Tuesday

Holy balls are my dogs barking and am I pooped. Did I mention the totally unsupportive shoes I wear everyday. See the thing is I can’t wear my heels, which are really comfy platforms, almost all of them. My guests seem to have a tendency to be on the wee bit short side so it is flats city for me everyday. Well the main flats I have are two different variations of these cheap old navy sequined flats with absolutely no support on them. Man is old navy getting a free plug out of this show, but I have to say standing for 12 hours a day in those shoes is not fun.

Today was my first day back at work after a long relaxing weekend. Every day this week, including today, I have 4 episodes a day to shoot. Everyone keep their fingers crossed for me. I started fading a bit on show 4 today so I am going to have an early night tonight and get rested up for tomorrow. I have a pizza called into room service as I type.

So today on Craft Lab I made boudoir dolls, torched metal, made paper and chatted about altered books. It was a total array of crafty goodness. Tomorrow my mom gets here so I am pumped to see her. 3 more full days, 12 episodes I can do this.

To make matters sadder about still being in LA after 5 weeks it is my 2 year wedding anniversary. Poor Chris he is the most understanding husband of all time. At least he got to be here in LA with me for his birthday. That sweetie had yellow roses delivered to the studio today. My sorry butt didn’t even send a card. I’ll take him out for a fun dinner or something when I get back to Austin.

Whine whine whine. I think I am going to miss the busy days and aching feet so much when I get home. Will I even remember how to put on my own make up? Will I be able to drink my diet coke without a lip stick saving straw? Who is going to tell me to crank up the perk-o-meter on the days I feel poopie? The toilet paper back home will not be folded into little triangles everyday. It’s going to be a lot of adjusting.

i am so excited i could spit

my ping pong ball necklaces are up on fred flare. Check them out here.

Venus Hott List

So it is time to vote in the Venus Hott List poll again. Last year Naughty Secretary Club got voted 3rd place in the best DIY business catagory.

Go get your vote on!

Today has been a lazy day. Reading scripts and packing. I can not find my camera for the life of me. I hope it did not get swiped from the set. I have a feeling it is either burried under a pile of craft supplies somewhere or someone picked it up thinking it was theirs. I have not been able to take pictures in weeks. Thank goodness all the guests are sweet enough to send me copies of theirs.

The sun is out and Mercury Rev is on the IPOD think I will go sit by the pool for a bit.

These chucks are made for walking.

I have walked more today than I have all month. Seriously.

First thing this morning I wrote business emails. It was a real party. I talked to my book agent about my jewelry book and the Austin Craft Mafia book. Then I watched a bit of TV and relaxed.

My afternoon started out by meeting Lisa in Pasadena (Lisa is my producer who also happens to double as my friend) we went for very cheap tacos for lunch then to Huntington Gardens. It was a really cool botanical garden and they had more succulents than you can shake a stick at. Back before I was a busy business woman I used to be really into plants. I collected succulents, and still have lots. I also collected herbs, especially basil. I had Thai, Lemon, Pineapple all kinds of basil. Chris and I once even had a vegetable garden at our old house. We grew all kinds of stuff: tomatoes, peppers, beans, zucchini. Oh those days are over sadly. Although I did feel inspired to do a bit of landscaping when I get back to Austin.

Afterwards on my way home I stopped at a good antique mall where I scored a few treasures to rework for Naughty Secretary Club.

I was just about to order room service for dinner and call it a night when I saw that a guest on my show Sonya Nimiri had called me. I went and met her at her apartment in Santa Monica. We went out for yummy Mexican food and a margarita. Then we walked around 3rd street promenade and out onto the Santa Monica Pier. We finished things up with some gelato (I had lemon/raspberry Sonya had Nutella). We chatted about crafting and book proposals. Now I am back at the hotel and very sleepy.

Last night I was also in Pasadena having dinner with the owner of the production company I am working for Joel, his wife, Lisa and her boy toy. We went for a lovely steak dinner. Hella nice people to work for I have to say. Speaking of working only 16 more episodes of Craft Lab to shoot! My mom gets here Wednesday and is going to be shooting an episode with me on Friday so that should be totally fun.

Sorry I have been MIA.

Thanks Melynda Lotven for the picture!

So I am not so good at this daily blog thing. I have been busy what can I say.
The show has been trucking along, chris has been to visit, I've spent a weekend with a hosting coach and then there was a trip back to Austin which actually got cancelled. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

I had such a good time with Chris here last weekend. He arrived on Friday night. Sadly I had to go see a hosting coach on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. It was helpful and the people in my class were really nice. While I was sitting in a dark office Chris got to go around to Rosco's Waffles and Chicken and Amoeba Music. After class I met Chris back at the hotel and he and I went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for Cinespia to see Bringing Up Baby. It was really fun except for the fact that since we were running late we did not have a chance to get food or a blanket. Oh well. Afterwards we went to Formosa for dinner.

Sunday more class for me and it was Chris's birthday. He went to Santa Monica in the morning and I got out early so he and I went to Venice. We had lunch on Abbot Kinney and walked around to all the shops. We of course walked around by the beach and saw people roller skating, skate boarding, break dancing, singing, you name it. The best part was some 70 year old guy in a banana hammock up on stage at Muscle Beach flexing his peck's to Nelly' "It's Getting Hot in Here". That night we went back to Burbank early and hit Gordon Biersch.

Monday I had to film and Chris spent the day at the studio watching me film episodes of Craft Lab. I think he had a good time and everyone working on the show loved him. I filmed 3 episodes about things like encaustic wax painting. Which is really cool by the way. Oh and I had a guest named Bethany Mann who I want to mention in particular who gave me an awesome T-shirt that says Crafty on it and glass ring that totally rawks my world. I ended up wearing the T-shirt on my last episode of that day as well as on all the promos I did for DIY. Check out her site Bitter Betty. Local dinner that night for Chris and I as well. We went to the Market City Cafe which was not very good.

Tuesday I had the day off again. Chris and I went down to Silver Lake/Los Feliz area and walked around and I took him for brunch at Fred 62 because I think their bacon is so dreamy. Speaking of bacon since my pig purse is already tearing up I went ahead and got another one along with a panda bear model. Chris and I drove around Hollywood Boulevard people watching. Shopped at Jet Rag and then headed back to Santa Monica where I had one more bit of class. After class Chris and I went to The Grove. This is a big outdoor mall thing. I think we managed to miss the cool part of The Grove which is the farmers market. There is a store in The Grove called Duck Soup that carries my jewelry so we wanted to check it out. Afterwards Chris and I went down to the La Brea Tar Pits. Chris loves this really bad movie called Miracle Mile and at the end of the flick they land in the tar pits so he wanted to go check it out. They were actually really cool. After that he and went to the other Duck Soup where we were meeting up with Sam and Bob the buyers. These guys were super nice and interesting. The 4 of us went to dinner in Venice and then went for a drive over the canals. Pretty cool.

The next morning Chris left early and my work week started up again. There was the hurricane issue all week. I was supposed to fly back to Austin last night for the weekend to be in town for the Austin City Limits music festival. Well I was afraid the show was going to get rained out and my producers were afraid that I would get stuck in Texas and not be able to get a flight back so the trip got cancelled. Honestly I am so tired I was not too disappointed. Sure I am sad I can not be there working the Austin Craft Mafia booth with Amy and Tina, but oh well. Hope, Chris and my friend Bea are helping me work the booth this weekend. Of course the hurricane shifted and I think the weather there is fine and sells are going swimmingly. I wish I had had time to make more jewelry for the event, but it just didn't happen with me getting ready to come out to Los Angeles at the last minute in August. I had been planning to make stuff all this month and being trapped in a hotel in Burbank that just has not happened.

Since I did not go home last night, clearly I went for drinks after work instead. Yesterday was a little different day on the job. See on Craft Lab I am the host.
However, I have a "Crafty Correspondent" named Cat Greenleaf. Every episode there is like a 2 minute crafts on the streets of New York segment. Well Cat made real life little in studio appearances on all 3 episodes I shot yesterday. I had never met her in person and she seemed really nice and sweet. The other reason she was in town is because people from DIY/Scripts were there taking publicity pictures of us. After a million pictures getting taken it was time for a night out on the town in Burbank. We hit the Whiskey Bend. Peeps from work like both Nicoles, Andrew, Kate and Lisa came. The guys from Tennessee came with too Dugan, Stewart and Jack. They were totally awesome and there was Karaoke involved. Lisa, Nicole White and I sang The Doobie Brother's "What a Fool Believes" We couldn't keep the boys off the stage. Whoa it was a long night and I woke up today at noon with a touch of a head ache.

Putting possibly sharp hot objects in your mouth is all in a day's work.

First day back on the job after a long weekend is always a wee bit hard. Actually not that hard. I had 3 guests today that rawked.

My first guest on today’s show was a fellow spunky red headed Texan named Michelle Charles. We made an adorable canvas treasure box with a circus theme. She is very tricky and used the back side of small ready made canvases as her shadow box. The Texas bond alone made the show for me. She is from Fort Worth which is not that far from my home town of McKinney, TX.

Second was Hillari Ford from Expressions magazine who was a delightful little lass. We made a really cool mirror with crayons as a batik. Reminded me of when you were a kid and you would color a sheet of paper with crayons and then cover it with black crayon and scratch in your image. Only we used black paint and crumpled the paper. Made me think about a project I have stirring in the back of my mind to put crayon shavings between sheets of laminating paper and then running it through the machine to melt it. I would be totally cool. I was all happy and flattered that when I gave Hilari my card she was a fan of Naughty Secretary Club. “They like me, they really like me”, ok enough Sally Fields.

My third guest on Craft Lab today was Chad Pitts and he and I made a glass turtle. I was a wee bit weary about this project since it involved fire, torches, gas tanks, me putting my mouth to hot glass instruments and more. It all worked out fine and the show looked totally awesome. Plus I scored an awesome free bead. I hear people were actually watching our show on the monitors rather than the guests on Q TV doing their best Meg Ryan faux climax noises from “When Harry Met Sally”. If we can captivate watchers over that then we have a good thing going. The whole fire thing weireded me out a bit, but I was a trooper as far as I’m concerned. My dad was always such a paranoid fire person that I am still afraid to burn candles in my house. Then once when I worked at this dry cleaners in college I flicked my cigarette butt in a dumpster behind the building like an idiot that had empty paint cans in it and almost burned the joint down. So ya I have a touch of the fire phobia.

After the show Lisa, Kate, Steve, Vickie, Tracy, Chad and I all went to eat at the daily grill here in the hotel. Lisa, Kate and Steve all work on the show. Chad is the one who taught me how to make glass in a Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore “ghost” pottery scene kind of way today and Tracy is on two shows tomorrow. Oh and hell you know Vickie.

Now after long conflabs with Chris on the phone about his trip here this weekend, new band dramas, orders for Fred Flare and more I am listening to Rooney and typing to you. Actually I am off to read my 4 scripts tomorrow and hit the potato sack.

Long Relaxing Weekend

Pictures thus far.

My monitor is so sad and dark. We are having a power outage here in not so sunny on the inside of your hotel room California. Guess it is all over the news because my friend Erin called from Texas to ask me about it. I feel bad for Susann and Jesse having to fly back today. I wonder if the airport is dark? How do they run the radars without electricity? All the street lights around are out, the elevators in the hotel were on the fritz and I still have no power in my room. My lap top is running on battery power. Vickie called from her shoot somewhere in the valley and said there was no electricity there either. Man I wanna watch CNN and get the scoop.

So let me go back and start with the top on my weekend of excitement…

Friday after filming we were all treated to some frosty beers in the parking lot of the studio as a “hooray we finished 2 weeks of shooting” treat. Afterwards Kate, Lisa and I all went back to my hotel for more drinkies and dinner. Sat poolside and one of my guests, Heidi Kinnamon and her mom sat and chatted with us for a bit. A bad case of the tireds eventually set in and off to bed I went. I turned my phones off, closed the drapes and shoved the ear plugs in and settled in for a long winters nap.

Saturday morning when my alarm went off at 11:30 I turned my cell on to find it ringing with Jesse and Susann waiting for me at the airport. I swore they told me they were getting in at 1:30, but clearly I was wrong. The poor things had to walk to my hotel because I had left my car at the studio the night before. Oh well the hotel is close and we were eventually reunited and all was well.

It was super to nice to see friendly smiling faces from Austin. The girls wanted to shop which for whatever strange reason has been the theme of every weekend since I have been here. I am not even a big shopper. We went up and down Magnolia street in Burbank and around North Hollywood to a bunch of different vintage shops. I bought some new jewelry to revamp and some barkcloth for my mom for stockings. We ate lunch at a cool little yummy dive called Pinocchio’s on Magnolia. Excellent lasagna and the gelato looked to die for.

When we got back to the hotel we met up with Vickie who is in town for her show Knitty Gritty. Another friendly face, hooray! We ordered a pizza and gushed over Vickie’s new book, New Knits on the Block, that you must get. Notice her fabulous ring on the cover and several of the photos were taken in my house. The kids in the monster hats, alien tooth fairy pillow and the nap kit with the Hawaiian dolls. Ah ya my casa baby.

Eventually we primped and headed out for a night on the town. We were meeting some friends at the Beauty Bar. Like a dip stick I locked my keys in the hotel. Then there was some free Kanyae West show on Hollywood Blvd so traffic was awful. At the club I accidentally let the valet driver take off with my keys that are attached to my wallet. Eventually we made it into the club where Leigh Ann, Kate and Peter were waiting for us. Leigh Ann is an old friend who used to be the fashion writer for the Austin American Statesmen. Kate is one of the producers on Craft Lab and also worked with Vickie, Susann, Jesse and I on Stylelicious. Peter is her BF. The night was super fun. No celebrity spottings this time. The last several times we have been there we were either hob knobbing with guys from Saturday Night Live or Smashing Pumpkins.

Sunday morning we slept in and then headed to Los Feliz for brunch. We ate at some cute little French place and then shopped around. Some girl at the restaurant was sitting at a bar next to our table and thought she was putting her arm around her boyfriend who apparently feels a lot like my left breast. After accidental grope number two I had to give her a heads up about her little feel ups and there were giggles by all. So that was probably the most exciting part of the weekend ;) After getting lost multiple times we finally ended up on third street where I made my first two purchases of the weekend….

First we went to the Built by Wendy Store where I found the most awesome T-shirt of all time. No really, brace yourself. The yellow T-shirt has pictures of Jackie Earle Haley on it from the Bad News Bears. I was so excited I immediately called Chris the only other person that would laugh at this with me. If they had had one in a boys size I would have bought him a matching one. Anyway the T-shirt is a thing of beauty and I am wearing it as I type. Vickie bought one that has a line drawing of Scout and Boo Radley from “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I was having a fit because I could not think of the dads name in that movie and it was driving me crazy, finally in some random shi-shi store I shouted out “Atticus Finch” and people looked at me like I was cuckoo for co-co pops.

The second item of amazement I bought was a purse at the Paul Frank store. Not just any purse, oh no. This little bad boy is vinyl and shaped like the Oscar Meyer weinermobile. Holy crap is it a cool purse. Is it weird that the two purses I have bought while I have been here have been A) Shaped like a pig or B) Shaped like an object made from pigs. Not that the weinermobile is made of actual wieners, but you know what I am saying.

After the stores started to close we headed back home. We stopped into a bar called Big Wangs on the way home. Met up with a friend of Vickie’s and had a drink. It was more like a noisy sports bar with lots of football enthusiasts.

Once in Burbank we hit the Gordon Beirsch brewery which I am completely spelling wrong. Calamari and hummus salad hit the spot. I was too tired from shopping to even touch their amazing beer selection.

Once back at the hotel Vickie had to work but Susann, Jesse and I decided to hit the hot tub. We talked about marriage, babies and family. It was a very grown up conversation. The hot tub felt so good on my aching bones but the chlorine was so strong my eyes were burning and I am pretty sure a few nose hairs were burned off.

We came back up to the hotel where the three of us all curled up into my king size bed and rented Crash from pay per view in the hotel room. That is a good movie. I was excited to see Ludicrous can act. I felt all tense afterwards because everything is really stressful and you can’t really like any characters because they all have bad sides too. It’s directed by the guy that wrote Million Dollar Baby.

Hooray the electricity just came back on! My Ipod is blaring Blast Off Country Style at me now.

So anyway also last night while we watched the movie we ordered room service and sat in bed and ate cobbler and ice cream. Ya I should be on the TV diet, but why. I’m keepin’ it real.

This morning Vickie had to work early so Susann, Jesse and I headed down to the studio to say hi to the old gang. Well my current gang. Peeps were a little frantic because we had a guest drop out tomorrow that was on two different shows. That is really lame ass bad manners and bad business. I guess if there are extenuating circumstances what can you do. Oh did I tell you about the new Q TV station shooting in the same studio as me. Queer Television so there are always all kinds of fun and exciting guests on their show. Last night on the way to the hot tub I swore I saw Amanda Lepore in the lobby, but then thought nah. Then today at the studio there she was on the monitor on Q TV. My friend
Ian was there working on that show and I was like “Holy Shi** is that Amanda Lepore” he couldn’t believe I even knew who she was. I am a big David LaChapelle fan and he photographs her quite a bit so that is how I recognized her. Susann offered to take my picture with her but I wussed out. So the girls said hello to everyone at the studio, I had a brief pseudo celebrity spotting and we were off for a farewell Greek lunch in sunny downtown Burbank.

Got the girls to the airport in plenty of time and then that brings us to where we are now.

beauty bar

Wanna meet up? Vickie, Susann, Jesse and I are headed out to the Beauty Bar in Los Angeles. You should come out too.

We spent the entire day shopping for vintage goodies on Lankershim and Magnolia. I really didn't get much, but the girls did.

We are here primping in the hotel after eating take out pizza.

Tomorrow is more shopping.

Susann wants to say hello to you...

"hello"

boy that was juicy.

I Miss Music Being Trapped Here in LA

I miss music being here in LA. I am trapped in a studio, much like a casino with no daylight, clocks and no music. I am used to listening to music all day long. Washing my hands in restaurant bathrooms to Social Distortion songs, driving to the studio with Marvin Gaye on the radio and coming home listening to bands like The Decembrists on my IPOD are my few small joys. Music really does calm the savage beast.

Today I had three shows that all rawked. I am doing so many different crafts and meeting so many people a day I am almost losing track of everyone. I promise an extensive list with links soon. This much I do know, everyone has been super cool and talented and I am totally power crafting with cliff notes. Learning just a wee little bit about a lot of things. I am still getting the hang of everything. It’s hard with everyone whispering Carol Duvall in my ear in a total Brady Bunch Marsha, Marsha Marsha kind of way. I hope people are not expecting me to be the all knowing seer of the Western Craft World. I am after all just a jewelry designer from Texas.

Today I made a cake first that reminded me quite a bit of my own wedding cake. After seeing all the work that went into it I understand why my cake cost so much. I had to hammer that cake like a vampire that needed a stake through the heart and it scared me. Then I made soap with a total pro who has been on the home shopping network even. Her pear berry scent is sent straight from heaven. Last of all was a metal etching show with chemicals that was really cool in a periodic table sort of way. I am waiting for a bad show or a bad guest because as of yet I have genuinely liked everyone and their projects.

After a long day at work I went out with Lisa and Jose for dinner and drinkies. Can I say I LOVE my producer and my director. They are so nice to me and make me feel so comfortable. If I were giving out little ribbons for a job well done, theirs would be totally gussied up because they rule!

Oh goody the unicorns just came on the IPOD, more music notes, but I digress.

I am looking so forward to the weekend. Jesse, Susann and Vickie are all coming and it is going to f’n rule skool and I can’t wait. Several of the people on Craft Lab also worked on Stylielicious with us (the Austin Craft Mafia) so I am hoping they will all come out and meet us for drinks. Tomorrow is a planned small soirée for staff of the show in the parking lot of our studio. I am so excited because I found a store nearby that sells Shiner. The guy at the store did not understand my total and complete happiness about this.

Ok so now The Jam is playing on the IPOD and again I am so happy.

Well I better turn off the tunes and read scripts and hit the potatoes sack. I am pooopersnickled and tomorrow is a 4 show day again.

quickie

Running out the door for a day of making 3-D Cakes, Soap and Photo Etching. My first 4 show day went AOK. As of my first show this morning I will have taped more shows than I did for Stylelicious. I was telling Vickie last night by next week I think I will have more episodes under my belt than she does for Knitty Gritty and it seems like she has been doing TV for years! Ok seriously I have to go read my scripts now and get to the studio.

paper pulp balls

The meat balls I am having with my sketti dinner look a lot like the paper mache cobblestone floor I made on Craft Lab today. Wish me luck tomorrow for my fist 4 show day. The squishy magic 8 ball that my best friend Erin sent me swears that this week is going to rawk.

Whole Foods Dance Party

So my day yesterday was pretty uneventful. I just lounged around and made a bunch of phone calls. Went to Target and Marshals for a bit of shopping, but didn’t get anything. In the evening I was actually double booked. Leigh Ann had invited me to a party in her hood, which I thought was actually tonight. Then my friend Karl called and asked me to another party in Santa Monica. Karl offered to come and get me and after my trip to Magic Mountain on Saturday night not having to drive sounded pretty good. Leigh-Ann and I are going to go see Scarling together next week so that will be cool.

So Karl and his friend Dave came to get me around 9. I know Karl through the net and we have met at Stitch and The Renegade Craft Fair. They both work for Whole Foods so they took me to a party in Santa Monica with some fellow employees. The party was at a super cute place on the beach with yummy food and they played M.I.A. so I was happy. We hung out on the roof most of the night until Dave and I decided the urge to dance was to strong.

A guy on my show Jason had recommended a dance club called The World also referred to as Beat It and The Ruby I think. We got down to the club where we realized cover charge was $15. Holy mother of God. Once inside the crowd was a little odd. There were two rooms to dance in. Both played good songs, but none of it was that dancey really. Hard to explain. I did hear more M.I.A, The Faint and some Arcade Fire so that was good. We boogied until they kicked us out.

Got home around 3ish and am now recuperating in the hotel. My friend Nicole Elliot invited me over to BBQ by her pool I am trying to decide if I have it in me. I feel a wee bit delicate and should be reading scripts today.

Field Trip to Magic Mountain

I am just as tired today on my day off as I am on the days I work. I met my stylist for the show Jane at 10:30 in Redondo Beach. I returned to my hotel at about 10. We shopped, shopped and shopped some more. I got some cute stuff to wear on the show, even a few items I think I will keep myself. It is amazing how everything in a mall looks exactly alike no matter what store you are in. Same colors, same styles, same pieces. It has been really hard for me to find much of anything I am in love with to wear on the show. I liked everything I wore last week so far so good.

So last week almost broke me and I have not even done a 4 show day yet. Being a TV show host is hard work. Fun work, but hard. I had more fun guests like Jan Bode Smiley, Sabrina Collins and Clare Crespo (you must get her books). So I am getting to meet all these really nice people that do all these really cool crafts. I made mashed potato monsters, altered boots, bath salts and more. Oh and this Amy Rachlin and I in the picture.

Back to today. Jane also took me along the coast to see the ocean and the pretty beach side towns like Long Beach, Huntington Beach and more. I really like California it is so pretty here and everyone is really nice. They have good radio stations too. All today I heard Dinosaur Jr, Sex Pistols, Har Mar Superstar, Daft Punk, English Beat and The Stone Roses. On the way home Cory called and I was glad to get to talk to her. I miss my friends back home. However, while blabbing with her I missed my exit and wound up at Magic Mountain. I called Jane and got back on track. Hit Panda Express for dinner and here I am in my jimmies watching Cold Case files. I think tomorrow I am going to go to a party with my friend Leigh-Ann.

My mom wrote me and told me something nice about my home town of McKinney, TX today….

“Just out of Sherman we met a caravan of about 30 or 40 buses heading north. They had a highway patrol escort so I'm sure they were more refugees. I don't know where they would have been going unless to Tulsa or maybe Joplin, Mo. When we got home, I had an email from the homeowners assoc. that the old Wal-Mart was being converted to a shelter. There was a list of things that would be needed so after supper we went to the new Wal-Mart and we spent about $100. on bras, panties, tampex, kotex, flipflops, etc. for McKinney's influx of refugees. They are supposed to arrive tomorrow around noon. There were hundreds of people working at the old Wal-Mart. They were converting the car bays into showers and the rest into an area for eating, a library, etc. Apparently the Samaritan Inn is already full. They also have people at the Cowboy's stadium and the convention center in Dallas. Anyway, it wasn't much, but at least I feel like we did something. More than that idiot George Bush!!!”

Be sure to donate if you can to the Red Cross and remind others to as well.

night night

Holy mother of pete am I tired. Today was my second day of taping and we only did two shows today. Tomorrow we move up to three shows a day and then next week it will be 4 shows a day. Lord help me. It is going pretty well. Everyone is super nice and supportive so that makes life a lot easier.

My first show yesterday was with a lovely little crafty lady named Elizabeth Dunn. We made oodles of fun stuff with heat guns. My first episode today was with Cathy Cano-Murillo of Crafty Chica fame. It was super cool to get to meet Cathy in person and she is adorable and so are her crafts. We sat and had drinks last night at the hotel pool and talked shop. We have another episode tomorrow. Also today was rock star photographer Amy Rachlin. She does really cool photo tricks. So far all the guests have totally ruled skool. Tomorrow I get to make food art that looks really fun!

Today there was some drama with poor Chris having to run crazy errands for me. Austin City Limits called and said they not got my check, which I have the carbon copy of it just never got cashed, but ya whatever. Its not like they kicked us out thank God because Amy and Tina would have beaten me to a bloody pulp so all is well. Don’t forget if you are going to ACL be sure to stop by the Austin Craft Mafia booth and say hello I am flying back to Austin from LA just for the event.

Ok seriously that is all I have in me. I have to read scripts and then go night night.