Almost Summer

I may or may not have indicated (or flat out said) that I was going to post on Saturday, but then I failed. . .sorry folks!

The reason I was going to post on Saturday was because on Friday, my long awaiting birthday gift from several of my friends arrived!! It's a laptop bag from this talented lady, Maggie who hand makes all these delicious bags, wallets, phone pouches, etc. with this sweet ruffle on every one. Her company is called Gussy, and it's amazing! Check it out, you won't be sorry:0)
If you were involved in making my Gussy-owning dreams a reality and you're reading this thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

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I trust that everyone had a good weekend? Although mine was punctuated by rain, it began with some fantastic summer-related activities that made me absolutely ache for summer to arrive. Some of those things were :

Eating hot dogs barefoot in the grass with this goofball

watching my crazy friends engage in some sort of weird wrestling thing. . .

Tree Climbing!


I also got to spend an amazing Saturday evening with a group of friends. We've all spent the last couple of years close by (we all [mostly] live on the same street) and will soon be parting ways for various cities and countries. It was wonderful to just hang out and relax with them all!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas and mommas-to-be in my life!

I hope you all have beautiful days with your families

And, of course. . .

A special shout out to MY momma. Love you!

Offended

Today I had a most interesting conversation with The Writer. Nor for the first time at my job, I was at a loss for words. Sometime I just don't know what to make of the fact that this is my job. . .

Me: (returning to the new kitchen with some receipts as The Writer and I work on her budget, for approximately TWO hours): I just don't understand how you budget is this complicated! It seems like it always takes us so long! I have money from 4 people on my budget and it's not this complicated!

The Writer: Well, I mean you probably don't have the same kind of money coming from everywhere like me. . .

Me: I'm not sure of my exact response, but I'm pretty sure I got a bit prickly inside, and tried to rebut her calmly (The Writer often minimizes my life when I make comparisons or draw from my experiences)

Fast forward 10 min. The Writer has taken a break to make a sandwich

The Writer: I just feel like this is so difficult, I don't know if I can handle anymore today. And then when I feel offended, it makes it even harder.

Me: mmm, yea. . .wait what? offended did you say?

The Writer: well yea, I mean with you comparing. . .

Me: Sorry, I don't know what you're trying to say?

The Writer: I mean that, you were comparing our budgets saying (insert high pitched childish voice here) 'well I have four people and don't have this much trouble' and all that stuff. It was kind of upsetting to hear your opinion

Me: Sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean just stating a fact.

The Writer: Well, still. I don't know why you'd say that. . .

I'm pretty sure I just changed the subject here. Am I being blind here, was I really being mean? Is it normal to spend several hours in a day working on 1 simple budget (the same one we do every single month)?

Maybe so.

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I don't usually post on Saturday's put I have lots of exciting things to share so come back tomorrow!

Lo{st}cks

Apparently a woman used to live in The Writer's new home with her young kids. She stopped paying rent when the current landlord bought the place, and eventually was evicted. All of her stuff was basically just left in the apartment when she moved.

The Writer has taken it upon herself to go through all of the stuff (now stored in the basement) and add it to the collection of stuff for her upcoming tag sales (yes, plural. Her new get rich scheme involves having tag sales every weekend this summer. . .)

Today, as she was commandeering some of the items to use in the new place for her and Partner, she announced that she was going to put a lock on the basement so that if the woman came back for her stuff she wouldn't be able to get in. The Writer justified this by saying that the woman has no right to it since she refused to pay her rent and left it all there.

Now, The Writer maybe correct, but frankly it's really not her place to be locking the woman out of the basement and hoarding her stuff to sell. If the landlord wants to withhold items from the previous tenant that's his business, not The Writer's.

I didn't even bothering putting up a fight about this one. I knew I'd lose.

What do you think? Is The Writer justified or, as usual, completely irrational?

Oh yea, and today while I was "home" alone, I happened upon a lovely little hand carved wooden box sitting on top of one of the unpacked boxes. It was beautiful so I thought I'd have a little look.

I now know where Partner keeps his pot stash.

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Did anyone watch LOST last night?

I won't get too particular in case I spoil something for someone. But I will say that two of my favorite characters were killed off.

I was a little more devastated than any person should be about fictional characters dying. I cried, there was some yelling, and I even called a friend in a panic (she wasn't watching it though so we couldn't talk about it!).

Today, I was reading an article with an interview of the shows writers who said that they did it to remind everyone that anything can happen in LOST.

I did not invest the last five years of my life into this show for THIS. Thanks, LOST writers, thanks.

Congrats Grad!

As predicted, I arrived at The Writer's new place today to find things in complete disarray. It appeared that approximately zero unpacking had occurred, minus the few necessary items to make coffee, use the bathroom, etc.

Thus began The Great Unpacking!

I actually like unpacking, so it wasn't to bad at all, and The Writer actually was super sweet and got me a birthday present! So, I was feeling especially magnanimous.

The day took a surprising turn, however, when an enormous wind storm whipping around the house, the animals going crazy, and weird thunderstorms rumbling around above us. Then, the power went out.

Normally, I love this kind of weather, but was a little creeped out, given that the dog and cat were acting so strangely. I briefly worried that a tornado might end up crashing through the place. Thankfully, we don't get many of those in New England, so my fears were all for not!

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I'd like to offer up a ginormous congratulations to my friend and roommate Miss Sarah E. for making it through five years of college and just finishing her last day.

Conrats Grad! (I hate when people say that for real. So weird!)

Here are some pics of our on going celebration! As I write this I'm enjoying a delicious Cuervo Margarita and some chips and salsa. Ole!

May!

I'm a few days late, but welcome May!

Of course, May is nowhere as near as great as April (can you guess why?)

BUT. . .May is especially amazing this year because it means that in about 3 mos. I will be moving to Boston!

It also means that in 3 mos. The Writer and I will be parting ways. She still doesn't know yet, but all in good time.

No worries, though. This lovely blog will still continue to highlight the craziness that is sure to take place when I take Boston by storm!

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(Me and my cutie younger sibs)

I trust that you all had lovely weekends?

My own was filled with birthday festivities, ninety degree weather, surprise friend visits, wedding showers, and lots of time with amazing friends and family!

I now have two cakes, a plate of cupcakes, sugar cookies, and pudding crowding my fridge. Needless to say it's a disaster!! I'm trying to foist much of it off on friends.

Last night, I went over to my neighbors who are still, sadly, complete strangers. They are all guys so I was sure they would be into getting some free goodies. When they came to the door, a plume of pot smoke came billowing out.
"Score," I thought, "they'll for sure want stuff to snack on!"

Ummm. NO. What kind of large, high, college dudes don't want some free cake??

Anyway, we've now made some new friends, and one of them came over today to borrow my vacuum. I just wish they'd borrowed some cake;0)

Cookies and Lingerie

This weekend was filled with wonderful events and one of those was a celebration of a friends marriage!

Some of her friends and I decided to host a lingerie party in honor of her impending nuptials and, to help get the party started, I created these unique bodice shaped cookies decorated like different kinds of lingerie.

The cookie cutter was hand made as was the template for cutting the fondant. I'm quite happy with the way they turned out and think these are the first real project in my eventual goal of owning my own little baking business!

Check out the slide show below for a view of the process from start to finish and some of my favorite cookie. I like the yellow and blue bustier cookie best;0)

Click here to view these pictures larger

And if you like what you see and think you'll need some fun sugar cookies or any other baked good for an event soon, let me know!