GMDS info
Taking advantage of a Maddy-nap to type up my info for this round of the Good Mail Day Swap! Copying heavily from previous swap info posts.
Foods you like, despise, can't eat (allergies, etc.):
Foods I lIke: I'm vegetarian, and I make a lot of food from scratch (we eat very little processed stuff, in our house). I love chocolate (particularly mildly-dark or semisweet), nuts (especially peanuts, cashews, and walnuts, and almonds), and whole grains (I swear I could live on oats!). Also love apples, strawberries, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, and peppers. And steamed broccoli, except I can't eat that now because it makes Madrigal fart all night long. Oh, and while pregnant, I developed a serious triscuits and cheddar habit. And an obsession with the black bean-sweet potato enchiladas from my vegetarian pregnant lady cookbook. Breastfeeding my giant baby means I'm a hungry hungry hippo pretty much all the time, which means I both love and am extremely annoyed by food.
Foods I despise: Cilantro. Food with meat or gelatin in it.
Allergies: Not allergies, per se, but I have smell-based migraine triggers. Here are the smells that will trigger a migraine for me: seafood of any type, twizzlers, blow pops, alcohol, cigarette smoke. Also, ingesting MSG is a sure way for me to get a migraine. So now you know!
Coffee vs. tea? Do you have a favorite kind?:
I don't drink either, really! Between the not-drinking-coffee and the not-drinking-alcohol thing, I'm kind of a weirdo for an academic! But honestly, I pretty much just drink water, orange juice, and almond milk.
Where do you live?
I live in Rochester, NY. We get a lot of snow in the winter, except not this year (we only got about 45", which sounds like a lot but really isn't, for here). I spent the first half of my childhood in NC, and the second half in MN, so I'm still a southern girl in some ways, but I feel most at home in the upper midwest and hope to return there soon. Like, really soon. Like, I will pretty much apply for any job that I am even remotely qualified for if it's within a couple hours' drive of my hometown. I'm not exactly loving raising my daughter so far from her extended family, basically.
Favorite yarns / fabrics? Any yarn you want to try but haven't yet?:
Yarn-wise, I am a big fan of wooly wools (think: Shelter, Beaverslide, Bartlett yarns, Peace Fleece, that sort of stuff). I also like the basic "workhorse" yarns like Cascade 220 and St Denis, but sometimes I enjoy something softer and fancier like Madelinetosh or Dream in Color. I favor rich jewel tones (especially blues, greens, and purples) and pretty much only knit with solids or semi-solids. Self-striping can be fun, but I have a hard time finding things to do with variegated yarn - it's just not really my thing I guess. I've been dying to try the new Brooklyn Tweed yarn (Loft) but haven't gotten any yet. Babies kind of cramp the yarn budget.
Fabric-wise, I'm just starting to build up a small stash as a newbie sewer/quilter. I'm more into solids/semisolids here, too, or small-scale prints that are easy to mix with solids. Also I love linen.
Crafty pursuits - knit, crochet, spin, sew, quilt, make friendship bracelets, any of these or others?
Knitting is my primary crafty pursuit - I've been knitting since I was 13 and have gotten into knitwear design in recent years, too. I've been learning crochet and enjoy it, but am not very experienced with it. I'm also learning to sew, and am eager to be able to sew clothes for my little Madrigal. I taught myself to spin with a drop spindle a couple of years ago, but haven't done much with it, because I'd much rather spin with a wheel but can't afford one. Oh, oh, and I started to learn crewel embroidery before I had Maddy and fell in love with it but have a hard time finding time for it now (shocking, I know!)
Hobbies/pursuits/proclivities/passions (other than the aforementioned crafty ones, obvs)
I've played the violin since I was 10 years old, and I'm learning to play cello, too (though neither is particularly easy to do while wearing a baby, it turns out!). I read a lot, especially YA dystopian stuff these days, with the Kindle for iPhone app (I also have a regular Kindle but the phone is always with me). I love making bread from scratch, and just generally enjoy learning how to do more with food. I swim a lot, too, except now I don't because my university closed our pool for 6 FREAKING MONTHS AND I AM PISSED OFF ABOUT IT. And, lately, I obsess over baby stuff. Especially hipppie/environmentalist baby stuff like cloth diapering.
What do you do in life? (job, career, school, family, etc.)
I've been married to my awesome husband for just over 7 years now, and we welcomed our daughter Madrigal into the world last fall. We've also got 3 orange kitties. I'm a graduate student in Brain and Cognitive Science (but what I really study is language), still working towards that Ph.D (I've got 2 Masters at this point, though, one in Linguistics and one in BCS), and attempting to write a dissertation while working at home with my daughter full time (PRO TIP: This is really hard). I'm obsessed with language. I'm really passionate about teaching, and have been teaching and/or tutoring writing and various cognition-related courses for several years now. Teaching or something writing-related (e.g. editing) is what I want to do, moving forward.
What makes you happy?
Madrigal. My husband. Family in general. Birthdays (I turn 29 tomorrow!), Solstices, and Equinoxes. Sunny days. Making things, including music. Teaching. Talking to my crafty friends online. Sleeping (when I can). Eating delicious homemade food, especially food that someone else made for me and that is easy to eat one handed. The rare instances when I don't feel utterly, desperately hungry despite eating like a horse are awesomely happy-making, but yeah, rare.
Into makeup? Is there anything you want to try, for example: Revlon lip butters, lip balm, a particular kind of mascara, brush, etc. (Think inexpensive- we’re obvs not swapping UD Naked Palettes here.) ;) :
I am completely and utterly clueless regarding makeup. Between being a generally low-maintenance person, and having crazy sensitive skin, I just don't bother. The only thing I use sometimes is Neutragena's Healthy Skin stuff, which evens out my skin tone and has SPF. Oh, and sometimes Burt's Bees lip balm. That's it. I think I look just fine without makeup (if you disagree, please don't tell me!) and I am lazy/busy :)
Into nail polish? Any favorite brands, favorite colors, or specific shades you covet?:
Nope! Wearing nail polish makes me feel like my nails can't breathe and freaks me out. A lot. Seriously. Also I just have to mention that every time I see folks tweeting about "polish" I think y'all are talking about people from Poland.
Random favorites -- colors, flavors, scents, books, movies, TV, magazines, genres, time of day, motifs (foxes, bees, squirrels, owls, beavers, mushrooms, bats), etc.:
Colors: blue, green, and especially blueish greens (or greenish blues).
Programming Language: Python
TV: Star Trek in almost any incarnation but especially TNG. Doctor Who. Battlestar Gallactica. Mad Men. But really I almost never watch TV anymore and am hopelessly behind on pretty much everything pop-culture-wise. Or even not-pop-culture-wise, for that matter.
Animal: Sea Turtles, because they look so dumb and happy when they swim! I wanna be that blissed out!
Motifs: I am into stripes and polka dots these days. Also anything with robots and/or monsters on it, because that's what we decorate Maddy's room with.
Book: Le Ton Beau de Marot, by Douglas Hofstadter. (PS: I recommend this book to all lovers of language)
Authors: Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut
Anything you CAN'T tolerate (b/c of allergies or intense dislikes)?:
The aforementioned migraine-triggers and cilantro. Also NSAIDs (they will make me asphyxiate, but I figure you won't be sending me Advil or anything, and if you did, I won't take it). Being asked whether Maddy "sleeps through the night" by every single person I talk to. Mean people (please don't send me a mean person! They probably wouldn't fit in a flat-rate box anyway). Also selfish people, theocrats, misogynists, racists, homophobes, etc (so especially don't send me Rick Santorum, please!).
Ok so filling this out was way more fun than working on a dissertation! Also, I don't know if I made myself sound picky but I'm really not and right now just getting a box in the mail at all is going to make me so freaking happy (unless it has Rick Santorum in it). Babies are awesome but exhausting, yo. And mail is fun. Except bills. But you wouldn't send me bills, because you're a nice person :)
GMDS info
Taking advantage of a Maddy-nap to type up my info for this round of the Good Mail Day Swap! Copying heavily from previous swap info posts.
Foods you like, despise, can't eat (allergies, etc.):
Foods I lIke: I'm vegetarian, and I make a lot of food from scratch (we eat very little processed stuff, in our house). I love chocolate (particularly mildly-dark or semisweet), nuts (especially peanuts, cashews, and walnuts, and almonds), and whole grains (I swear I could live on oats!). Also love apples, strawberries, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, and peppers. And steamed broccoli, except I can't eat that now because it makes Madrigal fart all night long. Oh, and while pregnant, I developed a serious triscuits and cheddar habit. And an obsession with the black bean-sweet potato enchiladas from my vegetarian pregnant lady cookbook. Breastfeeding my giant baby means I'm a hungry hungry hippo pretty much all the time, which means I both love and am extremely annoyed by food.
Foods I despise: Cilantro. Food with meat or gelatin in it.
Allergies: Not allergies, per se, but I have smell-based migraine triggers. Here are the smells that will trigger a migraine for me: seafood of any type, twizzlers, blow pops, alcohol, cigarette smoke. Also, ingesting MSG is a sure way for me to get a migraine. So now you know!
Coffee vs. tea? Do you have a favorite kind?:
I don't drink either, really! Between the not-drinking-coffee and the not-drinking-alcohol thing, I'm kind of a weirdo for an academic! But honestly, I pretty much just drink water, orange juice, and almond milk.
Where do you live?
I live in Rochester, NY. We get a lot of snow in the winter, except not this year (we only got about 45", which sounds like a lot but really isn't, for here). I spent the first half of my childhood in NC, and the second half in MN, so I'm still a southern girl in some ways, but I feel most at home in the upper midwest and hope to return there soon. Like, really soon. Like, I will pretty much apply for any job that I am even remotely qualified for if it's within a couple hours' drive of my hometown. I'm not exactly loving raising my daughter so far from her extended family, basically.
Favorite yarns / fabrics? Any yarn you want to try but haven't yet?:
Yarn-wise, I am a big fan of wooly wools (think: Shelter, Beaverslide, Bartlett yarns, Peace Fleece, that sort of stuff). I also like the basic "workhorse" yarns like Cascade 220 and St Denis, but sometimes I enjoy something softer and fancier like Madelinetosh or Dream in Color. I favor rich jewel tones (especially blues, greens, and purples) and pretty much only knit with solids or semi-solids. Self-striping can be fun, but I have a hard time finding things to do with variegated yarn - it's just not really my thing I guess. I've been dying to try the new Brooklyn Tweed yarn (Loft) but haven't gotten any yet. Babies kind of cramp the yarn budget.
Fabric-wise, I'm just starting to build up a small stash as a newbie sewer/quilter. I'm more into solids/semisolids here, too, or small-scale prints that are easy to mix with solids. Also I love linen.
Crafty pursuits - knit, crochet, spin, sew, quilt, make friendship bracelets, any of these or others?
Knitting is my primary crafty pursuit - I've been knitting since I was 13 and have gotten into knitwear design in recent years, too. I've been learning crochet and enjoy it, but am not very experienced with it. I'm also learning to sew, and am eager to be able to sew clothes for my little Madrigal. I taught myself to spin with a drop spindle a couple of years ago, but haven't done much with it, because I'd much rather spin with a wheel but can't afford one. Oh, oh, and I started to learn crewel embroidery before I had Maddy and fell in love with it but have a hard time finding time for it now (shocking, I know!)
Hobbies/pursuits/proclivities/passions (other than the aforementioned crafty ones, obvs)
I've played the violin since I was 10 years old, and I'm learning to play cello, too (though neither is particularly easy to do while wearing a baby, it turns out!). I read a lot, especially YA dystopian stuff these days, with the Kindle for iPhone app (I also have a regular Kindle but the phone is always with me). I love making bread from scratch, and just generally enjoy learning how to do more with food. I swim a lot, too, except now I don't because my university closed our pool for 6 FREAKING MONTHS AND I AM PISSED OFF ABOUT IT. And, lately, I obsess over baby stuff. Especially hipppie/environmentalist baby stuff like cloth diapering.
What do you do in life? (job, career, school, family, etc.)
I've been married to my awesome husband for just over 7 years now, and we welcomed our daughter Madrigal into the world last fall. We've also got 3 orange kitties. I'm a graduate student in Brain and Cognitive Science (but what I really study is language), still working towards that Ph.D (I've got 2 Masters at this point, though, one in Linguistics and one in BCS), and attempting to write a dissertation while working at home with my daughter full time (PRO TIP: This is really hard). I'm obsessed with language. I'm really passionate about teaching, and have been teaching and/or tutoring writing and various cognition-related courses for several years now. Teaching or something writing-related (e.g. editing) is what I want to do, moving forward.
What makes you happy?
Madrigal. My husband. Family in general. Birthdays (I turn 29 tomorrow!), Solstices, and Equinoxes. Sunny days. Making things, including music. Teaching. Talking to my crafty friends online. Sleeping (when I can). Eating delicious homemade food, especially food that someone else made for me and that is easy to eat one handed. The rare instances when I don't feel utterly, desperately hungry despite eating like a horse are awesomely happy-making, but yeah, rare.
Into makeup? Is there anything you want to try, for example: Revlon lip butters, lip balm, a particular kind of mascara, brush, etc. (Think inexpensive- we’re obvs not swapping UD Naked Palettes here.) ;) :
I am completely and utterly clueless regarding makeup. Between being a generally low-maintenance person, and having crazy sensitive skin, I just don't bother. The only thing I use sometimes is Neutragena's Healthy Skin stuff, which evens out my skin tone and has SPF. Oh, and sometimes Burt's Bees lip balm. That's it. I think I look just fine without makeup (if you disagree, please don't tell me!) and I am lazy/busy :)
Into nail polish? Any favorite brands, favorite colors, or specific shades you covet?:
Nope! Wearing nail polish makes me feel like my nails can't breathe and freaks me out. A lot. Seriously. Also I just have to mention that every time I see folks tweeting about "polish" I think y'all are talking about people from Poland.
Random favorites -- colors, flavors, scents, books, movies, TV, magazines, genres, time of day, motifs (foxes, bees, squirrels, owls, beavers, mushrooms, bats), etc.:
Colors: blue, green, and especially blueish greens (or greenish blues).
Programming Language: Python
TV: Star Trek in almost any incarnation but especially TNG. Doctor Who. Battlestar Gallactica. Mad Men. But really I almost never watch TV anymore and am hopelessly behind on pretty much everything pop-culture-wise. Or even not-pop-culture-wise, for that matter.
Animal: Sea Turtles, because they look so dumb and happy when they swim! I wanna be that blissed out!
Motifs: I am into stripes and polka dots these days. Also anything with robots and/or monsters on it, because that's what we decorate Maddy's room with.
Book: Le Ton Beau de Marot, by Douglas Hofstadter. (PS: I recommend this book to all lovers of language)
Authors: Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut
Anything you CAN'T tolerate (b/c of allergies or intense dislikes)?:
The aforementioned migraine-triggers and cilantro. Also NSAIDs (they will make me asphyxiate, but I figure you won't be sending me Advil or anything, and if you did, I won't take it). Being asked whether Maddy "sleeps through the night" by every single person I talk to. Mean people (please don't send me a mean person! They probably wouldn't fit in a flat-rate box anyway). Also selfish people, theocrats, misogynists, racists, homophobes, etc (so especially don't send me Rick Santorum, please!).
Ok so filling this out was way more fun than working on a dissertation! Also, I don't know if I made myself sound picky but I'm really not and right now just getting a box in the mail at all is going to make me so freaking happy (unless it has Rick Santorum in it). Babies are awesome but exhausting, yo. And mail is fun. Except bills. But you wouldn't send me bills, because you're a nice person :)