Howl-A-Ween

This Saturday I took Lucy Dog down to the bark park for the Howlaween party. She, of course, went dressed as a Princess with her little pink princess hat. She also was dressed as a spoiled brat in her "Will beg for treats" t-shirt. When we got there, I think there were about 20 dogs. By the time of the costume contest, there must have been near 50 dogs there. And Lucy's little friend Maddy (a french bulldog) was there, so the two girls played and wrassled while the contest took place. Lucy wouldn't sit still enough for me to want to stand in line with her. Besides, it was a holiday and I thought she should play. There were a lot of ridiculously cute costumes, like the Pekingese dressed as a bee, the Bloodhound dragon, and the Boxer batman. I think the best costume of the day was the chicken... not a dog in a chicken costume. No. A chicken in a dog costume. OMG it was hilarious. The chicken actually won an honorable mention in the contest, not being able to take home a prize since technically it wasn't a dog. Overall, it was a good day. No plans here for the actual Halloween, except to scare myself silly with ghost shows and pass out candy.

Random Asshattery

I'm walking in downtown Flagstaff, back to my office. See, I had forgotten to pack a lunch, so I walked 2 blocks over to the local Pita Pit (tasty place, I must say). I usually bring my food back to the office because I have no one to eat with... and I usually don't like sitting alone in a place. It's not so much a needy thing. I'm perfectly capable of going places independently. But it's more that I tend to stare at people, usually contemplating odd thoughts such as how much their head weighs, are those Mick Jagger's lips, etc. I get dirty looks. So I am heading back to the office with my soda and chips in purse, pita in hand. A strapping young man opens the garbage can in front of me. Then he sees me and asks me for money for lunch. I think, probably a college student. Guy doesn't look homeless or underfed. But I have no money on me. "No, sorry" I answer politely. Then the guy looks at my pita and asks "Do you want that?" ..... uh...... what? Do I want that? Apparently I would leave my desk and walk 2 blocks and pay some money for something I didn't want... something that I might throw in the very trash can he was looking in? WTF? I kind of gave him a weird look and walked onward, mumbling to myself about what kind of bullshit question was that?

Home, Home on the Peaks

So lately I have been on a mission to declutter, reorganize, and generally turn my apartment into a cozy home. Winter is coming on, the nights are getting cold, and I've had this major house-to-home nesting instinct. I think it has something to do with being newly married and having started a new job. I feel I finally have the time and (almost) the money to actually do something with this place. We got a lovely bedroom set for a wedding gift, and I want to make the rest of the house not feel so college-y.

My first move was to get my dad to put up some wall shelves in the office. It fills up the blank, boring wall and gives each of us a place to put stuff. We haven't organized the shelves yet, but as soon as they're done I'll post a photo. I'm also organizing my craft supplies due to two swaps I've got coming up. The bedroom is doing well, if you don't count the laundry on the floor. Otherwise it's fairly uncluttered.

My kitchen scares me. I am thinking of ditching all the old tupperware I have for these FlatOut! ones:
Until then, I'm going to measure my cabinets and buy plastic bins to control the deluge of containers. I also have a lot of unused space in the corner under the countertop, as well as the cabinet over the fridge. Mom's coming in a week, so maybe she'll help me. I also want to organize my pantry. I know I could be using that space more efficiently (or possibly get rid of the pantry and use the cabinet for crafts??).

The living room needs the most work, I think. I am tempted to get rid of the coffee table since it is a receptacle for all our crap. The DVD's in shelves is annoying me, and I think I'd rather have bins or baskets for them. The bookshelves are a disaster, as is the coat rack and shoe rack. Oh, and the rat cage is in here. I don't like that, but currently we have no other place for it.

So yeah, wish me luck. I'll probably be swearing a lot by the end of this project. But it will be SOOOOOOOO worth it.

Say Hello to Lucy

The husband and I adopted a puppy a week or so ago. Her name is Lucy, and she's about 5 months old and 23 pounds. The vet doesn't expect her to get too much bigger. We think she's a Basenji mix of some sort. She's very very sweet, and loves to get petted and give kisses. She gets along with the cats pretty well, although the cats don't seem to like her (figures). We're working on housebreaking and "sit" at the moment. She's got "sit" down pretty well, and she consistently does her potty business on the puppy pads. I think things are going well. She cuddles with us at night, and is my buddy whenever I'm home. She loves her daddy too. Her favorite treats thus far have been cow chew hooves, beef knuckles, and pup-peroni. Also, she's tolerant of clothing. I found a t-shirt on sale at Target for $3 so I grabbed it for her. She also has a pink winter coat. The shirt was frivolous, but the coat is practical (and cute). She's very short haired and her belly is practically bald. The mornings have been in the upper 30s/low 40s when I take her out, and she shivers and is oh so happy to get back inside.

Welcome Home Lucy!

Honeymoon part 2

Ok, sorry it's been awhile. Crazyness has been happening here. More blog posts in the future will explain this.

After leaving Skagway, we cruised all night toward Tracy Arm Fjord, arriving around 6am. It was the first day of the cruise where I was actually "COLD." There was a misty fine rain falling, and whenever your surrounded by ice water the air is bound to be chilly. It was worth it though, because the views were spectacular. The fjord was steeply surrounded by mountains and was over 1000 feet deep. There were many small waterfalls snaking through the rocks; the result of glacial melt. At first, there were only a few ice bergs floating. As we neared the end of the fjord, the ice thickened. Some were a bright blue; heart ice they're called. Similar to the blue of the Mendenhall Glacier. We rounded a tight corner, and we could see two glaciers. North Sawyer Glacier and South Sawyer Glacier were responsible for all the ice bergs we saw. Sipping on excellent hot chocolate while watching glaciers pass by on our private balcony was the most relaxing thing I've experienced. Once we had seen the glaciers, the ship turned about and we headed out toward Ketchikan.

I loved Ketchikan. It was a small city, with a bright and busy wharf. Definitely the best shopping on the trip. Sadly, we only had a few hours in port so I did not get to do much exploring. I hit the shops early, leaving the husband on the ship to sleep in and get breakfast. Then, I returned for a bite of breakfast myself (salmon scrambled eggs, yum!) and we took a horse-drawn trolley ride around Ketchikan. The tour guide had lots of interesting stories about the history of the city as well as the local wildlife. We saw salmon jumping up a waterfall at one point! We learned about totems, saw a lot of the back streets and the creek, and petted the resident husky that rode along with the tour guide. After getting back, we had no more time to explore. After snapping a few photos of the local flora, we jumped aboard ship and began our trip back to Seattle.

On our way back to the States, we briefly stopped in Victoria, Canada. Since we were already exhausted, and somewhat broke, we decided to stay aboard ship. We left Victoria around midnight and arrived in Seattle early in the morning. After a not so terrible disembarkation adventure, we picked up our rental car. Advisory: never rent from Thrifty, ever ever ever. It was one of the worst rental experiences of my life. That said, we checked into our hotel and took naps (being exhausted from the day's frustrations). We got in our car and drove around a bit, to get a feel for what Seattle was like. Then we ate dinner and passed out. The next day, we celebrated my birthday at Pike Place Market. It was overwhelmingly awesome. I definitely want to go back when I have a day or two to explore. We walked the market and found the Pan African restaurant where we had Ethiopian food for lunch. Then we got some very tasty mini-doughnuts. The husband bought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I've ever seen, and I felt like a princess carrying them. We saw fish markets, produce stands, artisan stands, bakeries, coffee shops, import stores, oh so many things. We left tired, full, and happy. We decided to take it easy that afternoon, and spent the rest of the day watching movies in our hotel room, and packing to be ready to fly home the next day.

I can say this was the best honeymoon anyone could ever have wanted. First class airfare, cruise to Alaska with private balcony, and time in Seattle. We both agree, Alaska had a special pull on us and we want to return someday. Seattle was also a special place we both loved, and we hope to relocate somewhere around it in the future. Thanks to all of those who worked to make our honeymoon possible. We love you, and we loved our trip!

Honeymoon part 1

On Friday we left for Seattle. I love that city. We didn’t stay long, because Saturday morning we boarded our cruise ship bound for Alaska! First of all, Oh My God the ship was gorgeous. It was a floating, hedonistic paradise and I loved it. We’re both going to hell for the amount of gluttony we’ve committed, but I don’t care. Seriously, all you can eat buffets 24 hours a day. There is also a casino, some theaters, a games room, and many other things. We lounged around in a hot tub and pool during our “at sea” day.

Monday we arrived in Juneau. Absolutely beautiful city. We definitely love Alaska, and now are more intent on moving there. Juneau had lots of shopping, and the deals and coupons we got on board the ship meant we got a lot of free stuff! Even free jewelry! We spent the second half of the day visiting the Mendenhall Glacier. It was truly breathtaking. I never knew glaciers could be so blue. We also saw salmon spawning in the river, and some folks even saw some black bears. We didn’t catch a glimpse, sadly. Still, the trip was lovely even though my feet hurt terribly and I was getting tired and cranky. We ended the day by coming back to the ship and just relaxing. We had to rest up, because our next destination was Skagway and more shopping and sightseeing.

I got up very early the day we arrived in Skagway, and dragged the husband shopping with me. There were, again, a ton of jewelry stores. Skagway was very small, with only about 800 permanent residents. The main street was only a couple of blocks long, and we did our shopping and sightseeing quickly. I think we got back to the ship around 10am, and as we didn’t have any shore excursions planned, we just relaxed. It was nice to sit on the balcony and watch the water and trees. We even saw a little seal swimming by. Skagway was beautiful, but I didn’t like it as well as I liked Juneau. It was just too small for my taste. We left Skagway in the evening, bound for Tracy Arm Fjord and then Ketchikan.


Next up: Honeymoon, pt. 2

Our Wedding

What a beautiful wedding! Everything was perfect. My dress fit great, neither of us fell, and now I can officially call him “The Hubs” instead of “The Boy.” The ceremony was gorgeous. I walked in on a rose petal walkway to Pachebel’s Canon in D. The vows and ring exchange was short, and my maid of honor read an awesome poem she wrote. We marched out as man and wife to the Star Wars theme (that got a few cheers and laughs).

I have to take a moment and mention my beautiful bouquet. The Hubs' aunt is a florist, so she made it for me. It was absolutely gorgeous, with burgundy mini-callas and snapdragons (my favorite)!

Our photographers were our family members. Must have been about 30 cameras going off. I felt like a celebrity in front of the paparazzi. Dinner was excellent, with delicious blackened salmon. The cake was GORGEOUS and very very tasty. It was a chocolate cake, with mocha buttercream frosting between the layers, and covered in dark chocolate ganache.

I got tons of compliments on my DIY stuff: the favors, the programs, everything. That was the best feeling. I was afraid people wouldn’t notice all the hard work I put in to designing everything. But all that work was paid off and then some.

Dancing was relatively low-key. Not too many folks wanted to dance, so we just had our first dance, and then the father/daughter and mother/son dance together. Then we got the Led out. By this point though, most people were tired and some were already leaving. We left in our fabulously decorated car, and had an amazing suite at the hotel. The next morning, life was gloriously back to normal. We spent most of the day lounging around at home, just enjoying the solitude.

Coming soon, Our Honeymoon!

I'm baaack.

Wow, omg. We've been on our honeymoon and what a fabulous time we had! I've been writing blog entries, but as we had no reliable internet source I didn't post. I'll be posting fairly consistently during the next week, about the wedding, Alaska, Seattle, and whatnot.

Oh, and my birthday. I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20, and I'm damned happy about it. My 20's so far have been stressful and relatively crappy. Every new year is a year I can change things to suit my life. We spent my birthday this year at Pike Place Market, where The Hubs (formerly The Boy) bought me a bouquet of GORGEOUS flowers. I will post a photo, but oh gosh there were lilies and sunflowers and these cool cattail looking things.


Anyways, looking forward to coming back to life. The knitting, the crafting, the being done with school. I am still looking for a job, which is shitty. But at least I get to be a housewife for a little while until I'm gainfully employed.

August 12, 2007

Oh give me a home, where the Frodo-lo roam...

... and the Tweek, and the Mees and Eves play.

Lots of stress lately. Exactly 2 weeks until the wedding. There is no way my shawl is going to get finished with all the other crap I've been working on. Also, I have to say, I just don't want to knit on it. I want to knit socks, or a hat, or work on my sweater or something. Something different. No more lace for me right now. Just no. Maybe I'll finish it on the honeymoon. I just don't want to rush and screw it up.

I've been going through the house in an effort to de-clutter. I've started a "donate this stuff" box and my goal is to fill one box for each floor. If I can do that, then maybe I can do more later. Baby steps. There is some good news however. I finished all the laundry. ALL of it, and now I just have to put it away. That's a big relief for me. The kitchen is also clean, and the living room is making radical progress. Now if I can just convince The Boy to let me get rid of his huge eyesore of a couch, all will be well.

As for the title of this post, it's just a tribute to my sweet kitties. Their daily cuddles have been keeping me sane, and Tweek's recent hyperactivity has been keeping me entertained. Frodo is my buddy boy, always snuggling up for scritches when I get in bed. Evelyn creeps up by my head and chirps in my ear for her own scritching session. Mia splays out on my belly and purrs. And Tweek usually comes by in the morning for a short head scratch. Thanks to their efforts, and the wonderful attention from The Boy, I have to say I'm happy despite all the random stress.

The Wedding Countdown

21 Days. 21 DAYS y'all! Gosh I can't believe it's creeping up. So here are a few updates.

The shawl:
I am officially 4 repeats away from finishing the length of the shawl. Then I will have to knit the border. I really really hope I can finish the damned thing in time. One option is to knit the border later, and just use it borderless for the wedding. We'll see.

Bachelorette Party:
Went out on the town with my maid of honor. It was very fun, and I got my first tattoo. It's a cat doodle that has been kind of a family symbol for a few generations now. I got it a little more stylized and I looooove it. Here we are posing as pirates:

The dress:
It fits! Totally gorgeous too. I got my bustier so now my boobs fill it out better. It's a little gappy on the top, but nothing a little double sided carpet tape can't fix.

The shoes:
I'm so bummed. I got the cutest burgundy heels to wear with my dress. I tried them on and they fit just fine. WELL, I attempted to stand around for 15 minutes the other day during a dress fitting, and I almost died. I can't do heels. So now I'm back to zero on shoes. At least I can still return the heels.

The job hunt:
Don't ask.

The wedding:
Everything is getting done. Mos tthings have been taken care of. Now it's just waiting for the week before, to do the last minute stuff.

For the love of a feline

Crazy Aunt Purl's cat Roy passed away yesterday. I can't explain why it affected me so much, but as soon as I read her post I started bawling. I've been reading her blog for awhile, and feel her pain so keenly through her lovely tribute to her fur baby. I look at my four furry children and I dread the day when I will be posting about them. I can't imagine loving anything more than I love these damn cats. So please, keep Laurie and Roy in your thoughts. I know I will be.

Desperation meets Tight Jeans

So, my favorite pair of jeans fell apart on my recent trip to the Midwest. I think the humidity combined with the heat from thigh friction killed them. I am tired of wearing skirts and I wanted to wear comfortable jeans again. In a fit of desperation and maybe a little insanity, I began rummaging through my fabric stash like a mad woman. Much to my dismay, the color scheme of my fabric remnants is decidedly monochromatic. Ok, not monochromatic, but definitely on the dark side of things. No reds, no vivid blues, no tans to be found. But, warrior woman that I am, I didn't let it stand in my way. No sir. I cut and sewed and swore and seamed and swore. After an hour, Miss Random Pants was born. The jeans went from being rather tight to WAY too big. I could take them in easily, but I'm tired so that'll wait for another day.

Wedding crafts? What wedding crafts? *hums innocently*

Random knitting

Here's an old photo. My friend was feeling really bummed, so I knitted him a Chicago Bears hat. It was my first intarsia project, and I have issues with keeping the tension just right. It's either way too lose, or it puckers. *le sigh*


In wedding news, there isn't any news. Shawl is still creeping along. I'm busy with school and job applications. Just got back from an out of state interview, and keeping my fingers crossed because I loved the company and the area. Um.... I keep changing my mind on things like wedding favors and attendant gifts and flowers. That's the source of most of my current stress.

Wedding Blues

Today I've been pretty cranky, as far as crankiness goes. I have been working like crazy on my wedding shawl, and apparently caused a lovely case of tendinitis in my right arm. I drank some Pain-Go-Bye-Bye Juice though, and I'm in the mood for blogging.

It's been awhile... much longer than I like to have in between posts. But there's a good reason. Several actually. After the last post, classes picked up a helluva lot and then of course finals hit. During all of this I'm planning a wedding, attempting to find a job, failing at keeping my home clean, and pretty much completely losing my mind. Immediately after finals were over, I started a Philosophy class entitled PHI 105: Introduction to Bullshit*. As of this writing, that class is over and I have survived. I start another class on Monday though, so the saga continues.

In wedding news, I managed to hand-make 50 invitations and send them out. That may not sound like much, but when you consider that, on the invitation inserts alone, I rubber-stamped a flower 250 times... well you get the idea. Here are a few lovely photos:

and

As for general crafting, I've done pretty much jack. Too stressed and too tired to really settle down to all the projects calling to me from the Unfinished Crafts Closet of Shame. Someday, my pretties. Someday.

And of course, for your random gratification, a cat photo:

*ok not really, but it sure felt like it

My New Love

Dear Dyson. Love ya, babe!

~ the Crafty Hobbit

The Shame

With every passing week, it has been harder and harder to write something. I think it's the constant buildup of shame that I have neglected the blog this long. There's a good reason, though, I promise. It's called "OMG there's so much stuff to do for classes and this wedding planning thing and OMG OMG I need to find a job." They are the unholy trinity of stressors that have converged on my life all at the same time.

I haven't worked on my wedding stole AT ALL which is worrisome given how slow I knit in general. I did some primary layout work for the invitations though. I swear, those $@&#ing invitations. I thought it'd be cheaper to do it myself, but it's expensive. True, they are cheaper than similar looking invites that are done professionally, but at this point all I want to do is buy some $25 invitation kit, print 'em up, and send 'em out. I keep telling myself that the invitations will be gorgeous. I've just sort of stumbled into an ennui about the whole planning process. Ok, that's not totally true. If someone were to come take over the planning, I'd probably kick them in the shins. But seriously, I just can't wait until the actual day... and mostly because I know all the planning and the tedious little details will be done by then.

On the other side of the issue, the wedding is going to be GORGEOUS, y'all. I'm going to the cake and catering meeting next week, so I'll actually know my menu. I already know about the cake: Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate! It's my wedding and I want a chocolate cake, dammit!

The kitties are all fine. Frodo is up to his old tricks of stepping on my ribs at 3am. Tweek still destroys things. Mia is still unbearably cuddly, and Evie is still silly. Maybe I will post a purely photographic entry sometime soon. Guess I will have to go out and take some more pics.

Sore Throat Blues

Yeah, I've been sick and at home for the last few days with a wicked bad sore throat. I don't have the fever officially, but there are chills. Chills people! We're keeping a wary eye out for strep throat. I hope it doesn't come down to it, but I suspect otherwise since swallowing burns like fire.

And now, general updates from my life...

Gladys has been joined by at least 10 more sisters! So happy. No photo, since the general grumpiness of sore throat has kept me from the downstairs area in general.

I finished my first project with intarsia, but as it is a gift for a friend I cannot post photos yet. He may see!

Wedding shawl has had no progress, because of crazed school schedule, the sickness, and the gift. However I'm hoping to pick it up this weekend and do at LEAST 2 more pattern repeats. Would like to get 5 done, but hey I get distracted.

The Wedding Scrapbook is coming along nicely. After staring at the 12x12 album and feeling incredibly overwhelmed, I opted for a smaller 8x8 scrapbook and creativity was born. I will take pictures tonight if I think of it. So far, the title page, the "bride" and "groom" pages (which are mostly blank until we get photos of us from the wedding), and The Boy's "The Early Years" page is complete. Since most of our relatives will be meeting us for the first time at the wedding, I thought a few mini-biography pages would be a good idea. I'm going to include a few blank, black pages for guests to sign instead of a guestbook. I thought it would be more meaningful this way, although I am not sure how I want to do them. I don't like the idea of signatures all over the place (too high school scrapbook for my taste), but I'm not sure about how to draw the writing lines. Mom suggested finding a black pen or marker that would show up, since the guests will be signing the page with silver ink. I don't know though, so I'm considering very fine lines drawn in white pencil. Whatevs. I got ... 4 months. Holy shit, only 4 months!? Crap.

And a gratuitous cat photo:

Flowers

So about a year ago I bought a gorgeous bridal bouquet hanging plant from the local nursery. It has been hanging in my kitchen since then, barely clinging onto life. The soil it was originally planted in was very very bad at holding any moisture and the thing would dry into styrofoam consistency between waterings. I don't know why it took so long, but about a week ago I repotted the damn thing in a last ditch effort to save it. Well, that was a great idea because now it's bounced back and is more beautiful than before! Within a week it's put out a lot of growth, about 25 flower buds, and one lovely lone white flower. I call her Gladys. Every time I walk by the plant, I have to smile and say hi to her. I don't know if that makes me really weird, but I know I'm not the only one who talks to their plants.

Here's a closeup of Gladys in all her glory:

Speaking of flowers, when he came home my boyfriend presented me with these!
... which is good because earlier in the day I dropped my laptop on its wireless card, which resulted in this:

Wedding Progress

Well, I'm zeroing in on a centerpiece design for our wedding. I wanted to do something clear with candles, but not flowery or prissy. Then I thought of using coffee beans. They are such a gorgeous color, and aesthetically interesting to boot. There was some debate on how to do the candles, but I found some really cheap votive glasses at IKEA and they fit perfectly. Now the only task is to figure out a way to decorate the glass with our names and the wedding date. I was thinking of etching it onto the glass but I'm not sure. My other idea is to tie a silver ribbon around the bottom and put a tag with our names on it. After the wedding, guests are welcome to take these home. The glass is actually a compote glass, so it can be used for desserts and things. I'm all for double tasking objects.