Captain Laura's Crafts 'n' Dogs

Blogging the Cake Balls

2010-07-10T18:07:00.008-05:00

Ever since m friend Erin's birthday last weekend, I've been totally obsessed with sweets. We had some amazing petit fours from Clayton bakery at the winery. Later on that weekend I bought two cupcakes at the grocery store, and as soon as I finished those I wanted more. I've been wanting to try Bakerella's Cake Balls recipe for some time now, and an upcoming 30th birthday party gave me just the excuse I needed.

My Friday evening got going with this Facebook status update:

I followed the recipe exactly and refrigerated the balls overnight. I got up this morning ready to dip 'em in chocolate.

Now, the recipe suggests microwaving the chocolate 1-2 squares at a time, dipping a few, melting down a couple more squares, and so on. I did a bunch this way, and I got really tired of having to pull the chocolate bowl in and out of the microwave. Plus, I was having a hard time maintaining a good consistency with the stuff, and I ended up with a couple of kinda hairy-looking balls.

I decided to get tough and pull out the double boiler. Now let me stop for a second and explain why I even own one of these things. I definitely have never needed one in the past, and I didn't exactly purchase it with baking in mind. It's this ancient enamelware thing I picked up at an estate sale for a quarter, and I only really bought it because I like the color.

So. I put the water in the bottom half, threw the chocolate squares in the top, and turned on the gas. I am fairly successful at steaming veggies and I figured this wouldn't be too different.

Then the stove caught on fire a little.

I *think* that the water boiled over the top of the pot. I'm not sure what else exactly happened, but when I took the thing off the stove the water inside was pink. Unsure why.

At any rate, I managed to melt the rest of the chocolate and dip the balls. I'm not a pro at maintaining a smoothly melted pot of chocolate, but that just means I have more practice opportunities ahead of me. And the cake balls? Amazing!

Chairs

2009-02-26T18:22:00.001-06:00

These three chairs range in price from $159 to $459. Two are authentic and one is not. Can you tell which is which?

A Winner is You!

2009-02-22T15:25:00.002-06:00

I'm pleased to announce the prize winners of the Zoe Fund. Thank you all so much for donating so generously...if you didn't catch the latest update, not only is Zoe back to her bratty normal self, but we've made our funding goal...Zoe's surgery is 100% paid for!

Without further ado, the prize winners:

Our out of town winner was Natalia G! A quilt will be coming her way soon.

Winner of the popcorn and movie basket is Lauren M!

Rick and Karen H won a bath and nail trim for their dachshund!

Anne S won a custom-sized dog sweater!

And

Melinda B won the grand prize...an hour of photography!

Zoe Updates

2009-02-03T21:50:00.016-06:00

The original thread was getting a little unwieldy, so I broke the updates into their own post.

Guys, we made it! I received the last $20 this afternoon...Zoe's bills are 100% paid! Through everyone's generous contributions, we raised $1653.46 to cover Zoe's surgery costs!!!!

Prize winners will be posted tomorrow morning!

2/18/09 - I finally got to see Zoe in person over the weekend and she seems totally back to normal. She was chasing the other dogs around, begging for food, and humping, just like always.

I am going to do the drawings on Saturday.

2/13/2009 - Zoe is doing great! Better than great, if that's possible! She got her stitches out this week. The only lingering effects of her predicament seem to be her shaved belly, and the get-out-of-jail-free pass that she gets on baths until her incision is completely healed.

**2/6/09 - DAY SEVEN!!!***
Zoe is doing absolutely great. She is back to pooping, throwing tantrums, and stalking Boomer's birdfeeder. We've relaxed a little bit, and are now aiming for a complete recovery. Thanks to everyone who has donated funds, as well as those who have checks on the way. I will probably hold the prize drawings at the end of next week.

**2/3/09 - Evening**
Zoe saw the vet and had an x-ray, and everything is still where it should be. Poop's coming. :)

**2/3/09 - Afternoon update**
Boomer sent me a better chicken photo! Poor Zoe is not used to having a naked belly. She is going into the vet this evening - no pooping since Monday morning and a small mass on her belly. Hope everything is ok!

**2/3/2009**
Here is a picture of Zoe in her "nest." When I first looked at this photo, I didn't realize that the big white patch on her side is actually her poor naked belly! Zoe has a naked chicken! Boomer stayed home all day Monday taking care of Zoe and keeping her company. She's eating chicken like crazy, brown rice when she has to, and no green beans at all. Bodily functions are operating normally at this point.

**2/2/09 - Last night's update**
Zoe is at home, and Boomer has set up a nice, soft, fluffy space for her in the living room. She is contained in an ex-pen, to keep her from wandering. When Boomer called last night, she told me that Zoe was laid out on her back, in the dog bed, in front of the space heater. Boom cooked up a nice meal of boiled chicken, brown rice and green beans. Zoe gobbled down the chicken, so Boomer tried her luck with a green bean. Girl looked at the bean, looked at Boomer, and GLARED, as if to say "Mom, I've been through a lot. I don't have to eat my vegetables!"

**2/1/09 - PM Update**
Boomer is on her way to the hospital to pick up Zoe!! She will have to lay low, and there's still a great deal of concern for complications. The vet techs told Boomer that Zoe is PISSED, and ready to be back with her family. Other than that, she seems to be in pretty good spirits. Boomer posted a more in-depth overview of the illness over on her blog. I have also added a new prize opportunity down below...

**2/1/2009 - AM Update**
I spoke with Boomer this morning to see how Zoe was feeling. Zoe is still at the animal hospital for care and observation. She has eaten two small meals (meatballs, I hear!) and kept everything down, so far. As the food digests, it will be a test to see how her reconstructed intestines handle things. Dr. Britt indicated that the first 7 days post-surgery are the most critical. Girl is not out of the danger zone yet, but everything that goes according to plan is a step in the right direction.

Boomer also wanted me to let everyone know that she (and I!) really appreciate everyone's concern as well as your generous donations.

-Laura
***********

Updated Caution: Sad story about a sick dog ahead.

2009-01-31T14:14:00.021-06:00

**If you are looking for updates I have moved everything here. This post was getting way too long.**

Let me tell you an amazing story about a little dog I know named Zoe. She was rescued from a puppy mill situation in 2005 or early '06, and came into my friend Boomer and her husband Brett's home as a foster dog. Poor girl was in bad shape. She is a long-haired dachshund, but you could hardly tell at first glance. Zoe endured several botched c-sections at the mill, a mouthful of rotten teeth, and had clearly been severely neglected and/or abused by the people in charge. Zoe was afraid of everyone.

As she began to heal, Zoe was placed with an adoptive family. She came back to Boomer and Brett almost immediately, now labeled as "too mean." Weeks of trial and error, back-and-forth trips, and disappointment later, Zoe still didn't have a home.

Not long after the last rejection, Zoe finally found her forever family. Their names were Boomer and Brett.

Boomer and Brett worked tirelessly with Zoe, truly believing that there was a sparkling gem of a dog inside this terrified, mean, bedraggled creature. They didn't give up on her, and never stopped believing that Zoe could do anything with enough love, patience and treats. They were right. As Zoe's fur started growing in, we all began to notice how beautiful this dog really was. Her coat was long and shiny, and there was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn't always been there. Once she realized she wasn't going anywhere, her spunky personality started to emerge. Every milestone was celebrated. I remember Boomer calling me one day to report that Zoe played with a toy, for the first time in her life.

Almost by fluke, Boomer discovered that Zoe had a powerful prey drive and was quite interested in hunting. They started competing in Earthdog events. Little Miss Zoe, with her 5 teeth, quickly worked her way up the ladder and earned an Earthdog Champion title. If you've even been to Boomer and Brett's house, you have seen her strutting around, tongue lolling out the side of her mouth, picking up her sister's toys purely to incite playfullness.

Zoe had emergency bowel surgery last night. She started getting sick on Wednesday night, vomiting and refusing food. There's no blockage, but a sudden and freakish hernia that went very bad. Dr. Britt (kate's vet) did the surgery after having already worked a full shift at the Animal Hospital. When she called late Friday night, Dr. Britt shared that she had to remove a large section of Zoe's bowel and things were still very touch-and-go. The recovery is very risky, and we won't really know for sure how she is doing for a while yet. I did hear that Zoe is awake this morning, though I haven't gotten an update since about 8.

I told you. It's a sad but amazing story. Here's the part where I make my Jerry Lewis-like appeal:
Boomer unexpectedly lost her job just after Thanksgiving. She and Brett are paying their bills and feeding themselves and the dogs, but don't have a lot left over for extras. Like dachshund surgery. When Boomer and Kate called me yesterday afternoon to tell me about the surgery, my first reaction was to try and make the financial part of this experience cause the least amount of stress possible. We're putting the whole bill on my credit card and Boomer will pay me back when she can. Several people have offered their help, and, so, this is how to help.

Give us your money.

No, seriously. I've decided to set up a mini fund-raiser to help Boomer and her family afford Zoe's medical care. I can accept bank transfers and credit card donations through PayPal if you have an account set up there (my address there is laura.c.wolfe at gmail dot com), as well as the traditional methods of cash and check (hit me up in the comments section if you need my address). Any small donation you are able to spare will help Boom and Brett worry less about affording all this, so they can concentrate on Zoe's well-being.

But wait! There's more!

Anyone local who donates will be entered in a drawing to win an awesome prize: my mad photography skillz! Yes, I will travel to one lucky winner's house with my camera and stuff, take pictures of you/your dogs/your lint ball collection for an hour, and then send you a photo CD with full reprinting rights for all images. That's like, a $32 value at least, right?

Awesome Prize Opportunity #2:
Marigrace of Southpaw Dog Grooming has also agreed to donate 1 bath and nail trim (for a dachshund only, no rottweilers or humans allowed!). Anyone with a wiener who sends a donation will also be entered to win this item.

The Prizes Just Keep Getting Better #3:
Lo-Downs member Patty Clay has offered up her knitting skills to one lucky dachshund! She will hand-knit a custom-sized dog sweater for the winner of this prize. Anyone with a wiener who sends a donation will also be entered to win this item.

Can It Even Be True? Prize #4:
Lo-Downs Member Melinda has put together a gift basket for the drawing. It has a $15.00 gift card to Blockbuster, popcorn bowl, popcorn, cheese sprinkle for popcorn, m&ms, twizzlers, milk duds, and chocolate covered raisins. Anyone who has sent money is eligible to win this one.

Out-of-Towner Prize Available:
I did not anticipate getting donations from outside the STL metro area, but, uh, I have. Thanks, Natalia! I know that Boomer has some out-of-town friends inside the computer as well, so I've added a special prize drawing for people who are not local.

It's a quilt! I made it myself!
I know, my list of talents just keeps on growing! This quilt is approximately 40" square, and suitable for hanging, a lap quilt, or a baby, if you're into that sort of thing. Machine pieced in a pattern of my own making, and machine quilted. I call it "Summer Windows," because it makes me think of looking out the window on a perfect, sunny, clear summer day.

Please don't hesitate to email me (laura.c.wolfe at gmail dot com), contact me via facebook or in the comments here. I am doing this as a completely personal venture because Boomer is one of the most amazing, open, and selfless friends of all time and I'd like to support her the best way I know how.

-Laura

Burrrrrs-ville!

2008-12-22T08:30:00.000-06:00

Roombitis

2008-11-09T20:18:00.001-06:00

I'm dog sitting for the in-laws this week and with four dogs here, the
fur tumbleweeds have started already. I decided to schlep the Roomba
over to try and keep up with the cleaning; I hate having to clean up
in a hurry right before they get back. Toby is bark bark barking like
crazy at the vacuum...and my dogs (for once in their lives) are
sitting here calm as anything, like "what? What's the big deal? It's
just Roomba."

Two more down - post-election day edition!

2008-11-06T20:58:00.003-06:00

I finally finished up the little bit of hand sewing I had to do for the last of this summer's baby quilts, and made it to the post office during business hours to send a package internationally. Violet and Avi, along with their mom, are some of my imaginary friends inside the computer. I came home this evening to read the best message board post ever:

"Yesterday I woke up to a world with President-elect Obama in it. And then I went to the post office to pick up a mysterious package and there were the two most beautiful quilts in it. Completely unexpected (I didn't even know you guys were over here doing this!) and so wonderful. 2008 was a crazy year, we finally got pregnant, moved to the US (and back) and watched this most incredible election for our friends in the south. I think these things will now always be connected for me in the most wonderful way, completely serendipitous that they arrived the morning after the best election ever.

I'm floored by your generosity. literally floored..."

I think she likes 'em ;)

End of the line...

2008-11-04T13:53:00.001-06:00

Civic Duty

2008-11-04T09:07:00.003-06:00

I'm waiting in line to vote. It's a long, long line...

Update: Two hours and 15 minutes after I started, I got my lil' sticker and headed off to work.

2008-10-30T16:02:00.001-05:00

Now is the time to donate. Let your support be known.

Pumpkin'd

2008-10-20T21:21:00.004-05:00

Spent some time this weekend feeling under the weather and decorating pumpkins. I stuck these on the outside of our patio fence and I've gotten a ton of complements on 'em from people walking past. Here's hoping no one gets a wild hair and goes on a pumpkin-smashing spree.
Aunt Bobbi crafted Frank and Rita some adorable sweaters which make them look like candy corns. I can't say that either of them are thrilled to have to wear clothes, but the sweaters are awfully cute.

Well I think you're a giant baboon's hiney, how d'ya like that?!

2008-10-20T21:04:00.005-05:00

Scene: A semi-deserted call center-cum-campaign phone bank. All around me are these sort of brazen, elderly Democrats laboring over every digit they dial.

Me: ::dials number. Phone rings. Much to my surprise, someone answers::

Woman's voice: Hello?

Me: Hi, is [woman's name] there please?

Woman: This is she.

Me: Hi, I'm CaptainLaura calling on behalf of Senator Barack Obama. I was just calli-

Woman: We think he's a stinking pile of crap!

Me: Well, heh, I'll just put you down as a 'no' then!

Phone: Click.

Yeah. It's like that. Huh.

Dogged

2008-10-12T13:26:00.004-05:00

Franklin is quite meddlesome most of the time. That's pretty much a dachshund hallmark, but dam it can get annoying. I've been working diligently to wash, iron and fold a boatload of fabric that I recently procured (for a good value!) and Frank insists on being in the middle of everything. Generally I don't mind, in fact, I think his tenacity is kind of cute.

This weekend, however, he's been acting especially bad. I don't know if it's because he's bored, or what, but in the past 24 hours he's:

Chewed 3/4 the buttons off my favorite green sweater, leaving big holes behind
Mounched the strap off of one brown T-strap shoe. My only brown dressy shoes, of course.
Terrified the neighbor's cocker spaniel
Gotten into my craft supplies and helped himself. See below:

Even Rita has been badder than usual this weekend. She was definitely an accomplice in the craft supply heist; when I walked in she was chewing on a pinecone (no idea where that came from?). Last night I dropped her leash and she took off towards the rabbit patch and hid in the bushes for 10 minutes , while I wandered around looking for her.

One of Jeremy's big things as we look for a house is having a space to himself where the dogs can't go. Now I can understand why.

Assholes.

Shmear Campaign

2008-10-07T21:59:00.003-05:00

Since the VP debate last week, I've been thinking very critically about the role of government in domestic issues.
My liberal side tends toward the side of socialism - we've got to take care of everyone in a benevolent fashion. It's the government's duty to see to it that everyone gets a fair chance. There are plenty of people who are brilliant and hardworking, but for one reason or another, real life got in the way of great potential.
My conservative side feels like if everyone just took on the personal responsibility that's expected of them, we wouldn't have the kinds of issues we're facing today. I work hard in order to take care of myself and my family; why should anybody be allowed a free ride just because they can't hack it? Why should my tax dollars be used to bail out corporations and consumers who made risky decisions that I wouldn't abide by in a million years?

No where is this issue clearer to me than in the arena of health care. Having navigated the health care system both as a consumer and as an administrator, I feel like I have a good enough grasp on the health care situation to understand McCain and Obama's proposals. This is a good jumping off point for me to understand the candidates' platforms on other issues as well. I heard something during the debate this evening that scared the daylights out of me: something that completely cleared my indecision regarding the role that government should play in domestic policy issues.

In response to the absolutely great question "Do you believe health care should be treated as a commodity?" I didn't hear a straight answer out of either candidate. But at one point, while explaining his health care proposal, John McCain said:

"But the point is that we have got to give people choice in America and not mandate things on them and give them the ability. Every parent I know would acquire health insurance for their children if they could."

That's simply not true.

Someone very dear to me was strongly affected by a parent actively choosing not to insure his child. The fallout from that decision, made over 5 years ago, is still creating challenges: financial, emotional and physical.

The fact of the matter, from where I stand, is that there are plenty of people who still don't prioritize insurance. Whether it be a parent or a single individual, young or old, low or middle income, working or not, there are always better things to spend money on than insurance. While I agree that some people simply can't afford to pay, there are legions of others who spend that money on other things. Things that sometimes I feel should be lower on the priority list. There are others that I know who have worked very hard for not a lot of money, just to make sure they had reliable, reasonable health insurance for their families
Some of these first kinds of people carry on as usual, trusting that if they fall, someone will be there to catch them. And there always has been someone there to pick up the pieces and pay the bills after a medical catastrophe, be it a benevolent parent or relative, or Uncle Sam himself.

I think we can all agree that it's the administration's responsibility to help people who can't make it on their own. The question, in my mind, which has suddenly become clear to me, is this?

Is it better business to provide reasonably-priced (but federally mandated) health coverage and preventative care to every citizen, or is it more beneficial to let individuals deal with the free market of health care and coverage unhindered, then bail them out when they've gotten themselves into a hot mess over assuming too much risk?

Useless mounds of paper

2008-09-13T09:26:00.003-05:00

Last week or so, Jeremy and I were talking about illuminated manuscripts, for whatever reason. He asked me what the term was that means "fancy illustrated capital letters" in a manuscript. Seeing as I don't deal with medieval art history on a daily basis, I went to look it up in the first half of Marilyn Stokstad's Art History, a book I've kept around since my freshman year of college for reference.

Seriously, I've dragged this two-volume set around with me since 2001, moving every year. Jeremy always bugs me to get rid of it, but it's sort of nostalgic, y'know. These textbooks feel like one of the last vestiges of my college education, a souvenir from that part of my life, which, intellectually I've more or less left behind.*

At any rate, I first used the book's index to find the section on illuminated manuscripts. I flipped to the correct page, and read the 5-6 paragraphs. No mention of decorated initials. I had noticed there were a few other places the index listed, so I went through every mention of "manuscripts" in the whole book. Nothing.

Where did I end up finding the information I was looking for? Wikipedia.

*Believe it or not, there's not a pressing need to know about, say, Abstract Impressionism from a Marxist perspective in corporate America.** I *do* get complements on my ability to draw straight lines on chart paper, though.

**Don't worry, I still fiercely believe in the value of a Liberal Arts education. That's another post, however.

I TOLD you...

2008-08-20T22:20:00.003-05:00

Work on Bobbi's quilt keeps getting pre-empted by people having babies. Clearly there is an easy way for her to jump to the front of the line... ;)

This quilt is for one of my imaginary friends inside of the computer. Her son was born at the beginning of July. About 30 participants sent in 5" fabric squares or pieced blocks. I ended up sorting them into light, mid- and deep tones, and arranging them in three sections. I added borders, plus a fair amount of my own 5" squares, to even things out a bit.

I quilted this one on the machine...yay for more practice! Auntie and I decided gray thread would work best for this one and it was a perfect choice. I'm really catching on to the fill patterns and I believe I'm almost ready to start doing more complex designs.

I really like the way this quilt turned out. I think if I had to do it over again, I might move the light squares away from the center and make the value arrangement a little less symmetrical.

I am starting to feel the pull to move away from quilting as a craft and focus more on the art side of things. Now that we have the longarm quilting machine, I can power through the quilting in a couple of days. The process is a lot less labor-intensive and much quicker, and I feel like I can re-do things more easily if I'm not satisfied with something. With the old way of quilting, by the time I finished one project (a year later, most of the time), I was so sick of looking at it and so ready to move on to something else I didn't spend too long evaluating or critiquing my work.

I'm also finding that I'm becoming either more of a perfectionist or more mature with my techniques. I really spent a lot of time on this project making sure blocks/seams/rows were all the right sizes and everything lined up perfectly. I anticipated a situation and made a decision to deal with it one way, then midway through the piecing decided I didn't like it. Instead of just living with my bad decision, I took the time to remove some seams and re-work the blocks that were off.

I suppose I'm more willing to go back and correct my mistakes with my sewing now because there are far fewer opportunities to do that in real life than there used to be. Here, I have a medium that is highly flexible and forgiving, and doesn't appear worse for the wear if you have to rip something out and try again...

An Exercise in Frustration

2008-08-19T10:37:00.001-05:00

Househunting is pissing me the hell off. It's a major issue in my life right now and is causing a lot of negative and hurt feelings all around. Not fun.

Quilty

2008-08-19T10:11:00.003-05:00

This is a project that was finished at the end of June, but I've just now gotten the pictures. I realized lately that a lot of my crafty endeavors of late have involved these nephews of mine. I don't know what to say - people having babies brings out my crafty side, I guess. Anyways, Auntie and I planned these quilts for Robbie and Charlie months before they were born as a way to get more practice on the long arm quilting machine. We were sailing right along, planning to get the quilts finished long before the twins' due date. Obviously they had other plans. We *did* finish and present the quilts per the original target, however. I believe we made it out to see the kids within a few days of the original due date.

Auntie made Charlie's quilt. Her reasoning behind that was because Charlie is named after her father. And my father. But who's counting?

I made Robbie's quilt because he's named after, uh, my brother. We devised the pattern first, then found the turquoise fabric in Auntie's stash. It's a batik with little baby footprints all over it, and we figured it was pretty perfect for this. We kind of realized halfway through the planning that it would be neat to reverse the colors of the sashing and borders to make the quilts alike-but-different. We were going to keep the turquoise and yellow squares in the same pattern but we couldn't quite squeeze another block out of the turquoise fabric, so necessity made us change up the colors there, too.

The babies seem to like their quilts...I was over there the other weekend and one was laid out and both kids were laying on it, gurgling away.

That's my Auntie's beautiful yard and garden in the background, BTW. She works really hard on it and it really is as lush as it looks.

Bugs of Summer

2008-07-11T16:00:00.001-05:00

Just this past weekend I was lamenting the fact that I hadn't seen any junebugs yet this season. Last year the dogs had so much fun chasing and catching those lazy buggers. Bobbi once said that junebugs are "the drunk drivers of the insect world" and she's totally, completely right.

Well, just in the past few days I've started seeing junebugs all over the place. We also encountered some pretty serious mosquitoes at the Muny last night. But the best part?

Franklin ate his first cicada of the summer this morning. Yum.

Photoshoppery

2008-06-18T22:14:00.004-05:00

I'll be the first to admit that my photoshop skills are still in the development stage. For some reason I felt the need to spend my college years writing papers and studying for freaking slide ID exams instead of learning how to manipulate images. Whatever. I can always teach, right?! Heh.

The University called me last week asking for money. Since they only bother me once a year, and because I actually didn't owe any money upon graduating, I sent them $50, which my employer matched. So, $100. Hear that? I'm paying for some kid to fall asleep in class right now.

Oh. Back to my original point. I'm not great at photoshop, and it drives me crazy to polish something that's just for illustration purposes, anyway. I bring you...

Captain Laura's newest Fantasy Realty masturbation technique...

10243 Julius Northway, Sunset Hills. Priced right, huuge fireplace, hellishly dated. What I could do if I got my hands on this place, though!

Typography!

2008-06-15T16:57:00.004-05:00

Design kind of drives me crazy, but I do it when I have to. Last names have been blurred to protect the innocent.

Procrastinatrix

2008-06-15T16:33:00.003-05:00

As evidenced by my last post, I'm procrastinating on my projects by starting new ones. To be fair, my container garden was looking rather wimpy and the porch needed to be cleared anyway. I started a whole gang of seeds in April; sadly, none of them lived long enough to be planted outside. I did some cleaning and organizing outside yesterday, including getting rid of some stuff and consolidating what I had. I'm trying to cut down on my non-consumable purchases, so I planned to buy plants only for the containers I had.

This is the first time I've gone plant shopping with a map. In the past, I've just kind of wandered around and picked up things that I liked, or bought based on what kind of bargain I could get. That method generally ended in disappointment, badly composed container plantings, and an excess of marigolds.

It was actually kind of awesome to choose plants with intent. I don't spend a lot of time pre-planning my purchases for any kind of shopping, and I'm getting totally sick of coming home with a whole pile of stuff that doesn't go together in the least.

I wasn't really planning on buying any perennials, but when I stopped to get a closer look at this one, I couldn't resist:

I also picked up this one, which seems to be called "Tickseed." I'm mostly posting here in hopes of remembering the name next year, if this happens to come back.

I also spent some time washing the sliding door yesterday. This isn't the best picture, but I'm really happy to have wiped off all the dachshund nose art. Frank and Rita are working on a new masterpiece, though, so don't worry.

The dogs have been really groan-y today. I'm not sure if it's the heat, or what, but all Rita wants to do is make frog legs and lay around. Franklin harassed a toad yesterday and got a foamy mouth for it. Poor guy...it kind of serves him right.

Scavenger

2008-06-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

Modernica Noguchi replica dining table in Dogtown for $100. I'd buy it myself but no where to put it...

And now...for some shirts!

2008-06-09T22:48:00.007-05:00

Bobbi called me the other day because she couldn't stop laughing...about something that happened like 5 years ago. We were playing CatchPhrase in her bedroom and something funny happened...and I fell backwards right off the bed!

I made some shirts and onesies for the nieces and nephews...here are a matching pair that I did with iron-on inkjet transfers. Notice the 1337-ness of these!

The rest I did with freezer paper stencils. Which are, to say the least, the shit. I had good luck finding images on stock photo sites to base my designs off of. While this takes some skill with an x-acto knife, the designs come out crisp, clear, and soft (if you use fabric paint, which I highly recommend.)

I washed all the shirts inside-out in cold water and nothing came off. The best part? Rob and Ally seemed to like everything a lot.

I made the four kids a coordinating set of shirts. Dorky, but cute...

I'm currently working on my portion of the twins' baby quilts, a surprise quilt for an ADL member, and designing a birth announcement. Uh, and studying for the GMAT. And trying to find a house with Jeremy that we both want to buy. And, you know, working and stuff ;)

Gratuitous nephew pictures:
Robbie looks nearly identical to Rob did when he was a newborn...

Charlie chillaxin'...with a Grammie-knit blanket!

Here you can really see the differences and similarities in their features. Also: holy cow, there are two of them!

As an aside, I seem to have lost my break-the-baby fear in the years since Brianna was born. Must've been from working at the Portrait Studio. I had absolutely no fear about scooping 'em up. Weird.

Bummin.

2008-05-21T23:57:00.003-05:00

They closed my favorite thrift shop when I wasn't looking. That's the second one in a year. I got off work early on Wednesday and decided to swing by after dropping off our rental SCUBA gear (#11...done!). I pulled up and noticed that there wasn't anything set up outside. A quick glance through the windows revealed bare shelves. Not only did I always find good stuff at this store, but the employees were real class acts. I could regale y'all with many stories of times I argued with the full-time checker over what category an item belonged to, but that would pretty much make me sound like some crazy lady who shops at thrift stores for deals.

Oh, wait...

Anyway, after that disappointment, I went over to the St. Louis Bread Co. only to discover that they had - that very day - discontinued my favorite sandwich. No more portabella and mozzarella panini. Might as well end it now before things get much worse, eh?

The co-workers and I went to lunch today at a total dive called something like "Taste of Chicago." Basically all kinds of street food. I had a gyro, which was actually pretty good. The co-workers' food was terrible and the fries were undercooked. The meals were relatively expensive for what they were. The best part? The manager and his employee nearly came to blows while we were eating. They were having a major conflict about how to run the cash register. Never again, eh?

Thanks. Wait, what?

2008-04-28T22:27:00.002-05:00

I got the most bizarre, back-handed compliment this evening. I was walking around outside of the hospital with my brother and niece, which always causes some confusion re: who belongs to who. I had just come from work, and in an effort to dress less like a 6-year-old, I was wearing a skirt and pantyhose. Nothing too scandalous.

We put Brianna into Rebecca's car and I leaned in to say goodbye. As I'm leaning over, this old man walks up behind me and smacks me on the ass with his clipboard, and goes, "you still have nice legs."

WTF?!

I turned around to look at him and he just walked away. I was pretty much speechless.

Nephew'd

2008-04-27T22:00:00.002-05:00

Introducing...

Charles John...
and...

Robert Allen Jr.

They are my nephews. They are very small. I'm pretty sure they've got my (and Rob's) eyebrows.

Earthquake.

2008-04-18T23:45:00.002-05:00

I held a short conversation with my dad this afternoon via text message.

Dad: "Did you make it through the earth quake?"
Me: "Yeah, Jer woke up then woke me up. Otherwise I was oblivious. Heavy sleeper."
Dad: "Me too, slept right through her. Apple never falls far from the tree!"

I am a notoriously heavy sleeper. I've slept through bat attacks, alarm clocks, night time visitors, you name it. I'm pretty sure that Bobbi and Jeremy both hate my snooze button addiction with the burning fire of a thousand suns.

I also get very confused when I'm woken, and have been known to carry on full conversations in the middle of the night and not remember anything the next day.

When Jeremy woke up shouting last night that the bed was shaking, my immediate and rational thought was that it had to be ghosts. I woke up this morning completely convinced that our apartment must be haunted. Yeah.

Yeknom

2008-04-07T09:05:00.003-05:00

When we were little, my cousins and I were into monkeys. Like, hardcore into monkeys. It was one of those times when a casual interest kind of turned into thinking and talking about monkeys all. the. time. Yeah, we were weird kids.

Anyway, one morning we got up and started farting around with the computer. Actually, I think we were writing a town newspaper for our other burning obsession, Playmobil.

We were using the microphone and sound recorder to try and say "monkey...," backwards. Then, we would reverse the track and play our recording the other way and see how close we'd come to getting the inflection and pronunciation correct.

"YEK-nom"

"mon-KAY"

"yek-NOM"

"MON-kay"

"YEEK-nom"

"mon-KEEE"

It was only after about 30 minutes of this that it occurred to us to say the word forwards, then play the track backwards to see how it sounded. Duh.

In other news, I've encountered my first little copyright-infringement issue. I'm fairly sure that my inaction as far as watermarking my photos and issuing a copyright statement led to a little bit of heartache for all parties involved. Meh.

Progress Update

2008-04-01T10:24:00.006-05:00

I've been making moderate progress on my 101 things list...

All in all, things are pretty good. I'm going to be working on cleaning/organizing, gardening, photography and SCUBA in the next few weeks. Yay!

#4 talk to my doctor about switching medications - did it, got more meds to take on top of what I already have, and I'll be going back in a few weeks to increase the dosage. So far the additional thing seems to have helped my sleeping issue.

#28 take longarm quilting course - Went with my auntie to Hiawatha, Iowa last week and took a one-on-one course at the Nolting factory. I have yet to try out any of my new skillz, but we've got some baby quilts to make!

#29 successfully bind a quilt using mitred-corner bindings. I did it, I wasn't impressed, but I'll try it again just to be sure.

#46 get season tickets to the MUNY. They are on their way! I knew we had to go this year...The Producers and Fiddler on the Roof all in one season?!

#51 research grad schools. I am pretty sure I know what I want to do. As long as #49, #50 and #52 go well...

#60 fix carpet issue in hallway - I've finally solved the problem, on my fourth attempt. Let's just say it took a lot of Liquid Nails.

#90 create some art from photos for TU. The poster-sized prints arrived last week. They are pending framing, then I can bring them to the store.

#101 find a cute pair of outfits for Rob's twins - I ended up buying a shit-ton of baby outfits at the thrift and consignment stores. Ally had her baby shower last Saturday and it looks like these boys are set for clothes for at least 6 months.

#99 and #100 - Done! Here's what Jake had to say about my work:

"Laura! Yes, we got the package. It is amazing, and we
couldn't be happier with how it turned out! That book you made is just
incredible quality. The pictures look excellent and it has such a classy style
with the black borders. We really enjoyed looking through it and laughed a lot,
I think we had forgotten how silly our commentary was. I'm going to bring it
into work tomorrow.

Last night we watched the DVD, which was also really well
done. I really can't thank you enough for how great everything turned out. The
pictures you took were perfect, it's really a treasure for us.

Anyway, thank you so much for doing all this work, it really
turned out better than we imagined, and we knew how talented you were after
seeing Sarah's pictures! I hope you are doing well and that we can get
together sometime soon!

Take care,Thanks again!-Jacob"

11 Years of Uninterrupted Pleasure

2008-03-23T13:53:00.002-05:00

Today Jeremy and I are celebrating our 11 year dating anniversary. We don't really do Valentine's Day, and Easter is out for us as well, so this is the big spring celebration around here. We're spending the day together at home (just got up from a nap!) and later we'll be going out for dinner. Unfortunately, I'll have to change out of my yoga pants for that.

For your amusement, here we are in 1998:

Welcome Home

2008-03-20T18:35:00.003-05:00

My upstairs neighbor is playing some sort of flute-and-gong meditation music, loudly.
There is a horde of Indian children on Razor scooters terrorizing the apartment complex, and they're all afraid of my dogs.
While we were walking just now, Franklin bit a duck in the neck.

It's times like this I wish I lived somewhere else.

#53

2008-03-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

53. spend an entire day at work without getting online for leisure.

I freaking did it, man!

Scavenger

2008-03-09T10:57:00.002-05:00

EQuilter is having their annual anniversary sale! 35% off lots of designer fabrics, including a whole host of Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy prints.

More Fantasy Realty

2008-03-07T10:04:00.004-06:00

This is something a little different. From EcoUrban homes, 3140 Pennsylvania Ave is a brand-new, energy efficient house.

From the web site:

"Get our $325,000 display home for a whole lot less and pay only $700 per year in utilities in this LEED Platinum home. Live Green. Live Urban. Live EcoUrban. With a new approach to healthy living these highly designed homes make their debut in St. Louis. Featuring 3 bedrooms / 2.5 baths in 1900 feet of open living space, 9' ceilings (both floors), partially finished 8' basement, amazing Italian kitchen with stainless steel countertops, Bamboo throughout both floors, Recyled-content tile in upstairs bathrooms, Built-in wardrobe & storage, Double-Pane Low-E Anderson windows, 2 x 6 exterior walls with R-20 Icynene foam insulation, 20-year white TPO cool rubber roof, 2 car garage, 50-year fiber-cement siding, Native Landscape Design, Brick, Built-in security system, 2nd floor washer/dryer, Stainless steel Energy Star appliances, 3' x 5' walk-in shower, Ultra-low V.O.C. paints, 100% efficient electric furnace, 16 SEER Heat Pump, Dual-Flush high-efficiency toilets & plumbing fixtures."

Totally sweet, guys.

Scavenger

2008-03-05T17:27:00.002-06:00

Vintage 1970s avocado green play kitchen on Craiglist for $50. Sweet!

Fantasy Real Estate #4

2008-03-05T13:51:00.006-06:00

4970 Loughborough Ave.

This place needs some serious updating. However, it looks like it has a new roof, some new plumbing, and a new furnace. Furthermore, it is not in the ghetto, it's inexpensive and taxes are low. Two fireplaces, 1958 square feet, two full bathrooms. So the inside is a bit Little House on the Prarie. So? So?

In other news, it snowed like the dickens here yesterday. It took me an hour and a half to get home - a drive that usually takes all of 15 minutes. We got about 10" at home. There are more flurries expected tonight. Bah!

In Like a Lion...

2008-03-04T09:10:00.002-06:00

It's true; we're having more winter weather. Over the weekend we were wearing shorts, and now it's freaking snowing and 28 degrees out. They're predicting 4-6 inches, but I don't believe it...

For your entertainment, the top five songs that get stuck in my head:

1. Return to Sender, Elvis Presley
2. Spooky, Classics IV
3. Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie, Jay and the Techniques
4. Meet James Ensor, They Might Be Giants
5. Benny and the Jets, Elton John**

I'd like to point out that I do not know the complete lyrics to any of these songs. Generally, I'll get one phrase stuck on repeat over, and over, and over. I start out singing it properly, but as I get more frustrated, I start subbing in my own lyrics, usually about the dogs.

Gah, I am so much like my dad on this. Must be genetic ;)

**I listened to this song for many years without a second thought. When we went on our honeymoon, the couple that sat across from us at dinner every night were our doppelgangers in many ways. One night, we had a conversation about songs that get stuck in your head, and how he sang the chorus from Benny to get songs out of her head. It's been in *my* head ever since.

Greta

2008-02-27T17:16:00.001-06:00

This little girl slays me. She and her 3 older siblings (all white boxers) showed up at the Lucky Dog photo shoot a couple of weekends ago. So. cute.

Woof.

2008-02-27T13:21:00.003-06:00

Franklin make a new friend the other weekend. Grommit is an English Mastiff who is one of the gentlest dogs I've ever known. Even though he outweighs Franklin by, oh, 170 pounds or so, Grommit got down on the floor to greet Franklin and let him have a few sniffs.

The funniest thing was that Grommit drools. A lot. Every time he put his head down to check Franklin out, the ween would end up covered in dog spit. Who needs a shower?

Speaking of showers, Franklin ended up in the shower with me a couple of nights ago. He was pissed. I figured that as long as he was in there, I might as well soap him up. Yeah, not the best idea I've ever had...

Fantasy Real Estate #3

2008-02-26T11:17:00.003-06:00

How likely is it that I'll have the time, motivation and skill to rehab a house myself? That is pretty much my ultimate fantasy, but it might remain a fantasy for many, many years.

Thing is, I don't see the point of spending a lot for someone else's taste. Yes, there are plenty of beautiful houses out there, but everything I've seen would have to be changed to suit our taste, at least a little. It makes sense (in my mind) to buy something lower-priced and make the updates as we go (or, you know, pay someone to do it, but you know what I mean) to end up with a beautiful house that is perfect for us.

I know that idea goes against the "real estate as an investment" theory that many financial conservatives hold, but you know what? Fuck it. I want a house that is our space, just for us, that makes me happy to be in.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...fantasy realty volume 3!

7424 Carleton, 63130. Again with the no-fireplace, and it needs a lot of work, but this house could be a real gem. Also, it is priced reasonably enough that we could afford to fix it up pretty quickly. Hmph.

List Update #1

2008-02-26T10:55:00.003-06:00

Ok, time for an update on the list. I've been getting good feedback from friends both inside and outside of the computer. I kind of love having the list and working towards accomplishing these goals. Now for the update:

-I emailed the instructor to inquire about #11, learn to SCUBA dive. I have the $$ set aside for Jeremy and I to take the beginning course starting in April with the [MyCompany] Scubaneers. I have the form. The only thing left is to write the check and send in the form. Hopefully, we will be certified divers by the time we get to #43.

-I inadvertently accomplished #17 over the weekend. Jeremy and I went out to eat with the Maunes to Red, where I have never been, and I ordered, well, whatever I wanted. Go me!

-I put kate in charge of getting tickets to #47 - seeing the BodyWorks exhibit. This coming weekend is the last weekend of the exhibit, and they are having like a 63 hour marathon or something. Hopefully we will get to go.

-I talked with my brother to get advice on home project #60. I need to look in the storage space and see if we have a miter box - to get #61 done this week. That's my goal for the rest of this week. We'll see.

Overheard in the parking lot...

2008-02-26T10:51:00.002-06:00

...as I was on my way back from the dumpster a few weeks ago. A mom to her ~9 year old son:

"No, Polish doesn't mean 'stupid,' honey, it means 'from Poland.'"

Hells yeah.

More and more

2008-02-25T13:27:00.004-06:00

Yay! I have positive proof that at least three of you are reading along with me! Your comments have motivated me to start blogging a little bit more frequently. I have some amazing photos of Franklin to share, but they are at home. We are still between internets at the apartment, but our DSL is supposed to be activated on Tuesday. In the meantime, more fantasy realty goodness.

7138 Willow Tree Lane.

I have been stalking this house for MONTHS, I tell you. It is in U. City, north of Olive. I have actually been inside this house - I went to an estate sale there over the summer. The inside of this place is totally grotty and would need a total rehab - but I can't get over the rad windows and roof line. The inside actually has a decent amount of space. Also awesome is the full, clean basement. Lots of these atomic ranch houses were built on slabs. Great for California living, but not so much an option here in tornado country.

I've probably spent far too many minutes thinking about this house, but my rehab would involve taking out the wall between the kitchen and the dining/living area and opening up the whole space. We would need to have a fireplace added; being able to light things on fire is very dear to my husband.

I am really hoping that when the time comes for us to buy, we can find something in U. City. We might end up with a smaller house than we would have if we looked farther out, but that area has so many advantages. And - hello - single stream recycling! Duh!

Lush Puppy

2008-02-22T14:42:00.002-06:00

Franklin had a few laps of Irish Cream last night. We figured that he would do the same thing he always does when we offer him alcohol*: sniff it, stick his tongue in it, then jump off the furniture and run away as fast as he can.

Nope. He loved it. It made him sneeze, though.

We spent the rest of the evening keeping the dog away from our glasses and watching him try to figure out how to get liquored up.

*Um, not that we try and get the dog drunk every weekend or anything. Franklin has only tried the stuff twice in his life.

Real Estate, Volume 1

2008-02-22T14:31:00.004-06:00

So, certain people in my life are totally sick of listening to me moon about real estate. It's true, we're not looking to buy a house until at least late 2008, but I've been addicted to watching the listings since the first time we tried to buy a house, in 2006. So today, I bring you the first installment of fantasy real estate.

4208 Cleveland Ave, 63110

Sure, it's not in the greatest neighborhood. But seriously, this is my fantasy guys. Don't worry about crime.

This house has 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and freakin' 6 fireplaces! At 3096 sq. ft., I imagine the gas bill is astronomical in the winter.

101 Things

2008-02-20T14:38:00.002-06:00

I've been inspired to start a 101 Things in 1001 Days list. So, without further ado...

Finish this list
get up early and walk the dogs
find a therapist
talk to my doctor about switching medications
ride the metrolink
research getting my e-ring reset
run a mile without stopping
weigh less than I do now by 20 pounds
ride a bike on the Katy trail
take a long hike with my dogs in a place I've never been
learn to SCUBA dive
cook dinner at home every night for a week
get up early and make muffins
bake a loaf of yeast bread
learn how to prepare fish
cook Indian food
Have dinner at a restaurant I've never been to - and order whatever I want
plan a monthly menu
develop standard shopping list
Host a dinner party
weed out unused craft supplies
draw something awesome
make Bobbi's quilt
piece tree quilt
finish bird quilt
piece paper-pieced swirl quilt
sew every night for a week
take longarm quilting course
successfully bind a quilt using mitred-corner bindings
piece a denyse schmidt quilt
Sew a piece of clothing for myself from a pattern
Sew a corset
make a denim skirt
fix Zoe's pink sweater
Fix Tootie's summer dress
find a pair of boots that look good on me
Get a massage
get second tattoo
put together outfits from existing clothing.
discard clothing that doesn't work
get a pair of pants tailored to fit me perfectly
go shopping and buy an entire outfit at once
take a sweet vacation with Jeremy
Visit the southwest
try camping again
get season tickets to the MUNY
See the BodyWorks3 Exhibit at the Science Center
Plan a surprise for Jeremy
take the GMAT test prep course
take the GMAT exam
research grad schools
Apply to grad school
spend an entire day at work without getting online for leisure.
Take a LEAN course
buy a house
plant a garden
buy an eames fiber glass rocking chair
Do all the laundry and put it away. Have everything in the house clean at once
purchase an accessory for a specific place in my house
fix carpet issue in hallway
install moulding in hallway
hang a quilt up at home
Do a spring(summer, fall) cleaning
make my house smell good
develop AT-inspired style tray
sell microwave cart on craigslist
wash and wax my car
Blog about places I have lived
figure out if I can post pictures from my cell phone directly to my blog
figure out how to add a sidebar to my blog
take photos and blog about places from my past
get laptop to functional, useful status
label my desk drawers
get a power cord for my scanner
learn Photoshop
upgrade computer
Go through files on computer and pull anything I can over to portable hard drive
read camera manual
take some good pictures of Rita Bean
take some pictures of the dogs together
take some studio pictures of Kate's dogs
take a family picture of Boomer + Brett
Spend a weekend day taking photos on location around town
take pictures of the improved hallway
take pictures of living room
Take some self-portraits with good lighting
update my avatar photos on websites that have them
Get someone to take a few good pictures of me and Jeremy
create some art from photos for home
create some art from photos for TU
Get FP website organized and running
Fix Instaproofs site for photo ordering
Design a logo for photo business
add some quilts to my etsy shop
scan 2-D Laura + Jeremy-abilia
photograph 3-D Laura + Jeremy-abilia
Make a photo book of Laura + Jeremy-abilia
make Boomer's wedding album
finish Jake + Meghan's DVD slideshow
Ship J + M's wedding stuff
find a cute pair of outfits for Rob's twins

Barkus

2008-01-30T16:05:00.000-06:00

There are five weens in this wagon, do you see them all? They rode like this for a while; everybody crammed up front vying for the best lookout.

I am staying at my mother-in-law's house dog-sitting Toby and Zoe. Sunday I joined the Lo-Downs at the Barkus Mardi Gras Parade. I swear my friends and I were about the only sober people left by the end of the event. A cop walked up to me and asked:

"How many of each animal did Moses bring aboard the ark?"

Flustered, I mumbled something like "Moses didn't...go...on...the...ark."

He told me I was the only person to have gotten it right all day.

Slacker

2008-01-06T09:38:00.000-06:00

Rita is chewing on a rawhide flossie. Franklin knows enough to leave her alone, but he has committed himself to lurking in the hallway and watching her chew it. You know, just in case she decides to leave the thing for a second, he can swoop in and grab it.

So Franklin's laying there watching, but he keeps falling asleep. He likes to have his nose tucked in, so he's sort of mashing his face into the carpet and snoozing away. Falling asleep on the job, eh buddy? I wish I could take a picture but he will surely wake up when he hears the camera.

Say My Name

2007-12-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I survived my family's christmas celebration. Barely. I've pretty much spent the day recovering, although I had nothing to drink but grape juice. Do you ever have moments where you really want to cry, but you start laughing instead? That's what being with my family is like. The dogs had a similarly bad time.

In the collage above, you can see me, Jeremy, my parents, brother, and niece Brianna. Brianna just turned four and knows a lot more stuff since the last time I've seen her, including her full name. She has my middle name, and her last name is my maiden name. It is so bizarre to hear her say "my name is Brianna OurMiddle MyMaiden." It sounds familiar, but slightly off, you know? Just like when I got married and started pairing my first and middle with my *new* last name. Bizarre.

Here is me kicking butt at Catan the Card Game. Notice the dog(s) huddled on my lap.

Perfect

2007-12-25T12:03:00.001-06:00

Do you see this? I was wrapping Kate's birthday present along with all my holiday gifts last week, and I managed to (accidentally) cut and wrap this paper in such a way that the design matched up perfectly at the seam. It was so, so satisfying. Yep, I'm a dork. I was so taken with this event that I knew I needed to document it. So, here you go.

I have the entire week from 12/21-1/02 off from work. I'm even getting paid for it this year! We will see if I get any crafting done. My biggest goal is to clean all the crap out of the spare room so we can have some space to get creative.

And this? The only photo that turned out from the Frank 'n' Rita photo shoot. We will be trying again.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

Latkes

2007-12-05T20:02:00.000-06:00

Also last night, I made latkes for the first time ever. I asked Jeremy's grandmother for her recipe, and she happily obliged. "All Jewish women know how to make them, except newlyweds," she wrote me, "it's like breathing."

Without further ado...

6 medium potatoes
1 onion
1/2 c flour
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Grate the potato and onion into a bowl. Use your hands to squeeze as much moisture out of the vegetables as you can. The potatoes will turn brown, but that's ok. Add flour, egg, salt and pepper.
Mix everything together. Heat olive oil on medium high. It's not necessary to deep fry the latkes; you can always add more oil if needed.

Drop potato mixture by the spoonful into oil. Flatten with a spatula.
Let your husband take a zillion unflattering pictures of you:

When latkes are golden brown on both sides, remove to a plate covered with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Serve with sour cream and applesauce.
Enjoy!

Hanukkah Wieners

2007-12-05T19:55:00.000-06:00

We celebrated the first night of Hanukkah last night, and both dogs got special magen David cookies for the occasion.

Even though Rita Bean is Christian, she seemed to enjoy last night's festivities. More presents to come!

Ikea'd

2007-11-07T21:32:00.000-06:00

This past weekend k8 and I headed off to Chicago. We spent Friday night watching Julius Caesar at the Lyric Opera. It was long but very, very good. Saturday was spent in downtown Chicago: riding buses, getting on and off trains, shopping, eating the f*cking awesomest sandwich ever, and peeing at Starbucks. I bought a great pair of shoes at John Fluevog.

For our wedding anniversary back in September, Jeremy gave me some money to spend at Ikea, getting inexpensive Scandinavian furnishings for our home. He custom-designed the envelope, even. In case you can't see it, here is a picture of the stick-figure detail:

Sunday morning, k8 and I checked out of our hotel and headed to Schaumburg. We stopped for coffee on the way and got sugared up. The plan was to go to Ikea, shop, and get out of town at a decent hour to start the 6 hour drive home. Um, it was dark by the time we got all loaded up and ready to go. We filled k8's Honda Element to the brim; had we bought any more, I would have been riding home on the roof.

Now the apartment is filled with potential furniture. Boxes of Snille, Helmer, Mikael, and Antonius await assembly all over the place.

So, what better time to start painting the living room, right? I don't really have anything else to do...oh, except work, Franklin Photography, laundry, homework, dogs and the Steve project...

Hallowiener

2007-10-31T21:09:00.001-05:00

Franklin and Rita had a great time at the Howl-o-Ween meetup last weekend. This is sort of a drive-by post, but here are some pictures:

Jeremy keeps calling these their "Barbaloot Suits." They glow in the dark, too!

Dyllan, pissed, again

2007-10-31T20:56:00.000-05:00

I seem to have a jillion pictures of Dyllan, dressed up in some sort of crazy costume, looking pissed. Last weekend's Gateway Lo-Downs Meetup was no exception, to be sure...

Also, Boomer managed to accomplish this amazing feat with only a few treats:

Big News in LauraLand

2007-10-22T19:45:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not pregnant. Gah.

I have a job! A real, honest-to-goodness, career-starting job. I've been working as a contractor for my company since December 2006, and my permanent offer finally happened on Friday. It is, of course, contingent on my background check and drug test coming back ok. I've never been arrested, have good credit, and passed up the opportunity to um, eat some poppy seed muffins last weekend, so I should be good ;)
I probably won't post any details about my company or my job on this blog, but feel free to email me if you'd like details.

To celebrate, I went to Target and bought the wieners their Halloween outfits. They both got the same thing, because none of the costumes really matched very well. I tried them on when I got home, and they are freaking cute. I will try to take some pictures while we are at the Hallowiener Meetup on Sunday.

Franklin and Rita are currently warring over the one Nylabone we have in the house. Frank's idea of fun is to grab it, wave it in Rita's face, then run as fast as he can in the other direction. She's taken to chasing him through the house, and barking at nothing to distract him. When he abandons the bone to see what's going on, she grabs it and starts gnawing.

Oh! Also, I went to Florida to see my BFF, Bobbi. You can see my entire collection of photos if you're my friend on Flickr, but here are some highlights:

Outside of the Dali Museum in downtown St. Petersburg with Tessie and Amanda. I'm not really sure what is going on in this picture, but that bench was definitely designed for laying on.

Bobbi and I acting like art students in front of the Dali Museum. There was a guided tour going on right behind us while we were inside the museum. Being the asshole that I am, I couldn't stand it. Luckily, I had my iPod with me. I popped in my earbuds, cranked The Magnetic Fields, and saw some Dali.

Ok, I have three loads of laundry waiting to be folded around the apartment. To work!

Wed!

2007-09-03T11:37:00.002-05:00

Last Friday, two of my favorite people were married in Wentzville, MO. I had the honor of photographing Boomer and Brett on their special day. There are many, many more photos to come, but I'm busy photoshopping the bruise off of Boomer's arm in *every single* photograph...

Something tells me we should've taken the time to cover it with makeup!

Also, k8 and Dyllan win the prize for most photogenic members of the wedding party...

Franklin is a Baller(-ina)

2007-08-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

Not Happy.
I figure certain someones would like their dog bridesmaid dresses done soon. Don't worry, I've started the actual construction of the aforementioned dresses. I'm sizing them with Velcro (TM) so that they fit around a wide variety of dog bodies. Franklin is pissed...

ISFJ, duh!

2007-08-05T08:02:00.001-05:00

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer

You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.
A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways.
In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.
You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.

In love, you express your emotions through actions.
Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well!

At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time.
You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

What's Your Personality Type?

Bears!

2007-08-04T16:20:00.001-05:00

So, I'm kind of obsessed with this band. I picked up their CD at Vintage Vinyl a couple months ago, and I've been listening to it ever since. Some of their songs describe my...life... so accurately.

I feel a little bit like an angsty teenager discovering Nirvana for the first time...only I skipped teenage angst in favor of (badly managed) teenage anxiety; missed whatever happens to people in college in favor of a consuming long-distance relationship; and now I'm catching up by being an angsty 25-year-old.

If I were 13, I'd totally be writing their song lyrics on my five-star binder with a sharpie!

I had the chance to go to their show last weekend at the Bluebird, and I had a really good time. I bought a shirt.

Anyway, I highly recommend this band. They're currently on tour and you all should go see them play.

dork:(Also, the Bluebird has really clean bathrooms. We were all remarking on it the other night.)/dork

[edited for clarity]

Outside...

2007-08-04T16:11:00.000-05:00

Things aren't looking too good inside the house, so I thought I'd blog about what's going on outside. Since we moved downstairs, our patio has become more than a place for the dogs to pee when it's raining. I've started doing some gardening. The plants have sun only in the afternoons, so the things that are thriving are herbs. Lemongrass and thyme are doing best!

There are a few flowers that are doing ok...

I got this doodad at the thrift store for $1.91. Worth it?

I do have photos, though...

2007-07-02T07:52:00.001-05:00

I forgot! I have been working on some photos of Shelby with her human brother and sister for a client (I took the photos on father's day)!

Laura as a Simpson

2007-07-02T07:45:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of a post on Laughing Squid (linking to the Simpson's movie web site), I am now a Simpson!
Not too much crafting or dogging going on here lately. I've got an accounting test tonight, and I'm working an overtime assignment at work.

2007-06-22T06:44:00.000-05:00

Me: Rita!
Rita: Woof woof woof woof woof woof rooooo!
Me: What are you even barking at? It's five thirty in the fracking morning. There's nothing out here.
Rita: Woof.

Also, happy birthday to me! I'm 25 today!

History!

2007-06-12T23:16:00.000-05:00

June 12, 2007. The day Rita Bean played with all the toys.

Then peed on the floor :(

Dog Report

2007-06-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

Last night, I was sitting here doing my accounting homework. Rita, who has been mooning around our apartment(s) for nearly six months now, happened to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirrored closet door.

She started making this low-pitched wookiee noise, all the while staring at her reflection and raising her lip a little. Suddenly, she freaked right out!

Rita discovered the dog that lives on the other side of the mirror!

Either it is the most threatening thing ever, or her best playmate. She spent close to an hour barking and bowing and freaking at that dog, who just wouldn't back down!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The dog sitter came today to take Franklin and Rita Bean out while I was at work + class:

I love that the report indicates what "business" both of the dogs did. That's my kind of pet sitter!
"Laura, Took me a while to get leash on Rita but once she saw Frank and I were going out she let me put the leash on her. They did not eat for me, though. But both sat in my lap outside. Look forward to next time."

I am such a dork...

Finished!

2007-06-11T22:28:00.001-05:00

As promised, pictures of the pillowcases I embroidered for Boomer's wedding shower. I bought Racine (AKA Boomer) and her beloved the two feather pillows that were on their registry, but felt like I needed to add a personal touch. I picked up some cream colored pillow cases new at Target. They are 60% Cotton, 40% Bamboo. Very substantial feeling.

I printed out the phrase "sleeps with wieners" using my favorite font. The dachshund silhouette was lifted from someone's eBay auction and enlarged with Fireworks. I used good old-fashioned chalk transfer paper to trace my silhouette on one pillow case, and the phrase on another (it works just like carbon paper.) The outlines were worked using the same backstitch I've been doing since the fourth grade.

The only thing I wish I would've known was that the hand-dyed silk embroidery floss I bought really needed to be pre-soaked. I went to wet the cases after I was done with the stitching and the red started bleeding all over the place. I've run the cases through three loads with Oxi-Clean, and they are *almost* perfect. Maybe once more.

One Down!

2007-06-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, I finished Boomer's wedding shower gift, but then I effed it up at the last minute and I am currently running a soak to see if I can remove some bleeding embroidery floss stains. Dang it, I am PISSED. I did show Boomer my work this afternoon, and she liked it! Hopefully, I can fix my mistakes and won't have to re-do the embroidery. I don't have any pictures yet.

Yesterday I went to my first set of estate sales. I'm hooked! For some reason, I always thought that estate sales were so fancy and intimidating. Not the case, as it turns out. The first one I went to (in U-City) on Saturday morning was full of treasures priced low, low, low. I spent $25 and came away with:

A sweet handmade stuffed dachshund (50 cents)
A vintage sock monkey (needs new eyes!) (50 cents)

An old-time electric Emerson table fan (I've always wanted one, even though you could easily lose a finger on this baby. It was on a table in the attic, near a sign that said "50 cents, unless marked.")

A full box of vintage sewing and dressmaking supplies. I haven't gone through it yet ($8)
About 10 flower pots and saucers ($1.00)
Two sets of brackets for hanging window boxes on the porch railings. ($2.00)
Two Hebrew aleph-bet needlework samplers ($3 and $5)

A St. Louis Arch cross-stitch scene ($3)
A vintage embroidered challah cover (50 cents)

A green plastic tissue box cover (50 cents)
A tiny pinkish glass piggy bank (50 cents)
A sleeve roll for sewing (50 cents)

A few hours later, I went to a few more sales (neither were as well-run or inexpensive) and picked up some fabric, quilt stencils, and a sheepskin! Franklin has already had his way with the sheepskin, so I had to put it away from his reach. He's short, though, so that wasn't too difficult.

Ok, I have homework, then a new project for the next couple of days:
Sort, unpack, and organize all my sewing stuff. I keep having to dig out my stuff, one piece at a time. I need it ALL, right in front of me!

Alright, one more picture of my fan (posed near the sheepskin, because it is just that cool):

More wedding...

2007-06-09T00:26:00.001-05:00

We are so cool. That is all.

So, Jeremy left this morning for a week in Ireland. Lucky guy. I'm going to try and use my alone time productively and get some crafting and organizing done. And...maybe go to an estate sale tomorrow morning. We'll see how it goes with the wieners in bed tonight..they were really terrible last night.

First project...Boomer's wedding shower gift. Due: Sunday afternoon.

Sneak Preview

2007-06-06T23:19:00.000-05:00

I had the honor of being the "official wedding photographer" for Jake and Meghan's wedding last weekend. Here's a sneak peek of what they get to look forward to for pictures...

Long time, no post

2007-05-29T07:32:00.000-05:00

It's been long enough between posts that even my husband commented on it. What can I say? Between moving, working, and real life, I haven't been doing much crafting. My Auntie and I have been working on a quilt which won't be ready to reveal until probably the end of July.

Meanwhile, I've rediscovered my thrift store roots and am turning into somewhat of a junkie. I went to the thrift to look for materials for Boomer's dogs' bridesmaid dresses. Between Thrift Plus and the Hancock Fabrics next door, I've probably spend around $10 and have enough red satin and tulle for 6-7 dresses!

After finding all that, I took what was meant to be a "quick look" around the perimeter of the store. In housewares, I found loads of vintage Tupperware containers. I'm kind of a container junkie as I try to bring my lunch to work every day. You can never have too many! I also allowed myself to look at other kitchen items, since our new kitchen is twice as large as in our last place (with twice as much storage!) I couldn't pass up this vintage bright yellow ice bucket. This morning, I replaced the handle with one from the (ill fated) hutch refinishing project, and now I have a totally cool, mod ice bucket!

I decided just to peek in the back where they keep the furniture. There were lots of things that looked like overstock from the furniture place next door, all priced at $200-$300. Um, no?

Then, out of the corner of my eye, stacked on top of some old school desks, I spotted a vintage, Eames lookalike fiberglass side chair. It was a bit grungy looking and definitely has seen some use, but still! I ran (well, walked quickly) to the front of the store and grabbed a cart. After inspecting the chair to make sure it was still intact (perfect, but a little rust underneath) I plopped it into my cart. There wasn't a price on the chair, so I brought it up to the cashier to ask. "Go back to those double doors and yell for D," she said, "he's the furniture guy."

Now, I'd like to point out that tracking down strangers in the back room of the thrift store to ask a price is a total phobia of mine. These people are usually so annoyed to have to deal with the public, and they get crabby. I always cringe to think of what a pretentious dork the thrift store people probably see in me...

Anyway, I push my cart to the back of the store, and luckily the furniture guy was already out on the floor. He had his area set up with reggae on one of the stereos and incense burning. The guy had braids down to his shoulders. Slightly intimidating, ok. So I walk up, and I'm like..."um, this chair? Doesn't have a price on it? And I was just wondering...."

D looks at me, looks at the chair, looks back at me, fishes his grease pencil out of his apron and, without saying a word, writes the price on the chair:

I took my chair home and cleaned it up, first thing. It is currently out on the patio. I'm not sure if that's where it will stay, or if I want to move it indoors.
Does anybody have any information on the provenance of this type of chair? I know that there were several furniture companies that cranked out Eames lookalike fiberglass pieces in the 60s. I'm interested to find out where this one actually came from. There are no markings on the back or bottom at all.

And here's a gratuitous wiener pic!

It was a Craft-Tastic Saturday

2007-04-08T13:20:00.000-05:00

So yesterday my Auntie and I got up pretty early and drove to Paducah, Kentucky. We decided several weeks ago that we had an urgency to shop at Hancock's of Paducah, but we didn't want to deal with the crowds that flock there during the AQS Show. We arrived at 10:25 and emerged three hours later, bags in hand. My favorite part of Hancock's is the bold ends table, where all the $8.00/yard and above fabric remnants sell for $4.95/yard. I got some really wonderful things for my stash.

Bobbi, my BFF, called me a few weeks ago after reading my blog and was all like "when are you going to make *me* a quilt?"

Well, I saw some fabric this weekend that inspired me to start on a creation for Bobbi. Hold on, woman, it's coming!

Wurstfest. Ever.

2007-03-27T08:08:00.000-05:00

This past weekend the dogs and I met up with the Gateway Lo-Downs and headed out to Hermann, MO for the annual Wurstfest. They do sausage making, wine tasting, and all that, but we go for the wiener dog derby. Franklin and Rita Bean had a blast, and they are *still* exhausted from all the activity. Franklin participated in the derby, but pulled a total Franklin and got confused about what he was supposed to be doing.

The Lo-Downs as a whole did great! We had several dogs win races (although nobody made it past the finals), Bitsy got second place in the talent contest, and Rufus defended his title as Longest Dachshund.

And then there was Dylan. Sigh.

Weiner Wrap

2007-03-26T22:09:00.000-05:00

My boy dog, Franklin, has a real problem containing his liquid excitement. I was sick of apologizing to all my friends when he peed on their hands, couches, carpet, doormats, etc. I sewed together a little belly band for Franklin when were getting ready to go someplace new. It worked great at catching the little squirts, not so good at absorbing an entire housetraining error. The weiner wrap is made from scrap fleece and flannel, with a moisture barrier nylon piece in the middle. Franklin doesn't exactly like it, but he hasn't tried to take it off, so we're ok.

Dog-Tography

2007-03-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

While I haven't been crafting much, I did do some cool photos of Katie the Bull Terrier last weekend. You can check out all my proofs at my Franklin Photography Instaproofs Site.

*Inspiration**

2007-03-16T09:56:00.000-05:00

I haven't been doing much crafting, but I thought I'd quickly post some of the quilts I saw last weekend at the Thimble & Thread Guild Show.

Total inspirations...truly. The excellent quilts were numerous, but I was also surprised to see many beginner quilts, and even some that were put together as baby blankets in the 70s that were truly dated.

I've been busy. Can you tell?

2007-02-23T07:26:00.000-06:00

I also have been working on a quilt for k8's birthday...which came and went in early January. It's finally done, and I must say I'm pretty pleased with it. I used inkjet photo fabric that went right through my printer for the photos. The piecing was fairly straightforward, and once I got going on the machine quilting, the whole thing went together in a week's worth of evenings.

Goodies from the Pink and Brown Swap!

2007-02-23T07:15:00.000-06:00

I recently participated in my first ever swap coordinated by Rebecca over at Thrifty Goodness.
The guidelines were fairly simple: everything in pink, brown, or a combination. Packages had to include a crafting item, a crafted item, and a thrifted item. Check out the sweet things that Miz Smoochie Lips sent!

2007-02-23T07:10:00.000-06:00

Franklin and Rita Bean Clearly enjoyed the new dog pillow I stitched up for Rita Bean's crate. The color is great, and I was able to pick up yards and yards of fleece at Hancock Fabrics for $2.99/yard in January. More fleece projects to come...

Hello, and welcome to my blog

2007-01-18T17:16:00.000-06:00

Well, hello there. Welcome to Captain Laura's Craft and Dog Blog. Here I intend to share with the world my craft projects and fun tidbits about my dogs. Hence the name.

Captain Laura's Crafts 'n' Dogs

Blogging the Cake Balls

Chairs

A Winner is You!

Zoe Updates

**Updated** Caution: Sad story about a sick dog ahead.

Burrrrrs-ville!

Roombitis

Two more down - post-election day edition!

End of the line...

Civic Duty

Pumpkin'd

Well *I* think *you're* a giant baboon's hiney, how d'ya like that?!

Dogged

Shmear Campaign

Useless mounds of paper

I TOLD you...

An Exercise in Frustration

Quilty

Bugs of Summer

Photoshoppery

Typography!

Procrastinatrix

Scavenger

And now...for some shirts!

Bummin.

Thanks. Wait, what?

Nephew'd

Earthquake.

Yeknom

Progress Update

11 Years of Uninterrupted Pleasure

Welcome Home

#53

Scavenger

More Fantasy Realty

Scavenger

Fantasy Real Estate #4

In Like a Lion...

Greta

Woof.

Fantasy Real Estate #3

List Update #1

Overheard in the parking lot...

More and more

Lush Puppy

Real Estate, Volume 1

101 Things

Barkus

Slacker

Say My Name

Perfect

Latkes

Hanukkah Wieners

Ikea'd

Hallowiener

Dyllan, pissed, again

Big News in LauraLand

Wed!

Franklin is a Baller(-ina)

ISFJ, duh!

Bears!

Outside...

I do have photos, though...

Laura as a Simpson

History!

Dog Report

Finished!

One Down!

More wedding...

Sneak Preview

Long time, no post

It was a Craft-Tastic Saturday

Wurstfest. Ever.

Weiner Wrap

Dog-Tography

*Inspiration**

I've been busy. Can you tell?

Goodies from the Pink and Brown Swap!

Hello, and welcome to my blog

Updated Caution: Sad story about a sick dog ahead.

Well I think you're a giant baboon's hiney, how d'ya like that?!