OMG. It's Snowing.

That's really all I have to say. OMG. It's really snowing here in Chicago. It's practically May and it's snowing. Grrrrrr!

Ode to Peach Nehi

Peach Nehi.
How I love thee.
Let me count the ways.
How you smell like a fresh fake peach. I could smell you for hours.
How you tickle my nose with your carbonation bubbles.
How you remind me of summer camp back in Florida rocking in the rocking chairs with Sarah and SarahBeth sweating like a pig.
How I could drink you all without stopping for a breath.
How you make me burp so loudly but the burp still smells good... peachy, like you.
How I found you in a gas station drink cooler somewhere in bfe Kentucky, possibly Indiana and bought all of you the store had.
How you made me ignore the fact that our truck broke down with an overheated radiator in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere for several hours and Dani had to talk with the Uhaul folks and the repair guy because I was sleeping in the cab of the truck cuddled up with the cooler inside which you were quietly chilling on ice.
Peach Nehi.
I love you.

Andy's Cats

Andy Warhol was apparently fond of cats.

While in Pittsburgh, mom & I visited the Warhol museum. I, being told I couldn't, decided I could, and took many pictures of Warhol's artwork.

I was excited to see all the artwork of animals, especially cats. He even had a taxidermied (is that a word?) cat he used as a subject for photography and printmaking (see orange cat on green background above). And another print of a crazy cat in a medical collar.

My favorites, however, were all the ink & watercolor sketches of cats. All in bright pinks, yellows, and blues. And most of these were of a cat named Sam.

It's nice to know an artist appreciated kitties as much as I do.... even stuffed dead ones.

Pittsburgh Visit

Heke and I suprised mom with a visit in Pittsburgh. Mom was going to visit w/ Heke, but didn't know I was coming, so it was a fun suprise. We had a good week. We went to the Phipps Conservatory to see plants, we ate lots of cupcakes (see previous post!), we went to the science museum and the Andy Warhol museum, and rode up the inclines to Mt. Washington.

More photos later!

Recent Sewing Project for Monkey Boy...

So my friend Toni just had her cutie-patootie baby, Robert, and was doing a monkey-themed nursery. So I started sewing her a diaper bag using some super-cute monkey material I had found. (see above).

And then, since there was the whole monkey theme goin' on , I decided that Robert needed a Monkey to go with his Monkey bag, so Mike the Monkey was created. (see left at bottom).

I had tried to publish a post a while ago of Mike the Monkey because he was just so durn cute, but for some reason, it wasn't appearing all the time. So here is another pic of Mike the Monkey. I actually grew a bit attached to him before I gave him to Robert (seen here - so cute!). He was my sewing mascot for a while and even came to help Kristie and I during an Avon walk bake sale at school. So I was just a bit sad as I passed him on to his rightful owner.
The bag turned out great. A bit bigger than I had imagined, but really good, nonetheless. I will definitely use that same pattern again if I ever need to do a big baby bag.

CUPCAKES!

I flew out to Pittsburgh to visit with my sis and my mom last week. One of the highlights of the trip (besides seeing my family!) was the CUPCAKES!

We found this cute little storefront called Dozen that sells only cupcakes. And they were DEE-LICIOUS!

www.dozencupcakes.com

They have the most amazing flavors: Cosmo, Pecan Pie, Vanilla Vanilla, Jack and Coke, Thai Iced tea, Vegan Chai, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and of course, "the Elvis" which is banana cake with nutella inside and PB icing on top. Yum!

So if you're ever in Pittsburgh....

Monster Berry

I found a ginormous strawberry in my container the other day. It was so humongous I just had to record it with a photo. The strawberry to the left is a "normal" sized fruit. This elephantine strawberry was at least as big as my fist. I was amazed.

Just had to share.

p.s. it was delicious

Amazing Kids Book!

I just finished reading this great book, Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I had seen one of my students reading it and she gave me a summary. It sounded good, so I borrowed it from her a few weeks ago.

This was the most moving/disturbing kids book I've read in a long time. During the time I was reading it and even now afterwards, I can't seem to get it out of my head.

The story is about a typical high school girl in Pennsylvania who lives with her divorced mom and two brothers. An asteroid heads towards Earth and hits the moon, knocking it out of its usual orbit and closer to the Earth. This causes world-wide catastrophic events like the eruption of volcanoes, tsunamis, and massive flooding of the coastal areas.

The book then deals with how she and her family deal with the consequences of this event. Food becomes scarce and eventually so does the power supply and then water. The seasons are messed up, too, so winter comes early and it begins to snow in August. This book stuck with me because in a way, the events in the book reminded me of certain things that are currently happening in the world. Gas prices continue to rise. Fuel sources are becoming scarce. Global climate change is occurring.

I recommend this book to everyone. I looked on Amazon at some of the reviews and the book was getting bashed for sending the wrong message to kids. In the story, the mother makes the kids grab any and all food at the grocery store so they will have enough to last for a while. She then rations it out and discourages the kids from sharing so that they will have enough food to survive. Some reviewers were saying this sends a selfish message to readers when in reality people would band together and share their resources. Let's get real! The book depicts what I imagine would/could really happen. As much as we don't want to admit it, this is not always a warm and fuzzy world we live in. In survival situations, people have to fend for themselves. The mother only wanted to ensure the survival of her children.

I dunno. You can see how much I've been thinking about this book. Way too much! At any rate, I hope you get a chance to read this book. I think there's even a sequel coming out in June. Should be good!

My Poor Nose

So I've been working down in the basement for the past two days - unpacking boxes and organizing and throwing stuff out. Unfortunately, I have had something fall off a shelf TWICE now and bash me in the nose! Eye-watering, snot-flowing nose bashing!

One object was a metal baking pan, and the other was a jadeite green glass dish. I was more worried about saving the jadeite dish than I was worried about my nose! I love Jadeite! It's an antique! I was actually worried my nose may be broken, but I've come to the conclusion, since I can touch it and there was not a copious flow of blood at the time, that it is merely bruised, not broken.

I guess I need to be more careful when taking things down from high shelves....

ouch