Vacation All I Ever Wanted

Okay, so not really yet, and not quite so glamorous - but I am leaving Thursday evening for California for the weekend, then flying straight to Myrtle Beach to get my tan on. Then I'll be flying BACK to California for Comic-con and then later in the month to Maine. So posting will be a little sporadic this month because when I'm on vacay, so is my blog. Tonight I am donning some hot pink metallic pants (BE JEALOUS) and party rocking until I can no longer breathe. That's right - I'm seeing LMFAO in concert. ITS GOING TO BE LEGENDARY.

Wednesday Review: Cross Stitch Keepsakes

I've only done a few cross stitch projects in my time. I've always really enjoyed them. They're pretty time consuming, but there's a certain satisfaction you get when you complete a certain design or color in a project. It's really fun to watch the progress of it. A while back I thought I'd really get into cross stitching so I bought a few books and a ton of thread. Cross Stitch Keepsakes by Helen Philipps has a ton of cute ideas for gifts.

What I like:

·         The book is organized into different occasions - baby, wedding, anniversary, friends, family etc. which makes it easy to find a gift for a specific occasion.

·         It's not all samplers. There are small keepsakes such as ornaments, cards, luggage and bottle labels. A lot of things that should be quick, cute, and something I would never have thought of.

·         I feel like a lot of cross stitches are old fashioned. The kind of stuff you find in yard-sales because nobody actually wants to display it anywhere. Most of the designs in this book are display-worthy. And since a lot of the projects aren't just framed samplers, you don't have to worry about people not wanting to have a house full of cross-stitched art.

·         There is a Materials and Techniques section which  discusses fabrics that are good for cross stitching, different needles and threads to use and how to best frame or display your cross stitch

What I don't like:

·         The patterns include others not pictured. I like that there are so many options, so you can pick which works best for you, but it'd be nice to see what they all look like when completed. 

Maybe I'll try and make a few of the smaller items for wedding/baby showers coming up! 

Costumes and Nerd Heaven

As you all know, I love to dress up - whether it's for Halloween, themed parties, or Comic-con. Last year my brother and I dressed up as characters from Galaxy Quest. I'm still trying to get our costumes together for Comic-con this year. It's hard to choose what to go as - you want something that people will recognize, but not something that 100 other people are going to be dressed up as too. (ABSOLUTELY NO SLAVE PRINCESS LEIA'S) Also, as you will be running around all day, you want a costume that is semi-practical.

Costumesupercenter.com is running a contest for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree and $500 cash to spend at Comic-con. This year my brother, sister, and my friend Christina are all attending the Con together. Our plan is to go as Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. If I win I'm definitely buying my brother this outfit. It is a lot harder than I thought to find a regency costume for men. They have a costume that would work for women too so I won't have to force my sister to sew together costumes for us the day before we leave like I did last year (LOVE YOU SIS!). Winning $1,000 would also mean we could dress up MORE THAN ONE DAY because now we have MONAYZ. There is a Super-hero bar crawl on Friday and Saturday that sounds like a lot of fun and I am kinda digging this woman's spider-man costume. I'm pretty sure my sister would find a way to go as Lady Gaga because she is obsessed with her and is convinced that she is a super-hero in her own right.

$500 cash would mean we could also do the ZOMBIE OBSTACLE COURSE. I read about it a few weeks ago and immediately put it on our "to-do" list, however tickets are 80 bucks a pop and when you're already spending money on a flight and hotel plus fronting the money for your broke brother and sister, that's just a little out of my price range. But it does sound AWESOME.

Only 3 more weeks until NERD HEAVEN!!!

Never give up! Never Surrender!

Happy Father's Day!

This weekend I went home and spent time with my family for Father's Day. I love my dad - he is such a goofball.

He also likes to wear the same clothes over and over again.

My dad is one of the most giving people I know. He will holds all of our coats while we go dance with Disney Princesses, keeps all of our POS cars running, fix appliances and electronics for us, "help" with our school projects (aka he does most of the work - he's the reason I won 1st place at the science fair)

So here's to you Dad!! I love you!

3 Ring Circus

I went over to my friend Megan's house this week to help her make cookies for a circus themed brunch. She bought adorable cookie cutters from Fancy Flours. The elephant cookie cutters worked the best so we decided to just use those and the circus tent.

At first I had grand ideas of outlining the elephants in dark gray and then filling it with light gray. However the first few attempts at that were disastrous. We decided it looked good enough with just the outline then we filled the hat and saddle (afghan?? not sure what that is actually called) area. Megan topped it off with some nutter butters. CUTEST IDEA EVER!