Pearls and Jam
We are kind of Pearl Jam people. Kind of. A lot. Scott started listening to Pearl Jam when he was in high school. He went on a roadtrip to see a bunch of PJ shows with his friends one summer. We started dating just a few weeks after he got home from those shows, and he introduced me to Eddie. I loved him too. Then we (Me and Scott, not me and Eddie) fell in love and got married. You could say it was destiny.
In 2006 we bought tickets on a whim to go to Denver to see Pearl Jam open for Tom Petty. Yeah, two musical icons in one show. Wow. I know. We flew to Denver, and spent less than 24 hours doing all the stuff we could fit in and still go to a concert and recover before we flew home. But, this picture here…. that makes it all worth it. That is Hubby, and me and Mike McCready. Yeah, he’s in the band…. he was hanging out in the sound booth while Tom Petty was playing. Our seats were right next to the sound booth. I asked the very big very tall (but very nice… he called me Sweetie) security guard if I could get a picture with him. They both said OK. Mike (we are totally on a first name basis by this time) put his arm around my shoulder for the picture. (Look close, you can see his hand up there above my left shoulder…squee!) Then my heart kind of stopped beating. And then we sat down, and I stared at him for like an hour.
Last month we got to see Pearl Jam again. When we heard they extended their tour and booked a show in Salt Lake we waited on pins and needles until tickets went on sale. And then we snatched them. So, Pearl Jam has this deal where if you are a member of their fan club, then you get priority seating based on seniority. But you don’t get to find out where you are until you pick your tickets up… kind of like an awesome (or not awesome) surprise. In Denver that got us on like row 34 on the floor (but, right next to the soundbooth to take full advantage of photo ops with famous people). In SLC that got us front and center on row 8. See how destiny is important! We were close enough to see the sweat flying off of Eddie’s face. Gross, but awesome. It was a great show, and I hope they don’t wait another 11 years before they come back. But, I guess me/Scott have seen them perform in four states, so as long as they get close, we’ll go see them again. (Please excuse the grainy picture from my phone.)
Back to the whole roadtrip and 5 shows Scott did before we started dating. At a California show he saw some posters that he loved, and he bought two of them for his baby girls room. He is cute like that (but don’t tell him I wrote that on the internets… ) Reminder- I knew who he was, but I had been living in Russia for almost a year at this point and was still there. Oh, and we had never had an actual conversation… But, time does funny things and five and a half years later we were married and I was pregnant with his little girl.
These posters are awesome. They are bright colors, they are retro looking in a good way and they are pretty much just fantastic! But, there was no way I had a prayer of finding a nursery set to match. So, after some serious months of looking my friend Lyndi shows me this fabric line from Michael Miller, designed by Sandi Henderson. I know, perfect! So, I sew sew sew and get the crib looking fabulous, and Lyndi makes me the cutest quilt ever. We framed the posters (sidenote: why does framing have to be so EXPENSIVE! Hubby paid $20 for each poster and it was like a billion dollars to frame these two! Even with a coupon, and on sale…. I mean, not that I regret it, because they make everything perfect hanging above her dresser, but still… still a little gripey).
I know I’ve posted this pic before, on my old blog, but it is just too cute to leave out of this whole PJ story. You just can’t go wrong with paisley sheets.
So, the end of this chapter of the story is to let you know that we are teaching Creamie early to love good music. That is a Pearl Jam onesie she is wearing. Scott bought that for her too (but not until after she was born). Creamie loves music, and if you can just put some imaginary drumsticks in her hands, she looks like she is ready to rock and roll.
It’s Snowing!
As soon as the clouds clear up a bit, I will take a picture of the loveliness at my house. But I couldn’t wait that long to gush about the season’s first snow. It is just so pretty! Time to make hot chocolate. And soup. I love winter food. Enjoy the loveliness!
Image found here.
No Love for Licorice or Grammar
One of my “friends” posted this on her facebook page the other day. I almost unfriended her…. because she was dishing on one of my Besties. Sigh. I don’t know why so many people have it out for poor old licorice. Look how cute he is, how can you hate a face like that?
[Unrelated Disclaimer]- My mother was an English major, and the editor of her university newspaper. She has mad skills with words and grammar. I have mad skills with… well, other stuff. When I was in highschool she would proof read my papers for me. Thankfully. One memorable rough draft was six pages long. She removed 96 superfluous commas. Ninety six. Pathetic.
My comma usage/un-usage has drastically improved since then, but there are still things I always do wrong. Always. I always say “drinken” instead of drunk. “I haven’t drinken any milk today.” I usually mess up my plural possessives (as pointed out to me from yesterday’s post about the “siren’s screaming past your window” which apparently should have been the “sirens screaming past the window.” Whatever. I forget what all the parts of speech are called. I pretty much have nouns down and that’s it. I can use the words with no problem… I just can’t diagram them in a sentence and call them by name. I hope I haven’t given any of them a complex. Oh, and I always spell ‘definitely’ wrong (the non spell checked version is definetly- just as it sounds). So, I try to fix the glaring errors before I hit “post”. You know, the one’s that have that little red dotted line under them… the one’s the internet can easily point out to you. But, as for the rest of them- well, I really have no excuse. I just wanted to make you aware that I am occasionally aware of them. I just think it adds to my character and charm. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Super Tuesday!
A few bits of awesomness that happened today:
1-Creamie took an almost 3 hour nap. Since we have to be down to one nap a day, at least it was a long one.
2-First ever visit to Hobby Lobby. So much love there. Next time I go I will not be on a time crunch. It made me want to buy some of everything. But, I refrained and only purchased one roll of ribbon and two 79 cent embroidery hoops.
3-Found a new to me little fabric store that has loads of wool felt in like 80 colors. I was almost set to order felt for my next [secret] project from some tiny little town in the middle of a Nebraska corn field that just so happens to have an incredibly huge selection of wool felt. Dear local craft stores- No one wants your hunter green and cobalt blue nasty acrylic felt for anything. You could stop carrying 1000 sheets of those colors and branch out into the gillion other colors of the rainbow. I’ll be back in a few weeks to check your progress. If you haven’t made any changes, please post a sign outside to notify the public of your incredibly lame selection. It could read something like “Nebraska corn fields are showing us up. Order your felt from them.” Thanks.
4- Heather Bailey is having a sale at her online shop! Twenty percent off of everything! [ends Oct 21 at midnight] I bought two patterns, and I can’t wait for them to come so I can look at them and buy fabric for them and then put them in the “projects to start on” stack. That stack just keeps getting bigger….. sigh. But, it is still a happy stack.
5-Not only did I get a 3 hour nap [which didn’t require me to sleep for three hours, but was just the R&R that I needed], but Creamie is also going to bed an hour earlier than last week! And, if the sirens on the firetrucks had a “shhhh baby is sleeping” mode, then she wouldn’t have woken up just now. Sigh, it’s a terrible thing to be woken up by siren’s screaming past your windows. Must go give her some love. But… until 2 minutes ago it was a Super Tuesday!
When the Cravings Call…
Last weekend we went camping with some of our friends. You know, camping for real, in the mountains and with tents and dutch ovens and campfires and sleeping bags and air mattress’s and stuff. And it was so much fun. Creamie came along, and she was great. We bundled her up so she couldn’t move because it was pretty cold (37 degrees when we went to bed) but she stayed nice and toasty warm.
There were only a few small mishaps… like a giant racoon and his friends making an appearance around 4:30ish. They stole the Redvines. Which, truth be told, I was pretty happy about. ( I hate Redvines. And Twizzlers. And any other red sort of licorice. If it’s not soft and bitter and black, then I am not interested. End of that story.)
Anyway, point of the fisrt story- tonight I was craving s’mores. When you are camping you can eat s’mores like 8 times a day. Breakfast? Sure, they go with hot chocolate. Dinner? Duh. Midnight Snack? Why not! So tonight, I got the urge. Like, can’t stop thinking about them for 3 hours craving s’mores.
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In our first apartment we had a gas stove, and I would sometimes hold my marshmallow over the flame on a fork to toast it. But in our house now we just have a flat top electric- which is ideal for lots of things- not ideal for indoor s’mores. I decided I better give it a shot and tried one, but it never got toasty caramelized brown- just warm and gooey, which is only 50% of the point. Bummer. Enter Plan B.
(Plan B swoops in from stage right in a cloud of genius)
Plan B: Sit on the floor in front of the open oven door with the broiler cranked up and holding my marshy-mellows on a summer BBQ Skewer… carefully turning them and making sure they don’t fall off to their certain death on the oven floor. Procede to stack brown and toasty marshy-mellows on graham crackers and double chocolate pieces. Consume immediately. Repeat. Again. And again.
Result: Delicious!
When you Should Be Sleeping….
I have this new habit of playing on the interwebs after Creamie goes to sleep. Which is fine. I need the time to unwind, and there are just so many beautiful things to see and look at! But, the problem comes when you just keep looking at eye candy. And then keep looking. And keep looking. Sigh. Even if I wanted to stop looking at beautiful things and go to sleep…. which I don’t…. when I do finally get in bed my mind is so hopped up on lovelies that I can’t fall asleep. So then after a few obligatory hours laying in bed thinking about all the things I have been looking at, I get up again and keep looking. It’s a painful cycle really. But I can’t stop!
Last night’s lovely looking ended about 3:45 am. I am going to just blame it on the wicked thunder and lightening…. but do you want to see what I found!
*Disclaimer…. if you aren’t really interested in anything related to crafts or sewing or cute little giraffes, don’t feel obligated to check out these links…. I won’t quiz you on them later. Promise.
sock monkey by Maribelmade
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Best Sock Monkey Tutorial Ever– in case you want to make a few for Christmas presents for the tiny people in your life.
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The Cutest Giraffe I’ve ever seen…. Ever. This lady is my idol-in a non-worshiping-golden-calves-kind-of-way. And if you don’t like giraffe’s (then go to the shrink and find out what is wrong with you) then you can find pretty much everything else that is cute and beautiful and stuffed with stuffing here.
I could read this blog for hours. She is totally talented. I want to be her when I grow up. Or her. I kind of have a girl crush on her…. in a holy-cute-how-are-you-so-talented-please-impart-some-of-your-goodness kind of way. And she is imparting, and I am lapping it up. And I love it.
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Even if you don’t knit- which I don’t- I love this site. It is full of beautiful things to make and look at. Sigh. Resolution #179 Learn to Knit. But, see, even if you don’t knit there is stuff like this pattern for free…. just don’t make the eyebrows so angry, mmmkay?
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Think of the possibilities of this one.While I was laying in bed, pretending to be falling asleep, I just kept thinking of all of the beautiful things that I could make with this as the starting point! I kept flipping on my lamp, writing something down, and flipping it back off. Should have just left the light on…. or got up… or not gone to bed in the first place.
So, now Creamie is napping, and I am back to looking at all the lovelies the world has to offer. I think I am going to add a lovely list in the sidebar of all the beautiful free tutorials I can find, and the links to their flickr groups, because seriously… so awesome! Please bless that I can be like them when I grow up. Please?
And so it begins…
Last Saturday my alma mater’s football team pulled out an incredible win against Oklahoma University, which is ranked #3 in the nation. I was so proud of them, and as soon as they won, I promptly shared my love on facebook. “I heart my cougs” I said. My sister, who cheers for the wrong school and I proceeded to have a very heated “conversation” on my wall. So, in honor of my cougars playing again on Saturday, I bring you the very best of college football rivalries, hashed out between two sisters who share dozens of things in common. We have the same color of hair. We have the same eyes. We have (unfortunately for both of us) the same nose. We frequently show up to family gatherings wearing nearly identical outfits. Many of my relatives and high school acquaintances think we have the same face. (We don’t.) But, one thing we do not now, nor will we ever, share or even agree on is which side is right, in the greatest of all battles. The Holy War begins.*
*In the case of E v. H, we don’t have to wait for BYU to actually play U of U…. we just fight about it all year. There is pride at stake here, people. So, on that note, I bring you a facebook “conversation” which, except for my first status update, took place last Tuesday evening. Let the games begin.
E: I heart my cougs (posted Saturday after their incredible win over OU)
H: I like ponies. And sparkles. And whatever will eat a cougar.
E: I am afraid that ponies don’t eat cougars. Actually, I am pretty sure that Ute’s don’t eat cougars either. I think they respected them for their speed and skillz….
H: whatever, Utes chased them on their super-speedy ponies and tomahawked those dirty cougar heads in half. So let it be written, so let it be done.
E: oh, you are so dead. Cougars tore pansy utes into pieces to feed to their Cougar babies. And my cougar babies can beat up your utes babies.
H: aaah, see, but here is your giant Logic Fail. We don’t got no pansy utes. We only have tomahawking warrior Ute’s…and no matter how many cougar skulls we chop in half, no self-respecting Ute would feed a dirty cat to their babies. It’s unsanitary.
E: (pansy utes was referring to ALL utes, and yes you have them. You gots a chess club…. hear my cougar baby roar…. “rawrrrrr”)
H: you’re cougar baby squeaks, like a llama. “Squeaky-squeak-squeaker, squeak-squeakity-squeak-squeaken.”
E: My cougar baby will eat you. And squeak your bones in her teeth.
H: Your baby doesn’t have big enough teeth to squeak mashed carrots, let alone a whole warrior. You’s counting your ugly blue eggs before they hatch…you’s gonna get red ducks.
E: i will turn your red ducks into soup.
H: yes, feed the masses–including your squeaky cougar baby–with the red goodness and raise up a mighty nation until the Utes, and all shall flock to it and strengthen it, and all other (wimpy, blue) nations will be crushed under the Crimson Tide.
E: i was going to feed it to pigs…. and it would make them crazy, like the pigs in the bible, and then they would run off a cliff.
H: no, it was the devil that made the bible pigs crazy….gasp! You’re the devil?
E: um, no…. the soup… uh-duh. The red devil/duck soup will make them crazy. I can’t believe you are not following this whole derailed train of a conversation.
H: ….I don’t know what kind of religion you got from your school–but red duck soup won’t make pigs crazy. Sorry. In fact, I hear it’s actually quite lovely with toast.
E: religion… since when were we talking religion? I mean, if we are going to bring religion into it, let’s leave the soup out. No soup for you.
H: You’re the one who brought up the Bible! I don’t want none of your stinkin’ soup anyway. I’m taking my tea set and my dolls and my snacks and I’m going home. And I won’t invite you to my Birthday party. I won’t. Nope. Not one bit.
E: Fine. I don’t want to play dolls with you anyway. And I don’t like tea. And your snacks smell like old cheese. And I’m glad you aren’t inviting me to your birthday party. I’m not inviting you to MY birthday party. And I’m pretty sure my dad is bigger than your dad. And my brother can beat up your brother. And…. Goodbye. (Slams door behind you and your tea set and your dolls and your snacks, then brushes hands on pants.)
Unsuspecting bystander Jon C: now, now girls…can’t we all get along…?
(he is a Cougar fan… just thought I’d point that out)
H: And scene. Come back next week for another installment of “Heidi vs. Erika”, or “Utes vs Cougars”, or “How to Abuse Facebook in the name of School Pride”
Happy Football Weekend (Unless you cheer for the wrong side… then I hope you lose at San Jose Saturday night.)
(108) Days of Summer
Summer is over. For me, summer starts at 5:00 the Friday before Memorial Day, and it ends at midnight on Labor Day. I guess this summer was a good one, I guess. I mean, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it was awful, but it wasn’t great either. Actually, I can’t remember a really “great” summer since I was about nine. They start out great, and then it gets to be July and my allergies flare up. And then it is August and it is just too hot and it ruins everything. And then finally after dragging the heat on through the end of September, it finally snows sometime in October, and the balance has been returned to the universe. Ah winter, how I miss you. So, to say goodbye to the summer of 2009:
1.drinking lemonade on the back porch 2.picnics in the park 3.creampuff’s 6 new teeth 4.homemade bbq sauce 5.watching the neighbor kids run through the sprinklers 6.june weddings 7.sunday afternoons in the canyon 8.birthday parties 9.banana shakes 10.baby girls 11.birth 12.death 13.morning walks with the girls (6 miles… I didn’t do this one enough) 14.modbe warehouse sale 15.fantastic girlfriends 16.fresh garden tomatoes 17.dark skinny jeans 18.lazy saturday mornings with the wall street journal 19.picking apricots off my mom’s tree 20.peach cobbler 21.kickball on top of a mountain 22.actually, kickball anywhere 23.an almost broken wrist 24.tiny little dresses 25.corn on the cob (is this handshucked?) 26.cold cereal for dinner 27.creamie’s first fireworks 28.panguitch quilt walk 29.stupid freaking hot weather 30.big multicolor polkadots 31.fresh paint 32.going swimming 33.cranking up the ac to pretend it is winter already 34.bbq’s with friends 35.and then staying up late playing games 36.catching up with dear old friends, and having it feel like i just saw them yesterday 36.missing the friends who couldn’t come 37.baseball games 38.playing frisbee 39.brand new crayons 40.and new notebooks 41.chocolate chip cookies 42.well, any kind of cookie really 43.working on my first adult size quilt 44.watching creamie play in the bathtub 45.spending the weekend at the cabin 46.hubby gone to windrivers for scout camp 47.sidewalk chalk 48.girls night’s out 49.yard/garage sales 50.dreaming up new recipes 51.6 year anniversary of first kiss with hubby 52.arrested development, all three seasons, again 53.reunions with friends and family 54.little pink flowers 55.a new to me local bakery 56.fresh produce 57.shiny new magazines 58.dusty old books 59.50% off day at the thrift store 60.afternoons in the library 61.smell of fresh cut grass 62.craft projects spread out all over my house 63.little goats 64.friends moving away 65.new friends moving in 66.long evening walks with otis 67.chocolate/vanilla twist ice cream cones 68.digging through my car for enough change to buy #67, again 69.beautiful old houses 70.stupid people that tear down beautiful old houses to build lame strip malls 71.no speakers in my car 72.creampuff looking like a little bird as she waits for the next spoonful of applesauce 73.fresh strawberry jam 74.and jalapeno jelly 75.visiting my favorite fabric store 76.cuppiecakes 77.apple pie 78.sewing machine whirring at midnight 79.a whole stack of new fabric, with no definite plans laid out 80.dreaming of going back to russia, but not to live, just to visit 81.s’mores 82.cooking dates with my sister 83.fresh squeezed orange juice 84.old photo albums 85.a freshly organized pantry 86.or craft closet 87.big viney pumpkin plants 88.swingsets 89.stacks of old national geographic 90.laying in the sun on the grass 91.the smell of summer rain 92.summer allergies 93.peanut butter and honey sandwiches 94.still drinking half a gallon of milk a day 95.blue popsicles 96.and orange dreamsicles 97.my mom’s strawberry pie 98.cool breeze off the mountains 99.black spray paint, it covers up a world of ugly furniture 100.pebble ice 101.listening to really good music 102.starting to think about christmas gifts 103.farmers markets and roadside fruit stands 104.not wearing socks 105.playing the piano for church with 2 minutes notice 106.plans to redecorate the bathrooms 107.dozens of fantastic finds on etsy 108.and still no rocking chair.
New Love
Well, I am still bummed about my missing rocking chair. And when Creamie wakes up crying at night (four teeth coming in at the same time) I am really mad at whoever has it. But, to make things a teensy bit better…. I have a new love. My guilty pleasure. My afternoon delight.
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I don’t know why this wasn’t invented sooner. Some people say “Oh, well, you can’t improve an original.” Those people have never tried Raspberry Cheesecake Fat Boys. (I hope you, dear reader, are not one of those people…. the one’s who have never tried one of these.) They are heaven, in a convenient 4″x4″ square. Try one, you won’t be disappointed.
Big. Stupid. Lame.
So, Thursday came and I needed some cheering up. Instead of eating copious amounts of cookies or black licorice or what-have-you, I went to my local thrift store to find something fantastic (that some crazy person thought was trash) to be my new treasure. I spent some time in men’s dress shirts, the “collectibles” section, books, dishes, the lamp department, old ugly couches, and then I saw the chairs. And my heart stopped.
There it was, the most perfect rocking chair ever built. It was small, perfect to fit in the corner of CreamPuff’s room. It wasn’t some awful “shabby chic” or “country” (aka dirty) finish. It didn’t have any ratty upholstery, it was all wood. It wasn’t oak, so no ugly oak grain to ruin an otherwise perfectly good piece of furniture. It was ash or maple, maybe cherry, in a beautiful spicy cinnamon color, and the finish was barely worn. It was absolutely every shade of perfect. And, it was comfortable. I sat in it and rocked Creamie for 10 minutes. She loved it.
As my heart told me that this was the chair that I would spend the rest of my life with, my mind started racing with what would be the absolute worst possible scenario. And I was literally frozen in my spot. I didn’t want to get out of my chair to go find someone to tell them I needed help purchasing it… what if someone came and pilfered it out from under me! What if in the 1 minute it would take for me to find some help, someone else came by, only, they weren’t holding a baby, so they could just pick it up. What if they had a son, or brother or husband with them, and the big burly man just threw it over his shoulders and carried it away. What if an alien abducted my perfect chair to rock her alien babies to sleep in. So, I just sat there paralyzed with fear and rocked until an employee wandered within earshot. And then I nabbed her.
Michelle was very helpful. She taped the sold sign on it. She told me to go pay for it and come back. I went and paid for it, and brought her back my receipt so she could fill out the rest of the tag. She kept half the SOLD ticket, and she gave me the other half… like a heart shaped best friends necklace. She said “Come pick it up whenever”. I said “Sure”. I couldn’t wait for my new best friend to come home to my house and live in Creamie’s room. I went home euphoric. I called hubby and told him that I needed him to go and pick it up in our bigger car. He said “Sure, how about Saturday” . I said “Sure, sounds fantastic.”
Today hubby took the receipt and my half of the best friends necklace and went to pick up my perfect chair. But, when hubby got to the thrift store it was gone. Not “gone” like “moved to a different area for sold furniture”. Not “gone” like “we can’t find it… oh there it is”. Gone. No sign of it anywhere. Pilfered. Looked for 30 minutes. Gone. My new best friend is lost. I am left with the lonely half of a best friend’s necklace. Some sad person came and tore my necklace off my new friend and forced her to wear their probably lame one. And now she is gone.
I really hope the person that took off my half of a BFF necklace (with my phone number on the back) calls to apologize for stealing a rocking chair from a baby. (Creamie didn’t know she was supposed to cry when someone does this to you, so I did the crying for her. )
pinksuedeshoe 