Happy Leap Day!

I was just thinking how much it would suck to have February 29 as your birthday as a kid. It's bad enough having a summer birthday so that you can't celebrate at school, but to only have an "official" birthday every 4 years would be a bummer.


(Photo courtesy of iconomy vs. flickr)

My sister in law and her hub leave today for Spain! It's a belated honeymoon. I'm so jealous. Have fun, Shanny!

Have You Met My Fur Babies?

I don’t think you have. Mr. Orange on the left there is Owen. He’s probably more like a dog than a cat. He’s always up in your face, wants to play, begs for food, meets you at the door, etc. We brought him home as a tiny kitten and he hid under our couch pillow all night. He loves the warmth. And his chest and belly, as we say are “the whitest white we’ve ever whited”. He lets Q beat the crap out of him. Ryan usually says, “Run, Owen, run!”, but he doesn’t. He just sits there and takes whatever she has to dish out.

On the right is Miss Ernie. Yes, MISS Ernie. We adopted her with the name Stache (as in mustache—dumb). They told us she was a he. We named her Ernie, then we found out the truth, but by that time, I didn’t care to change it again. I call her Ernest when I’m mad at her. She was the runt of the litter, and all her brothers and sisters died. You can see a really sappy video of Kitten Ernie waving to you below.



She used to be my baby—my favorite. Poor cats. After Q came, they were pretty much shoved to the back burner.

Let me use this opportunity to segue into the dramatics that ensued yesterday. Ryan leaves early for work. That leaves Q roaming around while I am getting ready. Our house is fairly toddler-proof, but sometimes things are overlooked. For example, the permanent marker that was in a drawer last week that we didn’t realize she could reach (she can) and is now scribbled on our dining room table. Also, the baby hair mousse that I use on her hair every day that was left on an endtable yesterday. I had to send her to daycare looking like Slick Willy. GOBS of it in her hair—and on Owen. She moussed the cat.

It gets worse—I get home from work yesterday, and Owen is not eating or drinking. I really hadn’t wiped it off of him because I didn’t think there was that much on him, I knew the mousse was non-toxic, and I didn’t think he could reach his back with his tongue. Plus, per usual, I was late. Bad mistake. Ryan called Animal Poison Control, and they said the mousse was non-toxic but still contained alcohol. Ryan had to give him a bath with Dawn. We also kept him hydrated with syringes of water every 15 min or so. Ryan also put him in our bed with the electric blanket on where he stayed, under the comforter, for most of the night. Things were looking up a bit by 9ish, however, when he ate a cat treat. This morning, he seemed to be getting back to his old obnoxious self—under my feet and just generally in the way.

I get irritated with those cats on a daily basis. But I sure would have missed that fat ball of fur if anything would have happened to him (not to mention the guilt). Quinn too, I’m sure (well, maybe).

Red Shoes Surprise

I was so excited to find out that I won Catherine’s bloggy contest yesterday! What a nice surprise on an otherwise dreadful Monday. Her shop, Red Shoes, is so stinking cute—you must visit! I can’t wait to get my care package from her shortly. I will be sure to post lotsa pics after I do. Speaking of red shoes, look at this cute lil' bag I found on Etsy today. No affilitation with THE Red Shoes, but soooo cute nonetheless.


As an aside, I have to apologize about my lack of crafty posts as of late. I totally have crafter’s block (I have lost my crafting mojo, if you will), and I don’t know how to get it back! Perhaps this is due to the impending arrival of Miss Vivian (yep, she’s Vivian for sure) in NINE WEEKS. Eek! I’d just rather spend my (post-Q’s bedtime) nights vegging, gabbing on the phone, and honing my TV-watching skills.

Ahhhhh, Ye Olde Boob Tube. I just started watching Dexter. I wanted to see this when it first came out, but I didn’t want to order Showtime for one stinkin’ show (we already have a zillion movie channels). I was trying to figure out how you could get an audience to sympathize with a serial killer, but they do a great job. Michael C. Hall from 6 Feet Under is very appealing and likeable, really! It’s on CBS from 10-11pm EST on Sunday nights. I can’t make it that late anymore, so I Tivo. Definitely worth watching—interesting and actually kinda funny. And it’s only on Episode 3, so read the recaps for Episodes 1 & 2, and jump on in with me, won’t ya?

Red & Black at the Oscars

So did you watch? I Tivo’ed, then zoomed through 2 hours of red carpet and 3 hours of actual award show. I thought they were pretty boring—I loved the red dresses (in honor of the Go Red campaign), but all the black? Snoooooooozers. Ok, here are my highlights:

+ My new boyfriend, Javier Bardem’s, acceptance speech. Do you know the story? The Coens approached him to play the part of Anton Chigurh, and he initially refused because he was not fluent in English. They finally convinced him to take the part, and now he is completely fluent. Besides the fact that his speech was short and sweet and HUMBLE, the man is surprisingly hot without his “Dorothy Hamil wedge”, and he spoke to his mother in Spanish. Plus, I thought it too cute that he kissed Josh Brolin on the mouth.

+ Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova winning best song. Frigging Alan Mencken has won too many as it is. Lovely song, lovely film, and I’m SO glad they let Marketa come back and finish her thank yous after she was so rudely interrupted (GAWD).

+ Miley Cyrus almost durfing on her way to the podium. And why was she even there anyway? I really can’t stand the girl. Ugh.

+ My favorite dressed Women in Red: Helen Mirren (what a babe), Katherine Heigl, and Heidi Klum.


+ Jon Stewart in general. Loved all the political jokes. Ooh, and his instructions on how to come up with your own stripper name after talking about Diablo Cody’s history as an exotic dancer. I have heard this before, but Ryan hadn’t (in case you’re wondering, my stripper name is Boots East; Ryan’s is Brentwood Valkyrie).

And lowlights:

- Tilda Swinton winning for Best Supporting Actress. She was in Michael Clayton for like 10 minutes! Amy Ryan soooooo should have won. Plus, she looked horrible—hair, makeup, and that black velvet potato sack? Mascara is your friend, Toots!


- Anne Hathaway’s dress. Yeesh.

- Nicole Kidman’s scary appearance. The woman needs a new colorist. And plastic surgeon. I thought her nose was going to fall off at the podium a la Michael Jackson.

- The Freeheld chick’s spastic demeanor while accepting the Oscar for Best Documentary. Her awkward smothering Tom Hanks hug. And her co-director’s obvious embarrassment. Painful.

- Ohhhhhh, Kristen Chenoweth. I love you so, but your performance of that Enchanted song—well, we had to fast forward after you got up to dance with the man at the “park”. Cringe, cringe.

- I didn't know Deborah Kerr died!!! :(

All in all, a decent showing. Kinda boring, but nothing Tivo can't fix. See ya at 81, Oscar!

WIP Courtesy of Aunt Judy!

So here's a sneak peek at the quilt/comforter my aunt is working on for Q's room. I love all the fabrics! Some are Japanese and some are vintage. I so cannot wait to see how it turns out!

Now I need to find a backing, and I need your suggestions! I need to either find a king sheet or 6 yards of fabric. Would solid pink look better? Red polka dots on white? I found a flat sheet on garnethill.com, but they don't have the kind size. Booo! Any suggestions, all you seamstresses out there???

Also had to share this pic I snapped this afternoon. Ryan was reading Q a book on fairies. Then they proceeded to go on a fairy hunt around her room.

Hope you had a great weekend, all!

Nifty Nature

The pussywillows my mom brought me 3ish weeks ago are finally opening. Hey, I'm clinging to any little thing to get me through this God-foresaken month of February!

Also, check out the cool lunar eclipse that's happening right NOW as we speak.

"Happy Valentimes!"

… to quote a favorite line from 30 Rock (loves me some Rachel Dratch). Hope everyone is having a fun and happy heart day. I am a sucker for Valentine’s Day. I received some lovely roses from Ryan at work today.

I asked him the story on the color, and he said since Baby is due in May, and emerald is May’s birthstone, he wanted green roses. He called four stores looking for green roses, and the closest he could get was lime green. HA! What a character he is. Very sweet sentiment. We’re going out to dinner and a movie (No Country for Old Men finally) on Saturday night. My cousin & her hubby offered to babysit, so that was totally nice.

I think I told you before about my boss’ wife’s cookie business which is now in full swing! She has a little store downtown Lake Orion called Cookie Delites, and a website now too. Her prices are better than any I’ve found online, and her cookies are damn good. Especially this peanut butter kind she makes with a smooshed mini Snickers inside. Anyway, I had some delivered to Ryan at work. I’ve been tormenting him by implying that I may have ordered him a strip-o-gram or something. He’s been freaking out. Anyway, he liked his ½ dozen chocolate chip and ½ dozen macaroons (his fave), so I’m happy.

I also got him some blood orange tea from Adagio Teas. Amanda talked about it, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. All his family members are a bunch of tea freaks, and he’s been obsessed with blood oranges lately, so I thought it the perfect gift.

As for Q, I made up pretty unimaginative little treat bags for daycare with crayons/mini coloring book, heart tattoos, and candy. I bought the retro valentines from Fred Flare because I couldn’t bear the thought of giving her Dora or Pooh valentines, but I have been sooooo lazy that I didn’t have the gumption to make any either. I thought this one was a tad inappropriate, but I sent anyway. I would have been one short without it!


I bought her some candy with a train on the box (she loves trains), some felt play cookies w/ cookie jar, and some Fisher Price little people holding hearts and stuff.

XOXO all! Big smooches from Girl Land!!!