Another Crafty Giveaway...

I fairly recently stumbled across See Katie Sew...I can really never remember the trail of how I end up looking @ other blogs, but I really like to lurk and love the stuff in her etsy shop. She's having a cute fabric giveaway on her blog for her blogiversary, and I'm shamelessly unabashed about trying to win something on a giveaway, I'm posting here!

Boo!

There's hardly anyone dressed up @ work today...boo.... fun haters... so now I'm that weirdo new girl who actually dressed up!

Pictures to follow...

Twilight Widget

You can find your Twilight movie countdown widgets here. :)

Crafty Giveaway!

This That and the Other is having a giveaway...head on over to check it out!

Happy Birthday Steve-o!

Today my hubby turns the big 26... can you believe it's been 26 years for this little guy:

But now he's my guy:

Happy Birthday Honey! And Happy Dating Anniversary! We'll go to Lucille's tonight, I promise!

Michelle's ABCs

The ABCs of me:

Accent- nope, I'm from the Midwest! except when I say y'all...then I vault myself back to the time I spent in Memphis

Breakfast or no breakfast- absolutely must have breakfast...Steve hates life when I don't get breaky

Chore I don't like- do all of them count? Um, I refuse to do dusting, because it sets off the sneezing...and I hate cleaning the bathrooms, the fumes also get to me

Dog or Cat- I have lived with both, cats only currently, so cats win. But Steve & I would like to get a dog if we ever get a house...we want a Wheaten Terrier because they are low-allergen...I don't like their beards though, so I will keep mine Wheaten trimmed!

Essential electronic- TV & computer...I guess that's 2! I would say TV, it was easy to go w/out computer while we were in Europe, but I had to watch CNN international every day!

Favorite Cologne- not a huge fan of fragrance... I like body sprays generally though!

Gold or Silver- Gold - yellow gold!

Handbag I carry most often- generally speaking, my Coach purses (I have 3!) are usually in strong rotation...however, this bag-making bender I've been on has led to me carrying this one for the past month.

Insomnia- rarely...though some of it was Twilight-induced recently!

Job Title- Accounting Manager / Wife

Kids- some day!

Living arrangements- don't get me started...please send out a prayer that Steve gets some housing assistance from his company soon! We're tired of living in our small apartment, and want to get a place of our own!

Most admirable trait- seriously?? What kind of question is this? My most admirable trait is that I'm humble...errr... I dunno...the thing I like about myself is that I generally try to see the glass as half full...

Naughtiest Childhood Trait- I think my mom can answer better than me...but I'm going to guess that I was too bossy...and still am...

Overnight Hospital Stays- nope

Phobias- ferris wheels... bugs (just ask Steve who heard the most astounding squeal/screech out of me a couple of days ago when I found a moth inside my slipper)

Quote- See sidebar :)

Reason to smile- My hubby, family and friends

Siblings- Jim, my 'lil big bro...and now I have Kristina & Karissa, as my sis-in-laws! And my ASK sisters!

Time to wake up- after hitting snooze 3x - somewhere around 6am...

Unusual talent or skill- I can...I dunno... I guess the fact that I can do anything crafty is an unusual genetic talent my parents don't have...

Vegetables I Refuse to eat- Brussels sprouts, lima beans

Worst Habit- brutal honesty and sarcasm

X-rays- just when I go to the dentist

Yummy Stuff- Glacier's Peanut Butter Blast ice cream!

Zoo animals I like the most- penguins, lions, pandas...dolphins if they have 'em

A Scotty for Kyle

This weekend, we are going to be headed up to San Jose for baby Kyle's baptism. Kyle is the adopted son of Mark & Liz...Mark is Steve's godfather, and Steve is going to be Kyle's godfather. So I felt compelled to make something for Kyle...and then somewhere online I saw a Scotty dog (sincerest apologies to whomever I borrowed this idea from **EDIT - Found the link stuffed in my IE favorites - also Pink Penguin**)...and it immediately made me think of this Scotty dog softie my grandma used to let me sleep with, although he was made of carpet-like fabric, if I remember correctly. **Mom, if you're reading this, find out if grandma still has that doggie...I would like him!**

Anyway, I came up with a pattern for the doggie, using trusty rusty Excel. I fell in love with the American Jane "Recess" fabrics, so I ordered a layer cake from Pink Chalk.

I cut each layer cake into 3x10 strips, then cut 3" squares from that. So I ended up with 120 squares, which I used to somewhat randomly piece together Mr. Scotty Doggie:


I didn't realize until I put the 2 pictures together that I used the navy polka dot fabric in the exact same spot on both sides of his face.

I think I had 25 extra squares leftover, so I decided I wanted to make a fabric basket using Pink Penguin's tutorial:



So hopefully the colors and fabrics aren't too girly, I thought they were fun, kinda Crayola primary colors. If not, I can always keep him...and name him Jock. ;) Now I just need to figure out what to do with the remainder 7x10 Recess pieces (pun intended, although I know it was weak)...

The Best Beer...

Last night, we had a few friends over to celebrate Steve's birthday, and I hosted a blind beer tasting. I picked out 12 different fairly mainstream beers, poured a bunch of little 3 oz cups of beer, and let the masses have at it.



Here's what the fridge looked like - all 12 beers are hidden in the blue bags, and labeled as to their random serving order...there are 2 of most of the kinds in the bags, with the exception of 2 24-oz. cans and a 40 of Stella.



I created scorecards to rank 5 different attributes, and also had the tasters try to guess what they were tasting.

The winner as judged by Steve, Jason, Christina, Scott, Cory and Shannon:

FAT TIRE!

Followed closely tied in second place by: Alaskan Amber and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Tied for last place were MGD and Becks.

Happy tasting!

Happy Birthday Jimbo!

My lil bigger bro turns 25 today... Geez, that makes me feel old! I sent him a Garfield Fat Cat book and some $$$. My mom said his comment about the book was "I don't know how Michelle does it, but she remembers things I like and sends them to me." Jim LOVED Garfield when he was younger...to the point where we would call each other Pooky (that's Garfield's little bear).

The book is one of the many random things I've given my brother in recent years that are totally childhood fallbacks...things like the TMNT DVDs...the Gnome Named Gnorm VHS...

So I wonder what Jim will find in his stocking later this year? Micro Machines, perhaps??

Also, Happy Anniversary to the in-laws today...27 years together!

Being good...

I almost cheated today for lunch, but got Low-cal lemonade instead.

So I will reward myself with posting a cute kitties photo:

Such chubbies!