Welcome Home Pickles

We finally got the majority of our unpacking completed.  We still have to figure out where the piano is going and get the table dissembled and stored under our bed (they're both still in storage).  I also have a stack of boxes in a corner that probably just need to stay there because I really have no place to put the stuff.  It's just knick-knacks and odds and ends or holiday decor.  My sewing machine and supplies are still boxed up too.

With everything pretty much squared away we decided to go get our cat.  My co-worker's kitty got out and of course wound up preggo so she had two kittens she needed homes for.  We originally planned on taking both of them but now we live in 500sq feet and I didn't feel we had room for two.  Which made me sad.

We brought Pickles home last Tuesday and we were warned that she is quite vocal.  She does meow/talk a lot but they are more like chirps and trills.  She doesn't have a loud/annoying meow.  Or at least it doesn't annoy me.  My husband might disagree.  I'm completely deaf in one ear so if I hear a lot of noise while sleeping I turn over and sleep on my good ear.  She pretty much just wants attention or food when she is being noisy.

I like to think she is pretty happy.  She is definitely my husband's cat though.  I'm not at home as much as he is but she does hang out with me in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work, although I think she just waits for me to get done so she can lead me to her cat bowl.  She doesn't like it when there is only a few pieces of kibble left.  I usually change her water and add an ice cube to it too.  She loves that ice cube!

With all the leftover boxes hanging around I decided to create a cat tower for her.  I found the instructions on the Martha Stewart website and it was so easy to create.  Our lil kitty loves that thing!  I love it too because it was free. I'll probably add some paint to it later on when I finally find them.  I also want to sew some cushy pillows for cat naps.

I look forward to coming home everyday and getting to see Pickles and snuggle up with her (when she is willing to oblige).  She is so pretty and so soft she makes my heart go *squee*.  She makes Peter happy too so of course that makes me even more happy.

Welcome Home Picklebarrel Kumquat Cherry-Chimi-Changa!

A Dream Deferred

Just an update to let everyone know whats what and where I'm at...

As some of you know me and my husband recently embarked on a house buying journey.  It's been full of ups and downs and ultimately was not successful.  We were so close to owning a house that just seemed like it was meant for us.  We had put an offer on it once and then had to withdraw our offer so when it came up again we jumped at the chance to try again.  The whole subdivision was named after spices and the house itself had plenty of room to grow with us!

New Apartment: Living room

We were supposed to close on the 15th of this month so we put in our notice at the apartment complex because they required 60 days and 2 months rent.  They told us that if things fall through just to let them know and retract the notice. Sounds good, right?  And it would have been except that the title to the house took too long getting to our mortgage lender and he had to run a new credit check because it expired. Lesson learned: Don't use your credit card at all while searching for a home!  My credit changed due to using it to purchase a home inspection which then maxed out my card and also because another bank checked my credit for home loan purposes.  I still have an  excellent credit score but something about the change triggered an error message with the computer system that decides weather you qualify for the loan or not.  So our loan was denied, no reason given.  Really!  That's what it said: 'no reason given'.  *sigh*

New Apartment: Living room/Kitchen

So of course we found out that, no, we can't stay in our apartment because they leased it out already.  Let me tell you finding an apartment last minute is almost impossible.  Every place we went had a waiting list till October!  We finally found a place and moved in on the 30th of July.  It's a 500 square feet 1 bedroom apartment.  Not happy about that but at least it's a roof over our head.  We had to live in a motel room for four nights.  I have an aversion to sleeping at motels.  Bedbugs.  They scare me!  We survived bug free thank goodness and we are all moved in and almost unpacked.  I think we have a few unopened boxes to unpack and Peter's piano and a kitchen table in storage. 

New Apartment:  Bedroom/Closet

I'll have to post some before and after pics because storage has had to be creative.  We are also getting a cat.  My co-worker offered us two when we thought we were getting a house.  Thankfully she has been very patient with us and is also alright with us only taking one off her hands instead of our committed two.  Her name is Pickles and I can't wait to bring her home.  I hope she loves us.  Peter has been wanting a cat for ages but since we had a roommate we didn't want to bring an animal in to the mix.

New Apartment: Bedroom/Bathroom

So that's where I'm at.  It's been a journey and a half.  Thank god Peter's Momma came to help us move because we couldn't have done it by ourselves.  Everyone says these things happen for a reason.  I'm hoping that it's because we are supposed to win the lottery.  I hear the jackpot for the next drawing is huge=)

MegaCon 2013

Sorry I haven't been around lately.  I've had a major case of the blahs, family has been in town, I've been staying up way to late for my early work schedule and working on other projects.  Mainly I was trying to finish up a costume I've been working on since February for my husband.  At first it was going to be for our annual Valentine' s Day trip to Medieval Times until we decided to go to MegaCon instead.  So then I figured I could finish it up for the Con but no bueno. I messed up and I have to pull some stitches out before I can finish up.  Bummer, I ran out of time.

Thankfully I had made some costumes for Halloween 2011 that never got worn because we had no where to wear them.  No Halloween parties for us that year!  So we went to the Con as Nyan Cat and Tac Nayn this past Saturday.  If you don't remember who Nyan Cat is, here is a refresher:

Tac Nayn is the opposite of Nyan Cat and his body is a waffle.  They make a cute couples costume.  I was afraid no one would remember who Nyan Cat was and some of the attendees didn't but a lot did.  I was also afraid everyone would think my costume was lame but quite a few people asked to take my picture.  Yay!

This was my first time attending a Con and I was very nervous.  My husband and roommate went all 3 days.  Thank goodness I opted for just Saturday.  It was all very overwhelming, loud and crowded!  My hubby did make my day by finding blogger Jen Yates from Epbot/Cakewrecks in her Lady Vadore costume.  This is my second time getting to meet her!  Last Thanksgiving time I attended a book signing for her book Wreck the Halls: CakeWrecks Gets Festive. Her costume is very detailed and very awesome.

Here are some of my favorite costumes from Saturday:

This my roommate posing with a pretty epic costume.  I can't even imagine how much work went into this thing. Apparently this guy is dressed as a Warhammer 40k Space Marine...whatever that is...

The little girl in the carriage is all tuckered out.  I got this picture on my way back to our car to get our lunch cooler and to get away from the crowd.  This group was on their way out too.  Wonder if they had to park out in the boondocks too.  That was a trek and a half let me tell ya!

This is my husbands favorite. She is dressed as Kitiara from the Dragonlance book series. He showed me the cover of the book when we got home and it was dead on. Beautiful costume!

Kiki's Delivery Service is one of my favorite Myazaki movies.  This couple is too cute.  Can you spot the kitty Gigi?

I enjoyed my 1st Con and plan on going again next year.  I'm already thinking about costumes and plan on getting started on that as soon as possible.  I'm a procrastinator though so maybe not so soon=/

A Fair Evening

A couple weeks ago I finally manged to convince my husband to take me to the fair.  He tried to convince me to go by myself which wasn't happening.  His first excuse was that he was sick, and he was, so I tried not to pester him too much.  Unfortunately for him every morning while watching the news the advertised the hell out of this thing.  Also, I was overdue for some fun and I love thrill rides.  Poor hubby not so much.  Splash Mountain at Walt Disney is his upper limit.  He'll do Everest at Animal Kingdom with me but he's a shaky mess afterwards and he'll never ever do Hollywood Tower of Tower or Rock 'n Roller Coaster with me.

Immediately upon entering the fair I checked out all the rides to see which one would be the most fun.  I chose this one above just because they were playing some Ace of Base and other 90s favs.  I really wanted to ride the swings but they were closed due to the windiness.  I wish I could have ridden all the rides but the tickets were pricey and we too late to buy arm bands.  This ride goes upside down.  Peter says I'm crazy, I say my hair was a crazy mess afterwards=P

Afterwards we played on the bumper cars, Peter's favorite.  Then, despite the windy cold weather, we dared the ferris wheel.  We were meat popsicles by the time we got off that thing!  I took some neat pictures though and it was a great opportunity to snuggle.

I was amazed that we could see downtown Orlando from the ferris wheel.  The sun was setting too and was gorgeous.  I just wish it could have set a bit latter because I knew we would have to go due to the cold.  On the plus side the lines were very short!

We warmed up with some funnel cake.  I keep trying to make funnel cake but haven't had any success yet. *sigh*  As predicted as soon as the sun set it got very cold.  I would choose the coldest day of the week to go to the fair.  We went into the expo area to finish our funnel cake and check out the 4H projects and art.  I got to pet a guinea pig, yay! 

We left around 7pm I think. I'm glad I got that out of my system but I really need to ride some roller coasters. It's warmed up a whole lot since that night too. Right now its 80 something. Figures. At least I got me some funnel cake.  I haven't been to a County Fair in ages and it was fun to get out and do something.

Reasons I Love My Husband

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  In honor of mushy love I dedicate this post to my wonderful husband Peter, who makes sure to tell everyday that he loves me and that I am a wonderful person even when I don't want to hear it or I'm in a bad mood.  Sweetie, here are:

1. You always remember which ear I am deaf in and move around to my good ear in every situation: walking together, eating at a resturant, always letting me drive.  Oh.  Wait.  You let me drive because I'm a control freak and despite my road rage.  Your awesome, you know that right?

2.  Not only don’t you put up with my negative body image issues – you actively work to combat them.  Your constantly telling me how beautiful I am and I hope you never stop because I'm not sure when (if I can) I'll stop comparing myself to Hollywood bombshells.

3.  You buy me flowers every Valentine's Day and you don't mind when I randomly buy flowers for myself.  You always pick out the prettiest bouquets, I wish I could keep them forever!

4.  You like to play with my hair.  I love your hands in my hair, it's so relaxing.  Too bad you don't know how to french braid;)

5. You’ve turned me into someone who likes snuggling.  I'll be honest.  Before I met you I didn't like to be hugged or touched really but now I can't go without some daily snorgling.  I especially like it when you purr like a cat because your silly like that.

6. You like to do geeky things with like eat at Medieval Times or going to Megacon.  We play video games and board games together. I can say something random and you 'get it' (unless it's from Mean Girls because for some reason I can't get you to sit still and watch it).

7.  You're totally scared of spiders but not snakes or lizards.  Which is a good thing because as you know lizards belong outside and you're able to gently return them to their natural habitat when they are staring me down while I'm on the toilet or washing dishes.  Sorry my screamy yelps frighten you, I don't like lizards out of context and no we can never have a pet snake.

8.  I love that you miss me, even if I saw you a few hours ago.  Our work schedules suck sometimes don't they? 

9. You let me take pictures of our dinner, at home or at a restaurant. Sometimes you even help me out on my blog by writing a guest post, being my guinea pig or just holding the light source or camera.

10.  You don't mind that I sleep with a purple stuffed rabbit named Mr. Bunny and when I can't find him in the middle of the night you find him for me.  I love your penguin collection and you don't mind that I display them in our bathroom (because they're warm water penguins).

So in conclusion, I love you Mr. Penguin.  Always and forever.

XOXOXO, 

Heather

It's a Major Award! I Won It!

Well, okay, it's not a MAJOR award but it makes me feel special.  It certainly isn't every day that you get to win something from a random drawing.

I won this sweet set of ceramic measuring cups and spoons from Chris over at Food Thoughts of a Chef Wannabe.  It also came with a bonus fridge list pad and a pretty card from Chris.  My favorite part of this whole package though?  The wrapping paper!  Isn't it gorgeous?

I can't wait to use my new measuring devices.  I have a couple sets of mismatched stuff that I use now.  They work but they aren't pretty.

These will look so pretty on the counter top or as props in my foodie photos.  I'm also a list-a-holic so that pretty notepad will get used a lot!

Thank you so much for hosting this giveaway.  I'm so happy I won!

But It's my Birthday!

Today's my birthday!  Don't tell my mother I'm 31.  I bought some funfetti Halloween themed cake mix so I decided to make myself a cake.  Mostly because i was craving cake and I like baking.  I needed the cake making practice.  I'll post the recipe and how-to later. 

Goodbye Summer {Strawberry Lemonade Cake}

I spent the last week of summer in my hometown. I so needed a vacation! I missed all my family and desperately wanted to see my Mom and my new niece. I was also craving some fall like weather. 

A Quilt for Reilly Sue

 

I haven't been doing much cooking lately because I have been super busy with non-food craft projects lately. My brother and his wife just had a baby girl and when they first told me they were expecting I just knew I had to make them something special. 

A Funny Story {Latkes}

My roommate and his family is Jewish. He isn't religious or anything but he does respect his family heritage and like to put out his menorah and celebrate Hanukkah. We keep saying we should just celebrate Festivus. So he has Menorah and my husband and I have our Christmas Tree and all is well.

Pin All the Things 9/16/12 {Fall}

This week I'm blogging from Illinois.  Peter and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary and the birth of my niece Reilly Sue.  I also had a severe craving for fall like weather.  If I wasn't so busy at work in October I probably would have timed our trip for Halloween since it's my favorite fall holiday.

The weather is a little bit gloomy and cloudy right now but the temperature is perfect!  The only thing missing is the fall foliage.  It's just too early for the pretty oak and maple leaves that can be found around my hometown.

Fall has been on my mind all week in preparation of my trip up north so I couldn't help put Pin some fall inspirations:

Wild Animal Cake Pops

One of my courthouse acquaintances asked if I could make jungle animals for a child's birthday party. Challenge...accepted!

Some of these animals don't live in a jungle. I know this. How could I not make a giraffe or hippo though? They are the best animals to visit at the zoo according to me and my Mom. Penguins too according to the hubby but I'm pretty sure penguins could never qualify as jungle animals unless they are the ones that got shipwrecked on that island in the movie Madagascar. "Just smile and wave, smile and wave"

Pin All the Things 9/9/12 {Hedgehogs make me *Squee*}

My and the hubster have been discussing getting a pet.  I kind of want a pet but then I remember I'm never home Monday to Friday and that wouldn't be fair to a puppy dog.  A cat sounds alright until I imagine it shredding my roomie's fairly new furniture.  Our place is small too so not sure where it's litter box would go.

Peter is trying to convince me that a hedgehog would be our perfect pet.  I'm not so convinced yet but he's not buying my fishy pets idea.  I like aquariums.  They are so calming and I love the sound of the bubbling water.  I've had a lot of fish growing up.  It's pretty much the only pet my Dad let us have.  Peter has had a lot of pets growing up.  Dogs cats, hamsters, gerbils.  And now he is fixated on getting a hedgehog.

After some research and looking at oodles of hedgie porn the idea has grown on me.  I'd name her Dilemma or Dilly for short and she would curl up by my neck when I read and be very snuggly.  I have a wonderful imagination and so I realize that the above scenario is doubtful.

Check out all the reasons I should have a hedgehog for a pet:

Frustrating Food Packages

I saw this video on The Daily What today and all I have to say is, "Exactly!"

Why do food packages have to be so frustratingly difficult to open? I hate getting a food package that is resealable only to have the bag tear or the zip lock portion to separate from the package. I think this happens almost every single time I open a new package of shredded cheese. And just last night the spaghetti sauce refused to open. I had to whack the cap with a butter knife handle several times before I could it to pop open!

Use the Loofah Subway Art

My husband keeps making me smile.  We saw a Method soap commercial on youtube that just left us in stitches.  Now all my hubby has to do is whisper "Use the Loofah" to get me to smile.  If you haven't seen the commercial, it's mildly disturbing and depending on where you work maybe NSFW:

Pin All the Things 8/5/12 {Nostalgia}

Recently my sister posted to her facebook wondering what ever happened to Kool-aid points.  I haven't made a pack of Kool-Aid in so long that I don't know when they got rid of the points.  This makes me sad.  I never was able to save up for anything as a kid.  We did have a set of cups and the Kool-Aid man pitcher though.  I seem to recall that our family gave them out as Halloween treats one year because they were really cheap and came packaged with 2-3 flavor packets.

As a result of all this Kool-Aid talk I recalled that I had been unable to find my favorite flavor lately.  I bought some a couple years ago and pretty much wiped Sedano's out of the flavor as they had it on clearance.  A red flag that they would no longer be carrying it anymore.  Sure enough, no more Blue Raspberry Lemonade.  Sad face.  This explains why I haven't been making Kool-Aid.  I do like Tropical Punch and Black Cherry but have opted to drink Crystal Light Pink Lemonade.  Mostly so I don't have to measure out sugar or Splenda.  I'm lazy.  We've established this.

Hanging Out in Celebration, Fl

You might remember a little while back I reviewed a restaurant called Thai Thani located in Celebration, Florida.  If you don't remember, that's not important.  What is important to remember is that if your ever in the Orlando area, say visiting Walt Disney World and in need of a break from the Mouse, is to go explore  the town of Celebration.

It's located not very far from Disney property and was actually planned/developed by the Walt Disney Company.  It is a small community with a small town feel and is a very safe place to walk around and just appreciate the beautiful sights and architecture.  There are so many beautiful homes that I just dream of owning!

Father's Day 2012

Avenger Themed Cake Pops

After passing out those Pinkie Pie cake pops around my workplace the word got out that I like to bake and decorate. One of my co-workers, MG, asked me if I could make her some cake pops for an Avengers themed birthday party. I love getting paid to be creative so I immediately said yes. She bought me the supplies and I brought my creativity!

She just wanted a simple cake pop with sprinkles and the ones she brought me we're very cute. I especially love the star sprinkles! I also happened to buy a silicone ice cube mold at Target that had star shapes. She didn't request but 24 round cake pops but I had some leftover cake mixture and decided to experiment with the star shapes.

Thai Thani {A Resturant Review}

Even the bathroom was pretty!

Peter's family was in town this past week and they graciously took us out to eat.  Our roommate suggested Thai Thani in Celebration, Fl because he loves Thai food and had recently eaten there with another friend of ours and enjoyed his meal.

Thai isn't my favorite genre of food.  I'm not sure why.  I guess I'm always uber worried about ordering something spicy.  This happened once.  My mouth was on fire.  Ends up my husband's dish and my dish got mixed up.  Didn't find out until he complained that his meal wasn't spicy enough, lol!  Thai is delicious but I think I have mentioned before that I am just not an adventurous eater.  Obviously I am not a fan of spicy either.  I'd rather have fried chicken and mashed potatoes personally.