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!

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

Then peed on the floor :(

Dog Report

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!

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!

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...

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

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...