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