bobilani

PLEASE READ: There is swap related info at the end of my profile as well as this little section so please see that too. Basically, if you have not rec'd from me in a reasonable amount of time, please pm me so that I can re-send if necessary! In my years of swapping, I have come to realize that the postal system is not perfect and things do go missing occasionally. If you have rec'd from me, please let me know by leaving me a rating so that I don't panic that it got lost. It's very important to me to make sure that my partners always receive their packages! :) Thank you!

And now on to the fun stuff...

I live in California with my hubby and daughter. We have lots of furbabies including a fluffy cat, a stripe-y cat, several rats, a bunny (whom I lovingly refer to as Commander BunBun), a guinea pig, and "the fish". Even though I live in "sunny CA", the area I live in is by the ocean and very cold about 9 months out of the year. I can often be found at Disneyland, even though it is about a 2 hour drive from me. I can't get enough of New Orleans Square and the Haunted Mansion :) I'm shy, quirky, compassionate, and have eclectic taste. I love bookstores and could spend hours in them. All things paranormal fascinate me. Sometimes stuck in the 80's. I find humor in most situations and like to make people laugh.

As for work, I have three online businesses...one retail store, two Etsy stores (see website links above). I also have a photography business (portraits and weddings). I sometimes teach dance classes. I do what I can to work for myself instead of "the man".

My username...It's come to my attention that a lot of people here don't know how it's pronounced. It sounds like "bobby-lonny". When I performed at luaus as a kid, my mom (also my dance teacher) gave me bobilani as a stage name. Bobi being my nickname and Lani added on to it. The Hawaiian meaning of Lani is "heaven, sky".

Oingo Boingo, The soundtrack to REPO! The Genetic Opera, Erasure, Rob Zombie, Live, Cher, Mika, Moby, U2, Sting, Green Day, Nickelback, Brandi Carlile, James Blunt, Jesse Cook, Billy Idol, David Bowie, The Beatles, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, Alphaville, ELO, Adam Ant, Sarah Brightman, Queen, C.G. Ryche, Drew Tretick, Bond, Neil Diamond, John Denver, 80's (esp alternative 80's) and way too many more to list...

I love this song, video and message - Free Hugs Campaign

I am not fond of rap or hip hop. I like some country, but it's not a favorite. I'm pretty eclectic when it comes to music though and will give almost anything a listen to.

Oh, I love so many...but here are the top of my favorites: Labyrinth, REPO! The Genetic Opera, Zombieland, Ladyhawke, Practical Magic, Stardust, LOTR, The Crow, Sweeney Todd, Iron Man, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, The Fifth Element, Serendipity, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, Vibes, Moonstruck, Xanadu, Moulin Rouge, Hocus Pocus, The Frighteners, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Empire Records, Love Actually, The Full Monty, Shaun of the Dead, 50 First Dates, Tank Girl, Clerks I & II, Mallrats, Dogma, most of Disney animated or not, and the list goes on...

NCIS, Monk, Psych, Doctor Who, So You Think You Can Dance, The Office, Reaper, Dead Like Me, Numb3rs, Bones, House, Burn Notice, Lost, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, The Family Guy, The Simpsons, Robot Chicken, Carnivale, Mystery Science Theater 3000

Drawing, painting, stamping, collage, making beaded bracelets and other simple jewelry, just about anything from the Klutz book series ("kids" crafts are so much fun!), crocheting, sewing, making bookmarks/bookthongs and ATC's, flower faeries, dotee dolls, painting little trinket boxes, stuffies, altered books/journals.

I love to write! Short stories, journal entries, blogs, letters, poetry, zines and lists. I'm a member of listography.com - an awesome site if you love to make lists!

Other hobbies include dance, photography, learning magic tricks, reading, movies, music, and singing in my car :)

I've decided to put this category in list form so it's easier to read. You'll notice that I use the word "whimsical" to describe a lot of things on my list. I love things with a sense of whimsy, so if you feel that something has it, I will most likely love it :)

• Owls, crows and ravens
• Cats or Bats - silly, whimisical ones
• Steampunk
• Halloween - vintage is my favorite, but anything Halloween is always appreciated
• Nightmare Before Christmas and anything that has that type of dark whimsical style
• Black and White striped things
• Gnomes
• Monsters and Zombies - cute or funny are my favorites
• Robots - cute/funny or sad/lonely ones
• Sci Fi - also vintage Sci Fi
• Geeky/Nerdy items - if you think something falls in this category, I will most likely love it. Etsy has some awesome stuff under the "geekery" section.
• Vegan recipes and products
• Rain, clouds, stormy skies
• Faeries - I'm a fan of Amy Brown, Nene Thomas, Froud
• Black and White Photography
• Candles - I love tealights and votives, but please see my favorite scents below
• Lanterns, lampposts, rooftops
• Celestial themed things
• Whimsical hearts
• Sparklie stuff like glitter, sequins, crystals, beads, charms, etc.
• Tea (see my tea section below)
• Pez Machines! fun, fun, fun!!!
• Pins/Buttons - the geekier the better! I also like snarky sayings on them. Etsy has some great ones!
• Lip Balms - favorite flavors are things like Dr. Pepper, Cotton Candy, Vanilla, and anything different...not so much a fan of basic fruit flavors
• BPAL (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab) - would love imps!
• LUSH
• Mix CD's or tapes...yes I still have a cassette player - and a record player!
• Postcards - written on, blank, naked, in an envelope...it's all good.
• Bookmarks and book thongs
• Used books
• Moleskine notebooks - any size or format is awesome!
• Zines
• Pirates and pirate themed things, treasure chests
• Octopus
• Hawaiian things and Tikis - especially love vintage
• VW Bugs
• Moroccan inspired things
• Ultra fine point Sharpies
• Pressed pennies
• Hats - love fun/whimsical ones
• Dia De Los Muertos and cute skullies
• Goth - the cuter side of it such as Emily the Strange, Skelanimals, Lenore, things like that. Just think "happy goth" :)
• Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn images
• Alice in Wonderland - any artist including Disney. I'm especially fond of the Mad Hatter and Chesire Cat.
• Disney villians and anything to do with the Haunted Mansion
• Garfield
• Scooby Doo - the original
• Chococat, Charmmy Kitty, Boots, Monokuro Boo
• Hoops & YoYo (Hallmark characters)
• Anything by Tim Burton

My favorite stores are Cost Plus World Market, Pier One, Paper Source, Joann's and Michael's, ThinkGeek, CafePress, Amazon, Borders...or basically anywhere I can find something unique or creative. I also love to find treasures at thrift stores.

TEA...I'm pretty open to most flavors of tea (no licorice or mint) and am into trying new ones. I love Zhena's Gypsy Teas I also love hot apple cider and chai tea lattes (made with soy milk, of course).

CANDY...As you've probably noticed by now, I'm vegan...but that doesn't mean that I'm a pain in the you-know-where to buy candy for :) There are actually a lot of candy options out there. I like chocolate, but it does need to be dairy free, so this limits me to mostly dark chocolate - but even some dark chocolates sneak an ingredient in on you. There are some new vegan candy bars by GoMaxGo that are awesome - any of those flavors would be appreciated. Other than chocolate, I also like strawberry Ring Pops, Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, Dots, Atomic Fireballs, Mambas, Smarties (the U.S. brand), Sweet Tarts, Twizzlers, Pez (I love Pez machines!). And if in doubt, just leave the candy out...wow, poetry skills.

SCENTS...My favorite scents are vanilla (love Warm Vanilla Sugar by Bath & Body Works), spicy fall scents like pumpkin spice, cinnamon, apple. I love BPAL - so many scents I want to try. My top faves from LUSH are "Candy Fluff" (a dusting powder that's super yummy - and sparklie!), Dream Cream Body Cream, Sympathy for the Skin Body Cream, and Handy Gurugu Hand Cream. Yeah, I know these things are rather pricey so I really don't expect to receive any in swaps...but they are fun to write about. Also there is an Etsy store that sells awesome soaps - "madhattersoap" - isn't that the coolest shop name? The soaps there aren't as pricey and have really interesting names. I'm a big fan of essential oils and use them daily (frankincense and lavender heal everything!). I also love the smell of old books, ice rinks, and water rides.

I love fabric! I love Halloween themed fabric, celestial, vintage looking, black and white stripes or swirls, anything that looks gothic. Oh, and because of my years of Polynesian dancing, I also really like Hawaiian prints and batiks.

I'm always in need of various colors of embroidery floss, felt squares and fat quarters.

Any ATC supplies are always appreciated - paper scraps, interesting photos, magazine clippings, old book pages, glitter, sequins, embossing powders, and anything else you can think of that could be put on an ATC :)

• Black
• Crimson Red
• Blue - especially Navy and deep blues
• Olive Green
• Deep Purples
• Orange
• Colors of Halloween and Autumn
• Black and White is my favorite combo (but I like black with any of the colors I've listed as well)

I enjoy most colors, but those are my top favorites. I don't really like pastels, but they are tolerable in small amounts.

• I'm very sensitive to and have an allergy to cigarette smoke - If you smoke and are sending to me, I just ask that you please PM me to let me know so that I can open the package outdoors and let it air out if necessary. Thank you for understanding! It will help prevent a severe migraine. Also, you don't need to put a dryer sheet in with the package - sometimes those things are worse than the smoke! :)
• A lot of perfumes give me a headache and I can't use most lotions because I have sensitive skin. I did list some that I can use in the "obsessions" category.
• Anything made from animal parts or containing animal ingredients
• Mary Engelbreit stuff
• Clowns
• Black licorice
• Artificial sweetener
• Gum
• Mint flavor - especially wintergreen
• Gel pens because they smear too much
• Neon colors - way too bright for me and they remind me of my bad fashion choices of the 80's LOL!
• Yellow is probably my least favorite color, but I like it in some forms or when it's used sparingly (like in a celestial theme).
• Spiders - unless they are cutesy little Halloween type spider images, then it's okay :)
• Butterflies or ladybugs...they're "okay" but not favorites
• Floral, flowery, overly girly, pastel-y

I love, love, LOVE to read! When I was a kid, my parents would reward me for things by asking if I wanted to go to the toy store or the bookstore. I always chose the bookstore. It is magical to me :) My favorites are Young Adult and Children's Literature (probably because I am immature LOL), art and photography books, vegan recipe books, and interesting subjects found in the New Age or Judaica sections. Some of my favorite authors include: Neil Gaiman, Fancesca Lia Block, Jonathan Stroud and Stephen King. I also love short story compilations like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. They're great when you don't have a lot of time to read :) I'm always picking up books on any current subject I'm researching.

I am always so incredibly happy to find used hard cover books on Amazon - especially when I can find them for like a dollar! :) I love buying used books because they always feel broken in and have a sense of history to them. I also like the fact that I'm not contributing to the chopping down of more trees. And you can't beat that old book smell :)

I have been swapping for over 2 1/2 years now and also swap slams in a Yahoo group. I always send my swaps, so if something has not arrived to you in a reasonable amount of time, please pm me so I have a chance to re-send. It's very important to me that my partners receive their swaps! :) Also, if you are sending to me and are going to be late, that's cool...just pm me to let me know so I don't worry that it got lost in the mail or something. I totally understand that life gets really busy and things come up that we haven't planned for. On that note, if I am going to be late, I will pm you before the deadline to let you know (and beg for mercy LOL). I believe that this is supposed to be a fun hobby so I stay away from drama and such :) If you have any questions, just pm me! Thank you for reading :)