Super Feast

February 8th, 2010 § 0

I’m married to an overachiever, especially when it comes to food and drink. Which is how we generally end up with four times as much food as we need on Super Bowl Sunday. When Jon started asking the family for food requests, I chimed in with a middle-eastern theme. I was thinking pre-made hummus, taboule, veggies, pitas, with homemade kibbeh and maybe a dessert made with pistachio and cardamom. But we ended up with this fabulous spread for just five people:

  • vegetable platter
  • french onion sour cream dip
  • pita chips
  • pita bread for dipping and sandwiches
  • homemade baba ghannouj
  • tzatziki
  • hummus
  • homemade tahini sauce
  • taboule
  • homemade falafels
  • homemade layered kibbeh meatballs
  • sushi
  • brownies
  • homemade chex mix
  • cheesecake with a homemade cardamom pistachio honey topping
  • beer, of course

Jon spent most of the morning in the kitchen, roasting, chopping, mixing, baking, and deep frying. I even helped out by making some of the meatballs and the cheesecake topping. So, we went a little overboard, but it was all delicious.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-07

February 7th, 2010 § 0

  • is glad to be home. Even happier to hear that Dad is off life support and giving the nurses heck. #

Foolish

February 4th, 2010 § 0

Good nature without prudence, is foolishness

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-31

January 31st, 2010 § 0

  • the Avett Brothers "I And Love And You" ♫ http://www.last.fm/music/The+Avett+Brothers/_/I+And+Love+And+You #musicmonday #
  • trying not to laugh at Tom for being growling mad that the gate at the stairs is closed. #
  • trying not to worry about Dad. A heart attack sent him to the hospital. He's fine now, but I don't know how much more his ticker can take. #
  • finally posted January photos to Facebook and my Wal-Mart photo gallery. Now I just need to take more. #
  • is wondering how my sister and I made it to adulthood as my mom teaches Tom to climb off the sofa head first. #
  • unbelievably happy to see my Dad open his eyes and try to talk today. He's still on life support, but stable and giving us hope. #

Haste

January 28th, 2010 § 0

Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)

Ten on Tuesday

January 26th, 2010 § 0

  1. I completed a few scrapbook pages for the first time in more than a year. Even if the layouts were designed or created years ago, putting them all together felt really good.
  2. The A Muse Lounge Pajama Party was just what I needed to get back in the creative groove. I forgot how liberating it is to set aside a chunk of time especially for crafting. Even if we can’t have monthly virtual gatherings, I’d like to schedule more craft nights with myself.
  3. Sophia Caperelli Durango Tote

    Sophia Caperelli Tote

    Almost two months later, I’m still loving the giant green purse I found on the JCPenny clearance rack. It’s big enough to stow a notebook, camera, wallet, sunglasses, diaper pouch, baby snacks, and a few toys with room to spare. And unlike most of the large bags I saw this season, it opens up enough to make all that space usable. As a bonus, it’s long enough to keep my arms and upper torso free for baby-wrangling. I almost want to go back and snag another to use when this one inevitably wears out (the unfortunate downside of faux leather bags).

  4. I’m constantly surprised at how much money I spend on lunch and breakfast without realizing it. While I’m not going to turn into a fiercely detailed budgeter overnight, seeing leftover cash in my checking account near the end of a frugal pay period is inspiring me to keep a closer eye on those little purchases.
  5. On Saturday, after Tom went to bed and before I tidied my crafting space for the Pajama Party, I spent fifteen minutes attacking my nightstand. To many, that sounds like a lot of time for a such a small space, but I’ve done little more than shift clutter in that area since we moved in 10 months ago. The floor around it is now clear. And while there are still a few wayward items on top and a disaster of papers and bills in the top drawer, you can actually tell it’s a nightstand again.
  6. I’m actually looking forward to taking another stab at it very soon.
  7. And next up, the master bathroom, particularly the mess of baby paraphernalia taking over the counter.
  8. I really need to remember to take our Christmas stockings down. Tom’s handmade stocking was just too cute not to leave out, but it’s getting a bit ridiculous now.
  9. Our house is dark. Which is nice for sleeping and lounging. Not so much for taking photos of a fast-moving baby. The pop-up flash on the DSLR is far better than the point-and-shoot, but not as nice as not needing a flash at all. Not sure how to get more natural light.
  10. Tom is turning into a climbing machine. I’m certain that he would’ve conquered the living room couch by now if it weren’t a floppy-edged futon.

Clearly

January 25th, 2010 Comments Off

Image courtesy Stampin' Up!

Image courtesy Stampin' Up!

What rock have I been living under? Stampin’ Up! is offering cling-mounted rubber stamps?
It’s about time. All the functionality and superior performance of rubber with the convenience unmounted stamps? Count me in. They’re so going back on my wish list again.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-24

January 24th, 2010 Comments Off

  • "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" by Andrew Bird is stuck in my head. ♫ http://iLike.com/s/7p3Ai #musicmonday #
  • wonders where our CD collection is hiding so I can dig out my Beatles albums and load them onto my iPod. #
  • likes bananas but hate their ability to flavor the rest of my lunch. Through plastic bags and containers. Banana Wheat Thin anyone? #
  • Totally underestimated the amount of time it takes to upload photos from the new 12mp camera. *twiddle* #

A Muse Pajama Party

January 23rd, 2010 § 10

I kind of forgot the pajama part of the A Muse Lounge Pajama Party, but it was fun all the same. With just four challenges limited to 30 minutes it took me a little over 2 hours, including a little bit of chatting, card construction, fiddling with my new photo cube, and uploading photos of my cards and a couple hundred of Tom. I’d really like to get the web cam thing going to chat with the rest of the pajama partiers, but I’d rather spend my time stamping than messing with the cam. On to the cards!

Challenge 1: make a card inspired by your celebrity crush. Someone else might go for George Clooney or Rob Pattinson, but my first thought was Matt Light, left tackle for the Patriots. I’ve had a bit of a crush on him since he started playing for the Pats back in 2000. Totally hot. Too bad I don’t have any football stamps (yet)! But he’s a big dude, like my DH, so I got to thinking about other big things and BAM, it hit me like a 300-pound lineman…

AMLPP12010_Crush

Challenge 2: make a card for your best friend. Since BFF = DH (dear husband), deer popped into my head. And that cute little “to a deer friend” sentiment tagged along. The deer is Memory Box and was the star of our 2007 Christmas cards. I wanted to keep it neat and bold, like Jon, so I limited the embellishments to a few dots drawn with my white signo and a little strip of white cardstock. I’ve also had the color combination stuck in my head lately: Yellow, aqua, brown, and white.

AMLPP12010_Friend2

Challenge 3: make a one layer card. See that first card up there? It’s practically one layer. I do one layer cards all the time, so I wanted to up the ante a little bit and force myself outside my comfort zone. I’ve often admired scrapbookers who create little splashes of calm on a busy patterned paper with nothing more than paint and an artist’s eye. I started with a white pigment ink pad, then a white pigment reinker and sponge, before pulling out the big guns: white acrylic paint. So I went for it with a sponge and small paint brush. The image didn’t stamp cleanly because of the added texture, but that rustic look works for me. Between the paint and the Rock Candy Distress Stickles (that the camera didn’t quite catch), it really feels wintery.

AMLPP12010_OneLayer

Challenge 4: create a card using only red, black, and white. I wanted to do little red and white mittens to keep the winter theme going, but these little boxer shorts (oldies but goodies) were calling my name. Simple and straightforward stamping with a little masking and a bit of cutting for dimension.

AMLPP12010_Red

Genius

January 21st, 2010 Comments Off

Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence.
Johann Kaspar Lavater