I Did It!

I finally got this thing redesigned and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I still may do a little tweaking, but for the most part, I'm satisfied. The hard part wasn't colors and pictures and the like... the hard part was adding that stupid left sidebar! I really wanted a left sidebar, but there's not an option for that in blogger, so I had to add it using code. This was my first real attempt at working with code like that. I really didn't think I could do it when I started, but after I figured out what everything was and I got more comfortable changing things, I really enjoyed it. I also added the border around the main text with code.

The banner is fabric I got from my Grandma (I'm fairly sure she made me a dress out of it when I was little) and text from my Label Buddy, scanned into Photoshop and given a simple border. As for the background image, I did that in about 5 minutes in Photoshop. And something you probably won't even notice: the lace footer at the bottom of the page. I know nobody scrolls all the way down there, but I like knowing that if someone should venture all the way down the page, they'll have something pretty to look at when they get there. Silly, I know.

And look! My favorite music now appears as pictures. Ooh, fancy.

I will now share with you one of my very favorite photos of all time:

This was taken one September night two years ago on Sweetheart Circle. Callie and I were shooting for a photo project and Christie and Kristen came to watch. This commemorates the very first Sweetheart Circle Picnic, a Marvin House tradition I sorely miss. The only thing wrong with this picture of the Marvin Girls is that Jessica isn't in it. I like living alone, but sometimes, I just really miss those girls.

Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

Okay, so this isn't that clip, but one from last week's episode. What's better than one show you love? The show you love.... making fun of another show you love. God bless The Office.

Spring Autumn Cleaning

In the next few days, I'm going to try re-designing my blog a bit. If you come here and it looks wonky, come back later and see a whole new.....ly prettified blog!

Strawberry Apple Butter Tarts

The grocery store had beautiful strawberries on sale yesterday, so I got some.
With them, I made these tonight:





I made four of these in my newly acquired ramekins (the ones I picked up at Goodwill a few weeks back), and they were soooo good. They were sweet and tart with a little crunch and tasted like fall. Yummy. I kind of wish I had limited myself to half instead of a whole tart, though. Oh well, tummy ache be damned!

Here's the recipe as best I can remember it (I pretty much made it up on the spot).

Topping:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon each: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
a pinch of salt

Filling:
1 lb. (16oz.) fresh strawberries (sliced)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup of apple butter

For topping: combing oil and water in small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until it just barely bubbles. Stir in flour. It should be sort of crumbly at this stage. Remove from heat. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and brown sugar. Mix well.

For filling: slice strawberries and toss in a bowl with brown sugar. Mix in apple butter.

Divide filling among the ramekins (or you could use a pie dish). Top with crumbled topping and pack lightly. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes until filling is hot and bubbling and the topping is golden brown and crunchy.

I highly recommend a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top. Or at least a nice glass of milk.

Enjoy!

Shrinky Dinks and Bad Decisions

I'm officially obsessed with Shrinky Dinks. Don't know what Shrinky Dinks are? Look HERE.

I made these 3 pair of earrings in the last hour or so with my new favorite craft supply.

A pair for Jessica (Jess, if you're reading this, sorry to spoil the surprise... they should be in your mailbox sometime this week.) If you don't know what this is, it's the "Grr Arg" Monster, the Mutant Enemy logo. If you're still clueless, Google is your friend.


A pair for Callie, who loves leaves.


A pair for Katie, who loves Shrinky Dinks.


As for the bad decision, Chris and I went through the drive-thru at Checkers tonight and as we were waiting to get our food, I noticed the car in front of me had one of those "vanity" license plates (I hate those, but I love to read them). I quickly snapped the following picture with my phone just before they drove away.

Click on the photo to enlarge it. Now, say it out loud. Get it? See why that was a bad decision? I just keep telling myself that God put dumb people on the Earth for a reason... to amuse me.

Goodnight all.

PS, Georgia Southern lost to Appalacian State by one point today. We may have lost the game, but at least we didn't produce this steaming pile of crap. Enjoy.

Playing Catch Up (not Ketchup... that would be weird.)

It's been over a week since I updated this thing! Shame on me.
Actually, that just means that I have lots to talk about now. I'll use the trusty "numbered list" method :

(in no particular order...)
1. My air conditioner is fixed! Hooray! I know how you worry about me, dear readers (reader?). I am now comfortably cool.

2. Chris and I went to St. Simons this past weekend. Many wedding plans were made. We (pretty much) nailed down the place, the date and the time. I finally feel like we're in a good place with all of it. We even found fab invitations that we love (from this website.) I'm all of a sudden turning into a super-girly wedding-planning machine! It probably won't stick.

3. In other wedding news, last weekend when I went to Augusta to try on bridesmaid dresses for Lydia's wedding (she picked really pretty ones), I ended up trying on a few wedding dresses (with a little push from Lydia). I felt like a little kid dressing up in clothes too grown up for her. It was probably one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Also, it was sort of like trying on prom dresses... except they were all white.... and much more expensive.

4. Hobby Lobby openend in Statesboro! I don't have to go to Augusta/Savannah or order embroidery floss (and every other craft supply) online anymore! It's so nice that our dinky little town is growing. It'll be a real city someday.

5. I am completely enamored with this album:

Here's a taste:

6. I saw this movie last week. It was precious.


I sincerely thought I had more to write about, but when it comes down to it, I guess I don't. Oh well. Have a good week, everybody.

I'm melting! I'm melting!

It's Friday. My air conditioner went out on Monday. I finally got somebody to come look at it this afternoon and good news! My compressor is shot (apparently) and there's nothing the repairman can do until he talks to my landlord. Really? What happened to just billing it? So, I have NO idea when I'll have cool air again. This, my friends, is what it's like to live in a cheap apartment.

In other (much more pleasant) news, I did these this week:





Both patterns are from HERE. Many, many beautiful goodies.

And if I don't melt first, I'm going home this weekend to go bridesmaid dress shopping with Lydia (for her wedding, not mine.) I'm looking forward to it for two reasons. 1. It gives me a chance to go to Augusta and maybe do a little shopping for things I can wear more than once. 2. It gets me into a bridal shop. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get over my fear of trying on wedding dresses a little bit.

I bid you a pleasant (and cool) weekend.

Hot Thrifting

I've been feeling a bit down the last few weeks. I don't quite know why. It's probably a combination of things (school, the fact that it's still 85 degrees in October, etc...).
Monday, to combat my October blues, I made an impromptu trip to Goodwill. These are things I found:

A sweet little vase/pot with leaves


This mug in the prettiest shade of blue


A set of 4 ramekins (the perfect size for giant muffins!)


A sash/belt/scarf. The pattern is killer. This will soon become a zippered pouch of some sort.


I thought these were really funny. Look carefully, they're quite racy. They will most certainly be a gift for Kristen.



And finally, my most prized thrifty find, these fabulous tangerine salt and pepper shakers. Really, I can't express how much I love these. They still had salt and pepper in them when I bought them. Ha!



All (most) of my goodies together for a group portrait.


Everything I got was a little over $13. Total. I know. What a steal. I would have paid $5 for the shakers alone (they were only $2!).

So, after thrifting for a while I was looking forward to sitting in my nice cool apartment and admiring my purchases. Unfortunately, I came home to a toasty 83 degrees in my apartment. My A/C is broken and my landlords haven't returned any of my calls... for 2 days.

Have I mentioned that I'm having a bad couple of weeks?