.come see me.

You can come and see me!
Or at least, you can come and see my scents and smell them in person.
Yesterday I dropped off a bunch of beautiful things at Noir, my new favorite Kansas City shop. They'll be carrying 12 of my scents, including a Noir Signature Perfume that I cooked up just for them - Musk, peach, and amber.

Noir is located at 1609 W 39th St
Kansas City, MO  64111

Store Hours:
Monday - Closed
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday - By Appointment
Thursday - 12p-6p
Friday - 11a-6p
Saturday - 12p-6p
Sunday - 12p-5p

.field notes.

I first came across Field Notebooks in July of 2013 when I was looking for a pocket size dance journal, despite the fact that none of my dance practice pants had pockets. But I wanted something portable and a little flexible and lightweight.

these are prettier on the back

I found Field Notes.

This was when the Nigh Sky Edition was out, and being a Science Groupie with a love of Astronomy, I immediately bought 3 packs (the "legal" limit) and began using them immediately. The use of them quickly expanded from dance journaling into note taking on everything that was going on in my life - grocery lists, to do lists, quotes from the radio, notes on ideas and projects, and on and on. It's a bit of a problem, now that I'm going through a notebook every 2-3 weeks, except that I can look back to any week in the last year and know exactly what I was doing on a given day - which is weird and also kind of neat.

I finally gave up all pretense just before the Two Rivers edition came out this past spring and got a subscription. Now, I'm not exclusive with Field Notes - in my stock of notebooks ready to be used I have Baron Fig, Scout Books, and a few other smaller brands that I've picked up on whims and also a dash of hoarding-type compulsion. (My partner tolerates me to hoarding 2 things - plants and books, and these are kind of books, and also very small.)

I have the graph paper all the way on the left, not that you can tell.

Along with my first subscription came a few of the staple Kraft notebooks that I have never been interested in (because the covers are boring) but I put them away in my stash figuring they were good for Modifications, if nothing else.

And then I came across this wine with this beautiful paper sleeve, and because I love my notebooks, and I love my wine, and the modification took shape in my brain.

Scissors and spray glue and another wrapper from a white, and a press test from my work, and voila!

Curious Beasts, Fushia White, & a press test

I used medical tape to secure the wrap, because Reasons.

...and I need more wine.

Much better now. I've been wanting a red field notebook for ages. Now I have the best one ever. And it's covered with monsters and skeletons!

¡¡¡ birthday sale !!!

My birthday is this week! To celebrate with everyone I'm having a sale - a whopping 33% off of all etsy orders of 33$ or more to celebrate my big double digits!
THIS WEEK ONLY!!!

Use the coupon code:

THIRTYTHREE

during checkout!

Oh, and by the way, I'm back!

.things of recently.

Oh jeez...I feel like I'm coming out from under a giant rock of hide-y-ness.
Or escaping a pool of quicksand.
Which, if you Google quicksand, will turn up a bazillion images of ladies with giant boobs. Come on interwebz. Why are you obsessed with killing the ladies with big boobs?
You are all a bunch of weirdos.


Lots of things have happened, and not happened.

Warrior weekend - working on a post about the class I taught; and also there was dancing. This was my first partner piece in a really really long time and it was so nice to Do That Thing. I'm still not ready for another troupe, but more partner work with more other dancers may be in the near future.

I dove headfirst into fixing my dancing from the bottom up. Things have been bothering me for a bit now and so I've started taking classes from both AmyJo and Melody, and in a few weeks I'll be taking some Irish Ceili classes for fun and exercise. Both AmyJo's and Melody's classes are FANTASTIC. I cannot recommend them highly enough as thoughtful competent amazing teachers who will fix your shit!

Adventures in Adventures. I chopped off all of my hair again, and I found a fancy new phone case inside my old beat up phone case through phone case archeology.

It's all fancy and lenticular-tastic.
Also, SPACE TIGER!

And my cat attempted to assassinate my computer. Still waiting to see if she will make a full recovery. The computer I mean. The cat is fine and continues to rule the house with the iron paw of Catism.

Cats are jerks, in case you hadn't caught onto that yet.

Also, I don't have cancer!
Which was a possibility. 

Next Week: I'm on a Boat!!!

.coming soon...

Larger scent sizes - Really Fancy Labels!!!

All custom illustrations, by me, printed on really nice paper and Hand Colored, so each a little unique and custom piece of art.

.upcoming awesomeness.

March 15th 
Geeks N' Freaks: The Comicon Afterparty
Two nights of full Cosplay and Comic Con after party Burlesque Revelry. 18 + All Kingons welcome! Featuring the Demons of Flame, The Brimstone Brothers, both nights! Chris "The Beard" Arnone of Blizz Pro Weekly, K.C.'s Trivia Wiz and Author will be gracing us with his presence as Emcee. 

I'll be performing Saturday evening, chain in tow. You do not want to miss it!


March 21st
The Raqs Bohéme 2nd Anniversary Extravaganza
With performers Amy Jo, Melody Gabrielle, Rebecca, Kaleela Renae, Christina Hentzen, and Crazy Boy Coy!

April 5th
Dance Party Fundraiser @ The Bridge

Join Moon Belly for a night of visual and sensual delights and full-on dance party at The Bridge! We are hosting this event as a fundraiser toward a new studio space in 2014!
Living art installations, beautiful dance performances, live DJ dance party and incredible silent auction.

.happenings.

Later today I'll be listing two new scents and different variations of several other scents (combo packs, larger sizes, etc.) on etsy. The scents? Moriarty and The Woman!
Moriarty is a lovely not too sweet blend of lavender mint and tea. The base oil was actually steep in early grey tea for over two months, so this puppy will be available on and off in limited quantities.
The Woman is an amalgamation of many things - Tobacco, Jasmine, Amber and Sandalwood to name a few. It's floral, it's earthy, it's spicy and seductive.
New jewelry pieces will be listed as well.



Meanwhile, tea yesterday was absolutely awful!
Long story short - if you get a reservation inquiry from two people with dietary restrictions which you then claim you can accommodate - that does not mean serving them the exact same thing you're serving to everyone else and telling them to "Pick around the bits you don't want."
Just don't take the reservation.


This weekend I'll be performing and teaching in St. Louis at the annual Urban Cabaret.
Performance info is here.
Class info is here.
I'll also be vending at the show so if you're going to be there it's a great chance to smell the smells in person. If you're not you had better buy any jewelry you've been eying in a hurry because whatever sells in St. Louis stays in St. Louis.


Next weekend I'll be joining a force of dancers including Amy Jo and Rebecca for "The Big Show" in Springfield Missouri.

This year we are giving you an insider's view into the lives of women and girls. Dancers will be covering everything from playing dress-up to Rosie the Riveter and everything in between! The goal of this show is to give a fun, dramatic, and sometimes serious homage to everything it is to be a woman!

Info is here!

.for fun and family.

I would like to say that after tomorrow my life will be more stable and less chaotic, but I'm afraid that is a beautiful lie. In the meantime, here's a Holiday Coupon Code to encourage NOT shopping on Black Friday.

MENAGE

good for 30% off anything through the end of the year

Exciting, yes?
Also exciting is this:

I think my heart about stopped at the end there.

.things that happened this week.

I refinished the floor in my dance studio (i.e. the scary basement). This involved ripping out all of the carpet and padding and putting anything else down over the sub flooring.
My husband doesn't even know yet (he comes home from Philly tomorrow).
And that's pretty much all I did.
(Yes, there were other things, like fixing the condensate pump on our HVAC, fixing the ceiling where the pump was leaking, repainting the kitchen floor, and usual things like laundry - but the dance studio was the big thing.)
Pictures:

Tomorrow I dance at the Not-Smoker at the KC Renaissance Festival.
Wish me luck because it's probably going to be awful.

.missouri is awesome.

This video pretty much speaks for itself:

.boycott tuesday.

I had a really really excellent boycott planned - but them I burned the crap out of both of my hands trying to take something out of the oven last night. I am now essentially maimed.
So since I'm finalizing music choices for the MashUp edition of Raqs Bohéme next month....here are some choices. I put them to you.

Boycott Tuesday. Boycott Decisions.
I need some gummy bears.

.accidental dance shoes.

As a bellydancer, I feel like I'm constantly looking for good dance shoes that will work indoors as well as outdoors. Street performances, festivals, fairs, weird backyard gigs, and of course the Renaissance festival where my dance surface is mostly gravel. And here's my answer (for this year) lurking in Urban Outfitters of all places.

 

Kimchi Blue Sweetheart Ankle-Tie Skimmer 

$29.00 at Urban Outfitters

I totally missed the ball on this one.

Several months ago a friend and co-worker was wearing an adorable pair of flats, and even though I immediately asked where they came from (we have a tendency to be Twinkies anyhow so we generally try not to exacerbate the situation), I also almost immediately forgot to go and order some.

Then around June I remembered - right around the same time as I was ordering the Nike Studio Flats, and I went on the UO website and found them. Her's had been a cute cream, now they only had black.

And they were back ordered.

I crossed my fingers and made a wish and purchased them and they've just arrived in the last week.

And they are fantastic.

Comfy. Easy to wear. Easy to walk in.

And then I had that circus performance on Saturday night, and I forgot to take them off while getting into costume, and I forgot to take them off before going on stage (did I mention that they're comfy?) and they actually worked brilliantly for dancing in.

Being that they were affordable I went back to get a backup pair, and naturally they now only have my size in the Berry color I'm not sure about but might be able to mod up or something. But based on previous shoe experience better to have them than not.

Be warned that like any shoes they have a breaking in period, but it's not too bad, and they do show a little toe crack - but that's not too bad either.

Hooray for shoes!

BLOOMERS!!!!!

My friend Lydia makes awesome bloomers.
Really really fantastically awesome bloomers.

And noone knows about them.

After about a year of prodding, I finally helped to convince her to set up an etsy shop - and really, I'm not sure how long she's going to tolerate it so if you like them buy them now before she quits. They are super comfy - super comfy. They tie, but there's magic elastic involved so if you move, they stretch with you (or if you bloat up sometimes like I do, or just eat a giant Thanksgiving feast, or whatever) and are totally wearable under skirts. Truthfully I half live in mine.
This is yoga pants comfortable people, but way cuter.

Her shop is here!

perfume review!

Recently I asked the Geeky Hostess if she'd do a review of my perfumes.

 Here's what she had to say!

.i need this.

Ostrich Pillow

And now I'm off to St. Louis.

I lost my sketchbook again.

Have this taco instead.

SuperWhoLock Winners!

"Biting's excellent. It's like kissing. Only there's a winner."

 Three winner's as promised! You've been contacted - reply soon.

Shooting Stars Mag

AmbreRose

and Cassandra!

And for the rest of you.....
I give you a coupon code! 30% off anything in my etsy shop (minimum order of 10$), and it's good through this weekend.
The Code is: BRADBURY

This image on the right tells you where to put it!
(Ok, that sounded not good. But you get my meaning).

Anyhow.

.best email ever.

.things that happened this week.

• I may be teaching out of a performance arts studio in the very near future. Regular classes people!

• Maybe oh maybe there is a shop that might be hosting some of my paintings possibly...

• I solved an incredibly vexing jewelry creation problem. It only cost 100$ (and this is why we can't have nice things).

• New geektastic show things in the future - beyond Raqs Bohéme I mean.

• New perfume creation supplies arrived! ALL THE SMELLZ!!!

• Also, super awesome perfume feedback:

And now I am exhausted.
And have costumes to sew and dances to write!

Help Quixotic!

I was involved with performing with this group for a few years and to this day it has been one of the most wonderful and educational experiences of my performing career. Watching what Magliano and Thomas have done with the group more recently has been truly inspiring.

Now Quixotic, needs everyone's help to upgrade some crucial equipment, and they've got an Indiegogo campaign set up to do so...