Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Dear Santa,

So, because I seem to be completely out of creativity and inspiration for this blog at the moment, I am posting my letter to Santa from last year...after all, he has yet to answer it.

How are you? I'm fine. Can you believe the big day is only 2 days from now? I figured it was time to tell you what I want. But let me preface it by saying, I've been very good. I have been in zero fist fights this year. For that matter, I've only been in one fist fight in my life (except with my brothers, which, as I'm sure you know, can't be avoided), and I didn't throw any punches, so I think that should be stricken from my record.


You see, I was at my kindergarten best friend Monica's house, and we were playing a highly competitive game of Mempry. I was, as is usually the case, winning like crazy. So, words were exchanged, and after a certain point, Monica said, "If I punched you in the stomach, you would cry." I declared that I would not. So, naturally, she punched me in the stomach. And, though I wanted to cry, I held it in. As it happened, her dad came into the room during the aftermath of this punching, and so I asked him to take me home, and Monica and I were no longer best friends. But, I want you to know that I have forgiven her. So, please, don't hold this against me.

I have also not stolen anything this year. Again, I have only stolen once in my life - at the tender age of ten. I was in K-Mart in Yakima, and ate one of the candies from the 5 cent candy bins. I immedietely regretted it, and was terrified that the alarm was advanced enough to sense the candy in my belly (it wasn't). I eventually confessed this to my mom (by eventually, I mean around 23 years of age) so, since I punished myself with guilt and later repented, I think this should be stricken from the record as well.

I have not put a snowball down anyone's neck this year. This has only happened once - when I was about 13 and Chris was about 10. I paid dearly for that already, when Chris immedietely turned so red he almost burst into flame, and he screamed so loud all the icicles fell from the roof. So, since the punishment has already occurred, let's pretend this strike against me didn't, okay?

So, now that the formalities are done, what I would really like for Christmas is for Bill Watterson to come out of retirement and begin writing Calvin and Hobbes again. Is this too much to ask? I mean, I've been really good, and I really miss Calvin and Hobbes.


Thanks in advance,


Your friend,


Erin

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Mom's Button Cookies


Last night I went to a Christmas party. It was the perfect opportunity to make my mom's famous button cookies. They turned out delicious, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/3 cup light whipping cream
1 cup sugar
For the frosting:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
Red and green food coloring
Directions:
Mix flour, 1 cup softened butter, and light whipping cream together, kneading with your hands until dough makes a ball. Cover the dough and chill it in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 375. Roll the dough 1/8" think, rolling 1/3 of it at a time. Cut out small circles (I use the top of a shot glass). Put 1 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Dip each cookie round in the sugar, coating both sides. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet, prick them with a fork and bake for 7-9 minutes. Do not over bake. They will be a light golden brown. Let them cool completely.

Frosting: Mix butter, powdered sugar and vanilla and divide into two bowls. Add red food coloring to one half, and green to the other. Frost 1/2 of the cookies and top them with the other half.

Makes about 24 cookies. Enjoy!


Yes, this was my breakfast. Please don't judge me.

The Christmas party was great, complete with carols, Secret Santas and lots of food. Two of the girls even made ornaments for everyone, look how cute they are!

If you make the cookies, let me know how you like them! They're a Christmas staple in our home. Do you have a cookie you bake every Christmas?

Monday, December 7, 2009

On the time I was supposed to disect a pig

I managed to get through junior high and high school without disecting anything grosser than a flower. I was feeling fairly triumphant, disection is something I am more than happy to do without. But then I took biology lab in high school. It seemed inevitable. I was doomed to pass out while taking apart a smelly dead piglet. Well, far be it for me to allow a syllabus to take away my dream of a disection free life style. I cleverly planned my absences so I would have to miss that class. Smart, no? So, instead of heading to bio lab that evening I beelined for the cafeteria and ate with my friends, inwardly rejoicing in the success of my scheme.

Fast forward two weeks. I hadn't counted on my professor having an evil scheme too. But, as I was taking my midterm, I noticed students disappearing into the adjoining room for a few minutes and then returning to their desks. Suspicious, I thought. Thats when I turned the page of my exam and saw directions to go into said adjoining room and label parts of a disected pig. Oi. My plan backfired. If the question hadn't been worth multiple points, I may have skipped it. But my not so great grade wouldn't allow it. So, I mustered up my courage, held my breath and walked resolutely into the room. There, a teachers aid was pulling little pig organs with tweezers and asking us to identify them. Blech. Gross. But, I didn't have to cut anything open, so besides some mild revulsion I was none worse for the wear.

Until I got to dinner that night...pork was on the menu. Blllleeeeecccchhhh!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Is it bad...

...that I bought Tim a Christmas present from one of M+O's competitors?* I suppose it's better than buying something from Sam's Club. That would be like treason in this household.
We have 16 gifts under the tree right now. One is for me. Judging by the "wrapping" (silver box with silver bow emblazoned with Martin + Osa) it's probably a puppy. Despite only one gift under the tree for me, Tim has brought home a mysterious M+O bag every night with orders not to look in them. Evidentally he's bought me so many presents that one of his co-workers asked to marry him if I was ever out of the picture.
Anywaaaaaay, I sold a few more pieces, I'll be sending them off tomorrow. And I got my first feedback so my store now says 100% positive! Yay!

Hope everyone is doing great!
*pssst - don't tell Tim

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

How are you spending your morning?

Mine is being spent job searching with lots of coffee by the tree. It would be perfect if I could switch job searching with reading or watching a Christmas movie, don't you think?

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Christmas at our House

This is what our place looks like this season:
The door to our living room
Our little tree
The pillows I made
My nativity, courtesy of my mom and dad
My little reindeer
Some little friends I got on clearance last year
An assortment of houses from my mom's collection and my own.
Red curtains brought in just for the season
My holiday Jellybeans print (another is in the mail)

There you have it - holidays ala Tim and Erin

Monday, November 30, 2009

The Tree

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

The day before Thanksgiving, Tim took me out to find a tree. He was so thoughtful, knowing he would be working Friday, Saturday...most everyday, that he took a half day and swept me off to a winter wonderland. Only two U-Cut farms were open before Thanksgiving, thankfully both within a 45 minute drive. So, we searched through a forest of nobles, frasier firs, grand firs, and turkish firs, until we found out tiny perfect noble. Coming up - The decor!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Glee!

I bought the Glee soundtrack at Target the other day (What? It was a good price.) And I LOVE it. It's wonderful. It's so singalongable (real word, I promise) and these kids are really talented. Although I have decided that I prefer Puck's voice to Finn's. And there are two Kristin Chenoweth songs. I give it two thumbs up.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Goodbye work...

Today is my last full day at my job. I'll come in Monday for my exit interview, then it's done. I'm surprisingly okay with it. After I leave here on Monday I'll be heading out for an interview. I wish the job wasn't in Bellevue (quite a commute), but hey - it's a job. So, hopefully new and exciting changes are coming.

In other news, it's really fun having my own store! I've had one sale so far (thanks Tami!) but I'm enjoying making jewelry with other people in mind, as opposed to just me. Tim's kinda getting into it too.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

How to Ruin Everything for Everyone

So, maybe I'm a bit dramatic. But you'll see why.

Last night Tim and I decided to go on a date. So, being the big spenders we are, we headed to the local Sticky Foot Theater, dolled out $3 each, and went to see The Informant. While we were paying, a middle aged couple behind us were trying to decide which movie to see again. It seems they'd already seen all of them, but were lacking anything else to do. Then, Tim and I were heading for the theater, and they started talking about just following us to the appropriate theater. (Mind you, they were about 200 feet behind us, so notice they were not quiet or discreet type people. See what's coming?) Tim and I enter the theater and see two people in the back row. All the other seats were empty. Repeat: ALL the other seats were EMPTY. We chose seats about 5 rows back, toward the left side. Enter loud followers. They see the theater now has 4 people in it, with about 40 empty seats, and beeline to the seats directly behind us and one seat over. At this point, they were on my radar. (I have strict rules about movie theater etiquette. Stricter when the theater is virtually empty. There's no one there to absorb the sounds!) The couple gabs in pseudo stage whispers until the lights dim, and previews begin. "Whew," I thought. "At least they'll be quiet now." Riiiiight. They proceed to talk through the previews in voices slightly quieter than yelling. Once the movie started (remember, I'm fairly confident they'd already seen it, so didn't feel the need to pay strict attention) I foolishly thought they'd notice other people were there and quiet down. After about 10 minutes of incessant talk I turned and did one of those "Seriously? Shut it!" stares. The talking turned to whispers briefly. Then gradually increased in volume. I tried valiantly to ignore this. Then the Mr. of the couple decided to start kicking the back of the seat. What? I pointedly leaned forward and cast another glare in their direction. Then, as the movie was drawing to an end, they started discussing what was going to happen. I turned to Tim, and said, "Seriously?!" and he turned around and said loudly, "We're still watching this."
Silly me to think that they would be abashed by this and shut up. They talked through the remainder of the movie and were still seated talking when the lights came up.

Moral of the story:
If this is you - save everyone around you some grief and go to a coffee shop! Don't ruin everyone else's experience. Just don't. And, if the theater is empty - leave some space between you and the next guy. There's room to spare!

And if you're wondering if the movie was any good, I couldn't tell you. I was so angry by the end that I assume it was terrible, but I think that's just transference on my part.

I'm still mad. Can you tell?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Such and Such Shop (aka, my shop) NOW OPEN!

I've just started adding things, so more will definetely be following, but the first listing is up!
Coming soon - more listings! a new blog devoted to Etsy finds and shop updates! Yay!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Battle Plan for Rats

Yesterday a coworker sent me a news article about "toilet rats" in Seattle. Evidentally, enough rats are working there way into homes through toilets that they have created a job that I like to call The Toilet Rat Hero, to eliminate this problem. There is a man whose entire work week is dedicated to tracking down these pests before they surprise you. Anyway, after I read the article and announced I was going to throw up, she asked me, "What would you do in this situation." So, without further ado -

The Toilet Rat Battle Plan:

Should I happen into the bathroom and see a rat head poking out of my toilet, the advsise given by the Toilet Rat Hero is to close the lid and flush. I say, "Not enough!"
I would:
Scream
Cry
Slam the lid closed
Put every book we own (which is a lot) on the seat
Put the bookcase on top of the books
Put anything else of substantial weight on top of the bookcase
Scream
Cry
Wash my hands
Flush
Scream
Cry
Call Tim and force him to "Get here NOW!"
Call 911 and report a toilet rat
Declare a national emergency
Breathe into a bag unless screaming or crying
Vacate the premises
Vow never to go to the bathroom again

Basically the same thing I do when I find a spider.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Wishing I was Wearing...

...Christmas aprons from Boojiboo.




How adorable would you be baking gingerbread cookies in one of these? Ah...so lovely.

Look what I got!

I haven't read this since 5th grade, but I loved it. I'm really excited to read it again.
I found it at Half Priced Books last night when I went with my dad to sell 10 boxes of books. Dad walked out richer, and I walked out with this gem. Yay!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Crafty Creations

What I've been doing lately:














Time with Zib and Jane

This weekend we were able to spend time with Zib and Jane, something we don't get to do often. Zib and I hit some craft stores (yay Shipwrecked Beads!) while Tim played with Jane, and then we all hung out together, eating, playing MadLibs and watching movies. It was so much fun!



Jane is so sweet and happy. She called me Karen most of the day, because she's been watching Frosty the Snowman, and the main little girl's name is Karen, and she's blonde.
Then, on the way home the moon looked really pretty, so I was trying to take pictures of it. Because of the movement of the car it kept coming out shaky, until I eventually got this:

It's faint, but in the camera it clearly says:

O

Z

Awesome.