VACATION all I ever wanted

WooHoo!  We've made it to DC.  We spent yesterday traveling.  Our flight from Atlanta was delayed 4 hours due to the storms in DC.  We didn't arrive until 10 last night.  Actually we arrived at the airport around 9 but spent an hour waiting for an open gate.

I am having THE BEST birthday!  Highlights include - the tiny silver necklace from husband; Hawaiian doberge cake; fireworks; and Toyota sending me a coupon for a free oil change. And this morning I found out I was the winner of the CSN giveaway on Chic on the Cheap's blog!  A $60 giftcard!  happy dance, happy dance



It's so nice to be off of work.  We're headed to the White House tour and the Capitol tour this morning.   I'll post a few pictures this afternoon.

Have a great weekend!

The beginning of my birthday week

Last night we celebrated my birthday at my mom's with my sister and her kids.  We had such a great time - the food was delicious, I got to play with my niece, and we even shot off some fireworks.  My nephew got me some really cool things - he's so thoughtful - a few LED lights and a small lint roller to carry in my purse.  He said "well you have a dog and a cat".   I'm afraid that I must be always covered in cat hair, so bad that even a child has noticed.  Or maybe his parents talk about all the cat hair on me and he picked up on it.  Oh well. 

I'm very excited because I received a copy of  the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.   It seems everyone's talking about it this summer.  I can't wait to read it on my vacation!

Has anyone read it yet? 

Birthday Wish List

My birthday is next week, so I decided to list a few things that I've been dreaming of.  I usually give my husband a list of things that I want/like/need and make a huge deal out of my birthday/Christmas/our anniversary.  I start talking about special occasions about a month in advance.  

I've never understood women who get upset when their husband/significant other forgets an important event.  If it's that important to you, you should make a HUGE deal out of it!

 I'm really obsessed (and really want) a thin, small necklace.  I want it to sit right on my collar bone.  I've been obsessed with it since watching Audrey Tautou's Priceless.  (My obsession with Audrey Tautou will be a separate post)

Crown necklace from Roberto Coin.

Necklace from Maya Brenner - I really wish the initial necklace came in silver.

If anyone knows where to get a simple little necklace for under $100 please let me know.  I've tried searching etsy but I can't find anything that I like. 

Also on my wish list - a sewing table

and a long arm quilting machine would really help me make some quilts

Actually, I'd really like my sewing/laundry room fixed up - table, cabinets installed - maybe something like this.

My real life wish list that I mentioned to my husband includes a new iron, ironing board and new embroidery scissors.  No gifts to open this year though - we cashed in our frequent flyer miles and are going visit my sister in DC. 

Oh yeah and I really want a pineapple doberge cake - just a slice (hint, hint, karen)

Work in Progress

I start way too many projects at one time.  Then I get overwhelmed that I have too much going on. Just wanted to share the latest quilt I'm working on. I have three quilts in progress right now.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of my husband and my puppy helping me.  My husband made me make two more squares because he didn't think a couple of squares looked good.  And I have to admit it does look better with the two new squares.

 

Somehow I managed to pin & sew two squares upside down in the middle of the quilt.  I spent last night ripping those 2 rows apart.  I also managed to rip apart 2 other rows because I wasn't paying attention.  It's all back together now.  Hopefully I'll get the borders on this weekend.

CSN Stores $60 Giveaway

Check out Chic on the Cheap blog - she's giving away $60 gift certificate to CSN stores.

If I were to win, I'd get one of these

or this 

 or this

So hurry go and enter the giveaway today!  Also sign up for her blog - she'll have another giveaway when she reaches 200 followers!

Remind me to cook this again

Meals like this make me LOVE being on a low carb diet.  This is the first time I've ever cooked a brisket in the slow cooker.  It turned out so delicious!  I only wish I could somehow transmit on this blog how good my house smelled when I walked in from the office. Quite simple.  I had Sam marinate the meat overnight in a little Dale's Seasoning, Lea & Perrin's and balsamic vinegar.  Before I left for work I seared it and threw it in the slow cooker with some onions and garlic.  That's it!  Add a side of broccoli and cheese...

My lil' helper

Actually, he's not really helping.  He just paws at me until I pick him up.  How will I ever finish this quilt with Samson in my lap?

He is a good model though

(the DJ Baby Lance Rock hat I knitted for my niece - free pattern here)

OMG I want one

Titi Monkey

Just read this article "Man caught at airport with 18 monkeys under his shirt".  I think I need one of these (the monkey - not a man willing to smuggle monkeys under his shirt)!

Busy Bee

I've been really busy this weekend.  I took off of work Friday so Mom & I could go to cooking class with at Kay Ewing's Everyday Gourmet.

We made:
*MEDITERRANEAN HUMMUS with PITA CRISPS

*STACKED SUMMER SALAD
with RUSSIAN DRESSING




This was a  really neat.  We cut everything up in small pieces,

stacked each layer into a can,

used the tamper to pack each layer

  and voila....

*ITALIAN ZUCCHINI FRITTATA

*BOSTON ICE CREAM PIE

YUMMY!!


Yesterday I finished my quilting class, but the quilt is not finished. I stayed up until midnight ripping the binding off.  The quilting instructor wanted us to hand sew the binding down.  I searched on the internet for a faster way and found that you can machine bind the quilt.  I'm trying to make quilts for each family - I am NOT hand sewing.   So I found these instructions that show you how machine bind the quilt.  Since I had sewn the binding to the front of the quilt, I had to rip everything apart and re-attach to the back of the quilt.  I'll be finishing the binding today (hopefully).  Somehow I've managed to ignore all the housework that needs to be done.

Here's my new embroidery machine in action.  I'm stitching Merry Christmas 2010 on the border of the quilt.

Here we are the other ladies in class.  Not sure who's quilt we're working on - maybe Mrs. Carol's.  Anyway, we taped the bottom of the quilt to a table, layered the batting and top of the quilt, and then started pinning away.  It didn't take long to do all of our quits with 4 people helping.

And here I am machine quilting.  We just did "straight" lines down the center of every other row.  It wasn't nearly as miserable as I thought it was going to be.

Getting to Know You

Welcome - if you're visiting my blog from MannLand5.  I answered her call to come up with a couple of questions and my questions were randomly selected!  Please let me know what you thought about them.  I hope to check out your blog to read your answers.

1.If you had to choose a country to live in besides USA (or the country you live in), which would it be?
My first choice is France. I dream of going to Paris and the French countryside one day. But if I make enough money to move to France, I think I'd have to choose some country with little to no taxes.


2.Which would be worse, wearing flip flops in the snow or wearing gloves in the summer?
Being from South Louisiana, I'd have to say wearing flip flops in the snow. I hate the cold weather and hate being cold. The idea of not having something covering my feet gives me goosebumps.


3. Fried or Bake and why?
Fried without a doubt. Once again, from the South - we fry everything.  Even on my low carb diet - we had soy flour fried chicken last night.


4. If you were an entertainment reporter, which celeb would you love to interview and why?
My Hollywood boyfriend is John Cusack. I would just want to be around him for few minutes.

5. What was your favorite book as a preteen/teenager?
I didn't really read until my first job at a bookstore when I was 18. I remember telling my soon to be boss, Cliff, that he shouldn't want to hire me because I didn't read or like books. 

So, I'd have to go with To Kill a Mockingbird. I did really enjoy that book assignment - I think I actually read that one too - most of the other assignments in school I just skimmed.


6. List your top 3 guilty pleasure television shows.

YUMMY

LOVE ME SOME SHELDON

I REALLY WANT TO RUN A MARATHON NOW

7. What bumper sticker slogan best describes you/your attitude/your life?
Couldn't find an image of the bumper sticker...

8. If you were to join a circus - what performer would you be?

30 Day Shred

I decided to join Inspired Mess' 30 Day Shred Challenge.  I got up a little late this morning, but this workout was perfect - a little under 1/2 hour including warm-up and cool down.  I took it easy this morning.  I didn't do the workout with weights, but I could still feel it.  I was very scared that the exercises would be way too challenging.  Jillian kind of scares me.  I'll dig my weights out of the storage room tonight.  I love the straight forward exercises.  It feels that we hit every muscle group.  My husband and I just started jogging every other morning last week.  I'll have to get up extra early tomorrow to be able to do both in the mornings.

Thanks Jamie for giving me an excuse to open up a DVD that I've had for AT LEAST a year - possibly close to 2.

Faux-tatoes

Yes, that's right. I tried making faux potatoes last night for dinner.  Since we've been doing Atkins/low-carb, I miss mashed potatoes, especially when I make meatloaf.  So I decided to try Linda's recipe.  I'm not a huge cauliflower fan in the first place.  There wasn't enough butter, heavy cream or salt that I could add to it to make it taste better.  Even cheese didn't work.  I found it gritty and NOWHERE near the same consistency as mashed potatoes.

War of the Coprophages

Does anyone remember this X-Files?  I'm freaking out.  Just went to the restroom at work and a huge cockroach ran into my bathroom stall.   Gross.  Made me think about that X-files episode.  I really hope it was a tiny little robot.

Quilting Lessons

I LOVE taking classes/lessons.  Saturday, I began taking beginner quilting lessons at Fabric Krazy.  We're piecing together a jelly roll.  I chose Moda Fabric's 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain.

Tonight I will be AT LEAST cutting the border.  I'm hoping to get the long sides of the quilt attached too, but we'll see how that goes. 

Here are a few pictures of the quilt as it is now.  See my beautiful straight lines!!

I'll bring my camera to class Saturday.  We'll be making the quilt sandwich and machine quilting.  Not sure if we're going to get to binding.

Leisure Sickness

So that's what it's called.  After reading Budget Travel's  "Do you suffer from 'leisure sickness'?" article, I have diagnosed myself with this ailment.  Does anyone else feel the same way? 

I have a terrible time trying to relax.  The first (and last) time I got a facial, I freaked out when the lady left the room to allow me to relax.  It's not that I'm worried about work - there are just a ton of other things that I want/should be doing.  Well, sometimes I'm worrying about work.

I've got several mini vacations planned for the rest of the summer.  Husband is taking me to DC to visit my sister for my birthday.  My ex-step-mother will be in New Orleans with my brother & sister in August. I'm planning to take a couple of days off of work to spend with them touring the city.  And I'm planning to visit my friend in Florida - she just moved there for a job and I miss her.  Hopefully we'll be able to hang out at the beach!

We'll see if I'm able to relax on any of these vacations.  Last year I went to DC with another sister and my nephew.  It was a whirlwind tour.  We crammed so much into the 5 day vacation.  We saw 5-6 different monuments and museums each day.  I was exhausted when we came back.  I always feel that I need a vacation from my vacation. 

Have a fantastic weekend!
April

If you're interested my friend Tiffani and her niece Bailey are headed to Key West this weekend.  Follow their blog.