The Sassy Pickle

Mid-Week Lovelies: Snow in Seattle

2012-01-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

This week we had a "significant weather event" up here in the Pacific Northwest. Definitely more significant than our typical rainy day snoozefest; we got SNOW! Like shut-the-city-down snow! That's my favorite kind!

In preparation for the storm, I bought a ridiculous amount of groceries - comprised mostly of carbs and cheese, naturally. I picked up fixins for pancakes and eggs for breakfast, and tuna melts for lunch. I cooked a stew in my Crockpot (thanks Steph!) that I just finished the last of today, and I also baked the biggest tray of nachos you've ever seen. Homemade nachos out of the oven really are the best. I took no pictures of any of this, so you'll have to take my word that it all looked great and tasted even better.

The storm started on Tuesday night and lasted through Thursday. In my neck of the woods, we got about five or six inches of snow over the two day event, which meant we were pretty much staying put. If you've been to Queen Anne on a dry day, you know these hills are no joke, steeper and more narrow than any other city I've been to. You don't want to try to be brave and drive down on packed, icy snow. So we stayed in pajamas and I worked from the couch, which I wasn't too upset about.

Makai is definitely past his frisky snow days (he prefers stable, warmer concrete), so while we did occasionally venture outside for a little snowy jaunt, our adventures would only last as long as his patience. I left my fancy camera inside, but I did manage to snap a few iPhone pics as we wandered around our winter wonderland.

And just like that, the snow has begun to melt and the rain has come back. Sigh. Till next year, Mother Nature.

Resolutions!

2011-12-31T08:58:00.000-08:00

Every January I make a few resolutions, and sometimes I actually follow through with them. For example, last year, after 20+ years of cracking my knuckles (I started at 9, true story) I quit cold turkey on January 1st. And it stuck! That's insane! Change IS possible!

Some years I keep my resolutions a secret (like birthday wishes, so I don't jinx them?), but this year I'm going to share in the hopes that it might light a tiny fire under my butt and help me try to be a slightly better version of myslef. So here goes it:

Go to bed earlier. I make this resolution every year, and fail miserably. I'm a night owl. I am my most productive and creative after the sun has set, and that inevitably leads to really late nights with a brain that will not shut off at a reasonable hour. Going to bed before 2:00 seems like a waste of perfectly good night hours. I'm lucky I work in an industry where we don't have to be in the office at 8:00am, so the mornings aren't at all as terrible as they could be, but they could be so much better! Plus, time is catching up to this baby face, an extra hour or two of sleep will do me wonders. I'm going to shoot for going to bed at 11:30, but will be happy if I can consistently hit the 12:30 mark.

Make Makai feel like a puppy. I need to be better about keeping Makai's old brain stimulated with puzzles, more playtime, and structured walks. His body is getting ancient and achy and that makes him grumpy. It's hard for him to get comfortable, sometimes it's even hard for him to get up once he's been laying down for a while, and that makes him frustrated and grumbly and it's sad. Can you imagine laying in a position at night and being ready to flip over but your body won't listen to you? I'd be pissed off too. However, on days when he's had a lot of stimulation and playtime, he's a MUCH happier dog and it seems like his body responds well too, so I need to make the time to do lots lots more of that.

Complain less. This is going to be really, really difficult for me. Over the last couple of years I've become a professional complainer. I'm aware of it, I hate it. What used to be my biggest pet peeve in others has taken hold of my mouth and will. Not. Shut. Up. To be fair, 2011 was filled with a lot of stress, and it really feels good to just vent it out and get things off my chest. But it has to stop. If I'm sick of hearing me moan and groan about the same things I can only imagine how my friends and family feel about the constant dumping. It's a gnarly habit, but I'm really going to try and kick it. Onward and upward!

Read one book a month. I love reading. I love getting lost in a book and getting completely consumed by new characters and their lives and adventures. But I'm a slooow reader. My mind wanders when I read and I have to re-read paragraphs – sometimes pages – pretty frequently. It just takes a lot of time, which I do not have an abundance of these days. BUT! I think if I commit to reading a little every night before bed, it would help me wind my brain down better for my aforementioned new early bed time. And, I have four – count em, FOUR – books that I have read the first three or more chapters of just waiting, nay, begging me to finish them. So the first four months of this plan should be an easy ramp up. I'm taking book suggestions!

Anything that takes less than five minutes to do: DO IT. I am the queen of, "Oh, I'll do that in a half hour." The half hour turns into a half day the half day into 2 days and then the dishes are in the sink for a week. Anything that takes fewer than five minutes to actually accomplish, I need to just do. Just do it, Ebberts!

Find a focus for The Sassy Pickle. Ugh. I have grand hopes and dreams for The Sassy Pickle in the future, but again, everything takes time. Each post takes me about an hour to get my thoughts in order, then there's photo editing which seems to take forever. For a while I tried to make one post every day (sometimes I'd do them all on the weekend and queue them up for auto-posting during the week), but I was writing about things I didn't care about in an effort to just post SOMETHING, which sucks. I don't want to talk about my personal life on here (although those are the blogs I find the most interesting), but I really love sharing the things I like or find interesting and of course sharing Shmoop Tales. So this year I want to hone in on what exactly my focus is, and run with it. Oh, and completely redesign my brand, but again, the time thing.

Well, I think that's enough to get me in some trouble. I figure if I cast a broad net, I'm bound to catch something. And whatever I crash and burn on I'll just roll over into next year's list. I'm comfortable with realistic expectations (which is why "work out more" is not on this list).

What are your resolutions??

"Today's the day I'm going camping!"

2011-12-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

I've been going through my photos getting ready to archive good old 2011, and realized I didn't share the incredible hike we went on this August to the Deception Lakes and along the Pacific Crest Trail. So here's a long overdue Weekend Lovelies: Hiking Edition.

First, to get in the camping mood, hit play on one of my all time favorite Muppet moments below. It's from their Rocky Mountain Holiday with John Denver, and it's the best camping song ever. (I had this on Beta when I was little and played the shit out of it.)

It was a four-day adventure, the kind where you carry everything on your back and kiss the car goodbye on day one. I think we covered about 24 miles total over the four days, and what felt like about a zillion feet in elevation. It was extremely exhausting (damn you, switchbacks!), but it was SO awesome to cover that much terrain on foot, and to see things I'd NEVER see in person otherwise.

To get an idea of how much terrain we covered, here are three different views of the same camp site as we made our way along the trails:

I'm telling you, the pictures don't do the distance justice.

There was so much to see, and it was hard to capture it all. Little critters, flowers, all the trees. I did a terrible job photographing the all creeks we had to cross (we even had to ford one big one, just like in Oregon Trail but with less disentary!). Anyway, here are a few of the better shots managed to grab. Enjoy!

Views from our first campsite:

Remember that rock. You'll see it again near the end.

At the start of our hike on day two, H1 found a friend! It pooped on him.

I kept taking pictures of the forest in an effort to capture how tiny we were among these HUGE trees. I don't think it translates, but believe me, we were ants.

I'm sure it has a different name, but to me it will forever be Tiger Lily Cub.

Seriously, just miles and miles of this. Unbelievable.

This is what the top of a mountain looks like when you're walking on it.

Arriving at our second night campsite:

Above is the view from our tent at our second campsite.

H2 found her own friend! There was no pooping.

By the third day of hiking, we were getting high enough in elevation to see some snow drifts.

This was one of my favorite spots we passed, because it reminded me so much of that old John Denver and The Muppets special.

We had two dogs along with us on our hike, they were great pace keepers and would run up and down the line and make sure we were all accounted for.

That is the rock you could see from our first campsite. I KNOW!!

The hike on day three was so hard. After nine-ish miles, mostly uphill, we got to where we were originally supposed to stay and it was overrun with man eating mosquitos. They went straight through all our Deet and were relentless. We couldn't even stand there long enough to discuss weather we should move on or not, we had to just keep moving.

That's when I stopped taking pictures. I took no pictures of our third night camp, or our hike out. At that point just holding my camera was taking too much energy.

After we hiked out and were headed home, we stopped and got the best burger I've had in 10 years, compliments of The Cruise In in Roslyn, WA. For your Sacramento kids, this burger rivals that of our beloved Tiny's. It was the perfect reward for all our efforts. (Photo borrowed from J's sister's Facebook page. I was too tired to dig my camera out of my bag. Thanks I!)

The whole adventure was all at once exhausting, exhilarating, fun, challenging, GORGEOUS. Most of all, it was totally WORTH IT.

Owl be back.

2011-12-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

Have I made that pun here before? Ah well. Oh this poor neglected site. I'm working up a Resolutions post, and "making time to post more" is already on my list.

Just wanted to drop in and quickly wish everyone who might still be out there a wonderful holiday season, and a happy New Year!

Blueberry Confesions

2011-11-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

I've got a confession to make: I have been doctoring Makai's photos to hide something slightly... unsavory. Pretty much every picture of Makai's face over the last two years has been modified. Well, I'm coming clean!

Allow me to introduce you to what we've affectionately been calling The Blueberry. Can you spot the difference?

Weird, I know. When it was small no one noticed it, but after a while people who'd meet him on the street would say, "He's beautiful! Oh... What's wrong with his face?" It hurt my feelings for him a little (as silly as that sounds). I would tell them nothing's wrong with his face, and try and give the briefest version of what is going on that I could, before watching their eyes glaze over as they start stepping away.

I just wanted people to see him how I saw him, and of course it wasn't something I paid any attention to until someone would remind me about it. Hence the photo retouching.

A little history. Makai has been getting these growths since just before we moved to Seattle in 2004. They are hemangiosarcomas. And because they are showing up on his skin, they are most likely caused by exposure to the sun - which he got plenty of his first few years in California. (USE SUNSCREEN ON YOUR DOGS!)

The first one he had removed off his tummy when he was about five years old, and the vet gave me a very grave prognosis. He told me that it was cancerous and would eventually spread to the rest of his body, and suggested we go see an oncologist immediately. I chose not to. At that point - even at five - Makai had been through enough health problems that I didn't want to try and fight something that seemed so terribly inevitable. Plus, I was fresh out of college and moving to a new city and had no money to pay for doggy chemo.

Well, seven years later he's fine. They still keep popping up, and when they get big enough to cause him problems, we get get them removed. But still no widespread cancer (knock knock knock knock knock).

There are two types of growths he gets: one is the dark, blueberry looking kind, and the other is fleshy colored and suuuuuper weird and usually turn up on his legs and feet. He had a huge one a couple years ago we named The Wiener Paw. True story.

Recently he had another one of these weird ones on the underside of his front left paw, that actually grew in like a sixth paw pad (you can see it above - that's about 6 months ago when it was still "small"). It eventually got bigger than his other paw pads and was impairing his ability to walk.

So with his foot in pain, and the growth on his face getting big enough I was worried he'd hurt himself (he's ruptured one before - they are very vascular and it can be dangerous), about a month ago we said peace out to the Extra Paw Pad, and sayonara to The Blueberry. Luckily, his vet is AMAZING and she was able to just numb him up a little and do the removals under local anesthetic, which was a huge relief to me since going completely under isn't super safe for the old fogies.

He's all healed up now, stitches are gone, and he is much much happier - probably because his foot isn't in terible pain anymore, and he isn't getting strange stares from the neighbors (okay, maybe I'm the only one who ever noticed that). The REALLY good news is none of his super powers were in the The Blueberry, or the Extra Paw Pad, so the world is still safe.

Coincidental Art

2011-11-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

Check out this awesome photograph I found at the Salvation Army. I was just about to leave, and I actually turned back to peek behind a super ugly, homemade version of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring to find this hiding behind it. I'm soooo in love with it.

I'll get to more of the details in a second, but first let me show you how this type of imagery has been following me around the last couple of years, and why I think I was probably supposed to buy this photo (if you believe in that sort of thing, which sometimes I do).

FIRST, last year a little game called Limbo came out. It's the first game in years and years and years that I've gotten completely immersed in. Not only was it fun, but it was visually GORGEOUS and so different from any other game out there. Really simple, beautiful, silhouetted environments. REALLY moody (and hilariously violent, but that's beside the point). Even if you aren't into video games, give this a watch. It's great.

ALSO, last year I learned about artist Brooks Shane Salzwedel...

Brooks draws on tape and then layers each piece with resin on top of one another, creating these super detailed pieces of art that are full of depth. So amazing.

THEN, when J opened a second location for his business, they moved into the building that is home to the Woodside/Braseth Gallery. These beautiful paintings by Jared Rue have been hanging in the windows.

(Forgive my terrible cell phone pictures. If you're in Seattle you should go visit the gallery anyway. Open on Saturdays!)

Okay, see what I'm saying? Following me everywhere! Is it coincidence? Meant to be? I don't know, but when I found this photo at the thrift store, I considered it very well should be mine. It was marked at $12.99, but they were having a Veteran's Day sale, so I got it for 50% off.

The frame is a bit dated (green faux wood grain!), and the mat has turned a dingy shade of yellow that will never do, but those are easy enough to change. Look at what's hidden in the photo...

Lovely, right?

It's by local photographer King Wu, and according to the information on the back is a photograph from Huangshan, China. It's a shame it's numbered and signed on the old mat that I'll be replacing, but I'm over it.

The matting was very well done - lots of glue. I opted to not try and pry the photo off it's backing, I was sure I would ruin it.

I was expecting to see a lot of discoloration around the edges, since the mat was so yellowed, but it actually wasn't too bad.

I plopped it into another frame I had in my ridiculousness stash of sale purchases, which also had two mats and was the exact same size...

Perfecto! I love it and can't wait to find the perfect spot for it. Three cheers for coincidences / meant-to-be art!

Weekend Lovelies: Fall has Fallen

2011-11-22T07:25:00.000-08:00

It's been ages since I've been able to take Makai out for a long walk, and even longer since I've been able to get out and take any pictures. We finally hit the street this weekend for a nice, long, coooooold stroll. It was fantastic.

I'm about two weeks late on getting the REALLY good Seattle fall photos, but you gotta work with what you've got.

After our walk, all cozy and bundled up and very politely waiting for snacks, naturally.

See that new scar on his lip? More on that later this week. Our family has a big dark secret I've been covering up for years!

Intrigued? :)

Sweater for a Sweet Cause

2011-11-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

Check out Makai's new one-of-a-kind sweater! So stylish, AND practical for these ridiculously cold November days.

This hand-made sweater not only keeps him on top of the very latest fashion trends (where he obviously loves to be), but it also helps support a very good cause...

Allow me to introduce you to Ginger Rogers, adorable foster pup!

The first time I saw Ginger she reminded me so much of a young Shmoops, I was smitten. She's currently being lovingly cared for by one of our favorite doggie bloggers, Emily at Our Waldo Bungie. Well, Miss Ginger Rogers has some health problems, and those health problems don't pay for themselves, folks. So her foster mama came up with a great fundraising idea to help cover some of the costs.

Emily's mom knits these amazing sweaters, and offered to donate 100% of her sweater proceeds Ginger's medical fund until the fundraising goal is met. Isn't that rad? We got a gorgeous, hand-crafted sweater - complete with easy-on "elderbull" buttons for senior dogs like Makai - AND we get to help contribute to Ginger's medical fund, and maybe even help set her up with a dowery she can take with her to her forever home. Everyone wins!

I love how it turned out. It's so green and happy and adorable. He looks like a caterpillar, which you know we love around here. It's also machine washable, perfect for a super stinky boy like this guy.

If you'd like to help Ginger Rogers' cause, head over to Our Waldo Bungie and read all the latest on her story. If you're like me, you're a sucker for a shelter pup in need (hello, Makai, my 12-year-special-needs-shelter-dog project). Ginger is very lucky to have foster parents who care about her, not all dogs with pre-existing medical conditions are so fortunate. If there's a local rescue or shelter near you, consider dropping them a few bucks. Every little bit helps!

UPDATE! Emily says: "We are happy to say that Ginger is more than covered from the generous donations and the extra help from my mama! Now we are just selling the sweaters with 50% of the profits going to different animal rescues in need!"

Whoo hoo! Great news for Ginger, and still such a great deal for anyone who wants to help and wants a fashionable sweater for their buddies.

Also, let's take a moment to enjoy Makai's lion paws. He even drags them like a lion when he walks.

He's just the coolest cat.

Old Dog New Crate

2011-10-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

I live in a very dog friendly apartment building, which is beyond awesome. However, once or twice a year they need to come into my unit for maintenance related issues, and apparently the guys doing the work do not think Makai is as enjoyable to be around as I do. I think they might even be a little afraid of the old, wrinkly pit bull chillin on the couch. Hmph.

I got the word some work was going to be done on all the units, and had just one day to plan. In the past I've just stayed home on the day they are scheduled to come, but that's not really all that practical during the week. So, after 12 years, the time had come to introduce Makai to The Crate.

I've read here and there about crate training dogs, but I've never really felt the need to look into it too seriously. Even though he does occasionally get into the drawers in the kitchen and destroy the boxes of saran wrap and zip lock baggies, and I can't leave mail or books lying around unless I want them to be eaten, and toilet paper is definitely not safe if left unattended... Hey, maybe a little crate training for the old boy wouldn't be the most terrible thing after all.

Again, just one day to plan, so no time to try come up with a thrifty option. I sucked it up and got a $115 large metal crate at the pet store (I chose that one because... it wasn't the $160 one?). I got it home and started setting it up while Makai kept his distance from me. He always knows if I'm up to something and does not trust any of my shenanigans.

Once it was set up, I put the little fleece mat it came with inside and invited him to check it out. His reaction is below.

He didn't stay in there very long. Maybe it wasn't inviting enough. Okay, how about if we add a super fun, fluffy, snuggly bed to it?

SOLD! That was his actual second time in the crate (no reenactments here!), with no commands to get in and lay down or anything. I'm flabbergasted.

I know it's hard to tell, but that's his old man happy face. The crate didn't phase him at all. He looooves it in there and spends most of his time in his new little den. When I get home from work he's in there and NOT on the couch. Insanity! He will occasionally spend the night in there too, giving me some much needed leg room on the bed. And on the maintenance day, he could not have cared less that I closed the door to the crate with him inside. What a champ.

Up in the tree...

2011-10-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Look who we saw the other day!

You have to look closely...

My caterpillars! I swear I wasn't looking for them. J and I were walking Makai down the hill to get some lunch, and I simply pointed out, "There's the tree I put the caterpillars in- HOLY SHIT!" I immediately saw one, then another, then another.

It was so strange, because they do not stand out at all. In fact, I had a hard time finding them again when I went back later to take some pictures, they really do camoflague well. They were all within a couple branches of each other. Bare branches I should say, those suckers can EAT! And they are HUGE!

Let's look back at a baby picture below for a refresher (or go here to relive the entire journey!).

Awwww. I think they're gonna make it.

Under the Weather

2011-09-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

So we had a little health scare last week - Makai stopped eating for several days. No interest eating in anything at all, not even snacks or the ever-adored apple slice. He also couldn't care less about going out for walks, he just wanted to sleep. I immediately started preparing for the worst. I assumed it was something like organ failure or cancer. I was scared to take him to the vet, fear of a horrible diagnosis or endless expensive tests that tell me what's wrong is too expensive to fix.

I tell ya, having an old dog (or Elderbull as I've recently learned) comes with a whole new kind of scary reality. I hate to think this way, but I'm aware of what's coming down the pike, and I'm constantly second guessing what the right choices are to make, and it completely sucks. I've become paranoid. I'm doing too little, doing too much, not acting fast enough, overreacting, all of the above. With Bitty, at the end I was sticking her with an IV needle twice a day forcing fluids into her body to try and fix something unfixable. It was the suggested treatment - and not to slight the vet, they were just trying to help me - but she hated it and was scared and I still feel terrible about it. After that I told myself I wouldn't put my dog through anything extraneous for my own benefit.

Anyway, of course I took him in to get checked out. Luckily (!) it turned out to be a common parasite called coccidia that was the culprit. I've never been so happy to hear the word "parasite" in all my life. It's very treatable, and after a couple of pills he's already eating like a maniac again, so WHEW with a capital whew!

Even though it turned out to be something not serious, it really scared the shit out of me and reminded me that he's a fragile little man. But seriously dude, let's just be healthy for a while and enjoy the snuggles, okay?

On another note, I know it's been a ghost town around here the last few months. Everything's going great, thank you for the emails and tweets. There's been a lot going on in Pickle Town, jobs getting more jobby, life getting more lifey, and the blog had to be back-burnered a bit. You know how it goes. I'm hopeful the rainy fall will bring new inspiration, a bit of calm, and an abundance of free time. Thanks for sticking with me, all five of you (well, six if my dad still reads it to my Grandma over the phone). We'll be back on schedule soon!

Old Tricks

2011-09-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

I think every dog gets to a point where he's learned all your tricks. Not the sit, stay, show-me-your-belly type tricks (that's our version of roll over), but the tricks you do to fool them into thinking something is exciting. There's no amount of "Good boy! Over here! Hi buddy! What is that? Go get it!" that I can dish out that will make this guy crack a smile anymore. He's heard it ALL before.

Still, I think he's hilariously adorable with all his very serious faces.

Aha! Apparently peekaboo is still good, I see a hint of a playful glimmer in those eyes. Funny guy.

So long, little critters.

2011-09-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the caterpillars have left the building. I was getting ready to leave on a four-day hiking trip with J's family, and I decided it was time to say farewell. I really didn't want to come home to dead caterpillars, and I REALLY wasn't super interested in keeping them through the winter. The project had run its course.

By the time I let them go, they were getting huge (like 3+ inches when stretched out) and eating a TON of leaves. Check out one of their typical four-hour feasts above. On the right side, you can actually see the word "FRUIT" on my fruit bowl behind the jar.

Out of the eight that hatched out of those hard, teeny little eggs left on the concrete outside my door, six actually made it to be plump, fast eating / fast moving, HUGE caterpillars. I'm pretty pleased. One did die early on, and one...

There was one that wasn't really keeping up size-wise with the rest, and I noticed that he was staying mostly near the bottom of the jar. He was always eating, but it took me a while to notice he couldn't actually climb, or even really crawl. He just laid on the bottom of the jar eating as much as he could, poor little dude. I separated him from the rest, gave him his own pickle jar lid to chow down in, but it became apparent he was in bad shape. I had to put on my big girl pants and put him out of his misery. I felt terrible.

The rest of them, I let them all go in this tree (view from my front door). I had been getting most of their leaves from this one, so I figured it was the best spot.

I really hope some of them make it to be more than bird snacks, but mother nature can be a mean old bitch sometimes. Who knows, maybe next spring one will land outside my door and this will start ALL over again... (not really hoping for that to happen though!)

Good luck, little dudes and dudettes!

How could I not purchase this?

2011-09-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

I mean really.

Weekend Lovelies: Summer Dog

2011-08-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

I've got lots to post about but a ton of pictures to sort through first. In the meantime, I thought I'd post a few of shots of my happy hot dog from when we took him to Wenatchee last month for a little R&R. For those not from the area, Wenatchee is in central Washington and it gets HOT!

For the first five years of his, life Makai spent his days happily sun bathing in my backyard in Sacramento, so I was excited to get him back to some heat after seven cool years up here (especially after this soggy, crap bag summer).

Happy and hot.

So happy.

Okay, okay. I'll stop taking pictures soon. (Seriously, I laugh every time I look at this one. He was so annoyed.)

See a secret friend in this one? That's Riley, who I wish could be Makai's girlfriend, but he can be unpredictably testy with other dogs, and she's a tiny little thing, so we thought it best to keep them seperated for the weekend.

Someone was not happy about it.

Just ONE flower picture. :)

He lost so much weight after his stomach surgery. At this point, he had only been off of his special post-surgery diet for about a week, and was still pretty skinny and frail. A weekend of just hanging out in the fresh air, roaming around the yard, and resting/warming up his old bones is just what he needed. He loved it.

(BTW, he's back to a healthy weight now. Maybe a few pounds more than where he started!)

Faterpillars

2011-08-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

My little caterpillars are growing up so fast! I've been diligently documenting their growth, and thought I'd share a bit of what's been going on with this quickly-snowballing-out-of-control adventure...

First! Enjoy this short film of the gang I put together. I recommend watching it in HD.

Next, some facts:

Caterpillars eat A LOT of leaves, and need fresh branches of them every day, which means...
Caterpillars poop A LOT. It's called frass. Their home needs to be made frass free on the daily.
One of my caterpillars is a total asshole and strikes at anything that comes near it like a snake. The rest are not creeps.
One of the caterpillars never grew very much, and sadly it died. I buried it in the Planter Shmanter box. I'm not unconvinced the aforementioned a-hole caterpillar wasn't somehow involved.
I just learned Blinded Sphinx caterpillars do something called "overwintering," which means they burrow into the dirt to pupate and stay there all winter before they turn into a moth. All winter!
I'm contemplating some sort of outdoor terrarium with dirt at the bottom for them to stay in for the winter.
Again, WHAT AM I DOING?

Anyway, let's take a look back where we began three weeks ago.

Look at how teensy that egg is (and ignore how badly I need hand lotion). I didn't realize then they were green because what was INSIDE the egg was green. The egg itself was transparent. They were laid on the July 8th, this was somewhere around July 15th.

Hatched and on the move! On July 21st a total of eight caterpillars hatched out of the 12 eggs I brought inside. The pic above is about four days after hatching.

July 26th. I read they got the "sphinx" part of their name from this proud looking pose they do when they are resting, like a sphinx!

July 28th. Look at how their black horns have turned stripey!

August 6th. You should enlarge that picture above, it's super detailed. They are starting to get really beefy!

To the naked eye they look really soft and smooth, but look at those spines on their horns!

They really are so fascinating. However, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be keeping these guys. They are getting big, and now would be a good time to either let them go or commit to going all the way... but I don't think I have a winter-long project in me. We'll see.

Oh, and the eggs I left outside to see if mother nature would do her thing? She did.

They hatched about a week after the indoor kids. I helped get them back to a tree they could munch on and, wished them luck.

Pinterest Challenge: Feather Pillow Edition

2011-08-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

Last week Sherry from Young House Love announced she and three other lovely bloggers were going to be organizing a Pinterest challenge. As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge Pinterest fan, and I've also been lacking in the project idea department (and spare time department, but that's another story). I thought the challenge would be great motivation to work on something new.

The first step (and the most difficult) was to choose something I've pinned in the past that would make a fun project to put my own stamp on. Here is the pin I went with:

I looooove that plant frond pillow. It originally came from a blog post on Cottage and Vine. I thought I'd try and make something similar, but maybe give it more of a feathery spin. A feather pillow!

It just so happens I have a ridiculously large box of fabric I've been hanging onto for just such an occasion, and I lucked out and had a little bottle of white fabric paint left over from another project too. Perfect!

It's times like these I wish I had a screen printing kit, it took a while to paint. My hands are rusty.

I didn't really take many pictures along the way, because a) it's just a rectangular pillow, and b) my sewing abilities are atrocious. Let's just focus on the end product:

I was going to go back over all the strokes and try and get them super clean and thick, but after sleeping on it (ha, not actually) I'm okay with how it looks. All in all it was a a really fun project, and it felt good to get motivated. I still have a few runner-up pins that I might take a stab at re-creating, hopefully I don't wait until the next challenge to do it!

Be sure to check out Sherry's, Katie's, Emily's and Lana's projects. Thanks for organizing the challenge, ladies! Can't wait to see what everyone else came up with!

Queen Anne Farmer's Market

2011-07-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

One of the many things I love about Seattle is how everyone seems to have gotten the "buy local" memo. I'm not going to pretend it's easy or convenient to use a local resource all the time for everything you need, but it's nice to have so many options available up here. And something we have an abundance of that is really great to support: Farmers Markets.

I've gone to several over the years, but mere blocks from my house the Queen Anne Farmer's Market is held every Thursday from 3:00 - 7:30. I never get home in time to swing by, but one Thursday not too long ago I finally made it.

I got there early and avoided the crowd. It was fantastic.

First stop, the very friendly Local Roots organic produce booth. The two folks working the booth were super knowledgeable without being at all pushy, and I was happy to buy lots of goodies from them.

I picked up some radishes and some sprouted broccoli (which I had never seen before - I roasted it and it was sweet and delicious). I even came back on my way out and got a big bag of mixed greens that they said would be good for at least a week, and it was. Yum yum yum.

Next up: honey time.

Dave from Island Apiaries was there, and I picked up a jar of blackberry infused honey.

He even brought some bees with him! I could have seriously hung around that booth for hours.

At the end of the row was my favorite sight to behold: a booth full of lavender from Woodenville Lavender Farm. I can't believe I didn't take more pictures, they had such a nice variety. Hmph. I bought a little 4 inch plant, which I felt was slightly over-priced, but I was drunk with farmers market fever and had cash to burn. Plus, it smelled so lovely.

My last stop was at Collins Family Orchards where I picked up some pretty pink ladies. I shared one with Makai, he also likes to eat local.

This particular farmers market is pretty small, which is perfect for me. I think I was in and out of there in about 10 minutes. All in all I think I spent just under $40, which isn't that bad. The honey is going to last me a long time, as will my little lavender plant (if I don't kill it first). I also picked up a dozen eggs from some happy local hens, and all the delicious produce that I got? Worth every penny.

If you want to check and see if there's a farmers market near you to support, www.LocalHarvest.org is a great resource for searching them out. Highly recommended.

Po! Ta! Toes!

2011-07-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

I was hoping my potato plants would make it far enough to where they would start to flower, but I don't think they had enough room to keep growing. Once the leaves started getting yellow I decided it was time to go in and get em.

Lookie!! The very first potatoes I've ever grown. So pink!!

So pretty!!

This was the biggest one I had, perfect little yeller feller.

Here are some nasty remnants of one of the six the potato cuttings that started my plants off. I was surprised it was still recognizable. It was pretty rotten on the other side. Oh biology, you're weird.

I can't wait to eat you, little potato harvest.

So the potatoes actually mark the last of my Planter Shamanter bounty, and I guess the end of the Planter Shmanter project. Now I have to come up with something else to grow on the balcony. Maybe I'll go easy on myself and just do some flowers...

A Moth Tale

2011-07-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

If bugs give you the heebies, this is not the blog post for you. I'm about to get real Bill Nye the Science Guy up in here.

My building is surrounded by trees, and there are always a few dead leaves on the walkway by my front door, but the other night as I was taking Makai out for a walk, I passed by a one leaf that struck me as strange.

This leaf was awfully symmetrical, and didn't look like any of the birch leaves that are usually on the ground. I stood there for a second, then squinted really hard, then ran back in the house and yelled to J something along the lines of, "You want to see the biggest fucking moth on the planet?!"

I grabbed the camera and very carefully crept up on it to snap a few pictures. The last thing I wanted was for this crazy thing to start flying around my face like a living nightmare, so I did my best ninja moves to get close.

We verrrry slowly scooted a dime up to it for scale. It wasn't moving much. I got a little stick to tickle its giant legs, it moved its antennae but didn't move its feet. It seemed kinda tired. I figured maybe it had just come out of it's cocoon and it's wings were wet? Total speculation here.

I showed the picture above to a friend and he said, "Are those neon toxic waste eggs behind it?" I said, "No, I think that's silly string or something left over from Fourth of July."

Um...

Nope! Those are totally eggs! I didn't even notice them until I was uploading the pictures a few days later and got a closer look.

The more we looked at it and poked at it, the less scary and more completely fascinating it became. And - I'm going to say it - kind of cute with its fat little caterpillar body. Just an awesome little creature. I started looking online trying to identify it, and it looks like it's a Blinded Sphinx moth.

I kept going outside to check on it, and when it didn't move the whole night I started to worry a little. There's a cleaning lady that comes by every week to sweep the walkways, what if she swept it away before it got to fly to safety? I'm aware this is a giant nasty bug I'm talking sweetly about here, but it's too late, I'm emotionally invested.

The next morning it had moved about 10 feet and was hiding under the railing. Much better. It was there when I got home from work, but gone by the next night. A few days after it left I thought about the eggs and went out to look for them. They were still there. I poked one and it was rock hard, they could probably survive the cleaning lady's broom.

Then I got a stupid idea.

It's been so cold this summer, what if those eggs never hatch? What if I could save them? So I scooped up about half of them, put them in a tub, and brought them inside.

Me: "Look what I got..."
J: "You're messing with mother nature."
Me: "I only took half!!"

If I happened to screw up and kill them, I didn't want to kill ALL of them. And if the ones outside don't make it, maybe the indoor kids will.

They are very tiny, maybe like a quarter of a pepper corn.

I've had them for about a week, and when I checked on them last night - still in the tub - I thought they were probably dead. I had read online that you should put them in a jar with a lid and close it tightly, so I moved them into a pickle jar (naturally) just in case and closed the lid.

That was last night.

They started hatching this morning.

What the hell kind of new project have I started? I have a jar of teeny tiny caterpillars in my kitchen. Ugh.

I think I'll let them get a little bigger and then will release them to an unknown fate. There's no way I'm keeping them until they are full on moths. That's much too Silence of the Lambs for me.

This one was the first one out and the spunkiest, marched all over the others as they were trying to hatch.

Kind of cute with its giant head. :)

Look what my log is doing!

2011-07-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

My future log table has been drying out on my balcony for a few weeks, and when I went out to check on my potatoes (more on them later) I noticed the bark was looking a little loose.

I have never had to take bark off a stump before, I figured there would be lots of chiseling and scraping. Apparently not!

It's soooo smooth in the freshly de-barked area. Hopefully this is a sign that I won't have to do a TON of sanding come table time.

Easiest DIY Coasters Ever

2011-07-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Remember these tiles I picked up at the RE Store a few months ago? I finally got around to giving them a purpose.

I grabbed a cheap little roll of self adhering cork (on sale for $2).

Next I traced around the tiles and cut the cork inside the line about 1/16 of an inch so there wouldn't be any accidental cork edges peeking out the sides. Then I peeled off the backing...

...and slapped it on the tile.

Easy! I love that they look like they were someone's glaze tests, like someone was trying to figure out just the right modern looking leaf print to draw on them. They are super bright and fun and different, and now they are actually functional too.

Planter Shmanter: I made lots of carrots!

2011-07-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Still curly and twisty (thanks to my rocky soil), but carrots nonetheless.

And multi colored!

Now, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know carrots came in different colors. I'm even more embarrassed to say I didn't know that's what I had planted! When I pulled up the first couple and they were yellow and pale, I was thinking my soil didn't have enough nutrients in it. Then I pulled up one that was brownish purple and I though it was rotten. I figured it out after I pulled them all up... and Googled it.

In case you were wondering, purple carrots: SO DELICIOUS.

This was my biggest one, little cutie. I want to get my rocky soil situation remedied and see if I can get one more batch out of the summer. I want more!

DIY Zigzag Mirror

2011-07-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

I've had this old mirror for years, and I've never really liked it. Too foo foo. And while I've actually driven it to Goodwill TWICE on donation trips, I could never bring myself to get rid of a perfectly good mirror. So I thought I'd try giving it a little update, take the frilly bite out of it a little.

I knew I wanted to do something graphic to contrast with the frame, so I thought I'd try a frosted zigzag/chevron pattern.

After cleaning the dust off of it, I measured out my grid and drew my zigzag pattern on the glass with a felt pen.

Next I masked every other row off with painters tape.

I sprayed the mirror with a couple of coats of frosted glass spray paint (just a few bucks at any old craft store). I didn't bother taping off the frame before I sprayed. After the frosted paint dried for a few minutes, I pulled off the tape and I went in with a brush and painted the frame black with some acrylic paint.

I do wish the zigzags were shifted over two inches so they were Ws instead of Ms. The Ms look like they are frowning to me. Regardless, I think this old fancy pants mirror may have finally earned a spot on the wall.

You're HOW old??

2011-07-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Makai turned twelve this past weekend. TWELVE! When I sit back and think about how fast that has gone by, it's mind boggling. He was just a young little thing, like, yesterday!

Here's an old polaroid I found of him from when he was about two years old. The red eye from the flash isn't doing him any favors, he looks fucking scary. If you look past the crazy eyes you can tell he's as sweet as pie though. And look at that dang coat! Soooo shiny! And all that muscle definition!

What a difference ten years makes, huh? Where his neck was once filled out with all kinds of buffness, there is now lots of saggy wrinkled skin. And his pecs have shifted down about six feet. Hey, gravity is a bitch to us all, buddy. No judgments here. I can't help but laugh at how cute he is. Still! And he's just as funny now as he was then, albeit decidedly more grumpy these days.

It certainly wouldn't be a proper birthday without a birthday cake (a stomach-surgery-safe birthday cake, of course). This year's was made of baked sweet potatoes with a little beef fat drizzled on top. And because he's old and he just survived a life-threatening corn cob ordeal, he gets whipped cream on top too. Those are the rules.

A very happy birthday to my favorite pup. Here's to many more!!

Log Table

2011-06-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

Sometime a year or two ago I saw this little table on CB2.com. I already loved the look of it, but then I read the description of their lovely little Chop Chop table:

Our "living tree" project recycles urban forest old growth wood into naturally beautiful objects for living—without felling a single tree for lumber. This exclusive CB2 collaboration with Chicago designer Paul Pettigrew and Chicago urban foresters Erika and Bruce Horigan explores modern design with an exemplary respect for process. Using only Chicago-area trees harvested seasonally due to the effects of wind, damage and age, Chop Chop tables not only reduce the demand on our nation's forests, they are fabricated within the Chicago metro area minimizing the carbon footprint between tree source, mill and production.

Rad, right? But for $200 I just couldn't justify it and I had to let it go. Cut to a couple of days ago I got my new West Elm catalog and saw THIS little log table:

Also cute (although not AS cute), but sadly this one was also $200! Hmph!

Then the other night we were driving down 148th in Bellevue and I noticed something special on the side of the road. I said to J, "We have to come back by here on our way home! That's my log table!"

So later on, in the darkness of night, we got our ninja on. We went back, parked about a block away, and crept up on the remnants of a big tree that had been cut down. It wasn't near any houses or buildings, I'm guessing it was cut down by the city after a storm. Would anyone REALLY miss a chunk if I took one?

There were about 7 big pieces, all really great sizes, but one was all I needed. And one was heavy enough! Seriously, it was at least 100 pounds. It was slimy on one side and really difficult to carry, but we managed to get it down the road and to the car. It probably looked all kinds of classy to passers by.

Ahhh. And thar she sits, drying out on my balcony. Technically, it's "curing." I'm going to let it sit for a few months, and then chisel the bark off, figure out a shape for it, polish it up, and enjoy my awesome FREE stump table.

Suck it, $200.

So far... so good!

2011-06-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

A quick update on Makai: he's doing okay! This old Shmoops is one serious trooper. A week later and you'd never know he just had his stomach surgically opened up and emptied. He's back to acting like his old self, which means he wants to take long walks and wants to jump up on the bed - two things he isn't allowed to do for another week.

I cannot explain how relieved/elated/happy/lucky I feel. I don't want to jinx anything, but can I just say: whew!

Corn Cob: A Tale of Emergency Surgery

2011-06-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

A little personal reflection / things I've learned over the last few days:

1. Don't let a raw food diet be an excuse to allow your dog to be your garbage disposal.

2. Don't be blasé about your dog eating a corn cob, especially if there isn't a lot of chewing going on. "He eats weird shit all the time!" isn't a reason to not be concerned.

3. Don't wait two days to go to the vet if said corn cob hasn't quickly reappeared from inside your dog in one form or another.

The short and skinny: Makai swallowed a corn cob Tuesday night - pretty much whole - and had to have emergency surgery to remove it (and some other junk) from his stomach.

I'm going to go into detail about how it all went down, partly for my own catharsis, but also in the hopes that this might help someone else out there someday.

I'll be honest, I feel like complete shit that I didn't realize how serious him eating a corn cob was. I pride myself on knowing everything about what's good and bad for my dog and being a responsible owner, and this was a major mommy fuck up. He's eaten them in the past and has chomped them up pretty good, but by the time it dawned on me, "Hey dummy, what is happening right now is probably not good," he took one big gulp and it was gone.

When the corn cob didn't come out the next day, I was a little worried something might be up, but not overly so. When Makai didn't poop at all two days later, I was getting concerned. When he threw up his breakfast at dinner time on Thursday, I knew something was really wrong. That food should have been long out of throw-up range.

So I called the vet first thing Friday morning and they got him in right away for an x-ray. Everyone came out to see him and wish him luck. It always feels nice that so many people there take time to say hello to him - they've been through a lot with us and he really loves them all - but their concern made me very nervous. They knew what type of road we were about to head down.

The x-ray showed a very, very large stomach, full of food that hadn't been able to get through, and a big object in there with kind of a grid pattern on it - the corn cob chunk. It was essentially acting as a floating plug, blocking all his food from being digested. The good news was that it was still in his stomach. If it was in his intestines it would mean really gnarly surgery. With it in the stomach there was a chance it could just be pulled out.

So we were referred to an emergency clinic in north Seattle that had an Internalist ready to see him right away. We got there and the doctor gave me the scoop: Shmoops would have to be put under for an endoscopy, and she was going to try and grab the cob and pull it back up the way it went in. She was confident she could grab it, but prepared me that surgery was a very real possibility if she couldn't snag it quickly. I had to sign a form that gave them permission to do CPR should something go wrong. Heart breaking.

I sat in the waiting room for an hour, reading old magazines and trying to keep myself busy on Twitter until my phone died. While I was waiting, a man and his daughter came in with her pet guinea pig in a box. They said it had eaten some wood chips and was breathing really slowly. The receptionist looked in the box and noticed the guinea pig wasn't breathing at all. A tech came out and had to confirm to the 9-year-old girl that her beloved pet, named Sonja, was dead. She and her dad cried, and I hid behind my Entertainment Weekly and quietly shed a few tears of my own.

Finally, Makai's doctor came out and told me that she had tried for 15 minutes to pull out the cob, but every time it would get to the esophagus, it would break off. She didn't say it, but immediately I knew that if I had brought him in two days ago, the cob would have been firmer and they probably could have gotten it. God damn it. She didn't want to keep trying and keep him under anesthesia longer than absolutely necessary, so he was being prepped for surgery, and I was devastated.

He's old. Anesthesia alone is risky, but recovering from this type of surgery has lots of risks as well. Not to mention my non existent stomach surgery fund.

I went home and waited for them to call me and let me know how it went. About two nervous hours later I got the call: they opened up his stomach and found about 10 pieces of corn cob, some cardboard, some pieces of wood, and lots of food. Jesus, buddy. After a night of observation I was able to pick him on Saturday afternoon.

He's got about 7 inches of stitches right up the middle of his belly (I'm going to do a post someday about sunblock and dogs - those dark marks are sun spots from his days in the California sunshine). He hurts. He's on pain medication, but it makes him confused and scared and he spends most of his time crying in a soft, high-pitched whine when he's awake. Snuggles on the couch seem to help him fall asleep, and he's more comfortable when he's sleeping.

He can't eat his regular diet for a couple of weeks, so I spent Saturday afternoon cooking simple, super pureed meals for him. Extra digestible for the stitched up tummy.

My fridge and freezer are stocked up with:

+ Turkey with Rice
+ Banana and Turkey with Rice
+ Broccoli, Apple and Chicken with Rice
+ Carrots and Turkey with Rice
+ Sweet Potato and Turkey with Rice (thanksgiving dinner!)

So for now, we just have to take it easy and make sure nothing goes wrong. If he starts vomiting, or gets diarrhea, or god forbid his wound opens, it's back to the ER we go. But he's one hell of a tough dog. He's been through just about everything a dog can, if any pup can make it, it's this one.

Cautiously optimistic...

Planter Shmanter: Weird Carrots, Etc.

2011-06-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well that ain't right!

I'm guessing maybe my soil was too compact? Or perhaps I grabbed the bag of radioactive compost by mistake? I'm leaving the others for another week or so, until the tops start to show at the surface of the soil, but I'm excited to see what kind of craziness they turn out to be.

(Late Edit: Turns out carrots like to grow straight when their soil is light and sandy. My soil is too rocky. Hmph!)

The rest of my garden is kicking ass! I was able to harvest a HUGE bowl of baby greens and got a couple of days of yummy salads out of them. Oh, and allow me to introduce you to my crazy huge potato plants...

Insanity! Those were just teeny tiny plants like a month ago. And that photo is a week old! I've since filled the pots up the rest of the way with soil and they've grown even more.

Oh how quickly this...

... turned into this!

It was delicious. :)

Planter Shmanter: Thank you sunshine!

2011-05-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

What a difference a few days of sunshine makes. Everything in the garden is growing so fast now that it's getting lighter and warmer. I think I definitely did a better job prepping my soil this year, and I am also not forgetting to water everything this time, so that helps. Yay growth!

I did plant my lettuces too close together, but they are still making lots of new leaves, and we'll be having salad in no time (if I stop snacking on them like a bunny every time I go outside). The carrot tops are all getting bigger and bigger. I haven't peeked to see what's going on under the soil on those guys yet, though. I don't want to jinx them.

My peas are really enjoying their stick stakes.

And this is my baby potato plant, growing insanely fast! And guess what? He's got friends!!

All six of my potato chunks are becoming plants! This is crazy. :)

Planter Shmanter: Smooth Sailing

2011-05-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

Delicious baby greens!

Carrots!

Funny new fuzzy sprout in the middle of all my carrot plants!

Sad looking dwarf sugar snap peas. So much for not needing to stake them. Luckily, the park by my house gets manicured frequently, and the clippings all get put in a nice tidy stick pile (they also have a compost pile for the P-Patch - love this park!).

I pilfered a few sticks.

MUCH happier.

Would you look at that?

That's my very first potato plant EVER, emerging from the soil. These are proud, proud moments for this un-attentive gardener.

Weekend Lovelies: Long Queen Anne Walk

2011-05-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

It was GORGEOUS out this weekend. I took Makai out on his longest walk in years, all the way to the West side of Queen Anne hill (I live on the East side).

This yard is about a block from my house. The owner works so hard on her garden, and it definitely pays off. This picture doesn't do it justice, there are SO many more tulips and other bulb flowers in all different shades, but I felt like a creeper taking pictures of her house.

We headed all the way over to Kerry Park. You can see Mt. Rainier back there in the distance! Again, GORGEOUS day.

Next to the park, there is a row of dead maple trees that run in front of a couple of houses. They all have these removal notices on them:

"Tree is dead - possibly poisoned for view." Isn't that sad?? I love that the City put that on the notice though, and I'm glad they are going to be replaced. I understand wanting a better view, but you live RIGHT NEXT TO KERRY PARK. Walk the 20 feet and be a better member of your community, please.

Ugh, sad. Aside from the jerk tree poisoners, I really love this area of Queen Anne and don't get over here enough. It reminds me of the Fabulous 40s back home in Sacramento. Huge trees, fancy houses, snobby joggers. It's all lovely.

This is the view from Marshall Park. I had about 10 different shots from here, and this is actually the worst photo of them all, but this one had something very special smack dab in the middle that I didn't even see until I had it up on my computer. Do you see it??

Yep, that's a bald eagle doing some fishing!

All in all, a lovely day. I think we walked a little over 5 miles. Makai did pretty good, slowed down a bit at the end, but I did too so I won't judge him. :)

DIY Creme Eggs!

2011-04-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

This past Easter Sunday, I thought I'd take a stab at making everyone's favorite egg-born-from-a-bunny treat from scratch.

They are shockingly not that difficult to make. I used a combination of a couple different recipes I found online (from Not Without Salt and Instructables).

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup (or Lyle’s Golden Syrup if you prefer)
1/4 Cup Butter - Softened
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
3 Cups Powdered Sugar (this was one box for me)
Yellow Food Coloring
1 bag chocolate chips (Milk or Dark - your choice)

With a mixer (I used my hand mixer, which was hilarious) combine syrup, butter, vanilla and salt. Slowly add powdered sugar until everything is silky smooth. This mix gets thick. My hand mixer almost whirled right out of my hand a few times.

Separate about 1/3 of the mix out, and add yellow food coloring until you get that dreamy yellow yolk color. I think next time I will add a couple of drops of red. Cadbury Creme Eggs are almost orange in the middle, after all.

Cover the mixes and put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes. When the mix is firm, work with the yellow first and get those yolks shaped.

I used a teaspoon to scoop out the mixture and then rolled it into a ball in my hands. Put the mix back in the freezer when it starts to get to sticky to work with. It happens quickly, I think I was able to get about 5 done at a time.

Next up is the whites. Make these a little larger than the yolks.

Working one egg at a time, roll the whites into a ball in my hands, flatten it a smidge, then push a dimple into it with your thumb.

Stick a yolk in the middle, and bend the whites up around the sides.

It's an egg!

Seriously, in and out of the freezer about a zillion times.

Awww, babies.

Finally get to use the double boiler my sister got me for Christmas!

It worked like a dream. Soooo much better than the microwave, where you have to heat in short intervals, stir, and then keep on reheating as you work.

One at a time, grab an egg from the freezer, and use a toothpick to dip the egg in the chocolate. Stick the other end of the toothpick into something (I had a couple of lemons laying around that were good egg holders), and put them in the fridge while the chocolate sets up.

Yay!! Word to the wise, these are sweeeeet. Too sweet, even. If I make them again, I'm going to halve the syrup, and probably use some real sugar instead. Or maybe ditch the syrup all together. They were fun to do though, and I'm glad I tried it out.

The RE Store

2011-04-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day! In honor of recycling, redusing, reusing, I present to you: The RE Store!

If you live in Seattle then chances are you've been to, or have at least heard of this wonderful place. It's heaven. Located just north of the Ballard Bridge, it's a is a gem of a store serving a great purpose:

"The RE Store was founded in 1993 by the non-profit organization RE Sources for Sustainable Communities to address the growing problem of wasteful disposal of usable building materials, most of which were buried in the local landfill."

When houses or buildings are torn down or renovated, sometimes the reusable pieces of it get donated here to be sold and reused, rather than winding up in the dump. Just little pieces of history, getting a second lease on life, so to speak.

How sweet is this fixture? This was my favorite thing I came across, and I kept walking back to it over and over just to stare at it. How I wish I owned my home and had a light that needed replacing. You know, if it's still there the next time I go in, I just might snatch it up anyway and hoard it until I can put it to good use.

There is so much fun stuff to explore; about a zillion light fixtures line the front room, there are oodles of old doorknobs and light switch plates, an entire warehouse of reclaimed doors and windows, bathroom fixtures, old maps, boxes of tile, hard wood flooring, on and on and on.

They have tons of hand-painted signage throughout the store. Just so charming and personal and fun, and actually made me stop to look at things I might have passed by otherwise. I tried to think of a way I could put one of these Seattle Metro bus fare boxes to use, but I couldn't come up with anything.

A row of old school desks. Complete with chewed gum!

I don't know how old these tiles actually are. They look like they were recently a glazing experiment for someone. They were a buck a piece, and I loved the colors, so I am going to add some felt to the bottom of them and use them as coasters!

This heege cash register was the size of a piano.

The sign says "Iz bath, man." I've never seen one like that before, but I thought it was super cute and different.

I grabbed this old soap tray and am thinking of pasting a picture to the front and using it as a frame. It stands up so nicely on its side.

They have shelves of hardwood flooring in the warhouse. All different kinds of wood, different lengths. Again, wishing I had a house that needed renovating

So if you're ever in the area and are looking for something to spruce up your house, or even just spark some ideas, The RE Store is definitely worth swinging by. The staff is awesome, the pieces are unique, and it's a real good time.

Weekend Lovelies: Spring already, would ya?

2011-04-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Oh Spring. Why must you tease us so? It looks a lot like you have arrived, the flowers, the bits of sunshine... but mid 40s during the day? Hurry it up already! I'm freezing!

Anyway, despite the cold we bundled up and took a little stroll around Queen Anne this weekend to enjoy the blossoms that are popping up here and there. I spent about 10 minutes standing underneath these cherry (?) trees just staring up at the flowers. The pictures don't do them justice, it was like cotton candy heaven!

Love this silent statement from a concerned citizen. Anti-smoking? Anti-littering? Pro-office supplies? :)

Etsy Roundup: Nouveau / Deco Vases

2011-04-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

I've always been a sucker for vintage ceramic vessels. Vases, pitchers, bowls, anything that still has a usable function, but also comes with a bit of history. I especially love anything that has more of an organic shape, inspired by plants and flowers and other forms in nature. I thought I'd do a little Etsy hunt and see what interesting pieces I could find, and I found TONS!

Technically most of these are Art Nouveau, but they are all labeled as Deco in their descriptions, something to keep in mind should you ever be hunting in the wild on your own. Maybe Nouveau is just too hard to spell - I had to look it up twice! :)

Anyway, here are a few of the nicer ones I found. I have to try to resist the urge to splurge, as I just bought myself that West Elm owl lamp I had been drooling over. It will be a challenge... (Images link back to their Etsy pages)

Love them all!!

Rainy Night Photo Sesh

2011-04-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

We took Makai out on some late-night, slightly drizzly walks last week, and took a stab at some low-light nighttime shots along the way with the 50mm lens.

Planter Shmanter: And we're off!

2011-04-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

It has begun! I finally picked up some starter plants for a few types of veggies for the Planter Shmanter project. I've decided to keep it simple this year and just do carrots, lettuce, snow peas, and potatoes (my first time trying taters!).

I'll be honest, I have some serious irrational guilt about not starting my garden from my own seedlings this year. It feels like cheating, but I just don't have the time.

Anyway here's where things stand...

I went with a dwarf snow pea this year. I heard on our local NPR station that you don't need to worry about any trellising with the dwarf varieties, but if they start looking like a mess I can always add some string like I did last year.

Notice anything funny in the foreground up there?

I'm really excited about the potatoes! We'll see how they do, I still don't get a ton of sun exposure on my balcony, maybe they'll just be a bit on the tiny side. But look! My crappy wood grain planters from The Luffa Project have found a second life!

West Elm Kitchen

2011-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

West Elm unveiled their new kitchen collection a couple of weeks ago. Have you checked it out yet? There's some cuuuute stuff, let's take a peek!

Owlie measuring cups! $19.00 for the set.

Delightful persimmon-colored rectangular tins. $9.00 - $16.00

You know I love me some good looking bowls. On sale for $6.00 each (already bought some!).

Owl butter dish. $16.00

Little modern birdie bottle opener. I'd get it if I didn't already have a slightly different one. $8.50

I love these bright metal colanders. $12.00 - $19.00

Such a patient model.

2011-04-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

Tyra would be proud.

Ranunculus

2011-04-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

Trader Joes had bunches of ranunculus for $3.99 last week. They are such a happy looking flower. Their stems are all twisty and the leaves look like weeds, a perfect combo for a fresh-picked wildflower looking arrangement.

Oh so happy!

Ugly Dog Toys: 101

2011-04-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, that isn't a very fair title, they didn't turn out all that bad. However, I hope in a year or so, I will be able to look back on these sewing adventures and notice a HUGE contrast in skill level. :) For now, let's just enjoy the journey.

Working off of this template I found on Laura Griffn's blog, my friend Michelle and I embarked on making some stuffed toys for our dogs. We started with the bone design provided in the template, it seemed like an easy enough shape to stitch for two novice sewers.

We grabbed the cutest, sturdiest, cheapest fabric we could find in the remnant bin at the fabric store. I think we spent around $7 for several yards of fabric.

Hey, not bad!

Oh, ignore that hiccup in my nice smooth line of stitches.

Ugh, my stuffing hole is REALLY small. Hmmm.

Kong makes replacement squeakers for dog toys, I found mine at PetSmart for $1.99 per pack (both large and small sizes).

I got the bone turned inside out, stuffed with polyfill, and added a small squeaker to the middle.

Okay, they aren't THAT bad after all. Let's try a different shape! Enter the gingerbread man...

Do his legs look a little skinny?

U-turns are really hard to do on a sewing machine when you don't know how to sew.

Club foot!

Oh my god.

OH MY GOD.

Sweet Jesus. They are wearing skinny jeans. And have really buff arms.

I like the rough edge Michelle left on hers for the hair. Inventive!

I had some leftover bits so I made an extra little heart toy.

Hmmm.

Not impressed.

Oh come on!

2011-03-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

At least he didn't eat any of the sharp metal knifey things. Good boy.

The wax paper and the zip lock bags were salvageable. But look at that sad saran wrap. So disappointed.

Planter Shmanter: Peawhats?

2011-03-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on my planting plan for this year, which is not at all surprising. I wanted to at least get my dirt prepped over the weekend so that when I actually get my act together and am ready to plant some goodies I'll be ready.

It's such a SAD planter box.

I started with removing most of the dead plants and a couple of inches of the old, grey looking dirt from the planter box. While I was digging out some more old shriveled up carrots, I found a mystery treasure...

Now how did a whole peanut get buried in my planter box?

Wait seriously? Two peanuts?

Hilarious. I'll just chalk it up to a sneaky squirrel (who took the elevator up to my hard-to-access balcony?) and add it to the pile of dead stuff pulled from the dirt.

Moments later, I look down at where the pile used to be... and see only some sprinkles of dirt and a patch of wet concrete. The pile of dead plants, shriveled carrots and two rotting peanuts: EATEN. The prime suspect: Shmoops.

Notice the wilted pea vine hanging off the front of his nose (click to enlarge and see the little curly q!). The evidence is staggering.

Anyway, after getting all the junk out of the planter box, I poured in some fresh soil and mixed it in, then added a bag of compost to the top and dug that in a few inches as well.

So much better! I'm ready!

More days like this, please.

2011-03-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

This day really happened. How fake does that sky look??

I had a couple hours worth of reading for a personal side project I'm starting, and since it was actually sunny outside (and kind of warm!), I took my books and my iPod to a park near my house to enjoy the day.

I sat on that bench, listened to some Theresa Andersson...

...and stared at this view instead of reading my books. It was JUST. SO. NICE. OUT.

There were storms rolling in all around the city, but we caught a break and had sunshine all day.

I wish I would have taken more pictures since the light was so great, but I was enjoying myself too much to care. :)

Weekend Lovelies: Whidbey Island

2011-03-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Spring is coming!

Last weekend we took advantage of the sunny weather and went with some friends to Whidbey Island. We stayed at The Inn at Langley, it was AMAZING. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the inn itself, it was just heaven. All wood and metal and perfect.

That's the view off our patio.

I know, right?!

Just a couple doors down from our hotel, was a fantastic shop called Music for the Eyes. A funny little name for a store full of really amazing things. The owner was the nicest woman ever.

I'm usually pretty wary of rug shops, but this one was different. Lots of little trinkets, old and new, expensive and affordable, from all corners of the world.

My favorite pieces were these Moroccan Berber rugs. They all had an amount of wear to them already (which I love), and their designs were all unique. Each one had an asymmetric pattern and not a single straight edge. They just screamed handmade. Gorgeous. I regret not buying one.

Saw these little book planter boxes in the back parking lot of another store. Cute.

We went out and explored the beach during low tide. The sand was tricky. It was veeeery jell-o like, and if you stood on it for too long you'd start to sink.

That is only half the length of those sticks. So deep!

One last view from our room. Ahhh, so nice. Can't wait to go back.

My Sketchy Dog

2011-03-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

Lovely drawing by Stokes. Somehow he managed to make him look less stinky, while still capturing his essence. :) Can't wait to get a print made.

Drawn with Sketch Club, an iPad app our buddy Jim wrote. It's only $2.00, you should try it out if you have an iPhone or iPad!

Milk Glass Part Two

2011-03-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

I got one!

Well actually, I got FOUR of the milk glass pieces I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, but this one is my favorite out of all of them. Little birdie bottle opener approves.

I also wanted to mention the thoughtful shipping/handling the seller at Claire's Fair Vintage used. Not only did she wrap the vase beautifully, but she included a handwritten thank you card letting me know where she originally obtained the vase (an estate sale in AZ).

My favorite part was the addition of a great printed piece of paper underneath the shipping label. It made it look extra special on my doorstep, and I will be borrowing this idea should I ever get my Etsy shop back up and running.

I love the thoughtful little details!

Jill Bliss Illustrations

2011-03-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

There's a lovely store up on the top of Queen Anne called Eat Local, that sells great local products. They have locally grown produce and baked snacks, a freezer section of pre-made meals made from local ingredients, and the best ice cream I've ever eaten in my life (we're talking the just milk-sugar-salt kind). It's truly a great store!

But my favorite treasure they sell? Prints from local artists!

I came across a stack of prints from Portland artist Jill Bliss. They were mostly floral, printed with just two or three ink colors, and they all had very different vibes. I was going through the stack and thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be great if she had a California Poppy print to remind me of back home?"

BAM! The very next one in the stack: California Poppies. I shit you not, it really happened like that. Just one of those amazing, unexplainable, stars aligning kind of moments.

This picture doesn't do the color justice. It's really rich and gorgeous and HAPPY.

Look at the cute little tag she includes in her prints. Even tells you what IKEA frame it will fit into! A girl after my own cheap-framing heart.

Her portfolio is full of all kinds of inspiring pieces. Her illustrations remind me of those old horticulture books full of hand-drawn plant diagrams. Take a look if you have a few minutes...

She makes a ton of products from her artwork. Journals, note cards, wallets, FABRIC! She makes FABRIC! You can order things from her website, or her Etsy shop. She's got a cool blog, too...

Hoodie and the Blowfish

2011-03-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

There are no blowfish in the post, but it was a suggested title and I approve. This is about hoodies!

As you have likely seen in many pictures, Shmoops has an extensive wardrobe. I SWEAR it's not just for looks. He is an extremely itchy dog, allergic to several different environmental factors out of my control (like 4 different molds and basically all the pollens on the planet). The sweatshirts do three things:

1) Keep his bony butt warm in the winter. Nothing sadder than a shivering pitbull.
2) Help protect his skin from those pesky airborne allergens.
3) Help protect his skin from his MONSTER raptor claws.

Most of his sweaters get massive holes scratched in them within a few wearings, so I can either patch the them till the cows come home, or realize that yes, time IS in fact money, and find affordable replacements.

As I've mentioned in the past, Old Navy is usually my go-to source, but their Dog Supply section has gone MIA again this year. So I've decided to turn to my old pal Etsy! There is a lovely variety of homemade, hand-crafted dog hoodies available, and it ALWAYS feels better to support the little guy. Even if it costs a few extra bucks. Suck it, Old Navy.

Here are just a few that piqued my interest (pics link back to each Esty shop):

Above, both only $16!

The above sweater is not for sale, but rather the PATTERN to make it yourself is. We might be onto something. $5.

Oh for Pete's sake, adorable. $17.50.

$18. It comes in large and is made from second-hand fabrics. We might have a winner!

If I had a claw-foot tub...

2011-03-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

If I had my dream bathroom, with light walls, minimal knickknacks and a claw-foot tub, I would by this bathtub caddy from Terrain.

But I live in an apartment, where my dog and I (and who knows how many people before us) share the same showering space, and I will likely never lay down in my tub for a bath no matter how much I've scrubbed it.

It's made from reclaimed wood from an old 19th century hardware store in Philly. Just my cup of tea! I love it.

Operation Dream Patio

2011-03-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted a patio that has a vibe like this. Something that feels like it has a little history, some greenery, definitely some wood elements, and of course globe string lights. So, I've decided to start Operation Dream Patio!

If anyone watches the show Parenthood, the backyard at the grandparents' house is literally from my dreams. It's so perfectly perfect. Great job, set designers.

I figured the best thing to begin with was the lights, for instant gratification and happiness. I picked up a string of medium-sized globe lights at Target for 13 bucks.

Once again my building's concrete construction is proving to be a bit of an obstacle. Enter the removable sticky hook!

I thought the openings were a little wide for holding just a chord that is swinging in the wind... Fixed!

It was one of those 18 degree days when I put up all the hooks, and that's not really a glove-friendly task. I'd stand there, on my chair, two flights up, pressing down on the hook for 60 seconds per the instructions, then run inside and put my hands under the dog until I could feel them again.

Voila!

I still might change up how they are hanging, they are more Christmas-y and less swoopy right now. I think I'll probably wind up zig zagging them across the ceiling in the end. Which takes more length... which means I need another strand of lights!

Next up: Furniture? A wood faux wall (not to be confused with a faux wood wall)? Plants that are not part of the Planter Shmanter project? Hmmmm.

Weekend Lovelies / Antique Adventures

2011-03-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to the Portland area with some friends this weekend for a little R&R, great food, and a wee bit o shopping (the point of the trip was also to stop by the animal shelter our friend's sister has been volunteering at, but that is deserving of its own post).

On our way into the city on Saturday, we stopped off at an antique mall NE Portland. It was great! A really good variety of truly original treasures, and very little... crap? I was able to pick up a couple of reasonably priced goodies (like that working vintage alarm clock above for 10 bucks!) and snapped a few pictures as we browsed up and down the isles.

Cute little Kewpies!

My friend Michelle picked up this lovely framed piece.

This is actually a ceiling fixture that has been re-purposed as a table lamp. Fantastic.

We also found a little friend sitting atop a chair with a dust bunny stuck to her butt. I escorted her to the garden section and found her a nice green plant to hang out in.

Luckily I didn't see a ton of milk glass to tempt me... I ordered FOUR from sellers on Etsy on Thursday!

Charmaine Olivia

2011-03-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

I came across Charmaine Olivia from a link to a link to a link on an image I saw on Pinterest. See how that works? :)

She's an artist from San Fransisco, and has some really lovely illustrations. As I've mentioned before, I love a good piece of silhouette art, and I think there's something extra whimsical and lovely about her paintings that set them apart from the others I've seen.

Her prints are very reasonably priced - I bought the one above for $30. I can't wait to frame it and get it up on my wall! She's got some other nice pieces available on her Etsy page as well.

Be sure to check out her blog and sneak a peek at some of her new pieces and working processes.

Milk Glass

2011-03-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love milk glass? It reminds me of my aunt and uncle's house I use to go to all the time as a kid, full of awesome vintage treasures and antique furniture, camellias growing in the shade in the the backyard, the smell of fresh ground coffee filling the kitchen, PB&J with natural PB and nutty bread for lunch, and that warm, dappled Sacramento sunshine streaming in through the open windows... I digress.

One of my sister's friends collected milk glass vases for a while and had a different one at every table at her wedding. Such a lovely idea!

There a lot of inexpensive vintage milk glass items available on Etsy. Here are just a few of my favorites that are listed now (or will be until I buy them all!).

It's garden time!

2011-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year! Or so I've heard. I didn't start my garden last year until I could stand outside without shivering, but I'm going to try and do it right this year and get a bit of a jump on things. I don't know what I'm going to grow yet, but I'd like to mix in some flowers between my edibles. You know, for looks. Last year's effort was called "The Veggie Venture," I think this year's project will be "Planter Shmanter!"

First things first, I need to prep the box by getting the old plants and some of the old soil out, and adding some fresh veggie blend soil and a bit of compost. I'm going to fill the planter box up to the tippy top with dirt this year, so the plants will get that much more sunlight (thank you gardening extraordinaire Amy Pennington for the tip!).

My planter is in a bit of a sad state after I abandoned last year's "crops." Those used to be my glorious peas!

Wait a minute... is that... what is that??

Noooooo. It couldn't be! It's been snowing and like hovering around 18 degrees for what seems like an eternity...

Holy crap.

Wait. What?

Okay, let's just dig around a little more...

No way!

Ahhhhh!

What kind of mother am I?? If I had just paid a little more attention, think of how they could have grown! They could have gone to college! Oh the shame!

Alright then. Perhaps this year I won't throw in the towel so quickly. I'd like to plan out a few different rounds of harvesting, so I'm going to whip out my Maritime Northwest Garden Guide my friend Ada gave me last year, and am going to make a staggered planting schedule on a (gasp!) calendar. This way I can grow a bunch of different things and have a garden going all year until the next freeze. I'm excited!

And regarding the contition of my hands... I repeat: 18 degrees!! It's been brutal.

2011-03-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to Pinterest by my friend Caroline, and it's JUST the greatest thing ever. The description on the site sums it up pretty nicely:

"Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste."

Um, HELLO? This is truly the best thing I've ever heard. For years I've been bookmarking my favorite things - inspiration, dream house ideas, cute crafty project ideas - into little folders in my little bookmark tab in my little browser. My bookmarks have traveled with me through 3 different computers. It's serious.

Well I must not have been the only person who works this way, because someone created Pinterest, and I feel like it was created just for ME!

Now, instead of folders, I have Boards, and instead of bookmarks I have Pins! I see something I love on whatever site I'm on, I hit my "Pin It" button, and it gets added to my collection and shared with my friends. And it references the original sites you pin everything from, so it's the best kind of sharing.

My favorite part is getting to browse other people's boards. You can follow people you know, or people you don't know but who have a similar style as yours.

Doesn't it sound fun? Come play with me! My boards can be found at pinterest.com/thesassypickle. I add more to them everyday. Happy pinning!

UPDATE: You need an invitation to join (so exclusive!), so drop me a line here or email me and I'll get one out to you!

Yellow Pellow

2011-02-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

I saw this pillow a couple of weeks ago at Target, and fell in love. I carried it around with me for about 20 minutes while I looked for things I was actually there to buy, and ultimately decided $25 was too much to spend on something that is just going to smell like my dog in about 1.5 seconds.

Before putting it back though, I spent a little time examining the rosettes on the front, and thought it might be fun to try and make something like this instead. I would definitely need some sort of tutorial or guidance... Well wouldn't you know it, I'm NOT the first person to have this idea!

Danielle over at I Create It made a killer, super detailed tutorial on how to make this exact pillow!

(This is not me!)

I can't wait to try it! For more on how to make this crazy cute pillow, and tons of other tutorials and project ideas, you should definitely check out her blog... i-create-it.blogspot.com

Have you SEEN this digital ZINE?

2011-02-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

Bless you, Rue Magazine, for coming into my life.

If you haven't heard of it yet, Rue is a great little online design mag that covers basically everything I want to read about and oogle at on a daily basis.

While a part of me wishes it had a print counterpart (it's laid out so nicely!), the upside of having a digital magazine is LINKS TO PRODUCTS! No more folding down pages and forgetting to ever pick it up again to look up the stuff you love.

They are currently on Issue Three, but have their first two issues available on their site as well.

Annnnd there's an iPad version! Worth a look!

200th Post / Weekend Lovelies

2011-02-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

I didn't realize it until a few minutes ago, but this post marks The Sassy Pickle's 200th entry! I want to thank the four of you who still stop by now and then. :) Knowing there are still a few people reading makes it worth while and fun! I have a bunch of crafty projects planned for the spring, and I can't wait to get to them and share them. So thank you, and here's to 200 more!

Now on to your regularly scheduled post...

Sunday was the first sunny, non-windy weekend day we've had this year, so I took Makai out on a neighborhood stroll to snap some pictures. I had planned on going to this awesome and super old abandoned school nearby to take some pictures of the old architecture, but it's all fenced off and there are bulldozers inside - the sight of which made me nervous and sad. I'm serious, if they tear this sucker down I'm going to make a stink. I don't know to who (whom?), but I'll figure it out.

Anyway, nothing too spectacular, just some fun colors and hints of spring coming our way.

What happened to this tree?? I'm going to say it was lightning and I'm sticking to it. Also, it looks like it has an angry face.

Tons of sailboats out today. A few minutes after this they all lined up and started cruising around a set of buoys like they were racing. Maybe they were? Also, Gasworks Park back there on that grassy knoll.

A gorgeous day, a nice little walk. Shmoops wasn't feeling very camera friendly though, maybe when it warms up he'll cheer up a bit. Oh, and a bird pooped on me and missed my camera by mere inches on the way home. Happy spring everyone!

Turn on Your Arc Light

2011-02-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

There's just something cold and lonely about a poorly lit room. I don't have any overhead lighting in my living room and I HATE it. My building has old, concrete construction, so installing or even hanging something from the ceiling isn't an option.

Enter: the floor lamp.

I'm not typically a fan of floor lamps. Those black ones everyone had in the 90s with halogen bulbs put a dark mark on the reputation of the floor lamp for me. BUT, I've been quietly drooling over this one from CB2 for about a year.

So clean and friendly looking, and it would bring a nice crisp design element into my mishmash of boho-artsy-whimsy apartment decor. And it's BIG. I want BIG, warm, happy light to fill my living room.

That's not my apartment. The lamp is cute, right? At $200 though, it seems like a lot to spend on a floor lamp.

Well, Target has something... similar?

Eeeeehhhh. It's close, but I'm not sold. I've only seen it in this picture (which isn't doing it any favors), but it looks a bit flimsy and short. At $70 the price tag sure looks a lot better though...

Choices choices.

These lamps are a hoot!

2011-02-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

Har har. I was looking for something entirely not related to an owl lamp today, but ain't that the fun/terrible part of window shopping? The gazillions of other things you convince yourself you have to have!

I saw this guy at West Elm.

Here he is in a cute room! I just love it. It's $100 dollars though, and for a kitschy owl lamp that's a bit steep. However...

Here's something similar Target is selling for $40. Not quite the same, but cute! That shade is no bueno, but that's an easy fix.

Oh decisions...

Now what was I looking for in the first place?

DIY Jewelry Rack

2011-02-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

How cute is this? My friend Kelly was tired of having piles of jewelery everywhere (as I think most girls are), so she decided to take matters into her own crafty little hands.

"I got a pegboard and the peg hooks from Home Depot. They have all different sizes and types. They also had the baskets which was a last minute grab. I went to Jo-Ann's, picked out my fabric and ribbon and went for it. You only need a staple gun, something sharp (I used a blade) to poke clean holes through, four screws and a drill (to hang it up)."

I love it! So organized! As I type this post I'm sitting mere feet away from 4 pairs of earrings, one chunky bracelet, and two necklaces sitting on the counter in my kitchen. That's one of 4 areas in my apartment where my jewels get piled. I'm definitely going to have to make my own one of these, STAT.

Found My Animal

2011-01-27T22:20:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a new leash and collar for Shmoops, and came across a little online store today called Found My Animal. I went in the back door, following a link to their recycled rope leads, and was pleasantly surprised to find out they were more than just a little old pet store.

Their tag line: "Accessories for adopted pets and their people."

Their mission statement: "It is FOUND MY ANIMAL's goal to help raise public awareness of the urgent need for animal adoption. Help us spread the word and encourage people to adopt animals."

They donate 25% of their profits to the Louis Animal Foundation, inspired to do so by the founder's adoption of her own dog, Walter, from that foundation. If you visit the store's gallery there is a collection of people's pet adoption stories! I particularly liked seeing the large amount of happy, adopted pitties. So many good things going on here!

So, if you're looking for some new green doggie accessories and want to throw a nice foundation a bone (har), might be worth a look-see. Myself, I think I'll be picking up this lead...

Also, they sell chocolate... :)

DIY Camera Bag

2011-01-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

You can't very well carry a nice camera around without a proper bag. I really wanted to find one that didn't shout, "Hey guys! Expensive camera equipment in here!" Unfortunately, the options I found were either one or all of the following: ugly, bulky, WAY expensive. Not having it!

Inspired by this camera bag hack kit article, I decided to find a cute, durable, inexpensive bag and make some cushioned inserts for it. Tibuk2 actually had a perfect one on sale for $35 (now it's $29, dammit!).

I ordered that bag online, then I picked up some 1/2 inch foam, and some SUPER CUTE LARGE PRINT fabric at Jo-Ann's.

I couldn't choose between these two prints, so I got a yard of each - both 50% off. Figure I could put the other one to use somewhere else fun. The lady at the counter threw me a bone and scanned a coupon that gave me 40% off one non-sale item (the foam!). I got out of there spending about $13.

I made up a rough plan (it's how I roll), and jumped right in. The basic idea was to make a long pillow-ish sleeve that would be stuffed with 3 separate pieces of foam, and would fit in the bag like a capital U when folded. Then make 2 smaller end pieces to attach to the U to make it more of a box, and make 2 dividers pieces.

There were a few mishaps, one minor self loathing meltdown, some seams that required ripping and resewing, endless crooked stitches, hours longer than I anticipated, but in the end...

... I don't hate it! In fact, I'm totally happy with it. When it's closed it looks just like a normal little messenger bag, and both lenses and the body have their own cushy spaces. Plus, it has so many little zippers and pockets built in that I can totally stash my license, cell and ATM card in it and forgo the purse when I take it out.

Success!

I'm sooooo sewing.

2011-01-18T02:55:00.001-08:00

This weekend I FINALLY busted out the sewing machine my sister gave me a few years ago and taught myself how to work that sucker. I haven't touched a sewing machine since home-ec in 7th grade when I made some hideous little blue and white pillows shaped like my initials. Lumpy, bubble letter initials.

Yep, feeding thread all over the place. This machine has a scary compartment for the bobbin that I've never seen before, and I accidentally took most of it apart before realizing I was doing it wrong. Thank you, cute British gal with the how-to on YouTube!

Also, after receiving a tip from my friend Michelle, I'm happy to report that Jo-Ann's finally got the memo that large-print fabrics are IN. The little neighborhood fabric store I usually go to was closed for the night, and I was doubtful I'd find anything Amy Butler-esque at Jo-Ann's. Surprise, surprise!

More on what I actually made later. :)

Toys in the Dark

2011-01-13T02:43:00.000-08:00

I wanted to play around with some low-light shots, and as I was crawling around the apartment on my hands and knees trying to find little things to take pictures of (that would sit still), I noticed there were dog babies about every 5 feet. Those will do!

Note: there was almost no light in most of these shots. We're talking dark, one little lamp on. Insane, right?

I spy an unamused old dog. Funny guy. Go back to sleep.

I escaped the naughty list.

2011-01-10T22:23:00.000-08:00

For years I've been pushing this little guy to do things he wasn't meant to do. It's been frustrating for us both, I'm sure.

Well now he can rest easy, I got a wonderful and RIDICULOUSLY generous gift for Christmas this year...

This Camera (or some version of it) has been sitting in an online shopping cart of mine for, ooooh, 2 years. Somehow Santa caught wind! (I'm sure it had nothing to do with my occasional whining about my cheap little snapshot camera or my drooling over these anytime I saw one in the wild.)

I am so so so grateful, and I can't wait to put this amazing gift to lots and LOTS of use!

(The old baby took the pictures of the new baby, and vice versa.)

Candy Time

2011-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I started mentally preparing for what was coming down the pike... making Grandma's Christmas candies. Every year, along with a cute little grandma style gift (you know the kind I'm talking about), she sends each household a tub of Chex Mix and a batch of her homemade candies. She had expressed an interest in passing the baton, and it was time to take on the tradition. It's just not Christmas without them.

So a couple of weeks before Christmas, my sister and I powwowed over the ingredients, and decided which candies would be the best ones to attempt our first time out. We whittled it down to Peanut Clusters (both milk and dark chocolate), Honeycomb, Bordeaux, and English Toffee.

First off, let me start by saying G'ma Dot is a badass. She sends this stuff out to at least 10 households, and I only made enough for 4 (small batches at that) and was on my feet for 12 hours. Literally did not sit down once. And I didn't even finish in one night! I'm sure there was a learning curve contributing to my candy making speed, but still, hats off to the crackerjack secretary.

A small fraction of the supplies:

Yes, that's corn syrup, both light and dark. Can't mess with the recipes! Not shown, cups and cups and cups of sugar.

First up, the Honeycomb. This was like a science experiment! There's only about a half inch of liquid in the pot while it's cooking. The recipe has vinegar in it, and when you add a little baking soda to the mix at the very end - FFFFFFOOOOOOOOOM! It like quintuples in size. Very exciting, but it's also like 300 degrees while you're pouring it, so this isn't something you want to screw up.

It cools rock hard, then you break it up into bite-sized pieces and coat in chocolate. They taste like cooked marshmallows. Or in my case, slightly burnt marshmallows. I think I went just a minute too long on the heat.

They don't look super appetizing here (nothing in melted chocolate does), but they taste gooooooood.

Next up was the English Toffee. This was pretty easy, even though it took me two tries. I - again - cooked the mixture just a minute too long, but it was easy enough to whip another batch together (there are like 3 ingredients). I think this one turned out tasting the most like Grandma's to me.

Next up, Bordeaux. This was the one I was the most intimidated by. It was the most time consuming, but it wasn't all that scary in the end.

I think I - shocking! - cooked this one a minute too long as well. But this candy needed to heat up to Soft Ball (the others were Hard or Soft Crack), so it didn't burn, just got a little too hard and crumbled a bit when it was time to cut it into pieces. Nothing a little smooshing together didn't fix.

I didn't have a double boiler to melt the chocolate, so I heated it slowly in the microwave and kept stirring as I dipped. It kept it's heat pretty nicely, but the chocolate was always pretty thick. (I did get a double boiler from my sister for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to trying it again with really warm chocolate!)

The end of Grandma's instructions said, "Add a few sprinkles while they are still wet. Make them look elegant!" I tried...

Next up, peanut clusters. So easy and simple. Just peanuts and chocolate. Yum yum yum!

Last, but not least, the Chex Mix. Recipe right off the box, but she uses Spanish peanuts (they have the skin on them) and pretzel sticks.

Ahhhh. The end! I'm exhausted! :)

Pummelvision

2010-12-08T10:41:00.001-08:00

These are fun! Pummelvision takes images from either your Facebook page or your Flickr stream, and makes a fun zippy little slide show. I can't tell which one I like more though...

A is for Ackbar

2010-12-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

And also for adorable. When Brandon Peat and his wife Emma found out they were pregnant, the two artists decided to illustrate a Star Wars-themed alphabet to decorate the baby's room. They've also set up a college fund for their baby, and if you donate $15 to baby Tycho's educational future, you get a free copy of the alphabet in book-form as a thank you. Win win!

They are all so great! See the rest here.

NOTE: it looks like they've reached their donation goal (amazing!), and aren't taking any more donations after tonight.

It's official!

2010-10-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

I'm on the waiting list for two different P-Patches in my hood. Buuuuuuut, the wait list is long. The official word is "it will take a while" to get my plot, but I've heard it can take 3-4 years. So there's that.

Regardless, it feels nice to be official. I really like their cute little green stamp.

Also, I've gone back to hookin'. Crochet joke, Dad.

The Veggie Venture: Big Honkin Update

2010-09-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

After a busy summer of slightly-neglectful gardening, I actually managed to produce some crops! From seeds! The broccoli never had a chance, and I think I lost all my green beans, but I had some nice luck with lettuce, peas, and carrots.

Young bibb lettuce (mid June):

Yummy grown bibb lettuce (early July):

Young sugar snap peas, starting to flower (mid June):

Sugar snap pea blossom:

Yum! Peas! These were reeeeeally yummy while they were young. They got a little bitter a couple weeks after this (early July):

Young carrot plants (mid June):

Young carrot plants, a couple of weeks later:

Young carrot I peeked at too early (I couldn't help it!) while I was spacing the plants out to give them room to grow (mid July):

Yummy, albeit small, grown carrot (late August):

Overall, a MUCH better patio gardening experience than last year. I learned a lot about how much sun my plants were getting (not a ton, but enough), what types of plants did the best (climbing ones!), and what to avoid next time (not all seeds do better germinating inside - it took me three tries to get the carrots and lettuce into the ground). Next year I will definitely do carrots and lettuce again, and think I'll be tackling some small tomatoes.

I did have another run-in with aphids early in the summer, but I stuck it to em good this time around.

I tried to find something non-toxic that would actually work (I had some bad luck with the soap suds method last year). The main ingredient in this stuff is fish oil. It smelled fishy... but it only stayed on the plants for a few waterings, and that seemed to do the trick for the rest of the summer. Heinous packaging though. Good god.

I still would love to find a better solution for aphids than this stuff. Although it worked, I don't know where the fish oil in this product comes from. I'm certain there has to be a better, greener way. Suggestions welcome!

What I've Been Working On

2010-09-13T18:07:00.001-07:00

This summer has been bananas busy. Lots of work. Some side-project stuff, very few crafty projects (to my chagrin), but mostly WORK work stuff at my actual job. Luckily it's been fun and we're making some really cool stuff, and Guild Wars 2 is getting great feedback at the shows we've presented at.

So if you're curious, here's a little peek at what we've been working on in cinematics land (it's cute, watch it)...

The Uniform Project

2010-08-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

I love this little project. If only I was better at accessorizing...

Yo Blondie!

2010-08-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

My office is located in some serious wilderness, so there are always interesting critters to see roaming around outside. River otters, turtles, geese, the occasioanl coyote (!!!).

But the other day I came across something I have never ever seen before: a blonde mallard duck!

She was sitting with a bunch of her siblings, who were all a normal, young mallard brown. She definitely stood out. Maybe she's albino? Whatever she is, she waddled right up to me and sat down and let me take a bunch of pictures. Sweet friendly gal.

I hope her standing out so brightly doesn't mean she'll get made into lunch for one of the other hungry critters around the park.

She had a brother duck that stuck by her side when she came up to me, and his beak was a bit mangled. I will just pretend he got injured being a good big brother and he'll keep her safe for a while.

Hey sluggo!

2010-06-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

The slug I came across last year was slightly fatter, this one was waaaay longer.

It was in the same spot, could it be the same one? How long do slugs live? Am I the only one who finds slugs cute? I might be.

The Veggie Venture: Climbing Beans!

2010-06-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we've checked in on the Veggie Venture. The beans are growing like crazy! I wanted to make some sort of artsy structure for them to climb up, but effing a, I just don't have the time.

What I do have though? A crap ton of yarn!

Seems to be working!

Also, I think this is round three on the lettuce and the carrots. I finally stopped trying to germinate them indoors (the roots kept latching onto the paper towels and ripping when I'd try to plant them).

I finally just dumped a bunch of seeds in the dirt and said "Good luck! You're on your own!"

So far so good!

Oatally

2010-06-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

A problem I've had with Makai's raw food diet is it's TOO healthy, and it's tricky keeping him at his target weight. He gets plenty of sweet potatoes and yams for additional carbs, but that only goes so far. And you can't just add more fatty meats to his diet, because then he gets... un-pick-upable poops. So one suggestion they had at the AMAZING natural pet store I go to (All the Best Pets) is to try giving him a bit of a cooked whole grain, like oatmeal.

I was a little wary about trying it, because with his genuinely severe allergy issues I take what he eats very seriously. I want his diet to be made of things he might find out in the wild if he were scavenging and eating small prey. But who knows, maybe he could come across a garbage can with some leftover oatmeal in it and have a snack now and then.

Regardless, I'm approaching this with caution.

Also, I underestimated how much oatmeal expands when you cook it.

A few more from last weekend...

2010-04-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Just some extra pea plants and my trusty gardening buddy.

The Veggie Venture: DIY Planter Box

2010-04-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yeowza! Look at those plants! This weekend was all about getting the patio planter box built and getting these guys out of their plastic baby plant containers.

A problem I have with gardening (and most projects) is I'm a huge procrastinator. I should have planted these guys outside like 2 weeks ago, and because I kept putting it off the carrots and the lettuce seedlings DIED. I have to start those two over again, but the rest are ready for prime time. Moving on...

I was worried I'd have to call in some manly boyfriend reinforcements on this project, but I like being a pretty independent girl and really wanted to do it all myself. Aside from the initial Home Depot wood cuts, I did just that.

Done! The peas, snap peas, beans, and 2 pathetic looking broccoli seedlings are settling into their new digs. I left room for the new batch of carrots and lettuce plants, hopefully I don't blow it twice!

In the end, I would have used some vertical boards to hold all the frames together (instead of brackets), and I would have put it on wheels so I could actually move it around after it was filled up. It has about 6 cubic feet of soil/compost in it! SO. MUCH. DIRT. TO. DRAG. UP. TO. MY. APARTMENT. That bad boy ain't going anywhere for a while.

If You Build It / The Veggie Venture: Day 4

2010-04-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

My Veggie Venture seeds are growing fast (super fast!) and will need to be planted somewhere very soon. But it's become apparent that finding something to serve as a large planter that is cute, sturdy AND affordable... well it ain't happening.

So after a little brainstorming, and some nice "You can do it!" encouragement, I drew a rough plan of what I thought would work pretty well for my patio space.

I said ROUGH plan. It all makes sense in my head. Anyway, then it was off to Home Depot to buy some lumber.

The nice fellas at Home Depot will make several cuts for you for free, and if you're a girl and are polite, they'll make unlimited cuts for free. :)

It's not actually screwed together yet, but that won't take long. It'll look much more glamorous after it's got some veggies growing in it too!

Total cost of the wood planter I wanted to buy at the nursery: $125.
Total cost of wood and screws for my own home-made planter: $18.
Total cost of being a girl and takin' care of bizznass: PRICELESS.

The Veggie Venture: Day 3

2010-04-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

After just a couple of days of paper towel + ziplock baggie indoor germination, this is what bibb lettuce seeds look like!

And these are the green beans!!

Time to get these babies in some trays of dirt!

Cracker Jack Secretary

2010-04-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Dot makes delicious goodies for everyone in our extended family every Christmas. Everyone. She mails individual packages of her homemade candies and Chex Mix to each household, adjusting the quantity depending on how many or how few people live together.

This year Grandma was feeling pretty under the weather, and for the first time EVER, none of us were expecting any treats. Then two days before Christmas, there was a package at my door... :)

But since it is becoming harder and harder for her to make all those yummy treats for all of us each year, she decided this would be the last batch and it was time to retire.

My cousin Kevin told her he would like her candy recipes to keep the tradition going for his side of the family, so she sent a set to him, and she also sent a set of recipes to my sister Stephanie. But what about me?? I want to make candy! I want the secret recipe for See's Dark Bordeaux that Grandma cracked especially for my dad (not surprisingly, my favorite as well)! I can make candy too... if I tried!!

Then I got a look at the recipes she mailed to Steph... each one is HAND TYPED on an index card, ingredients on one side, directions on the back. Grandma still types everything on a typewriter! There are like a gazillion cards, and I can't believe she busted out two full sets let alone one. Oh I felt like an ass.

She did send ME a candy thermometer for my birthday a couple of years ago though, so my sister and I will have to join forces and get cookin' come December.