Monday, November 30, 2015

Late Monday Hodge Podge, Waiting for the Laundry

We're just back from a week in Arizona with my family. This time I swear I'm going to at least write up a post with some of the best bits of touristy things we do, like the cool little empanada restaurant in downtown Mesa and the park my kids love in Gilbert... so I won't try to write much about it tonight. Tonight's post is a short hodge podge. I'm fighting off the cold Mr. Snarky picked up in Arizona (he always picks up a cold in Arizona, it is sad/funny). The only reason I'm not going to bed is that I need to wait for a load of laundry to finish.

The story behind that load of laundry is sad/funny, too. We took advantage of the babysitting in Arizona, and spent an afternoon shopping. Mr. Snarky's shirts had been getting threadbare, and the last time I bought pants was roughly a year ago, and I promptly gained 5 lbs two weeks after that shopping trip.

I almost didn't find anything, but at the very end of the trip, I found some pants I thought were OK in Macy's. I bought two pairs of one style, and one pair of a different style. When we got home, I cut off the tags and tossed them in the laundry, planning to deal with them later this week.

Mr. Snarky decided to do the laundry last night, though. I didn't think about it when he did, until I went to put my nice clean clothes away, and realized he'd put my new pants in the dryer. One pair made it through OK, but the two of the other style are part rayon and shrank quite a bit. I couldn't even zip them up when I tried them on, and the hem was a good two inches too short. They are probably ruined, but I am trying some advice I found online to rescue them.

Mr. Snarky is quite contrite, and I have sworn that I'll pull anything that needs any special attention whatsoever out into my hand wash/dry clean bag from now on. The pants weren't that expensive, so really the most annoying thing is that I still don't have pants that fit. I may try to get to the mall here on Friday and see if I can buy them again.

The pants incident put me in such a funk last night that I didn't finish the work I needed to do, so this morning found me putting the finishing touches on my latest Annorlunda Books innovation- ebook gift cards.  (Bonus in that last link: you can see the color of the accent wall in our new office.)

(Complete aside: Mr. Snarky is listening to some weird music mix a Kiwi friend of his sent him, in which there was just a mash up of Ghostbusters and Gagnam Style.)

So that's what has been going on here. Before the break, I had lunch with the awesome Ginger of Ramble Ramble who is going to be giving me some marketing advice. She is such the perfect person to do this, and her preliminary ideas were so good that I can't believe I didn't think of asking her if she was interested in a small contract earlier. Oh well, better to have the great idea late than not at all, right?

Anyway, one thing she has already convinced me to do is make a Facebook page for Annorlunda Books. I will work on that soon (maybe even tomorrow), but first I wanted some more Facebook practice, so I made a page for Annorlunda Designs. I'm still tweaking and experimenting, but I'm at least really happy with what I picked for an avatar. It is a close up of one of the dragonflies from my most popular shirt design. I have no idea what I'm going to use for the an avatar on the Annorlunda Books page. I'm hoping inspiration strikes soon.

(And now the weird dance song mash up is play Staying Alive. When I first walked in it was Living on a Prayer. This is a seriously weird mix that is somehow completely appropriate for the guy who sent it to Mr. Snarky.)

I think my laundry is probably done, so I'll close this hodge podge with a highlight from our drive home yesterday, spotted on our way out of the Phoenix area:


3 comments:

  1. Where did you read that shrunken rayon can be saved? I'd be really surprised if it is a reversible process.

    I once came across a thick tome all about rayon manufacturing, processes and chemistry. It was in the Chem E section of Moe's used books on Telegraph in Berkeley. 800 pages and it left me wanting to learn more. If I had the $$$, I would have bought it.

    Do you think it is nerdy to visit and read a $$$ textbook in a bookstore rather than go out drinking with other students?

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    1. I'd totally want to read about rayon manufacturing and chemistry!

      Amazingly, the process I adapted from the internet instructions worked. The instructions said to soak in cold water with some baby shampoo or conditioner to help loosen the fibers. I had some wrinkle releaser spray so I some of that in the cold water instead. I stretched them lightly before I put them in the gentle cycle, and then hung them up to dry. I think the shape isn't quite as good as it was, but they fit and look OK, so I declare victory.

      I was probably saved by the fact that they had nylon and spandex in them, too.

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    2. You could try a basic solution like soda ash to relax cellulosic fibers, but I understood that the effect is temporary. I'm curious is you have to go through this every time you launder them.

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