision, even through the sheer panic of him about to be losing his life…

obviously, i’ve never been in that situation, so i can’t say that when you’re panicking that way, that you are even able to have rational thinking…  i guess maybe it’s just one of those survival of the fittest things?

maybe the MTA should start telling people what to do in those situations, just in case that ever happens to them.  i mean, how else would anyone how to survive something like that? there are too many NUTS that walk around this city/subway system to NOT know what to do in that type of a situation, not that there are many options…

two of my favorites came together to make this genius sticker of one of my favorite cartoonies – they’re awesome. go buy some (today only).

[here.]

so this time, last year (literally, the 19th), i posted about sanrio x steven shein.  he makes FUN/uhhhhhmazeballs acrylic and wooden and mirrored jewelry.  so this year, i am trying (again) to get all of my christmas shopping done BEFORE the 20th of december, so i’m not scrambling for last minute gifts.

one of my bff’s (jes of toughlovenyc) shares an enormous affection for hello kitty and sanrio with me, so whenever i shop for her (today is her birthday), that’s pretty much what i go for.  it also gives me an excuse to buy dumb little hello kitty things for myself (as if i ever stop myself anyhow).

i got a $10 gift cert. from fredflare and decided to go gift huntin’ on the FF site!  as soon as i hit the accessories section, i came across this ring, and it SCREAMS jes.  she loves two finger rings AND hello kitty, so how could i not?  then i realized it said pre-order it, and that it’d ship on christmas eve. like, HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO, that isn’t gonna work.  so the next step: etsy.  i knew someone would have some cute ass hello kitty rings, so i figured i’d look specifically for the bow and found these.

i think i’m about to sound like a total hypocrite, because i know i’m always complaining about knockoffs, but on this front, i’m just gonna put this selective reasoning out there:

hello kitty (her head/face/bow/along with the other sanrio characters) is produced in mass quantities by SOOOOOO many companies (for decades).  HK stuff isn’t all that unique vs. independent designers that actually have something totally one of a kind.

i think that this type of a thing could get a copy-cunt free pass. although, this ring in particular does look a shit-ton like steven shein’s stuff, especially with the wood look (which kind of irks me)…  BUT it’s just a hello kitty bow, and i think whoever makes one – it’d always be the same shape/design… so i’ll let it slide and link to it.

at this time in my life, i feel down on my luck…
i’m missing the game played on ice with sticks and a puck.

i miss my defenseman, and my left and right wings.
the centers also – but most of all – my defending goalie king.

i miss being at the garden – the ice breeze cool on my face,
the pretzels and beers, and the level 3 rib sandwich place.

i miss the live game chanting and the stomps for Henrik,
and repping the team live with my favorite jersey i’ve picked.

i usually don a heritage, number 16,
yes i’m talking about the agitator, Mr. Sean Avery.

a warm welcome to kreids & nash, but some will be missed…
Feds, Artem, Dubes and Prust – especially for his fists.

the lockout is killing us and it really hurts,
i can’t wait until it’s over along with the emotional outbursts.

we miss Zucc’s shootout goals and the quick-gloves-off of Rupp fighting,
and the loudmouth Italian coach that we got from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

we miss the goal song and the taunting of “fat boy” Marty,
and gathering fellow comrades for NYR viewing parties.

the Hags/Richards and Gabby line is my BFF’s fave,
i miss MDZ and Staal helping Hank get his saves.

we love Cally as our captain, and the old Broadway hat,
and miss the “i am a ranger” MSG promo – they should bring that back.

we need the head honchos to sort out their wagers,
because all we want back is our beloved New York Rangers.

on halloween night this year, mike and i did the universal studios halloween horror nights. they had the walking dead maze which i previously posted about, and a silent hill maze. there were other mazes, but we didn’t walk through them… the lines on the mazes had crazy long waits, and the express passes sold out when we were buying our tickets that morning… so we just walked around, watched a live bill & ted show and drank cold beers.

the walking dead maze zombies looked amazing as did the maze itself, and just like the intended sets. there were a crazy amount of people there, so i guess it was tough to have people go in smaller groups. we saw all of the things that were coming up for us before we even got to them, because everyone was kind of being rushed through. one of the zombies in particular looked like others walking around also, almost like leatherface, and it seemed like there was this one repeat zombie almost four different times.

another thing that truly killed it for me were all of the universal studios staff members in the maze. it wasn’t a subtle person here and there, the black polo shirt donned helpers were so obviously perched at so many turns and in so many corners! it honestly took away from the element, killed the scary vibe.

although everything looked AMAZING… all in all, eh. i wasn’t scared or spooked by this one

the silent hill maze was pretty rad, the fog/ashes falling down while you walked in was sick (and yes, the sirens were going full steam)! it looked just like in the SH movies. there wasn’t too much that scared me other than the entire spooky vibe of silent hill, in general. the only things that really got to me were the creepy bathroom (from the first movie) with that chick wrapped in barbed wire (it looked so real!), the “cops” from the new movie, the pyramid head walking next to me/walking around creepy back alleys (completely dodged him, thank god) and the CREEPY ASS nurses.

the only thing that i think sucked about the SH maze, is that they really OD’d having an army of those creepy ass nurses – why concentrate on just one scary element?

all in all, loved this one.

mike and i were trying to get into this one maze called “dead end” but the line was excruciatingly long and i made mike get off of the line. it was seriously ridiculous, and that’s when we went to the silent hill maze (which we originally turned back from, which had an hour long wait). i wonder how that one would have been. we left soon after, because we had been at the park all day. we were exhausted and sore from the entire day.

whenever i hear or see the term “ombre” used, a little part of me dies. i realize that it’s a technical term used in hair/cloth dying (suck it), but no one has used it until recently… i get that it is an acceptable term for what it does, but to me it just screams YUPPIE/HIPSTER/FASHIONISTA (barf).

i’m a graphic designer, and being that i’ve been using photoshop for years, i guess that’s why i constantly use the term “gradient”. even when i used to rock that “ombre” hair/tips, i’d call it dip-dye.

i think what pisses me off is that i see it EVERYWHERE. in home decor blogs, nail tutorials, hair tutorials, etc. i’d rather see the word “fading” vs. “ombre”. ombre dresser? i’ve even seen posts that say “ombre/gradient tutorial”… that just sounds stupid, PICK ONE WORD, lol.

“By the way. Where does this word ‘ombre’ come from?? I’ve always called it a gradient. Or is that just my Photoshop/Illustrator learning? I even looked it up on Wikipedia and the results for ombre turned up some card game. Sorry just had to throw that out there because it bugs me every time I see the word on a craft blog. I’m just using it so other people will know what I mean. I guess I’m just making the problem worse. Oh, boy.” – [source]

AMEN.

i’m going to florida tomorrow, and the boyfriend and i were in talks about universal and disney this trip… i don’t know how good of an idea this is going to be, seeing as that i had an anxiety attack watching the season finale back in march, but i think this is going to happen.

i haven’t been impressed with lesportsac since this time, last year… but yet again, they have seriously captured my interest with the upcoming winter products.

there are quilted bags and swarovski crystals adorning some of the upcoming platinum collection and the second installment of the manoush line is gorgeous also.

so. hyped.

[click the images for the larger versions]

the purple manoush tote instantly reminded me of one of my favorite graff chicks elle (i fell in love with her cursive tag).

so i found this in my inbox this morning, after one of our out-of-state clients came to visit us yesterday (obv. the first time that i had met one of the women i frequently talk to via email and over the phone):

and i laughed at first but then cringed a little bit…

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i think both my mother and my aunt necie (who is like a grandmother to me) had one of these. god knows where it is now, i’m sure my mother either broke it or threw it away… but i can’t find one online ANYWHERE. (etsy, ebay… etc.)

anyone have one? you’d make my dreams come true and my little heart so happy<3

my neighbor rose has one, but refuses to part with it, lol. i may have to hijack it…