Project 365: Days 052-058

I have been MIA for a week, first due to
being busy then due to injury.
Thanks to those who expressed concern :)
you make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Follow my week to see what happened:

Day 052:

I found my wedding shoes! All the rest went back for FREE!
The shoes I settled on are a tad higher than I really wanted but for now they are the best choice. Since Zappos gives you 365 days to return, if I do find a better pair over the next few months I can still return them, YAYs!!

Day 053:

I love avocados and lately Amazon Fresh has been delivering the best avocados I can find. I order non-ripe ones and they are perfect each and every time. Yum!!

Day 054:

Lemons and limes are a staple in my kitchen. I love the smell and the flavor. I am addicted to S.Pellegrino mineral water with a squeeze of fresh lime. Totally refreshing and waaaaaaaaaaaaay better for me than regular soda.

Day 055:

I had to do a ton of research on Tuesday and Wednesday. I opted to do it in front of the TV with my laptop. Very bad move. I usually do my work on my iMac with a normal mouse. The laptop has a built in scrolly area that you need to use two fingers to scroll. I took this photo as I realized what had caused my pain. As you can see, I have very bad form and combined with too many hours of continuous scrolling, I gave myself a repetitive stress injury afftecting my right pinky and ring finger. Such a dork! It hurt all the time from Thursday through Saturday and I could not hold a mouse or type and even petting Zira hurt. Hence my MIA status last week. Please do not try this at home.

Day 056:

Here I am in what I call my Black Spidey glove. I have one for each hand. When I first started creating jewelry pieces, I was a bit of a mad woman going on for hours on end with the excitement. Well that's not such a great thing for your hands when you are not used to these new positions and holding pliers. I started to get carpal tunnel and had to get these gloves to help keep my hands warm and train them to be in a good position (there is a stiff metal brace inside of these from the palm to the wrist). Between the gloves, training myself to only do so much at a time and making sure I take breaks, I haven't had to use the gloves in ages. Until now. My right hand hurt so much after my scrolly injury, even when not doing anything, I figured I would try the magic glove.

Day 057:

Rocky Road ice cream makes me happy.
I had this bowl and I seriously think it cured my hand :P
At least to the point where I could mouse and type a wee bit
and that is the only time it feels sore now.

Day 058:

I can only work on the computer in short stints, so it has taken me all day to get this post up. Luckily it no longer hurts to pet Zira. But at this point, I do feel the soreness coming back so I will be laying off blogging for awhile again until I am fully recovered. I'll be back eventually and I wish you all a wonderful week!

Project 365: Day 045

Etsy shop owner Laura Walls Taylor quite possibly has the best timing. I decided to brew a batch of my current favorite tea, Red Bush Chai. I haven't had tea in months. I go through moods. Today my tea had literally just finished steeping when UPS showed up at my door with my new Vulture Mug. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

I love my new mug and it is now my favorite. It is the perfect size and fits my hands and fingers comfortably. The little vulture rider makes for a great thumb rest. The lines are beautiful on this piece. If it were not for Etsy, I wouldn't be able to own this little work of art. The best part is knowing that my hard earned money is going mostly to the artist herself.

I need to finish my tea before Vic The Vulture gets any ideas :P

Project 365: Day 043

Our friends invited us over for dinner tonight at their lovely home. They have recently acquired baby chicks. There were a couple of yellow and mostly black tiny chicks. They were so cute and soooooooooo soft! They are still living in the house under the heat lamp for now. These will be laying brown eggs in the near future. 'Twas a delightful Easter surprise for me.

This Easter was also interesting as we attended our first ever Passover Seder. We were told we had the merciful cliff notes version. It was very interesting to participate and enjoy the kids getting into it. All I can say is that potato pancakes and matzah ball soup are waaaaaaaaaaay worth the wait. I had never had matzah ball soup before but it was totally yummy. Matzah balls are super filling as they seem to expand in your tummy much like hushpuppies. I definitely have a new addition to my comfort food list. Yum!

Project 365: Day 038

I am a big fan of the Amazon Fresh delivery service. I have done Safeway delivery in the past and in SF even had a special produce delivery service. However, the best thing about Amazon Fresh is that they have a combo of stuff you find at Safeway, Whole Foods and nowhere else. It's the nowhere else stuff that makes my day. Take these cupcakes from Always Room For Dessert, a local bakery, they actually deliver these to my home and they are waaaaaaay yummy, moist and chocolaty!!! I got a hankering last night and voilá here they are at 11 am the next day. What more could a girl want?????

Project 365: Day 037

Ok, here is proof that I have been way too busy. This onion is out of control. Although, I did find it beautiful in a weird alien sort of way. hee

Project 365: Day 026

Y and I are thinking we really want a cupcake tree wedding cake. We both heart cupcakes and we actually discovered our sweet tooth for them together.

Problem: we are new to Seattle and we have yet to determine the best cupcakes in the area.

Solution: visit every cupcake shop and devour cupcakes! Things we have to endure just to get married [wicked grin].

This is the Royal Red Velvet cupcake from New York Cupcakes in Bellevue. It was good. I prefer my Red Velvet with a cream cheese frosting but this one came with their original buttercream. Now I must admit that it was THE BEST buttercream frosting I have ever had anywhere. I did also have the chocolate cake version of their Coney Island Coconut which was very yummy. The cake was moist and not too sweet. They have such an array of interesting and yummy sounding flavors. The shop is also very cute all done up in cheery pinks. Overall, this place is winning but there are more cupcakes out there that must be consumed before final judgment can be made.

Nom, nom, nom.....

Project 365: Day 016

Fitz's Grape Pop, pure cane sugar and so yum-a-lish! Purple heaven! I was so glad when I found out Amazon Fresh would deliver a case to me, um I mean us, any time I wanted. Here is my current empty bottle on the window sill above my kitchen sink. Devil Duckies, yer way too late, Muhahahaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Procet 365: Day 011

Comfort food that is actually healthy = Pho. Years ago my comfort food consisted of mainly oooey-gooey cheesy dishes like mac 'n cheese or pupusas de quseo con loroco. Those still have a major place in my heart, or tummy, but I always feel guilty and like a tub-o-lard when I eat them for comfort. Enter Pho Tai, rice noodle soup with eye-round steak. If I had a hard day, feel sickly, down or just plain out of sorts, Pho Tai makes it all better. Chicken soup never quite did it for me and all the cheezy stuff weighed me down the whole day. This soup fills me up, makes me feel all better and satisfies cravings without weighing me down. In San Francisco Aux Delices delivered amazing Pho Tai to my door, talk about being spoiled. Living in Seattle now, Saigon City, located in Bellevue, WA, has THE BEST Pho Tai. We will go out of our way to dine there. However, when in need of a to-go Pho fix near the homestead in Seattle, the local Than Brothers does the trick. If you have never experiend the Pho, do yourself a favor and try it, you will be glad you did.

Friday Color Reel: Chocolate

Chocolate: CMYK=70-90-100-40

Inspired by the cupcake I am devouring at the moment.
[nom nom nom]

W March 2009 Issue

60s Fiberglass Ball Chair


Chocolate Couture

Finsbury by L.A.M.B.

The best hot chocolate in Paris,
Angélina Salon de thé.

Thick and rich.
Find recipes here.

Godiva Suite, New York.

A true chocolate interior design!

Wednesday Cravings: Dag Nabbit

self explanatory
and
literal

UPDATE:

SATISFACTION

The 'after' of my dessert tonight,
Baby Hot Fudge Sundae.
I was too excited and forgot a 'before' shot
:P

Domooooo Attack! Energy Drink

OMG! Where has this been all of my life?????

[sluuuuuuuurp]

Back to work!

I took a wee bit of time off and went back to my hometown for a lil R&R.
It's been 18 months.
I love Seattle but there are things in SF I really do miss.
[beyond friends and family of course]

• Pancho Villa - Burritos!!!!! Mission Style! HELL YES, they are as good as I remembered, Yummers! Why-O-Why can't I find a burrito worth a damn outside of the Mission or Bay Area for that matter???
  
• Cable Cars - I lived for years were I could hear the cable car right out my window. Yes, it was a good thing. Luckily we stayed in a hotel where the cable car sounds wafted in like a sweet serenade.
• Walking - I lived in such a beautiful and central area of SF that I could walk to anything. K, so a girl did resort to the cable car going up hill (it was the California Street hill after all) and a taxi in the late hours (I lived no more than $10 from anything worth a damn).
  
• Pho Delivery - Yes, to my door and it was too frigging yummy!

Well I am back now in beautiful Seattle. I do love it here and even though I have to go burritoless, I would not trade my life here at all.

I am working on more pieces for the Foxy Monster site as well as some custom card orders. Be sure to check out this blog for updates on new items.

Tootles

Monster Hot Chocolate

That's what I'm talkin' about!
(and drinking)

Yummerz!

When I make cupcakes...

...it's kinda like this:



(sort of)

LOL!

Here are some I actually made once:

I call them Dark Sparkle cupcakes.