Feelin' Owly....

Made up a bunch of Owls from some newly felted sweaters. It's hard to let them go sometimes!

The pink one with green tummy is going to go to a store, the rest are on my etsy shop now!

clean sweep

i finished cleaning my apartment and set the keys inside a cupboard, shut off the lights, and left. closing a door on living in st. paul, for now, and i'm getting more settled in hugo. the drive doesn't seem so bad anymore, but i have been gassing up a whole lot more than i used to. i am going to try to use a bike for short runs to town and to white bear, at least when i can.

my sister and her new hubby are in town, they rented a truck up in forest lake to take back a lot of her memorabilia, and some furniture. however....

apparently folks have been stealing catalytic converters to sell for drug money. seriously. so the first truck they tried to rent, they had to REPLACE THE CONVERTER while they waited. and when david drove it, the transmission was wonkified. a guy came out to look at it, and said, you're gonna need a new truck. so we are still waiting, (after being on hold for what seemed like days) to find out if they can get another truck on the busiest moving weekend of the year, or if they're going to have to delay their trip back.


raja is going with them. i'm so happy she's going to be getting the love and attention of my sister again, raj has gotten used to the other cats but she's always trying to escape!

betsy and i have been going through all these boxes in the garage, divvying up ancient family linens, dishes, etc. we poured through 3-4 boxes of our childhood clothes and had some great laughs. discarded a lot of things. and i got some great fabric for use in upcoming projects. betsy is 7 years older than me, and my cousins are another 2-3 years older than her, so some of the hand-me-downs were first worn in the late 60's/early 70's so you can imagine the fantastic patterns (including many rainbows, accurate and not so much), styles, and materials we're coming across. my sister's favorite phrase was 'that's horrifying'.

dinner last night was salmon my brother caught in alaska (not so local, but better than farmed salmon!) , and potatoes, tomatoes (with basil and mozzarella), corn, and salad from my parents' own garden. everyone was so impressed by the delish grub, and i am SO happy they've been reading animal, vegetable, miracle! if you haven't read it, it will change your life.

Now at Benevolent Acorn!

the elephant in the room arrives this weekend in st. paul. hope they have a grand old time!

you can purchase your own elephant finger puppet or other interesting animal at benevolent acorn on the old and established, grand ave!

coming VERY soon to my etsy site, some buttons to show your support for the donkeys!

BRING ON THE HOPE!!!!

love those cheezburgers

more from the i can has cheezburger geniuses

in the doorway...

had an awesome dinner with rachel, sara, and maren last night. look at their blogs for their sides of the story and photos-i have known them all my entire life, it's so great to have lifelong friends like that!

when i woke up this AM, a hummingbird was hovering outside my window getting nectar out of the holly hocks. so cool to see that first thing in the morning!


when i got home, this is what i found in the stairwell leading down to my bedroom. we had a huge thunderstorm last night, i think they found their way down there during the early hours.
two frogs, and two salamanders.

armed with a bucket and a shovel, i freed them from their concrete prison. i hope they make it!

the fair!!!!!!!!

you lookin' at me? huh?


colleen and i hit the great MN sweat-together, AKA the state fair.
she tried the hotdish on a stick. not a hit.

the horse and sheep barns? mixed success with norah, 2 and a half.

the chicken barn? NO ONE LIKED but me. no photos as we were literally running through to get away from the vicious, crowing death machines. well, that's what my comrades thought.

miracle of birth barn? bit hit with norah, too much noise for ada, 6 months. (no pictures of ada in this camera! what happan?)


the fudge puppy? loved by everyone!!!!!!!!!!


no photos of the cheese curds, we ate them too fast. also no photos of ada's lunch. haha.


the butterfly barn, once again, mixed success. hopefully norah will grow to love butterflies as much as this young lady, but for right now, she was a little freaked out by them.
chocolate covered pecan roll? HUGE HIT with everyone. no photo of the arnie palmer i got ... looks just like any other arnie palmer.
lastly, the kidway. norah loved the rides, wanted to stay and ride as many as she could. but two was the limit. it was nap time. a great day had by all!

you ain't gonna believe it....

....cause i hardly do.

i have a job.

in a theater.

in the costume shop.

makin' stuff.

OMG can you hear the screaming and jumping up and down?

sadly, the commute is going to BITE. but hey, what's a few hours in the car everyday?

it's temp, it's overhire, it's nothing permanent. but it's a foot in the door. YAY!

more details as they become available. and possibly, another big bombshell tomorrow, meeting with a commercial real estate agent...that's all i'm gonna say. stay tuned!

PS. Little House on the Prairie, tha Musical, is....um.....interesting!

PPS she loved the birds!

birdies!

just a few shots of some paper mache birds, similar to ones i made for the holidays about 3 years ago. people went NUTZ for them, and i think these ones are even better quality and shape, etc.

i mostly used wrapping paper from my nephew's birthday party (BOX OF STRING TOO SMALL TO SAVE) and ribbon, trim, and fabric from the giant stash i have in the garage. i still need to give them EYES, but the ones i'm going to use are still at my apartment. so after i lunch with my friend colleen and her daughters, it's back to the apartment to attach said eyes.

they MAY end up at a floral store in south minneapolis. if not, they'll be on my etsy site.

mornin'

it's 7:20 AM. the rooster next door wants to make sure to welcome the newest resident of hugo, at least that's what i'm choosing to believe. he got up around 5 and started to shout his welcome.

i should bring over some of the mole' sauce i made last night and see how he likes that. i made it up after reading 2-3 versions on the internet. it was loved by all, including my not very adventurous food wise parents!!!*

becca's easy mole': (serves 4-6 as an appetizer, 2 as a meal)
two small garlic butter chicken breasts (or regular ones, see note)
one small white onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
2 T creamy PB
1/4 c. dark or semi sweet chocolate chips or bits
1 cup (roasted poblano) salsa (i used medium but would have preferred hot)
spices to taste (cinnamon, cumin, bay leaves, etc.)

to make:
boil the chicken breast in 1 cup water with a covered pan. when finished, pour out the water but reserve the shmaltz (chicken fat) if you can. mix with the olive oil over low heat.
add chopped onion. shred the chicken as it's cooling, using two forks.
once onion begins to brown, return chicken to the pan (and garlic if needed). stir until the chicken picks up the color from the onions and all oil is absorbed, about 3-5 minutes. TURN OFF HEAT AND REMOVE ONION/CHICKEN mixture from the pan.
in the warm pan, mix the PB, chocolate, and salsa together, stirring constantly. once the chocolate has melted, return the onions and chicken to the pan and stir to coat. put on LOWEST HEAT possible on stove for another 10-15 minutes, testing spice levels. you may want to add more salsa or more cinnamon, etc.

we ate it with blue corn chips, but you could also spoon over rice. it was suuuuuper good. the PB added a lot to the mouth feel. no cheese or sour cream required to enjoy this dish. you could also add some peppers or other root veggies for more body.

*my parents do eat some things i would NEVER consider, like pickled herring. ISH! but they don't usually venture south of the border.

home again, home again

the move is (mostly) over. i am now a hugonian. again.

spent the night on the airbed in st. paul, after that experience, i will be sleeping here in hugo from now on.

spent the AM with my gram, came down to hugo for lunch, then my mom and i ran into 'town' to stop in at Truly, one of the stores where i sell my fine wares. i picked up some old favorites that they had tried to sell, for whatever reason they were still there! so i re-listed three animals today on etsy.


since we got back, my mom and dad and i have been talking about jobs, etc. i applied for a few promising ones. keep your fingers crossed for me!

summa summa summa time

a wild weekend was had by all. i am exhausted.

surprise tickets to glamorama at macy's, saw MC Hamma and Cyndi Lauper do their thing. party afterwards had free booze (didn't partake) and free food (did).

sale on saturday was a bomb. i made only $12 profit but i met some great artists. it was way too hot. i only sold things to friends but hey, that's OK.

after that, schommer drove me and jen to a 25 year class reunion in west central wisconsin, where he did 1 hour of hilarious standup. but the best part, was that jen pretended to be a long-lost classmate and convinced about 10 people she was one of their own. ha! she's 30, and a stand-up comedian like jason. i guess she and her friends crash weddings all the time, so this was like a dream come true for her, she said.

hi-fricken larious.

read jason's blog for the lowdown and photos.

strange day.....

well, coasting on last night's exciting phone call informing me that i have an interview on monday at the children's theater to work in the costume shop (!!!) i had another almost sleepless night. 4 nights in a row of laying in bed, tossing and turning, flipping and flopping. i think the idea of having to vacate the apartment in less than two weeks, coupled with the total lack of incoming $$ and the fear of being locked up due to not paying taxes* (!!!) is starting to get to me.

anyway. today i treated myself to a morning at border's, where i read about jennifer aniston and john mayer breaking up, getting married, and having a baby, depending on which trashy magazine i was scoping.


i am now at the st. anthony park library, a beautiful old brick building that has been a favorite haunt since i moved to my apartment, 18 months ago. as i was opening the door, the ground near the door seemed to move. upon closer inspection, i noticed a grey striped cat curled up in the door jamb! sweet little guy, apparently he's been camped out on the steps the last week or so. the staff called the shelter just as i was coming in, they are worried about him. he's so sweet, and every little kid that comes by gives him love and he loves them back.

i wish i couls scoop up the little guy and bring him out to live at my parent's farm, but i'm worried that a, he might not get along with all of the three insane cats they already have, and b, that he might have feline leukemia or any one of a hundred awful cat diseases, and c, that he might belong to someone in the neighborhood! he looks pretty well fed, and healthy for the most part, but i would feel awful if he gave something to raja, polly, or gypsy.

well the library patrons and staff are all very protective of him, i hope things go well for him. stray animals break my heart, i have a fear i may end up as a crazy cat lady living in hugo, with a barn full of 300 cats and dogs.
UPDATE: As I was leaving, a kind soul had brought a carrier to take him to the Woodbury Animal shelter. He went right in the carrier and seemed to be very happy. He will be held for 5 days in case anyone claims him, then he'll be up for adoption. Anyone wants a sweet grey kitty, go to the Woodbury Animal Shelter!

raja is going to live with betsy again, hopefully, and not a moment too soon. she has been breaking out of the barn at every opportunity, she even ripped through a window screen to get out! my dad put up some rabbit fencing over the window, and she CHEWED through that, then he put up a portion of the dog's kennel and she bent the wires. hulk-cat.

anyway. i'm loaded up with DVD's, i'm going back to the apartment to work on stuff for my sale on saturday. monday is the interview, and next saturday is THE BIG MOVE DAY. let's hope for some sleep this week.

*screwing up my taxes. again. not exactly, not paying. oy.

oh my good gracious

this site is real.

messin' around

working on new designs for my sale buttons. came up with this one. perhaps a bit too controversial?

shopgirl

i'm subbing in at I Like You so the girls can have a few days off. i will be doing this a lot over the next few weeks until i find permanent employment again. oy.

jason and i induldged in a kathy griffin binge last night, 3 old shows and then last nite's episode of my life on the D list. she is hilarious. i can't wait for her shows in minneapolis, i hope i have enough money to attend them!

sold bitty kitty off etsy earlier in the week. yay! that brings my total etsy sales to 10. i hope i can make it to 100 before the end of the year, i'm gonna have to start posting a lot more!

photos!

check it out! photos of the GIANT DROPS OF DOOOOOOOOM. and some actors in front of them.

keep in mind, those are NOT photographs, the folks at the 'G' painted those drops on canvas. that then had to be sewn.

barren landscape of jobbiness

oy. the job search continues, fruitless as a fig tree at mcmurdo station.
strangely, they have several job listings on craigslist for antarctica. maybe i should check it out. i wonder if they have coffee shops down there yet. maybe i should open one! all drinks iced at no extra charge. badum, CHA!

that reminds me, i heard from an ex-barista about a guy who came in to his store once and ordered a 'tai chi' instead of 'chai tea'. he tried to correct the guy, but the dude didn't listen and the next 50 times he came in, he still asked for a tai chi. later that same night, i saw a vanity plate that read, 'TAI CHI". how weird is that? pretty weird.

anyway. back to today.

i submitted a hat pattern (similar to the one i'm wearing up there) for one-yard-wonders and dropped it off at crafty planet. love that freaking place. walked around the neighborhood, johnson street is hopping! there's a lovely old abandoned theater building. wouldn't it be great to open my very own performance/art space in the thriving northeast community? wouldn't it be great to be hit with a meteor made of million dollar bills?

loafed at b&n for a few hours, and then went to borealis yarn to cash in my birthday gift from my cousin ing-marie. got two skeins of recycled silk sari yarn. don't know what i'm going to do with it, but hey, has that ever stopped me before?

all in all, a pretty freaking awesome day to be retired.

the life of the retire-ee

i enjoy telling folks that i'm retired, not unemployed. it makes the truth a little easier to bear.

i have been cleaning and organizing my apartment for what feels like an eternity. they are showing the place at 3 today so my goal is to 'job search' for a few more minutes, and then head home and go whirling dervish on the place.

wish me luck.

i went to the duffy concert at first ave with jason last night. great show, but we were in the VIP room, which is a walled-off spot just above the stage. the sound comes in through the door, then mixes with all the folks milling about who take the opportunity to talk as loudly as possible, just because they have some glass between them and the rest of first ave.

i bet those are the same folks who talk during movies.

what brings us together, today

the wedding was this past friday. it was unique, from top to tails.

here's one of my favorite shots from the day.

david is returning from rescuing a sailboat that had broken anchor during the storm that occurred during their reception.

my sister waited on the dock as the sun went down.

there are so many stories to tell, i don't know where to start, except to say that les chenaux islands are magical, and i hope to return many, many times.

four!

that is awesome. found through meet me at mikes. check out the linky to the right over there.

just picked up a fourth store for the duckie uglings, this one, in st. paul! whoo hoo!

it's called benevolent acorn,
starting thursday, you st. paulies can pick up duckie uglings right there at lexington and grand ave.

supa!

leaving in 4 days for michigan. last day of work at the flying G tomorrow. wish me luck!