Tote bags, snow boots, and macaroni and cheese!

Tote bags are back in the shop! These are even better than the last ones... they're embroidered! Right now I only have 2, but the listings in the shop are for customized ones - I hand-draw, and then hand-embroider each design, so every bag is completely unique and one-of-a-kind.

I just really liked how these looked, lined up beside our generator outside.

I saw a recipe somewhere recently for vegetable macaroni and cheese. Of course, I couldn't for the life of me remember in which magazine (or if it was indeed in a magazine!) the recipe was in, so I made up my own. It turned out quite delicious, indeed!

Mmm... fresh broccoli, red peppers, and portabella caps, with ricotta and cheddar...

.....leftover noodles from dinner the other night, and....

.....a box of Kraft Spiderman macaronis. :D

I'm so excited to go back to the OBX in March! I've missed it so much....

I might just go and not come back! ;)

And so, here are just a few of the 6-CDs worth of pictures that I have from my year there.

PS - click on every link - they're all different

sound-side geese

fishermen on Nags Head Pier (ps - I used to work there)

record hammerhead, caught at Nags Head Pier, 1960 (on display at Jennette's Pier)

dunes, Ocracoke

driftwood in Ocracoke

Manteo waterfront

Roanoake Marshes lighthouse in Manteo

My school was just around the bend in the canal - you can sort-of see the red roof just to the left of the wooden post

The Independence - it was for sale. Oh, I how I would have loved to own her!

I think this boat's name was the Down East Rover.... I forget. It was a dinner cruiser that I unfortunately never got a chance to ride on. Maybe this summer!

Dunes, Kill Devil Hills

A storm out over the sound

Look how freckly my face was! And how [relatively] tan I was!

Le sigh.

I wrote an entire post earlier about how I've been such a homebody lately.... I hardly want to leave the house, let alone my bed, at all! I'd be quite content to stay wrapped up in the covers for an entire week, it seems. I think its this awful, cold weather we're having. I'm soooo over winter, and ready for spring!

Anyway, my whole post from earlier got deleted somehow. It wasn't very interesting, anyway - I summed it up in that whole first paragraph! So now on to more fun subjects, like the slew of foreign films in my Netflix cue. Hooray!

And I watched this again last night.

I love, love, love this movie. Everything about it. I love Audrey Tautou directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. They need to make another film, very soon. I can only watch Amelie and A Very Long Engagement so many times.....oh, who am I kidding? I'll never get tired of them.

I have a few other Jeunet-directed films in my Netflix cue, so that's exciting.

So anyway. Enough of that. I'm just in the lab, killing time before my Economics class at 5:00. I have a busy weekend ahead of me. Of course I work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; I have an Ethics paper due on Monday (which I haven't started yet, in my typical fashion), and I have an Atmospheres exam on Tuesday (which I haven't begun to study for). So that's what my weekend looks like. Not much fun to be had.

Grr.

*and, I just wrote-out a whole post, and it got deleted. Wonderful. I'll be back later.

In anticipation of snow

This lovely candle holder was a birthday gift from my sister that I'm only just now getting around to showing off. Oops! Anyway, isn't it lovely?

There's been a lot of this today.... though not so much from me. Somebody woke me up at 7:oo this morning to go outside for "pee pee"! And now who gets to lay around sleeping all day, while some of us have to get things done and go to school??


The weather forecaster is calling for snow, snow, and more snow starting this afternoon and finishing sometime tomorrow morning. *sigh* I'm just getting so tired of this wintry weather! I'm sooo ready for Spring. And I have to leave at 10:00 tomorrow morning to get to school on time; so I hope the roads are OK by then. I live up in the mountains, so its always a toss-up. The roads can be terrible up here, and 10 minutes down the road they're fine, and its only raining. Grrr.

Target makes everything better

I simply got fed-up with the horrible rainy weather today (after I soaked my entire left leg in a muddy puddle). So I totally skipped my 5:00 class (Economics, yuck) and went shopping at Target instead. Yay! I had some money left on my gift card from Christmas; and I decided it was high time to use it up. And actually, I still have like $1.40 left! Haha.

My intention at Target was to get a new umbrella (since mine simply went missing) and maybe a raincoat and some galoshes. Well. I never did find the umbrellas....strange. They only had one style of galoshes left (black with white polka dots), but I really didn't like them very much. Everybody has those. And I didn't see any raincoats. So I was doomed to be damp today. But...I did find these, my new most-favorite-shoes-ever!

I originally planned on getting these, but upon closer inspection I decided I didn't like them as much as I'd thought. They looked like they might get those irritating cracks in them very quickly. So I got the brown leather-y ones instead (not real leather, I don't think). They're SO comfortable! I lovelovelove them! And only $14.99 (at my store, anyway)!

And...this is really exciting...the organic-cotton sheets I had my eye on a while back but didn't get because they were too expensive are ON CLEARANCE. Under $10. Oh yeah. They're SO nice, too! Really - not only are they organic (yay!), they're super-thick and soft, and really satiny (even though they're just cotton). They're shiny, too. I love them. Oh, I just can't wait to crawl into bed tonight!

And look who I get to snuggle with!

A list of complaints.

Ick. What a dreadful, icky day outside. Its drizzly, and COLD - like 30 degrees cold. But its still rain, and not ice or snow, which makes it that much colder, wetter, and more miserable.

And....somebody took my umbrella. By 'somebody', I think I mean one of my sisters. I don't have any proof (yet), but I know it was hanging by the front door, and this morning it was gone. It really just isn't fair. They only have to walk from the school parking lot up to the school, and then they're inside all day. I, on the other hand, have to walk across campus multiple times in the freezing wet cold. Yuck. And I actually had cute hair this morning. Not anymore. Now I have puffy, frizzy, wet hair. *sigh*

And another thing. I'm wearing one of my favorite sweatshirts today. Its white with a brown seahorse on it. And now, it has big, hot-pink splotches all over it. It must have been washed with something pink that bled all over the place, because really, I look like I'm wearing a white-and-pink tie-dyed sweatshirt now. How embarassing. Oh well. All for the sake of at least staying a little bit warm and dry today.

Is it Spring yet?

Puddleduck

This is what it looks like outside my window today. No wonder I slept late! Oh well, at least its not snow (like it will be the rest of the week).

This is one of the presents my mom got me at the thrift store the other day! Actually....she didn't buy the duck basket for me. She bought it for her classroom because she's teaching a lesson about farm animals this week. But I loved it so much, she said I could have it. I'm going to paint him white and give him prettier eyes (as soon as I get a free minute).

These were actually my real present from my mom's thrifting adventures. I love these little buckets. I have a few watering cans that match, too. I don't know, I just think they're adorable. Just the right size to transfer my little herbs too in the Spring!

And now, I'm off to school, to tramp around in puddles all day! *Note to self: get some galoshes!!

Its good to be a Moocher!

I found THE coolest website EVER this morning. Of course, I'm probably way behind the times, and everybody else already knows about it, but I'm excited.

Its called Book Mooch. Basically, its a free book-trading community. You earn "points" toward being able to trade by listing your own books that you'd like to send to other people. I listed 10 books this morning, and I'm already receiving one and sending one. The only cost at all is the price of shipping (media mail!). I'm super-excited because I listed some of my books on Amazon, at a going-rate of only a penny. A penny!! So after my Amazon fees and whatnot, I'd make a total of like, fifty cents. Whoopee. But instead, now I can trade my books for other books. That's pretty cool.

Oh, and I added a widget on the left-hand side of the screen so you can see what books I currently have in my Moocher inventory! Check it out!

I found another cool book site called Eco-Libris. You make a paypal donation to "balance out" the ecological footprint of your books, and in return Eco-Libris plants trees and also sends you an Eco-Libris sticker/bookplate for every book you "balance out". The goal is to make reading 'sustainable'. That's also pretty cool.

My computer is acting stupid tonight, so I don't have any pictures to show of the things my mom got for me at the thrift store today. *sigh* Tomorrow.

Just popping in...

to say 'hello'. I just finished watching The Last Unicorn. That's the first time I've watched it in probably about 15 years; and it was just as great as I remember. That Red Bull still scares the bejeezus out of me. Could he be the source of my terrible fear of bulls in real-life??

And now, I'm off to bed. The "plan" is to get up fairly early tomorrow morning and study for Monday's History exam. We'll see how that works out!

Tentacles!

A new octopus tote; and I stitched my logo onto the top of the bag.

I started working on another tote.... I seem to be in a nautical-beasties kind of mood lately

*hint hint*

*****

We're in for quite a winter storm tonight...they're calling for lots of snow and ice. Oh, bother. Its especially bad because I'm supposed to be at work at 7:30 tomorrow morning.....we'll see if that happens! So I guess I'd better get to bed! Goodnight!

Do I want one?

The Amazon Kindle, that is.

I'm fascinated by this....but the rational part of my mind is screaming, "Why, oh whyyy would you need that?!" I usually buy my books used from Amazon anyway.... so its much cheaper than $8 or $9 for a Kindle-edition of a book. And the initial $400....yikes. Of course, with all technical gadgets, the price will definitely go down as the technology gets better.... but still. Is this thing cool, or is it another sign of our times where we can't be bothered to carry around a mere ~paper~ book.... instead, we simply must have it on our own little techno-device. I'm torn.

(And I say this as I'm BLOGGING and listening to my hot-pink Ipod)

Along these same philosophical lines, I found an interesting book (a jump-off from this book, recommended by miss Marmee) that I may very well be buying in the near future. As soon as I get some money, that is(!!).

Speaking of books, I've just added a Goodreads widget to the left side of my blog- its a showcase of some of the books I've read (which hopefully will be expanding more and more!).

Ok, I'm off to a nap, er...I mean Economics...in a bit. Happy Thursday!

Very exciting, indeed!

Oh my! I am ever-so excited!

First, my bestest friend Lani reminded me this morning that Spring Break is coming up, and we should plan on doing something. So we put our vacation-planning caps on and have decided to take a mini-road trip to Virginia/North Carolina! We plan on hitting Williamsburg, Norfolk/VA Beach, and the OBX! I'm so excited to show her all of the places I used to haunt in OBX! I'm especially excited to revisit my dear aquarium (Roanoke Island).

We also decided that it is absolutely imperative that we attend the DC 101 Shamrockfest!! An entire day of Irish music and festivities! Hooray!

***

Another source of my great excitement today is the actual progress I've been making. The deer tote is finished; and I'm almost done with a second tote (which I will very likely be keeping for myself, I'm so tickled with how it turned out). But not to fear - I'm so tickled with how the totes have turned out, and find that I quite enjoy embroidery, so I fully plan on making quite a few of them! And perhaps some other embroidered things....Hmm.......

I think tonight I'll go home, pop in a movie, and churn out a few more bags.

Oh! And I just remembered one other thing I'm super-excited about. I ordered a book last night from Amazon. I loooooooved the movie when I was a kid (I even had the tshirt, I was so cool!), and my sister was watching it last night with her friend. So I looked up the book on Amazon, and lo and behold, it shall be mine! Yay!!

New Totes!

Last week, on one of my snow days, I kind of got 'cabin fever' and took a little trip to the craft store for some new supplies. I came home with yarn, knitting needles, and embroidery thread and needles. Here's what I came up with! I'm fairly pleased with how it came out. I'm not sure if I'm quite done with the little deer.... I kind of like how simple it looks, but I might add a pattern to his antlers. I don't know. I like how my drawing looks in thread, though - so tactile, lifelike..... I'm definitely going to do a few more bags in the very near future. So keep your eye on the shop for new bags!

The top picture is a much better representative of the color of the bag. Its a nice, bright tealish-blue. I think its really pretty.

Not much else is going on today. Its been snowing since this morning; and my trip home from school was quite treacherous. My poor Grandma was in a bad car accident this afternoon! She's just fine, but her car is probably totalled. She's getting a rental car tomorrow. Luckily, everyone else in my family made it home today without any problems. I'm just wondering what the roads are going to be like tomorrow morning for school.... hmmm.....

Well, I think I'm going to sketch out another tote. Perhaps a little birdie this time?

Yawwwn

Well. I arrived at my 2 o'clock class to find a hand-written sign on the door, proclaiming class to be cancelled. Boo, hiss. Not that I wanted to go to Atmospheres, no; I'm mad because my next class doesn't start until five o'clock! So I've been in the computer lab for... 2 hours. With an hour left to go. I am getting so sleepy! And my five o'clock class is Economics....bor-ing!

In my large amount of spare time, I did, however, find some very wonderful, inspiring things...

This amazing photo-documentary.... my favorites have to be "Showpieces" and "Grannies"... I don't know why, I just love the people in them! I also love the whole idea behind the project - that people have certain things in common, even if they think they're standing apart. I've often noticed this myself.

The work of Naoko Machida

There's something heart-breakingly sweet about the paintings....

(photo courtesy of the website of Naoko Machida)

This Spun-Cotton Piggy with Balloons by Vintage by Crystal

Little Peanut Bunny by Makeitawesome

I so desperately want this crewel kit from Project H

It would look so cute next to my thrifted pillow from last summer!

And now, I'm off to change around the color scheme here in the blog, and maybe get some coffee before Economics puts me to sleep at 5:00.

xoxo

Just popping in to say....

....sorry the pictures from the last post are so cruddy! Bad lighting, I guess. Anyway, I just noticed how terrible they are. Makes the food not look so good...boo! Anyway, I'm at school, bored, and I popped in to say hello. Its a windy, blustery day, indeed! I nearly blew away walking here!

I can't wait to go home, curl up in bed, and watch my newest Netflix movie!

***

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Chris came over for breakfast yesterday morning;
and I fixed a pretty yummy meal:

Bakery-fresh bagels, scrambled eggs (I make delicious eggs!), vegetarian sausage links for me (real bacon for Chris), and hashbrowns...and Starfruit! Yum!

I had class in the afternoon, but Chris was off work yesterday so he came over again in the evening and we watched a fantastic movie, undoubtedly my new favorite!

For dinner, I made vegetarian stuffed peppers - they're stuffed with rice and ground 'beef' made by Morningstar Farms - love it. They turned out so deliciously!

This is me cooking - I didn't know Chris had my camera! I turned around to say something to him and snapped the photo.

Check out my new, bright-green skillet! It matches my birthday present...

Top with a little cheddar, and voila!

And now, I'm off to school for the whole day. Bleh. I can't wait for summer! ;)

I'm sure you'll hear more from me later... happy Tuesday!