Super duper big smile

Well the best arrives in little over a week. Which means that I really need to get cracking on her birthday giftie. Well her belated birthday giftie. I didn't feel like mailing and it and since she was coming back up anyhow...well you get the idea. I'm embroidering her a "Bite Me" cupcake from Urban Threads. She can put it up in her *new* house or maybe on her desk at work.

Much time has been *ahem* "wasted" looking for new crafts. I totally plan on making myself a redesigned pouch into wristlet felt bit of cuteness. The original pattern has a cupcake on the front. Yeah well I want a zombie or a squirrel or something on it instead. I like being difficult.

One of my good friends from high school is getting remarried, which is awesome! Though I have yet to meet the guy, he seems awesome. :D They're having a surprise shower for her in the end of April. It's four hours away though. No clue if I'll be able to make it or not. Which means that I need to start planning and get cracking on her shower gift(s). If I can't physically be there, her gift(s) might as well be. She's uber religious and I'm not so much. Maybe a "Bite Me" cupcake tea towel wouldn't be the best idea ever. I could always do tea towels with kitchen items on them. Hmm I'll figure something out.

*sigh*

Tonight Ben Folds was at Water Street. Super sad that I missed him. *sniffle*

Well the fiance and I got a real bed this past weekend. So comfy. I lurves it.

My grams is sick. In an attempt to help her feel better I made some chicken noodle soup from scratch today. Yeah, as they say there's a first time for everything. Let me say that it turned out damn fine. On occassion I surprise myself. This time it was in a good way. There was also a coffee cake concoction. Also, yum. Yay! My cooking/baking is improving from the lemon bread disaster.

Whist being utterly bored today I came across the site Postcrossing[dot]com. Reminds me of the penpals from elementary school in a way. Totally joined. My first postcard is going out to a lady in Finland. I'm looking at is an opportunity for my words to visit all the places I know I never will.

Well this is totally boring. Off to procrastinate in some other fashion. :D

Round-up

1. The lemon bread came out like shit. As did the second time I tried to make it, this time *remembering* the oil. Funky texture FTW.

2. This past weekend I went to the Ikea in Pittsburgh with the fiance and two of our really good friends. We now have a new bed and three new dressers. Yay! Furniture! Pictures will be around, eventually.

Ok, so yeah.

I'm currently watching "Watchmen" online. I wanted to see it in the theater, but since going is retardedly expensive, I'm settling for a lousy streaming version. Maybe I'll watch it again with a better rip. Seeing Billy Crudup's blue wang is really distracting.

In search of lemon

Yup, I need lemon. And since it's currently 49, I figured I'd take a walk up to Wegmans and buy some. Then back here to whip up some lemon bread (see yesterday), finish my coffee cup thingie (hopefully), work on the journal, and search for a job. Since being poor is really starting to annoy me in the most annoying fashion.

*EDIT*
Found said lemon. Mixed everything up. Poured into small greased pans. Popped in the oven. Cleaned up the table. Realized that I forgot to put the oil in. Yeah, I'm special. Hopefully I didn't fuck them up too badly...

Rhode Island is neither a 'road' nor an 'island'. Discuss.

It seems as though someone decided to turn Trivial Pursuit into a game show. That same someone also decided to give the hosting job to a former 'Brady'. This shit is bananas yo.

My coffee holder/cozy/thingie is coming along. Slooowly. Seriously, figured I'd have it done by today. Or not at all. Then the goal is to have it done by Friday. The fiance and I, along with two of our really good friends, are heading down to the Ikea in Pittsburgh on Saturday. It's the closest one that doesn't involve us driving into Canada and dealing those oh-so-nice-it-hurts customs officals, on both sides of the border.

The journal is plugging along. It's been painted. A lot. But that's just how I roll.

Oh! I tried to make some brownie mix cookies today. Yeah, whatever the hell mix we had in the cupboard tasted like ass. I thought maybe it needed to just bake. So I baked a small batch. Shit still tasted nasty. Apparently this means that weird off label brands of brownie mix are never to be purchased again. Tomorrow, in order to fill the baking fix I so desperatly need, I'm going to make this Lemon Bread. Looks super yum!

Ta-Da!

Well my journal is proving to be an illusive little creature. So instead I shall be using a blue composition book. Because for some reason I seem to have tons of them lying around, like everywhere. I took a pretty lame picture of me to get modge-podged on the cover. There's a calendar/reference page that'll go on the inside cover, so I don't have to label each page.

On the crafting front, I got some new fabric (yay remnats from Joanns!), a few new flosses (such pretty colors), and some bright ass blue felt that I turned into a cute little needle book. I'll be making another for the best and improving upon the design. But for a girl who's never sewn by hand, it's not too bad :) Today I'll also be starting and hopefully finishing a small knitted coffee holder. I had wanted to make one for some time now, and today I feel the inspiration.

Pictures of everything will be up, when my computer decides that it wants to recognize my sd card.

Oh!!! This is one of my daily webcomic reads and it cracked me up.

I love me some Penny Arcade.

It's raining...it's pouring

Ok, it's after 1 am. Sleeping doesn't seem to be an option at the moment. And it's raining so I've got the window open a bit. Despite how cool and peaceful everything is, sleep just isn't happening. C'est la vie.

So what do I do when I can't sleep? Wander through the internets. Occasionally I stumble upon something funny, or something lame, or something that doesn't fit into anything. Tonight I found this, "100 Ideas" by Keri Smith. Her blog is Wish Jar. Welcome to my new crack. When I wake up I'm going to pick a number at random and go from there. I've got a journal under my bed that I bought like 5 years ago. I think it's time it got put to some good use.

I've also been toying with the idea of taking a picture everyday for a year. Nothing inparticular, just something, anything really. Chronicle the mundae life I lead with mundane pictures. Oh so fitting :P

Stuffs

I took the semester off from college. And trying to find a job has been highly unsuccessful. So what do I do with all my time? Embroider! I got this pattern like a week-ish ago.

Super pretty. But alas! While working on it the other night, I got a hole right in the middle of the damn thing. I guess the only up side is that I only had one of the trees finished... Pain in my ass, I swear. So this weekend I'm getting some new fabric, some new floss, and much needed transfer pen. Hopefully, this time around I won't mess it up. It's going to become a throw pillow for the couch. With any luck the fiance won't mind it too much. At least it's not horribly girlie. Just a lil bit girlie.

Oh! Today is my bestests birthday. She's old! I can't wait to see her next month. That's when she's getting her birfday giftie. Shhh don't tell!

First

Look, it's a blog!

This week my little brother has been home on break. Which means that I've been cooking and baking like a fiend. He gets all the usual foods he likes: BBQ pork chops (thanks BettyCrocker!), stir fry of my own concoction, etc. He seemed most into the one item that I've never made before, funnel cake. Yes, the summertime-carnival-ride-of-death-random-festival staple of awesome fried goodness. I found some recipes, then ghetto rigged my own. That's just how I roll.


Funnel Cake of +5 Awesome
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use more or less depending on your likes)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Oil (I didn't measure, just eyeballed it)
Confectioners sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, or whatever else you want to put on top!

Beat the egg with the milk, vanilla and sugar until combined. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and combine. The batter should be liquidy enough to flow through a funnel. If not, add more milk or flour to get it to the right consistency.

Pour oil into an 8" skillet (deep sides are a plus). I heated it over medium, and I have no clue what the final temperature was. I tested it by placing a drop of batter into the oil, and when it sizzled, I figured it was ready.

Pour the batter into a plastic zipper bag (1/4 cup increments). Snip off the tip so it's like you've got a homemade pastry bag. Squirt the batter into the oil using a circular motion. Zigzag it all over and what have you. Just make sure that it's not all going in one area. Make it look like the yumminess from festivals.

Fry it up to whatever level of golden you like. I like mine deep so it gets all crunchy, while my brother likes his a bit doughier. Flip it using a wide spatula, tongs, or a combination of the two. Fry the second side, again to your own person level of doneness. Drain on a paper towel lined plate and cover it in whatever toppings you like!

NOM NOM NOM

p.s. This is awesome! Read and listen!