the goose loves tuesday's ten (#8)

Big news, friends! This week's episode of Tuesday's Ten is actually on time! It's Tuesday! Hooray!

And the ten for this week is super fun and exciting. It all makes me smile. Big smiles. And maybe you'll smile too. Or maybe you won't give a &%^* about the little things that make me super happy. Either way, I encourage you to read the whole thing.

1. I bought my first item from Pick Your Plum (which is generally like Groupon for crafts)! Most times, the items are a little weird (like satin rompers for kids, which is today's "steal"... Dad - you probably dont't even know what a romper is). But about a week ago, the daily deal was 10 spools of thread for $7 plus $3 shipping - so basically $1/spool. And these spools are at least as big as my normal ones, if not bigger, which I pay at least $3 for each spool. And these colors are pretty unique. And they showed up super fast. So I'm in love.

2. My sister went down to CA last week, and then came to Portland, so she provided delivery service between my parents and me! In the bag of goodies, along with easter-y cupcake tins and a scarf, was a bag full of delicious Slovenian honey cookies. I'm not even going to attempt the spelling of those. They may look a little strange, but believe me - they're delicious. And they taste like home. And childhood. Each bite is like eating a mouthful of young and carefree. The best part? Billy doesn't like them (something about them not having enough sugar and fat), so more for me! Unfortunately, there's only one left now. Pretty sure I ate over half the bag right when these showed up, before I took this photo.

3. Lots of blathering so far - I'll keep this one short. Here was dinner Saturday night - grilled chicken with a peruvian rub from Bobby Flay's Grill It book (its rubbed, not burnt), along with grilled garlic bread and a tangy mustard sauce. Mmm. Time out while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

4. On Saturday, we also Redbox-ed for the first time! Even my parents got into the redbox thing before we did. Haha. Go Mom & Dad!

We walked down to Fred Meyer with the dog and picked up Midnight in Paris, with Owen Wilson and my ultimate girl-crush, Rachel McAdams. Oh, and written/directed by Woody Allen. The movie was good, but not Billy's style - he fell asleep within minutes. My parents would like it. I was in love with the 20's music.

5. We actually enjoyed some sun this weekend! Unfortunately, it's long gone now. But I'll include the obligatory dog-as-a-cat-in-the-sun photos. But look at that adorable face. How do you not take 30 photos of that?

Then he gave into the sleepy sun.

6. I went to a Tupperware party (yes, they still have those!) last week at Caryn's house. It was good hang-out time with her, Carolyn, and Caryn's adorable baby Brennan. Even Billy got in on the baby action when he came to pick me up. Notice the uneasy look on Billy's face, and how he can't even put his hands on the baby. We'll have to work on that one.

7. The best part of the Tupperware party? Buying these babies!

Yes, that's 8 gorgeous pieces of purple and blue flowered tupperware goodness. For a steal, too. I literally actually felt like I was stealing. At the party, I saw these purple ones in the catalogue, and fell in love (duh). Erin, the awesome tupperware goddess, had the same purple ones in her stash at home, brand new!! So she gave me a wicked-good deal. Eight pieces of the best-looking tupperware ever, for $30. YES. That's less than $4/piece for you math whizzes. And this stuff is dishwasher AND microwave proof - none of those plastic poisons. Did I mention they're gorgeous? At least 5 of the pieces are going to store my flour/sugar/cornmeal type things - I'll replace the old ziploc-types that I've had for years. YES.

8. We're moving though our meal plan pretty well - already cooked the potato curry (it was decent), and here's our white bean and ham soup. Still on the list? Chicken salad sandwiches and whore pasta.

9. My mom loved the picture I sent her (via Monika's phone) of me at work last week, so here's another one for you, Mom. Don't my glasses make me look nerdy awesome? Sorry about the bright fuzzy light. It's jsut the awesome flourescents in my cube.

10. And the best for last. Remember when I made a Vegas Showdog bowtie (#4) and then I took pictures of Bentley in the bowtie (also #4)? Well I promised you it was all for a good cause. And here it is!

I'm the captain for one of the PGE teams at the Heart Walk, and this is my team recruitment strategy! Who could turn down that face? You can join my team, the Hearty Hearts (yes, I'm currently accepting suggestions for a cooler team name), and donate lots of moolah. For every team member that joins and donates at least $10, Billy and I will throw in $10. But if you donate $50, we're still only putting in $10 on your behalf. But you'll get an extra big hug from me and a kiss lick from Bentley for donating more!

If you love supporting me can't say no to my dog but aren't in Portland, you can donate anyway. I'll walk for you. If you are in Portland, the walk is on May 19th and begins at 10am. It's an easy three-mile loop around the waterfront (from the Hawthorne Bridge to the Steel Bridge and back around). It'll be awesome. AND for you Portland residents, Billy and I will be hosting a heart-healthy BBQ post-walk. And it will be cooler than grilled-tofu-in-kale-wraps. So join me!

the goose loves tuesday's ten (#5!)

 What up, friends.

Today has been an adventure. We started with an early morning, then 8 hours of work, then $500 in car repair,  and then 3 hours of snare drum practice at our house for Billy's scottish pipe band. Fun? Yeah, for the dog - he just got like 8 new friends. Me? Notsomuch. But I'm accomodating. All great stories for another day.

So finally we get around to the fun stuff. 10 Tuesday Things at 10pm.

1. I think the first day of Spring was this past week. I don't know officially since we are still in snow-ville. Yes ma'am - we woke up to snow on Wednesday morning. Or was it Thursday? Pretty though.

 2. Oh wait. Maybe it is spring! We did enjoy several gorgeous hours of sunlight on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. And so of course, like 95% of all other normal Portlanders, we headed outside.

We only got as far as the backyard, but it was heavenly.

 Bentley loved it too. That dog likes sun almost as much as he likes chicken. Almost.

 3. On Saturday, we went out to pizza and a north portland bar for our friend Allison's 2th birthday! The pizza was delish and we spent awhile playing trivia at the bar, which was also terrific.

There's the birthday girl on the left, and some crazy guy Chris, our good friend from college, who happened to get his tooth knocked out hours earlier in a basketball game. Ouch. He's going gangsta-gap-toothed in this photo.

 And the three of us girls! Billy is to Jackie's left, hiding.

 4. If you don't already know that I'm obsessed in love with the color purple, then you haven't been paying any attention. It's been my favorite practically since the womb. Once, when I was about 12 and in mid-middleschool-crisis, I thought about changing my favorite color to blue or something. But I didn't, primarily because I didn't want to let my dad down - I knew how much he knew that I loved purple, and he was always so awesome at picking out fun purple things for me from business trips or trips to home depot. I love me my purple maglite!

Anyway, that long story is just to let you know that today, my new admin assistant was watching out for me too, and it reminds me of my dad, which is nice, since I miss him and my mom a lot (a visit to CA is coming soon, though, I promise!). She brought me 6 packs of purple post-its, two of which are a gorgeous dark purple, not just the pastelly-easter purple I normally see! Yes. Made my day.

5. On Sunday, Billy and I bravely avoided the to-die-for Portland Brunch scene and instead whipped up some English-Muffin-French Toast. What does that make it? English toast? French muffins? Who cares. It makes it tasty. There's even a ghost fork in the photo.

 6. Since Sunday morning was still sunny, we took advantage of the dry day and got some projects done outside. More on those later. But now I remember how much I love the sun. And how much I miss it.

Bentley loves the sun too. And loves being lazy. I'm pretty sure he's at least 27% cat. (Most likely along with 12% bear, 31% wolverine, 24% dog, and 6% bunny.)

 

 

 7. We Billy continued our cooking spree on Sunday night, with a bbq-ed beer-can chicken. We were pushing our luck on the good weather, and by the end there were rain drops harassing our chicken, but it came out REALLY good.

 I made the rest of our brussel sprouts as our green side, but we skipped the carbs. Who needs carbs when you have perfect chicken?

8. Just as I predicted last week, we started on our planter box this weekend. We checked out the ready-made ceramic and plastic planters at Home Depot, but options in the size we wanted (big) ranged from $35 to $65+ each, and we'd want two or three of those (they're usually circular pots, about 2 feet in diameter?). So we figured the build-your-own route was cheaper.

Based on a tutorial and plan we found online (more on that later), we picked up twelve 2"x6"x8' doug fir boards (about $3 each), one 4"x4"x8' doug fir post, 24 3/8" carriage bolts, 24 washers, 24 nuts, and a 3/8" drill bit. We do have the full-on drill bit kit, but it doesn't come with anything smaller than a 1/2" bit... really??

The nice man at Home Depot made our cuts for free. He cut six boards in half (for the short sides of our rectangle) and cut our  4"x4" post in 18" pieces. But we're basically building a 4'x8' rectangle, 18" high. Except that when we got home, we decided a  3' x 9' size was better for our side yard. So we recut and pasted boards together. Pasted with screws. But enough blathering on this for now - full post later, once Portland convinces us its ready for spring and done with snow. So maybe by June.

9. Onto other crafty arts, I haven't sewed anything for a little while, and my fingers are itching for thread and fabric and the whir of the machine. I've been dying to buy some cotton voile (never actually felt it, but heard it drapes beautifully), perhaps in this Tula Pink Dandelion Olive.

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Or maybe I'll buy some of this wispy pink.

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My end goal is one (or several) beautiful spring-y infinity scarves. I wear scarves at least four days a week during winter, but most of them are too warm, even for our shoddy "spring" in this town. But these would be a perfect bridge to the free necks of summer. And maybe I'll even give some away.

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10. Easter is almost here!!! I'm not as into Easter as normal, but since I gave up lattes for Lent, I'll be more than thrilled to get a veinte-20oz-full-fat-milk-foamy-latte on Easter morning. Doesn't Starbucks sell a bathtub size now? I'll have that.

In other Easter news, I think that we should get Bentley a bunny for Easter. Or maybe two. And real ones this time, not big fluffy ones. I think I like these. Maybe I like them because they have Bentley ears. Maybe I'm obsessed with big-eared animals. What can I say, I love ears.

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Looks like that's it for tonight. Come back later this week for more photos of Bentley than you ever wanted needed.

the goose loves tuesday's ten (#3)

Welcome to the third edition of Tuesday's Ten. Check out last week's episode too. 

1. Today's post is actually a bit late, mostly because I was up late last night finishing up these two beauties for my coworker's granddaughter. My coworker is flying out tomorrow to visit the almost-1-year-old, so I had to finish them up!

The giraffe shapes came from a shopping bag that my coworker had - we made a copy of the bag and then I cut out the shapes, traced them onto the fabric, then cut them out and sewed them down! A little time consuming, but I love them.

2. Last weekend we spent three days in Hood River, Oregon (full update coming soon). It was supposed to be an outdoorsy vacation, but it was more like a beer vacation. We went to three breweries and had over a dozen beers between the four of us. This was probably very close to Billy's dream vacay.

3. Although we're several years away from having little McWood babies running around, these Baby Beagle Shoes (by Stride Rite) really tempt me to get going sooner... or maybe I should just buy them now and save them for future little Willy...

4. Speaking of Beagles, I recently made Bentley a sparkly red bowtie. Believe me - it has a good purpose, and you'll find out soon - but for now, he looks like a Vegas Showdog with it on.

5. Dinner on Sunday looked like this. Philly Cheesesteaks. And it was tasty.

6. Along with the two giraffe onesies, I sewed three others for my coworker - two are below (and I still need to finish the last). The white one has lacy-ness around the collar, and the pink one has 3D flowers. Kids' clothes are high tech these days.

7. I spent Monday night screaming at the TV while watching the final episode of The Bachelor. Don't get me wrong - I have never believed in that "true-love-on-TV" stuff. However, I do believe in relieving stress by watching ridiculous girls "fall in love" with a guy who's got an awful haircut (scroll down to the article for a great hair shot, and head to Twitter to follow the haircut (yes, it has its own twitter account) ). Monday's episode was even more fun because we played "Bengo" - Bingo, with a word play on Bachelor Ben's name. Awesome? Yes, except that I didn't win. All I needed in the end was for somebody to say "once in a lifetime" but it never happened.

8. Today (March 13) is exactly 3 months until my 25th Birthday (I'd suggest you start shopping now - email me for my wishlist if you get stuck), which means I have only three months to complete my 25 for 25 list. And there are a decent number of gaps over there still...

Also, I want to go on a camping trip to celebrate the big two-five, and I want it to look exactly like this:

9. On Thursday, before escaping to the Columbia Gorge (Hood River), we stopped by Powells Bookstore, where I spent $20 on three new books. (I'm working on #14!). I've started The 19th Wife so far, which parallels the escape of Brigham Young's 19th Wife in the late 1800s and the murder of a polygamist by his 19th wife in the early 2000s. Bring on the drama and the fascinating polygamists.

10. On Sunday morning, Billy and I are running the 8K (5 mile) race in the Portland Shamrock Run. The furthest I've run since high school when I was skinny my cross country days is 4 miles. And that was tricky. So this will be fun - right? Wish me luck.

Also, for all you avid fans need to know the INSTANT I've posted another blog full of rambles, check out the new RSS feed I've added on the right. You can also put in your email address to be notified of new posts. Don't miss a single goof!

And one last P.S.: This is one of the few beagle-photo-free posts in a long time. Hooray for you dog-haters, my deepest apologies for you Bentley-lovers.

the goose loves baby things

It's true. I love all things baby. Baby kitchen utensils, baby puppies, and baby babies. And I love sewing baby things. Partly because they go pretty quickly, and partly because they're usually very cute.

Our friends David and Brianne are having their very first baby (a boy!) in a few weeks, and so I made them a couple gifts. Here they are, as I was wrapping them up (forgive the bad lighting).

I made two bibs (identical, but reversible; this photo shows the two different sides) and four pee-pee-tee-pees. Those little tee-pee cones are supposed to be plopped onto the little boy's "cannon" when changing his diaper to prevent it from spewing all over the place, as it tends to do when exposed to air. Or so I'm told.

I also made my first little baby hat! I used the same jungle-patterned cotton knit for all of the presents, to keep things coordinated, and it worked pretty well. It's a stretchy fabric, very similar to the fabric used for baby clothing/onesies, so it was perfect for a hat. A little tricky to sew with, though, because of the stretch.

This part was most fun - it's a "taggie" toy - I've seen the toys and blankets all over the internets (blogland and pinterest) - supposedly babies love to play with the floppy ribbons, especially with the different colors and textures. Luckily, the ribbon I already had on hand coordinated well and was varied in size and shape.

I used the same knit for the top and a plain white minky for the back. I also wrapped up a little brown and white striped onesie, and I added a piece of the same jungle knit to the front so that it would match the hat. I also made a basic 45" square blanket with the knit on top and a brown flannel on bottom. Somehow, I forgot to photograph those. Maybe David and Brianne will allow me to take some photos of those when new baby P is actually using them! :) Congrats on the soon-to-be-new-little-one! Can't wait to meet him!!

the goose loves tuesday's ten

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Tuesday's Ten! I know there is no shortage of clever daily alliteration style posts, but I also know that this blog isn't the most original in the world (are any blogs ever original?), so I'm happy to join the trend.

Besides trying to make it with the "in" crowd, starting a post of this style is an ambitious step toward getting more thoughts out of my head and onto the figurative paper. It will also encourage me to go with a more personal and conversational style, rather than just blogging projects and recipes. Those will come too, though, never you worry.

So here goes 10 thoughts for Tuesday night. In no particular order. With plenty of puppy.

1. On any given hour of most given nights, you'll find Bentley like this. Except maybe with a blanket sometimes. And every half hour or so, he gets up, walks over to the wall, and slumps down against it to cool off.

2. If I ever have energy after work again or can find enough time on the weekends, I'll actually make good progress with the project for which I'm using all these beautiful fabrics.

3. Our Valentine's weekend (two weeks ago) was spent on a much needed bedroom makeover. And our outside patio looked like this for much of Saturday and Sunday. If only I can get the finishing touches done, I can show you all the new beauty.

4. Right this instant, as we (at least until Billy fell asleep) watch a marathon of "Party Down" episodes before they are no longer on Netflix, Bentley is sleeping between Billy's legs, with his head resting on Billy's cushy rear end. A cozy spot? I wouldn't know.

5. In less than two weeks, I'll escape from work to enjoy a beautifully long weekend with Billy and the girls in Hood River, OR. Even though it won't be quite this sunny, it'll be wonderful to enjoy my first vacation days this year. And when your work weeks are 90+ hours, vacation sounds completely luxurious and cannot come soon enough.

6. After tomorrow, it'll be March. And 17 days after that, it'll be St. Patrick's day! Which means two things, really - I should get out my Irish/Scottish decor (and print off the free printable below) and I should start running, since I'm signed up for the 8K at the Shamrock Run on March 18. Ready, go.

7. My dog is obsessed with food. And maybe we aren't super good puppy-parents about disciplining him. But look at those eyes! This was yesterday night, when I was eating a bowl of cereal. He decided that sitting next to me on the couch was not quite close enough to the Cheerios, so he wrapped himself around my neck, scarf style. But that's okay - he's the cutest and warmest scarf I own.

8. Last December, I attempted making a dress like the one below. It was going great until I realized that the bodice should be more 3D instead of 2D, if you get what I mean. (My dad reads this, you know.) But I have the material for Round 2, and I'm ready to tackle this once and for all. After I get to those other things, like sleeping and eating and playing with Bentley.

 9. Once I make the lace dress above, I'll need some hot shoes like these to go with it. And then I just need somewhere fancy to go...

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10. Well Christmas and New Years quickly passed before I got a chance to send out some holiday cards. Luckily, I generally got them together in time for Valentine's Day, which was a perfect excuse to remind our friends and family that we love them. I'll get those up here eventually, but for now, I'll leave you with one of the "outtakes" from our little photo shoot, done with world-renowned photographer Carolyn.

Congrats for getting through my first Tuesday's Ten! Come back next Tuesday for even more fun, maybe with less words next time.