StoryTimeSaturday: Bean boozled

We played "Bean boozled," over Christmas. It's an disgustingly awesome product by the makers of Jelly Belly. Essentially, there are different colored jelly beans and each color has the option of tasting like two different thing; one is delicious (like pears) and the other is revolting (like boogers). I took pictures as everyone bit into their selection, and it was so funny to see a) how people reacted and b) how quickly they realized whether it was dog food or chocolate pudding.

My almost-5-year-old niece Maia was an absolute hoot as she figured out she'd gotten rotten eggs and not banana.



Thanks to Jess for this post teaching me how to do my first GIF animation.

Sunday Crafternoon: Thanksgiving game pencils

Each holiday, my family gets really into games. Try this super easy crafternoon project that takes less than 30 minutes to make it festive.

What you need:


Feathers
Pencils
Craft glue
Embroidery thread that matches the feathers
Creepy cat (definitely optional)


Glue a different-colored feather onto each pencil.


Wrap the matching embroidery thread around the base of each feather to make it look like an arrow. Secure the end of the thread with a little clear-drying craft glue.


Let dry for about 20 minutes, and voila. Instant turkey-inspired stylus.

What's your favorite holiday game?

Mine is Scattergories, but my husband actually hates playing it with me. I think he's just scared of my word smithery.

CrazyCatLadyThursday: Makeout sesh

We weren't sure how Friedrich von Stauffenpuss was going to take to Gertrude, but it seems as though they are falling in love. This video is proof that I caught them making out this weekend. God, I'm a crazy cat lady, aren't I?

CrazyCatLadyThursday: Geeking out

I used to not really care for cats. It wasn't that I hated them, but more of a take-em-or-leave-em attitude. Since we adopted our two little guys two years ago, I'm kind of turning into a crazy cat lady.

Cats are so weird, and that's why I love them. They're silly, sleepy and grumpy all at the same time.


 

And just as an aside, this little guy below is missing. He ran away Sept. 28. Anyone in the greater Fargo-Moorhead area seen him?

Hand-made owl costume

Here it is! I spent probably 25 hours on this costume, and it turned out almost the way I wanted. Oh well, there's always next year.

Last-minute pet costume

In the past, I've been one of those people who spent $15 on a Target costume for my cat. Why? Not really sure, but when you're in the aisle, everything just seems so cute.

Mr. Friedrich von Stauffenpuss grew out of the sharky costume I bought him a few years ago.



And last night as I was finishing my costume (another post to come tonight), this costume just started taking shape.



What you need:
Men's T-shirt
Sharpie
Scissors
Cat or dog (You wouldn't necessarily need one these, but then this project would be kinda pointless)



1. Cut a sleeve off one side. Friedrich loves crafternoons.



2. Flatten the sleeve so what would normally be the top of the arm, is the back, where you use a sharpie to create a spooky creature. I drew a jack-o-lantern face. If you have a green shirt, try a witch or Frankenstein. A plain ol' white Tee? Hello, ghosty.



3. Cut arm holes. These turned out to be not quite big enough, so it may require a few dress rehearsals to get it right.



4. Friedrich loved crafternoon until he realized it was a costume for him. He's not modeling the best, but I promise he looked adorable.

What is your pet going as this year?

The first of the year

Let me take this opportunity to spout some aimless facts of my day. So far:

• I've watched three movies, none of which I particularly like, but enjoyed myself nonetheless. This morning I saw "Its Complicated" with my mom. I was incidentally the youngest person in the theater at that time of the day, as well as the only person not really laughing. It's not that the movie was bad, I just think there's something lost in the generational differences. Although, thinking of my mom smoking pot before a first date is kind of great. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" had a two-star rating on my Netflix queue, which turns out, was quite generous of Netflix. I'm currently watching "Blind Date." I don't get it, like it or plan to finish it.
• My cats are both incredibly tired and insistent on sleeping on me.
• I'm poor until my pay check, so I've been eating all the weird stuff in my cupboards that I'm not really sure why I bought in the first place. Of course, I can't be too hard on these fine canned goods now that I'm reduced to eating them for a full six days.
• It's incredibly cold out. Even for Fargo, it's cold. OK, even for Fargo it's not cold. I'm pretty sure it getting below zero is quite normal in January. It's just fun to complain about.
• My neighbors are the most incredibly and unnecessarily loudest people on earth.
• Resolutions are a no-go this year. It seems like I set them and they never get much of a thought after January and (no offense to anyone who actually follows through with them), seem like an excuse for all of your bad habits throughout the preceding months. "It's OK that I drank, smoked,  ate and lazed my way through the holidays. Quitting those things is my New Year's resolution. I won't do it again until next holiday season."
  
• I have more than 1,000 pictures sitting on my memory card waiting for me to tone and post. I should really do that, huh? Oh look, another shitty movie for me to watch.
• I miss school and my school friends already. 
• I have no desire to take down my holiday decor.
• My favorite part of the day was turning my calendar to the first page.
• I finally got through the last of the 2-foot stack of magazines that has piled up since, oh I don't know, June?
• I still have a stack of Christmas gifts I can't wait to give to my favorite lady.
  

So enough of my boringness. Happy new year, everyone.

November 2009 in pictures

It's the last day of November folks. It's been a very busy month, but I at least managed to stick with this project.

Nikon girl

Personally, I'm a Canon girl, but I used to be a Nikon girl. This made me laugh even if my landlord is currently ripping holes in my ceiling and it's 85 degrees in here.

PhotasticFriday: Santa's lap

As a kid, I was always kind of a ham in photos. Unlike my older sister Jill, I liked when our mom would force us to go outside and take our Christmas card photo each year. Part of that tradition usually included me picking on her, which might have also added to the appeal of the event.

Then came the sit-on-Santa's-lap photos. No thank you. This guy doesn't even really look like Santa — maybe a Santa that just ate a mud pie, but no Santa I'd want to sit on even now.

October in photos

I started working with Hospice this month, photographing patients and their families who want to preserve memories of these last few days, weeks, months with pictures.

Right now I'm working with a 96-year-old woman from rural North Dakota who is about as cool as they get. She has tried to keep journals everyday for her whole life. It's less and less now, but she says they have been the best thing for remembering dates, birthdays, holidays.

I have taken a quick snapshot of myself every day this month just in Photobooth. The photos aren't great. In fact, most of them are pretty poor quality. But even as I created this little calendar it brought back memories.

How do you remember?

Fargo fashion Friday

Meet Jeanette. She's a broadcast journalism major who is seeking a spot on the upcoming season of "Big Brother." Though, I've never seen the show, her audition tape is the buzz around campus after it was posted on Facebook yesterday.

Jeanette's unique confidence shows in her clothes.

Calm down, calm down

I have really tried to get myself back into posting on this blog. Here's the problem: I'm interested in way too many things.

This last semester at school is proving to be a lot more work than I imagined. On top of that, I was fortunate enough to find a job in my field, which right now is not such an easy field to get into. I'm really trying to focus on school and work the most, but I really need to prioritize to even fit it all in.

I'm also training for a 5k and 10k, as well as really trying to make over my eating habits. This is something I struggle to make time for, but I must include.

After graduation, I hope to have more time for hobbies. Between photography, writing, cooking, books, sewing, knitting, crafties and fashion, I'm always at odds with myself over what I should be doing.

That's why this blog is from here out is going to be designed to help me find a balance between all of my interests. I will post once a week on one of the aforementioned topics. I named eight topics, but I'm going to try to fit them into seven neat little packages so that each day of the week is designated for just one of those hobbies.

It's a Silly Putty week

For those of you who ever visit me in the office, you might have noticed my dingy wad of silly putty that I constantly mold and squish in my hand while "pretending" to get stuff done each Tuesday.

Because it's that stressful time of year, here's an ode to my Silly Putty:

I guess I know what I'm making myself for Christmas.