O-H-I-O

nataliedee.com

Today I head to Ohio...as soon as our boss cuts us loose.  Phew, it is a long drive. I am collecting new music to make the time go faster, and snacks. Music, and snacks will both be key to making the time pass. Music, and snacks, and comfy shoes (which I am not wearing right now). Probably some coffee as well, although that may necessitate more frequent restroom stops. Geeeee. Wish me luck!

WOO HOO!!!

Great news for crafters out there. Starting January 1st Hobby Lobby will join the e-commerce brigade! For those of us who do not have a Hobby Lobby anywhere close by, but who are familiar with its general awesomeness and pine for it endlessly, we can begin shopping there online  in the new year. HOORAY!  Find their awesome bargains here :   http://shop.hobbylobby.com/

Feeling Foxy

Well, I'm not quite sure how it happened exactly. I'm sure it had something to do with those bizarre lateral brain-leaps that my mind makes throughout the day. A combination of daydreaming and thinking. Typically this is a dangerous combination, but today more of a happy accident.  I got to thinking about foxes. Fox? Foxen? Whatever the plural is, I got to thinking about them, which prompted an etsy search. I found some really, really wonderful and beautiful things.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

LOVE this beautiful Silver Fox Stole necklace from Bbel.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36958195

I am simultaneously disturbed and enchanted.

Pamela Klaffke Photography

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33205682

Adorable necklace from The Poppy Tree!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37276787

Okay, I guess I was on a bit of a necklace kick too. Love this one from Danielle Rose Bean.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37210030

I totally just want to snuggle up with this little guy from Sleepy King's shop!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37095582

Food, Glorious Food!

So, I accidentally stumbled across my new favorite food blog today while looking for a recipe for macaroons.

 http://blogchef.net/ - Guacamole Bruschetta? WHAT?

Absolutely EVERYTHING I have seen on this site seems to be right up my gastronomical alley, so to speak.  Check it out!

Someone is watching you.

So, my brother and I drove up to  Northern Virginia last weekend to visit my dad for the holidays.  We had a really nice time visiting with family and napping.  On Saturday afternoon we were getting a little bit of cabin fever so we decided to make a quick jaunt to Ikea since it was only about an hour away.  We spent some time buying bunches of well designed affordable things that neither of us really needed, packed up the car, and headed back to my poppa's crizzy.  Now, the thing about my dad's house is that he and my grandmother and uncle (who all live there right now) try to conserve in as many ways as possible, since they live in the middle of nowhere.  They don't use AC in the summer, they burn all paper garbage instead of taking it to the dump, and all the men have to pee outside.  Luckily, the women don't have to, due to the particulars of our plumbing being less conducive to these things.  In any case, my brother and I  pull up back at the house around 6 p.m. Well, in December, 6 p.m. looks like the middle of the night, pitch black darkness in the middle of nowhere, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. First thing my bro says as we pull up is "I have to pee", so he stumbles off into the darkness to my right and dissappears into the night.  Moment later I hear a startled  noise, followed by hysterical laughter.  Apparently just as he was prepping his "equipment" for full relief, he glanced up  and saw this:

How he saw it in the complete darkness is entirely beyond me, and the only reason I even saw it was from the flash of my camera.  Needless to say he packed up and hightailed it back to the car.  I believe they let him pee inside that night.

Snarf!

I can't stop laughing at this.  I've tried, but I can't.

MondayFunday!

Today was poo.  Well, not totally poo, but it didn't start off very well.  I came about 14" from being smashed by a wreckless driver this morning, had to wait around in the cold to be a witness for those who  weren't so lucky, then strolled into work just in time to be bullied by my bully supervisor.  Boooo.  In an effort to wash that poo right outta my hair I have picked a few favorite etsy finds to share today.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

I just LOVE doubleparlour's polymer clay creations!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/doubleparlour

I simply adore the pencil drawings in Zanurism's etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Zanurism

Kittehs!  Kittehs playing melodicas!  It doesn't get much better.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/boygirlparty

I can't believe this is polymer clay!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PsychoticReaction

Bacon! 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/waterbears

I scream you scream...

I am a sucker for brilliant new items.  Things that make your life easier, or if not easier, at least more beautiful.  When form and function come together in one perfect product it brings a single tear to my eye, just like pollution did for that Indian Chief in those public service announcements from the '90s, but in a good way instead of a crappy way. 

Enter the Cuisipro Ice Cream Scoop and Stack.  There is absolutely nothing about this thing that isn't badass.  First of all, the product itself is beautiful, and B, it creates something EVEN MORE beautiful...AND delicious! Pretty cylinders of creamy dairy goodness.  Om nom nom nom.  I  mean, this thing can take the most mundane dessert option and make it into a beautiful gourmet treat!

The most brilliant thing of all to me about the Cuisipro Ice Cream Scoop and Stack (they maybe should shorten the name) is the incredible innovation it  took.  I mean, the ice cream scoop is one of those products that has operated in the exact same way for so long that we just assumed there was no other way to  do it.  Now we know, ice cream can be both delicious and super sexy.  Thank you Cuisipro.

If you decide (like me) that you just can't live without this product, you can find it here:
http://www.wrapables.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=C57237

Getting Started

So, here's the thing...I start things...lots of things, and I wouldn't say that I am not a "finisher", but I get really really excited about new things pretty frequently, and then the old things just sort of...fade away.  In the interest of practice, and learning to finish, I have started to write.  My plan here is to create an online record of the multitude of things that I get really excited about, in the hopes that I will be able to maintain that magical feeling of can't-wait-to-see-where-this-goes all the way through to the end.  To be honest, I have already begun to lose interest, which has convinced me even more fully that this is something that I need to do.  There are several different tacks I could take here as well.  Do I go funny (if so this is a rough start), do I go intellectual (not much better than the last), do I post about things that I love, things that I want, things that I do, things that I read, people that I know, events that have occurred, interesting anecdotes?  HOW DO I DECIDE???  I have no idea, and figuring it out is looking pretty bleak at this point.  What have I started?  Is this just one more thing I have signed on for that is going to drive me that much closer to the brink of insanity?  Probably.  I guess it's the journey though.  Wish me luck.