Oh, yeah

I'm alive. I promise. I didn't forget about you... I just wasn't sure what to do with you.
I'm alive and enjoying life.
Here's proof!




Here's my nephew, T, acting as silly as can be. He's adorable... in case you couldn't have guessed!














Here I am with a certain gentleman. He's adorable... and I'm smitten.










And here are some bike cops on a giant bike.... because I'm not really sure what you were expecting from this blog anyway.

Calamity Jane

Cause just when you think your week can't possibly get any worse....


you come home to a counter moving with ants.

This is a picture of a fish L and I saw at a restaurant. We both swore it was deceased since it wasn't moving and was caught in the weeds.


We were informed by a waiter that it was 'just resting' or some kind of joke.


I still think it had 'ceased to be.'

Scenes of Summer

I realize it's August and that I didn't post a thing the entire two months of June and July, so I thought I would share a smattering of pictures to describe what I've been up to... enjoy!

hazy, hot and humid

Meals are a challenge.
Not only am I usually cooking for myself,
But lately, it's too darn hot - which means I don't feel like actually cooking.

I tend to remedy this situation with cereal, pb&j, or cold cuts.

The past few days, I've had fruit along with my dinner... in order for it to not seem so boring.

Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, and even the occasional banana brighten up my rather boring meal.

With a strong dash of cinnamon sugar, it's the perfect addition!!

Disappearing Act

I've been negligent in my posting.

I've spent too much time reading, sitting in the sun, and enjoying summer, and not enough time posting.

My apologies.

I will try to change this...

Summer's here!!! (almost)

Yesterday, I had my first Rita's Water Ice of the season.
Summer is officially (unofficially) here.

Proof: my cup (and my lovely painted fingernail)

The sludge pile I sat downwind from - also, I cropped out the slavic speaking people picking up their sludge.

I gazed at this fountain from the comfort of my own vehicle.




After enjoying my Rita's, I meandered to school, where I had my first stats class of the semester... grumble, grumble, grumble.

too much time on my hands

In my search for the perfect fabric for curtains, I was given this lovely piece of fabric.

I loved the colors (blues and browns) and I adored the paisley.

Unfortunately, this particular fabric pattern did not make the curtain cut.

My favorite aspect of this fabric was the secret 'hidden' in the paisley pattern... every few inches, a majestic owl managed to 'pop' out. So, the fabric stayed on, and sat in the designated fabric area.
(And, I've got this neat genetic trait that doesn't allow me to throw fabric out - there's potential in there somewhere!)

So, on a rather rainy Sunday, I decided to hand-sew myself a pillow (no, my machine is not broken.) I think that it turned out okay - one of the owls is at least centered on one of the sides of the pillow - a plus in my book.


And it just looks so darned cozy with the rest of the blues and browns in my room - such a perfect fit!

Much Ado About Aprons

I have been dealing with the creative bug quite a bit lately... just wanting to make something!
Finally, last weekend, I got the chance to do something about it.



Having recently purchased this cute fabric, I decided an apron was in order.






in my mind, apple fabric = apron

I managed to whip up this adorable apron, using a pattern found in this book

This shows not only my sewing skills, but my lack of an organized closet!

It's not the most wonderful sewing job ever, but I'm pretty darned proud of myself. A lot of the seams are far from perfect, but since it hasn't fallen apart yet, I'm considering it a 'win.' The pattern was fairly easy to follow, and I'm happy with how the pleats at the waistband turned out. And now that I've gotten back into the sewing swing of things, I can not wait to start my next project... perhaps a nice yoga bag...???








And not to be forgotten - while Joe and I were thrift store wandering this afternoon, we stumbled upon this lovely little number.


I think it's perfect for grilling in the summer, no?

Joe displaying his thrift store find

may showers and all that jazz

It's a rainy weekend here, so in order to cure myself of the rainy day blues, I'm going to post about last weekend - when it was nice and sunny here.







Last weekend, I went with some of my sisters (the ones in the area) to watch a crew race over at the Cooper River. It was nice to be at the 'races' again - something that I miss.

The weather was gorgeous. It was wonderful to have a warm breeze blowing over the water, with the sun shining through the trees - Perfect!

Although we had prime seats to watch the crew races, we all paid a little more attention to Toby. I hope he can deal with being the center of attention - he held everyone's attention for a good portion of the day!

How could you not want to watch this adorable face?!

And of course, I was more than happy to get to wear flip-flops the entire weekend...

Fresh flowers

I always want to have fresh flowers in my room.
Spring makes this desire stronger.


They look beautiful at first...
And then I realize that they often cause
a runny nose and itchy eyes.


All for the sake of beauty.

things that are difficult...

...especially on a Friday morning.

Wanting soft pretzels and hot chocolate, but wanting to lose some lbs.

image from here

Wanting to crawl back under the covers, but having to work.

I can't wait to hang out with this little guy this weekend!

Wanting to shop and buy, but knowing there are better (smarter) things to do with that money.

I think I definitely NEED this...

Things about things

So I made a challenge for my self, in order to curb my spending habits.

I am making myself adhere to certain rules, such as no non-essential items can be purchased, unless they are gifts for others

(it seems that there are a lot of birthdays that fall within my time frame.)

I'm mainly not letting myself purchase things for myself that I want, right at that very moment.

This challenge has made for some difficult decisions at Target

(does that shirt count as an essential item?? I mean, I do NEED clothing...)

It's forcing me to think about how badly I need (want) something, so that I'm not just throwing my money away.

But this is something I NEED. N E E D.

image from here

I can see many summer evenings, crafting away with the help of Martha.

Pure bliss.

Bookworm

I love books.

I love reading old books.

I love reading new books.

I love books that take me on different adventures;

that make me think outside of the box;

that make me think outside of my own little world.

Lately, I just can not get enough!!

By the end of Water for Elephants, I could not get through the chapters quickly enough... and was wishing that I could be a part of the circus, or that I had a pet elephant.









I flew through this book,









After the final chapter of My Life in France, all I want to do is bake French breads... while living in the French countryside.

Simply devoured this book,

The final book on my shelf is The Toss of a Lemon, recommended to me by friends from college. I can not wait to start this book, but since I have no other books waiting to be read, I am trying to take my time with it ... perhaps this will finally make me renew my library card...

And I can't wait to dive into this book.

First weekend of spring

In order to celebrate the first weekend of Spring,
I made Joe take me to the beach.


It was chilly, but sunny...
in other words, perfect.


Surprisingly, there were a lot of people walking on the boardwalk.









Being at the beach quieted my desire for the summer, just a little bit.

I'm still looking forward to it; to being on the beach with the sand between my toes, walking the boardwalk at night, the ocean just background noise, and dessert from Kohr brothers... delicious!

Kohr Brothers - the perfect cure for sunburn.

Spring has sprung!!

Happy Spring Everyone!!




Although it is not flipflop weather just yet, I am happy to report that everything around here is waking up from its winter rest.


The daffodils and tulips are poking their heads out of the dirt... and my miniature sunflowers are as well!! (Good thing too - I didn't really think that they would become anything.)


So I am going to enjoy the spring weather, and the fact that it is still light out at 6:30 PM.


Now, that's something to be excited about!

The funny thing about blogs is...

... you have to actually update them.
Not just think about updating, or daydream about it,
you have to actually get in there and do it!

But I'm awful at it: the remembering, the preparing, the doing.
I do daydream about it, but usually while I'm at work, sans my stack of pictures necessary for such a task.

So here's a smattering of what I have been up to, with a promise to do better next time...

We celebrated this guy's birthday

And he brought his entourage

And these girls

who took pictures with the dogs

and Maddie got excited.

Artsy pictures were taken...

And then we all played Rock Band.

The End.

a dollar short

It snowed on Sunday night, giving me the day off on Monday.

Today, it was 43 degrees, and it is supposed to be around 60 on Saturday.

I know, come August, I'll be wishing for this again:

I finally got to wear my boots!!

Pathetic

So it's almost the end of February, and I've been super slack on my postings.

In my defense, I've been busy.

Busy with school, and work, and of course, procrastination...

And this little tool does nothing to help at all!

It produces some awesome pictures, with a touch of the Polaroid magic.

It adds some 80s feel to beach pictures...

It makes snow in Central Park look even better...

And does really nothing for this picture...
just makes it look even more ridiculous!

So yes, I'm blaming my procrastination on my fondness for the look of Polaroid.


Try it, it's addictive!!