List of 8s

So, apparently my alphabet post didn't inspire much of anything blog-wise. Just the same, Kim tagged me for this and I figured... why not?

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To

1) Ocean City's Spring Block Party next weekend.
2) My week off of work in June.
3) First Phillies game of the season!
4) Starting Piper's obedience classes.
5) My next scone at Fourth and First.
6) Returning to healthy eating and exercise. (Really, I'm looking forward to this.)
7) Florida.
8) Going to Culinary School (Someday...)

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1) Purchased over 100 WWE action figures and accessories for $15 at a yard sale.
2) Purchased a food processor for $3 at a yard sale.
3) Ate lunch at Kessel's Korner with Stef and Shawnda.
4) Ate dinner at Brio with John and company.
5) Spilled my coffee all over the place at Fourth and First.
6) Walked Piper with my dad.
7) Crafted some mini clay cupcakes.
8) Took photos at Bayfest with Pam and Anthony.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do

1) Go to Culinary School.
2) Get Piper to stop barking.
3) See John more often.
4) Win the lottery.
5) Live on the west coast.
6) Lose weight.
7) Open an Etsy shop.
8) Blog more consistently again :)

8 Shows I Watch
This is a stretch - some shows are via DVD and few I watch regularly

1) Grey's Anatomy
2) Friends
3) Top Chef
4) Gilmore Girls
5) Wheel of Fortune
6) Food Network Challenge
7) It's Me or the Dog
8) King of Queens

8 People I Tag

I don't have eight people to tag, and I don't think anyone I tag will probably do this anyway... maybe Ryan. So I'll tag Ryan, Felicia and Eric via blogs, and John, Jess, Ian, and Stef via Facebook. (Seven is better than none!) Have fun, guys.

Me - A to Z

My blog's been suffering as of late. While I was cruising around the internet tonight reading various sites and blogs I enjoy, I came across this meme on Roaring Through My Twenties... (great blog - I highly recommend it). Now, I don't do very many of these, but I was partial to this one. Maybe it will jump start a series of entertaining posts!

Anyway, here it is. My life in an A to Z fashion.

A - Age: 25

B - Bed size: Full... I wish it were a king.

C - Chore You Hate: Folding and putting away laundry.

D – Dad’s Name: Let's ask John, shall we?

E - Essential Start Your Day Item: Cuddling with the Pipester. (I'm serious. Sad, right?)

F - Favorite Actor: Hm. I don't know that I have one.

G - Gold or Silver: Silver, although I've started throwing in the odd gold piece more recently. But most definitely silver.

H - Height: I'm 5'7 3/4" and yes, those three quarters are very important to me

I - Instrument (s) you play: The piano, rather poorly.

J - Job Title: I have many. I guess you could just go with Editor.

K - Kid(s): Desperately want one. My clock is ticking, isn't that what they say?

L - Like: Right now, I'd really like a vacation.

M - Mom’s Name: Mary Frances

N - Nickname: Kris ... KR ... Grumpy Button ... Hun

O - Overnight Hospital Stay Other Than Birth: Nada

P - Pet Peeves: Loud, open-mouth eating. Ugh. Dishonesty, laziness and superiority complexes top the list, too.

Q - Quote that you like: "We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory." - G. Duhamel

R - Righty or Lefty: Just a righty. I've always been sad about that. Both of my siblings are lefties.

S - Siblings: Two brothers, one older and one younger.

T - Time You Wake Up: I should get up at 7. I generally wake up at 8 - and then I rush, rush, rush!

U - Useful tool: Scissors?

V - Vegetable that you dislike: I thought I disliked cauliflower, but Pam disproved that. Maybe beets, unless they are in cake form.

W - Why you run late: Well, because I oversleep.

X - X-rays You’ve Had: Plenty of my teeth. Then there were some for a broken ankle, broken hand, broken finger and busted knees (left and right). I think that's it.

Y - Yummy Foods You Make: I love to bake and cook, so I imagine (and hope) there are many. I'll go with my chocolate chip banana nut muffins, though.

Z - Zodiac: Libra, which seems to suit me.

P.S. Happy 26th Birthday, Pam!

Starbucks + Crafting = Happy Me :)

I found two of my worlds colliding today - it was the inaugural monthly craft day at my local Starbucks. Now, we all know how I love my coffee, and if you check out my craftster account you can find the threads I started to try to get a crafting group together in South Jersey (to no avail). So, today was quite perfect!

I worked all weekend (our extra huge, important spring edition of the newspaper comes out this Thursday), so I didn't feel guilty about a little two-hour break this afternoon. Felicia and Ryan came with, and we all painted two planters and filled them with soil and marigold seeds. We got to bring one home, and the other we left there to be distributed on Earth Day to local nursing homes. The "planter" was actually a Starbucks cup, and I love how the logo can be seen through the paint. It added another dimension to the whole project.

This was definitely a more kid-oriented craft (we were, in fact, the only adults painting), but the Starbucks manager organizing the events, Jeanette, said that the monthly craft-a-long is going to tend to be more for adults. It's going to be the first Sunday of the month at the Somers Point Starbucks, so if anyone is near there, they should stop in! Every craft is going to be a community outreach project, too.

I guess that makes three of my worlds colliding - crafting, Starbucks and charity work! It doesn't get better than that. (Well, maybe if there were some puppies and kittens running around, but that wouldn't be sanitary in an eatery.)

Easter Egging

I went over to Stef and Bill's tonight to dye Easter eggs. I haven't dyed eggs in a few years, so it was a lot of fun. Even though Salem is only 2, he did a great job and we only suffered one egg casualty (turns out no matter how tiny the hands, the squeezing of eggs is always a bad idea).

As long as we reminded him pretty incessantly to be careful and move slowly, Sam concentrated really hard and took his time, without too many splashes of dyes and messes. Here he is finishing up a blue egg (with some help from Stef, of course).


By next year Sam's going to be a little pro, and we'll be able to get Finn in on the action - with lots of guidance from his parents and me, of course. And hey, who knows - maybe he'll get some help from his big brother, too.



Happy early Easter!

Too busy for blogging...

...I also haven't had much to say.

There's been a handful of posts I've started, but then decided not to publish because they were a little too full of doom and gloom. Things have been... mediocre, as of late, and while I'm powering through just fine, it makes it a little hard to write about happy things at day's end.

I haven't crafted much, but I did manage to finish two more button coasters over the past week. I'm really pleased with them and have already picked up the embroidery floss for another set. I just need to get some more buttons - I want to find some off-white, pearly ones for this next set. It's for someone in particular.

After next week, work will be a bit calmer (although I don't expect life to follow suit). I hope the weather starts warming up and the flowers start blooming. It's been dreary and foggy here and, while I'm not necessarily against grey weather, it certainly hasn't been helping my mindset right now. I need some sun.

I think if I asked my 15-year-old self where I would be at 25, it wouldn't be where I am. It seems most all aspects of my life are rather muddled, and I'm having a lot of trouble sifting through the bad to concentrate on the good. I know I'm just a bit down right now, but some major spring life cleaning seems to be in order.

You only live once. (Unless reincarnation turns out to be real, in which case I hope I come back as a dolphin.)

Tuesday breakfast

Skim latte and raspberry scone from Fourth on First... a very good start to my morning.

Button Coaster

I thought this looked like the cutest craft when I saw it posted at craftstylish earlier this month. I was totally amped and envisioning dozens of beautiful, rainbow colored button coasters. I get like this with new crafty ideas and projects, only to be brought back down to earth by the sheer frustration of it all once I get started.

That's what happened with this coaster.

It took me over a week to finish, partly because I've been very busy and partly because I needed to take many breaks from the stitching. It wasn't terribly difficult, just tedious. One too-tight thread would throw an entire row of buttons off. And - being a perfectionist - it was killing me when I finished a row and there was an extra loose button or one stitch that looped too large. I plugged away, though, and finally finished tonight while watching the season four finale of "Jon and Kate Plus 8." (Will there be a season five? We don't know!)

All the griping aside, I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out. It's far from perfect, but I learned along the way and now can start and end my rows much sharper and neater than from following the tutorial alone. I guess I would say it was worth the effort. I'll at least be making three more of them, because I want a full set of four. (That's what I had in mind before I began.) They will probably be a gift for a very special friend, since I don't use coasters much myself.

Of course, there are still a few other color combinations I'd like to see come to fruition. There may be plenty more button coasters in my future ... or at least two or three more sets.

That also depends if I can find some cheaper buttons somewhere. Any suggestions?