Sunday, November 16, 2008: Home D: Magento
We had dinner with Cassandra Sotos from Sotos Enterprises, a client, friend and all around interesting person. We went over the back end of the website that Troy and Nick are building for her. Included in it is a back end called Magento. It will help her manage inventory when she is a massive success.
The store front is currently up and you can check it out here, sotosonline.com. It looks great even though there is a bunch of greeking where actual text should be.
As for Magento… I thought it was pretty robust for open source coding. Not that I have a lot of experience with coding, but of the stuff that Nick and Troy have made me look at, this one is pretty cool and I think that it will serve Cassandra well.
When I asked Troy for the url and if it was ok to post, Troy said, "they can sign up for the fucking newsletter". So, sign up for the fucking newsletter and keep up to date with what Cassandra is selling.
Oh, and if you happen to read this Cassandra, "Good luck. You are awesome!"
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Day307 - That's a big box of balls
Sunday, November 2, 2008: Walmart: Pop Corn Balls
Last year, all I wanted after Holloween was a pop corn ball and every place sold out of them before I could get around to getting some. I actually chased some women down in walmart to ask here where the hell she got her boxes (she had 3 in her cart) and then went directly to the skid of lowly balls left. I picked up two 18-pack boxes.
I then saw many other people looking at my cart forlornly throughout the rest of our shopping trip. They, however, did not have the balls (ha!) to ask me where I got mine. The other shoppers just looked kind of sad as memories of childhoood popcorn ball disappointment played behind their eyes.
As a kid, I always wondered "Who the hell wants to eat a popcorn ball?" or worse yet, the dreaded Mary-Jane. No, being too old to enjoy the snickers and milky way, I now love pop corn balls and mary janes. And I have an otherworldly love for Werther Originals that seems to increase with age.
Although my dentist just told me I have to give up all of the above if I want to keep my teeth forever. Proof of my oldness.
Last year, all I wanted after Holloween was a pop corn ball and every place sold out of them before I could get around to getting some. I actually chased some women down in walmart to ask here where the hell she got her boxes (she had 3 in her cart) and then went directly to the skid of lowly balls left. I picked up two 18-pack boxes.
I then saw many other people looking at my cart forlornly throughout the rest of our shopping trip. They, however, did not have the balls (ha!) to ask me where I got mine. The other shoppers just looked kind of sad as memories of childhoood popcorn ball disappointment played behind their eyes.
As a kid, I always wondered "Who the hell wants to eat a popcorn ball?" or worse yet, the dreaded Mary-Jane. No, being too old to enjoy the snickers and milky way, I now love pop corn balls and mary janes. And I have an otherworldly love for Werther Originals that seems to increase with age.
Although my dentist just told me I have to give up all of the above if I want to keep my teeth forever. Proof of my oldness.
Day320 - I will fall less.
Saturday, November 15, 2008: TJ Maxx: Winter Spikes
I am in a furious hunt for a new hoodie. Mine looks like it was chewed my moths and left for dead. I went to TJ Maxx because the last really good hoodie I bought, and subsequently ruined, was from there. I found no hoodie worthy of my destruction, but I did find these.
It is a set of slip on spikes for any flat soled shoe. In theory, this should make me fall down less. Part of the theory is that I will remember to put them on before we leave the house. Recently, I did not remember to put them on and proceeded to fall down a mountain while looking for a Christmas Tree. For those keeping score at home, that would mean that I have fallen 2 of the last 4 years while on the hunt for a tree.
I am in a furious hunt for a new hoodie. Mine looks like it was chewed my moths and left for dead. I went to TJ Maxx because the last really good hoodie I bought, and subsequently ruined, was from there. I found no hoodie worthy of my destruction, but I did find these.
It is a set of slip on spikes for any flat soled shoe. In theory, this should make me fall down less. Part of the theory is that I will remember to put them on before we leave the house. Recently, I did not remember to put them on and proceeded to fall down a mountain while looking for a Christmas Tree. For those keeping score at home, that would mean that I have fallen 2 of the last 4 years while on the hunt for a tree.
Day319 - It is meant for burritos, not shot glasses.
Friday, November 14, 2008: Mad Mex: hummus and bad ideas.
Maura is a very lovely girl that I used to work with, and this weekend she came up for a visit with her fiance to see Nikko (Jess' cat), Nittany Lions and Happy Valley.
On Friday night, Troy and I met a bunch of people from work for dinner at Mad Mex. I love their margaritas, but have a major problem having just one. I had two. Then thought doing a shot of hot sauce for a buck was a good idea. Shots are never a good idea - which i magically seem to forget until after I do the shot.
Pretty girls Crystal and Sarah
I have a few pictures of Jess making this face at Troy. It's their "thing." I should post them in succession someday.
Troy, Jess, the future Mrs. & Mr.
Pre-shot with Tequila eyes.
Post shot - not so funny. It was really very gross and not recommended.
Jess wanted to play Cranium afterwards, but I was feeling a little under the weather (read drunk), and went to bed at 10 p.m. Sleeping off a margarita is a hobby of mine.
Maura is a very lovely girl that I used to work with, and this weekend she came up for a visit with her fiance to see Nikko (Jess' cat), Nittany Lions and Happy Valley.
On Friday night, Troy and I met a bunch of people from work for dinner at Mad Mex. I love their margaritas, but have a major problem having just one. I had two. Then thought doing a shot of hot sauce for a buck was a good idea. Shots are never a good idea - which i magically seem to forget until after I do the shot.
Pretty girls Crystal and Sarah
I have a few pictures of Jess making this face at Troy. It's their "thing." I should post them in succession someday.
Troy, Jess, the future Mrs. & Mr.
Pre-shot with Tequila eyes.
Post shot - not so funny. It was really very gross and not recommended.
Jess wanted to play Cranium afterwards, but I was feeling a little under the weather (read drunk), and went to bed at 10 p.m. Sleeping off a margarita is a hobby of mine.
Day318 - Move your head!
Thursday, November 13, 2008: State Theatre: Wolf Parade/Listening Party
We went to the State Theatre again tonight to watch the muzac. I was not familiar with either band, but I do love Original Live Music so I was eager to go.
I really kinda fell for Listening Party. We came in late into their set but it was enough time to become enamored. The weirdest part - the lead singer looks like our friend Jason.
It kind of blew my mind a little.
Troy was the tallest guy in our aisle, and the chicks in back of us got bummed out and moved their seats. I was later repaid the favor when this tall dude screwed up the ONE really clear picture I took.
Thanks guy.
Wolf Parade is from Canada and just might be the nicest band that I've ever seen. So polite! Also, very good.
The audience was probably 80% dude. And young dudes at that. It was so funny to see a theatre full of guys with stars in their eyes for other guys. Cute, but weird.
We were late to the show because we stopped for dinner and a beer at Pickles. I had this grilled cheese panini with some fancy, elitist cheeses and I think pesto. A little pricey, but good.
We went to the State Theatre again tonight to watch the muzac. I was not familiar with either band, but I do love Original Live Music so I was eager to go.
I really kinda fell for Listening Party. We came in late into their set but it was enough time to become enamored. The weirdest part - the lead singer looks like our friend Jason.
It kind of blew my mind a little.
Troy was the tallest guy in our aisle, and the chicks in back of us got bummed out and moved their seats. I was later repaid the favor when this tall dude screwed up the ONE really clear picture I took.
Thanks guy.
Wolf Parade is from Canada and just might be the nicest band that I've ever seen. So polite! Also, very good.
The audience was probably 80% dude. And young dudes at that. It was so funny to see a theatre full of guys with stars in their eyes for other guys. Cute, but weird.
We were late to the show because we stopped for dinner and a beer at Pickles. I had this grilled cheese panini with some fancy, elitist cheeses and I think pesto. A little pricey, but good.
Day317 - Embarrassment of hugeness.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008: My office: New iMac
My new iMac arrived today from Cupertino. And it is HUGE.
That is next to my Core Duo 17" iMac I bought about 20 months ago. Although it was lighting fast when I got it, i only had 9 gigs of hard drive left (from 150 gigs) and was slagging some. My new guy is 24 iMac Core 2 Duo and is larger than the TV I had up until about 9 months ago. I will be in debt for it for some time, but because I bought it from the refurb section of apple.com, I only paid about $100 more than I paid for the 17". I did have to buy more RAM for it, but again, in the end I saved money by ordering from a 3rd party. RAM is way cheaper now than it was 20 months ago and I currently have 4 Gigs making my new iMac super speedy.
Truthfully, this thing is embarrassing and if I did something else today except fawn all over it, I wouldn't be writing about it. I im'd Troy and said that it was giving me low self-esteem because of it's hugeness and he laughed and said I was overreacting. I wish I would have taken a picture of his face when he walked in the door and yelled "Holy Shit!"
But I agree with him in the long run: I work for myself and this was not some vanity purchase. I am only as good as my tools, and with the world going to shit, I better have kick-ass tools to make kick-ass money.
My new iMac arrived today from Cupertino. And it is HUGE.
That is next to my Core Duo 17" iMac I bought about 20 months ago. Although it was lighting fast when I got it, i only had 9 gigs of hard drive left (from 150 gigs) and was slagging some. My new guy is 24 iMac Core 2 Duo and is larger than the TV I had up until about 9 months ago. I will be in debt for it for some time, but because I bought it from the refurb section of apple.com, I only paid about $100 more than I paid for the 17". I did have to buy more RAM for it, but again, in the end I saved money by ordering from a 3rd party. RAM is way cheaper now than it was 20 months ago and I currently have 4 Gigs making my new iMac super speedy.
Truthfully, this thing is embarrassing and if I did something else today except fawn all over it, I wouldn't be writing about it. I im'd Troy and said that it was giving me low self-esteem because of it's hugeness and he laughed and said I was overreacting. I wish I would have taken a picture of his face when he walked in the door and yelled "Holy Shit!"
But I agree with him in the long run: I work for myself and this was not some vanity purchase. I am only as good as my tools, and with the world going to shit, I better have kick-ass tools to make kick-ass money.
Day208 -
Monday, November 3, 2008: My kitchen: Squash Soup
La Bella's down the street from us made what was probably the best squash soup I have ever had. I tried it tonight, and it came out ok, but not nearly as good as I hoped.
I started with this Acorn squash that was tough as nails. I'm lucky I did not loose a finger for real.
I browned it with some garlic and then added chicken stock and cream of coconut and ginger. This is where I fucked up. I should have added coconut milk, not the much sweeter cream of coconut, but I was not paying attention while digging things out of the closet. This made it too sweet.
It smelled great. When Troy came in the door he was psyched. It kind of smelled like Indian Pavillion.
I got to use this neat stick blender someone gave us. I've always wanted to make a soup that needed to be blended and today was the day.
Voila! A thick and creamy soup that was just a little too sweet for me.
I also made these little loafs of soda bread - the easier bread in the world to make. This isn't your traditional soda bread with raisins and sweetness. This is a plain loaf of bread suitable for dipping is soup. I think it only contains flour, buttermilk (I used milk with lemon juice), baking powder and some salt. It was really easy. I found a good looking recipe for authentic soda bread and will making that in the future.
La Bella's down the street from us made what was probably the best squash soup I have ever had. I tried it tonight, and it came out ok, but not nearly as good as I hoped.
I started with this Acorn squash that was tough as nails. I'm lucky I did not loose a finger for real.
I browned it with some garlic and then added chicken stock and cream of coconut and ginger. This is where I fucked up. I should have added coconut milk, not the much sweeter cream of coconut, but I was not paying attention while digging things out of the closet. This made it too sweet.
It smelled great. When Troy came in the door he was psyched. It kind of smelled like Indian Pavillion.
I got to use this neat stick blender someone gave us. I've always wanted to make a soup that needed to be blended and today was the day.
Voila! A thick and creamy soup that was just a little too sweet for me.
I also made these little loafs of soda bread - the easier bread in the world to make. This isn't your traditional soda bread with raisins and sweetness. This is a plain loaf of bread suitable for dipping is soup. I think it only contains flour, buttermilk (I used milk with lemon juice), baking powder and some salt. It was really easy. I found a good looking recipe for authentic soda bread and will making that in the future.
Day309 - Mr. Obama goes to Washington
Tuesday, November 4, 2008: New President
I am, of course, writing this entry about a month later than it actually happened and I also am doing so with a clearly faulty memory. Even so, I will try to relate a little about that day and night.
Troy and I voted early in the morning. I was in fact #50 at my local polling place and only had to wait for about 30 seconds to actually vote. Troy cast his before me while I used a Benninghoff pen a nice older gentleman handed to me on our way in the polling place.
I remember all my friends excitedly telling me when they voted, giving updates on the polling place lines if there were any. Most we optimistic - even if it was guarded optimism. Everyone had already come up with a back-up plan, listing all the countries that would take them if their candidate would loose.
That night, Troy and I went to Anna's first birthday party and watched the initial vote tally while watching kids toddle around the living room. I spent the 2004 election in that living room, and I remember clearly leaving there with hope that Kerry could pull through even though I wouldn't find out definitely that he would not until the next morning. Ohio became a 4-letter word.
After the party we came back to our little living room and Troy and I watched the returns, switching from MSNBC to CNN, wonkette.com to daily kos to fivethirtyeight.com. It was simultaneously electric and terrifying. Our local candidates did not do so well, but other candidates that I donated to across the country faired a better.
Troy was in and out of sleep by the time Obama came to give his acceptance speech. I cried. My friends cried. I received loads and loads of text with "I've never been so proud!" and "Thank god!" and "I'm crying!" It was wonderful. I talked with Yana video iChat and we were so excited about the future.
I am still excited about the future.
But I still have a little bit of a guard up. Can we really hope - especially when our country has gone to shit so fast? I want to hope, and I continue to do so even if I'm not a fan of all of Obama's cabinet appointments. I still believe that we as a country can be better than what we are right now. What we have been in the past. If Obama can do that - then I will stop looking for real estate in Canada.
I am, of course, writing this entry about a month later than it actually happened and I also am doing so with a clearly faulty memory. Even so, I will try to relate a little about that day and night.
Troy and I voted early in the morning. I was in fact #50 at my local polling place and only had to wait for about 30 seconds to actually vote. Troy cast his before me while I used a Benninghoff pen a nice older gentleman handed to me on our way in the polling place.
I remember all my friends excitedly telling me when they voted, giving updates on the polling place lines if there were any. Most we optimistic - even if it was guarded optimism. Everyone had already come up with a back-up plan, listing all the countries that would take them if their candidate would loose.
That night, Troy and I went to Anna's first birthday party and watched the initial vote tally while watching kids toddle around the living room. I spent the 2004 election in that living room, and I remember clearly leaving there with hope that Kerry could pull through even though I wouldn't find out definitely that he would not until the next morning. Ohio became a 4-letter word.
After the party we came back to our little living room and Troy and I watched the returns, switching from MSNBC to CNN, wonkette.com to daily kos to fivethirtyeight.com. It was simultaneously electric and terrifying. Our local candidates did not do so well, but other candidates that I donated to across the country faired a better.
Troy was in and out of sleep by the time Obama came to give his acceptance speech. I cried. My friends cried. I received loads and loads of text with "I've never been so proud!" and "Thank god!" and "I'm crying!" It was wonderful. I talked with Yana video iChat and we were so excited about the future.
I am still excited about the future.
But I still have a little bit of a guard up. Can we really hope - especially when our country has gone to shit so fast? I want to hope, and I continue to do so even if I'm not a fan of all of Obama's cabinet appointments. I still believe that we as a country can be better than what we are right now. What we have been in the past. If Obama can do that - then I will stop looking for real estate in Canada.
Day310 - You shot me in the eye!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008: Our house: Nerf Wars
So, today we bought Nerf guns. This is my very first nerf gun of my own and I think that I picked the best that they had.
It is the Tek Six. Troy is shown here using the far inferior "Maverick." Silly Maverick - didn't you learn anything yesterday?
Somehow, our house has sucked up all of the extra nerfs that we bought and we currently have 15 between the two of us.
So, today we bought Nerf guns. This is my very first nerf gun of my own and I think that I picked the best that they had.
It is the Tek Six. Troy is shown here using the far inferior "Maverick." Silly Maverick - didn't you learn anything yesterday?
Somehow, our house has sucked up all of the extra nerfs that we bought and we currently have 15 between the two of us.
Day311 - Bangers and Mash
Thursday, November 6, 2008: My office: Yogurt
Can you tell that I am at the end of my rope. At day 315 I am eating new yogurt. And I didn't even take a picture of it myself! I am tired of the new.
I tried this today. It's not so great! It seems like it should be good but it just kind of tastes like the low fat version of something that actually is good. Which it is, but still.
Can you tell that I am at the end of my rope. At day 315 I am eating new yogurt. And I didn't even take a picture of it myself! I am tired of the new.
I tried this today. It's not so great! It seems like it should be good but it just kind of tastes like the low fat version of something that actually is good. Which it is, but still.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Day312 - Yeah, it's a little like Heaven pie.
Friday, November 7, 2008: High Street Pub: Pumpkin mouse pie
Troy, Allen and I met Yana at the High Street Pub. I went here for my newness sometime either this year or last year. It is a quite restaurant with food that is more expensive (but good!) than what you expect for a Pub.
I had some kind of roasted pork tenderloin, veering away from the pulled pork that I would have probably liked more. I tried some of Yana's swordfish and it was really good. Much better than mine.
Yana and I split this. I think it was a pumpkin mouse pie, but Deb (our waitress and probably coolest lady on the planet) called it Heaven pie. And it was! Very very good especially if you are a pumpkin lover (I am a terrible pumpkin lover).
Is it as good as my Heavenly Mango bites. No. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't eat a whole damn pie.
Later that night, after Yana and I fussed over Mac and Dank fussed over Toofy, Troy, Allen and I had a little Nerf war. Here is a secret - Allen likes to shoot you in the face, whether you are paying attention to him or not. I immediately changed my opinion that I would ever want to play paintball with him - Yana you were right!
Here is a video. We shot each other with beautiful freedom nerfs.
Troy, Allen and I met Yana at the High Street Pub. I went here for my newness sometime either this year or last year. It is a quite restaurant with food that is more expensive (but good!) than what you expect for a Pub.
I had some kind of roasted pork tenderloin, veering away from the pulled pork that I would have probably liked more. I tried some of Yana's swordfish and it was really good. Much better than mine.
Yana and I split this. I think it was a pumpkin mouse pie, but Deb (our waitress and probably coolest lady on the planet) called it Heaven pie. And it was! Very very good especially if you are a pumpkin lover (I am a terrible pumpkin lover).
Is it as good as my Heavenly Mango bites. No. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't eat a whole damn pie.
Later that night, after Yana and I fussed over Mac and Dank fussed over Toofy, Troy, Allen and I had a little Nerf war. Here is a secret - Allen likes to shoot you in the face, whether you are paying attention to him or not. I immediately changed my opinion that I would ever want to play paintball with him - Yana you were right!
Here is a video. We shot each other with beautiful freedom nerfs.
Day313 - Is that a grape?
Saturday, November 8, 2008: OLV Bazaar: mystery cake
Today we headed to the OLV bazaar to eat, push Anna around in a stroller and check out some crafts. Also, to lose at basket raffle.
We met Mark, Jodie and Anna and drove to OLV. I really wanted perogies, but they were already sold out at 1 p.m.. That would NOT happen back home - not until at least 6. But I don't believe that these were made by someone's eastern European grandma.
Troy and I split some crazy cake that I did not take a picture of. I looked like carrot cake, but had raisins, pineapple, and Troy said, cherries. And nuts and some other craziness. It was very good and I had a hard time stopping eating it.
Afterwards, we went to Target with M, J & A. Troy modeled this over priced silver wreath atrocity.
He is cute.
**How the rest of the day went - so Melissa remembers**
I talked on the phone with Rick about life and friends and death and life and all that other fun stuff. Kyle and Carla came over and they got to see Mac and eat Pizza and marvel at how large this iMac is. We ate pizza and Troy shot me in the eyeball with a nerf gun. Directly in the eyeball.
Today we headed to the OLV bazaar to eat, push Anna around in a stroller and check out some crafts. Also, to lose at basket raffle.
We met Mark, Jodie and Anna and drove to OLV. I really wanted perogies, but they were already sold out at 1 p.m.. That would NOT happen back home - not until at least 6. But I don't believe that these were made by someone's eastern European grandma.
Troy and I split some crazy cake that I did not take a picture of. I looked like carrot cake, but had raisins, pineapple, and Troy said, cherries. And nuts and some other craziness. It was very good and I had a hard time stopping eating it.
Afterwards, we went to Target with M, J & A. Troy modeled this over priced silver wreath atrocity.
He is cute.
**How the rest of the day went - so Melissa remembers**
I talked on the phone with Rick about life and friends and death and life and all that other fun stuff. Kyle and Carla came over and they got to see Mac and eat Pizza and marvel at how large this iMac is. We ate pizza and Troy shot me in the eyeball with a nerf gun. Directly in the eyeball.
Day316 - Your lady friend's friend.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008: My office: My Monthly
http://www.mon.thly.info
I found this site, MyMontly, somewhere on the interwebs. I forget all kinds of shit - my name occasionally - so this is a pretty rad way for me to remember when my life will suck, albeit temporarily. It is also a good way to remind Troy the absolute joy of his life will be a wretched biotch in no time.
It's really easy to enter the first day of your Aunt Flo's visit. Point and click. I only write down this info sporadically, if at all, so my history has a little bit of info missing.
It compiles all of your info into a status bar. Some of these functions are really only pertinent to you breeders out there - temperature, phases and whatnot. It will also tell you when you will be ovulating, which I only kind of care about so as to know when is the ABSOLUTE WORSE DAY to get it on. I'm keeping my vag free of babies one day at a time.
So, ladies, have at it. Or, dudes have at it if you want to keep an eye on your lady friend's friend. I'm actually kind of psyched to have someone, even if it is inanimate, keep track of this for me.
http://www.mon.thly.info
I found this site, MyMontly, somewhere on the interwebs. I forget all kinds of shit - my name occasionally - so this is a pretty rad way for me to remember when my life will suck, albeit temporarily. It is also a good way to remind Troy the absolute joy of his life will be a wretched biotch in no time.
It's really easy to enter the first day of your Aunt Flo's visit. Point and click. I only write down this info sporadically, if at all, so my history has a little bit of info missing.
It compiles all of your info into a status bar. Some of these functions are really only pertinent to you breeders out there - temperature, phases and whatnot. It will also tell you when you will be ovulating, which I only kind of care about so as to know when is the ABSOLUTE WORSE DAY to get it on. I'm keeping my vag free of babies one day at a time.
So, ladies, have at it. Or, dudes have at it if you want to keep an eye on your lady friend's friend. I'm actually kind of psyched to have someone, even if it is inanimate, keep track of this for me.
Day314 - I've made better
Sunday, November 9, 2008: My Kitchen: Peach Crostata
Today, Troy and I raked 19 bags of leaves in the backyard. My back hurts and we spent a big chunk of the afternoon napping. I think it is my first nap in months - although waking up stuck to a leather couch is not always awesome.
I made an Apple Crostata a couple of weeks ago (haven't written about that one yet!) that was to die for.
This one was ok, but not great and I'm ok with that. I think it could probably use more peach and no ginger. Ah, what the hell - they all can't be winners.
If I could get points for style, it would be a winner. This recipe made 2 crostatas.
2 peaches - sliced
2 t cinamon
1 t ginger
2 t brown sugar
2 T of chopped walnuts
1 sheet of pre-made pie shell
Mix the first 5 ingredients. Stuff in shell and bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Really the easiest thing I know to make.
Today, Troy and I raked 19 bags of leaves in the backyard. My back hurts and we spent a big chunk of the afternoon napping. I think it is my first nap in months - although waking up stuck to a leather couch is not always awesome.
I made an Apple Crostata a couple of weeks ago (haven't written about that one yet!) that was to die for.
This one was ok, but not great and I'm ok with that. I think it could probably use more peach and no ginger. Ah, what the hell - they all can't be winners.
If I could get points for style, it would be a winner. This recipe made 2 crostatas.
2 peaches - sliced
2 t cinamon
1 t ginger
2 t brown sugar
2 T of chopped walnuts
1 sheet of pre-made pie shell
Mix the first 5 ingredients. Stuff in shell and bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Really the easiest thing I know to make.
Day315 - Bangers and Mash
Monday, November 10, 2008: My kitchen: Bangers and Mash
I wanted kielbasie. But our sad kielbasie was sitting in the freezer for 6 months and was beyond freezer burnt.
Instead, we cooked up a couple of Turkey sausages that were in the freezer from something or other I cooked this year. They were hot because we do not like mild here.
Troy brought home some perogies via Jess, via Greg, via OLV (they use sour cream in the potato batter!). It was, ofcourse, super fucking good.
I wanted kielbasie. But our sad kielbasie was sitting in the freezer for 6 months and was beyond freezer burnt.
Instead, we cooked up a couple of Turkey sausages that were in the freezer from something or other I cooked this year. They were hot because we do not like mild here.
Troy brought home some perogies via Jess, via Greg, via OLV (they use sour cream in the potato batter!). It was, ofcourse, super fucking good.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Day215 - And I ate perogies… what could be better?
Saturday, August 2, 2008: Macungie, PA: Das Awkcht car show.
http://www.awkscht.com/
Tre, Nick, Troy, Tyler and I all headed out near Bethlehem for one of the Country's largest Antique and Classic Car shows.
There were cars here I did not know existed. Others were things you've seen on TV or movies. Just a wide variety of the history of wheels in motion. These are not all of the pictures - because my camera died before I took pictures of everything - only my favorites.
But, let's start with the AM. We went huckleberry picking with Pop-pop. It was crazy and I didn't want to go home.
On the way there, we saw this car. Sunroof FAIL.
This is officially my new favorite car. It is a Nash Metropolitan and probably the coolest fricking thing ever made.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Metropolitan
They had a flea market that was selling all kinds of crazy stuff to make up to the wife and kids for dragging them around in the rotten heat. This was one of the cooler things there, a Poland seal for the grill of your car.
This was another super cool car. I think you can see I'm trending small lately.
It's a 1951 Crosley. I have about a dozen pictures of all the models that were built. Everything from Truck to cars and convertibles. I am hearting one big time.
One of my favorites was this. I think it's a 1904 Packard - but I might have the year wrong. It ran on steam and smelled like Knoebles. Seeing these guys drive them around was pretty spectacular.
I would much rather have one of these than any Camaro or Mustang. This is an automobile at it's most simple and elegant form.
Afterwards, we stopped at The Port Clinton Inn. I got this Buffalo cheeseburger which may be the biggest burger that I've ever gotten. It was quite a surprise - even though it was not as hot as I like.
Thanks Nick for taking us. We had a great day even if the end was a little dicey.
http://www.awkscht.com/
Tre, Nick, Troy, Tyler and I all headed out near Bethlehem for one of the Country's largest Antique and Classic Car shows.
There were cars here I did not know existed. Others were things you've seen on TV or movies. Just a wide variety of the history of wheels in motion. These are not all of the pictures - because my camera died before I took pictures of everything - only my favorites.
But, let's start with the AM. We went huckleberry picking with Pop-pop. It was crazy and I didn't want to go home.
On the way there, we saw this car. Sunroof FAIL.
This is officially my new favorite car. It is a Nash Metropolitan and probably the coolest fricking thing ever made.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Metropolitan
They had a flea market that was selling all kinds of crazy stuff to make up to the wife and kids for dragging them around in the rotten heat. This was one of the cooler things there, a Poland seal for the grill of your car.
This was another super cool car. I think you can see I'm trending small lately.
It's a 1951 Crosley. I have about a dozen pictures of all the models that were built. Everything from Truck to cars and convertibles. I am hearting one big time.
One of my favorites was this. I think it's a 1904 Packard - but I might have the year wrong. It ran on steam and smelled like Knoebles. Seeing these guys drive them around was pretty spectacular.
I would much rather have one of these than any Camaro or Mustang. This is an automobile at it's most simple and elegant form.
Afterwards, we stopped at The Port Clinton Inn. I got this Buffalo cheeseburger which may be the biggest burger that I've ever gotten. It was quite a surprise - even though it was not as hot as I like.
Thanks Nick for taking us. We had a great day even if the end was a little dicey.
Day214 - Love affairs with paper samples.
Friday, August 1, 2008: Yana's work: Printing invites.
Yana very graciously agreed to print the text for the invite. She was so lovely for doing so.
I didn't take a picture while there, mostly because I was freaking out about getting these suckers done. I can show you what they looked like afterwards.
A couple of days ago, I cut all these ribbons. Then Troy sat in front of a very hot stove in July to seal all of the ribbon's edges on a hot burner. It was really a detail that helped make them look uber-professional. The next day, I spent i glueing 300+ pieces of ribbons into these bows. Today I glued the little gold seals.
Then, we had to affix the printed invite that Yana so graciously printed and cut.
The purple was a lovely irridescent paper. The white is an 80# bright white Cougar. It was as gorgeous as paper can get - Cougar is the way to go.
There was a lot of glueing. Then, it's little ribbon safety belt kept it together.
I know that you can't tell from this picture, but the outer paper was a very, very, very nice irridescent cream paper. It is probably the nicest paper that I've ever used. Ever.
Here is a line-up.
This is the box.
This was only half of the 150 that I was contracted to do. If I didn't have to rush home to Frackville to meet some prior obligations, I would have finished the whole of them. I'm guessing total hours for this is around 16-20 hours. That's a broad guess. And that is not counting time to nurse busted fingers from paper cuts and glue guns. But they are gorgeous. Probably the nicest I've ever made.
And I couldn't have gotten it done without Yana or Troy. So thank you both so, so much.
Yana very graciously agreed to print the text for the invite. She was so lovely for doing so.
I didn't take a picture while there, mostly because I was freaking out about getting these suckers done. I can show you what they looked like afterwards.
A couple of days ago, I cut all these ribbons. Then Troy sat in front of a very hot stove in July to seal all of the ribbon's edges on a hot burner. It was really a detail that helped make them look uber-professional. The next day, I spent i glueing 300+ pieces of ribbons into these bows. Today I glued the little gold seals.
Then, we had to affix the printed invite that Yana so graciously printed and cut.
The purple was a lovely irridescent paper. The white is an 80# bright white Cougar. It was as gorgeous as paper can get - Cougar is the way to go.
There was a lot of glueing. Then, it's little ribbon safety belt kept it together.
I know that you can't tell from this picture, but the outer paper was a very, very, very nice irridescent cream paper. It is probably the nicest paper that I've ever used. Ever.
Here is a line-up.
This is the box.
This was only half of the 150 that I was contracted to do. If I didn't have to rush home to Frackville to meet some prior obligations, I would have finished the whole of them. I'm guessing total hours for this is around 16-20 hours. That's a broad guess. And that is not counting time to nurse busted fingers from paper cuts and glue guns. But they are gorgeous. Probably the nicest I've ever made.
And I couldn't have gotten it done without Yana or Troy. So thank you both so, so much.
Day213 - Eat electricity you dirty bastard.
Thursday, July 31, 2008: My Living Room: Fly Killer
We bought this fly swatter last year. It is an electrified tennis racket. Talk about raising the bar on insecticide.
The only thing that previously had been shocked by it was my sister when she bravely poked her finger in it. She disregarded the safely screen and went for it. We saw a spark right before she threw it across the room.
It runs on two D batteries you see.
Back to the fly. That sucker dies a cruel and painful death with his head eventually exploding off of his body. Yes, it smells really very bad, but their is no dirtier infidel than a shitty fly.
We bought this fly swatter last year. It is an electrified tennis racket. Talk about raising the bar on insecticide.
The only thing that previously had been shocked by it was my sister when she bravely poked her finger in it. She disregarded the safely screen and went for it. We saw a spark right before she threw it across the room.
It runs on two D batteries you see.
Back to the fly. That sucker dies a cruel and painful death with his head eventually exploding off of his body. Yes, it smells really very bad, but their is no dirtier infidel than a shitty fly.
Day212 - These fingers were made for burning.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008: My kitchen: Gold seals
I am currently under a deadline to get wedding invitations done. It is stressful and not always awesome living in this house right now, especially for Troy.
So, part of the invite was these little gold wax seals. 150 little wax seals.
First, there are two main types of seals - wax and a plastic polymer. The plastic are cheaper and can be found in most craft stores. This is what I used. These have a little wick that needs to stay lit to burn the faux wax. It smells a little like a burnt crayon, but worse.
And you can burn your fingers a lot.
I did buy some online that you can put into a glue gun but the stick was HUGE and would not fit in my smaller glue gun. So, back to the little candles.
I made a template so I had a general idea what size to go for. It took a lot of practice, but towards the end I got really pretty good at judging how long you need to keep the seal in the wax before you can move on. (Don't forget, the candle is burning the whole time. You need to be able to both press a seal while dripping wax into another circle. This is exhaustive.)
It also helps to have a little bowl of cool water to cool your stamp off in. Otherwise, you will not be able to remove it from the wax.
I didn't always make the best seal - especially in the beginning. You need to have a real idea of what kind of pressure to use as well. Sometimes the wick goes out and you have to relight it while praying that the wax you already dumped doesn't not harden. This is real juggling - especially since I did them all by myself.
To try to save some of what I did not do perfectly, I set up a little crucible using my Yankee Candle tart burner, a teaspoon and some foil. This worked so well and made the most darling shaped seals.
Here are the seals made with the crucible. They have a slightly different color and a more round shape. They used a little more wax had a larger profile. I don't know which I prefer. The seals at the top of the page look more natural, where as these look like buttons.
Either way, I can do with a vacation from manufacturing them again for awhile.
I am currently under a deadline to get wedding invitations done. It is stressful and not always awesome living in this house right now, especially for Troy.
So, part of the invite was these little gold wax seals. 150 little wax seals.
First, there are two main types of seals - wax and a plastic polymer. The plastic are cheaper and can be found in most craft stores. This is what I used. These have a little wick that needs to stay lit to burn the faux wax. It smells a little like a burnt crayon, but worse.
And you can burn your fingers a lot.
I did buy some online that you can put into a glue gun but the stick was HUGE and would not fit in my smaller glue gun. So, back to the little candles.
I made a template so I had a general idea what size to go for. It took a lot of practice, but towards the end I got really pretty good at judging how long you need to keep the seal in the wax before you can move on. (Don't forget, the candle is burning the whole time. You need to be able to both press a seal while dripping wax into another circle. This is exhaustive.)
It also helps to have a little bowl of cool water to cool your stamp off in. Otherwise, you will not be able to remove it from the wax.
I didn't always make the best seal - especially in the beginning. You need to have a real idea of what kind of pressure to use as well. Sometimes the wick goes out and you have to relight it while praying that the wax you already dumped doesn't not harden. This is real juggling - especially since I did them all by myself.
To try to save some of what I did not do perfectly, I set up a little crucible using my Yankee Candle tart burner, a teaspoon and some foil. This worked so well and made the most darling shaped seals.
Here are the seals made with the crucible. They have a slightly different color and a more round shape. They used a little more wax had a larger profile. I don't know which I prefer. The seals at the top of the page look more natural, where as these look like buttons.
Either way, I can do with a vacation from manufacturing them again for awhile.
Day211 - My craziness knows no bounds.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008: My kitchen: The freezer.
I kind of freak out about order. I like stuff to pretty orderly. If you come to our house and you think it's just some big mish-mash of shit, your wrong. Even when it's a hurricane, it's an organized hurricane.
My fridge was a BIG problem for a while because I could never figure out how to get it in any kind of order. Frick, for 5 years we never had ice!
So, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought this rack that is designed to better organize your dishes. It took a little bit of work and some frozen fingers, but we are up and running with a more efficient model. Now we have ice! How frickin' great!
I kind of freak out about order. I like stuff to pretty orderly. If you come to our house and you think it's just some big mish-mash of shit, your wrong. Even when it's a hurricane, it's an organized hurricane.
My fridge was a BIG problem for a while because I could never figure out how to get it in any kind of order. Frick, for 5 years we never had ice!
So, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought this rack that is designed to better organize your dishes. It took a little bit of work and some frozen fingers, but we are up and running with a more efficient model. Now we have ice! How frickin' great!
Day210 - Hot Damn Pt II
Monday, July 28, 2008: My Kitchen: Buffalo Chicken on a baguette.
I found this totally rad Buffalo chicken at the deli. It's a lunch meat, but tastes just like hot wings. Totally skrews with your brain just a little.
We put it on a baguette with some of the totally rad apple/celery slaw and there was lunch.
We took a walk to the park to feed some ducks and the mallard momma had a crush on Troy. Here is here stalking him a bit.
I found this totally rad Buffalo chicken at the deli. It's a lunch meat, but tastes just like hot wings. Totally skrews with your brain just a little.
We put it on a baguette with some of the totally rad apple/celery slaw and there was lunch.
We took a walk to the park to feed some ducks and the mallard momma had a crush on Troy. Here is here stalking him a bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)