A Little Tequila Time

Not the liquid kind, blech!  The furry kind!  This weekend we had a break in the rain...finally.  So we took advantage of all the sun and spent some quality time with the baby.  Since our neighborhood is home to a college and a high school, it's pretty much deserted on the weekends.  It's nice and quiet.

Another pro to having a college nearby, gorgeous landscaping.  About a block away, I can feast my eyes on this.

And this.

Dillon was pretty click happy with the camera on our adventure so there are some really silly photos.  Many of them should never be viewed by anyone....ever.  However, some are really nice.  This one really captures what a beautiful day it was.

I love my neighborhood, for a variety of reasons.  On our walk we were discussing how much we like living here and somehow we came upon the topic of anti-zombie fortification.  Typical course of conversation, right?  According to the guy, our neighborhood is perfect for it.  And I have to admit, he had some good points.  So yeah, one more reason I love it here, we'll be able to keep the zombies away relatively easily.  Do you have a plan for when the zombies come?

Thanks for checking out my neck of the woods.  Have a craftastic day!

Weekend Update

This weekend was pretty productive for me, not so much crafting wise, but productive none the less.  I took Friday afternoon off to get some errands done before the weekend.   Want to see my weekend?  It was full of fun stuff, I'll show you.

After the adult, real life business, like banking, I got down to the fun stuff.  Like swinging by the library for some goodies and then stocking up on stamps.  Yay, stamps!

 

Celia is my favorite one, she was so amazing!

 

 On the walk home I passed by one of my favorite benches.  It's not too much to look at in this photo, but trust me it's pretty wonderful.  Oh, how I would love to have a huge green bench made from tiny, green tiles.  *sigh*  So many greens in this picture too, I love green!

 

Luckily my walk took me past Sift Cupcakery, so I could stock up on some essentials.  Here, we have a Stud Muffin, a Carbomb, and an All For The Cookie.  Yum, yum in my tum-tum.

 

On Saturday, I found this amazing little photo while sitting at my desk at work.  My second job is at an appliance parts store, so there are tons of little bits lying around that pay homage to old washing machines and such.  Isn't it pretty great? Just wait until I show you "The Wall."

 

 Then I played Suzy Homemaker for the rest of the weekend.  Shopping, scrubbing and cooking were all on the agenda.  I think I experienced what pregnant ladies like to call "nesting."  

At the store, the guy read off everything but olives.  I swear, it's on purpose, poor thing is so terrified of an olive smooch.  Or maybe it's because I couldn't be bothered to put a "s" on the end while I was writing the list.  I can spell, I just can't proofread, ha ha.  I had no intention of buying just one olive.  (And although I do love the name Olive for a little girl, I also wasn't trying to pick one of those up at the grocery store.)  Anyways, he reminded me at the last possible second.  Perhaps hoping that I wouldn't jump out of line to run and get them, I'm weird about that. However, I love olives that much.  Made is back with seconds to spare...and with a bottle of pink champagne, too!  Ha, I'm good.

Told you I was a busy girl!  And there's more but I don't want to torture with every boring little detail.  I mean, I'm already pushing it with shopping lists and random green benches.  For getting so much done, today I am rewarding myself with much needed arts and crafts time.  A little stitching and a little painting are in order. Perhaps, popping open that pink champagne I mentioned earlier?  Hmmmm.

Hope you had a great weekend too. Have a craftastic day, see you soon!

Caturday!

Whoops, had planned to schedule this for Saturday, but apparently, uh, didn't.  Some day I'll get my act together.  Someday.

This is how Boris likes to eat his food.  Hence, the plastic deli container.  Many a cute ceramic dish and plate have been chipped due to his constant battery.  In the morning or when they're empty, he flicks at them over and over again, to make a ton of noise & show us where the food goes.  Sometimes he completely flips them over and pushes them all the way into the bedroom.  You know, just in case we didn't realize it's time to get up for the day. 

Then as soon as you pick it up, off he runs to where we keep the food.  Meowing, saying "Follow Me!!!" the whole time.  It's pretty funny how obviously demanding he is.

As cute and quirky as it is, there are downfalls to this way of eating.  The other kitties have to deal with these ugly bowls until we build a rack to hold all three bowls.  Because, of course, Boris can't claim one bowl for himself.  He prefers to sample from all three.  Therefore, all are subjected to the flick, flip, and dump method of eating.  

Also, the dog has been scolded so many times for sneaking kitty food that he sticks to stuff on the floor....well, for the most part.  So, anything that Boris leaves behind is fair game.  And that's a lot, because rather than chow down, he'd rather flip it over and have two bites.  

Silly kitties, I'll never understand 'em!!  Do your kitties have strange eating habits?

Gifted

I'm so grateful for the people I have in my life.  They are sweet and thoughtful.

And on top of that, they know exactly what I like.

Both of these gems were recently given to me by two wonderful people.  Aren't they great?  Both of them are hanging above my crafting desk now.

I found the vintage cross-stitch piece on the desk, waiting for me when I arrived at work one night.  My co-worker Liz left it for me, she's the nicest lady.  Isn't it darling?!  Old needlework is one of my favorite things to collect.

The plaque on the right was a gift from my honey.  He brought it home for me in an attempt to cheer me up when I was under the weather.  Niagara Falls is where I grew up, so I love to collect all the old souvenirs.  Ironic how people always do that once they leave somewhere, huh?  Guess you don't what you got til it's gone.  I was so sick I couldn't do anything but lay on the couch or bundle up under a million blankets in bed...for a solid week.  When he gave it to me, I was so out of it that I don't even think I managed a smile.  However, I LOVE it.  He's such a great guy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm such a lucky girl!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I know that today's Caturday, but we'll get to that soon enough.  First things first, it's my mom's b-day! 

  

Happy Birthday, Mama!!  I hope you have tons of fun day.  And that you get to eat lots of cake...with Chunky Monkey :)  Love you!

I Make Up Words.

Really, I do- all the time.  Apparently it's something I've always done.  I've been told that for the first four years of my life, I insisted on calling all beverages, ogendagens.  Despite knowing how to say milk, water, juice, etc.  I was just stubborn about it.  Me?  Stubborn?  Go figure.

Well, I've coined a new one, folks- Fabriganza.  Fabric + Extravaganza.  And that's what I had this past weekend, a super fabriganza!  I thrifted a bunch of vintage goodies, check 'em out.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of fabric this is.  It's got a bit of a sheen to it and it has some give to it.  Maybe rayon?  Well, whatever it is, it's fab!

 This one makes my eyes go a little crazy.  Not sure how well that's going to work out when I go to cut it and actually make something.  (It's a thick cotton, very sturdy.)

The one on the left is super crazy.  It appears to be dual-layered and woven together.  Check out the close up below, it's it great?  It makes me wish I knew how to make clothes.  I totally want a jacket made out of it! 

I'm a sucker for prints, can you tell?!  Especially that blue one.  I have something pretty similar in red, green and yellow!

I got these two pink things for 50 cents.  I can't tell if they are napkins or hankies, but what I do know is they are crazy.  They have little people on them!

 
See them?  These second photo is more true to the color too, not so bright.

I also found an unopened bag of stuffing.  Yay, I was getting low.  Phew.

I saved the best for last!  I was so excited about these last finds that I'm still grinning from ear to ear.

I can't believe I finally found one those ridiculously kitschy vintage sheets.  They're always on the top of my list when I go thrifting, but I've never had any luck until now.  As for the velvet, it was the first thing I picked up when we got to the store and I knew it was going to be a spectacular day.  Baby, I've got one word for you- PRINCE.  Oh, hell yeah.  Some royal embroideries coming at ya soon!

What's the best thing you've thrifted lately?

Caturday!!

 Everyday is Caturday 'round these parts!!  So even though I was going to post this yesterday, I figured it'd be alright today.  Hope you don't mind!

They grow up so fast.  Look how tiny Chunk used to be!  This photo was taken in June, 2007 just a few weeks after he was born.  Probably shortly after the babies opened their eyes for the first time.  (We knew he'd be a biggun- look at that paw!)

Now look at him, he's huge!  Here he's completely filled, if not overflowing, from a medium flat rate box from the USPS.  That's one big kitty!  Poor guy has a snaggle-ear from an altercation with the neighbor kitty, but I still think he's very handsome.

I'll have to figure out some way showcase our handsome pup because he often gets jealous of the kitties.  If he knew I was posting this he'd be huffing and puffing up a storm.  Seriously, he sighs loudly every time the cats are being pet.  It's hilarious.

Had the best thrifting day, can't wait to share my finds with you- pics coming soon!  Hope you enjoyed a lovely, craftastic weekend!  What were you up to out there in the wide, wide world of crafts?

Finally!

Would you believe that I finally have my first pair of pinking shears?!  I feel like an official crafter now!  I'm going to be using them like crazy this weekend.  Lots of big crafting plans!

Oh, Happy Day!

 

Crafting while drinking- two thumbs up!  Unless you have a few too many and mess up your project, then it's two thumbs way, way down.  Be safe out there, crafters!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

p.s.  Speaking of crafting, I'm going to be whipping up a little something special for an upcoming giveaway.  I'm floored that I'm quickly approaching 200 followers- it's crazy.  So, I figured it's a good reason to celebrate!

Darn you, Ikea!

Perhaps you've also uttered that phrase.  If so, you are feeling my "pain".  This past weekend we met up with some pals in Sacramento and cruised around Ikea.  They were shopping for some ridiculously cute baby stuff.  We, on the other hand, weren't shopping for anything.  At least, that's what we thought.  And then the madness set it, it all began with one little wire basket to hang by the sink.  Then an hour later we had a full cart of stuff!  How does that happen?

Typical me, I bought a ton of crafty stuff.

Colorful new homes for embroideries.

 8 yards of fabric.  Yeah, I went a little crazy in that section.  The fabric on the bottom is destined to become pillow cases for the new couch pillows we also picked up.  It's so flipping adorable, I can't wait to show them to you!

A new floss jar.  It's HUGE- I can't wait until this baby is all filled up!  And I'm happy to report it's already acquired a nice, little layer of happy bits.

I can never say "no" to crafty stuff.  We got some other house stuff, nothing too exciting though.  Except for popsicle molds, who doesn't get excited about popsicles?! 

Well, needless to say, I'll be sticking to thrifting my supplies for a while.  Except for one supervised trip to the craft store to pick up floss and pin-backs (more arcade brooches coming soon!!!)  My guy manages to keep me in check at the craft store by incessantly complaining.  It's makes it no fun to shop.  Therefore I leave quickly, spending little to no money.  It's a system that works for us, I guess.

Have you also been sucked into the Ikea vortex?

Heavy Heart

 

The past few days I've been thinking about this sweet girl.  Her name is Masami and she stayed with my family for a summer when I was in high school.  I'm hoping that she and her family are faring well in this difficult time.  Give what you can, every little bit helps.