Living, Loving, and Laughing in North Carolina

Poppy Seed Nursery Update - Furniture and Bedding

2012-01-30T09:00:00.002-05:00

We have made a start on Poppy Seed's nursery!

I ordered this bedding for her. It came last week and is even cuter in person. I haven't decided what color we're going to paint her room. I'm leaning towards yellow, but I don't have a good track record with picking out yellow paint. And BD is not keen on the idea of painting the room 10x to get the exact right shade of yellow. I have also thought about doing wainscotting on the bottom half of the walls and painting the top half. (Reading this post will be the first BD has heard of that idea so... surprise, BD!)

Her crib and dresser are ordered and should be here in a few weeks.

The other big thing that we still need to get is a glider rocker. This is the one thing that we can't agree on, style wise. BD wants one with an exposed wood frame, similar to this:

And I want a fully upholstered one, similar to this:

There are still a million things we need to get for her and the nursery, but I think this covers it as far as things that have to be ordered.

If you follow my Pinterest boards, you've seen that I've pinned some wall art for her nursery. I'm having trouble finding anything that I really like. It seems that most everything has words on it - which, the quotes are lovely and all...but it's going to be a while until she can read, you know? I'm not really sure what exactly I'm looking for, which is part of the problem. I'm planning to hang the quilt from the crib set on the wall, so that will take up some space, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest.

Tales of the Tail: That's Typical

2012-01-26T10:00:00.003-05:00

Let me paint you a picture...

It's January, so it's cold and dreary outside - perfect weather for settling in on the couch, watching TV, and perhaps taking a long winter's nap.

You've got your pillow situated juuuust right, and you're covered up with your favorite down blanket, and the cold leather couch has warmed up and is nice and cozy.

You flip on the TV guide channel and notice there's a good movie coming on in 10 minutes. You decide a last minute run to the fridge and a trip to the bathroom would be a good idea before you really get settled in for a while.

So you make those last trips in record time - that warm, cozy spot on the couch calling your name the whole time you're gone.

And then you round the corner to the den...only to discover that warm, cozy spot was apparently also calling someone else's name.

Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

2012-01-24T12:30:00.005-05:00

One of my Pinterest boards is titled "I Pinned It So I Did It" and this is the first pin to actually make it on there!

This pie is basically a giant cookie in a pastry pie crust.

I'm just getting back into the swing of baking, so I took the easy way out and used a pre-made, refrigerated crust. I actually think these crusts are pretty good and it definitely saves a lot of time.

You mix all the base ingredients together (butter, eggs, sugar, flour, salt) with a hand mixer.

Next you stir in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and nuts, then pour it all into the pie crust.

It baked for about an hour. I'm still learning the ins and outs of our new ovens so I originally had the timer set for 45 minutes. It was still really jiggly in the middle after 45 minutes and I should have trusted my gut and slid it back in for a while, but I was afraid the crust was getting too brown.

Later when BD tried to cut into it, it was not done!! So I put it back into the oven for another 15 minutes - I had no idea if that would work or would totally ruin it, but we weren't going to eat it the way it was, so I figured it was worth a shot. Turns out, it worked like a charm, and it was much better after the re-bake.

The crust got just a teensy bit browner than my ideal, so next time I'll probably cover the edges with aluminum foil halfway through the bake time.

Let it cool for a while - just like cookies, it needs time to set after coming out of the oven.

My piece:

BD's piece:

Recipe source

Sunday Stitches: Kind of Like Thanksgiving Leftovers

2012-01-22T23:00:00.001-05:00

I just can't seem to get finished with this piece. I've been working on it for several months now but not very diligently so it is taking forever.

It is not very intricate - especially the tail feathers, you can see they are basically just large blocks of the same color - so I make quick progress on it when I actually sit down and work on it. I just don't sit down and work on it very often.

I still have another layer of color to add to the tail feathers and the wording at the bottom: "Count Your Blessings" before it is complete. I do have 2 other new projects waiting behind this one, so maybe that will provide the motivation to go on and get this one done.

Week 20 Poppy Seed Update

2012-01-16T11:00:00.004-05:00

Sugar and spice and everything nice...that's what Baby GIRL Armstrong is made of!!

These are pictures of the ultrasound pictures, so the quality is not great, but the one above shows her profile and the one below shows her upper arm and hand up by her face.

In addition to the exciting "it's a girl" news, we also confirmed that the rest of her anatomy scan looked great - 4 chamber heart, 2 kidneys, etc. She was measuring spot-on for her due date, so we're moving into high gear to prep for her arrival in early June.

How far along? U/S pics taken at 19wks 5d. My pic taken at 20wks 1d.

Size of baby? The size of a cantaloupe - about 10oz, 6.5" long

Total weight gain/loss? +6lbs

Maternity clothes? Some, but not all. I can still wear most of my pre-pregnancy dresses and most of my pre-pregnancy weekend/comfy clothes.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep? Pretty good - I can still sleep on my tummy but not for long stretches of time.

Best moment this week? Finding out that Poppy Seed is a she! I've been saying I thought she was a girl for months now, so I know I at least have a tiny bit of mother's intuition. (And yes, by "mothers intuition" I mean "total guess with a 50/50 shot at being right"!)

Food cravings/aversions? I don't have much of a sweet tooth which is highly unusual for me.

Gender? GIRL!

Belly button in or out? In.

Movement? Yes, I've felt her move a few times -- usually it's when I'm lying flat on my back.

What I miss? Although I do have more energy than I did earlier in this pregnancy, overall I definitely don't have the energy I had pre-pregnancy. I'm sure that's probably not unusual, but I guess I just expected to go back to "normal" after the first trimester. So I miss being able to go-go-go like I did before. Now it's more like go-rest-go-rest.

What I'm looking forward to? Picking out furniture/bedding and starting to put together her nursery.

How's Mommy feeling? I'm not having any issues other than the morning sickness, so I'm feeling pretty good most days. I've started pre-natal water aerobics classes, and I've got a couple of pre-natal yoga/workout DVDs, so it's nice to feel a little more like myself as far as getting regular exercise.

How's Daddy feeling? Already worried about the teenage years.

Milestones? Finding out the gender was the biggie this week. I guess the next thing coming up is the glucose test?

Finally Baking(ish) Again!

2012-01-10T12:00:00.001-05:00

For many months now, I haven't been able to bear the thought of baking. Finally, the awful ~~morning~~ all-day sickness has started to subside, so I pulled out a recipe I've had saved for a while.

Chocolate Cookie Bark

I chose this one because it was really simple and didn't have many ingredients, so the odds were good that I'd actually be able to finish it. Does it really count as baking if I didn't even turn on the oven?

Semi-sweet and white chocolate, oreos, and peanut butter:

Melt the chocolates:

Crumble the oreos:

Mix peanut butter in with white chocolate, then mix half of crumbled cookies into each chocolate.

Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper:

Swirl chocolates together:

Refrigerate until firm, about one hour - and then break into pieces:

Tales of the Tail: Sleepy Boy

2012-01-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Poppy Seed Milestone

2012-01-06T10:00:00.001-05:00

Wearing 1st real maternity top -- 18wks, 5d.

Although I feel big when I look in the mirror, on the grand scale there's still not much of a bump here, which gives me plenty of room to grow into this shirt. But most of my pre-pregnancy tops are getting uncomfortably snug in the chest and belly.

The weather here this week has gone from 10 degrees below average on Tuesday to 10 degrees above average today, so getting dressed with ever shrinking wardrobe options is proving to be increasingly challenging! Luckily I dug through my bin of borrowed maternity clothes and found this lightweight 3/4 sleeve top that is perfect.

Tales of the Tail: Smart, but Not That Smart

2012-01-03T09:30:00.002-05:00

SHHHHHHhhhh! Don't tell him that he could just step right over the chair that's blocking his access to the dining room.

He is under the impression that it is an unscalable barrier, and we are just fine with that.

Welcome 2012!

2011-12-31T14:30:00.000-05:00

BD and I have very low-key plans for NYE, as usual. We were invited to a NYE party, but I am not feeling great, so we'll stay around the house, watch movies, and maybe order in a pizza for supper.

Whatever your plans are for tonight, we hope it is the start to a happy, healthy 2012 for you!

Thanks for reading!

Tales of the Tail: Multitasking

2011-12-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Who says you can't use two ottomans at the same time??

Basketball Firsts

2011-12-27T11:00:00.002-05:00

For the last 4 or 5 seasons, we've purchased Carolina basketball tickets. We pretty much go to every single home game, with the exception of maybe 1 game a season, so we've been to a lot of basketball games at the Smith Center.

This year we've experienced two firsts:

(1) At little background: the seats on the second level at the Smith Center are very close together. Very. Think being on an airplane with 21,000 of your closest friends. If you bring any stuff into the game with you, there is nowhere to put it except to hold it in your lap or shove it under your seat. For that reason we pretty much bring nothing in with us except a jacket or sweatshirt during cold weather. Even with just a jacket, who wants to put that on a grody arena floor? Not me! We learned from watching other people to bring in an empty trashbag to put your stuff in before putting it on the floor.

This season we learned the real purpose of the garbage bag when the jerks behind us spilled two drinks and never bothered to even let us know. The garbage bag was covered in sticky soda but our stuff inside was clean and dry. Lesson learned!

(2) For the most part, Carolina basketball games are very well attended, no matter who the opponent is. BD and I always joke that even if no one else shows up, the people on our row are always there. It is always crowded up there.

Last week we encountered the perfect storm of cold, crappy weather + early weeknight game + no-name opponent, which equaled that we had our entire row of seats to ourselves. It was glorious! We didn't get elbowed or stepped on or jostled all night. There is definitely something to be said about the experience of the electric excitement of an arena filled to capacity with screaming fans, but there's also something to be said for not having to share personal space with a stranger for 2 hours either!

I have photographic evidence because it will probably never happen again.

Virtual Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-25T09:00:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from LA & BD!

Warmest wishes to you and your family for a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

Tales of the Tail: What a Good Dog

2011-12-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

Kip says, "Oh the house is a wreck because we've got painters here? That's fine. Just put my bed down right here, and I'll nap right through all the chaos."

Painting, In Progress

2011-12-21T11:00:00.001-05:00

We have some painting going on at the new house this week. We've always done our own painting until this point, so this was a big deal for us to hire painters.

The two rooms we wanted to have painted are both large, 2-story rooms, so I (along with some help from BD's dad) convinced BD that it was very worth it to have someone come in and paint it.

BD got recommendations and estimates from several local painting companies. The company we selected sent a two man crew and are expecting the job to last 2 days. BD and I couldn't have even gotten the first coat on one room in 2 days!

When they got here yesterday, there was more repair to be done on the walls than they were expecting (knocking drywall screwheads back into the wall, sanding, etc), so we think it's going to take them 2.5 days total.

We've had our colors picked out for a while now, and we've been living with the swatches taped up in different areas to make sure we liked the colors. I usually take an "Eh, it's just paint; it can be repainted" approach to color selection. But when you're paying people to paint, it becomes a lot more important to get it right on the first try!

In the foyer we picked Martha Stewart Cement Gray (color matched in Behr paint) in an eggshell finish. For the den we chose Behr Teal Forest also in eggshell finish.

I was nervous about the den color. We knew it was going to be pretty dark on the walls, but with the tall ceilings and lots of natural light coming in through the windows we were hopeful that it wouldn't overpower the room. Also, we kinda just wanted a big change from the lighter neutrals we usually choose.

And, boy, did we get a big change! This is just the first coat, and I think it looks fantastic. The room looks much warmer and cozier and the white trim really pops.

The flash of the camera caught all of the dust particles in the air from all the sanding they did to get the walls in shape.

Now that the major painting is going to be done, we can start hanging our things on the walls, so this place will really start to feel like our home!

Stay tuned for finished pictures!

Week 16 Poppy Seed Update

2011-12-19T18:00:00.002-05:00

How far along? pictures taken at 16 weeks 1 day

Size of baby? The size of an avocado (4.5" long, 3.5oz)

Weight gain/loss? +4lbs -- On Friday the doctor said I have "gained weight nicely"...which is not a compliment I've ever heard before, LOL.

Maternity clothes? Not really. I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans from Gap that have the demi panel and they are seeing pretty heavy rotation. I'm still wearing mostly pre-pregnancy tops. A couple of weeks ago I got a huge bin of maternity clothes from a stylish friend, so I'm pretty much set when the time comes. Although I'm sure I won't be able to resist adding a thing or two of my own!

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep? I'm usually up at least once a night to either eat a snack or use the bathroom (or both!). I've been falling asleep on the couch and then waking up later to come to bed, but then I'm awake and can't get back to sleep. So I'm trying to not fall asleep on the couch, which works about 50% of the time. I can still sleep on my stomach for now.

Best moment this week? Hearing the heartbeat at the 4-month appointment.

Food cravings/aversions? The only thing I'm craving so far is apple juice. The food aversions change from day to day -- food generally either sounds good or really really not good.

Gender? We'll find out on Jan 13th!

Belly button in or out? In.

Movement? Not yet.

What I miss? Eating normal sized meals at normal times of the day, instead of the few bites every 2 hours I'm eating now.

What I'm looking forward to? Finding out the gender next month and having some time off work in the next couple of weeks.

How's Mommy feeling? Pretty good most days, as long as I don't let myself get too hungry...which is more challenging than it sounds. The ~~morning~~ all day sickness seems to have improved in the last week so that is a really nice change.

How's Daddy feeling? Excited for the next ultrasound. (And hoping the Tar Heels start playing better basketball.)

Milestones? According to the pregnancy books I'm reading, Poppy Seed can now sense light and hear my voice.

Sunday Stitches: Christmas Elves

2011-12-18T09:00:00.002-05:00

Earlier in the fall, or I guess more like the end of summer, I completed my first ever Christmas cross stitch project.

This is a Bent Creek design, stitched on 18ct Natural Light Linen. I have never stitched on fabric as big as 18 count; I usually stitch on much smaller fabric -- between 28 and 32 count -- because I think it makes the stitches look neater and more precise.

The bigger fabric does give it a different look than anything else I've done, so I can appreciate it from that standpoint. But really I wish I had stitched it on smaller fabric. Ah well...live and learn, I guess.

This piece is stitched with a mix of Weeks Dye Works over-dyed floss, metallics, and DMC thread. I had to use 6 strands (instead of the usual 2) to fill up the big holes in the fabric, so I went through a lot of thread - especially the greens.

I love that the elves have little jingle bells stitched onto the ends of their hats.

I still haven't had this one framed yet. I can't decide if I'm going to spend the money on framing or not, since it's not my favorite. I really like the design, so I'm tempted to restitch it on smaller fabric. I think that may push me over the edge into "crazy stitcher lady" territory, so I haven't gone there (yet).

Tales of the Tail: Kip's Favorite Christmas Song

2011-12-15T13:15:00.002-05:00

Christmas Wreath

2011-12-13T08:30:00.002-05:00

I bought a new Christmas wreath for our front door this year. I loved our old wreath, but we had been using the same one for seven or eight years, and it was beginning to show its age.

I was originally planning to just do a little rehab on our existing wreath, but then I found a vendor at a local craft fair with these gorgeous and reasonably priced wreaths. I bought a fall wreath and asked her to make a Christmas wreath for me.

She had it ready for me to pickup in about 2 weeks. I think it looks really great! This house sits a little farther back from the road than our old house did, so I'm glad this one is so big and colorful.

Sunday Stitches: Thanksgiving Turkey

2011-12-11T12:30:00.001-05:00

I'm a little behind on my stitching. I took a break during the 1st trimester when I was too sick to do much of anything except try to keep myself alive.

I started working on this guy a few weeks ago. I knew I wouldn't have him done in time for Thanksgiving, but he can make a debut in 2012.

Poppy Seed

2011-12-07T11:00:00.002-05:00

In case you missed our big announcement, click here.

Thank you for all your excitement and well wishes about our little Poppy Seed!

We found out we are expecting him/her on the same weekend that we closed on our new house. We were already planning to go out and celebrate the house; it turned out we had 2 things to celebrate! (Mostly we just sat and stared at each other and tried not to freak out.)

This is a picture from the day I got the positive test:

Why, yes...we do look a little overwhelmed in this picture! It was a big weekend for us, to say the least.

As the shock began to wear off, the ~~morning~~ all-day sickness began to set in around 6 weeks. I went to the Dr for a confirmation; although I was pretty confident I was either pregnant or had the world's worst stomach virus.

I survived on my own until around week 10, when I was so dehydrated that my lips and fingertips were peeling, and then I called in for reinforcement a.k.a. Zofran. And then the heavens opened and angels sang and I could actually eat (and keep down) real people food like an actual human, instead of the scrambled eggs and ginger ale that I had been living on for the last month.

I am in week 14 now, so bring on the good second trimester that everyone's been promising me! I am feeling much better overall, although I still have good days and bad days.

We have had fun telling our families; they are very excited and have sent us some cute gifts. This is the first grandbaby on BD's side.

In the last few weeks we've started telling our friends and co-workers. It has been nice to not have to pretend to be feeling great when all I really want to do is run for the bathroom. Luckily, I work with mostly men, and they were pretty clueless until I told them.

We did the first trimester screening last week, and it came back negative, so it seems we have a healthy, happy Poppy Seed growing in there! It was really neat to see the difference between the 8 week ultrasound and the 13 week ultrasound.

At 8 weeks, it basically looked like a little alien blob, and you kinda had to squint your eyes and use your imagination to see a baby. Last week at 13 weeks, we could see fingers and toes and waving arms and opening/closing mouth. It was very neat.

We'll do the anatomy scan in early January; as long as Poppy Seed cooperates, we'll find out (and share) the sex.

We Are Thankful For...

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Our newest family member, who will be making his/her debut in early June.

We are so very excited!

I Don't Stand a Chance

2011-11-23T09:00:00.002-05:00

BD and I love to play board games. Recently we've been playing a lot of Yahtzee. He always beats me, which drives my competitive spirit crazy! I keep playing because I'm convinced that one day I'm going to beat him. (I AM.)

The other day, he took the winning to a new level. On the second play of the game he rolls this.

Yahtzee with 6's

A few plays later he rolls this.

Yahtzee with 4's

He beat me by at least 200 points this game. There may have been a tantrum thrown and declarations of "I'm never playing this game with you again!!"

Fall Wreath

2011-11-21T15:00:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend I went to a local craft fair with some friends. I bought a new fall wreath for our front door.

I love how it's a mix of ribbons, florals, and beads. The metallic orange pumpkin (bottom center) is my favorite part.

She also had some gorgeous Christmas wreaths in the booth, but they were already sold. She's going to custom make one for me, and it will be ready in a few weeks. The wreaths were really reasonably priced.

If you're local (Durham-area), email me if you'd like her contact info.

The First (Home) Game of the Season

2011-11-20T20:30:00.002-05:00

For most people, when it starts getting into late fall, their thoughts start turning to the upcoming holidays. Unless you're BD, then your thoughts turn to counting down the days until the first home Carolina basketball game.

I'm just kidding.

He's been counting down to this day since the end of last season.

The day finally arrived today. Carolina had an afternoon home game against Mississippi Valley State University. (Me: Against who? I've never even heard of that team.)

Our new house is only about 15 minutes from our parking spot; that makes it a lot more convenient since ~~BD likes to get to the games before the Smith center doors are unlocked~~ we like to get to the games early.

We got there in plenty of time to see all the warm-ups and watch the players' introductions.

I shot this video to capture how Leslie McDonald likes to dance on the sidelines before tip-off. (He's in a suit because he's injured.) Sorry, it gets a little blurry when I zoomed in on him.

After tip-off I was too busy ~~reading the program~~ watching the game to get any more pictures. But the game was the usual first-home-game-barn-burner, where Carolina won 101-75, and all the bench warmers were in for the last 5 minutes of the game.

My Co-Workers are Animals

2011-11-18T09:30:00.002-05:00

I snapped these pictures of the balcony that's right by my desk at work. I took these pictures while sitting in my desk chair; that's how close these guys are to me.

The glass on the windows is mirrored, so they peck at the glass with their beaks. Sometimes they get really feisty and fling their entire body into the glass - repeatedly.

It's about as conducive to concentrating on work as it sounds.

They are buzzards - I think Turkey Buzzards(?), and there are usually at least 2 of them on the balcony during the sunny part of the day. We've seen up to 6 of them at a time out there.

Building maintanance has put up these little solar powered whirligig things that have metallic streamers on each end to scare off the birds. As you can see, they are really frightened off by it.

House Portrait

2011-11-15T10:00:00.002-05:00

As BD and I started packing up our old house to move, we started talking about taking something with us as a memento of our first house. We have loved this little house and made lots of great memories in it; we knew we couldn't move on without taking a piece of it with us.

I found this Etsy shop and knew that a custom house portrait is exactly what we wanted.

I sent the artist a couple of photos of our house, like this one:

And in a few weeks, we received this 8x10 watercolor image:

We could not be more pleased! The artist did a phenomenal job. She captured all the little details about the house that made it ours -- right down to the garden flag I had in the flowerbed.

I can't wait to have this framed and hung in a place of honor in our new house.

Tales of the Tail: Fenced In

2011-11-14T09:25:00.003-05:00

Kip's new backyard fence was finished last week. You have never seen a dog so happy about being off-leash; I wish I had a video of him. He bounded around the yard and sniffed every square inch and then raced around the perimeter as fast as he could.

The fence at our other house was wooden so he couldn't see out, so this is like a whole new world for him.

The side of the fence that attached to the house and faces the road is black ornamental aluminum.

The sides and back are black vinyl coated chain link.

The black blends in so well with the wooded lot that you probably have to look pretty closely to see it in these pictures.

The fenced in square footage is a little bigger than at our old house, but because the fence doesn't interrupt the line of sight, it seems way bigger.

Here's Kip christening his new yard.

Windows of Death

2011-11-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

So the new house has lots of big windows, especially in the den; it's one of the reasons we bought this house.

What I didn't realize is that these are actually windows of death. Bluebird death, specifically. They keep flying into the big windows; I guess they are defending their territory from what they don't realize is their own reflection in the window.

Luckily they are usually just stunned, not dead, and they recover and fly off in a few minutes.

Tales of the Tail: The New House

2011-11-07T10:00:00.002-05:00

We weren't sure how Kip was going to react to moving to the new house. He is getting old (10.5!) and set in his ways, so we were expecting him to take a while to adjust to his new surroundings.

The first couple of days, he followed us around more than usual and wanted to be right under our feet. We did our best to make him feel comfortable - his bowls and beds and toy bin were all in similar places as the old house. We made it a point to not leave him here by himself for long periods of time.

It didn't take him long to get brave enough to start exploring his new surroundings. It turns out that I'm not the only one who can appreciate the benefits of a soaker tub!

After a few days, he realized that bigger house + lots of windows = more sunny places to nap! Who needs a dog bed when there's a sunny spot on the rug?!

These days I'd say he's pretty comfortable here at the new house. As soon as we get his new fence built, I don't think he'll even remember that he's only lived here a few weeks.

Getting Settled

2011-11-02T10:00:00.002-04:00

We are slowly but surely getting settled in our new house. For the first several days, most rooms looked like a box factory had exploded and left cardboard boxes scattered everywhere.

I think Kip was wondering what strange planet he had landed on.

We are nowhere close to being fully settled but little by little we have more rooms that look like actual people live here. And not people that have a box hoarding problem.

Moving Out, Moving On

2011-10-29T16:02:00.002-04:00

Moving out of our old house was a bittersweet experience. Not only had we lived there for over 7 years (the longest I've lived anywhere since I moved out of my parents' house), but it was also the first house we owned.

We were excited about moving on to our new house and knew that it was a good change for us, but it was still hard to say goodbye.

We hired a local moving company to help us move. This is the same company that moved us into the house 7 years ago, and in fact, the crew leader for this move was the same as last time. These guys were excellent - friendly, professional, and courteous.

To me, hiring movers is absolutely worth every single penny. They showed up at our house at around 9am and for a couple of hours, things looked a little chaotic.

And then, before lunch time, the house was empty and we were on the road to the new house.

After a stop for lunch, we were at the new house and moving in. I directed traffic and the rooms quickly started to fill up with furniture and boxes. By 4pm, the truck was empty and pulling out of the driveway.

We were finally home in the new house.

Big Kitchens

2011-10-06T10:00:00.002-04:00

I have just discovered the downside of having a large kitchen: the amount of shelf paper needed to line the cabinets. I bought ten 12' rolls and used over half of it on the upper cabinets alone.

I know, I know -- first world problems, right? But that is a lot of shelf paper, and I'm only halfway done! So far I've spent about 3 hours measuring and cutting and laying paper.

Decisions, decisions

2011-10-04T14:00:00.002-04:00

The color in the main living areas of our new house is remarkably similar to the color of the main living areas in our current house. We obviously like the color but are ready for a change.

We've decided to go gray in the new house. Over the summer we painted one of the bathrooms in our current house light gray, and we really like how crisp it looks against the white trim.

The new house is full of white trim and big windows that let in a lot of light, so we're going to go with a darker shade of gray.

We grabbed a bunch of paint chips at Home Depot the other day and stuck them up on the wall at the new house. I always think choosing a paint color is so overwhelming -- just look at all of those grays!

Going with our initial reactions to narrow down the options, we eliminated about half. Yes, there are still 10 different paint chips up there -- I guess we have a broad definition of narrowed down.

Historically BD has always picked the paint colors that we really like in our current house. (My choices never look as good in reality as they do on the paint chip.) So I will defer to his final decision, but I'll say that my current favorites are the top 2 vertical rectangles in that photo. I'll let you know if one of those gets picked!

We would like to have at least the den painted before the furniture gets delivered on Friday, just so we wouldn't have to move furniture again to paint. Our ultimate goal is to paint the den and the foyer the same color. Both of those rooms are open to the second story, so that is a lot of painting! I'm pretty sure that plan is too ambitious given the amount of packing we still need to do at our current house before Friday.

Our New House

2011-10-01T19:30:00.002-04:00

BD and I currently live in a small town about 40 minutes north of our office. About a year and a half ago, we started to think about moving closer to work. We have loved living in our little house for the past 7 years, and we really like this area, but the long drive 2x day 5 days a week was getting really old. Most of our friends live down nearer to work and most of our recreational activities are down that way as well, so it wasn't uncommon for us to make that drive again at least once on the weekend.

We've spent the past 18 months looking at houses occassionally; we knew this wasn't something that was going to happen overnight. But I was ~~obsessive~~ diligent about checking the MLS to see if anything fit our criteria. Because this was purely an elective move, we wanted to take our time and make sure we found the right house to fit our needs.

About 2 months ago, I really started to get discouraged with the whole house search process. We weren't seeing much that we liked, and the few we did like were way over priced. Our realtor suggested we expand our search area. I was initally totally against this idea, as our sole purpose of moving was to be closer to work.

I stewed about it for several days, and finally reluctantly expanded my search criteria to a 15 mile radius from our office.

And this popped up in the search results:

I wouldn't say it was total love at first sight, but it was definite strong like. It is 11 miles from work, which is less than half of the 29 miles we currently drive. It is on 1.5 wooded acres. Our feelings were getting stronger quickly.

We showed up for the appointment to tour it, and that's then I saw this:

Have I mentioned that I like to bake? Do you see those double ovens?? I was practically ready to sign my name on the contract standing in the kitchen.

I took a few calming breaths and tried to make my voice return to a pitch that not only dogs could hear. We continued the house tour, and we continued to be impressed - lots of windows, large bedrooms, plenty of closets.

We finished the tour and went home to think it over. BD and I are not quick decision makers; we mull and stew and talk and think, and then talk and think some more. But the more we discussed it, the more we became sure that this was the house -- our house.

And then we got a call from our realtor: there was another offer on the house - what did we want to do? For once in our lives, it did not take us long to make the decision: we wanted to put in an offer.

A couple of stressful days later, we were under contract! We closed on the new house on Friday, so it's officially ours.

The last few weeks have been a busy whirlwind. There are several rooms in our house that look like this, with plenty more to still be packed.

The moving truck is scheduled for this upcoming Friday.

Lemon Cheesecake

2011-08-16T12:30:00.001-04:00

Since my s'mores cheesecake was such a hit a few weeks ago, I thought I'd give cheesecake another try. I looked in my America's Test Kitchen Baking cookbook for a plain New York style cheesecake. BD was peeking over my shoulder and spied a recipe for lemon cheesecake.

Can you guess which one I ended up making?

This one has crust made from animal crackers instead of the typical graham cracker crust.

The recipe had a bunch of fussy instructions about cooking the cheesecake in a water bath -- in the springform pan inside of a roasting pan filled with hot water. I didn't have a roasting pan big enough to hold the springform pan anyway, so I skipped that part and just baked it directly in the springform pan.

I baked it for less time than the recipe instructed, and it came out perfectly after about an hour.

The cheesecake batter has lemon juice in it, and it also has a fresh lemon curd topping. I've never made any type of curd before, but this one was easy enough to do. It refrigerated while the cheesecake cooled.

I let both the cheesecake and the lemon curd chill in the fridge overnight. The cheesecake top cracked a little as it cooled.

After I spread the topping, it went back into the refrigerator for several hours. This probably wasn't necessary since it has already chilled overnight, but I wanted to be certain that the cheesecake was set.

It was finally ready to eat so I removed the springform pan. The sides had browned up nicely when it baked.

I was a little worried about the texture because I had used reduced fat cream cheese, but it was perfect!

How come the first slice of pie never comes out looking good? It may not have looked pretty, but it tasted pretty delicious!! The cheesecake is rich and creamy and the lemon curd has just enough tangy to make a good balance to the sweetness.

Beach Souvenir

2011-08-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

When we were on vacation on Hilton Head Island last month, BD found two sand dollars in the ocean. I had never seen live sand dollars, so I was excited!

Live sand dollars look nothing like the beautiful white sand dollar shells that you see in souvenir shops, so I had to google to find out what to do with them.

The process for preserving the shells was pretty easy - first we soaked them in fresh water. We did this at the condo while we were still at the beach.

We brought them home with us in a ziplock bag, and the next step is to soak them in diluted bleach.

They didn't come completely clean, so this took a few repetitions.

Finally they were completely white. They are really fragile, so BD coated them with diluted glue to make them a little stronger.

Then we had to figure out what to do with them. We had a self-portrait that we took on the beach, so I thought it would be cute to display them together.

I found a shadow box frame at the crafts store, but it was only available in black or dark brown -- not a very beachy color.

Time for the magic of spray paint!

After the frame was painted (Rustoleum brand in Lagoon from Home Depot, if you're interested), I arranged the picture and sand dollars on the mat.

I wrote the location and date on the smaller sand dollar, so we could remember where it came from and then assembled everything together.

It's living on the mantle for now until I decide on a permanent location.

Turkey...It's Not Just for Thanksgiving Anymore

2011-08-10T13:30:00.001-04:00

If you would have asked me yesterday I would have told you that I'd never cooked a turkey. Nope, not even for Thanksgiving. We usually do something non-traditional for Thanksgiving, or we call up our friends at the Honeybaked Ham Co.

Today I could tell you that I can cook a mighty fine turkey in the slow cooker.

I did a 5lb turkey breast in our 6qt slow cooker.

Here's the down and birdy:

(get it?! instead of down and dirty?! hahaha! I kill me!)

(1) Defrost the turkey for 24 hrs (or so) in the fridge, then pat dry with paper towels

(2) Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker

(3) Chop an onion (I used yellow) and stuff a few in the rib cavity and put the rest around the turkey

(4) Pour in 2 cups of white wine and 1 stick of butter

That's it!

I cooked it on low for 8 hours, and it was perfectly done when we got home from work. And, the house smelled delicious!

The meat practically fell off the bone when BD tried to slice it.

I'm not so great with the food photo staging, obviously, but you get the point. We ate this with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli with cheese sauce.

recipe source

Cookies N Cream Cookies

2011-08-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

I can't find the source of the recipe I used for these cookies. They are basically a chocolate chip cookie dough with crushed Oreos instead of chocolate chips.

The dough is really sticky -- a cookie scoop is very helpful.

I got 30 cookies out of the batch. (And I obviously didn't bother to clean off the counter before baking!)

The cookies baked up perfectly on a silicone mat. They are a yummy twist on the traditional chocolate chip!

Honey Crunchy Chicken

2011-08-05T11:00:00.002-04:00

A healthier version of a common Chinese restaurant meal...recipe and source below.

We started with broccoli, red bell pepper, and sugar snap peas -- sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic.

Dip chicken pieces in egg whites and then dredge in corn starch.

Sautee coated chicken pieces in olive oil. The cornstarch will give the chicken a crispy tempura-like batter.

Add veggies back into skillet -- toss in honey (about 1/4 cup) and soy sauce.

Serve over white rice.

Honey Crunchy Chicken

2 whole Egg Whites

⅓ cups Cornstarch Or Flour

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 cup Broccoli Florets

½ whole Red Pepper, Thinly Sliced

¾ cups Sugar Snap Peas

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 clove Garlic, Minced

1 pound Thin Sliced, Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

¼ cups Honey

Salt And Pepper

Prepare and slice all veggies. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add veggies with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in soy sauce and garlic and stir so veggies are coated, about 60 seconds. Remove from skillet and set aside in a bowl.

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat the same skillet (or you can use a different one, I just use the same to make it easier) over medium-high heat and add remaining olive oil. Dip chicken pieces in egg whites and then lightly dredge in cornstarch or flour. (The cornstarch will yield a crispier tempura-like batter.) Add to the skillet and let brown for 2-3 minutes, then flip. Continue with remaining chicken pieces, and do so in batches if needed.

Once chicken is cooked, add veggies back in the skillet. Add honey and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce. Serve with rice.

source

Tales of the Tail: No, Really...He Thinks He's A Person

2011-08-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Everybody Likes [Strawberry] Parfait

2011-08-01T09:30:00.002-04:00

Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!

Shrek: NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later.

Donkey: Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet!

*************************

I made these back in May but just realized I never posted about it. I got this idea from a pie made by one of my co-workers and just adapted it for parfaits.

Hull and wash a handful of strawberries.

Slice, sprinkle with sugar and set aside.

Crush up cookies of your choice. I used Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux cookies, but really anything would work for this.

Combine a package of cream cheese, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, and 1 pkg of instant vanilla pudding with 2 cups of cold milk. Put it in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up.

Layer cookies, pudding mixture, strawberries, and cool whip. Repeat layers, ending with cool whip.

Sunday Stitches: Together

2011-07-31T21:15:00.001-04:00

I finished the project I was working on last week. I can't remember exactly when I started this piece, but it went very quickly -- I think it took me 2 weeks or so.

This is a Heart in Hand design stitched over 2 on 32ct Amber linen with over-dyed threads.

It is a mix of green and pinky-purple colors; the letters are dark brown.

Right now I'm thinking I'll probably frame it in a dark brown wooden frame with maybe a pink or purple mat, but I usually change my mind once I get to the framer's and look at all the options.

I have my next project picked out -- a Christmas piece. The supplies are ordered, but I haven't received them yet.

Tales of the Tail: A Strange Definition of Comfortable

2011-07-29T09:30:00.002-04:00

He has the entire house to find a place to lay down. And yet he always chooses the most uncomfortable looking spots.

Curled around the laptop, even though the entire other end of the love seat (not to mention the entire other couch) is free.

Spine curved backward around the leg of the loveseat.

Best of Both Worlds

2011-07-28T11:20:00.003-04:00

Two truths:

(1) Brownies are my favorite food of all times. Notice that I did not limit that statement to "desserts" but included all categories of food.

(2)The best part of making chocolate chip cookies is eating the raw batter. Amirite?

This recipe combines the best of both worlds, in a sugar-shock inducing way.

It starts with a pretty basic brownie recipe...melted unsweetened chocolate.

Butter (lots) and brown sugar...

Some other steps that I forgot to capture and then voila! hot, fresh brownies come out of the oven.

Once the brownies are baked, then cooled...you make the chocolate chip cookie dough that goes on top of the brownie. That's right...brownie on bottom...cookie dough on top.

I'll pause for a moment while you absorb the deliciousness of this situation.

Do you now fully understand how good this is going to get? Okay, let's continue.

Sugar, butter, vanilla, a little milk, flour, and mini chocolate chips. (No eggs, so you're safe on that front.)

Then spread on top of the cooled brownies.

Refrigerate for a while before cutting.

I was smart enough to make these to bring for game night at a friend's house, so I packed them up right away before they had a chance to tempt me too much. ~~I was really too full from eating the leftover cookie dough batter to be too tempted.~~ I showed tremendous self-restraint and put them back in the fridge without sampling one.

The Food We Ate on Summer Vacation

2011-07-27T12:00:00.002-04:00

Last week BD and I spent a few days on Hilton Head Island, SC for summer vacation.

One of the nice things about staying in a condo on vacation is having access to a full kitchen, so you don't have to go out for every single meal. But it just wouldn't be vacation if we didn't go out at least a few times!

One night we went out to a nice dinner at Alligator Grille.

We split a sushi roll for an appetizer. The service was very slow, but it was worth the wait. This was a Po Boy roll -- fried oysters and mixed veggies -- excellent! There was also an Alligator Roll that sounded very tasty. If you've never had alligator meat (comes from the tail) you don't know what you're missing!

I had bone-in chicken breast with mushroom truffled whipped potatoes and grilled asparagus.

BD had the filet with potato puree, grilled veggies, and veal glaze.

One night we ordered takeout pizza from New York City Pizza.

This was Mario's Mexican pizza -- steak, refried beans, red onions, jalapenos, and avocado.

This one was a margherita pizza -- roma tomatoes, garlic, mozzarella, and basil.

(Yes, we ordered 2 pizzas for 2 people. Notice that I didn't post a picture of how embarrassingly little pizza was left after we ate!)

One morning we tried Flamingo's Doughnut Cafe for an indulgent breakfast.

I had the House Special -- 2 doughnuts topped with sliced bananas and strawberries, whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate.

BD had 2 custom made doughnuts -- on the left is strawberry glaze topped with white chocolate chips; on the right is maple glaze topped with pecans, cinnamon/sugar, and honey drizzle.

The worst part of vacation is coming home to the realization that I can't eat doughnuts for breakfast and pizza for supper everyday. BOO.

What is This...A Food Blog??

2011-07-26T15:00:00.003-04:00

(Everyone that knows me in real life is laughing hysterically at the idea of me writing a food blog!)

With jobs that we don't leave until well after 5pm and a 35 minute commute, the slow cooker is my friend. I need food to be ready quickly when we get home, or we resort to picking up take out every night. Either that or we end up grazing on weird combinations of whatever we can rustle up out of the fridge/pantry.

Yesterday I threw 3 ingredients into the slow cooker that yielded a delicious result.

1# of stew meat plus a can of french onion soup and a can of cream of mushroom (yes, the dreaded "cream of"...apologies to my sister...) for 5 hours on low.

Food doesn't actually look that appetizing when it is in the slow cooker, does it?

Cooked some egg noodles quickly as soon as we walked in the door.

And, supper's on the table in 15 minutes. (A quick steam of green beans, tossed with lemon juice and black pepper made a nice side...)

Nest Watch 2011 -- Update

2011-07-26T09:10:00.005-04:00

I am sorry to report that the eggs in the Robin's nest on our front door wreath appear to be abandoned. We haven't seen the mama bird in over a week. None of the eggs have hatched, and it is well past their 14 day incubation period.

I'm not sure if there was too much human activity around that door, or if something happened to the mama bird or what.

S'mores Cheesecake

2011-07-25T12:00:00.002-04:00

Or, as I like to call it, A Little Slice of Delicious.

Actually, I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake. It is always so rich that I can only take a few bites -- and that's saying something, coming from me.

However...I do like s'mores. So when I saw this recipe I thought I'd give it a shot.

(Plus, it gave me an excuse to buy a springform pan!)

So now, without further aideu, I present...S'mores Cheesecake:

It has a graham cracker crust.

It has milk chocolate cheesecake.

It has marshmallow topping.

It has a very delicious taste.

Chicken Salad

2011-07-24T19:30:00.000-04:00

I am a fan of chicken salad. I especially love it in the summer as a light but filling meal on a hot day. Recently BD's co-worker brought in this version and shared the recipe with me.

You start by poaching the chicken -- onion, carrot, celery, fresh parsley and thyme.

After the chicken was poached, cooled, and diced you add in celery, green onion, fresh dill and parsley.

Light mayo, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper make up the dressing.

Mix the dressing into the chicken and refrigerate to let the flavors combine.

We ate this on Ritz crackers and really enjoyed it. It made plenty for a meal for 2 plus leftovers.

Sunday Stitches

2011-07-24T12:00:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted pictures of my recent cross stitch projects. I know you've been on pins and needles waiting for an update!

I finished the piece I was working on last time and picked it up from the framer's over the weekend.

I also finished the companion piece and had it framed as well.

I love the metallic threads for the bubbles -- I ended up liking this piece better than the first one.

This one is my first foray into holiday pieces. I have another really cute Halloween pattern and a Christmas pattern that I'd like to get finished this year.

The stitching on this one is finished, but I'm waiting on a few buttons I ordered to add onto the border before it is totally complete.

This is the one I'm working on currently. I broke my self-imposed rule of "no more kitchy sayings" with this one. Right after I took this picture I found an error and had to unstitch and restitch half of the border. I guess that's what I get for breaking my own rules.

Hilton Head Island, SC

2011-07-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

On Saturday BD and I loaded up our faithful companion and hit the road.

We spent 5 days on beautiful, sunny Hilton Head Island, SC. It was our first trip to HHI, and we had so much fun! BD and I both grew up going to the Gulf Coast beaches of Alabama and Florida and until now have been disappointed with the Atlantic Coast beaches. But with HHI we have finally found an Atlantic Coast beach that compares to the Gulf Coast! We loved HHI; it is very dog-friendly so we did not have a problem finding accomodations that welcomed Kip.

We spent many, many hours relaxing on the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect - highs in the low 90s, sunny, and breezy.

Our condo was across the street from the beach, about 150ft from the beach access trail. We stayed in the South Forest Beach area, and it was just what we hoped it would be. The beach-front condos are low-rise and set back from the beach, so it feels very secluded but is still super convenient.

HHI has miles and miles of public walking/bikes trails, so we had fun exploring the island with Kip at our side. There were shops and restarants within easy walking distance to our condo.

During the summer dogs are allowed on the beach before 10am and after 5pm. Kip is not too sure about the ocean but loved meeting people and dogs out for their evening walks. At first I was disappointed that he didn't want to go bounding merrily out into the water like the other dogs we saw, but then it dawned on me...no wet dog = no wet dog smell!

Beach towel burrito doggie

We relaxed on the beach, read books, watched movies, hung out with our dog...a fabulous time was had by all.

Summer Vacation

2011-07-20T19:30:00.004-04:00

Surf, sun, and sand...that's my kind of vacation!

Nest Watch 2011

2011-07-12T19:00:00.001-04:00

On Friday morning of last week, when Kip, BD, and I got back from our early morning walk, we startled a bird that had been roosting on the front door basket wreath. We looked more closely and discovered she wasn't just roosting...she was building a nest.

I do not like birds (I don't trust those beady little eyes.), so me and my heart of stone wanted to rip the nest down immediately. Luckily for the bird, BD is much more nuturing than I am and vetoed my destructive plans.

By Saturday morning, we still hadn't been able to see what type of bird was building the nest. The wreath hangs on the glass storm door so she flutters off if you even walk near the front porch -- from outside or inside the house. We were finally able to catch a glimpse of her by leaving the front door open just a crack and peeking around it from across the room. If you look closely in this picture you can see it is a Robin.

Later in the day on Saturday we discovered she was building that nest with a purpose!

We read online that a normal robin brood is typically 3-5 eggs, so we were disappointed when we thought she only laid one egg.

Turns out she was just taking her time...

By Monday we were expecting triplets.

I think the current situation officially qualifies as a "flock"!

The internet says the eggs will hatch in 14 days, so we'll keep our eye on our newest tenants.

Tales of the Tail: Verrrrry Comfy

2011-05-19T10:00:00.001-04:00

I think Kip takes it as a personal challenge to see how fast he can un-make the bed after I've made it every morning.

And then he gets in my spot with his head on my pillow to rub it in that he doesn't have to get up early and go to work. One day I'm going to remake the bed while he's in it just to show him who's boss.

HAHAHAHA....nevermind...he's totally the boss.

Tales of the Tail: Peanuts! (almost)

2011-05-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

As we were gathering up recycles for the recycle bin, Kip absconded with the plastic jar of peanuts. There were just a few old, stale peanuts in the bottom of the jar, so we let him have a go at getting it open.

The lid took some pretty heavy abuse, but he wasn't ever able to get all the way off.

Thwarted again by the lack of opposable thumbs!

Sunday Stitches: A Perfect Ending

2011-05-15T11:00:00.002-04:00

A big stack of books and a bathtub overflowing with bubbles? Why yes, that is A Perfect Ending!

This is a 'The Cross-Eyed Cricket' design stitched on 32ct linen. It is a smaller piece, about 6"x6".

The pictures don't capture it well but the bubbles are stitched with a metallic thread that makes them a realistic shimmery translucent color - very neat!

Creatures

2011-05-14T19:15:00.001-04:00

Each year, for a few nights in the late spring, a baby bird roosts on the top of one of our front porch columns. Our tiny visitor was here this week, so were were careful not to scare it when we went out in the evenings to walk Kip. It was always gone the next morning when BD went out for the paper.

It is neat that each year the birds find the same spot to stay safe. I have no idea what type of bird it is but it the same same color/size every time.

We have a different type of creature roosting on the couch.

Tales of the Tail: Enjoying the Pretty Spring Weather

2011-05-12T08:00:00.002-04:00

Wait. What are we cheering for?*

2011-05-11T14:25:00.001-04:00

Scene: Armstrong living room

BD: The wind is my least favorite element.

LA: Element? What do you mean?

BD: You know...element. Like the classic elements...Wind, Water, Fire, Earth...

LA: Isn't that a music group?

BD: That's Earth Wind and Fire.

LA: Oh...

LA: So, you're scared of the wind?

BD: I said it was my least favorite.

LA: Wait. How is Earth an element?

BD: :stunned silence:

BD: ...what?

LA: How is Earth an element? Isn't Earth like the container that houses all of the elements? How can it also be an element?

BD: OMG. NO, not Earth like the planet. Earth. Like GROUND. Like DIRT. Let's change the subject.

End Scene

*When we were in college, my bff Liz, BD, and I all went to a basketball game. Liz and BD were much more into sports than me, but I was doing my best to pay attention and participate. At one point, we were all standing up cheering; I was celebrating with the best of them - cheering, whistling, etc. After a minute I turned to Liz and BD and said, "Wait. What are we cheering for?"

To this day, over 10 years later, we all still use that phrase when someone ~~usually me~~ says something dumb.

Not Bad for a Point-and-Shoot

2011-05-09T08:30:00.002-04:00

Here are some shots that BD has captured of our spring blooms...

Double Knock-Out Rose

Mandevilla, with snapdragons in the back ground. The mandevilla has now been planted by the mailbox, so it will climb up the post.

Asiatic Lillies

Azalea

More Double Knock-Outs

Snapdragon

A Perfect Marriage

2011-05-06T15:10:00.002-04:00

Of course I mean mine and BD's...

*snort*

Clearly, I am talking about the marriage of chocolate and peanut butter...and this easy-peasy cake proves it.

Recipe

It is a regular box-mix Devil's Food chocolate cake, prepared in in two 8-in round pans. The filling in between the layers is vanilla pudding mixed with peanut butter. The icing is made with the remainder of the pudding/pb filling mixed with cool whip.

For the garnish I dipped peanuts in melted dark chocolate and dropped it by tablespoons on wax paper.

BD liked the frosting better than the filling. He thought the filling was a little too gooey. Probably a little less peanut butter in the filling would solve that problem. Or you could use the frosting as the filling.

2011 Spring Landscape Tour

2011-05-05T10:00:00.003-04:00

We have some pretty things blooming in our flowerbeds this year. When you're walking up the driveway to the front door, you see the bed that runs along the sidewalk:

In this front corner, we planted snapdragons. They have bloomed out a lot more since I snapped these pics. The blooms are a really pretty orangey-yellow. None of them were bloomed out when we got them, so we had no idea what color they would turn out to be.

To the right around the corner, there are a few more snapdragons and then the daylillies start. And, of course, we still have those weird little miniature Christmas trees that BD loves. My mom validated his insistence that those things stick around by saying she liked them when she was visiting recently. So...thanks for that, Mama. ;)

Next, we have the daylillies that we planted last year. They have come back in so full and healthy this year! They will bloom a bit later in the summer.

More daylillies and the garden flag...

On the front steps I put asiatic lillies in pots. I've also put some ferns out since I took these pictures, so it doesn't look quite so blank up on the porch itself. One fern is hanging and one is in a planter by the door.

The Asiatic lillies are beautiful but that yellow pollen stains everything it touches! The bright green in the bottom of the pot is Creeping Jenny. I love that stuff and plant it every summer - it grows so fast!

On the right side of the house we have the rose bed. There are also loropetalum bushes and those greeny-yellow bushes (not the official name). This year BD trimmed up the Maple tree that is in the center of that flower bed, so the loropetalum bushes are getting more sun and blooming better.

You can also see our garden supervisor in the left-hand corner of this picture. That guy is always laying down on the job.

Roses, In Bloom

2011-05-04T11:00:00.001-04:00

It's sort of like time-lapse photography:

Tuesday, April 26

Wednesday, April 27

Friday, April 29

Measuring Time

2011-04-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, BD and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, we bought ourselves a wall clock.

I often tell people that we are the oldest 30 year olds on the planet...we still get the newspaper delivered everyday; we still have a land line phone; we both wear wristwatches -- all things that people our age generally don't do, so I guess this just fits right in with that image. I'm pretty sure we are the youngest people that had darkened the door of the clock shop in a while.

The traditional 8 year anniversary gift is bronze, and while we generally don't follow those guidelines, it is a nice coincidence that the numbers and the hands on this clock are bronze.

We didn't have a whole lot to pick from in the key-wound chiming wall clock selection, so I was happy that we were able to find one that suits our style - simple and clean lines, not overly ornate. This is a Howard Miller clock.

We are still getting used to the tic-tocking and the chiming. I grew up with a chiming clock at my parents' house, so I know from experience that in a few days we won't even hear it. But when it woke me up at 4am this morning, I had serious doubts about this purchase. Luckily, it does have a silent mode if we get desperate.

The night we hung it and set the time on it was mildly traumatizing for Kip. After it gets wound and the time is set, it takes the clock a while to self-adjust and start chiming correctly. At :15 it chimes 4 notes, at :30 it chimes 8 notes, at :45 it chimes 12 notes, and on the hour it chimes the full 16 note Westminster chime and then strikes the number of hours. The first time it chimed was at 10pm. I was watching TV, BD was upstairs taking a shower, and Kip was asleep on the couch. Kip jolted off the couch when it started chiming and ran over to stare up at the clock. Then he ran around the corner of the couch and peeeeked over at the clock. After it stopped, he creeped out cautiously and stared at me indignantly. He adjusted pretty quickly - when it chimed again at 10:15, he didn't even open his eyes.

Sunday Stitches: Framed Projects

2011-04-17T15:00:00.002-04:00

Last weekend I picked up two of my cross stitch pieces from the framer's. I showed the un-framed versions here and here.

I chose to do this one with a solid black frame and no mat, since the piece itself is bright and busy. The frame does have some detail to it, but you can't see it in the photo.

This frame is red metal. It is the first metal frame I've used. I think it fits with this casual piece.

I had BD hang them in the stairway, where they can be seen from the den. I did the one on the bottom left several years ago. It has been hanging there, in a slightly different spot, by itself since I finished it.

They look off balance in these shots - it's hard to get a good picture in the stairway! - but they aren't really.

Springtime!

2011-04-15T11:00:00.002-04:00

I recently found a new spring wreath for the front door. I thought this one was neat since it was in a basket instead of the usual round wreath form. The bright pink and lime green combo looks really springy to me.

Our house sits fairly far back from the road, so I like to have something big and colorful enough that it makes an impact.

Someone was spying on me while I stood outside on the sidewalk and took pictures.

Professionalism At Its Finest

2011-04-11T09:30:00.000-04:00

Recently I went to a professional association meeting to hear a co-worker give a presentation. I had to pay dues to attend the meeting. This is how the charge showed on my credit card statement:

Society of Quality Ass (Services and Merchandise)

Good thing I didn't see that charge before the meeting; I would have been expecting an entirely different type of presentation!

I'm also glad I didn't have to show the credit card statement to get reimbursed from accounting. That would have been a little awkward.

Tales of the Tail: Trust Me, I Couldn't Make This Up If I Tried

2011-04-02T15:15:00.002-04:00

Last Monday Kip started acting stiff on his newly repaired right knee. We thought we had just over-exerted him on Sunday evening's exercise walk, so we let him take it easy for a few days.

By Wednesday he was not putting any weight on the leg at all.

We took him back to the specialist on Thursday morning who sedated him to do x-rays. The x-rays showed that his body was rejecting the metal plate and screws that were put in place during his TPLO surgery in January. The screws were "backing out" and had created space between the metal plate and his leg bone where an infection was growing. Luckily the hardware is only there to stabilize the bones until they heal from the original surgery, and the x-rays confirmed that the bones are healed, so they were able to go in and remove the plate and screws.

I mean, really. Could anything else possibly go wrong with this dog?! [Don't answer that.]

They told us that removing the hardware is much less invasive than inserting it, so it shouldn't be as traumatic.

By Friday he was already walking on the leg again. Turns out that not having an infected metal plate in your leg makes it feel better.

Hopefully we are (finally, for real this time) on the road to recovery.

In the Slow Cooker

2011-03-13T14:14:00.003-04:00

It's not really soup weather, as it is warm, sunny, and beautiful here today. But Chicken Enchilada Soup sounded really good (and super easy - recipe below)!

Recipe:

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 can corn (or 1 package frozen corn)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, diced
1 can (10 oz.) enchilada sauce
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
2 whole chicken breasts (uncooked)
8 oz. pepper jack cheese, shredded

Combine beans, tomatoes, corn, onion and pepper in slow cooker. Place chicken on top. Whisk together the sauce, soup and milk; pour mixture over ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours (or high for 3 to 4 hours). Top with shredded cheese before serving. Yields 8 servings.

Tales of the Tail: Afternoon Nap

2011-03-11T15:45:00.001-05:00

When I die, I want to come back as my dog.

Bringing LA Flavor to NC

2011-03-10T09:30:00.004-05:00

For the last several years, I've made king cake for my co-workers. It's fun here because king cake is very uncommon so everyone is really excited and impressed with it.

This year I did a filling of brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. I think toasted pecans would also be good, but I didn't think of that until it was too late.

I don't hide a baby because I can't find them here. I've tried to order them online, but they only come in lots of 250. Seeing as I only make one or two king cakes a year, it would take me a while to use them all. Besides, it doesn't matter who got the baby, I'm still the one bringing the cake next time.

This year I also attempted to make moon pies, which are a lesser known Mardi Gras treat. But I messed up the dough and the cookies turned out puffy instead of flat.

The cookies need to be thin and flat to stack correctly when you put the marshmallow filling in between. I was supposed to roll out the dough and use cutters to make flat circles. The dough was really sticky and I got frustrated because my circles kept getting mishapen when I tried to move them from the counter to the tray. So instead I used a cookie scoop which worked better, except I didn't think to flatten out the dough balls before baking.

Oh well. No one here even associates Moon Pies with Mardi Gras so I might just try them again and no one will know that they are "out of season." Who am I kidding...it's cookies with marshmallow filling covered in chocolate...no one would care even if they did know!!

Merry Christmas in March

2011-03-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

I have finally spent some of the money I got for Christmas.

I have always wanted a waffle iron and I plan to put this to good use on the weekends. It's a "3-in-one" so the waffle plates flip over to make a grill and a griddle space. Although I'm not sure what the difference is between a grill and a griddle? So I guess I'll need to figure that out at some point.

The slow cooker replaces our other one that we've had since we got married. The handle had broken off of it, so I had to either use pliers to turn it on and off or get BD to do it for me. It also didn't have a timer, so I couldn't use it during the week. Most recipes only cook in the slow cooker for 8 hours, and we are gone from the house longer than that each day. The new slow cooker can be set to cook for a certain amount of time and then it turns itself down to a warm setting. Fancy!

I've already used this several times, and it has worked well. It is wonderful to come home in the evenings and supper is already ready!

And now, for something more fun than kitchen appliances, some new clothes and a new pair of sandals for the spring! These are boc which is a Born company, so they have really comfortable footbeds. Bring on the warm weather!

These light colored trouser jeans looked "summery" to me.

And I always love anything with ruffles, so this shirt was perfect!

I still have a little bit of money left, so I think I may add these sandals to my collection.

Shellac-ed Nails

2011-03-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

I love the way my nails look with a fresh manicure. I don't love the way I usually smudge them before I even leave the salon. I also like to leave my nails natural because I don't like the feel of the acrylic overlay.

I have found the perfect solution: Shellac.

Shellac goes on like nail polish, so there is no damage to the nail unlike with acrylics. It's similar to a regular manicure - bottom coat, color, top coat - but after each layer your nails "bake" under a little UV lamp to set the polish. Immediately after the top coat is finished, the polish is basically indestructible. Oh, and the finish lasts 2 weeks. Hallelujah!

It was a bit more expensive than a regular manicure but took the same amount of time (about 45 minutes).

The only downside is that not every color is available; I originally wanted black but the closest color was a dark brown. So instead I opted for the traditional French. There are several other brands with a similar product (Shellac is made by CND; OPI also has one, and the salon I use had one other that I can't recall the name), so there are enough choices to find a good color.

What a Game/What a Season

2011-03-05T23:50:00.018-05:00

Carolina beat Duke tonight in Chapel Hill to win the ACC regular season championship. The game was exciting and incredibly loud. My ears are still ringing. BD is hoarse from cheering.

Cutest shirt I spotted: "Get rid of carbs - Flush a Dookie" - HAHAHAHA! I'm not sure if that really even makes sense, but it made me laugh.

The end to the regular season means we had to bid adieu to the fellow faithfuls in our section - The Yankee Yappers, The Personal Space Invader, Mr. My-Under-Armour-Shirt-Shows-Off-My-Man-Boobs, Mr. I-Haven't-Washed-My-Hair-Since-The-Last-Time-You-Saw-Me, and his wife Ms. Oh-Yes-You're-Going-To-See-My-Butt-Crack-At-Some-Point-During-The-Game.

Just A Dog

2011-03-03T12:00:00.001-05:00

From time to time people tell me, “Lighten up, it’s just a dog,” or, “That’s a lot of money for just a dog.” They don’t understand the distance traveled, time spent, or costs involved for “Just a dog.” Some of my proudest moments have come about with “Just a dog.”

Many hours have passed with my only company being “Just a dog,” and not once have I felt slighted. Some of my saddest moments were brought about by “Just a dog.” In those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “Just a dog” provided comfort and purpose to overcome the day.

If you, too, think its “Just a dog,” you will probably understand phrases like “Just a friend,” “Just a sunrise,” or “Just a promise.” “Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. “Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that makes me a better person. Because of “Just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

For me and folks like me, it’s not “Just a dog.” It’s an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday people can understand it’s not “Just a dog.” It’s the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “Just a man or woman.”

So the next time you hear the phrase “Just a dog,” smile, because they “Just Don’t Understand”.

- Author Unknown

Yummy AND Delicious

2011-03-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

BD and I have been watching DVR'd episodes of America's Test Kitchen. We saw an episode where they made a coconut layer cake, and BD was instantly smitten. BD's grandmother makes an excellent coconut cake that everyone in the family raves about, so I knew I had to try this recipe to see how it compares to Nonnie's.

I pulled out my ATK Family Baking cookbook and found the recipe. It took me a few days to gather up all of the necessary ingredients (come to find out, my local grocery store doesn't carry cake flour OR coconut extract - argh!), but by this weekend I had everything on hand.

As usual, with all of the testing that goes into their recipes, this one was full of tips on how to make sure it turned out perfectly. The recipe was straight-forward and easy to follow.

And it really did turn out well!

I am not a big fan of coconut, but even I think this cake is excellent.

I chose to toast the coconut before topping the cake with it to add a little more color and bring out the nutty flavor.

BD raved about this and has been secretly eating pieces for breakfast in the mornings.

Sunday Stitches: 2 Snowmen in a Photobooth

2011-02-27T16:32:00.000-05:00

Some progress from last week:

Tales of the Tail: A (hopefully small) Setback

2011-02-26T15:35:00.002-05:00

On Friday of last week Kip stopped using his newly repaired knee and went back to hopping around on 3 legs. He had been putting weight on it consistently for about a week at that point, so we were concerned. We were scheduled to see the specialist on Tuesday for his 4-week checkup, but unfortunately the doctor came down with the flu so the appointment was pushed back until Friday.

When we saw the doctor he said it looked as if there is an infection in Kip's knee. There is fluid on the joint from the infection which is causing pain. He said that it is most likely from Kip licking the incision while it was still open and healing. The good news is that the doctor was able to confirm that the repair itself is okay.

We're back on another 10-days of antibiotics to clear up the infection. Hopefully soon he'll be back on the mend again. He is resting comfortably and still in good spirits.

Sunday Stitches: Dog Lessons

2011-02-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

I finished another cross stitch piece recently. This one was pretty easy, so I finished it quickly.

A detail shot - I should've stitched the dog in tan and white so it would look more like Kip!

And, of course I didn't wait long to start another project! This one is small, so it probably won't take long to finish either.

Any guesses as to what this will be?

Saturday Night Date Night

2011-02-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

Saturday night date night started Saturday afternoon at the Carolina game. It was a sloppy game but Carolina beat Boston College 48-46.

After the game, we headed down to Franklin St. for dinner and then a Sugarland cupcake for dessert.

My cupcake on the left, Double Chocolate, and BD's on the right, Peanut Butter Delight. YUM!

Vaguely Threatening Church Signs, Part 2

2011-02-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

"If we run out of letters for the church sign, what are we gonna do??!"

Tales of the Tail: Kip's Favorite Commercial

2011-02-19T09:45:00.004-05:00

*Note: Kip does not actually eat Pedigree food; we just like the commercial.

Vaguely Threatening Church Signs, Part 1

2011-02-17T14:00:00.002-05:00

This Pretty Much Sums Up My Day So Far...

2011-02-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

source

Tales of the Tail: Not Happy About It

2011-02-10T14:00:00.001-05:00

...but not licking his trying-to-heal scabs either!

Cinnamon and Sugar Pecans

2011-02-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

One of my best new recipe finds of 2010 happened right at the end of the year when I found a recipe for Candied Cinnamon and Sugar Nuts on My Kitchen Cafe.

The key to these is to wait until they are really dry before you eat them. On my first batch, BD and I sampled them right after they came out of the oven and were not impressed. Later in the afternoon he tried another one and said they were much better. (That's probably why the recipe says specifically "Cool completely before serving" -- whoops!)

I made a big batch of them to take in the car with us on our trip to Louisiana for Christmas. They are not too messy for the car, but they do make your fingers sticky.

The recipe calls for almonds. I used pecans instead, and I'm sure any nut would work.

not pretty in this picture, but DELICIOUS

1 egg white
1 teaspoon cold water
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups unsalted almonds
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a large (11X17-inch) rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. Add the water and vanilla and beat again until stiff. Add the almonds to the mixture and stir gently to coat the almonds with the egg white mixture.

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add this mixture to the almonds and stir gently to mix well. Pour the almonds out onto the prepared baking sheet and carefully spread them out into a somewhat even layer.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about an hour, stirring/flipping every 15 minutes, until the almonds look and feel dry. To check to see if the almonds were done, I carefully picked one up in my fingers and when I pressed around it, I didn’t get any wet sugar on my hands. The coating on the almond felt hard and crunchy.

Cool completely before serving or packaging.

Tales of the Tail: New Bed and Recovery Update

2011-02-09T14:15:00.002-05:00

Last week I bought Kip a new bed. His current one was several years old and was worn out and lumpy. We weren't sure if he'd like the new bed, or if it would take him a while to warm up to it. I put it down on the floor and 5 minutes later he was snuggled down and snoozing on the new bed.

That's the old, lumpy bed in the background. We normally don't have blankets all over the floor, but we're trying to protect the new floors/rug from any blood or ooze from the surgery incisions.

The new bed is made of "orthopedic foam" -- which just means it has the egg crate foam stuff inside it instead of the poly-fil stuff.

He really seems to like the new bed, but he's just not quiiiiiite ready to give up on the old one.

His shaved leg and the outside incision are visible in some of these pictures. The incision on the outer leg is not from the knee surgery, but from a lipoma (fatty cyst) that was removed. Dogs commonly get lipomas as they get older and usually they are benign. But this one had grown pretty large and since his whole leg was going to be shaved anyway, we had them remove it during the surgery.

Recovery Update: Kip's staples were removed yesterday. He is beginning to bear weight on the leg, which is great progress. Since his staples are gone, we can now begin to take him for short walks to help with his rehab. As he gets stronger, we'll add distance to the walk each week. I took him out for his first one earlier today. We only went about 200 yards out and back again, but he was thrilled to be outside of the back yard. As long as we take it slowly he uses all four legs, but the minute he spies something interesting he starts going 'tri-pod' on three legs to get there quickly. We're aiming for 2 or 3 rehab walks a day.

We're also still doing massages and passive range of motion exercises (make him straighten and bend the leg while he's laying down). He is finishing up the round of antibiotics tomorrow and is no longer taking the Tramadol (pain med). The doctor advised that we continue with the Carprofen for now. Carprofen is an NSAID and can be taxing on the liver, so we don't want to continue with it any longer than we have to -- but we also don't want him to be uncomfortable.

He'll go back to the doctor again in 10 days for them to check his healing progress. We still have him confined downstairs for now, which means BD and I take turns sleeping on the couch each night. That gets really old as you can imagine, but his leg is not strong enough yet to handle a full flight of stairs. Hopefully he'll be able to come upstairs for bedtime in a few days.

Thanks to all of you who have commented/emailed/asked about him!

BD's Four Seasons

2011-02-08T13:52:00.001-05:00

~~Spring~~ Golf
~~Summer~~ Nascar
~~Fall~~ Football
And the current season: ~~Winter~~ College Basketball

From the Archives of the Memory Card

2011-02-04T10:00:00.001-05:00

This year for co-worker holiday gifts, I used an idea I saw in Southern Living magazines and made Spice Bags. These were simple to make and not super time consuming. I still made my usual holiday candies for some people (mostly the guys), but the spice bags were also a big hit. Plus our house smelled great during and after I made them!

First I started off with some orange peel,

and then some fragrant spices,

put them all together in a square of cheese cloth (tip: buy cheese cloth at the fabric store, not the grocery store...it's much cheaper!),

wrap it up with pretty ribbon, attach a gift tag, and you're done!

There are several different ways the spice bag can be used - hot cider, syrup, etc - so I included the instructions on the back of each tag.

Tales of the Tail: Oh, Happy Day!

2011-02-02T14:00:00.003-05:00

Last night we all slept from 9pm - 3am, then up for meds and potty break, then back to sleep from 4am - 7:15am.

Kip started to feel better yesterday, much more like himself. Then he slept well last night which was just icing on the cake.

We made a few changes yesterday, so I'm not sure exactly which one worked, or maybe he is just feeling better in general, or maybe it is a combination of everything, but still...SLEEP, GLORIOUS SLEEP.

Today is day 5 since the surgery, and we're down to 2 Tramadols (pain) every 8 hours, 1 Carprofen (pain, inflamation), and 2 Cephalexins (antibiotic) every 12 hours.

He's starting to lick at the incision, which means it is starting to heal, but also means we have to stop every 3 seconds and physically make him stop licking. We have an inflatable e-collar, but he hates it so much that I don't want to put it on him unless I absolutely have to do it. He is scheduled to have the staples removed on Tuesday.

Right now, I'm working on my laptop in the den with him laying on his bed facing me.

Kip: lick, lick, lick
Me: Stop licking, Kip
Kip: (pauses mid-lick to look at me) lick, lick, lick
Me: Stop licking, Kip
Kip: (staring straight at me) lick, lick, lick
Me: STOP IT, Kip
Kip: lick, lick, lick
Me: (getting up off the couch) Kip, you can't lick the incision.
Kip: lick, lick, lick
Me: (two feet away from him) Seriously, Kip. STOP.
Kip: (looks up, as if he's just now heard me) :deep sigh: (lays head down)

Repeat scene.
Repeat scene.
Repeat scene.

LA's Boss: Why aren't you getting any work done?

What is this..."Internet"...that you speak of?

2011-02-02T09:00:00.003-05:00

Oh how far we've come in less than 20 years...watch as Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel try to explain the internet in January 1994.

Tales of the Tail: Kip Art - Coming Soon to a Fine Art Gallery Near You

2011-02-01T09:00:00.005-05:00

He calls this piece "Big Dog Small Rug"

(Picture taken before last week's surgery.)

Tales of the Tail: Same Song, Second Verse Surgery

2011-01-31T03:05:00.012-05:00

Alternate title: Kip Can't Catch a Break

Kip started limping on his right leg late last week. Crossing our fingers that it was just a strain, we started him on anti-inflamatory meds last Monday. He seemed to respond to the meds, so we relaxed a little, hopeful that we weren't going to have a repeat TPLO surgery on our hands. Our luck didn't last long and on Thursday night Kip ruptured his right knee CCL (the equivalent of our ACL).

We were able to get in to see the specialist that did his left knee surgery on Friday, and he was able to perform the surgery on the same day. The surgery went well. Kip came home on Saturday, and we began the long recovery process.

We had been warned by both the specialist and our regular vet that it was statistically very likely that this would happen, but as each month passed without incident I was able to convince myself more and more that we were going to escape that fate. It was 13 months (almost to the day) between the two injuries.

So far, this surgery has been much, much more difficult on him and us than the previous one. We are having a hard time getting him comfortable, even though we are giving him the max dose of pain meds every 8 hours. As a result, he is not resting as he should, and neither are we. It is currently 3:00am as I type this, and for the moment he's sleeping in my lap as I sit on the floor. BD is sleeping next to us on a pallet made out of couch cushions. We weren't able to get Kip to sleep until around 6:30am last night, so I'm trying to take the fact that he was asleep at 2:30am tonight as a good sign. I am also trying to keep a grip on my rapidly slipping sanity, if you couldn't guess.

He's currently on 2 pain meds (a narcotic and an NSAID) and an antibiotic. As a fun bonus, I think the antibiotic may be upsetting his stomach because he keeps farting on me while he's sleeping. Even if I were able to sleep with a 75 pound dog in my lap, the smell alone is enough to keep me wide awake.

I'll keep you posted on our progress. Hopefully each day is going to get better.

Sunday Stitches: Celebrating Things Not Worth Celebrating

2011-01-30T15:00:00.001-05:00

Here is another cross stitch project that I finished recently. It's called "Crabby All Year" so each month features a not-so-great characteristic of the month. This piece turned out really cute and colorful, but it's HUGE -- the finished stitched area is 16x11! I have no idea where I'm going to hang it once it's framed.

And speaking of framing, I took it to be framed over the weekend, only to discover that my favorite framing shop - the one that I've used exclusively for the past 3 years - is closed! Luckily the framer is going to another shop, but the new shop is not at all convenient to my house. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Any local needwork framing recommendations are welcome!

This is a Raise the Roof design, stitched over 2 on 32ct vintage pearled barley linen with DMC threads. This design actually comes as a series of 4 separate charts, so you could stitch each row individually if you wanted smaller pieces. This was the first RtR piece that I have stitched. I love the humor and whimsy in their designs.

From the designer: "Crabby monthlies were inspired by all of the 12-month series you see out there. They always feature the cute and fun things of each month: flowers, presents, flags, pumpkins. But each month brings with it things to be crabby about, too. I thought it would be neat to poke fun at those things we hate about the changing seasons and holidays. By doing that, I hope it takes a little of the stress out of the things like taxes, bugs, and relatives!"

As always, I get my supplies online at 1-2-3 Stitch.

Saturday Morning Smoothies

2011-01-29T10:00:00.001-05:00

A great way to kickoff the weekend!

Plain, non-fat yogurt, frozen strawberries, a banana, and a little bit of sugar in the blender...

30 seconds later...

Pour it into a parfait glass, add a bendy straw, and you're all set!

This is a classic banana strawberry smoothie, but I got the idea from America's Test Kitchen Family Healthy Cookbook which has several other smoothie recipes. (Just FYI... I got my copy from Barnes & Noble, and it was on sale for half price.)

For All the ACC Fans

2011-01-28T14:15:00.001-05:00

Here's a link for the image in case it's too small to read.

A Visit from Flat Stanley

2011-01-27T12:15:00.002-05:00

Recently BD and I participated in a Flat Stanley project with my nephew. His 2nd grade class read the book and then colored their very own Flat Stanley paper dolls. Flat Stanley came to us through the mail (since he's flat, after all!) and spent a week at our house. He had traveled to us all the way from Texas, so we showed him a good North Carolina time all week. I took pictures of some of Flat Stanley's adventures, and Flat Stanley took the pictures and a letter that detailed his other activities back to Texas to share with the class.

Flat Stanley spent a day at work with me, took a nap with Kip, and of course cheered the Tar Heels on to a victory in the Smith Center.

The purpose of this activity is for the kids to learn about other areas, so in the letter we told the class about Flat Stanley's other adventures:

Dear [Nephew],

Thank you so much for sending Flat Stanley to visit me and Uncle [BD] in [Our Town], North Carolina. We had such a fun time showing him around our lovely state!

Did you know that North Carolina is over 1,000 miles from Texas? Flat Stanley traveled a long way to see us! In the western part of North Carolina there are mountains and a famous hiking trail called the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the eastern part of North Carolina there is the Atlantic Ocean and a long chain of islands called the Outer Banks. Uncle [BD] and I live right in the middle of North Carolina in a small town called [Our Town]. It is just north of the state capital which is Raleigh.

While Flat Stanley visited us we did many fun things! I have sent you some pictures of a few of his adventures. First, Flat Stanley came with us to a University of North Carolina basketball game. There were a lot of people at the game, and it was very loud inside the arena. Flat Stanley did a great job of cheering on the team, and they won! Next, Flat Stanley came with me to work at my job as a technical writer. He helped me work at my computer all day and write instructions for people who use the software that my company makes. It was a very long day, but Flat Stanley worked hard all day! Finally, after all of that hard work, Flat Stanley was very tired, so he took a nap with Kip.

Flat Stanley listened to lots of North Carolina bluegrass music during his visit. Bluegrass music is similar to country music. The musicians play instruments like the mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. Flat Stanley ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts which are made in North Carolina. He liked the chocolate covered doughnuts best!

The weather was very nice while Flat Stanley was visiting. Uncle [BD] took him to play golf and showed him how to putt the golf ball. Flat Stanley also played in our backyard with Kip. Kip loved to fetch a tennis ball that Flat Stanley threw for him!

As you can see, Flat Stanley had a great time on his adventures in North Carolina, but he is ready to get back to you and your classmates in Texas!

From Our Home to Yours

2010-12-25T07:00:00.006-05:00

Happy Holi-Dogs

2010-12-14T16:30:00.007-05:00