Wednesday Work In Progress

I know it's technically Thursday, but shh, let's pretend it's still Wednesday. I haven't gone to bed yet, so it still feels like Wednesday!
This is my current work in progress - a selection of sixteen black and white frames that are going to be filled with pictures from the wedding (ranging in topic from our first kiss to a cupcake display) and mounted on the wall, probably above the kitchen table. I'm not 100% certain of the location yet. Or the design. I'm sure I'll fuss with it more once I have the pictures actually in hand. I ordered them from Shutterfly, so they will take a few days to arrive. (Along with my desk and chair and tupperware and... it's going to be a good few days next week!).

Life Update - All moved in!

So we're all moved in to our new house! It's perfect, it really is. All of our furniture fits perfectly and everything looks fabulous. We have a theme of red and black in the house, scattered with a little yellow and orange. It looks good. These adorable salt & pepper shakers capture that color scheme. I picked them up in Kansas City at Urban Outfitters for $10 (among other things, of course - you know me!), and they look great on our kitchen table. I love that they remind me of Mario mushrooms.
It was amazing how fast we got unpacked. Literally the day after we moved in (and we didn't get our stuff until 5pm!), we were done. Of course there are always little things remaining, but we're basically all set and we even had time for a little one-day one-night jaunt to K.C. with Adam's fantastic family!
Life is good!

Wednesday Work In Progress / Life Updates

So I got my bit of a job, and started work on Monday. It's simple, easy, satisfying work, so that's good. I finished the second of the two crafting projects/presents I was working on, and that's good also. We'll be moving very very soon, and I'm very excited about that. I can't wait to settle in somewhere, and decorate, and make a home. It's been awhile since I was able to do that, and feel at home where I lived.
This project is my current work in progress - it's another "home is wherever I'm with you", but done in bright alternating colors. There's no pattern - the color for each new letter is decided by the roll of a six-sided die. That was Adam's idea, and I think it's brilliant. (Of course, sometimes I re-roll the die if I don't like the color it chooses!). Obviously I'm not done, and it's slow-going because I've been working and packing and doing an astonishing number of loads of laundry and generally getting ready to transition into a new phase of life. I started it in our current place of residence, worked on it in San Diego, and will finish it in our new home!

Crafting Progress / Life Update

No pictures today, I'm sorry! That would be because the project I just completed yesterday (yay!) is a super secret present. I still have one more to do, so it will probably be awhile before I update with pictures. But you will get to see the presents, eventually! Just not until the recipients get to see them.
Life is moving along smoothly. Our house will be ready for us to move in next Thursday (a week from today!), and the movers will be coming next Friday. I may be getting a bit of a job, we'll see. If I do, great, if not, more time for crafting!
I can't wait to move in!

Bad News for Black & White Photography

I have a bunch of rolls of film left over from my various travels, and I want to get them developed. I plan on sending some through Snapfish, but Snapfish doesn't do black and white film, which is what I primarily used. I took two rolls over to the local Walgreens, which said they could do it, but they just called me and said that they were unable to process it without potentially ruining the film. Now what do I do??

Back Home - Life Update

I'm back home, safe and sound, in hot hot Missouri. I'm happy to be home. Tomorrow I have orientation for my graduate school, and then on Monday I have an interview, and then on the 17th we find out when we can move into our house, and then hopefully we'll move in on the 24th, which is when my mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law come to visit... it's shaping up to be a busy busy month.
I still have some crafting projects I need to get to - there are some birthdays coming up around the corner that need gifts!

Zoo Trip!

Today I got to go to the world-famous San Diego Zoo with my sister and cousin. We went to the park around 11AM and stayed until 5PM, managing to see the entirety of the zoo over the day. Our feet were pretty sore by the end of it!


I had an obsession with signs for "Easy Street". I took a picture of every street sign I found, and ended up with like eight different shots.


I also took about eight hundred shots of flamingos, including pictures of baby flamingos and eggs. This shot was one of my favorites.


These ducklings are so cute! I loved watching them swim around. I know these aren't the most exciting of animals, but they definitely capture the adorableness of the plethora of baby animals on display at the zoo.


I love meerkats! They are so sweet. This little guy was the sentry on duty while I was observing his exhibit, and I took about a bazillion shots of him from various angles. Look at that adorable face.


This sign was a better look at a hippo than I got in real life.


I don't remember what kind of monkey this is, but he's pretty cute. Pretty hairy too.


These red-eyed black birds were everywhere inside one of the many aviaries at the zoo.


Masks, so you too can be a lion or a tiger or a bear, oh my!


Merchandise!

I did end up buying a little zoo ornament and some post cards, but resisted all other temptations. Overall, it was a super fun day!

Francois, Fred, Frank, Felix the Gremlin

Last September I made a gremlin for Adam for his birthday, and sent it off to him in his far-away training facility. Today the gremlin gets renamed a new "f" name daily. He's made of felt and fleece with smiling fangs and button eyes. He's got one eyebrow permanently cocked in a quizzical expression. He's stuffed with fiberfill and weighted with plastic pellets to give him the ability to sit up properly.

He's been attacked by Assassin the cat (who just loves pellet-filled toys), and stitched up again, so he's a seasoned war veteran as well as a cross-country traveler!

Old Felt Tree Project

As I was going through my beloved phone today, I stumbled across this picture of a felt tree critter that I made for my friend on February 27th of this year (well, let's be honest, I finished it then, but it was a work in progress for a long time!). Since I haven't been crafting the last few days, I thought now was a good time to post about this project. It's a tree with apples, a flower, and googly eyes. I blanket-stitched around the outside of the tree and trunk and stuffed the whole thing with fiberfill, so it's like a tree pillow!

Fun Times in San Diego

Because I'm on a trip, all my blog updates will be "life" updates rather than crafting updates. I haven't even cross-stitched in like three days! Sorry for the delay in your regular crafting programming.
Today was a fun day. My sister and I went for a photo-taking walk this morning, enjoying the sun and the flowers. Then my sister, aunt, cousin, and cousin's girlfriend all went out for high tea early (at least for me!) this morning. I got to wear a new dress that my sister got me for my birthday. Tea was tasty, and filling - it's amazing how all those tiny little things can fill you up so fast! We had "Paris" tea, and "Kensington Court" tea, and "Indian Chai" tea, and lastly "Chocolate Mint" tea. They were all delicious, although my favorite was probably the "Kensington Court". Every tea cup, saucer, plate and piece of silverware was adorable and unique. It was a delightful way to pass the morning. My family enjoys doing high tea for special occasions, and having family all together again after such a long time apart certainly counts as a special occasion!
Then, when we got home, all of us young'ins played a board game for a bit. I did not win, sadly.
Then my sister and I spent some quality time with our grandmother before heading down to Ocean Beach again to visit the antique shops and try to find gifts for our significant others. Some of the antique shops were full of really singular pieces that I wish I could take home - awesome mirrors and chandeliers and candle holders. I did find a pair of fake-Chanel earrings that I will be rocking, and a gift for Adam. My sister found a break-apart hula hoop in a hippie shop along Newport Ave, something a I didn't even know existed.
We sampled a little sushi, a food neither of us can get at home, and then returned to our aunt's house. The agenda for tonight: dinner and socializing before bed - tomorrow we go to the zoo!

Flowers of San Diego

In the midst of a car wash and wax today, I snapped a few pictures of my aunt and uncle's flowers. Aren't they pretty?

Chocolate Zucchini Cake!

So last night I went out in San Diego with my sister, my cousin, his girlfriend, and my cousin's friend. Among the delicious things I consumed was this delicious chocolate zucchini cake. You read that right. My mother-in-law told me that she used to sneak zucchini in my dear Adam's brownies back in the day, and I always wondered how Adam didn't taste the zucchini. Oddly enough, my sister and I had just been discussing how to sneak fruits and veggies into food earlier in the day, so when I saw this chocolate zucchini cake on the menu at Starlite last night, I just had to have it. As you can see, we ate it all! It was delicious.

Ocean Beach

Today I got to go to Ocean Beach in San Diego, CA. The weather was beautiful, although not nearly as hot as Missouri (or indeed, hot enough to go swimming), and the sand was the perfect temperature of warm without being scorching. I wore my adorable sparkly white flipflops (the ones that once got me thrown out of the Whiteman AFB dining facility), but somehow ended up with tar on one of my feet! I wasn't the only one - 3/5 of the people at the beach with me somehow got it on their feet too! Bizarre. I guess that's what you get for walking along the beach! It was a pain to get off. For future reference: nail polish remover works well.
There were some impressively large waves, and it was a shame that the water was pretty frigid. Two of my companions attempted the weather, but it was too cold, although other Californians seemed to be splashing around comfortably enough. Maybe they were made of stronger stuff than us.
I've been cross-stitching in the evenings still, but in the day time, it's all about enjoying the sun!

"I Love You Beary Much"

Today I got to see my grandmother for the first time in like five years. This is the cross-stitch I brought her as a gift to show her that I've been thinking about her, and love her. She seemed to like it, and even said the little teddy bear face looked like my face! I'll take that as a compliment, as he's pretty cute. While I was making it, Adam said the 'y' looked too much like a 'g' and the 'u' looked too much like an 'o'. But I think it turned out fine. I'm happy with it!
While I'm here in California on vacation, I've been working on a new version of the "home is wherever I'm with you". So far it's turning out pretty well!