This week I’ve helped two friends move their free WordPress blogs to self-hosted sites, and since I’m in a new transitional phase myself, I decided it was best to step up my game and move to this site to deewilcox.com. This blog will still be here as an archive for a few more months, but I hope you’ll update your bookmarks and come visit me at the new site.

Thanks for reading so faithfully! I am very blessed and thankful for you!

I’m on vacation this week and selected a book I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time as my “beach read.” I picked up Julie & Julia by Julie Powell on Friday night and finished it by Monday night, it was that good. One of the most authentic and open-hearted memoir-style books I’ve read in a while.

I won’t spoil the book for you, especially if you’re planning to see the movie. Obviously, it’s Julie Powell’s story of the year she spent cooking through Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She also shares insights into where she was at in her life and marriage at that time, and all of the things she learned about herself, her friends, and life in general by “cooking dangerously” (with her husband’s help) in a tiny outer boroughs kitchen in Long Island City.

If you’re planning to see the movie and you want the whole story, please read the book, too. It’s incredible.

One last thing before I go – You really must read the blog. It’s still online, and it will give you another side of the story – the readers’ side, and why the Julie & Julia Project came to mean so much. http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html

(Quick tip: The blog is old school and difficult to navigate. Use the link above, and then click on successive dates in the calendar at the top of the right column to read the blog “in order.”)

Are you planning to watch Julie & Julia when it comes out in August? This film is on my list of most anticipated movies of the year. Amy Adams and Meryl Streep? Sweet!

I love shopping for vintage books and treasures, looking for that perfect collectible find, but I often come home with more than my home can hold, or I am constantly shifting out old items with new treasures. For example, I found not one, but TWO vintage typewriters that I “had to have,” but I only have space for one. The solution? A new Etsy shop for these treasures in need of a home!

Right now, I have a very limited listing, including an SX-70 Rainbow Polaroid OneStep, a blue 1960s vintage typewriter, and a series of vintage half carafe glasses. I’ve also been experimenting with re-covering vintage cast-off library books with cute, eco-friendly paper and contact paper to create adorable home decor pieces.

So check it out! http://perchbird.etsy.com

This weekend Chris and I are photographing our friends Aaron & Lane for their wedding weekend. Or I should say, Chris is photographing, and I am gear-watching and errand-running.

We’re at Mount Magazine, and it is absolutely beautiful here. I woke up before the sunrise, when typically Annie & Sydney would wake me up. They’re at the kennel for the weekend, and I missed them so much when I woke up and realized they weren’t there.

But I found a few moments of blissful quiet on our balcony, with just the sunrise and bird singing. I snapped a few Polaroids before Chris came out to join me. It’s a blessed thing to begin a crazy day with quiet.

Poor sweet, sad face

Annie is nesting a lot in our office closet. She did this about a year ago – maybe a little longer, and it was a false pregnancy. This time, if we buy her little stuffed animal “babies,” I think Sydney will chew them up. What to do?

Problem Numero Dos: The office closet now has shelves and things in it, so we can’t make a bed in there for her. Do we create another suitable space for her to work this out?

It’s so sad to see her be sad and confused. Sometimes I think she thinks Sydney is her baby, but Sydney is ten months old now. And we’re not breeding her – we don’t want to pass the epilepsy gene along to another dog. One thing is for sure. It’s time to get her Fixed.

For the last great while, everything I’ve designed or decorated or made at home has had a very neutral theme. I’ve painted my living room six times, but they were all shades of brown, gray, or beige.

I am really happy with the current buttercream color. Even though it’s stilly technically a shade of beige, it also leaves so much room for other color accents, makes the room feel lighter, and really opens up the space.

So not too long ago I began to think about why all I am seeing lately are shades of beige, and I began to pray that God would help me see color instead.

I know that sounds odd, but I’m the kind of person that has to consciously choose to be happy over being introspective or serious. If all I am seeing is grey or beige, that can’t be good, right?

Lately, these are the colors I am seeing most and to which I am most drawn. Aren’t they lovely?

Lately I feel like my search for the perfect pair of jeans has been completely fruitless. I bought a pear of DKNYs that I loved. Unfortunately, they were a size too big and barely hung on after I’d been wearing them for a few hours. Baggy pants that clearly don’t fit aren’t exactly attractive.

Then, I bought a pair of Levi’s for a very good price. The downside is that the waist is ultra-high. You know, the fashionable kind of high that would be cute if I had that kind of figure. Unfortunately, I don’t. They look good under a long t-shirt, but that’s about it.

Then I saw this on Indexed today and smiled. Glad I’m not the only one.

Diana with Instant Back attached

Now there is an Instant Back for the Diana medium format camera that let’s you capture the beautiful, vintagey feel this camera produces instantly… like a Polaroid!

Diana Instant Back

The Instant Back attaches to the back of any Diana. We already have two in the house. This sweet little accessory would just about fulfill my dreams of medium format, instant “vintage” photography.

Only the film (Instax mini) is still in production (by Fuji), and you can get it for as low as $10/pack. Half the price of 600 Polaroid film, and a third of the price for most SX-70 film. Sweet!

Diana+ Collette

I also love this “Colette” edition of the Diana. *sigh.*

The down side is that the Instant Back itself costs $95. I’m hoping Chris will keep this in mind for my birthday next month.

Photo Booth makes anyone look like a rockstar!

A few months ago Scott Adams (creator of the Dilbert comic) wrote a fantastic blog post (which I just discovered last week) about women and haircuts. It’s titled “Your Hair is Different” – here’s an excerpt:

I forget where I read this tip, but I have used it many times with great success. It starts with the notion that most women change their hair all the time. You might not notice, but a woman is very aware of these small deviations in everything from highlights to length to fluffiness. I’m probably not using the official hairdresser terms, but you get the idea. It’s different every day, at least according to the woman who owns the hair. To me, hair is either brown or it isn’t, and you either have some or you don’t. The rest is beneath my radar.

So here’s the tip. When you see a woman who you haven’t seen for a few weeks, you can pay her this compliment, and it works every time. Say, “You’ve done something with your hair. I like it.”

The woman will feel flattered that you noticed anything beyond her hair’s very existence and its degree of brownness. She might even wonder if you can be her new gay friend. But she will confirm that something is indeed different and offer many details about how it got there. You can use that time to think about your hobbies.

One of the commenters (Aardwizz) said this, and it has really stuck with me:

I’ve found that when a woman changes her hair –, I mean really changes it so that even Scott would notice — that is a serious danger sign. When a woman wears her hair differently (color, length, style) she feels different. And she is also treated differently (cf: Blonds).

I don’t know if she changes her hair because she feels different, or she feels like being different (it’s a chicken-and-egg thing, so you really can’t say which comes first), but every time in my life, whether a girlfirend, wife or daughter, when the hair changes, EVERYTHING changes. And that includes her relationship with me.

My advice: If your gal changes her hair, IMMEDIATELY buy her a dozen roses and take her out to a nice dinner to celebrate “the new you”. You’re in trouble; you just don’t know it yet.

Do you think that’s true?

I know when I feel a change coming, I start re-organizing, moving things around, I clean out my closet, craft a lot… but change my hair?

I hate haircuts. And I hate color. And I hate all those other things that lots of girls just seem to get. I hate them because I never know what to do with them, and I almost never like how my hair looks when I leave the salon. I don’t know what color looks good (except red on me makes me look trashy), if it’s too long or too short, if bangs work or if they don’t… So I get it cut and hope it looks good, all the while feeling this panicky tightening of my stomach like I might cry if turns out horribly.

So here’s a “real” photo of me and the new ‘do. Whatcha think?

Looking at it here, it doesn’t seem that different – but my bangs are a LOT shorter! Like two inches shorter. And I feel like it makes me look even younger than my (almost) 28 years.

Mmm… But. In this picture, my hair looks light on top and dark underneath. Now that could be a fun idea…

Annie and Sydney

I finished my last paper and my last quiz for my summer classes last night. Today, I stored my books, checked that they were listed on Amazon, and moved my files off my desktop. Summer is finally here!

So what am I up to? In the next glorious seven weeks, I plan to:

1. Go to bed on time
2. Craft a lot!
3. Write an eBook for Creative Perch
4. Upload stuff to my new Etsy store
5. Work in my garden
6. Go on vacation with friends (yay!!)
7. Plan for the fall

What’s on your to-do list this summer?