Halloween 1983

Awesome. I love that you can only see one of Tim's eyes. As you can see, my flair for creativity started early. Dad's hat? Check. Dad's shirt? Check. What more could you need? (By the way, I did have an alternative costume - Mickey Mouse - but the mask terrified me, so this was plan B.)

I Want to Go to There

Tonight!

Chicken Parmesan

Last night I took my first attempt at Chicken Parmesan. I couldn't find a recipe that used enough cheese for my liking (you can never have too much cheese), so I made my own. It was gooood. And pretty easy.

My Chicken Parmesan (Feeds approx. 2.5)

4 pieces of boneless skinless chicken, thawed (I used thighs cause that's what we had.)

Breadcrumbs (I used parmesan crumbs, cause again, you can never have too much cheese.)

Italian seasoning

Jar of Pasta sauce (I used Ragu Tomato and Basil)

Mozzerella cheese, Two healthy slices for each piece of chicken

1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375

Mix crumbs and seasoning in a bowl, dredge chicken in crumb mixture (I opted not to use eggs, but you can if you need to for additional stickage.)

Place chicken in an 7 x 11 baking dish

Put mozzerella cheese slices over chicken

Sprinkle (liberally) parmesan over mozzerella

Pour pasta sauce over and around chicken

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until chicken is 165 degrees.

Serve over pasta or with vegetables.

Voila! Yummy dinner with hardly any prep.

I don't even know what to say...

Church Plans To Burn Bibles, Christian Books
Pastor Says Burning Meant To Light A Fire Under True Believers
Posted: 12:14 pm PDT October 14, 2009Updated: 12:31 pm PDT October 14, 2009

CANTON, N.C. -- A North Carolina pastor says his church plans to burn Bibles and books by Christian authors on Halloween to light a fire under true believers.
Pastor Marc Grizzard told Asheville TV station WLOS that the King James version of the Bible is the only one his small western North Carolina church follows. He says all other versions, such as the Living Bible, are "satanic" and "perversions" of God's word.
On Halloween night, Grizzard and the 14 members of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church also will burn music and books by Christian authors, such as Billy Graham and Rick Warren.
Telephone calls to the Amazing Grace Baptist Church and Grizzard's home were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Fondue

Some of our favorite memories with friends and family have been at the Melting Pot. In honor of those memories, here is an Etsy salute to fondue.

Mid Century Mod Fondue Set by tawnillia

MOD Enamel Pot by sweetshorn

SALE TIME NOW 30.00 Gorgeous Copper Craft Fondue Pot with Pedestal Server and Cups by
ivylanevintage
green vintage fondue pot with white and fuschia floral design by crabvilleinautumn
Vintage Red Fondue Set by laurahardie

vintage 1970s mustard yellow fondue pot with lid and wood handle by milkglassandmetal

Wouldn't it be fun to have a vitage fondue collection? I love all the bright enamels.

The Lovely Bones

Over the weekend I read The Lovely Bones.

I really enjoyed it. It's a hard read, in that there are moments of horror sprinkled through out the story (especially at the beginning.) The book is narrated by Susie, a 14 year old girl who starts her story on the day she was murdered. She's telling us what's happening from a little perch in what she calls her heaven, as she watches her family, her friends, and her killer continue living their lives. It was interesting to read the story of this family as they crumbled under the weight of the tragedy. The choices they made and the way they responded was heart breaking. The story felt almost like something you'd see on CSI, but you already know who done it. It's not always wholesome, has a skewed view of heaven, God, and the afterlife, and rarely happy, but an incredibly interesting read that will keep your attention until your done, and probably have you mulling it over for hours afterward. I'd recommend it if you like an engaging story and can handle some really horror filled scenarios.

Christmas Decorations...in stores now!

Does anyone else have no control when walking into a store with a Christmas display? I can't stay away from it. I have to examine every item, practical or not. There's a magnetic field that continues to pull me back to it if I try to move to something else. Seriously, Christmas decor for sale seems to be my own personal black hole. Today I wandered into Cost Plus and was (seemingly) supernaturally dragged to the middle of the store where Christmas was abundant. I watched in horror as a mother let her little girl run her hands through the display of hanging blown glass ornaments. Take a guess at how long that lasted before one broke. I ogled the adorable old fashioned ornaments, squealed at the dish running away with the spoon ornament. Eventually I appeased my Christmas craving by buying gingerbread. And let me tell you, it's gooood. Now to get some egg nogg to wash it down...

The Worst Scary Movies I've Seen

These fall into the worst for various reasons (among them being tooooo scary, stupid, etc.)30 Days of Night. This made the list because it was too over the top. Too bloody, too unlikely, too stupid of an ending. Although I did enjoy the company I watched this in. Andrew, Sara, Tim and I watched this before leaving for Alaska (since it takes place there.)

The Omen. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I watched this on Halloween in high school. (The original). I made my friend walk me into my house when she dropped me off to make sure I didn't have any demonic children waiting for me in the dark entry way. Then I let her fend for herself as she made her way to her car and back home. Horrifying.

Interview with a Vampire. This may not have made the list if it weren't for the scene with Kirstin Dunst and a pile of dolls (among other things). That alone did it for me. Too psychologically horrifying to recover from.

Ernest Scared Stupid. No, I'm not kidding. There's a scene where a little boy checks under his bed for monsters, and when he comes back up the monster is on his bed and gets him. It took away the safety of bed for me, and I didn't sleep for days. What once was a household favorite (Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Goes to Jail, etc...) was now a nightmarish punishment. Thanks a lot Ernest.

That's it, as far as I can remember. So, I don't recommend any of these movies, especially Ernest if you're under 10.

Mitsuki's Interview

Mitsuki is the special student at school this week so he had to answer a survey about himself. When asked what his favorite book is he said the Bible. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up he said a servant, or maybe a pastor. What a kid!

I thought he would have said pirate.

Notice how his finger is sticking out? I think it's supposed to be a knife.

My "Scary" Movie Picks

Since the spookiest time of year is approaching, I thought I'd fill you in my favorite "scary" movies. You may notice "scary" is appearing in quotes. The simple reason for that is this: I am a sissy. So, here you go, in no particular order:

The Others

1 - Nicole Kidman is amazing

2- The story is just all around creepy, all the way through

3- The children scare the living daylights out of me for no good reason

4- The story is unlike any other I've seen

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

1- I've been watching this since I was tiny

2- It's a cartoon

3- It's Disney

4- There's music

Sweeney Todd

1- Johnny Depp - hellllooooo

2- Music - great music

3- Amazing cast

4- Gory beyond all reason (to the degree that you can recognize it's fake, kinda like a Quentin Tarentino movie)

Zodiac

1- Great cast

2- Great story

3- True story (terrifying)

4- Made me hold my breath for a record amount of time. Something like 2 hours.

5- Made me sleep with a night light

6- Too scary (cause it's real life scary, not ghosts and vampires scary), but I love it!

Psycho

1- Alfred Hitchcock is a genius
2- Creepy cast
3- Classic
4- Disturbing ending, like all Hitchcocks movies

Rear Window

1- Fantastic cast - Jimmy and Grace!
2- Plausible storyline

3- Doesn't leave me too terrified at the end

Dumbo

You're probably wondering, why Dumbo? That's not a scary movie.

1- Elephants on Parade

2- Elephants on Parade

3- Elephants

4- On

5- Parade

6- There's a mouse (scares the elephants.)

So, those are my "scary" movie picks. Seeing the trend of mildly creepy movies, does anyone have any suggestions?

One project of many

I am really liking how these are turning out. What do you think?

The bamboo came with two holes pre-drilled vertically through the tile. My biggest challenge was figuring out how to attach a bail without the holes looking weird and unnecessary. Followed closely by the fact that bails are expensive! I had an epiphany over the weekend though - head pins! One in each hole with the chain strung through it. Seems to work pretty well. I'm loving my big headed deer in the first picture. Also all the fun Christmas images. I still have so many options to work with, including, but not limited to, Eskimos, brown owls, skunks, flowers, snowflakes and more. So fun!

Cars, Costumes, and Creating

That's what my day consisted of yesterday. I went to work for a half day (I was working 4 hours on Saturday, so I got to take it off on Friday), then my dad and I drove to Bellevue to pick up the Volvo, which was having some fits, from the shop. On our way back, Dad veered off the beaten path toward a costume garage sale. $6 later I walked away with my Barbie dress*. Pink, ruched, asymmetrical hem lined, accessorized with a big old flower...score! Then we wandered about Fry's for awhile and compared all the different makes of blender. After that I went solo to Target and got me some 30 Rock Season 3 on dvd (!) , and some ridiculous fake lashes with fake sparkly pink liner. Then I headed home.

Once home I ate some Taco Bell while watching Gilmore Girls, then started on my Barbie jewelry. I now have hot pink earrings, necklace, bracelet and ring to go with my hot pink dress and shoes. All I need now is a shrug or something to put over the dress (preferably purple) and a wig (darn my short hair!) Then, still feeling crafty, I made 10 pendants. Similar to scrabble tile pendants, but closer to the size of dominoes. I used images of reindeer, Santa, some vintage style Christmas cards (shrunk down to iddy-bitty), a pink owl, and a regular old deer. They are turning out super cute, which has me again playing with the idea of opening an Etsy store. But what would I name it? Suggestions welcome.

*Technically it was $6 later for dad. I don't carry that kinda cash around. Too rich for my blood.

It's officially Autumn in Seattle, and I'm excited!

One week we had balmy days reaching the 80's and 90's. Then next...50's and 60's with sporatic storms. Last night we pulled out our winter blanket and put it over our summer one. It's time for fall.

Tonight I'm planning on putting some flannel sheets on the bed. The time for lightweight cotton is gone. I'll also put away our summer bedspread and move our heavy chocolate brown fuzzy quilt into place officially.

I'm excited to make a big pot of cider on the stove like my mom always did, complete with cloves and cinnamon sticks floating in it.

I'm excited to enjoy lots of tea and time reading with Tim.

I'm excited to wear cozy sweaters and slippers.

I'm excited to put gourds and mini pumpkins all over the house.

I'm excited to eat hearty warming foods like green bean casserole and potato soup.

I'm excited to start Christmas shopping (I bought the first gift today...way behind my usual schedule.)

What are you excited for?

Crafty Creations

I've been enjoying hand sewing lately. Here's some of what I've been able to do.

This is a little headband I made for a baby. This was really fun and really easy to do.

Here's a crayon roll, opposite of the one I made for Mitsuki. His had Snoopy outside and treasure island inside.

Our friends David and Sarah are having a baby! They don't know what it is yet, so I made this blanket as neutral as possible (it's harder than you'd think!).

And just for kicks, here's some jewelry I made recently.

This was for my lovely exchange partner. She loves golden yellow, so I added the bead as a personal touch.
This is a rough draft of the pendants I've been working on. I just found some awesome vintage Christmas scenes that will work on this too.

I found these cute tree beads and thought they'd be a fun necklace.

That's what I've been up to while Tim's working the nights away. I also just bought some amazing Christmas fabric, I'm planning to cover couch pillows with them at Christmas time. Check them out:

Aren't they pretty? If they turn out well I might do more. Fun!

Eating and Shopping and Shopping and Eating

So, when we weren't watching Wicked, playing board games, or taking pictures of our amazing view, we were either shopping or eating (we'd been planning for months for this, so we went all out.) Here's what we ate:



First we went to Jaks, a famous burger place in Issaquah. Tim got the burger, I got the steak sandwich.

After Jaks we went to the Bravern, a new mall in Bellevue that has a Neiman Marcus, Jimmy Choo, and Anthropologie! We got dessert there:

Mine was lemon strawberry,

Tim's was triple coconut. We also ate at Specialty's Cafe and Cheesecake Factory (Thanks, Chris and Michelle, for the gift card!) but, evidentally I was too hungry to think to take pictures there.

Onto the fun part! The goods! Well, it shouldn't surprise you that most of our time (and money) was spent at Martin and Osa. There was a employee promotional weekend going on, so we got almost everything half off! Here's what I purchased:

Super pretty navy silky blouse

Gold nugget long necklace
White flare jeans

Azure blue tuxedo henley

Bright teal T-shirt ($7 by the way)

A brilliantly yellow sweater

Adorable golden earrings

I also made my first trip into an Anthropologie! I wanted a lot of things, but found this for $20 and contented myself with only buying this.

And lastly we went to DSW.
I'd been on the hunt for a good red heel for a l-o-n-g time, and we finally found it! The pictures don't do them justice, they are a burgandy color in real life, not brown. But so shiny and pretty!

And here's a happy us, after a long fun day.