And I finished my first trim box a la All Buttoned Up. I graduated (I think)! Everything looks great except there's a little extra loose fabric on the inside. Hmm. I'm gonna try tacking it down. On to media boxes, desk organizer boxes, and button boxes.This is an idea I got from somebody's Blog - remind me whose, if you've seen it. I finished the edges and hid the seam lines on both sides with either ribbon or bias tape. That way when it's open, it still looks pretty! It worked great except I installed the hooks uncomfortably close to the ceiling, and made the loops too small. I broke into a sweat yesterday trying open it to a triangle. Maybe small magnets would work.
Anyhoo, I'm pretty pleased with the results, which is good, since I live here and all.
-A
I love easter candy.
5th Place: Jelly Beans!
4th Place: Chocolate-covered Marshmallow Egg/Bunny/Carrot
3rd Place: Chocolate-Covered Coconut Eggs
2nd: Mini Robin's Eggs
First: Cadbury Creme Eggs!
Note to self: don't visit the grocery store alone until after April 8.
-A
Greenback? As I stood in line at Home Depot yesterday, I flipped to the Martha Stewart Living Table of Contents (by chance) and spotted something interesting listed for p.49. It was a tutorial on how to force bloom flowering perennials.
"Ah-ha," I say to Paul, "Look how hip I am." (And as Liles pointed out, I ruined it by saying 'hip.')
That very morning I had pulled from my basement a vase of carefully-tended force-bloomed Flowering Quince out of my neighbor's overflowing tree. Today they started to bloom. How nice. :)
-A
How-to here.
Last week was a big week for the Great Gatsby. He swallowed 2 catnip toys, 2 hair bands, and another unknown object. Mr. G. Love spent the better part of the week at the vet, where he's become a legend of sorts - clawing and biting anyone who came close. Kung Fu Kitty. What's more impressive were his intense cries, scowls, and growls. The G events culminated last Saturday with a trip to a specialist who determined that whatever was stuck in his secum all week was now gone. Big sigh, followed by, "Little Bastard." He's got 6 lives left...
This is my entry for the Pincushion Challenge. Dec/Jan challenge was "Winter Wonderland," and I socked out my version of it: a felt snowy pine tree. (There were plenty of examples around here.) I can't wait to see it posted on Flickr with other peoples' interpretations.
Wahoo, I met the challenge! Tack this onto my Tie One On experience points. I'm no longer a Challenge Virgin.
-A
So last week I found out that 2 or 3 weeks ago was "De-lurking Week." I learned that this typically occurs by" simply" leaving a comment on any given writer's page that you occasionally visit - or even have bookmarked. It can also happen in the grass-roots form - by Blogging about yourself, which is what I'm in the process of doing here. I'm sort of a progressive project person, so my goal is to hit this topic regularly, rather than all in one week. Here's an image of me for starters, which hopefully says a little about me without actually saying anything. Every evening our little happy furry family crams & wedges ourselves onto the bed for a nice cozy sleep. This morning we awoke to a light dusting, the result of a regular Portland mist combined with abnormal sub-zero temps. Paul caught the 5:53 to Downtown as usual, and I did my normal AM routine consisting of kitchen duty, coffee, and e-mail correspondence. Then I e-mailed my mom to tell her about the impending "snow storm," remembering last week's buildup to a 'Winter Storm,' that left a teeny layer of the white fluffy stuff, and ensuing over-freak-outedness (mostly on the media's part). I scoff.
THEN pandemonium did occur. It snowed buckets (which translates to about 4 inches) between 8-ish and 10-ish. All the major roads were jammed - trucks jackknifed, cars abandoned, people playing bumper cars (*see video), buses getting stuck. Chains/studs were required for driving, since there's no (nearly) plows and salt trucks. THEN it got worse. Local news channels held "Continuous Extended Coverage" for hours into the day, people drove the streets towing their kids on sleds, four-wheeling fools tore up the parks, and hardly anybody shoveled their walks!
It wasn't all pandemonium though. Our tween neighbors and other neighborhood youngsters & dogs got outside and played in the snow throughout the afternoon. Folks reportedly broke out the kayaks & sleds on Mt. Tabor. I got outside and played in the snow! We all got at least part of the day off! And, because there aren't enough trucks to get rid of the snow, we get another (at least) half day off tomorrow. Yahoo!
-A
I never would have believed it. A year and 4 months has passes since I started whining about a new shirt that I couldn't find. Now, this shirt had special significance. For one thing, it was my very my first purchase since we moved to Portland, less food, rent, and gas (which our friendly local federal government was reimbursing us for at the time). It was a guilty buy, as we were reeling a little from not-yet reimbursed moving expenses, and from dropping down to a single income. Saved by a loophole, I had bought the shirt to wear to a job interview. The other day (as an attempt in procrastination) I posted a small lot of some of my pre-Flickr favorites. Included are pictures from beach & mountains vacations, and from our old home, 'hood, and town.
It's nice to display these b/c I've fallen behind on my scrapbooking (gasp!), so only the C drive has been enjoying the photos. Ah, the convenience of digital photography.
-A
For my birthday my grandma mailed me a bunch of her & her mother's old aprons. Earlier last summer I received a box full of my mom's and grandmas' sewing patterns from my sister.
It's a wonderful thing, becoming a family-recognized sewer/crafter, though I haven't exactly made a plan for the collections yet. Do I wear the aprons or preserve their delicate heritage? If not, should I display them somehow? As for the patterns, I'm sifting through and choosing a couple to try. I've already set aside a women's smock pattern (that happens to have a matching 'child' size pattern). Funny, the size I'm cutting out is 12 bigger than the courtesy sizes I purchase at stores. Wow, we (21st century Americans) are huge!
I guess an update will be in order when I get there. Wish me many hours of happy stitching this year!
-A
Nothing signifies the advancement of time like an announcement of passing of the president who was in office at my birth. It cries, "you're no spring chicken now!" The last swift kick in the pants I received was back in 1998. I graduated, turned 23, got booted off my parent's insurance plan and donation list, and watched a new year turn over within 2 weeks. Welcome to the cruel, cruel, world, baby. I skated without health insurance for about 6 months until my dad found out and "highly recommended" that I purchase a plan.
Even though last week I read in "Glamour" magazine that 68% of us don't plan to make resolutions for '07 (it's no longer cool, you know), I can't help feeling some renewed direction around this time of year. The spices/cleaning supplies 'Stock Up" list is on the fridge, and I'm formulating a garden & sewing 'to do' agenda in my head. I'm also starting to organize a race training plan, and preparing for the final countdown toward a campus wellness fair (Living in Balance) for which I'm co-organizing.
But that's not all, folks. No, this year is going to be a big one. A "make-or-break," as they say. And not one of those, "This will be the year that I'm going to..." Nope. Something will happen. No "Willpower" needed.
The big deal is that I'm performing thesis research for the next 2 terms, and then planning to graduate in June. Yahoo! That means I have to once again figure out what to do with my life. Please tread lightly on this topic. I'll be sure to tell everyone when I figure it out.
Well, I thought I had a nice list of biggies, but I guess that's it. Happy New Year, everyone!
-A
1. Take that, USPS! I endured the line out the door to mail all 21 pounds of packaged gifts under the stupid Parcel Post deadline (12/13), uninsured b/c I'm cheap. Has anyone really won? 
Well now I've done it. I opened up the Ghirardelli chocolate chips bag without a baking plan. It had something to do with that apron & recipe challenge I did last month. Yesterday, the lot was published, and boy were there some yummy holiday treats in there. I especially liked the leftover Thanksgiving pie and the spice cookie recipes. I entered my Grandpa Patterson's Million Dollar Fudge. Mmmmm-mm! I wonder if it should be renamed "Billion Dollar Fudge," with inflation and all.
I heard an interesting article on NPR this morning about unique web shopping experiences that I had to share (plus I'm supposed to be studying, so...)! The woman, Margaret Mason, has a Blog called Mighty Goods, and she's found the neatest stuff! Mostly it's small-biz. artist and crafter goods, but lot of other fun items as well. She suggests and links to some of my haunts:
