Heather's Endeavors

Jason Rocks! My 100th post!

2011-08-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

So Jason is always writing/saying 'Jason Rocks!' He wrote it on one friends car in the dust so much that it affected the paint, staying on the care, requiring him to wax it for hours. So that is the theme I we nt with for his 30th bday celebration. He does not like themes, or decorations, or to make a big to do out of stuff- but yet somehow we still work out perfectly ;) We just had a lil party for him the Friday before his birthday, ordering pizza, snacking on the rock items.

Jason rocks on one side...

30 Blows on the other!
(Thanks Trac for the blows vs sucks:)

Jason rocks Banner courtesy of Cricut :)

There was rock candy on a stick, jelly rock candy, chocolate rock candy, Pop Rocks, and RingPops aka
Rocks for your finger- get it? :) There were also Pixy Stix thrown in just because I knew J and a few of his friends liked them. I also found some Camp Rock punching balloons. They were in the Rock n Roll records bowls i had made for him last year too.

He wanted to see how big it could get...

Yup! He got it big enough to pop, and freak those out in other rooms of the house :)

He was a good sport :)

Some of the rocks his family found and wrapped for him!

He requested a Funfetti Cake

Bday rocks! Love it!

Academy of Country Music Awards

2011-08-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah. This? I forgot to mention that my mom and I got to attend this back in April. No biggie. We just got the opportunity to see 30+ country stars. In Vegas. For free. It was only the most amazing experience ever!

From our seats

We were pretty darn close to the stage!

This is in fromt of the little after party/concert :-)

Toby Keith. Pretty sure I was not even utilizing my zoom here...

My mom and I kinda rock ;)

Posing with the program.. yes, I am well aware I am a dork
Especially since when I decide to play catch up with my blog it is not in order :)

Fourth of July fun

2011-08-04T20:59:00.001-07:00

We were supposed to be camping over the 4th.Then the huge fires happened and camping was rescheduled. My new plans were to help host a celebration at the man friends house. The cupcakes below were made for the pool party we attended earlier in the day, but I was that girl and took a few back home for our party too. Nothin big... just a few family members... but I couldn't not make everything festive :)

BBQ cupcakes :)

Sparklers- that wouldn't light-

at least they looked good right? ;)

red White and Blue Jello:)

Red white and blue dipped strawberries

30 sucks

2011-03-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

I had seen this cute idea all over, and unfortunately

cannot recall where I saw it originally.

Please don't report me to the blog police.

Also, please act surprised when you receive something similar:)

Cupids arrows and Cheesecake strawberries

2011-03-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

I felt the need to make something Valentine's related.

These were easier than easy.

Cinnamon gummy hearts.

Pretzel sticks.

Waa la.

Shoved a few in a bag, added the cute

'Cupid's Arrows' tag, and shoved the bags in a fun Valentine-y box

Idea seen here

My friend had been talking about cheesecake stuffed strawberries

forever. Finally, when he was about to go back onto his stupid diet,

I found the motivation to attempt them.

Don't mind the crappy pictures- apparently my camera

was on some horrible setting that I could not undo.

Pathetic, I know. But it has since been resolved

and I am back to better, brighter pics again.

They're no Rebel pics, but shoot if I can't

figure out my lil point n shoot, theres no hope :)

First cut and hull the strawberries.

It seriously makes me smile that they are standing up :)

Fill 'em up with cheesecake.

Oh yeah. Make sure its the no bake kind..

Sadly, my favorite recipe was not,

so I opted for the Jello- No Bake..

it still got the vote in the end.

Then, dip it in chocolate, and graham crackers.

One or the other or both.

I of course opted to go with both.

I apparently was supposed to do just graham crackers.

Those ones are actually kinda prettier.

Not that you'd know, since I failed with the after pics.

Then again, even if I had taken some, they wouldve sucked.

At least they tasted good. :)

Rosette heart

2011-02-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

So I got a little stir crazy, and remembered I had seen the tutorial for this awesome rosette wreath on somedaycrafts that poppiesatplay had made. I had bought the duct tape for it earlier and figured it was the prefect time to start rolling duct tape.

So I started with this.. well... it said 2 of them, but you'll see I ended up needing 3,

and of course couldn't find any more red...

About halfway through I was over it, and decided I would forgo the wreath and just make a heart,
thinking it would require less rolling... Yeah. Thats what I get for thinking!

Here is probably a third of the 'rollings' I dont know what to refer to them as...

I was so over it that I didnt even bother to bust out my Cricut-

I just cut out a heart the old school way :)

Of course my camera wasn't cooperating, but I left this one anyway.

You're welcome :)

Ta da! There's the final project!

It's not perfect, but it'll do.

And here it is 'on display.'

Yup. I duct taped a wreath and hot glued it to it.

All that duct tape on card stock is not very sturdy, and I was more than over this project, so that is what I came up with.

Party in a car

2010-12-01T21:14:00.001-07:00

Last month I got to throw my friend Karianne a baby sprinkle. In case you haven't heard of that before, a baby sprinkle is basically a smaller scaled baby shower. They are meant to celebrate the arrival of second born. I was so excited to finally be able to put some of my ideas and decor to use! Luckily for me, Karianne and her mom helped as well as my mom. Karianne's sister-in-law graciously offered her home to us also.

As I walked in with load, oh, I dunno number three, I heard one of Karianne's nephews saying 'I can't believe Heather fit all this stuff in her little car!!'

I'll leave you with pictures...as always, they tell the story way better than I ever will!
Thanks, Karianne for giving me an opportunity to put all my ideas and stuff to use! I can't wait until we get to meet Baby D2 :)

Cricut made banner, and the cute umbrella and sprinkles-
Karianne and her mom get the credit for those

Here's a closer look at the banner

.. and the umbrella and sprinkles

Me and the beautiful mama-to-be (again)

What can I say other than I'm a dork

My mom is the best

The prize/party favor table

The dessert spread
There were veggies and sandwiches on a different counter :)

Of course there were cupcake bites...
Get your mind outta the gutter. They are baby bottles!
But man was I glad she is having another boy :)

Yup. Pretzel sticks :) Chocolate covered and cute :)

Oreo truffles

Cookies and Cream rattle cupcakes

Adorable and delicious cucumber sandwiches my mom made.
Just one more reason why she's the best

Gifts :)

Providing happiness- 3 cupcake bites and cute water bottles at a time

2010-10-10T18:44:00.001-07:00

Lotsa Halloween-y sprinkles

To decorate cupcake bites

Recycled cardboard box...

To be cut and covered with cute scrapbooking paper...

To go in the bottom of the festive cellophane bags so they'll sit upright

See?

Good thing my fridge had ample room to store them when they were done

..and I made some labels for the water bottles...

To go along with the fabulous juice

Just a lil something to make tours a lil more fun :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

2010-10-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

You start by cutting pastry puff sheets- evenly would be helpful.
Then you put a good scoop of peanut butter along with some chocolate chunks...

I think I enjoy chocolate chunks.
Pretty sure I eat a lot more of those when baking than chips...

Next you add a square to the top and seal it all up.
they look like lil raviolis but are much much better:)

Filled to the brim with peanut butter and chocolate goodness...

After being baked

Mmmm

Like JoytheBaker suggested, they are best served warm from the oven, with a nice cold glass of milk.
You should have people there to help you eat them right away. They are easy to make, but spooning peanut butter 18 times is annoying. I think next time I'll make one giant one instead. :)

My 2 minute Halloween decorating

2010-10-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Yup. That's it. Easy peasy apothecary jars and 2 hanging things added to my 'welcome sign.'

The end.

New England trip

2010-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

So Over Labor Day I took a lil trip to visit my friend Jill in Maine and Boston.

Here are some of the highlights of my trip in pictures.

Probably too many pictures for one post, but that's how I roll :)

Yeah. So this is what welcomed me to Boston.
Luckily Earl was kind and only brought perfect puddles for me to jump in.

Here we're waiting for the 'T' subway system to take us to our Duck Tour meeting spot

Yup. You guessed it. This is the Duck Tour. A touristy-tour of Boston.
I quacked at people who were staring at us. :)

Jill and I on the Duck Tour. Part of the tour is on land, part on water!

Chillin' on the tortoise. The Boston Marathon ends here.

I was obsessed with getting these,
but messed them up by not reading the directions haha

Lunch at the Cheers bar :)

No clue what this is about but it was there, screaming for me to take a pic with it.
Our Cheers waiter also had no idea what it was about...
Ok Google told me there is a hidden mac n cheese amazing restaurant in there... obviously we didn't eat there.

HayMarket Square Open Air Market-
as seen from inside our new favorite bar

Holocaust Memorial

Dinner at the Hardrock. Best customer service ever.
It did help that our waiter was pretty, and made an amazing
raspberry mojito. ;)

So excited I got to wear my rainboots!
It was so much fun going out of my way to jump in puddles.
Just because I could. :)

I wanted to check out the cemeteries the morning before we headed to Maine.
Spent some time trying to find all the famous people here...

Yay! Finally got a pic of a welcome to sign!
Taking out the window while the car is moving pics is not as easy as I thought!
We had no desire to stop either :)

This lil farmhouse was so cute. It allowed me to have some of Jill's famous bruschetta too.
And had I been thinking when I repacked my pack at 3am, I would've enjoyed my raspberry honey and jelly-
hey did you know I really like raspberries?! :) I hope the TSA employees enjoyed it at least.
They do enjoy it if it's unopened right? I would.

I wanted to eat some fresh seafood since I was in Maine. Jill's family hates seafood- go figure:)
But her grandma loves her some lobster, so Gram bought us a 1.5 and a 2 pounder!

Jill's soon-to-be brothe rin law, Matt hyptnotized our lobsters!
Seriously. I had never heard of this.. its crazy- check it out-">Sleepy lobster :)

Gram and I enjoyed our lobster-
even if we were banished to a table all by ourselves :)

Marshall Pointe Lighthouse in Maine.
This is the one that Forrest Gump ran to!

Their beautiful 'Maine house.'

Fun shot from my new fav winery.

Still at the Cellardoor.
I bought Serendipity and Sweetheart.
You choose 6 different wines to taste, and they give you oyster crackers. :)
It's probably a good thing that they don't ship to AZ.

We went seaglass hunting on their property before heading back to Boston

Pretty sky on the drive back...

The end. :)

DIY Cake Stand #2

2010-08-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

Happy girl

DIY cake stand 1

2010-08-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

A lil glue
+

One plate
+

One sundae dish

=

Fabulously simple and cheap cake stand
AKA cupcake bite/cookie stand
:)

My Paradise Bakery Lemon Zester copycat cookies weren't too shabby either ;)

My random DIY cupcake bite tower

2010-08-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

I was at Ross, just perusing when I saw it.

I'm not sure what it's actual kitchen purpose is, but I immediately saw it as a display stand for my cupcake bites. So of course I bought it.

I then headed straight to Home Depot- to find some sort of hard surface for the 'shelves.' I foolishly had plastic or plywood in mind.. but luckily walked right into the tile section instead.

Oh I should mention I walked into home Depot holding my random kitchen gadget, and proceeded to spend far too much time down the tile aisle. I ended up with those tiles, which I'm pretty sure were made solely for my project since they fit perfectly.

See? Like a glove.

At the time all I had was that one lonely lil cupcake bite. But I did have my awesome bday hat too. How cute is that?!

Very cute. :)

So naturally, I had to make some cupcake bites to display.

Besides, it was my friend Eric's birthday so there were lots of people to eat them after they served their display purpose. :)

These were funfetti ones btw. The good funfetti mind you- and by good funfetti I mean rainbow chip. I had to go to 2 different stores to find it. I think it was worth it though.
I think it will also be worth it when I get to use this for more than a photo opp for my blog. ;)

Dr. Pepper Meatballs

2010-07-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

I assure you this tastes much better than it looks.

I promise that there are really meatballs in there.
23 to be exact.
Twenty-three!
Not sure why I didn't half the recipe either.
It's pretty easy to make.
Not too horribly time consuming.
Its healthier than my usual- keeping in mind I usually make cupcake bites. :)
No- but really. It's turkey!
And there's veggies!
I cheated and used a bag of frozen peppers/onions because I hate dicing and it was cheaper too.
I love Frys.
If you glance at the pic quickly some of the onions kinda resemble worms.
Wow. I really make ya wanna try this recipe huh?
For the record you can't really taste the Dr. Pepper. But its still tasty. Moist and flavorful.
If you get a bottle instead of a can you can drink the leftovers with your meal. :)
I served myself mashed potatoes with it.
If you try it let me know what you think. :)
I think bullets may help me keep it short and simple...
Maybe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lyndsies-Dr-Pepper-Meatballs/Detail.aspx

Upgrade

2010-07-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Go ahead and scroll down now for the 2 pictures that sums it up without all my wordiness :)

I'd been searching for a white storage bench for the foot of my bed for months. I wanted to store my linens in it. I perused in person. Online. Via phone in Tucson and California.... Finally I headed to Ikea at 8:00 pm- it should be noted that they close at 9:00 so this was cutting it close for me since I have some weird paranoia or something about being in stores too close to closing time. I blame being a 'waitress' and also T Nolan. ;)

Traci is the one who suggested Ikea, as she got her perfect bench there that I had forgotten about. I was convinced that I would find it there and finally be done with my search. So when I am informed by the friendly yellow shirt wearing lady that it no longer exists, I'm annoyed. Annoyed and over this whole storage bench idea. Done. I could make do with my temporary ghetto makeshift bench.

As they are making the 'last call' announcement overhead, I head into the 'As-Is' section... and waaaalaaaa! There, in the middle of the room sat this beautiful white 2-drawered wonder. Love at first sight. I had to have it. It even matched my dressers. Annnnd...It was half off- which, naturally, bumped it up from wanting it to needing it. Then it dawned on me. I don't drive a truck. I decide to ask homeboy if he thinks it'll fit in my car. He told me that although it appears as though it will fit, it would be 1/2 inch too short since my doors don't open a full 90 degrees.

Fine I think, I'll just put it on hold and see if Thomas can come to come get it for me sometime soon :)

Great idea- except they only hold items until 9:00. Son of a! Add that reason to my 'not arriving near closing time paranoia.'

So I call Thomas right then- as I am hovering in front of it, fearing one of the two other customers in the as-is section will snatch it. I believe I asked him if he wanted to earn himself a 6 pack followed by 'what are you doing either right now or tomorrow at 10 am sharp?' Long story short, I informed homeboy I was going to buy it right now- that my friends would meet me in the parking lot. And that they did. The Amazingly awesome Tenkelys headed to Ikea immediately, loaded and tied down my new mini dresser and followed me home. From there, Thomas watched as Traci and I unloaded and carried it into my room, taking pictures and coaching us the entire way. And this, my friends, is why you should be happy I don't update my blog regularly. I cannot keep a story short for the life of me! Oy. Thanks again Tenkelys~ I don't know what I would do without you!

BEFORE

AFTER

Yeah- I said foot of the bed. But I decided it looked better under the window. My window without a bush in front of it, mind you. ;)

Binge baking

2010-07-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Late last night I got this amazing idea. Why not make my cupcake bites with alcohol? So after researching online off to the store I went. I decided to go with a coconut pineapple rum cake...

The Kahlua and ice cream was for a shake... and I think I'll try french vanilla cake with the french vanilla Kahlua for my next attempt.

I made infused orange rum coconut. The Kahlua was just there ;)

Coconut marinating in Malibu to be toasted as garnish

There's the cake with infused orange rum coconut and pineapple cake.. very moist.. Too moist in fact when it comes to using it for cupcake bites...

Since I made the decision last minute that a rum frosting would be over the top I chose to go with plain ol chocolate frosting- the one frosting I did not have. I refused to go to the store, so I made a dark chocolate frosting...

This is as in progress as you get. Halfway done- just need to dip the tops and garnish...

Here they are!

A close up for ya

And now comes the honesty. Another post that attributes to the title of my blog. I am not impressed. I wanted to throw them all away, but couldn't bear to waste all that alcohol. Ok or the other ingredients either. There are starving people everywhere you know. :) The batter was runny when I poured it in the cake pan so I knew from the get go it was going to be interesting.
My chocolate frosting was also runny, but I was over it so went with it anyway. Unhappy with the texture, I added some cream cheese frosting to the mix too. Yeah- these bad boys are pretty healthy I tell ya. So that last picture up there, are the ones I ended up throwing away.
I will attempt to make alcohol infused bites again I suppose, but will opt for the easier route of box cakes- replacing the water or oil with alcohol maybe. Or maybe I will just continue on with the others on my repertoire.

Fishing, facials, and some pottery too

2010-07-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

My mom celebrated a special birthday last month. We decided to combine a couple of random activities she had mentioned wanting to do to help her celebrate.

Our 5 am self photo before we headed to the lake

Pretty lil lake

HUGE crawdad with only one claw.. only thing we caught all day

Took me awhile.. but I finally put put the worm on

Waiting for Dad and the car :)

Wore me out!

We were the oldest ones in there ;)

At the spa :)

Here's to May

2010-06-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

As I caught up on blogs tonight I realized I have been more of a slacker than usual on posting on my own blog, so I decided to make up for it in one post- recap style. :) I'm going to try my best to make it short and sweet.. though I don't do that too well ;) Cheers to May

This was the last night out for me and the boy. We had dinner, drinks, and dessert before we went on an adventure. We went around to some of his fav spots in Phoenix to take pics of the camel he bought when he went to Kazakhstan. So dorky. So fun. So us. Tear. :) Bonus: My car looks kinda clean here! :)

I was beyond lucky to be able to celebrate turning 28 with my most favorite people. Seriously. I have the best friends ever! We did it up Monkey Pants style again- no fish racing this year, but we did have a delicious cake! :) P.S. Having a group photo makes choosing which pic to post so much easier! :)

Stef convinced me to go to the Dbacks game with her, Kristen, and Derek. We got there super early to ensure we got Homers- the garden gnomes they were handing out! So worth it :)

Headed down to Tucson over Memorial Day for a baby shower.. where they had betas as the centerpieces- so fun!

Graduation cakeballs

2010-05-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

It's official. I am obsessed with cakeballs. Actually cupcake bites- but cakeballs is easier to say- but not make- go figure. I think its more everyone else who is obsessed really. I cannot even remember how many batches I've made now. I recently tried my hand at Bakerella's graduation bites. First (failed) attempt was for Tiffany's graduation bbq. She graduated from ASU- so I attempted to make yellow ones- but that ended up being more of an off white?! See below I tried to make all the tassels red(maroon) but got over that real quick, as I was running super late, and a rushed, stressed, late Heather is no good! I also failed to prepare for a way to dry/display these bad boys. Unlike the cupcake bites, you can't just sit them upright in my tupperware. I had some random styrofoam lying around, but you can only fit a few in each one, and they don't really stand upright. I tried to be creative here, but that didn't work out too well. I cris crossed some tape over a glass, cut holes in an empty aluminum foil box...

Another reason these failed is the color and lack of display combined. Since they were 'displayed' cap down, stick up- with no label or anything, people bit into them thinking it was cheese, and some type of meat!? What a surprise for them! Expecting meat and cheese and instead getting sweet strawberry deliciousness. They tasted pretty good and were kinda cute so it wasn't a total fail I guess. Again it kinda worked, but not well.

My boss volunteered me to make some cakeballs for her niece's graduation party. She had no idea about the graduation style- but I was bound to improve. I gave myself more time, and used colored melts instead of dying them to ensure they wouldn't be confused for cheese. Can't lose right? Ha! I overmelted the melts, which btw, makes for chunky chocolate instead of smooth. I was annoyed, and again over it, so I let it be- telling myself it was just texture. :) It tasted ok, but in the end my perfectionism kicked in and i couldnt finish using it.

This party called for 2 batches- which calls for 2 nights of making them. Night 2 I ended up going to dinner with my friends- ok with you guys haha so my cakeball making was cut short. Not to mention it was Greys season finale night! I ended up making them on my couch, switching from freezer/dipping/drying during the commercials. I was much more prepared for these ones and had proper drying/displaying methods as well as more patience/time- even with the impromptu dinnner/tv viewing- so they turned out much better- sorry Tiff!

I wrapped styrofoam blocks to display and they fit in my tupperware for easier storage (score! :)

I found the patience(though extremely difficult) to stay within the color scheme this time too- and found better 'dots' to use for the lil cap doohickey on the top. Once again sorry yours were the trials Tiff!

What you can't see is my gallon of milk shoved in my crisper to allow for storage room on the shelf :)

Here they are en route. I should've buckled those bad boys in. :) Traveling with them still sucks- I lost a few- but its not too bad since I got to eat them. :)

Part Time Job

2010-04-19T21:31:00.001-07:00

Yup- I have a part time job. As a party planner/baker/caterer. I just don't get paid. And it's on an as needed basis. But I really should start charging. :) The pic below is a batch of the 70 cupcake bites and 150 dipped pretzels I made for a friend's carnival/bake sale.
The cupcake bites sold for $50 before the sale even started! :)
The pretzels were used as a centerpiece and I am hoping then sold in the bake sale as well. :)

My other event of the weekend was a helping plan a Mickey Mouse party for my friend Karianne's son who was turning 2.

Here's the cake we made. Thankfully the black frosting turned into black from the purple that it stayed for an hour.

Mickey Rice Krispies for the goody bags. I definitely recommend using a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter or, Oh I dunno round cookie cutters. Pretty much anything besides tiny fondant cutters... unless of course you want your hand to be tender the following day. :) I hope the kiddos enjoyed those darn things :)

The girl and boy goody bags.

Here are the Mickey centerpieces I made. We opted for the beer Steins so they would at least be used after the party. :)

   And the banner....


   Yeah- we made cupcake in addition to the cake.48 of um to be exact!
Half had the Mickey toppers made my none other than myself :) And the others had lil Mickeys made out of mini Reeses and Peanut Butter MnMs.

Here's what happens when mom leaves the room while Auntie Heather has frosting- (man he loved him some frosting!), me sporting some Mickey ears, and the bday boy and his parents as we sing to him. He was so excited and started clapping when he heard his name! :)

I love my part time job! :)

I got what I paid for

2010-03-09T22:27:00.001-07:00

I admit it. I <3 the dollar store. I will also admit that I used to hide in the car when my mom forced me to tag along when I was younger. Who woulda thought years later I'd be blogging about my dollar store excursions?!
I mostly love how dollar stores help me with my crafting, but do buy other random items there as well. A regular dollar store purchase for me is shaving gel. And it has to be gel- not just cream. I'm picky. As long as it's got that going for it they're all the same to me so I much prefer to spend $1 as opposed to $4.
There were only 2 'For women' shave gels to choose from, so I quickly grabbed the 'baby soft' can and was good to go.....
or so I thought.

As I used it the next day, I noticed it was a sticker label placed around the can- not a printed on label. Being the curious (or lame/weird- whatever:-) girl I am I begin to peel the label away to see what the 'old' label looked like. That's when I noticed this:

What's that? You can't read anything other than the oh so popular brand Envi, ;) here's a closeup for you:

Ha! Yup! that's right- 'For Men'

Skintimate would be ashamed! :)

At least it's still all the same! :)

Record Bowl full o love

2010-02-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

Top view

Side view

Full of love and chocolate :)

Idea found here at http://mynaptimecrafts.blogspot.com

Sorry- apparently pictures taken on my Droid become blurry and horrible when posted any bigger than small on Blogger.

Pop rocks, Oreos, and Love

2010-02-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

I was intrigued and overwhelmed with all the adorable Valentine crafts I saw in Blogland. I couldn't do just one, and ended up doing and combining a few. I wanted to do more, but ran out of time. Here are a few that I went with.

I even made those envelopes myself! Some say I have too much time on my hands.. I say I am taking advantage of having time while it's here! Also- when you only have 3 channels, you seem to find a lot more time... :)Find the idea here: http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com

Here is a closeup of the clothespins I decorated. These were initially for a different idea that I saw here at brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com. I was over the MnMs though, and ended up dipping some oreos to put in the bag.. held with the fancy schmancy clothespins..

Apparently my Oreo dipping skills have only improved slightly over the past the year...

2009

2010

(Sorry for the horrible pic)

At least the baking self photos have gotten a lil less frightening...

Chocolate survival Kit

2010-02-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

A few amazing women I am blessed to have in my life were lucky enough to receive one of these bad boys from me for Valentines Day. ;) I got the idea frommyfeatherednest.blogspot.com.

Super easy. Super cute. Sorry I didn't post in enough time for you to make some of your own, but I think surprises make things more fun. Actually- it's your lucky day- these can be given year round! :)

Tweet me!?

2010-01-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Somedaycrafts inspired me to make that conversation heart wreath today. I remember reading,ironically, on a tweet of Caprice Crane's that the hearts this year would include 'Tweet me' but it was funny to see it along with 'text me.' I bet they never imagined the new phrases that would be added 144 years later.

I used large and tiny hearts. That kind of craft is not the best kind for people who are slightly OCD as myself. I started off using only the hearts that were perfectly shaped, with legible phrases. In case you were wondering (haha),the large hearts have a significantly less amount of legible and perfect hearts than the tiny ones. At the same time, though, you apparently burn yourself less using the large hearts. :) Also, only the tinys have the white hearts, which are the only ones I like. I opted to hang it on the inside of my door, as I have become the bitter old lady who does not trust the neighbor kids. :) And there you have it.

What she said

2010-01-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't noticed, I can be wordy. I often struggle to find the right words, and prefer to just show things through pictures, but sometimes pictures are best with stories. I struggle with summing stories up, and most stories I tell tend to have no real beginning, middle, or end- hence 'Heather stories.' Words words words. Traci is much better at story telling, so, just go check out Traci's awesome post to read and see about our amazing snowboarding trip! :) Thanks Trac!

Making use of $12 million

2010-01-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Apparently seeing my non- committal issues (Thanks for that Trac! Thats it exactly) ~~written~~ typed gives me the inspiration I needed. Today was day 3 of exercise. Not a big deal for most, but it had been oh 136 days since I had exercised, so its pretty significant here folks. I usually just go through my neighborhood- no specific route- just go wherever. Today I ended up on the new $12 million walking path-( I tried to find a pic, but that map is all I was able to find) I wish I knew how far I went- I lost my pedometer- pretty sure it's not accurate anyway, but I like knowing. ..anyway...

So here I am, walking/jogging, jammin out to songs on my Droid when I come to the end of my path. I walk down a ways to use the crosswalk, since it is rush hour and all. (Though I did jaywalk on Sunday with a cop standing beside me). I assume the path will continue directly ahead of me on the other side of the street. Ha! Shows how observant I am!I should add that I see this path every.single.day. on my way to and from work. I have commented on wanting to 'try out' this new path previously as I drive past it next to Kiwanis. I'll just say the 'directly ahead of me' was not next to Kiwanis.

Enjoy the vast array of terrain I encountered when I chose the wrong route. :-)

There was river rock.

Not pebbles, but good sized rocks-

the pic doesn't do it justice.

There was dirt-

complete with deepish tire marks

Oh yes! There were Railroad tracks!

Ahhh.. finally made it back on the path-

and I now have the option of concrete or dirt

Ooh the path has art!

Definitely never knew there were horses at Kiwanis!

Don't worry- I now have GPS on me at all times during my exercise urges. ;)

New year

2010-01-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

I choose not to make new years resolutions.
I choose this because I am honest with myself and prefer not to set myself up for failure. :)

If I were to make resolutions though, they would go something like this:

1.work out more- more for me could be 1x/week- though I would probably go for at least 2-3.
2.Eat healthier- I would probably ~~cut out~~ limit soda intake, as well as chocolate and sweets in general. I would also try to eat more well rounded meals, decrease the carbs, increase fruits and veggies, and also limit fast food.
3.Be a better friend- spend more time/express gratitude for friendship with my wonderful friends- including those I don't see as regularly
4.Think before I speak- Ha! If only... :)
5.Stop caring so much about what others will think- Another one that would do wonders for me

While I don't make a conscious effort to hold myself to these, they are in my head, and I will occasionally act on them. For example, as I got home from work today, I had the urge to go for a jog. I jumped right on that notion since that is a rare occurrence, and I must say it was refreshing. I was pretty stoked that my new fabulous phone doubles as my ipod- definitely a plus since my Ipod is no longer :( I think I could quite possibly do the exercise thing now that I think about it, because I may or may not have been catching up on my Reader during the walking portion! It's like I wasn't even exercising! :)
I didn't feel as though I had had enough when I got home so I ~~busted out~~ dusted off my Wii Fit... only to see 'It's been 136 days!!!' Yes. Yes it has. Is it counterproductive to have a nice glass of wine to reward myself after my workout? Wait. You know what don't answer that. I don't care what you think. ;)

Did you make any new years resolutions?

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-12-18T16:57:00.002-07:00

Since Traci's 'Favorite Things' post made me happy, I decided to follow in her footsteps and do a 'favorites' post of my own. After all- it has been 4 weeks since I've posted. At least Kyle has 2 adorable reasons for her 'slacking.' As for me, my reasons are nothing other than pure procrastination and laziness. :)

1. I am addicted to chapstick. My favorite is ChapStick brand vanilla mint, but I will take whatever. It is not uncommon for me to have 4+ tubes of chapstick/lipgloss in my purse at any given time. Not to mention the 3 regulars in my desk drawer at work. I feel as though this should be in everyone's favorites. Noone likes to see chapped peeling lips.

2. My next addiction is gum. It is rare that i am found without a piece in my mouth. I always enjoy Wrigley's 5 brand- particularly 'Solstice.' But I chew whatever- as long as it is mint flavored- fruit flavored gum weirds me out.

3. This is my latest and greatest favorite addiction. I am not sure how I survived all this time without having internet on my phone. It's convenience and overall awesomeness makes me happy. I love how I refuse to pay for cable but will happily pay to have internet on my phone.

4. It's funny that every favorite so far can be found in my purse. Including my fabulous pink camera, compliments of my amazing friends. My camera is my security blanket. It is my window to my memory- if that makes sense. It makes perfect sense to me. :) I may or may not upload pictures almost immediately- both to my hard drive and Picasa and still refuse to delete them from my memory card. Hello OCD. :)

5. This bad boy is what makes me enjoy baking. Okay, well besides the deliciousness of the outcome. I love how it does the work while I do the dishes.

6. This one I should probably not post but oh well. It combines 2 of my favorites. Anything pink in general, and VS Pink 5/$25.

7. There are too many for a picture, but the last favorite of this post would have to be be my family and friends. I am truly blessed to have such amazing people in my life. I am not always the best at expressing myself,(words,words,words:) but I love and appreciate each and every person in my life.

Oreo Cookie and Cream cupcakes!

2009-11-17T20:25:00.003-07:00

This is my new favorite cupcake. Not only are they delicious, but I have now made them- count it- twice, and have not messed up either time! You all know that is quite the feat for me!

These seriously are amazing and oh so easy! They are so good in fact, that I used it as my very first posted recipe on my favorite recipe website, Allrecipes.com- find my recipe here. Let me know how you like them if you make them!

Had to put a pic of it in my new lil

mini cake stand because it makes me smile!

Mmmmmm!

So delicious!

Candycorn cookies

2009-11-06T18:06:00.003-07:00

Just a quick post since it's been awhile... I think I got the idea/recipe for these here.

In true Heather fashion, I of course learned a lesson or two with this.

Lesson #1: Patience is a virtue- even with baking! Cramming as many cookies as you can on the cookie sheet, will not allow for individual shapes. :)

Lesson #2: Put melting chocolates in a big enough container to allow proper dipping room

Lesson #3: Learn to dip evenly! :)

Although mine, of course are not anywhere near as pretty, as the recipe, you can tell what they are, and they tasted good so I count it as a win~ especially for me! :-)

Napkin-ized invitations

2009-10-26T19:55:00.004-07:00

What can I say besides I'm weird... at least I admit it right?! :) I have always loved doing this with napkins, and randomly decided to do it with these 40 invitations for picture sake. I made them for an event we are hosting at work. It started with 20 invitations, but turned into 40. They are very plain and simple but still managed to take longer than anticipated to make of course. I think they turned out alright...

I love spray paint!

2009-10-15T19:18:00.003-07:00

I have recently joined and continue to join crafty blogs. They inspire and frustrate me all at the same time. Those ladies can make any and everything plain look amazing with just a tiny touch- whether it be paint, feathers, or ribbon! I have always loved seeing before and afters items... and these blogs- who mostly are on budgets made me wanna create my own before and after!

The picture below is my collection of goodies I got from the 50% off sale at Goodwill. My crafting friends seemed to find awesome stuff there, so I figured I'd give it a whirl too.

This love sign was actually hanging on the wall along with the Halloween decorations- complete with spiders in it's crevices. I decided immediately it would look better painted black on my wall, so I dispersed the spiders elsewhere and added the lovely gold sign to my cart.It's been awhile since I have used spray paint, so thank goodness for the newspaper underneath since I seemed to spray the paper as much as I sprayed the sign! Also- acetone nail polish remover- not alcohol, soap and water, or eye makeup remover is what removes spray paint from skin! ;)

I think it turned out pretty good... yeah- I know you are probably saying how could it not Heather?! Its spray paint! Keep in mind most of my posts on here however... and remind yourself each of them usually include a struggle of some kind! I was kinda proud the only struggle was a lil paint on the hands this time! Annnd when I hung it, I only had to move it once due to it being crooked! Ahh yeah! :)

The winning location for my fun new sign was above my bed- I decided it went well with the metal heart that was there already. The heart was my purchase from the Tempe Festival of the Arts last year- which is December 4-6 and March 26-28 this year btw :)

Celebrating T Bag

2009-10-15T18:56:00.003-07:00

Below are pics of the tea bag toppers I 'made' for Thomas' birthday cupcakes... {pics and recipe for these delicious Oreo cookies and cream cupcake in the future with next batch! :)} The reason behind the tea bag is... our CEO of the company decided that was his nickname early on, and it has stuck- I think not so much with our CEO or anyone at corporate- where Thomas works mind you, but it has stuck with my boss and I- and thats what counts! :)
The following pics are from his birthday dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.. the first being a studly J Dub and his lady friend playing with the sharks!

I make me smile :)

2009-10-03T10:34:00.002-07:00

I spent my Friday night baking by ghost light, drinking beer, and jammin' out to iTunes radio.

I made chocolate dipped peanut butter rice krispie treats The treats turned out alright... of course they look better in the recipe picture, but I'm still proud of my first Rice Krispie endeavor. :) Apparently my OCD does not include perfectly matched cuts, but after looking at the pics, I think it soon will....

Concert fun.. part 2

2009-09-29T19:28:00.003-07:00

.....Turns out, they were tickets to see Sugar Ray at the Marquee Theater the following Wednesday night! Sugar Ray?! Are you serious?! 'I didn't know he was still singing, but he had some good songs back in the day!' I said to myself. ;)

I half jokingly asked my friend Karianne if she wanted to go with me and she did! Neither of us had ever been to the Marquee Theater, let alone knew where it was. We dressed all 'cute' since neither of us go 'out' that often, and were on our merry lil way to the show!

The tickets said general admission, with doors opeing at 6:30,so we g

rabbed some Subway after aimlessly driving around indecisive and refusing to parallel park to eat anywhere else on Mill. :) We probably got there around 7:15ish or so and joined the other 20 people who were there.

Oh. I guess I should mention here that I grabbed my binoculars to bring 'just in case.' My mom has taught me to always be prepared, and they have come in handy for multiple concerts- Garth, Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney.... Did I mention I had never been to the Marquee Theater? Yah. Well . Lets just say I learned to always research new venues before showing up.

For starters, the Marquee therater is approximately the size of a 2 screen movie theater. The parking lot, which they charged me $5 to park in mind you. Luckily it was one of 12 days I actually had cash! could probably fir 30 cars, while the Theater can hold 1000 supposedly.

Yah.. are you getting the picture here?

Heather shoes up to a tiny theater with binoculars!

The oh so friendly security of course pat us down and search our bags upon arriving... and when they see the binoculars( in plain sight- aka no case-therefore unable to be passed off as a camera or anything because they wouln't fit that way) in Karianne's purse {because they didn't fit in mine,] the chick laughs! I wish I had taken a pic of the inside of the barn like theater. Had we busted out the binoculars, I would probably be able to tell you exactly how many hairs Mark

McGrath has on his pretty little head. Man that man is pretty btw!

Eventually more peeps show up... and of course the most obnoxious, drunkest ones( not counting the lovely Ron Paul Revolutions crazies!) end up directly in front of us.

Homeboy has one of those red party cups, and with his arms around his 2 lady friends, the red party cup ends up cockeyed right on my short. Lucky for him, he only spills a few drops on me before I bust out my cat-like moves and paw it *almost* out of his drunken little hands, causing him to 'party foul' more than a few drops. Hey- sucks for you to have lost $2 worth of your $5 beer buddy, but I will remain dry. He did not seem to care that I would remain dry and attempted to mouth off... but was denied this pleasure by his two lovelies. Not sure if I was glad for this, or a lil disappointed I did not get the opportunity to see him thrown out by one of the 77

security yofos they had. It seriously seemed there were just as many of them as 'fans.'

This actually makes it appear much larger than it really is!

I know I mentioned how handsome he is, but not how funny he was.. in a gooberish kinda way. I think my favorite was when he said 'do you guys smell that?!" " I smell a #1 hit from 1997! ::Insert Fly here::

Concert fun.. part 1

2009-09-29T18:57:00.005-07:00

So... I recently attended {day 1 of the} 3 day concert, Fall Frenzy at Tempe Beach Park to see Colbie Calliat, Jason Mraz, Rob Thomas, Gavin Rossdale, and the B-52s. Although it was a lil toasty, the Jon Bon Jovi fans on a stick they handed out, along with the beer helped. All the bands were awesome and I had a blast! Colbie performing...

Me with the man in the bee costume! I must say I enjoyed his outfit- the skirt part lit up different colors! :)

Mike and Paula, my concert going friends!

As all the concert goers were leaving, they were handing out free tickets. Not one to turn down free, I grabbed two......

This brought the hugest smile to my face

2009-09-21T21:04:00.002-07:00

I think Traci will appreciate this post the most. She always knew about my love for the elderly but in case she forgot, I reminded her earlier this year as she graciously agreed to let me tag along, er is that vice versa?! :) to the Sr Olympics being held at her pool.

Anyway, as she, and all my friends and family know, I love elderly people. I always feel the need to assist them if it appears they need it, I love old couples who hold hands, and I will spot them from afar and mention how cute they are.

As you all also know, I scrapbook. Ok, well mostly, I collect scrapbooking supplies but still. I recently subscribed to a few random crafty blogs. One of my new favorites, Just A Girl posted about seeing a blog she liked and wanted to try herself, but could not find it anymore. Being the super cool and busy person that I am, I thought I'd take her synopsis of the post and put my Googlestalking skills to good use and try to find it. I came across this, and my googlestalking was halted. That post seriously made my entire day- even though it made me a lil teary eyed- I am not even ashamed to admit that either. I would love to take a vacation to wherever that little man is and sit with him drinking coffee all day long listening to his stories!

Much better

2009-09-09T21:02:00.006-07:00

I love my job. I love my boss. I love my boss' boss.

Tomorrow is celebrate football/wear your jersey day. I love any reason to 'dress up;' but a jersey is one article of clothing I lack. I was so excited that I decided to go to the store to buy one. Since I know I will most likely never wear it again, I didn't want to spend alot, so I headed to WalMart.

I should note- that in our staff 'communication book' my boss so lovingly reminded all staff to wear jerseys, but had to add " (but no UofA). She is an ASU grad, and a huge Sun Devil fan. She also hates Tucson and any and everything related to the Wildcats. Her strong hatred has increased my previously 'meh' attitude towards ASU to hatred- mostly just for the sake of argument though :)

I of course really wanted to sport a UofA jersey, but it appears as though my boss is not the only one who is not a fan of UA... the only UA item I could find were folders.. hmmmph. :) So I looked to the next best- Cardinals. As it turns out though, jerseys are even expensive (for me) at Walmart. $30 for a jersey that is a size too big, and of a player who I have sadly never even heard of is not worth it. So, I was forced to take matters into my own hands.....

Store bought. It killed me to purchase this.

Love you Cricut.

Bear Down

Ahhh yah! So much better! :)

2009-08-11T18:52:00.002-07:00

So I was browsing various 'crafting' blogs last night, and it got me all inspired. Most of the blogs ended up having tutorials of some kind on cheap/thrifty ways to improve your house... they of course required craftiness, but it made me inspired nonetheless. I can be crafty sometimes ya know. :) Anyway, as I was oogling some of the fabulous ideas on these blogs I thought that my apt needed a cheap lil makeover and decided to refocus my search to apartments. I went to my BFF, Google, and searched "cheap apartment decorating ideas."

This is one of the photos that appeared. Really?! What is it in that 'apartment'

that they are considering cheap? Also- where exactly are the so called 'decorations?'

Now, I agree that I gravitate more towards what most would call 'clutter' :) But seriously!

I will be sticking to my blogging stalking instead of my usually dependable Dear Google!

Yup. Holiday decorating with jellybeans and jars is more what I was going for..

That is all. :-)

It wouldn't be dinner....

2009-08-10T18:25:00.005-07:00

Surprise! There was some sort of snafu as I made my dinner tonight! My basil has once again grown and needed to be harvested. I was not feelin' pesto, so I searched Allrecipes for a different Basil recipe. I was going for something quick and easy while using ingredients I already had which isn't too much when it comes to basil:) I finally decided on Tomato Basil Pasta. I knew I had *tons* of pasta in my cupboard, and had the other ingredients too- well the ones I wanted to use anyway:) So off I went to prepare my dinner... I boil the water, and grab all the other ingredients and utensils necessary. I go to get some of the *tons* of pasta I have only to learn I was mistaken. I have no pasta. Well- ok. Fine I have fettuccine- half a box- but the recipe calls for spiral. I then make a tough decision. Do I waste my mac -n- cheese -or- my Suddenly Salad?!

In the end I decided to go with the Suddenly Salad since those seemed to be more the spiral the recipe called for :) The rest of the recipe continued on pretty much as planned... so not too bad actually. I felt like a cigar roller (what I'm reading about them in my book!) as I rolled my basil leaves to chop them! :) Sorry- no self photo of this part specifically. :)

It is an easy dish to make and should probably not constitute as dinner, since I opted out of adding chicken or any type of protein, but I had a hearty meal of my delicious tuna salad today! It had a good variety of spices in it and went along well with my YooHoo. For the record, Yoo Hoo is packed with 7 vitamins and minerals! :-) So I had quite the nutritious lunch hehe.

The end result was "Meh." I think it was just ok- a lil bland yet too tomato-y tasting and I didn't even add all the tomatoes it called for- annnnnnd I even added extra basil leaves cause all I could smell were tomatoes! Maybe it will be better cold tomorrow!

Times like these I kinda wish I had a special someone to share it with- 1. Because well I just do. 2. I have soo much leftover and 3. Then I could pull the "I cooked it- you clean it card." But alas, it is just lil' ol' me, so I am postponing the clean up by posting this! I am going to clean up now though- only to make another mess! Hopefully this one should go without a hitch! Brownies with some homemade peanut butter frosting! Mmmm :)

Operation Babyproof

2009-08-08T16:28:00.002-07:00

I was lucky enough to have the honor of watching Ethan last weekend. I have babysat him many times prior to this night, but this was the first time I would be watching him from my house.

I realized I had quite a few breakable things right at arms reach, so I did a quick babyproofing job, relocating my bottles of wine and glass knickknacks.

When it came time for dinner it was interesting not having a highchair of any kind. We started with Ethan on my lap, but then I ended up feeding him from the floor while he was in the chair, as it was easier, and kept my hands cleaner- yes I said my hands- not his! Oh man I hope I will overcome my dirty- hand phobia by the time I have my own kids! The entire night went well- Ethan is such a good boy and I think we both had a blast!

Practice makes perfect

2009-07-19T18:38:00.004-07:00

Considering I still had some basil to use, I tried my search again on allrecipes. I found some good recipes, and went to work again on my shopping list. Frys was back to 100%, and I was stoked to make my very own pesto for my wrap to bring for lunch tomorrow. I also needed a few ingredients to make mint chicken for dinner tomorrow.

Before finding the mint chicken recipe, however, I used some to make mint ice cubes to add to my tea, lemonade, water, whatever. Heather proof recipe! I am actually currently enjoying a 'naughty Arnold Palmer,' complete with mint ice cubes. They do add a nice touch to the already delicious drink!

I am a huge pesto fan, so I was excited to make my own with my own herbs. There were tons to choose from but I chose the right one! No drama with this recipe! Super easy, super quick, and I even got to use my Magic Bullet! I licked the spatula after pouring it into the tupperware, and decided I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow to eat it! I scraped the sides of the Magic Bullet and got enough to spread on a few lil pieces of bread I got bought to make my own bruschetta. Omigoodness.. I could eat the entire loaf of bread with this pesto smeared on it!

Mmmmm!

Struggling to make dinner

2009-07-16T20:08:00.006-07:00

So I have been incredibly lazy here lately. For starters, I haven't cooked meals in quite awhile... I now remember that it wasn't due entirely to laziness,but also because of my struggles.

I found a website that I love- Allrecipes.com. I think I especially love it because it allows me to change the serving size from the normal family size of 4- to just lil ol me! This of course includes automatically changing the ingredients also. That is fabulous!

My AeroGarden decided to love me and the basil and mint took off! ( I am choosing not to speak of the other herbs at this time:)

It was time to harvest and then use the herbs to make somethin delicious, hence the kick in the but to cook.

Pretty simple, right? Find a recipe using my herbs, cook, enjoy. Ha! Simple for most, but an endeavor for me! :)

I go to allrecipes.com and search for recipes including Italian parsley. After searching a while and finding nothing worthwhile I decide to Google search it. This search leads me to epicurious.com. I end up finding a recipe I like- mashed potatoes with Fontina and Italian Parsley. I of course decided to do all this late one night, so planned to make it the following day. I head to the store to grab a few needed ingredients... to find this:

The coolers at the nice new Frys I went to were not working properly, causing resulting in piling loads of cardboard over everything, or pulling down the 'sunshades' on the reach in ones. Some also had plastic over them. Everything was still cold when I arrived, so I decided it was safe to buy.

Blah blah next night I get home from work, excited to try my hands at the new recipe... I go to cut my herbs and notice that it was Italian BASIL I grew- not parsley!!! Son of A!!!!!! Figuring they are entirely different tastes, but bound and determined to make my potatoes, I run( ok fine drive) to the Food City for some parsley. I forgot to mention that during my Frys trip, I couldn't find Fontina Cheese- I found something similar, Fontinella, asked the kids behind the deli counter if it was the same. One was honest and said 'I dunno.' the other said 'Uh yah I'm sure it is. ' At this point I really didn't care, so I got it. Considering I found Fontina today at the store, I now know it is indeed not the same- however mine was still a few bucks cheaper- cheese is expensive btw!!!

Side note, I LOVE the grater I found in my drawer!

At first I thought I did not have one at all, but I

inherited this one from my grandma... best lil grater in town!

But...... my potatoes turned out oh so yummy! Quite the process... well compared to my usual choice of opening the individual bag, adding water, and microwaving anyway! :)

I also made orange chicken to accompany the potatoes, but I was not a fan. I will say that is was very moist, having marinated overnight in oj,mint, lemon and lime juice, and honey. (I chose that recipe to use my fresh mint.) It kind of reminded me of a Mentholatum cough drop. Oh I may have also bought some yummy beer.. Michelob Ultra Tuscan Orange Grapefruit. I enjoy the Pomegranate Raspberry so figured I'd try this one too... not too bad. Not my fav, but I drank the whole thing! :)

Father's Day weekend

2009-06-24T22:19:00.002-07:00

I went down to Tucson to celebrate Fathers Day and my Mom's bday. Here are a few things that kept us busy :)

Nothin' like a good Friday night in playing board games and drinking beer. Uno Spin is good times! :)
Mom and I found this shower chair out and about- we use these at my work and this one puts the one we had to shame! Dad came to pick it up from the store, and was also there as Mom and I powerwashed and sanitized it! He was there again, laughing mostly, as we tried to make it fit in my car- man what an entertaining ordeal that was! Wefigured it out eventually though, and it was an awesome purchase for work! We has a good weekend, and of course it was wonderful to see my parents!

Heh

2009-06-10T20:12:00.004-07:00

-Found these gloves under my sink tonight-

-Sadly they didn't make cleaning any more fun-

-They made my hands smell funny too-

-They did, however provide an opportunity to take yet another self photo :)

Update!

2009-06-09T19:13:00.003-07:00

Look closely and you will see some lil sprouts comin up already! Today is day 4! This is Italian Basil- it is on schedule and supposed to sprout in 4-7 days! :)

Here's Thyme- a day early-to suck up to me since I am annoyed of it's subsitution:)

And lastly is Italian Basil- set to sprout at 3-7 days!

The others still have a couple days yet... Parsley and dill will be the last to sprout...

so excited they are growing already! I am already writing this off as a success hehe.

Sorry for the shotty quality- its still a tad early to take the domes off...

AeroGarden

2009-06-07T10:37:00.003-07:00

"NASA tested aeroponic technology grows plants in water, nutrients and air so simply and easily that anyone can succeed. Choose from over 20 different seed kits, from fresh herb varieties to cherry tomatoes, salad greens, chili peppers and more. Fully automated garden with built-in grow lights. No dirt, no weeds, no mess and no green thumb needed. Indoor gardening made easy with AeroGarden." Aerogardenstore.com

My parents got me this for my birthday! I've gotta be honest at first I was like, oh boy. Something else for me to kill-

something that costs way more than $10 for me to kill- even better. Yay. But then I read up

on it. 'Guaranteed to grow!' 'As little as 5 minutes a month for care!' Those two right there

basically sold me. But it was also when I learned it TELLS you when you need to water it! Brilliant! This is my kind of

plant!

Yesterday, I finally decided to get it goin... I will keep you

posted on it's growth. I must say I was disappointed upon opening it, though. It came with

the Gourmet Herb seed kit, and one of those included was cilantro! I love me some cilantro

so I was especially excited for that- yah- well they substituted thyme for cilantro. Lame! Owell

I'm still excited for the other herbs too- Chives, Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Dill, Mint and Parsley.

Here are pictures of day 1.

Man those lil grow bulbs are bright!I know it's hard to read- but this is the side of the box week by week. I hope mine will actually follow that and look like the picture at the top of the post in 4 short weeks :)This is exactly how bright those lights are! The grow lights are the only lights on on in my entire apt! they stay on for 16 hours! Currently they are on from 1:00 pm- 5:00 am! Thankfully light doesn't interfere with my sleep- well not when I can shut my door anyway- and I could change it's light cycles if need be too. I am very excited for my new herbs! I need to start deciding what to make with them...

Jacques wedding

2009-06-06T14:36:00.005-07:00

Our friends Eric and Tiffany got married on May 23. It was a beautiful and happy celebration! The ceremony was at the Catholic church, and the reception was at Renaissance Hotel. We got a room there so were able to stay late and enjoy it to the fullest:) Congratulations to the Jacques!

There was some down time between the ceremony and the reception- so the Tenkelys and I decided that we needed to find a QT to get slurpees and snacks...

The default self photo :)

It wasn't until Traci and I were putting on our dresses that we noticed they had pockets! We were both happily surprised and excited!

We apparently felt the need to 'pound it'- I'm sure there was a good reason?! Please pay no attention to the excessive glasses on the table :)

The dance floor is where we spent most of our time (ok. fine. The dance floor and the bar) These are the ladies(minus Traci) of Table 8 dancing with the groom! Our table was the rowdiest and naturally so much fun!

Just a glimpse of how the evening progressed. :)

That's right.. that is a purse sized bottle of Beringer White Zin in my hand! Need I say more?! :)

Again- there were 150+ pictures taken that evening between all our cameras!

"It's my biiiiirthday! "

2009-06-06T14:05:00.005-07:00

My bday celebration started at work where my Boss decorated my desk... made me smile but made the motivation to work completely disappear :)

Thankfully though the lack of motivation lasted only a short while- They took me to an early lunch! We all woke up deciding it was a good day to wear grey and black apparently :)
I was then treated to a yummy dinner and drinks at Bisonwitches ( say it fast heh) with some fabulous freinds...
Next, we went to my favorite bar, MonkeyPants! They do fish racing among many other things ;) annnd they have Ace, which is still a favorite of mine and hard to come by. This is me with the shirt I won- thanks to my lil fishy Crayola! :) I actually also won a giftcard to a bar/restaurant which I should probably locate and use sometime soon!

It is incredibly difficult for me to choose only a few pictures to post btw- especially when there are soooo many to choose from! It is both fun and obnoxious to say "It's my birrrrthday!"all day and night on your day! ( Thanks to all you fabulous folks for helping me celebrate my 27th- it is one of my favorites yet! XoXo

Catchin' up from May

2009-06-06T13:47:00.004-07:00

Upon uploading pics, it was brought to my attention( by myself, mind you :) that I am still behind on the posts I wanted to, well, post. So here goes...

At the beginning of May, Traci, Thomas, Stef, Rob, JDub, and his woman went to see Bob Marley at the Tempe Improv. He was pretty funny, and the dinner was pretty expensive oh I mean delish- but we have since forgiven Thomas for that expensive part ;)

Seriously- why does that font appear as a hyperlink?! Grr

Xoxo Trac :)

That is Bob and J Dub showing off their Irish tattoos after the show... I am a lil sad for John that that is the day he chose to wear hole-y undies ::heh:: but am glad he got to enjoy this show in it's entirety :) Thanks Thomas for planning this evening btw!

Find anything good?!

2009-05-28T20:11:00.004-07:00

As I was headed out to my car one day, I was greeted with this. In case you can't tell- the maroonish 'thing' in the middle of the dumpster is a person. A person who rides a bike apparently. He does not mess around with trash digging! Yeah yeah, I know I should not judge, and should be sad for him- especially given my occupation or something, but I just can't.

I also should've been nice and told him he would find better stuff in a few weeks closer to campus. Comeon ladies- you all remember our trash digging days after move out time at NAU! We just did not climb all the way in.... Yup.. that's it. The end. :)

Slacker

2009-05-28T19:59:00.004-07:00

Man! 3 weeks since I've posted?! I would like to say I've just been super busy.. and not much has happened to post, but I'd be lying. Really, I'm just lazy. Honestly- most of you have spouses, children,and jobs with looong random hours and you find time to post.. but me, with my 8 hour M-F work day, no significant other or kids can't find time?! Puhlease!

Actually there wasn't much to post on for awhile, so that part wasn't a lie- but then last week/end came and changed that! I could do a post a day for over a year! Well- if I put a picture + caption as a post anyway. I realized that I needed to post, so I took a few random pics to post- but this is where the laziness comes into play.

I was annoyed with myself I let these pitas go bad- but kind of intrigued and disgusted all at the same time that there were 2 different kinds/colors of mold on them! That is all. :) I think my old title of randomness fits this post better haha.

I told you- I was struggling for stuff to post.. they will get better.. I think ;)

Greys + Alzheimer's Association= :)

2009-05-06T20:26:00.002-07:00

So as I was looking at the Alzheimers Association website at work today I saw that they are now on Facebook and Twitter. Naturally, when I got home I had to further investigate this. I finally decided against adding them, because I decided my tweets, status', pictures, and the like are probably best left a mystery to people I may sometimes network with. Not that they would peep my pages, but I like to pretend I'm that much of a big deal, so shush :) Anyway... as I was scoping the site, I read the following: Tonight, Grey's Anatomy ties the knot with the Alzheimer's Association. Join Meredith and Derek at: http://www.alz.org/Meredith_and_Derek/. Seriously?! The Alzheimer's Association annnnnd Greys?! this, of course, required more investigation.. and this is when I found this.

I don't care how 'legit' it may or may not be, it made my night! Izzie made a wedding website for Meredith and Derek! You must check it out! Enjoy! :)

My Tagalongs

2009-05-02T19:43:00.007-07:00

I made these peanut butter sandwich cookies to bring to to a delicious dinner at Stef's.

This is after mixing the cookie part. I had to make them into 2 'rectangular logs.' I then froze them- it said to make slicing them easier later- but that was a big fat lie.

Heres after I baked the slices. Notice the irregular size and shapes of the cookies- hence the lie comment above :)

This pic is also of the cookies(obviously.) This recipe made me start to dislike Martha Stewart. It specifically instructed me to put my oven racks in the 'upper and lower thirds.' Betcha can't guess which one was was where!? Grr. It ended up working out okay, as you can see in the last pic, I just used the non-burnt cookies and cut them in half but I kinda liked the smaller sized cookies better anyway.

The 4th pic is the peanut butter filling I made for the middle! This is what made the cookie! When I took the leftovers to work, we may or may not have just eaten spoonfuls of it's deliciousness ;)

The last pic is the outcome- not the prettiest but they tasted pretty good!

Really thinking about changing my blog's name... hmm

Sunset

2009-05-02T19:38:00.002-07:00

This is for all of you who complain about driving with me. :)

At least I save my out the window photo taking for when I am by myself. :)

This was on my way back home from Easter in Tucson. It was too pretty with the crazy clouds and sunset to not take it- the guy ahead and next to me thought so too- I made sure we were not right side by side as we took um ;)

2009-04-19T17:03:00.002-07:00

Ethan's Bday banner from none other than the Cricut and yours truly :)

I had fun making these lil cupcake toppers for Ethan's party(ok minus 4 for cards too ) :)

Here they are on his cupcakes in the tier :)

Here is the birthday boy himself... he got to enjoy a slice of cake instead and was intrigued by the amount of frosting that ended up on his hand.... I think it's safe to say he has a happy 1st birthday! :)

Easter recap

2009-04-19T15:38:00.003-07:00

Running to find the next clue for our scavenger

outdoor money egghunt because we are really that cool :)

Prepping for meal maybe?

Hunting for indoor eggs.. not as cute as Chelsea but still ;)

Enjoying my Dr. Pepper.. cherry Dr.Pepper even :)

And in no other than self-photo style for you, Trac :)

Heh one of the eggs se found was in my wheel thatis disgustingly greasy...

sorry Sum but glad you found that one instead of me ;)

Short and Sweet

2009-04-04T15:43:00.003-07:00

My recent Cricut project :)

Out at Salty's last weekend to see Kris and Monica visiting from Portland- so glad they are moving back to town this month!

People watching

2009-04-04T15:10:00.004-07:00

So I was at Kiwanis Park, which I just love btw, catchin up on a lil' reading earlier today when along come these lovely people who bust out their huge swordish looking things and proceed to fight one another. Each 'sword' was a different color and they would yell the color after either being hit or hitting- I couldn't tell from where I was. Watching this 'game' especially made me laugh because I just watched Role Models last night and learned about L.a.i.r.e.! Why is this typing in blue underline and how do I make the link stop? Sorry for the annoyance but I am far too lazy to go back and rewrite it all. Grr

As if Jen Lancaster weren't funny enough for me, in addition to the L.a.i.r.e wannabes, there was also this guy- that is definitely his dog in the child rider there. Pretty sure it was a decent sized dog who appeared(from far away on my hill) healthy enough to run for exercise. Almost as bad as a dog stroller! There was also the PDA couple who.. well.. I'll just leave it at that, but I tried to snap a pic of them all entwined on the hill and such but got nervous and all I ended up getting was the grassy hill. I look forward to my next people watching excursion at Kiwanis! :)

Ghetto crafting at work

2009-03-26T17:15:00.006-07:00

So we had to get- no make new nametags at work. Prior to making these new ones, we had those pin on kind, which sucked because they put holes in everyone's clothes. Well, these suck too- well the concept behind them does anyway, but we won't go there :)

They were stored in one of those accordion files before, and each 'pocket' contained 2-3 letters.(i.e. pocket 1 had all the nametags that started with either a,b,or c) It took awhile for our drivers to dig through to find the ones they needed, so one of the guys asked if I could come up with a new system to store the nametags.

This is all I could come up with.

Mind you we have over 100 participants, so fitting them all, making sure you can read each name just does not work- hence the cramming together. I did not even take that picture, as I am not proud of my work. It is a cluster ahem and it is not very aesthetically pleasing on the eyes. Nonetheless, I figured since a photo was taken, along with the fact that it'd been a few days since I have posted anything at all and currently have nothing better to blog about, here ya go. :)

Do any of you have any other ideas of how to make this prettier? Other than just getting another board and putting half on each? We don't have much room. Please at least note the dual colored letters... and the ribbon matches btw ;)

I cannot wait until I post my most recent cute craftiness... I am much more proud of my latest! but it has to wait until after it/they are used- so until then-wait for it.. wait for it... :)

Oh yeah- I have more channels now- I got an extender thingy and now my weird antenna reaches closer to t he door so more channels come in... but it does still depend on where I am sitting in my house... and sadly, my two favorite channels, Fox, and ABC are the two that give me the hardest time, but it gratefully let me watch the last episode(until August anyway) of What Would you Do :) If you still have yet to watch it, you really need to check it out online. It is a very eye opening show! I have a love/hate relationship with WWYD however- it seems to bring out my emotional side which kinda irritates me but makes me happy all at the same time!

I am really not a fan of Blogger. It is annoying me right now. It never does what I want it to do. I know, I know- most likely it's just user error, but still... Just sayin'... :)

Cable Update

2009-03-21T16:45:00.003-07:00

Well... it has now been over 2 weeks since I have watched tv at my own home. I just cannot bear to pay for it when I know its free!(So I know I need to either stop whining, or suck it up and buy cable like everyome else- but I just don't want to! Besides, then what would I post about? ;)

My mom sent me home last wknd with a converter box and I bought an antenna today as well. I just hooked them both up and, well, I have a few clear channels. And when I say a few, I am not under exaggerating.

It's really too bad that PBS and UPN are not my favorite channels. If they were, I would be in heaven since there are apparently 2 different PBS- the regular one and then PBS World- who knew?! UPN appears on 2 seperate channels one after the other but they are the exact same channel/show- currently wrestling.. hooray.

Ooooh. Oh yeah. If I sit on the floor by my sliding door and hold the antenna against the glass, the channel called 'create' comes in as does channel 3.

Sadly no Fox, or ABC though. I think if I rearange my living room area more switchit completely, it would allow the antenna to receive a stronger signal- but I can't!!! Basically, there is only 1 accessible corner in my living room- which is where the tv is now. If I switch it to the other 'corner,' I block the patio door- and thats just not happening.

So here's to my soon to be new favorite channels. Any of you want to come hang out?? Maybe watch a lil create tv? Perhaps some UPN, your choice! Oooh we could even take turns sittin' by the window holding the antenna if you prefer Fox or Abc ;)

Request

2009-03-10T19:04:00.007-07:00

I am putting in a request for more blog posts! I am currently without cable. Scratch that- I am basically without tv in general. I have no channels whatsoever. I lied again- the weather channel now comes in pretty clearly-(pretty sure my lil angel MJB assited with this one ;))

Unfortuantely I, unlike my Dad or Grandma cannot sit and enjoy watching the weather channel- not even when there are no other options. (although it is on right now and has been for a good while.. auuuugh)

I didn't think I was as addicted to my tv as I am. Since I am still new to the whole reading scene, I can only read for so long( no matter how freakin hilarious the book is), I have to be in the mood to scrapbook or bake( which just isn't happening-although fun new baked goods coming soon!), I'm internetted out, and I am never in the mood to clean, hence the request for increased blogs to read! :)

I did learn last night that Tru tv comes in the least 'snowy' and I am able to make out shapes etc and better yet I can hear all that occurs! So, if I close my eyes it's like I'm watching Cops hehe.

(This is a lady sitting at a table ;) ) shoot I should save my $4 a month for eye insurance hehe

My new fav website is http://abc.go.com/ . (click free episodes at the top) My new fav is What Would You Do and I am now 100% caught up on all episodes thank you very much. :)

This will serve as your courtesy reminder,(sorry I posted this too late for you, Mom ;) ) that I am without cable, or at least a day behind cable if it's on ABC, so please refrain from asking/reminding/talking to me about any television until further notice. :)

I plan to call Cox tomorrow( I would include the reason I am without to begin with, but this is already much too long of a post!) I refuse to take work off this week to wait for the cable guy especially since I know they'd give me a 5 hour window :)

Proof

2009-02-25T21:58:00.002-07:00

This one's for you, Trac. (and also you Mom) It's not your ordinary self photo though- please note the ashen cross on my forehead. That's right folks.. I went to church tonight- all by myself I might add. I have decided to give up soda(again) this year for Lent. I will miss you Dr. Pepper... :)

Friday night must

2009-02-25T21:33:00.004-07:00

So.. Stef invited me to join her at the Suns game last Friday. Once I was there, I shared my new love of white zin with her. I half jokingly asked if they had any there.. it was then that we started our wine mission and also the time she informed me that I had to drink because it was Friday. I also had to go out afterwards. :) stef said she knew this one bar so we started walking there after the game... only it wasn't where she thought it was- so we walked forever... kinda reminded me of when I 'went green' and took the lightrail to my social work meeting at corp; bc I would 'only have to walk 12 blocks.' 12 Phoenix blocks that turned into more than a mile ... damn you Tenkely :) Anywhoo... we finally found the lil Irish pub and enjoyed some appetizers and a beer.
For the record- so far it is only Beringer White Zin that I enjoy... not a fan of Barefoot White Zin.
Thanks for a fun night Mathis :)

Our healthy dinner selection :)

Mmm

2009-02-25T20:39:00.003-07:00

This is my new favorite dessert to make. 'Fruit Pizza Pie.' Delicious annnnd Heather friendly to make- well ok fine-when and if you read the recipe correctly anyway- but that's a whole 'nother story for another time. :)

Don't be fooled by all the fruit.. its probably not conidered to exactly healthy to most, but I personally consider it to be quite healthy since its more fruit in each bite than I have in a weeks time ;) It's kinda ironic though because I purposely ignored the recipe for the fruit portion and added way more than it called for.

To be honest, I am too lazy to type the recipe, but if you want it let me know and I'll do it :)

It should be noted that is better fresh, but is still mighty tasty the day after too! ;)

Beringer White Zin

2009-02-21T11:30:00.004-07:00

Bottle says: '...wonderful flavors of fresh picked strawberries and juicy watermelon. It is lush and exuberant.'

Heather says: Hooray! A wine I like! While I'm pretty sure I wouldn't use the words lush and exuberant, (only because it's not in my normal vocabulary haha) I agree completely! This is my new fav... As for the Heather's rating portion (see http://tracitenkely.blogspot.com/) pretty sure I drank half the bottle...

Muscat Canelli

2009-02-21T10:58:00.003-07:00

I decided that I wanted a glass of wine with my dinner. I suppose it should be noted that it is not often that I have to open the bottle when I drink wine. You will see below why it should stay that way. :)

Guess I should've sprung for the more expensive opener... that black plastic thing is supposed to be on the inside bottom of the opener- not around the neck of the bottle....

I wondered how important and necessary it was to remove the stupid foil- sinc eI was struggling to do so, I figured I'd leave it to see just how necessary it is. Lesson learned : It's pretty important to remove the foil wrapping before you attempt to open your bottle if you want the cork to come all the way out... otherwise you'll have to bust out with your pretty pink tools to remove the %$%#$%#$ cork :-)

The bottle says: '...shows delicious floral and fruity flavors of mango,peach, and apricot. Maurice Car'rie wines-You'll want a second glass!'

Heather says: They lie! Unless they have mango,peach, and apricot flavored rubbing alcohol. Maybe the piece of cork floating in the bottle is throwing off the fruity taste?! Ha. Pretty sure I finished my glass- but only because I couldn't pull an alcohol abuse and waste it! But speaking of wasting- don't waste your money on this!

I guess you can call me Martha :)

2009-02-14T11:06:00.008-07:00

Holiday time generally means time for me to make or bake something cute to take into work. This time it was dipped Oreos. Double Stuff mind you- I don't mess aorund when it comes to Oreos. :) I should mention that I was making this during Greys, and while I was also making a mini scrapbook for my boss to take with her to the bad place. (She is acting Director at another site for 45 days!) So- imagine me running back and forth from my living room into the kitchen during the commercial breaks- jumping over piles of scrapbooking stuff. Good times:) I do think it is times like this though that I especially love living alone. :)

You have to literally paint the bottom of the molds.. who knew there were 'special' chocolate mold paint brushes?! Actually I am sure a good majority of 'my readers' knew since you are all crafty and cute but still.:) For the record, these Wilton Decorating Brushes are no different from those super cheap brushes.

In case you were wondering, my painting skills have not improved over the years- paper, ceramics, or chocolate wise. :) I started giving up even on the first batch because I could already tell they were not going to be pretty. I started getting 'smarter' and only painted some of it- the less deatiled if you will. I still also used all one color to avoid any ugliness. :) I learned it is important to pay heed to the amount you are to fill the cups, as to keep it looking circular- without weird edges.. sigh. :) I thought this pic would show my improvements/brainyness along the way- with each batch.

I was surprisingly quite entertained during this whole experience... mostly because I was running back and forth- otherwise I would've been uber annoyed and impatient( although both were still there too) I felt as though I needed a pic with me in it- in case the hideous ones weren't proof enough it was my work haha.

In the end, I got much better at them and they turned out pretty darn cute if I say so myself. They also taste delicious. The secret I learned was to use a lot to 'paint'- the more the better. I also started paying attention to how full I filled the molds to prevent the overage or whatever it would be called- what a concept! :)

Just to give you a visual so you can better see me in your head running and jumping in my apt. :)

I see dead people....

2009-02-14T10:38:00.002-07:00

Someone in Tempe is hilarious and also apparently not affected by the economy. The corner of Price and Apache in Tempe is filled with presidential re elect signs. As much as I HATE to admit it, I was at first very confused (I know big shocker right?! ) Before I actually read them, I thought to myself, 'Self- what election is it going on NOW?!' (aw.. member when we used to say the self thing all the times 'NAU girls?! tear hehe) It was then that I read them and learned there was no election but that there is some funny person out in Tempe that I would like to meet! :)

I never thought the day would come...

2009-02-14T10:12:00.003-07:00

When....
1) I had read a book that they made a movie out of
2)Read said book 2 times!
3)Enjoyed said book much more than movie

I'm sure it's like this for most book to movies, but the changes and details they make up or leave out are annoying. While I was annoyed the day I was determined to see it at Harkins, and ended up watching Zack and Miri Make a Porno instead since it wasn't showing, I am now glad! I enjoyed that movie much more, and am glad I only spent $2 to see nightsinrodanthe. (Although a lil annoyed it was $2 instead of $1- I can never stay awake hehe) By the way if you have not taken advantage of redbox and the generic redbox inside of Fry's you should!
The movie was not horrible, and I think if I had not read the book I would have actually enjoyed it more. I am now a lil hesitant to watch Twilight... actually I should be good... it's been awhile since I read that one; therefore I have forgotten a lot of the details.. hehe.
That is all. :)

Ross and man trucks

2009-02-06T07:18:00.004-07:00

:::Sigh::: So.. I have no shame.. I love shopping at Ross. Ok- no I don't love the act of shopping there... (see previous post ha) but I love the prices and they have some cute stuff! I recently bought some cute dressy kind of pants from there and wore them yesterday. The problem with them however is that they were made for someone who is probably 5'9"... in case you have forgotten, I am a mere 5'3-5'4, so needless to say they were dragging on the ground. I am much too cheap and lazy to get my pants(any of them) hemmed.. especially when the price for hemming is more than I paid for the pants, so I hemmed them myself for the day... :)

This was a bit much- even for me though- the electric tape started failing and I had to switch it up with scotch tape. As soon as I got off work, I went to Michaels to get some of the no-sew iron on hem. (Mind you Traci had given me some of this at some point probably out of annoyance that I rolled my pants under) but I could not find it anywhere.

So as if that wasn't enough story for the awesome Ross pants.... there's more!

Thomas currently has a rental truck while his gets fixed... it is a F250 diesel(I think?!) I have deemed it a 'man truck.'Whatever it is- it's friggin huge! I half joked that I needed a running start to get in, and actually did so. All went well there thank you very much. :) Getting back in the truck is where things became a lil well entertaining I guess. We were in the parking lot of Native so I couldnt get a running start. I had to jump up, and as I did.... I heard a rrrrriiiiip. Yup. My fabulous high quality week old Ross pants split- right down the seam of the crotch... good times! Thankfully we were just headed back to the Tenkely residence to watch our Thursday shows...

Best part is that Traci is crafty,handy, and fabulous and sewed them right up for me! Thanks Trac! :)

Mr. Scrunchie Man

2009-02-06T07:05:00.003-07:00

I must start with my own disclaimer... I am horrible at taking pics of people sneakily.. I have some weird fear that they will see me and get very upset, yell at me and try to take my phone away or something. It is something that I need to work on however :) This hot lil number was at Ross yesterday. EVVVVERYONE knew he was there too... Due to my crappy picture taking abilities, you can't really see much of the important details of why he made it to my blog.
For starters his long greasy hair is in a big fluffy scrunchie! 2.) He was talking-speaker face style on his bluetooth.Talking about Karen mostly. Karen and her spousal somethin somethin, and her financial somethin, and houses, andthe Dtv switch. I refrained from kindly telling him noone cared.:)3.) I am sad I dind't capture this one... he was wearing some of those reading glasses.. briiiightly randomly colored reading glasses!4.)He had a 'Mark Curtis' mustache.. well close enough anyway. And the last reason Mr. Scrunchie made my blog.. he spent most of his time in the lingerie section.... in the larger sized portion of the lingerie section I might add. :)

Workin' hard... ok fine.. hardly workin'..

2009-02-03T21:03:00.004-07:00

Earmuffs Tenkelys..:)
Today my work day was spent shopping,cleaning, and redecorating. We had a meeting at my site this evening whose guests included my boss' boss' boss- aka CEO of the Foundation. I think that is actually not his title.. but the important part of the story is that the biggest bigwig there is at corporate was to make an appearance at my site. ( I think he ended up not attending.. and actually probably never was and I bet my boss' boss made that part up because he knew that would make us sweat and work that much harder at beautifying the center.. hmmm) Short story long:)- we needed to ensure the building was in tiptop shape... and needless to say we had a lot of work ahead of us!

I started last night by picking and pricing items out, as I knew it was going to be a time consuming task. Thankfully I was prepared to work on rennovations all day instead of 'real work,' because that is pretty much what I did. On that note- is it a common thing for coworkers to pretend that Cinderella works at your jobsite? I spent a good portion of the day cleaning up after my lovely coworkers.. GRR..ok sorry.. back to the story that goes with the pic... :)

Basically I decided we needed something , well, welcoming when people walked into our building. I saw this vinyl 'welcome' sign along with the 'May all who enter as guests leave as friends.' on my trial run last night so I convinced the ladies with the funds to buy them today( in addition to tons of other fun stuff)! I focused first on cleaning and then on creating a huge photo collage before attempting this... I figured this one would be quick-peel and stick! HA! Aparently these lil' vinyl clings are meant for smooth, flat, non- textured walls. Yup- as you guessed it, the walls at TADHC are rough and very textured. Super! We made it work- it probably only took an hour or so as opposed to the 5 minutes I thought it would take. It was totally worth it though- it looks amazing! Kirsten and Shirley- you need to come check out all the changes at the center- its like a whole new building! And for those who have never come to my work(or haven't in awhile)... come visit me! :)

Celebrating Stef

2009-02-03T20:10:00.003-07:00

So.. the Tenkelys and I got Stef a bike for her birthday. Stef was definitely not expecting this gift, but was so excited that she had to ride it right there in the parking lot of the Cheesecake Factory where we gave it to her.. complete with skirt, tights, and boots! She did well... and may have even ridden it to a bar later that night! :)

Oh... I guess I should mention that thomas transported the bike to dinner in his truck... while TT were able and willing to follow Stef home with it, I think we were all pretty determined to get it to fit in Stef's car... and when I say 'we', I mostly mean Thomas... I mean I was determined it would fit, but had no desire to be a part of making it happen... but once again, was glad I was able to be there to catch it on film(that sounds funny)

Thomas decided he needed to take a pic of us and all the hard work we put into making the bike fit...
...and it fit! Success!
Happy birthday Stef! We love you!

NAhoodyhoo reunion

2009-02-03T19:13:00.003-07:00

Eeek.. it's time for me to step it up a notch with my blogging.. again! Although I kinda want to copy and paste from my friends blogs onto here... two have already blogged about our amazing reunion Mexico Sunday style... mind you these two have families.. husbands, bebes, and dogs... and here I am slacking once again! Here's from Saturday 1/31...

But as they say, better late than never eh? :)I got extremely involved with attempting to find a pic of us all together from back in the day for comparison But sadly could not find one with us all. well thats a lie.. I found the saran wrap pic but I figured I would not be invited to the next reunion if I posted that one :)

All those lovely ladies plus Adri would gather in the hall of our dorm every Sunday and enjoy what we deemed 'Mexico Sunday'... quesadilla makers made is all so happy! I must say going through my albums of freshman year pics made me feel old- I can't believe that was 8 years ago! I want to go back.. we had so much fun!

Why I'm attached to my camera

2009-01-28T15:33:00.005-07:00

So.. things at work have been a lil crazy over the past few months actually. We were lucky enough to get rennovations.. including a new paint job, new flooring, blinds, countertop, and I got a new desk. Unfortunately moving fireproof file cabinets was not part of our flooring contract, so we had to do it ourselves. I had to add this one after reading my friend Katie's blog last night. Katie and I are alike when it comes to pictures. Our cameras never leave our sides- and we make sure to snap a shot before its too late. This is one of our drivers and our receptionist moving the files out of my office... instead of helping, I giggled at them struggling and had to take a pic instead. Good times:)

Sorry it's sideways.. I am not 'techy' enough to know how to rotate videos- and for once, Google was not helpful. This was a work function that we went to last week. Thomas' presence was requested on the dance floor so naturally I made sure I caught him 'gettin' low on video. I posted it on his own blog also, but he deleted it from there. This shows how much fun we have at the Foundation hehe

...and now for December

2009-01-24T16:45:00.007-07:00

So... I have a lile bit of um paranoia re: my pictures. I have a 2 gb memory card in my camera- that I always have in my purse btw. Since I am a bit obsessed, I generally go home and upload pics I've taken right away. Even though I do this, I do not delete them from my memory card 'just in case.' Long story short, I managed to delete 647 pictures last night from my memory card. Very depressing....mostly due to the loss of the awesome pictures lost that I had taken earlier that evening at a work function. I really wasn't lookin forward to going, but it ended up being a blast! You really can't go wrong with an open bar, a dj, and of course those two combined always makes for entertaiment! Ya gotta love watching your boss' boss and his boss get down with their bad selves hehe.

Lucky for you, as I mentioned previously, most other pics are saved on my laptop, which allows me to still blog.. is it your lucky day or what?! So without further ado... December! Whoohoo

Traci,Kristen,Stef and I went to the Tempe Festival of the Arts! The highlights were eating these amazing noodles, and wine tasting. Trac and I are just getting into wine- so it was good for us to be able to try a few out. We like mostly white wines, and to date Riesling is our fav- although the White Zin from the work party last night was pretty delish too:) We were excited to learn we can do wine tours right here in AZ... near Jerome. Stef's wine glass neckstrap was a big hit too.. until her glass fell and broke- but don't worry- she coaxed the guy into giving her another one for free. :)

Wow.. I really make myself seem like quite the alcoholic on here don't I?!I promise you I am nowhere near that. But that remind me of earlier today in the dressing room... 2 girls are waaaasted attempting to try on clothes... burping much tooloud- but the best is when one says to the other... maybe we should go to AAA meeting or something. And yes there are 3 'a's' on purpose. The other said whats that?! Good times. Anywho.. back to December hehe

Helped Trac celebrate her 26th at Texas Roadhouse- sorry to say I do not have any pics of her riding the saddle... but this one is almost as good ;) For the record I think I drank water with this meal :)

Figured I might as well stay with the theme on this one.. LoL

Okay okay! :)

2009-01-22T18:38:00.005-07:00

Apparently all it takes for me to update my blog is three people in two days calling me out on the fact that I'm a big blog slacker! Ok that and I don't want to do the work I brought home so blogging sounded fabulous heh.

I guess there has been a decent amount of postable stuff that has occurred since my last post. Is postable a word btw? I really do need to get some work done though.. not to mention tonight is Grey's, so consider this my new post for the time being. :)

Okay fine. Blogs really are much more enjoyable when they include pics, so I'll at least post on November. Oh how I love procrastination:)

November

Sushi with Traci's brothers and their friend. Always makes for an entertaining time. I may have gotten slapped by an 11 year old that night. We did ride the "drunk bus" though which makes me oh so happy... as you can see from the pic below it makes both Traci and me very happy :) Ok maybe the sake helped, but still :)

And the last November in January post is Stef, Andrea, me, and Karianne at the Carrie Underwood concert!

I will try to be better about posting more regularly again... like I did last year.. ha. I really prefer reading my friend's blogs though. You guys are amazing!(Even those of you who don't blog :) )

Halloween fun

2008-11-02T18:08:00.004-07:00

I named it Edward and Bella after the Twilight book series that Trac and Stef got me hooked on. Prior to reading that series, I hated reading. Now I actually read. Crazy! :) Anyway- I am pretty proud of my lil pumpkin.

These are all the pumpkins from the Annual Tenkely Pumpkin Carving Party. We've got some pretty skillful carvers in the bunch . :)

Our lil spread...

Candy Corn Parfaits! Note: Jello un-solidifies

when left unrefrigerated.. :)

Eyeballs!!

2008-11-02T17:16:00.008-07:00

I haven't been feeling very bloggy lately, but it is past due. I have been keeping pretty busy lately. The other weekend Stef, Thomas, Traci and myself decided to head up To Flagstaff for homecoming/Tequila Sunrise. For those of you who are not aware of all that Tequila Sunrise entails... basically... its nothign but drinking. Everyone goes out Friday night, and dont sleep. The bars open super early in honor of Homecoming and everyone drinks all day. I only made it to one when I was at NAU. We decided we are too old but wanted to go so we did it the old people way. We didnt get up there until 11 or so and started drinking then. It was perfect timing, as we were able to catch some of the parade while we were at our first bar of the day. I guess I should note that around 8:30 or so we realized we were all pretty exhausted and needed to nap in order to head back out around 10 when everyone else would be back out. So... off to the hotel room we go. I set the alarm on my phone for 10:30, excited to go back out. Stef and I are the only ones who wake up to my alarm and decided right away we were over going back out. Ahhh :) It worked out beautifully, as we ended up getting up at a decent hour, not hungover in time for a fabulous breakfast downtown. The only bad news was that we ended up getting caught in traffic for 2 hours due to a semi rollover. Thankfully I came prepared with a deck of cards that I played a new solitare with to kill time. :-)

This pic of an old wheelchair was taken in an antique shop in Flagstaff. both Thomas and I took a picture of it because it is so neat. If I remembered the name of the shop,I would write it here and everywhere telling everyone not to shop there! The lady came and yelled at us, asking us not to take photos. We immediately left the store empty-handed, when we had gone in there with the intention of buying a gift. Ridiculous so we boycotted!

This is apparently one of Flagstaff's finest. We saw her earlier in the day wearing those huge Ugg boots shortly later we saw her in the same lovely outfit but with flip flops. We didnt ask how much she charges. :)

A few of my favorite people At Maloneys...

The giant wheel is usually in front of the Forestry building there. I was pretty excited anytime I saw anything that said alumni. :)

This was actually our first stop upon arriving in town. Its a bar called Altitudes and they have 'train shots.' Every time a train comes by they offer the train shot of the day... somehow we only had one... the train tracks are right behind us...

Lessons learned

2008-10-13T20:09:00.001-07:00

Fancier cheese does not equal yummier grilled cheeses...
Some cheeses apparently don't melt well... instead becoming rubbery and changing its flavor to that of nastiness
Once you experience the good 'expensive $4 bread, you cannot happily go back to the 97 cent Walmart whole wheat... this is especially true when combined with above mentioned colby jack cheese.
You shouldn't buy smelly wall plug ins from Bath and Body Works ( or anywhere I guess) without first smelling them! Even if the name of them sounds like it will smell pretty.. it won't!
Just because they're on sale it does not mean the above lesson should not be followed....
When dress code calls for no high heeled/platform shoes-abide... because the one day you choose to disregard this rule is the one day you need to run... and running on asphalt and concrete tends to hurt....
:::Disclaimer::: the above scenario is purely a hypothetical, Tenkelys :)
When 911 is dialed from your cell phone, it is not saved under recent calls.. probably very good thing for me since my phone apparently likes to recall recent calls sometimes...
Corn has 1 silkstrand for every kernel- average number of kernels on each cob is 600!

Sorry there are to photos to coincide with my randomess... I am far too lazy to bust out my camera to take pictures of my cheese, bread, wallflowers, and Real Simple article...
I can give you a list of approved Wallflowers if interested however.. haha :-)

Such the rough life...

2008-10-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

{Friday}

So the weekend started with our usual sushi and sakebomber @ Cafe Wasabi...

This is what happens when you give Thomas your camera...

There were many mant more, but they were deleted immediately upon me seeing them. :)

{Saturday}

This was the overcast sky.. such a gorgeous day!

Isn't it super how I look more drunk in my sober pics than in my not so sober pics:)

I also look upset here... but I'm really not... I'm pretty giddy to be relaxing at the park actually..

They were racing remote control boats too.. interesting... I did not get pics of this... I felt dorky enough watching it.. haha.

As I walked around, I noticed they have rose gardens! Love Kiwanis!

{Saturday night}

Karianne, Bryan, and I went to Grahams Central Station

This was the first time they had really been out since having Ethan...

The people there last night sure made people watchign entertaining! Sorry there are no pics of the crazy drunk people! My favorites were the ones KJ and I deemed Mr. and Mrs. Claus, The big blonde bimbo- who was falling out of her tiny skirt btw, and the crazy hawaiian shirt guy. I think you will get the gist just with our nicknames and knowing they were dancing in an 80's room... complete with Sir-Mix-ALot... Classic. :-)

{Sunday}

Some of the amazing (although smoggy) views...

Stef and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and went on a hike.

Stef chose for us to hike Piestwa Peak-http://phoenix.gov/parks/hikphgud.html

You can read a lil bit about our hike... if it confused you- it did us too... which is why we proably ended up doing an additional 1.5-2 miles due to us getting a smidge turned around and hiking a different trail for awhile.

Thankfully Stef is a trooper and put up with me having to stop every 10 feet or so because I am pathetically out of shape. After we finished, we went to lunch at La Grande Orange... amazing! The food, the atmosphere,the desserts... :)

It's amazing how friendly everyone is on the trails... well all but one, and

we of course asked the only unfriendly man in the area surrounding Piestwa to take our photo. :)

I live quite the rough life eh? :-)

I hope you all were able to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend as well. I will leave you with one thing....

Don't forget the sunscreen!!!

Craft of the month :)

2008-09-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

Front view

Back view

When closed view

I decided I needed to make something 'crafty' in addition to the other gifts I got Summer for her bday... This is an accordian frame that I put together for her. Prety easy- most difficult thing is finding pics taken far enough away that both people's faces fit! :-)

Be afraid.

2008-09-16T21:25:00.002-07:00

Hmmm... is this why everyone was a lil leery about me living on my own?! :-)

Yup. this proves its time for me to hire a maid. :)

Apparently this is why mom shakes her clothes before throwing them into the dryer eh?! ;)

Before.

After.

I sewed! First time ever! I say it counts even though it was with a lil mini handheld one!

Tonight's baking... chocolate thumbprint cookies. Meh.

Not a huge fan. Once again a lil dry, I swear I follow the recipe exactly?!

Also- the kises are cold, so they are hard. Not ok.

And yes, notice once again how I did not include the comparison pic form the recipe book...

Although I think their pics are not even legit. For example-

the pic in the recipe shows the chocolate chip a smidge melty, the cookie itself all

fluffy.Its not possible for the kiss to be melty. There is no oven involved. If anything,

my kisses should be melty, since I am cheap and keep my house a lil warmer than most.

There is no way the cookie can be as fluffy as they show. They inject it with something, and add crisco to the kiss to give it sheen. Maybe I will try that on my next recipe.. ha! :-)

Oh. And did you know Hershey Kisses now say random things on the 'tags?' My fav was ' I miss recess.'

Measuring peanut butter is a big deal

2008-09-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

I get excited when my friends have posted new blogs, so I figured I would post a few since I've been slacking. Oh boy. :-)

This one is "Butterscotch Fudge Bars" Traci and I made them... note how they actually look like the picture- this is thanks to Traci... not me...That is why I rarely take pics of my baking including the recipe picture... much more impressive when its just mine with nothing to compare it to

In all honesty Traci pretty much made these. I measured the peanut butter though ;) Trac is quite the baker, so I was kinda observing, feeling a lil helpless, when she suggested I measure out the peanut butter. I was excited to be of assistance...It wasn't until afterwards she admitted she only asked me to because she HATES measuring peanut butter. Ha. :) Owell it was a win-win. Hehe. We found it weird that the recipe called for it to be refrigerated, thinkning it would be better warm, so doing what we do best, we tried it both ways. :-) My vote was cold. For the record, that is a delicious new beer in the background called ShockTop. Mmmm. :)

Wannabe

2008-09-06T09:53:00.003-07:00

The other week we got the most amazing monsoon! Winds up to 75 mph in some parts, roofs were blowing off, electricity out( thankfully not mine- but i need have my flashlight handy- see I can do this whole living by myself thing just fine ;) ) It was hurricane-like!
I was in my kitchen and saw this bright flash of light- super close- so close and bright I freaked out girly-girl style and thought there was some creep on my patio taking pics or something! Ok so maybe it wasn't girly-girl style since I didn't scream and run but instead went out there to see..(crap is that really just Heather-style?!) Hehe... Gotta do whatcha gotta do though, right?! :) Anyway what I found instead of Creepy McCreeperton was a strobe light show in the sky! I instantly became giddy.. running to grab my camera and finally get to sit on my patio and enjoy watching a storm, like Summer and I used to do with Mom and Poppy. For the record, my mom has since told me it is not safe- I was aware also(esp having to stare at the huge metal parking structure right in front of me)- but not aware enough to care. :-) I was too focused on snapping an amazing lightning pic! I seriously must have taken 80 some pics, trying to catch it, and while I do have an awesome digital camera, thanks to my even more awesome friends, its not exactly meant for snapping lightning... but I was pretending otherwise. I really wanted to join the group of 3-4 boys that were running thru the rain and puddles in their swim trunks in our parking lot and around the complex- but I left that one at the thought only. Anyway.. Here are a few of the pics I did get! Although they're not the best- it sure was fun attempting to get them, and hiding from my neighbors when they made appearances so they didn't think I was crazy(yah yah they already know... :)

This one is my fav

In the distance...

The entire sky lit up
To prove my shots were decent- the sky was actually black! :)