Blogiversary

Poor little blog, I forgot to celebrate your first birthday yesterday! Here’s a picture of a pretty tulip in our front yard to make it up to you:

Oh sure, they look cute and innocent. But they were BITCHES to make!

This craft was featured in the KIDS section of the latest “Martha Stewart Living.” I decided to make a herd of them for my mantle last night and Steve agreed to help. One of the worst parts was blowing out the eggs. I guess it’s good that we did that though, so now we will have these little guys to treasure forever. Anyway, I don’t know how a kid could do this craft and not get completely frustrated. Gluing all the little pieces on required a lot of patience. Steve gave up at the end, and I was left to finish up the little details. But they do look cute, burrowing amongst the picture frames!

Before:

After:

I should have guessed my Easter tree would be irresistible to kitties.

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a Christmas present. My dad gave Steve and I tickets to see “Jersey Boys” in San Francisco with him and my mom, and the show was last night. We had dinner reservations in North Beach, which I thought would be low-key, since it’s an Italian neighborhood. But it was absolutely insane with drunk people dressed in green flooding the streets. That made it even harder than usual to navigate in the city.

The musical was very good. There were people in the audience who were standing up and cheering in the middle of the show. I liked it, but not quite that much.

Other than that outing, we just hung around and did errands this weekend. And we did have corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight, so St. Patrick’s Day didn’t go unrecognized!

Misc. Updates

Geez! I’m getting behind on my posts. Here’s a quick summary of what I’ve been up to:

-- It’s been 80 degrees around here. Finally, the bright side of global warming! I actually got a sunburn over the weekend while reading a book in the backyard.

-- Speaking of reading, I finished “Exquisite Corpse” in a day. It felt good to put my art history minor to use for a bit. I really miss those classes.

-- We did a ton of yard work over the weekend. I want to give a shout out to Amaze Grass and Weed Preventer. It really works and saves me tons of arduous weeding time.

-- Don’t you hate it when you sit down to watch a Netflix movie, open the envelope, and the disk is cracked? That seems to happen to me way too often.

-- Make sure you check out Starbucks tomorrow between 10 a.m. and noon. They’re giving away free coffee! Thanks to my very special friend for letting me know!

My Major Award

Today I won my office’s equivalent of an “employee of the month” award. Hooray! We went out for Mexican food to celebrate tonight.

After that, we went to Babies “R” Us because I needed to buy a shower gift. I hate that place. Really. A lot.

When it’s my time to register for that kind of stuff, I’m going to try to keep it all at Target. When you print a registry at Target it lists the exact aisle that you can find each item on. I find that really helpful, because I don’t enjoy roaming aimlessly around an unfamiliar store, looking for items that seem randomly strewn all over the place, weaving between strollers while listening to a million screaming babies.

Come on everybody, it's cookie time

I had to work until 10 p.m. tonight. THANK GOD my Girl Scout Cookie order was delivered today, or I would have had no dinner! Unfortunately, I didn't win the Mega Millions, so I do have to go back again tomorrow.

P.S. For those of you who liked/understood my shout out to “Troop Beverly Hills,” I think you’ll be impressed to know that my former roommate (and sometimes current blog reader!) is in that movie!

Petits Gâteaux

I heard about these Hostess 100 Calorie Packs, but I wasn’t able to find them in the store until this weekend. You get three teeny little cupcakes in each pack. They are topped with frosting and have yummy Twinkie-like filling. SO GOOD!

I bought the last six boxes in the store – They only had the golden cake with chocolate frosting and the carrot cake. I’ve just opened the golden cake box, but I’m sure the carrot is equally delicious!

Hooray! I hope they come out with even more varieties!

Time to Grow

Things are blossoming here! Remember those bulbs I planted in October? Well, the first little crocus made a flower this morning.


The tulips are starting to come up too.

And the calla lilies are blooming in the backyard.

This guy likes to check on everyone’s progress!

Dear Jerry Rice,

I am writing to apologize to you about Friday night. My husband and I were also at Rosie McCann’s, dancing and enjoying a few drinks with friends.

I noticed you when you came in and foolishly pointed you out to my husband. That’s when he decided to approach you, introduce himself and shake your hand. You seemed very nice and he was super-excited about this momentary brush with celebrity.

As the night wore on, he couldn’t stop talking about you. How he couldn’t believe he had met the “best receiver of our time” and how strange it was that nobody else in the bar had approached you. And that’s when he decided that he needed a picture with you. I thought it was a bad idea, but he was so excited. I decided to go along with it, playing photographer with his cell phone camera.

The look that you gave us when he approached you the second time to ask for the photo was lethal. I felt like such a jerk. But you stood there and smiled for the camera despite your obvious displeasure.

I really felt terrible about disrupting your night out by making you pose for a cheesy fan photo. What I felt even more terrible about was that after that photo, the floodgates opened and just about every other person in the bar lined up to take pictures with you!

I was so embarrassed about the whole thing I demanded that we leave the bar shortly thereafter. I can admit now that was a bit of an overreaction, but I couldn’t stay there and have you shooting hate vibes at us the whole night.

Anyway, it was kind of cool to actually “dance with the stars” for a little while.

Sincerely,
Ashley

Hit and Run

I am medicating myself with an apple martini right now. I had a bit of a traumatizing situation at work today.

I was minding my own business, using the restroom, when another person came in and slammed herself against the door to the stall I was using in an attempt to open it (I’m assuming she didn’t realize I was in there). Well, she slammed it with such force that the lock came undone and the door smacked me square in the head!! I was in such shock, I screamed “Excuse me, you’re hitting my head!” I’m sure the person was surprised too, and yelled back, “It was an accident,” and swiftly left the restroom. I have no idea who my attacker was!

I was totally embarrassed by this when it first happened. I had a killer headache and wanted to ask to go home early, but I felt really stupid explaining why I needed to leave. So I just sat there and suffered. But then I realized that I needed to share my story because, people, you need to be on guard at all times! Even when peeing!!

OK. Here’s the part where I reveal what a total bitch I am and why I probably deserved to get assaulted in the restroom:

A few weeks ago Starbucks was offering these really cool shirts for free. They are limited edition (only 10,000 were made)! Basically, you could go on the Starbucks site and create an image depicting your favorite Starbucks beverage. If you happened to log on between like 10:00 a.m. PST and 10:02 a.m. PST, you might have been lucky enough to get through and get your free shirt. If not, you could get an icon or computer wallpaper image of your drink. I found this out when the promotion first started and managed to score a shirt on my first try! I was going to spread the word and blog about it but, after consulting with the husband, decided to keep this little treasure of an opportunity to myself so as not to lessen my chances of getting more shirts. Well friends, I happened to end up with a total of three shirts!! I got the first in the mail today and I love it!

The others are going on eBay. There are a few up for auction now, and they’re going for a pretty penny.

I personally thought this was a genius promotion on Starbucks’ part, but folks on the Starbucks Gossip blog disagree with me. I don’t really care, cause I can’t wait to wear mine out tomorrow!

Oooh La La!

I had sort of a French night last night.

Last week Martha had a “man show” dedicated to treats and tips for the man in your life. Steve happened to be watching it with me and agreed that he would enjoy the croquet monsieur she made. I promised to make it for him over the weekend and kept my promise last night. They came out really good. I would definitely make them again, but next time I think I’ll be a bit more liberal with the salt, peppers and nutmeg that go in the sauce.

Then I watched “Marie Antoinette,” which was an absolutely gorgeous movie. The colors, the cakes, the costumes, the flowers – everything was so beautiful. I even watched the “making of” part of the DVD so I could see more. They had a special department of people just to make all of the elaborate food! I wanted to walk right through the TV screen and into the movie. I think I’ll be needing to add that DVD to my Wish List.

Not really French-themed, but I also made a box of No Pudge Fudge brownies last night. I had never had them before, but they’re pretty good for a diet-y food. We’re going to an Oscar party tonight, so I’m bringing those and some spinach-artichoke dip.

On My Mind

All of my mugs are mismatched, and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about breaking down and buying the mugs that match my cobalt Fiestaware. I already have the teacups and saucers. They suffice when company comes over but are not big enough for my regular intake of hot beverages. Then I came across these mugs online and I’m totally obsessed with them and confused about whether I should buy a mug set and, if so, which one.

I’m not sure if they’ll stand the test of time like the Fiestaware does. But really, do I care if the set is just over $100? And I don’t know if the whole mismatch thing is cozy and bohemian or cheap and reminiscent of a college student’s dishware? I guess I’ll have to do some thinking on the matter …

Also, I came across the adorable embroidery patterns at Sublime Stitching like these little sushi:

Oh my gosh! They make me want to rush out and outfit myself with every embroidery tool imaginable. Actually, that Web site offers a pretty neat little starter kit that I might pick up later this weekend. Embroidery is just so tiny, I don’t know if I have the patience for projects on that small scale. But it is a good portable craft for in front of the TV and when traveling, so I might give it a shot.

Take Two

I went on a trip to Beverly’s this afternoon and left with a few new cord options. I think this one is more the right width, but the ends frayed a lot. It was only 29 cents a yard for this stuff, so it’s hardly worth crocheting and felting the cord yourself.

Fun with Felting

Earlier this month, Martha had on her show a tutorial on how to make these adorable pincushions. On Saturday, I raided Steve’s closet and hit Goodwill in search of wool sweaters so I could make some. I ended up with a pretty good stash (for only $11!) and felted them all. I also crocheted some cord with wool yarn and felted that too.

Here’s the first product!!



I’m not totally happy with the thickness of the cord, so I’m going to search for some alternatives this afternoon. I made a companion for this little guy, but don’t like it as much. The sweater I used for that cup and saucer was a bit thicker, and it turned out kind of lumpy. So, if you’re going to try these out, I recommend finding the thinnest sweaters possible for that part of the project.

Really, they’re quite simple and fun to make. Most of the sewing is hand-stitching, so if you are easily annoyed by your machine, you can still successfully crank these out. And you can make them while sitting in front of the TV, which is definitely a good thing!

Flower Power

Steve sent me flowers at work for Valentine’s Day, but they didn’t get to me until the next day. They were FedExed from Miami, and their plane was grounded somewhere along the way because of a snow storm.

Anyway, I’m not usually a fan of ordering flowers from FTD or other similar establishments, because neither the organization nor the florist takes accountability for the quality of the product. But now I might think twice, because FTD is offering these really cool arrangements designed by Todd Oldham! The one Steve sent me was the “Romantic Ribbon Wrap Bouquet.” Excellent quality, though the Gerbera daisies were a little bit weary from their travels. I pulled them and the parrot tulips out to make their own little arrangement, which is sort of dead now, but the roses look great:

The best thing about these arrangements is their vases. The absolute worst thing about getting flowers is being stuck with a cabinet full of the ugly vases they come in, but check out the Todd Oldham vases – they’re things you might actually use again, like a colander, a soufflé dish and a martini shaker! The more traditional ones have pretty, opaque designs -- Mine looks like it is wrapped in red ribbon. I think opaque vases are awesome, so you can’t see the stems when they get gross and dingy.

Valentine's Day!

Just 30 minutes to spare before “Lost,” so here’s a brief overview of Valentine’s …

Traffic was terrible tonight. I fully intended to set a festive table, but by the time I got home, my Valentine had already taken care of it for me! I couldn’t have done it better myself:


I finally made the chicken souvlaki and tzatziki I learned at that Williams-Sonoma class. It was tasty and reasonably quick to make. We had a really nice Windsor chardonnay with dinner.

After the s’mores cake mishap, I decided to go with Betty Crocker for dessert. I made a batch of chocolate fudge cupcakes and frosted them using the vanilla buttercream recipe from Magnolia Bakery. It’s basically just butter and confectioner’s sugar with a splash of milk and some vanilla – so good!


I was really lacking in the wrapping paper department when I went to wrap Steve’s gift. I think this belly band on the box in a heart design was the perfect touch (and a good way to make the package not quite so pink!) What was inside wasn’t very exciting, but practical: two long-sleeved polo shirts for casual Fridays.

My gift was fabulous (and exactly what I asked for!) I got baking supplies to make these absolutely adorable miniature three-tiered cakes. Can’t wait to try them out!

And, better late than never, here's a picture of the valentines I made and sent out this year:

Takes the Cake (to the Trashcan)

Tonight I envisioned my triumphant return to the blogosphere. I felt rested and energized. I decided to bake a cake. Not just any cake, but a glorious s’mores cake in my heart-shaped Bundt pan. I pictured it sitting prettily on top of my pink cake stand, all ready for Valentine’s Day.

My mom bought me a ($19!) s’mores Bundt cake mix from Williams-Sonoma at Christmas. I’ve been the recipient of many of these fancy Williams-Sonoma cake mixes over the years and honestly, they NEVER turn out good. Sometimes they call for ingredients that you don’t usually have stocked in your kitchen (e.g., buttermilk). And sometimes the prep is just really more complex than I want to commit to when making a cake from a box.

This mix required ingredients that I did have (eggs, milk and butter). The prep required whipping up a batch of marshmallow cream, which was easy-breezy considering I am an accomplished marshmallow maker. Mixing up the rest of the ingredients was no big deal either. But after that I had to spread batter in the bottom of the pan, making sure to coat the walls of the pan with batter at least half of the way up. OK – No problem. Then I had to create a well for the marshmallow and spread it evenly, guaranteeing that NO MARSHMALLOW TOUCH THE PAN WHATSOEVER. After breaking out in a sweat while meticulously spooning the marshmallow into its well, I had to cover it with the rest of the cake batter. And then all that rebellious marshmallow wanted to do was jump around and try to touch the walls of the pan when it was getting covered! Because of my patience and careful work, tragedy was averted and everything made it into the pan in the appropriate fashion.

That stuff needed to cook for over an hour. I sat, watching last night’s “The O.C.,” salivating over how delicious this s’mores cake with REAL MARSHMALLOW FILLING was going to be. When the time came to get the cake out of the oven, I read the box: “Let the cake cool upright in the pan for exactly 5 minutes. Tap the pan gently on a work surface to loosen the cake. Invert the pan onto a rack and lift off the pan …”

“Hmm …,” I thought. “Only five minutes of cooling time? Well, those fancy Williams-Sonoma chefs must know what they’re talking about.” The pan was still burning hot after five minutes, so I used my better judgment and let it sit for five more. But then I realized that the professionals who wrote the directions must know what’s up, so I inverted the pan. Half the stupid cake stayed in it, and the rest kind of crumbled onto the plate. Eh … the cake didn’t even taste good at all. The marshmallow wasn’t gooey like I expected, but kind of like angel food cake. The rest was just dense and dry with chocolate chips sprinkled in.

Now, I am a friend to all cakes, but I wasn’t at all interested in even munching on the fallen pieces of this one. What a total waste of time and $19.

Part of a Balanced Diet

I’ve had to work late the past few nights. That means I’ve had to skip the gym and enjoy several handfuls of pretzels for dinner. Actually, last night I tried to be sort of healthy and had a can of fruit cocktail in “lite” syrup for dessert when I got home. To top it all off, I’ll be spending the end of the week in Las Vegas, so I’m sure the buffets and free drinks will help ensure I’m at the pinnacle of health.

And wow! I’m awfully flattered that a few people have inquired about the tins in my eBay auction. To cover my costs, I think I’ll price them at $15 (without cards), $20 (with five assorted cards) and $25 (with 10 assorted cards). But people, you should take advantage of the eBay, cause right now you can get a $25 value for 99 cents!!

Sold to the Highest Bidder!

In case anyone is interested in purchasing my handiworks, I just posted my very first eBay auction! Check it out here.

We’ll see how this one goes. If I’m successful, I might be doing it more often!