casa de Blauser

A little trip

2012-01-21T14:41:00.001-05:00

It was my birthday this last Wednesday so we took a weekend trip to Key West to get 2012 started with some sun and fun and celebrate my birthday. It's the furthest south you can get in the USA. Just a few (whole bunch of) pictures. I think we took over 160 pictures.

Bahia Honda State Park between Big Pine and Marathon. Mile Marker 37. The broken bridge is the old railroad built down through the keys in early 1900s. The piece on the left is actually new and built to match the old part. It's open to the public so you can walk up there and see out over the island and the ocean. The bridge is falling apart and there are danger signs warning boaters who go under it.

The Keys Credit Union where Bryce can work when we move there.

The local restaurant we ate at...

...and saw a Key Deer outside of. There's a reserve for them a few miles down the road. The Key Deer is an endangered species.

Our hotel room.

Looking out our back door and off our back porch.

Look to the right.

Look to the left.

Luckily our hotel was next door to a Walgreens so we picked up some snacks. The best deal on Diet Dr. Pepper and some tropical Mike & Ikes for our tropical day.

Our saweet street cruiser.

Found this while walking around. I wanted to be Ariel when I was little, but maybe not this version of her.

The pier where we watched the sun set while sharing a shrimp quesadilla.

Just after sunrise the next morning.

nice line up of mopeds when we left for the airport. A lot of people rented beach comber bikes or mopeds if they were staying on Key West. It's only 3 or 4 miles long and a couple miles across.

Back to the seriously small airport.

Peace & Joy

2011-12-24T15:59:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas.

A Lazy Saturday and an Early Christmas

2011-12-23T15:24:00.004-05:00

Exactly one week ago I had the laziest day of my life - and I hated it. Bryce loved it and it was probably by far one of his favorite days in the last month. I guess that's a good illustration of our different personalities. :)

After being busy all the time Bryce wants to sleep in, kick back in the recliner, watch Hulu, eat, and nap occasionally. Not once having to clean or do any sort of physical activity, and especially not having to leave the house (which means he can chill in his underwears or sweats all day) last Saturday was such a day.

After being busy you'd think a nice lazy day would be welcome. No. I had a free day all to myself to do whatever I wanted, to get things done around the house that had been neglected, and to waste time ripping pages from magazines and dreaming up ideas for the unpainted rooms in my house.

I did none of this.

Today was different. I realize it's a Friday not a Saturday, but I wasn't about to let the day go by and not get things done. I had a list in my head last night and I woke up and got out of bed at 8 this morning. Dusted, vacuumed, swept, mopped, cleaned counters and the oven, cleaned all the bathrooms, cleared clutter and sorted clutter, completed 3 loads of laundry, loaded and unloaded the dishwasher and was done in time for lunch. Now that's what I'm talking about.

So, for the remainder of the day I will be lazy with my husband who was lucky and was able to work half a day today. I will read blogs, and dream dreams of divine homes. And I will enjoy it.

I can't post this with out defending one part of last Saturday. I did cook a full meal. I received a gift box from Gullah Gourmet, Inc. out of Charleston, SC. I received bags of mix for Gullah Gullah Gumbo and Aunt Maggie's Sweet Cornbread. It came with Peppa Jam. Pretty good if I say so myself.

Bryce and I were not raised on southern cuisine and neither of us have had gumbo, so we thought we'd give it a try, so I went to cookin'. I had rice and da gumbo sauce a cookin' while I mixed da cornbread badda up good fashion and cooked dem cornbread muffins. MMmm. Shrimp would've been delicious had we had some, but alas, we did not.

The packaging is super cool and I loved the directions although I had to read a sentence and translate it so I knew what to do. :)

When husband came home early today he had with him two surprise gifts for me for an early Christmas and, as always, he did the best wrapping job. He has some serious skills people.

Bet you can't guess what it is!

When Bryce tells me he has a surprise for me I usually, immediately, get a little apprehensive because this one thinks he's a jokester. But once I know it's a real, actual, good surprise I get excited after feeling bad that I don't have something for him. I worry less now because he knows I don't like glitter and that everything should not be pink, just because I'm a girl and girls should like pink, glittery things. :) Also, I've learned, that when he announces he is getting or has a surprise for me, not to start guessing because I ruined a couple and it makes him very sad.

Today's surprise is from Z Gallerie and the man had to literally hunt for this ceramic taxidermy. He knew I had seen some in a store that I liked and that I told him I wanted to find some heads for our bedroom. He couldn't remember where it was, but he googled it and eventually found his way to Z Gallerie and located 1 of the 3 stores in Georgia (luckily it was 15 minutes from his work) and braved the crowds and people to get it for me. He also asked for the moose head, but they were out so he went with a Rhino head. While the box said Rhino head, it was really a 19" long full rhino ceramic figure. So, Bryce got a surprise of his own with that one. We may return for a head or we may keep it...still debating.

Past surprises:
A purse I wanted at TJ Maxx but did not buy at the time.

similar sweet wrapping job - this my first birthday after we were married.

A Christmas Tree for our first Christmas
An iPod ready with music downloads - I guessed this one and ruined it.
A new digital camera when my other one's battery wouldn't keep a charge very long. Let the record show that he bought it soon after he had to use my failing camera for engine pictures and it frustrated him.

There are others, but like the good wife I am, I can't remember them all right now.

He's good at wrapping and he's good with gifts. And I like receiving his gifts. That's why we're so good together. :)

Sunsets

2011-12-15T20:46:00.000-05:00

I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets (at least that I can remember and Hawaii is out of this competition) last night. Unfortunately I was driving and unable to stop and take a picture. A few nights earlier I was able to capture some of the neat color combinations...of course the blurry iphone picture is never as good as seeing it in person, but you can pretend. :)

Books

2011-12-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

I checked out Tina Fey's Bossypants and I'm excited to read it.

Also on my list of books to read is Mindy Kaling's, Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Two books I wouldn't mind owning: Sewing in a Straight Line by Brett Bara and The Perfectly Imperfect Home: How to Decorate and Live Well by Deborah Needleman, founding editor of Domino Magazine.

These will be a nice ch ange from the more work related books I've been reading...

Well, at least they didn't put me in charge of the turkey...

2011-11-24T03:29:00.002-05:00

Last night (really only about 7 hours ago) I finished my worst night of cooking probably. Not that I cook a lot, but I've made a few pumpkin pies and none have been so ridiculous as this. I'm actually writing this at 3:00 in the morning because I've startled myself awake 5 times since 10:00 with nightmares of burning my house down....stupid pies! You'll understand how these are connected. It is worth noting here that I am this wide awake because Bryce is waiting for the Android tablets to go on sale online through Best Buy. It's such a good deal that it's worth refreshing the page between spats of Battlefield 3. I know you're interested so I'll tell you - that yes, the price has changed, but they're still not available for purchase...hence the waiting. continue.

First, I thought I'd make a dinner with some sauted greens, pasta, and garbanzo beans. While we were at Wal-Mart for tomorrow's (today's) rolls we grabbed some garlic bread to accompany. The pan we spread it out on had small holes - ok it's some sort of pizza pan Bryce had from his Bachelor days for his frozen pizzas, so it's not like we didn't know the holes were there. Some of the garlic juices managed to drip on the bottom of my oven and as I'm finishing up the pasta I see smoke rolling out the top of my oven. We open it up and it rolls out filling our house.

Bryce took his station waving the broom under the smoke detector so it didn't go off and we opened windows and doors and turned on the fan. (totally brings back memories of this broiling experience)

I threw salt and on it and we continued on in a slighty more smokey atmosphere.

After dinner was cleaned up I jumped right into my pies. Everything was going fine - the filling smelled declicious! - until I started pouring the filling into the crusts. I probably went wrong with the store-bought crusts, but I just wasn't in the mood for making the crusts after slaving over dinner. :) and at this point it's too late anyway.

One seemed a bit more lopsided than the other and I attributed it to the pan balancing on my oven funny. No, the cookiesheet was warped and my crust defective...

I put the pies in the oven again, smoke started appearing again and I opened my oven - face right in the door for all the smoke to sting - to find the said defective crust disinteigrating. It was just melting off in a systematic way like it was supposed to do that. I don't know how many pumpkin pie's you've made in your life folks, but I'd say I've make at least close to 10, and this is not supposed to happen. Is bad.

I decide to beat the crust at its own game and took a spatulat to stick in my 450 degree oven (seriously it's only been in the oven for like 5 minutes out of the 10 at this degree to set the crust. We're not even at the real baking yet!) to knock of any more of it that wanted to go and pushed it down a hole at the bottom of my oven. I was not feeding it something else to burn.

As the cooking time moved along the pan was not enough to catch the drips, so I put in some aluminum foil to catch anything else before it hit the bottom. Idea previously utilized with the dripping garlic bread.

That makes me, what, 0-2. Losing to food on Thanksgiving. What is wrong with this picture?

Now, usually I put aluminum foil on the edges of the crust after the initial 10 minute crisping session so that they DON'T look so bar-b-qued as they do in the picture. However, my time was being spent on drip and melting crust control and I said, "Forget it Pie. Bring it - I don't care if your crust is burnt and I'm still going to share if you're ugly. Guess what, I don't want to deal with the hassle of putting aluminun foil on your crust. You don't deserve to be a pretty pie. Take that, Pie." I think this pie learned its lesson - next pie will behave much better.

So, my short nightmares are due to these dripping-causing-serious-smoke experiences.

To the pie in the background - I'm sorry you had to suffer extra crispy crust because of your fellow pie's actions and decision to not cooperate.

**You bet Pie is going to be delicious -just cut off the most outter crust and feed the birds.**

Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful they didn't put me in the charge of the turkey.

"I need a new suitcase definitely"

2011-11-21T18:22:00.000-05:00

I have recordings from the Ellen Show dating back a year...I've slowly been working my way through them and I found some clips I had to share - you've probably seen them, but they make me laugh every time.

Then the shopping spree Nicki sent them on:

...and Ellen brings them back for more:

Ellen does have the funniest kids on her show. I thought about one from a long time ago and wanted to see if I could find a clip of him - and I did!

Not on The Ellen Show but awesome. Anne Hathaway rapping "In the style of lil' Wayne."

Bathroom: The revealing

2011-11-05T20:19:00.004-04:00

It's been a long time coming. We bought our framed mirror today along with floating shelves, a TP holder, towel holder, waste basket, and baskets (to hold extra towels, soap, and TP) and hand towels.

We got home and Bryce went straight to work on hanging the TP and towel holders and mirror.  He placed the brackets for the shelves and was ready for the shelves by the time I was done painting them the color of the molding and walls.

Looked great - ready for pictures.  I went up stairs to switch a load of laundry and Bryce started putting away a few tools and trash when we hear an awful crash with a following of clinks and clangs and bangs.

Jamba thought the shelves looked nice too. A nice place to sit...but it didn't hold her jumping on it.

So, we made sure nothing was broken and the walls didn't have holes in them.  Jamba was fine, but the shelf would not hang up again. So, here goes another adventure with this bathroom.

We decided to pull the shelves off and rehang them with serious anchors.  Those suckers are study. I might be able to sit on them on and I guess we don't have to worry about them falling on some one's head while using the bathroom.

The shelf that fell had a pretty good gouge in it so we filled that, sanded and repainted before it went back up.

Here's the (mostly) final bathroom. I say mostly only because I want to get a cool terrarium or chia pet thing to put on the shelf for a touch of color. Gotta have my color. :) I wanted to put a fun colored towel in there but Target was not cooperating with their color choices...neon or neutral. Really? No buttery yellows and no soft greens or fun mauve/purples? Nope.

neat texture on the mirror frame

sturdy shelves with the wainscotting (sp?)
and obviously the builders weren't concerned with centering the toilet.

see the crown molding? ;)

We decided this was a great place for Grandpa's rabbits.

Maybe that's what Jamba wanted. She was hunting...

White Lightning

2011-10-22T17:26:00.000-04:00

Bryce washed his car today and since you haven't seen pictures (I know you've been dying) we thought we'd be considerate and share the beauty with you.

I guess I'll share the secret of what's in the FedEx box we're (still) waiting for. The package is a Hypertech tuner (+67 horsepower, yes please!). He's super excited because he's been wanting one and got it for a steal. He already installed the intake from his old car, so this will just make it moar fast!

Little Bits of Fall

2011-10-22T17:11:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd share the other little bits of fall I have around my house.

I love my "BOO" Ghosts and so does Awzker. They keep him company during his afternoon naps.

I love his giant nose. Maybe I'll make more him, out of 2-littler bottles and then have a grouping in all sizes.

I messed up RIP so I used CHILD instead

2011-10-22T17:00:00.001-04:00

I saw some DIY foam tombstones and wanted to make some for our Trunk or Treat since the YW are running it up and we're trying to decorate around each game since big rooms with high ceilings are hard to decorate. One of the games is Ring around the Graveyard (ring toss) so we were going to put some tombstones by it.

I found two small pieces of gray foam at work and brought them home to carve. I have no skills in this I've found, but they're fine for what we're using them for...however, on the first one I was going to put RIP and I centered the I in the middle, then wrote the first line of the P to figure the spacing and then moved to the R and drew a line...at the wrong side of the R...so it was too close to form the rest of the R. But I did a good job of drawing three lines the same distance apart...go Cec.

I had to think of something that was spelled with the same amount of letters on each side of an I. I thought maybe I could do a last name so the first one I thought of that met the criteria was CHILD...please don't judge.

Never ending (bathroom) story

2011-10-22T16:41:00.002-04:00

It was supopsed to come closer to an end today, but FedEx has mucked up our plans by not arriving in their 6 hour window they gave us. How do you miss delivering within a 6 hour window?

I digress... We painted the downstairs half bath after patching holes but we haven't hung the shelves or the mirror. Since these pictures were taken we've added wainscotting, crown molding, patched holes and repainted small sections where paint pulled off with the tape, painted our countertop and replaced the light fixture, faucet, and vanity hardware.

The wood for the floating shelves and stain to match the cherry vanity are what we wanted to get at Home Depot, but Bryce has something coming for his car that he has to sign for and since FedEx didn't come between 10 and 4 we're still sitting here waiting instead of heading to Home Depot to get closer to finishing the never ending bathroom project.

Here's how we did the paint job.

Bryce's snack in between taping and painting.

You can see how we stopped the pattern and then painted the bottom section prepping for detail molding.

with the tape off:

We painted the entire bathroom the base color in eggshell, but once we started taping and realized that covering every wall in this pattern from ceiling to floor could end up being a bit much. We decided we would make more work for ourselves and do wainscotting to match our entryway and put up crown molding to match as well. Good idea because it looks really good, but bad idea because of the work and one late night running short on patience making dents/holes in our wall with the molding and getting upset and walking out on the project. I won't tell which one of us did that. :)

I do really like it and I'm excited to finish it so I can share the final product with you too. The molding and everything looks so good in there. We're like pros.

Savannah, Ga

2011-10-15T16:43:00.003-04:00

A friend from work got married on Tybee Island a couple weekends back and I decided we should spend some time in Savannah since we'll probably never be down that way again.

I was excited in particular about three things:
- seeing Spanish moss hanging in trees
- eating some good seafood
- the history of the city and all the squares The cemeteries are supposedly pretty cool, but we didn't go check them out.

We woke up at 5:00 am left the house a little after 6 and drove 4 hours to Savannah, Georgia.
The route from here to there takes you through Macon where Bryce lived and worked in a past life so we decided to drive by his old apartment there. He didn't recognize the place at first - they've upgraded it a bit and there's a really nice shopping center/strip mall across the street and they've added more roads. He thought it would still be all trees and fields just like it was 7 years ago.

It was Bryce's lucky day because we had somewhere to go and we'd be driving back on Sunday so there would be not time to shop at the cute shops...

We checked in and walked through City Market to scope things out and then headed down to the cobblestone 'Riverwalk'. There's a neat replica of a pirate ship and we watched some ships come up and down the river.

We just barely missed the wiener dog races (bummer) but decided to stop for lunch at The Cotton Exchange. Awesome food. I had shrimp and grits and Bryce had talapia with noodles, shrimp and scallops on top. We also both had our first fried green tomatoes. Delicious. I started to take pictures of the food, but I couldn't make it not flash so then I was embarrassed and Bryce was probably even more embarrassed so I stopped.

We decided to walk down to Forsyth Park and so we grabbed some gelato from City Market (spotted on the first walk through) and on the way hit a couple of the smaller squares that are scattered through Savannah. One we walked through had a Bride and her Bridesmaids getting their pictures taken before the guests arrived to sit in the pretty white chairs by the fountain.

Forsyth Park is very pretty. It was the first park created in Savannah and styled after Paris with broad boulevards and has a fountain that's a copy of the one in Place de la Concorde. The fountain was placed in 1858. The park was 10 acres set aside by Oglethorpe as a park and is the only bit of land (from which I understand) that was set aside for this purpose in the early days of settlement and has stayed the same and hasn't been broken up or rezoned.

Plus the houses around the park are really cool too.

I really liked the feeling of the historic district.
We walked through the design district and then happened upon a street of shops so we wandered around those on the way back from the parks.

That evening we headed out to Tybee Island to the oldest lighthouse in the south (the first one built in Georgia since it's at the mouth of the Savannah River) and watched my friend get married on the beach.

DIY on clothes?

2011-09-04T23:05:00.002-04:00

I haven't ventured into this world much, but I have a pair of pants I need to transform. Looking through this blog I am a bit inspired and it almost makes me want to go to goodwill or salvation army. Get past the china move and look at her older posts titled, "Granny chic." Some are impressive. Or click the DIY button on the right side. http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/ I feel like you have to have a gift to see something cute when faced with some of these befores.

I do have 2 pair of pants I'm going to transform for fall now that I have a better picture of how to do it.

What's wrong with this picture?

2011-08-26T21:24:00.001-04:00

Let's see who finds it first!

Now, I know you're probably asking, "Yeah, I see the hair, but did you still eat the yogurt?"

Heck yes! But I had to refrain from licking the lid.

I actually thought about not eating the yogurt, but I wanted it and the hair was only on the lid.

So, I took a picture in case I got sick for proof.

I did not get sick and now I get to share it with you!

Lucky.

This is all leading somewhere...at least I hope.

2011-08-26T21:14:00.001-04:00

piles of dust EVERYWHERE

first coat of paint on

Can't tell there was ever a mirror glued to this wall.

Even Jama's not sure what do with the mess and the 'construction'

We're almost there - should finish tomorrow! Excited for the revealing of the paint job.

There's still the final touches to go like the toilet paper holder, light fixture, pictures getting hung.

Oh yeah, and a mirror. :) What started all this mess in the first place!

Treat yourself

2011-08-26T21:04:00.001-04:00

This is how Bryce and I treat ourselves. It's healthy right?! Look at all that natural peanut butter in there!

mmm...

Say What?!

2011-08-26T21:02:00.001-04:00

The lottery is now a necessity along with milk, eggs, and bread.

The sign is hard to read and I can't zoom. But the message part says Milk Eggs Bread Keno (which is a new lottery game.)

The commercials here in Georgia have a goat named Kevin who eats the lottery ticket and then farts fire.

Business or Personal: Solved

2011-08-26T20:52:00.001-04:00

Well, partially solved.

Here's a glimpse of the office before and after.

5 years down - eternity to go

2011-08-19T12:58:00.001-04:00

(not so good phone picture)

The man buys me flowers (which in theory I'm kind of against but really kind of liked it when I got them) and tells me I can still buy a pair of shoes too. :)

It's crazy when I think back on the 5 years - how many moves and transitions we've both made. Glad we're together. These 5 years have been good to us and I'm sure we'll find a way to enjoy the next 5.

Business or Personal?

2011-08-13T17:13:00.000-04:00

I've had my office now for 6 months at work and I've wondered what to decorate it with. It's bland, cream wall paper and some filing cabinets and desks and a computer. I feel like I should be able to put something in there to make it a little prettier to look at. After all I do sit in there for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. But at the same time I wasn't sure what to put in there. My boss is a huge Red Sox fan and served in the military so he has neat memorabilia and sports clippings and pictures up.

Me? I don't have any real passions like that I guess and I don't really want personal pictures all over the place either.  My office is still public domain for visiting vendors and other office personnel. So, What options do I have?

I finally figured it out a little bit. I been using existing holes in the wall to hang promotional flyers and notes to myself so when I was offered an old used and discolored bulletin board I accepted and thought, I'll cover it.

I had the batting at home and with a long perusing session at TJ Maxx I found a table runner (I was hoping to find a twin flat sheet) with a pattern I liked and some picture frames. Nothing too crazy. Hobby Lobby's ribbon was 50% off so I bought that and some decorative brads and covered the bulletin board. I pushed all the staples in by hand so probably 40-50 of them. It's nothing fancy and I figure out how to do the wrap job since the table runner was a ~~little~~ lot skinnier than the bulletin board.

The table runner was definitely the most expensive part of this, but not too bad still.

bulletin board   -   free
badding          -   free
table runner      -   $10
ribbon              -   $1.50
brads               -   $4 - set of 12 (not on sale)

Bad pictures from my phone because my camera battery died and I ~~am too lazy~~ haven't had a chance to charge it.

Next dilemma, what do I put in the picture frames?
I decided on pictures from the trip to Paris - mostly of buildings - not of people. So, I printed them in a kind of tinted gray scale - not stark black and white, but not sepia tone.

More bad pictures.

(left to right) signs outside the Musee d'Orsay, Paris skyline with la tour Eiffel, Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, and a hallway at chateau de Versailles.

I'm not anything close to a very good picture taker - see I don't even use the word photographer - but I think these are pretty ok. Some of the ones I remember thinking looked good on my camera's display screen ended up not looking quite as good bigger or some were blurred. LOTS of room for improvement; I blame the camera for now. :) But these will work.

I'm not one for the quotes, but I found this framed quote at TJ Maxx that I actually already tell myself it sometimes so I thought it appropriate for work and life in general. I think one of the talks at General Conference when I was in YW used it and this quote is what I remember from it.

In distribution we try to do a Days Work in a Day so I thought it's not too much of a stretch to make that connection either. This should cover me for now. I really like the creams and soft grays, brown, and yellow in the material and the gray coordinates with the photos and the cream is in the quote background. And it leaves me with room to add some more yellow for color. A little subdued, but still not bland. Personal, yet work appropriate?

Wait 'til you see what fun Bryce and I got started today on a home project!

A little sparkle for your day

2011-08-13T16:26:00.000-04:00

Say What?!

2011-08-13T16:18:00.001-04:00

People will try and give you anything these days to get your order...including Jelly Beans.

I think you'd have to be a die-hard jelly bean fan to go for that one. I didn't look on Page 2, but I wonder how many Jelly Beans they give you...

Or how many people choose the jelly beans...

Happy Monday

2011-08-08T18:40:00.000-04:00

I spilled some water while I was trying to drink it and when I bent down to clean it up, I saw this perfect smiley face - it's winking.

20 bucks

2011-07-29T17:53:00.001-04:00

What can you get for $20?

Bryce figures I should be able to find a hair spray that doesn't stink. :) He gave me a hug on Sunday then promptly cleared his nose. and I quote, "I don't care if it costs twenty dollars - buy a new hairspray that doesn't stink!"

Any ideas or suggestions? I'll probably go spend a few minutes in the hairspray aisle getting high 'til I find one that 'doesn't stink.'

Sunday Inspiration

2011-07-24T16:39:00.002-04:00

Last night I watched a Design Star episode on Hulu and they were designing apartments based on current fashion. Oddly enough, this morning after putting my outfit together, I knew what I needed to do in my front room and dinning room to spice things up.

I loved the stripes under the cardigan and then I added the 2nd print and was in heaven. ;)

I owe it all to these shoes.

So the translation into interior decorating:

Bright color + 1-color print + multi-color print = MAGIC

Currently I have green Venetian plaster and green faux finish in the two rooms. The dinning room is basically all black/brown and green. Do you understand the need for more color and pattern? We eventually will get new chairs (we've been saying that for 2 years now), but for now I want to upholster them with a bright pattern and give the chairs a new coat of high-gloss paint. Then using the same pattern I want to add pillows to the couch and chairs in the front room. It does have an orange chair and gray/blue curtains and I love the yellow striped pillow - so I'll add one more multi color print to spice things up a bit.

This is what I'm working with:

I'm thinking Kate Spade meets Pottery Barn:

I love big bold stripes and bright colors!

Lady like - but still fun floral??

So I obviously don't know what kind of multi print I'm going to put with my yellow stripes, but maybe you get the gist of what I'm saying. I think it time to add some party to these rooms. :)

So if you see any fun patterned fabric send me a link or name.

2 chopsticks up!

2011-07-09T17:18:00.000-04:00

I realize that where I live in th country outskirts of Atlanta isn't the most happening place and it's actually far from a lot of stores and restaurants others may take for granted - and I love and miss. One example is P.F. Chang's. Now, I don't want you to start making incorrect assumptions - if I did live reasonably close to a P.F. Chang's I would not be eating there with any kind of regularity because we're cheap and I don't remember seeing any coupons to eat there.

What I'm saying is when you're pulled out of civilization and all you have is a Wal-Mart and you have a hankering for some good - but cheap - chinese cuisine. You're saved. Wal-mart sells P.F. Chang's Home Menu frozen dinners for 2!

How perfect. And how delicious.

These have become our go to for a 'reward' dinner. We usually have at least 4 in our freezer. They are so easy (non-stick skillet and lid and 12-15 minutes) and we like the flavor.

Now, as far as telling you if they taste like what you get at P.F. Chang's actual restaurant I don't know. Send me a gift card and then I can tell you. :) Remember. I don't live in civilization.

This is the Shangi Beef and I love the greenbeans! This one must've been Bryce's plate because it has a few less greenbeans - I hog some of them when I dish out...shhh don't tell him I'm sure he'd be really upset about missing out on greenbeans. :)

I haven't looked at the health information on the bag - and I don't plan to anytime soon. So just get your own bag and after you eat it decide if you want to ruin a good thing by reading what's printed in that white box on the side of said bag.

"So go ahead and let P.F. Chang's Home Menu conquer your craving for distinctly bold Asian cuisine at home."

Short wish list

2011-06-04T14:12:00.004-04:00

It's a good thing I do have some self control and realize that clothes and shoes are not the only things that make me happy...there are bags and accessoreis too. :)

But they do make me smile!
P.S. Mom, I have some sewing projects for you...

(to keep things simple all clothing pictures are from Newport News and the interior pictures are from a Benjamin Moore paint blog, Living in Color)

Aldo distracted for an hour this morning while Bryce messed with our speakers and sub.

I just realized I titled this 'short wish list.' It might've started out that way...

Modern-Day Mystery Machine

2011-06-04T13:40:00.002-04:00

This guy has to work at Home Depot -that's where we always see it.

Had to share!

Take it all in...engine vent, spoiler, rims...

Saturday Mornings

2011-06-04T13:37:00.001-04:00

Saturday morning when we sleep in as long as we want and then eat a tasty breakfast - are my favorite. It's quite the occasion because I actually cook.

I wish I'd taken some good pictures but Bryce was mocking as usual so I quit and this is what I was left with that wasn't blurry or crooked. :)

I made Bryce some delicious (and beautiful) scrambled eggs with green chilies and wrapped with slices of bacon inside the tomato and basil tortilla. He said very confidently that it was "really good."

I made myself some French Toast - with a twist. I used Cinnamon Raisin bread. Yeah, now you're jealous.

MMmm mm.

Un-American Memorial Day

2011-05-30T21:31:00.001-04:00

You have to grill on Memorial Day Weekend. Isn't that law?

We thought it was. So for dinner we had Italian sausage thawed and ready to go for the grilling but as Bryce announced, "Uh, we're not going to be grilling today." We weren't going to be grilling today. My first thought was we were out of propane or spiders or something gross and/or creepy was in there.

This is what Bryce showed me.

How did they get in there?

This is why you get a cover.

Here's to you Becky Thompson

2011-05-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

Heard a woman laugh and thought it was a nice one.

Made me think of you and your laugh.

I chuckled out loud.

Your laugh makes everyone laugh even if it's not funny.

I'm chuckling again...at nothing. Thanks Aunt Becky!

(Not that you'll ever read this.)

Now in Ghetto Flavas

2011-05-24T20:37:00.001-04:00

nuf said

whirly dirly winds for Mother's Day

2011-05-24T20:22:00.000-04:00

Alabama was hit with some tornados and Bryce - being the thoughtful giver he is - volunteered us to go help alongside 300 others in the clean up efforts. Happy Mother's Day! It's ok, I'm not a mother yet and if if I was I'd probably want to go to get away from the kids...haha.

We didn't take any pictures while we were there unfortunately, but it was pretty wild to be driving along and then there's a section where the trees are snipped and bent and then on the other side it looks like nothing happened.

Here are some aerial shots taken by a pro.

Most of the work was moving trees and limbs, and cleaning up remains of homes.

Now, I know what you really want is pictures of our hotel room. Our option was to camp in the church's yard or a hotel. Obvious choice. :) Thank you Oxford for having decent hotels to choose from. We chose a Hilton Garden Inn.

Sweet Goodies for your Eyes

2011-04-19T18:09:00.003-04:00

I passed the white set with their fancy wheels on Friday. Monday had a brand new set to feast one. I couldn't not share!

Please ignore any dangers, cuationary thoughts, or crazy claims related to the fact that I'm taking the pictures from the road as I drive by - I'm in the turn lane. :)

I'll keep 'em coming for your enjoyment.

Jewelry Wish List: the highlights

2011-04-09T19:56:00.004-04:00

so versatile and awesome

sterlig silver, semi precious gemstones. I want a bold 'cocktail' ring in gold.

Cloud Necklace

So fun.

seen a few like this I really like.

gold studs, hammered would be neat too.

twist on the bangle I want some in gold too.

I know it's not jewelry. But I love blazers.

I put my new shoes on today

2011-04-09T19:11:00.004-04:00

Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
It's so inviting,

Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I'm running late,
And I don't need an excuse,
'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes.

I cleaned out my closet since yesterday I bought 2 new pairs of shoes. Long story short I had to go to DSW to get some cash back so I had to buy something to get cash back...punch line, I forgot to ask for cash back. Bryce didn't think that joke was very funny.

When I go through clothes I tell myself if I haven't worn it in the last year I have to get rid of it. You know you always put those shirts on or try those pants and say, "there's potential in these. They're not what I always picture them as..." you put it back in its place until next year...

I do a bit of the same thing with shoes. Shoes that I've had since high school need to go and I discovered some gems.

When you have so much dust on your shoes that your finger prints show you need to throw them out. I bought these specifically for the senior group pictures for my dance teacher. We had to wear a black shirt and I didn't have any black flipflops. These were cheap and on the way to the pictures. Think I've worn these since? What's sad is that I've packed them up and made major, state to state moves with them 3 times since high school. Really?

These were cute when I bought them and super comfy. They've been through puddles and rain storms, are so worn (the brand name is about gone and the yellow's not so yellow anymore) that they almost don't stay on my feet now. Time for them to go.

These will go to a lucky YW. It must be awesome to have me as a leader. :) These are still good - but I replaced with something better...

I love them.

Bought these as a bonus. I'm super excited about these for work. I have so many heels for church and fun nights out, but work shoes are a different animal. These are super comfy and super cute with my new work pants and capris.

The motivation to go through my shoes and cut out 5 or 6 pairs stemmed from more than buying a couple new pairs - I'm in style/life transition. I guess I really have been for the last year, but now I'm taking it seriously and handling it instead of letting it handle me.

I decided that my khakis from high school ($6 on sale and finally gave out earlier this year) weren't good enough, my cheap clearance Old Navy pants were no good, and that my wardrobe was lacking. I had mostly tees from what I wore to High School. My Sunday clothes were much better than anything I had back then and I would never wear those to school. I was not fashionable in any sense. (I'll spare you the sob story as we all think we have one from high school.) So take those clothes from 16 year old Cecily and try to work them into a 20-something's work wardrobe. Kinda hard to do.

So, as I throw stuff out and as I add things in I'm slowly building a wardrobe I'll be excited to wear. I'm tired of the mornings before work where I realize that I have 4 shirts I can wear to work alone -without layering them (you do not want to layer them in the summer down here) so I finally just grab something and go because if you don't you'll be late and blah, instead of just blah.

I've got a list of things I need replaced - either because I already threw them out (yellow cardigan from H&M with pit stains already) or need to -and things I would like added to my wardrobe. I have learned that I like the orangey-brown leathers, patterns, fun prints and bright colors - saturated colors. I seem to have a bit of "country/hippie" in me that comes out in my choices sometimes. I'm in love with nude shoes and pale pink right now and I see this lasting for a while. I now have a whole shelf of nude and cream shoes. I love it. I get excited when I put them on.

I love blazers, jackets, and cardigans.

I'm also looking to trade in my cheap fashion jewelry for fewer quality pieces that I love. I have a wish list for this. :) Bryce is covered for the next 5 years with present ideas.

A few pieces I really want will be posted to give you an idea.

So the point is that the trasition is necessary and needed. It's begun, and I'm trying to define my style so I have a cohesive wardrobe I love. Now I'm not going to play hopeless and struggling - I do have some pieces I love but I can't wear the same thing every day. But when you wear the same shirts 2 times each week you get the hankering for something more. :)

I said I would post pictures of future outfits. Yeah, not gonna happen. One, I'm not photogenic and there's pressure to take a cute picture of a cute outfit. Two, it's not worth the bribes sometimes for Bryce to take two pictures - he doesn't have the patience and I don't have the modeling skills. :) Three, I thought of maybe just posting the outfit's pieces so youcould imagine them, but I haven't done that yet either.

Aloha-ha

2011-03-25T21:36:00.002-04:00

view from our cottage

Short recap of our trip to Hawaii. It was awesome. It was beautiful. It was restful. Getting home was not easy.

Link to a few or my photos.
Link to extra beautiful photos by Mat.

A Hint of Green

2011-03-25T19:08:00.002-04:00

http://www.dailytexasphoto.com/

Green is everywhere, which mean spring has arrived in Georgia. The Pollen will continue for the next few months. Occassionally rain will knock it out of the air and wash it off your cars and buildings and sidewalks and the pollen will settle into chartreuse puddles.

I walked outside to my car after work on Tuesday, noticed the green iridescence on my car and then spotted part of a hand print - only visible from the dusting of pollen. My thoughts in this order:

"Spring has arrived in Georgia! Do I wash my car or - alright, who touched my car?!" As I look around trying to remember if anyone parked by me today. Way to ruin my excitement for spring...

Say What?

2011-02-13T17:04:00.001-05:00

Seedless Watermelon - May contain seeds. Say What?

Did you get your hair cut?

2011-02-13T17:01:00.001-05:00

No. I just straightened it and chopped my bangs. :)

My hair dryer (from high school) died on me a couple weeks ago so I've been taking showers at night and putting my wild mane of hair up or trying to work with the curls. Bryce decided I should have a hair dryer - not because my hair wasn't cute - but because I was so upset when it broke. We bought one yesterday and it is my favorite thing for now. It's lighter, it's ionic and it's ceramic and it dries faster, and makes my hair soft and beautiful. Thank you Revlon.

I was so inspired by the hair dryer that I decided I'd go sleek today with straight hair (again, something I haven't done for weeks) and decided on top of that, that I would chop my bangs again. My sister cut in some bangs last November, I trimmed them once and then let them grow out. I think I'll keep them for a while again. I love the drama from them and they make me feel sassy. :)

I feel like it's hard to get a picture where I look like I do in real life. Maybe I just have a false sense of what I look like and I think I'm hot and what I see in pictures is really what everyone else sees - some girl that's cute, but looks kinda like a little kid... anyway, here's some pictures.

Anybody?

2011-02-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

Anybody want to me make me some of these?

I think I have everything but the beads for it already, but after today I just don't feel like it.

This embarrasment was totally worth it.

2011-02-05T22:04:00.001-05:00

I alway take pictures with my phone to remember things or keep inspiration nearby.

While at Super Target we wandered by their art and there were some really neat line drawings but they were on laquered wood (painted black) so it appeared framed, but it wasn't. I really liked the drawings but would have HAD to have them if they were prints and in real frames. So, what do I do?

I embarrassed Bryce by pulling out the phone and flipping the picture to the back to capture the artist information. This time, the embarrassment was totally worth it Bryce.
I've added these to my wish list:

Allposters.com by Avery Tillmon

I also saved these for future inspiration:

I don't want this for my wall. I always thought it would be neat to do a kid's room with telephone wires and poles shilouette style and have birds sitting on the wires. This is kind of what I'm talking about.

I want to do an ink line drawing of a girl, but I haven't figured out what she'll be doing. I want to put it with line drawings I already have from Matisse and Picaso.

this i have

this is really similar to the Matisse one I have.

Truett's Diner/Chick-fil-A

2011-02-05T21:37:00.003-05:00

We partied in McDonough today - threw a football for15% off at Home Depot, had to stop at Best Buy and hit the Super Target for curtains and also came home with Dr. Pepper (on an incredible sale) and this console for our sitting room.

For lunch before heading home we spotted this and figured we check it out.

I think it's so neat and wanted to share it with everyone. Inside there's a trolly that runs around the top of the room and there are pictures from different cities in the US and there's a Market Street trolly car that you can eat in too.

I embarrased Bryce by taking these so I have to post them now...they're not even good pictures. And don't really show the cool aspect of it all.

Sorry for the embarrassment, Bryce. It was so not worth it.

Parisian Cafe

2011-02-05T21:37:00.001-05:00

The sketches are in Bryce's office

We had some prints from our trip to Paris framed and I had to hang them up.

I decided now was the time to do some curtains in the kitchen, so I went through some fabric from my sewing queen grandma and found this fun yellow stripe material -which is the same except for color - as the valance in the adjacent TV room.

long?

short?

I sewed them this afternoon and Bryce helped me hang them. I'm glad they're up and done. Now I just need to decide what to do for the length ofthe curtains...or do an actual cafe curtain across the window... You tell me.

Seriously? Say What?

2011-01-27T20:12:00.001-05:00

See anything out of place?

You drank 2 thirds of this coca-cola. I'm glad to see it didn't take the whole bottle to quench your thirst. Added Bonus: Since you didn't drink it all you don't need to pay for it!

Dragon Fruit

2011-01-27T20:01:00.001-05:00

Bryce buys these every once in a while from the Super H Mart by his work. Asian food and imported foreign things. He told me he found the best way to eat it: cut it in quarters and then peel the skin back. He says, "like a banana." I think more like an orange. :) Textures is kind of like a pear or kiwi - it has the little seed textures in it so I go more with the Kiwi. If you get one that's sweet they're pretty good - but otherwise just kind of bland...

But they look really cool!

One Reason Georgia Schools Lose their Accreditation

2011-01-27T19:48:00.001-05:00

I posted previously about some Jo-ja spelling at the local dump. Well of course, we found some more. Here for your enjoyment...

This was discovered on the gas pump at the Big E-Z.

How many mistakes can you find?

This was in the cleaning closet where they thought if they labeled where everything goes than anyone could fit everything in there...It's always nice to know where the latters go.

Is it weird that spell check doesn't catch latters?

Is this a fancy spelling that I don't know and the joke's really on me?

Dear Burger King

2011-01-27T19:20:00.003-05:00

Dear Burger King,

My lunch would've been ruined without today. I didn't even have enough jam to cover half my slice of bread. I would've gone hungry and been starving enough to sneak some Cheez-Itz from the girl at work when she's not looking. :) Without you I would've had a PB&J without the J. There would've been no sweetness to tango with my rough, stick your mouth peanut butter and his sidekick wheat bread. Where would I have been then? Left with the two bites I could must of the Cinnamon Roll flavored yogurt, old wilting baby carrots, and my bag of Sun Chips. Without you there would've been no lunch. I am forever grateful and will remember you in the future. Are jam packets free?

Sincerely,
Always in a Jam

I have to post this or I will appear ungrateful - which I'm not. My lunch has now been saved twice by fast food jam. Thank you McDonald's (the first shining knight in armor) and Burger King .

I love my Peanut Butter. I enjoya good PB & J sandwich on occassion at work but what do you do when you forget your jam on the counter at home? Or when you do remember it, but don't have as much as you thought in the bottom of your jar? You hope someone bought themselves some delicious, fattening breakfast at MickiD's or Burger King and they leave the left over jams laying around - because you know they're never going to use the 10 packets they put in your bag for one biscuit sandwich.

Shiny snow

2011-01-12T17:54:00.001-05:00

Most roads are clear now. After two days of businesses closed (I dusted and vacuumed the house, slid down a hill on the ice/snow, hung a curtain rod, read some stuff, got some church things organized and slept), both Bryce and I had delayed openings and reported to work at 9 for me and 10 for him. We got above freezing today and the sun was out so the ice/scary spots I drove this morning were gone this afternoon. The snow is kind of cool looking though because the ice layer on top is all shiny and pretty. Here are the quick pictures I took in all of 10 seconds because it's cold out there with no coat on.

Oh yeah, and here's a picture of me before going out into the cold. I would post Bryce's but he asked me not too and I'm kind of with him on that - it was pretty awful. He had a sweet 80's plaid jacket and a hat with ear flaps and his face was pricelss.

Ice + BMW = Fire

2011-01-10T10:28:00.002-05:00

Been watching the news and weather/road updates this morning due to the ice storm that moved through. (see this post.) My favorite story of the day is the man in the orange hat who lost traction and spun his wheels so hard for so long he caught his 5 series BMW on fire. The news man telling the story was awesome, both Bryce and I were chuckling from what he was saying. And to top it off, while they're filming, a car drives by and its windows are still completely covered with snow - they didn't bother wiping anything off their car before driving. Smart. People in Georgia just don't know what to do with winter precipitation. The audio starts in at the 2:30 point.

Oh What Do You Do in the Winter Time When You're Stuck at Home?

2011-01-10T10:03:00.002-05:00

Hang curtains! It's amazing what they do for a room. I'm still looking for the right sheets for the 4 windows in our bedroom.

I mentioned a bamboo pole I had here. This is the reveal.

Before:

Now:

Jamba likes the curtains too.

These curtains are a gorgeous off white silk. I would call it candlelight. My grandma had it in her shed full of fabric and sent it to my mom when we were designing my wedding dress. It wasn't a true white so we couldn't use it for that but loved the fabric. My mom made these curtains that hung in our really cool orange bedroom in Kentucky. Our bedroom here has too many windows in it and I'm not spending that much money on matching silk panels so I've held on to them until this day. I'm really excited to have them hanging again. I still need to clear the weight bench out of the room and the mirror that I want to hang in the downstairs bathroom. We talk about painting the walls, but I don't know what color. I would like to put a little table or bench in there too. But at least it looks better for now.

The support bracket hooks (I'm sure that's the technical term) are from Home Depot - free of rat poo and trash. If you don't know what I'm referring to check out this post. They're actually hooks for hanging towels or coats or whatever. The bamboo came from right here in Georiga - some friends of ours cut it down out of their neighbor's backyard for me. Pretty awesome! The stain (again from Home Depot) I bought for just a few dollars. That's what I'm talkin' about. :)

Ice Day

2011-01-10T08:12:00.009-05:00

Check it out y'all. 1/4" of ice and a few inches of snow. We watched it accumulate last night before we went to bed and woke up to this beautful sight this morning. Georgia DOT says to stay off the roads until Tuesday afternoon if possible. Some businesses are closed - including mine - so it's an Ice Day!

It's been sleeting this morning as well. Perfectly round balls of ice. They look like the silica balls that are in the packets that you get in new shoes.

This is not snow, this is sleet falling.

A Little Late

2011-01-04T18:42:00.001-05:00

My Amaryllis (meant for Christmas) finally bloomed these last few days - in all its 4-flower glory. I go in my dinning room just to look at them, "Look at my pretty flowers!"

I'm glad they bloomed a little late. After putting away the holiday decorations my house feels like it's missing that little bit of magic and these bright blooms are fun in my green dining room.

"More exciting than when the hogs ate Granny!"

2010-12-30T14:50:00.004-05:00

Need some new traditions for your New Year's Eve party?

courtesy of Bing images (New York's Time Square)

In Greece, St. Basil fills the children's shoes with presents at midnight. (use boots and you could fit more presents probably - like a second Christmas)

In Denmark it is a good sign to find your door heaped with a pile of broken dishes at New Years. Old dishes are saved year around to throw them at the homes where their friends live on New Years Eve. Many broken dishes were a symbol that you have many friends! (I probably wouldn't do this if you're not in Denmark.)

For Extra Luck in the new year try one of these:

In Puerto Rico children enjoy throwing pails of water out the window at midnight. Some believe that this rids their home of any evil spirits!
In Spain when the clock strikes midnight the people eat 12 grapes. One grape for every stroke of the clock to represent each month in the year. Each grape is said to bring good luck in the new year. My brother spent 2 years in Spain on his mission so he and his wife count down to midnight with the 12 grapes - 1 each second. Now that's a mouth full.
Switzerland believes good luck comes from letting a drop of cream land on the floor New Years Day.
The French eat a stack of pancakes for luck and good health.
Belgium farmers wish their animals a Happy New Year for blessings.
In parts of Portugal children go caroling from home to home and are given treats and coins. (Can you confirm this Mat?)
A Romanian tradition is listening to hear if the farm animals talked on New Years Day. If the animals talked it was considered bad luck so they are relived when they do not hear any talking animals. Do they ever have years of good luck without drugging the animals? I'd like to meet some quiet chickens or a quiet cow.
In Bolivia families make beautiful little wood or straw dolls to hang outside their homes to bring good luck.

(Information provided by the world wide web: http://www.essortment.com/all/newyearsevetr_rllr.htm)

courtesy of Bing images (New York's Time Square aftermath)

Whether you make it all the way to 12:01 1/1/2011 or not. I wish you and yours a Happy (and safe) New Year!

Maybe for next year you could plan on attending the Opossum Drop in Brasstown (Opossum Capitol of the world!), NC Population 240 and holding steady for the last 100 years.

"If New York can drop a "Ball", Georgia can drop a "Peach", then we can lower the Opossum." - clay's corner

"More exciting than when the hogs ate Granny!"
The Carringer Chronicle, Jan `99

Every day is the start of a new year.

2010-12-30T14:33:00.002-05:00

I usually don't even think about making resolutions, but I think I may make some goals this year...stay tuned and see what they turn out to be.

This video was entertaining enough and thought provoking. You don't have to wait for New Year's to decide to make changes.

It reminds me of the man on the street video I like about Thanksgiving.

Taxidermy

2010-12-22T19:05:00.000-05:00

A while back we had these tress expertly painted by my parents in our sitting room adjoining the bedroom. Then, while in Arizona for Thanksgiving, I experienced Z Gallerie for the first time. I quite enjoyed it. I think I need some fake animal heads on my wall now.

Here is my room.

We need a cute table/shelf to put right under the TV so the receivers and HTPC stuff aren't on the floor.
We need a coffee table of sorts as well...maybe a loveseat to go under the window instead of chairs in the corners...

The chairs a actually quite comfy once you get balanced...j/k

And here is my inspiration.

The two above are from Z Gallerie. I'm starting a collection jar.

Cardboard Taxidermy from Urban Outfitters. I just thought it was clever.

Also found some DIY inspiration at Anthropologie.

These were really neat. Maybe I could go Safari in my room and use and elephant and rhino head. They look like all you need is a plaster, chicken wire, or paper mache base and then cover it with newspaper or book pages. The zebra's stripes are just painted on.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2010-12-22T18:32:00.004-05:00

Ok, so we actually warmed up to 60 today (finally my toes could thaw out from the last week of 30s), but with Christmas only 2 days away I wanted to pretend.

If you are somewhere where it's miserably cold outside - and I hate it for ya - start a sweat with Blair's Death Rain potato chips or Dave's Gourmet hot sauces! With names like Satan Blood and Da' Bomb you can't go wrong.

WWW.HOTSAUCE.COM

Bryce ordered a couple different things and gave it as gifts to his lunch buddies, who have numerous stories of sweating and crying from coating things in hot sauce. Of course they loved it :) And I loved it because I got to taste what was left. I got some laughs in between tears and heavy breathing (I'll admit to scraping my tongue after the hot sauce).

What I was really impressed with was the flavor of everything. The flavor was exsistent and enjoyable so it wasn't just hot to be hot...there was a point to eating it still. :) I don't appreciate the Ghost Pepper hot sauce flavor so that's a never again on that flavor.

My favorites? The Chipotle potato chips (Medium hotness and given 2 flames on the hot scale) and my runner up was Habanero potato chips. (4 flames on the hot scale and labeled as XXX HOT)

My favorite and my least favorite waiting to eaten.

In last place were the Buffalo and Cheddar was just a step better. (Both have 2 flames on the hot scale)

Oppo knocked-off spells Poop

2010-12-22T17:58:00.002-05:00

Bryce shared this discovery with me and I didn't believe it until I saw it. This phone is a knockoff of the Oppo phone (I've never heard of it either). I guess the knockoff department thought they'd be clever and switch the Os and Ps. Which left them with the Poop phone. Good job.

The Worst Name for a Knockoff Cellphone, Ever

And just in time for the gift-giving, holiday season Engadget has given a gift of its own: Engadget's Holiday Anti-Gift Guide. Seriously, I love whoever wrote this. Here's a teaser.

Toshiba Regza 12GL1You can tell everyone within earshot that this is a highly innovative piece of technology, that it delivers a glasses-free 3D picture and all that, but it ain't gonna change the fact that Toshiba's 12GL1 is a 12-inch screen with a 466 x 350 resolution. Seriously, read that again. We've had bigger displays than that in our bathrooms since the '80s. If you want to inflict a tiny screen with a prissy 3D tech -- in our experience, the GL1 loses its luster with only minimal movement off center -- this is most definitely the high-end item you're looking for.

Price: ¥120,000 ($1,431)

Or for you iPhone lovers:

iPhone 4 Diamond Rose Edition - $7.75m

Stuart Hughes maintains his position on our annual anti-gift guide by going even further into the land of exorbitant prices for extravagant phones. Costing nearly $8 million, his iPhone 4 boasts 500 flawless diamonds, a rose gold back, a solid granite case, and absolutely no appreciation for things like economics or subtlety.

All My Children

2010-12-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

This was outside of PetsMart where the animal lovers go.

The things people put on their cars...

Say What?!

2010-12-20T14:23:00.003-05:00

This will be common post title - as I continue to find things that make me ask, Say What?! If you have some, please share. :)

Cracker Alley. Maybe this one's only funny to me because of where I live. Say What?!

Say What?!: Holiday

2010-12-20T14:19:00.002-05:00

While visiting family in Arizona we went in the Fryes grocery store and this display made me to do a double take as I walked by. I stopped, tilted my head, and asked myself, "Did that say poop?"

Yes, it did, but not just any poop - Snowman poop! Say What?!

fa ra ra ra ra

2010-12-16T17:59:00.004-05:00

Finished and showing them off outside. Here's how they started.

Tis the Season

2010-12-15T20:21:00.002-05:00

Home (to little critters) Depot

2010-12-15T20:03:00.003-05:00

We live in a neighborhood with an HOA and requirements for maintaining your yard. Bryce's weed whipping, as he calls it, wasn't good enough after 3 years so he decided he'd give in and buy whatever the cheapest edger was at Home Depot. The only cheap edger left was in a crunched box that had holes in and looked like it'd be kicked around and dropped a few times. He asked if there was another of the same, in a better box, available. There was not so Home Depot, thinking they were doing him a favor, gave him an extra 10% off for the condition of the box. The man should have opened the box before bringing it home!

Maybe he could've gotten a dead rodent discount.

Bryce already though it was gross when he opened it up to find the handle covered in mouse droppings and almost couldn't handle it when he found the dead mouse at the bottom. Needless to say he did some serious sanitizing before using the "new" edger.

Now, onto prettier and alive critters....

Look what we found hiding in the tree toppers at Home Depot.

Can anybody identify this lizard? It even changed colors a little bit when Bryce took it off the bow...I guess he thought he could turn red. :)

Bryce is good at catching anything from lizards to frogs and even this for our nephew's birthday present. :)

Bombay Mahogany

2010-12-15T19:43:00.001-05:00

Exotic right? Well it matches the brick on the front of our house perfectly.

I bought the wood stain for a bamboo pole I've been drying in our garage for the past 2 years - I'm guesstimating here. It didn't take that long to dry out, but I left it sitting because I wasn't ready to move on with it. I finally took a Saturday and while the weather was decent outside I stained the pole. It's a pretty dark brown with lots of red. It's glossy so the bamboo pole is now very svelte looking in its new shiny lacquer. I bought a very small can of the wood stain and still had lots left after the 2 1/2 coats I did. The pole will be hung in the guest bedroom as the curtain rod. I have two beautiful silk panels I'm excited to hang from it.

This month as we got Christmas decorations down I pulled out two small trees in pots and decided it was time to do something about the raw, matte, white pots. Now they are Bombay Mahongany (keep in mind this was a wood stain I put on some type of ceramic) and it worked out pretty well I think. They are pre lit and sit outside on either side of our front door with ribbons swagged around them. Bryce's first comment. "Hey, they match the brick exactly." Translation: he approves because they don't stand out. :) The trees come off a bit more traditional now, but I wasn't really feeling the white. I guess a glossy black would be the other choice for me.

Chigedy ching

2010-12-14T20:58:00.001-05:00

An I-talian Christmas favorite. Bryce and I have watched a couple differnent videos, here's my favorite. Warning: It gets stuck in your head!

Please to enjoy the following link.

Dominick the Donkey

Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down

2010-12-14T20:47:00.002-05:00

Same with Awzker. He's getting super fat. He's shaped like a bowling pin, but a really fat bowling pin. He's a funny cat anyway because he has belly flab that just hangs down and swings while he prances around. He eats a lot and it shows. :) He also really enjoys sleeping on his back and sitting up, crouching like a cricket, and cuddling. I don't think he's really a cat. We bought the two cats some toys on a rope so you can mess with them. Awzker would just hold on and you could roll him around - so it made us think of the weeble wobbles...I tried to recreate it today by myself (of course it doesn't work out the same and videos take too long to upload.) So here are some stills. **Awzker is not even a year old and he weighs 11 pounds. Jamba, is almost 2 and she weighs 8 lbs.**

Whachu doin? Nothing chillin at the Holidae In

Awzker the cricket. This is how he eats as well.

Remember how little he was when we got him?

Just Jukin'

2010-12-14T20:21:00.002-05:00

Bryce and I had the opportunity to go to Paris, post to come, in October and while there happened upon the Paris Auto show! Super exciting, I know. But it is a pretty good coincidence because it's held every other year. This is where we found our true souvenir and my Christmas present. At least Bryce keeps telling me that's what it is. :) We didn't order it while we were there, but we did look at one and I even got to sit in it!

It's higher up than my tC was, has 4 doors which has been nice and is AWD so I can drive through fields and up mountains a bit easier. Plus, you may not believe this, but someday...Someday....we might have kids. :) So, we went for the leather seats for clean up ease.

The Juke has a turbo, torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, booty roasters, rear windshild wiper, and front and rear defrosters. :) Ok, so I don't know what to tell you about it, but it's cool and I like it a lot. Here are some more pictures from it in the US of A.

Bryce's pride and joy: You press the "Climate" button and it shows you the climate controls.

You press the "D-Mode" button and it shows you your options..sport, normal, eco, etc... The car has a CVT which comes in all newer Nissan. You can't feel the shifting in it (we got an automatice because Bryce said I don't need any other distractions while I drive) on sport mode, they put in fake shifting.

The rest of the story... Bryce and I were pretty picky with our list of wants on this car: spoiler, gun metallic paint, SL trim, and AWD. Apparently these are hot items. We called about a couple in North Carolina, one in West Viriginia, and Kentucky. They had all just been sold when we asked about them and we found one more in Virginia, just outside of DC. We called, ask them to hold it and said we'd be up there that weekend to pick it up. We sold my car to CarMax and went a couple days as a one-car family. Flew up to the Dulles airport, Thanks Delta!, and drove 10 hours home. We did get to have a fun night with Tanya, James, Taja-Maya and TomCat. Thanks guys we couldn't have done it without you!

The Juke.

How's my Driving?

2010-09-17T19:14:00.003-04:00

You're used to seeing this bumper sticker posted on work vehichles and semi trucks. I thought - how awesome would that be on your teen's car!? Bryce probably thinks about how awesome that would be on my car! Here's some driving related bumper stickers.

This guy has the right idea.

How's my driving? Probably not very good - you're bumper's falling off.

fart jokes are usually a crowd pleaser.

I see a lot of this one around.

Simple statment of truth. I like this one.
*photos courtesy of google

Southern Comfort

2010-09-17T18:50:00.001-04:00

A lot can come to mind with this phrase. The southern hospitality that's world renowned, a bourbon, perhaps a city you've visited in the South, or the movie from 1981 (never seen it or heard of it but found it with Google), or port a pottie.

Yup, that's right. Port-a-Jons, Port-o-Let, or Jimmy's Thunder as one brand calls them. I saw one bright blue plastic portable toilet sitting at a construction side in the Mountains of Georgia labeled, "Southern Comfort." That's a lie. There're no good feelings that come with seeing one of those things, and certainly no high cholesterol, heart stopping, comfort foods either. Here's a few portable toilet brands and pictures to make you have to drop the kids off at the pool or see a man about a horse or ...

I guess the embossed hand is anice touch. maybe it's so you can find the handle to open it.

This is a classy name.

The afore mentioned Jimmy's Thunder. It acutally folds down < 1" to make it portable.

Chelsea Handler and Chuy supporting Charmin

Just so we all understand how to sit on a toilet...

Kids need creative outlets more than ever - thanks Play-Doo!

I think we've all used something similiar to this before. :)

Dad said it's like a game: You take a deep breath and see how fast you can get out! Good one Dad - thanks for passing on the little bits of wisdom. Then you get one of these if you make it out alive:

Pointless

2010-09-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

This post is pointless as are much of my other ones. We had a pretty sudden down pour and I had to run to Home Depot to get some nimeral spirits for the stain I used on a bamboo pole (you'll see it in a future post as a curtain rod) and got all over myself and the sink. This makes me think I should do a post every once in a while about things I do that are dumb, realize are dumb and then go on and do them anyway...things that people say, "Only Cec would do that" or in Bryce's case, "...you wouldn't be PewperZ if you didn't do that." I've got a long laundry list and I'm sure more will come. Ok, so I'll save that for another post - we all know I'm dragging on the posting so I'll get my tally up for the month. :)

Back to my pointless post: While leaving Home Depot I looked around to check out the storm clouds and saw this.

My intiial thought was something was on fire and that was some serious smoke...

No. it's a cloud. Super long one that went across the interstate and dispersed into little fluffly clouds. Crazy looking to me.

This is the other end of it from where I was at the stop light. I didn't get a picture of the end.

Who comes up with that?

2010-09-15T17:47:00.001-04:00

When developers make neighborhoods they usually get to pick the street names. I find this interesting as the neighborhoods by a lake nearby are all bird names and there are TONS of these little lake roads. Some neighborhoods have all tree names and some are pretty (maybe even family) names. Going to visit the family last Sunday we passed this beautiful road name and on the way back I had to stop and get a picture. Only in Georgia. Seriously. :)

Breathing Exercises

2010-09-15T17:31:00.002-04:00

When you're thinking unkind thoughts, stressed, or need to clear your mind or relax: do breathing exercises! I find they do work. Breath in for 4 counts and exhale for 6 counts so you focus a little more on the exhaling. Do sets of 5 or more if neeeded.

Next time you come to this blog and you find I haven't updated just remember to breathe. :)

Netflix

2010-09-07T18:55:00.003-04:00

I like creative people and people who go above and beyond the call of duty. I like people who make me chuckle and say, "Is this for real?" out loud with a smile on my face. Netflix has done this and I say thank you to their creative and extra mile going employees. Think back in time and remember walking into the movie store and you generally had basic genres to choose between. You choose between Action/Adventure, Anime/Animation, Comedy, Classics, Drama, Foreign, Special Interest, Independent, Horror...you get the idea. Netflix has taken the art of categorizing to the next level. I guess they want to make sure you fully understand just what type of Drama or Comedy you're going to find. I went on to use the Instant Play on our TV and was confronted with these options: Understated Indpendent Dramas, Gritty Suspensful Action and Adventure, Visually Striking Sci-Fi and Fantasy and Goofy Comedies. Which would you choose? What movie would you list under these extra descriptive categories?

What if...

2010-08-06T19:28:00.000-04:00

I see some pretty sweet paint jobs around town. Most of the cars have been jacked up - as in height off the ground and then have very large, 22 or 24 inch wheels on them. One of my favorites is blue and orange like some old school cop car and then has larger than life wheels on it. This green and yellow one I see a lot - it's not as spruced up as some of the others, but it was finally parked somewhere accessible when I happen to have my camera.

What if I pained my little tC like this?

Bitter Sweet

2010-07-27T19:32:00.001-04:00

It's time for me to throw away my go-to work shoe. I've had these for the last 3 years and have worn them several days a week - for a while when I first got them it was just about 4 days a week. The metal 'finish' is scraped off most of the buckle and the right shoe lost part of the hardware and there are scuffs galore on these things.

The best place to see - and hear - the wear is on the heel.

They've been worn down to the metal stud (which makes them loud on concrete warehouse floors

and Wal-Mart's tiled floors. The metal even has scratches and signs of wear on it.

The last bit of rubber is what's hanging off in this picture and the back of the heel is scratched up.

When the last bit of sole broke on the heel I decided it was finally time to replace them. "No big deal," you're thinking. Wrong. HUGE deal! I am rather picky on my shoes and I usually don't go into a shoe store saying this is what kind of shoe I will find today and this is the kind I buy. I search the clearance sections of stores where you never know what you'll find. I've been keeping an eye open for some black work shoes for the last 6 months and haven't found anything that stuck my fancy. The requirements were:

- low heel
- but still a heel
- must be black
- not plain black
- must have something snazzy or interesting to it.
- must fit and be comfortable
- must grab my attention
- must not look too old lady. :)
- I have to love them immediately and not talk myself into them.

Guess what! I went to DSW for their boots (which they didn't have online in my size) and discovered that they don't have them in my closest store either...so I went to the clearance section and perused. The first successful find was a new pair of black, low-heeled, work shoes. This pair had enough punk/interest for me with the studs. Thank you, Nine West.

In the back of my mind I knew what this meant. I was going to have to throw one of my staple pair of shoes away. So to sweeten the deal and take my mind off the pain I found these:

leopard wedges by Steven by Steve Madden.

I love them and I was now more than OK with tossing my used and abused shoes.

Tell me what you think!?

Dear (blank), Please (blank).

2010-07-09T17:00:00.003-04:00

I found this website and a few stiffled chuckles. Please enjoy *.

* WARNING: This is a public website of the world. Langauge is bad if you go to other parts of the website. **

** They're still pretty funny though. ***

*** Most of them - some are just dirty and inappropriate and not funny at all.

Help I need help

2010-07-09T16:54:00.003-04:00

The packaging and labeling is clever and cute. The website is entertaining. It has little surprises everywhere.

A few I found:

- on the welcome screen/home page click the boxes to change colors..make them match? click too many times and the box disappears. make them all disappear....

- definitely go under the "bored" heading

- I want the shirt that says Help I have nothing to wear.

- I know someone that needs the shirt "Help I'm bitter and need a table for one"

- I want to make one for the next Blauser Reunion, but Bryce won't let me post what it would say...

Proceed with Caution. "Help someone" is funny, but a few are inappropriate - we know we all have the freedom of speech and some don't know how to use it and not abuse it. There are some good solid gems though in these help ads.

EMERSONMADE

2010-07-09T15:44:00.007-04:00

I found this through Cup of Jo, a blog I like to visit occassionally.

Apparently, Emersonmade started out with all the flowers and flower-things and that's what she's known for.

She just started a few clothing items so if you visit the website that's the hooha until you scroll down a bit. But click through the categories on the right and take a good 10-20 minutes to just dream about what you could do and what you could wear with all the fun flowers!

Here are a few of my favorites:

so casual - so fun!

Big Poppy! Love this.

Jacket from the new clothing line - totally want.

I really like the feel and colors of this.

I think I could pull it off.

also love.

Super freaking cute idea here!

If I could go back - I would totally redo my bridesmaids for my wedding...I'm sorry guys. :) You passed the true friend test...

And I leave you with this... Now, go to the website!

Awzker

2010-07-06T19:52:00.007-04:00

Everyone meet Awzker (pronounced like Oscar).
Awzker, meet everyone.

I don't know what it is with Holiday weekends, especially patriotic ones, for Bryce and I. We spend more money and we seem to find a way to adopt animals. :) We did get Jamba 2 years ago and I've been fighting Bryce every holiday weekend since against getting another one. But this July 4th weekend Bryce's long-time dream of having a Russian Blue came 1/2 true. Awzker was found in a camper neighborhood - like a trailer park but RV's - after it had been flooded out by the nearby river. The mother they know for sure is Russian Blue and they don't know what the father is. This was Bryce's chance and they were doing adoptions that day at that time we decided to go by...Bryce got half of his dream realized and I got him to tell me we were done getting pets and that we didn't have to have anymore after these die in 20 years. :) So when I'm in my 40's life will be pet free? There's a good answer to the question, where do you see yourself in 20 years....

Awzker is very cuddley, and affectionte. He has a squeaky toy sound for his meow and sometimes doesn't quite get it out. He is spastic and we think ADD, even for a kitten. He loves to rub on you and cuddle on your lap or shoulder. Bryce's true dream cat. :) Oh, and he loves to look as his reflection in mirrors. It must be the Russian Blue part of him, but his nose and the pads of his paws are black.

I think he looks like a rainforest animal in this picture...

When we first brought him home he was started by noise of any kind. He quickly found his safe spot - behind our kitchen trash can. We went through name after name for this cat. From Prince Humperdink or just dink to Dread Pirate Robert and Robbie, to Cat, and we gave it a 2 day effort with the African names (to match Jamba) and Russian names(you know, cuase he's Russian Blue). So we went back to his roots and the trash can and decided Oscar fit, but we couldn't spell it like that....this is where Bryce's strong background in gaming comes in handy and Wa La: Awzker!

His cuddling made the picture and blogging process take longer when he found a good place for a nap.

I realize there's no perspective on these...so he's 2.5 pounds and 4 months old.

In searching for Waldo did we really find ourselves? No, probably not.

2010-06-18T22:28:00.003-04:00

Warner Herzog reads childrens' books - unlike anyone else.

CLICK THE POST TITLE for Where's Waldo. Below the video on this link you'll see Curious George and Madeline if you need more. :)

Enjoy!

2 yr. Pictures

2010-05-31T10:33:00.021-04:00

Memorial Day is how we gauge Jamba's birthday, because it was on Memorial Day 2008 that we "rescued" Jamba and brought her home. To see her "baby" photos click here! Here are her 2 year pictures:

The cutest ever!

Blue Steel

High Fashion

Jamba was pooped from the photo shoot.

The light's weird but I like the picture - she was trying to bat at the camera strap.

And a movie for your entertainment: click here! Jamba hates dents in the carpet and she attacks them to smooth them out whenever we move a chair or the coffee table. I was washing the sheets and chaning the mattress cover when she discovered some dents she couldn't smooth out. She spent a good 10-20 minutes trying though. This is the first time I noticed her doing it and grabbed my camera.

At the ripe age of 2 Jamba has become more cuddly and less of a menace. She still enjoys fetch, tag, and her version of hide and go seek (more like I see you hiding around the corner and I will hunt you down and attack!). She loves bottle caps and small round items like skittles that slide around easily to chase. She loves being outside: rolling on the concrete and biting the grass, chasing insects and jumping at low flying birds. When she can't be otuside she sits in front of windows and just stares for long periods of time.

In Memory

2010-05-31T09:54:00.005-04:00

pictures from "Today" Women in Uniform (click for link)

Memorial Day is a time to reflect and honor those men and women who served in wars past to gain freedom and give equality. It's also time to thank the men and women who serve today to protect the freedoms of our country.

My own grandpa was a Seabee in the Pacific Islands. I know one thing he did was underwater welding in one of these:

"During the Second World War, the Seabees performed now legendary deeds in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation...Seabees in the Pacific Theater of Operations earned the gratitude of all Allied fighting men who served with them or followed in their wake. Their deeds were unparalleled in the history of wartime construction. With eighty percent of the Naval Construction Force concentrated on the three Pacific roads, they literally built and fought their way to victory.

"In construction and fighting operations, the Pacific Seabees suffered more than 200 combat deaths and earned more than 2,000 Purple Hearts. They served on four continents and on more than 300 islands."

(Info pulled from the Department of the Navy -- Naval Historical Center )

I bet Arlington Cemetary would be really cool on a holiday like this.

Motor Mount, Motor Mount - goes so FAST!

2010-05-31T09:29:00.003-04:00

This is Bryce's newest "improvement" to his Speed3. This is a motor mount. This one is specifically designed to be stiffer so the engine doesn't move as much in the engine bay at full throttle - during acceleration. Basically it makes the engine hold still so he can shift smoother. :)

This is the stock motor mount.

This a comparison between the old one (left) and the new one (right). Bryce would like you to take notice of the gaps on the old one and how solid the new one is. You can push the old one in with your hands and the new one is noticeably stiffer.

Beauty shot! The new motor mount is in place and ready for a test drive.

We never posted pictures of the previous additions to his car so here they are!

New bypass valve, K&N air filter, short ram intake and goes down to the turbo inlet pipe (not pictured).

Vent pod boost gauge inside the cock pit.

Talkin' Trash

2010-05-20T20:59:00.002-04:00

Georgia has dumps in most of the communities so you can take you plastics and glass and household waste, large boxes, scrap metal and even your car oil here and dispose of it properly. We've been to ours probably as many times as you can count on one hand but this last time Bryce made a great discovery. Check out the signage on the bin. See if you can catch it.

Still looking?

Ok, so look one more time and at the last word. It's supposed to be Waste, but the original spelling was Waiste - which is not a correct spelling for either homonym. :) Nice!

How to get to Cleveland, GA

2010-05-20T20:47:00.003-04:00

Since the parentals live in the mountains of northern Georgia we on occasion have driven up there and have figured out a pretty good set of directions. We decided on the last trip up there (winter of 2009) that we should take pictures and document the trip. Things that we have become accustomed to may be entertaining to those who don't see the wonderful sights. (Or you may wish I never made this post which coincidentally made you waste time reading it. If this is your feeling, I sincerely apologize.)

This is how you know you're getting close:

Pass the giant rocking chair sitting right by the road in an open field on a country backroad. (this has to be listed somewhere on the list of the largest in the US right - even if it's not #1?!)

As you drive into 'downtown' or the 10 square feet of Cleveland's square you'll see the Dairy Queen which usually has birthday wishes up for someone (who probably bought one of their ice cream cakes). I guess this time it's Jesus' turn.

Another few feet down the road you'll see the Babyland billboard - where the cabbage patch babies are birthed. Yes, there's a birthing room there. You have to look closely at the picture but the stork is there. Babyland just recently moved to a bigger and better place - still in Cleveland.

See the courthouse right in the middle of the road. Drive around it.

And then on the other side of the square you'll see this beauty-Bryce loves to quote it to me or very nicely tell me some reason why he does or doesn't buy me flowers....

And last of all you know you're close when you see on your right Yonah Bowl and Skate. Bryce and I find it quite humorous and this is where are country bumpkin accents kick in (if they haven't already) and we like to see how 'hick' we can get in our speech and conversation for the next 5-10 minutes until we arrive. "Yonah bowl?" Yonah is pronounced Yo-nah, like Jonah but with a Y startin' it off. We were not educated about it the first time we saw and thought it was yawna like a southern "you wanna" but it still works either way you pronounce it. Besides, no one really pronounces anything correctly around here anyhoo. Salmon with the 'l' pronounced is most definitely accepted and widely used.

So what Yonah do now?

Baby Season

2010-03-13T14:39:00.013-05:00

No, this is not an announcement. :) We have several women in our ward expecting this month and in the next few coming. We had a baby shower today for two of these women - both are having girls. One, I visit teach. She's close to my age and it is their first child. The other sweet woman is having their 4th but had given their baby stuff away since their youngest is now 2. I did games and decorations - that seems to be my assignment each time. I found this idea and tutorial a while back and kept it for such an occassion as this. I used bigger flowers but think it turned out super cute. It was swagged above the table of gifts. Originally we were going to swag it a couple times in the middle of the room so we made the string pretty long - maybe 15 or so feet and the flowers would be further apart. We ended up just hanging it from the two air vents and it worked out great.

One game we played was Pin the Pacifier on the Baby. The baby was posted on the wall and the pacifiers were cute little pink ones. All-in-all, it was good. I just wanted to show my cute garland off. (Thanks DeLynne for helping me make the flowers.) Also, DeLynne did a great baby gift as a flower box She has lotions, and cucumber-melon baby wipes, a cute color coordinating outfit, (coordinating of course) hair bow, and some wash cloths...super cute. I'm going to throw it out there that I did the little card on the front. :) The one's last name is Wright so W and on the back it says, "What whirl...it's a girl!" and the other's last name is Seagraves so S and on the back it says, "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice..." Hold your applause. :)

"So give me wuch ya promised..." Dancing with Tyce Diorio

2010-03-07T20:05:00.007-05:00

There are perks to living in Atlanta I guess. One of them would be Dance 101 a really cool dance studio a friend of mine and I discovered and enjoy going to occassionally. Another perk connected to this is Emmy winner Tyce Diorio. He is really cool and fun and a great dancer/choreographer. I feel priviledged to have gotten this opportunity. And to prove that I did it here are some pictures. The girl in the second picture you may recognize as Mollee from So You Think You Dance season six. There was another guy from season 4, but I didn't watch back the and he was pretty cocky so I didn't care much....rude? sorry. We did a broadway jazz number, but it wasn't all jazz hands and stuff. Pretty fun choreography. I have a video of the dance if I can figure out a better way than uploading straight to here... I'm so impatient with uploading. The song is "I gotcha" from Fosse. **CORRECTION: here it is on YouTube from someone else...I'm in the back, off to the side (waiting my turn) standing up on the bench recording with my camera. :)

It was pretty awesome and only $40 for 2 hours. Oh, by they way, he told me in front of everyone that I have great feet...only to say my arms could be stronger. :) anything you say Tyce. "Where's the redhead with good feet?" "Your feet are great, but if you don't have strong arms to go with the feet then the feet don't get the credit..." I was by no means anywhere close to being one of the best dancers and I realize I will never be that good but I enjoy it and I'll take a compliment and critique from Tyce Diorio any day. :)

Be a Winner - Not a Loser

2010-03-07T19:59:00.003-05:00

We get invites to churches pretty often in our mailboxes or on our door with flyers. This one came and we found it particualrly interesting. On a side note, we have someone who just moved from Northern California and they commented about all the choices you have in churches down here - including the drive through churches. Only in the South. :)

It's all Greek to me

2010-03-07T19:18:00.010-05:00

Bryce and I visited Athens, Greece for 2 days over the Valentine's Day and Presidents Day weekend. We flew out Friday afternoon, landing Saturday morning and flew back Monday morning, landing Monday afternoon.

The pictures you can link to (it's been updated and there're lots more along with comments) by clicking here: Awesome Greece Pictures!

A few videos we put on YouTube:

Guard Dance 2 of 5 and Guard Dance 3 of 5....the whole thing takes about 10 minutes. The two videos are 2 minutes. Just a taste. :) They start under the awning (sp?) and end up back at the same awning. then two guards in army uniforms checks them and make sure the two guards are in order and that their tassles are straight. :)

You can catch this sweet ride through town...

You can see some of the left over partying in the square. Live band. dancing donkey toys, and little girl in an outfit. :)

A 360 of some of the Acropolis grounds. The theatre you see - according to the plaque - went up the wall. I'm sure it was something to see.

Deal of the Day

2009-12-19T19:53:00.007-05:00

It's that time of year again. Sales are abounding and Bryce is ready for new clothes (he's ripped the sleeves on a few of his shirts). I usually sneak in a couple looks here and there and found, might I say, the Deal of the Day.

Place: Ann Taylor

Item: Yellow three-button coat

Where in store: on clearance of course - with an additional 40% off

Unexpected: one loose button

Sale sticker says 79.99. Take 40% off and I showed the cashier the loose button and received another 15% off. $43 after tax for my coat.

Big surprise: Original sale tag is for 199.99. Original retail is $268.00 That's about 85% off the original price of the coat. Not to be out done, I did find Bryce some mighty good deals as well. Bass had $60 pants for $23 (50% w/additional 20%) and they had shoes BUY 1 PAIR get 2 PAIRS FREE (or get 1 pair 50% off). We received $5 dollar coupon toward Van Heusen from Bass and used it to buy a belt for $8 - originally $45 or something crazy like that (60% off w/additional % I can't remember and our $5 coupon). He bought another very nice pair of pants there as well.

Speaker Swap*

2009-12-19T19:34:00.005-05:00

Before wires use template (comes with speakers) to position holes use hammer to beat wall - find stud in wall then move template over and beat wall with hammer. Repeat as needed. Use saw to finalize circle hole.

Patch holes and paint speakers to match wall.

*I, Cecily, do not claim to have any real knowledge of this speaker swap. (I left once the hole making began.) Thus said, please address any questions which are not answered in this post to Bryce. I'm sure he would love to tell you all about it. :)

2009-12-19T17:55:00.002-05:00

We have a couch for our front living room. Its high back and sides mimics the hemp chair we have in there. The couch on its own is a bit fancier than we are, but we'll be able to cozy it down. We're now working on finding the right art to go above the couch to fill the tall empty wall. I may venture and do my own...I have this vision. We'll see if I ever get my shot at it. Thanks olystudio.

Sleeping Puma, Hidden Thread

2009-12-19T17:48:00.006-05:00

Poor Battle Puma. Jamba got in a fight with a long piece of string.She has learned that the string always wins. Long story short, Jamba found some really nice black thread that looked delicious (and must've been) so she ate a long piece. It ended up getting caught on the back of her tongue, down into her intestine and into her colon. Needless to say she didn't feel well at all and we took her to the vet after a couple vomit episodes. They did an exploratory surgery on her belly and this picture I caught while she was sleeping to show her part of her battle wounds. The shaved leg is especially sexy in the cat world. This was a month or so back so she is back to herself and doing well. Her hair is growing in nicely. :)

Way back to Hallooweeeeeeeeeeny.

2009-12-19T17:40:00.004-05:00

For Halloween I treated my YW presidency to some goody shoes. I made a "witch" shoe (high heel of course) out of black card stock and cute printed paper for the lining then sewed on some buttons since I don't own a hot glue gun. :) Filled with nummies, wrapped and tied with a bow, the note says, "You're such a TREAT!" I found the pattern online probably at sugardoodle.net or something like that. Someone said they used it for dorothy slippers too. I'm sure you could do lots with it. If I find the link again I'll add it (here).