domestic diva that i am...

i've finished my first ever, have never done one of these before, holy crap i can't believe i finished it quilt.

for those of you into this sort of thing, i didn't use any particular pattern for the quilt top (though i did use oh fransson's paintbox quilt as inspiration for the design). all of the fabrics were scraps i had laying around, except for the back and the binding (and i have no idea who the fabrics were made by, sorry!).

i followed the circle patterns on the backing fabric as my quilt pattern (just made sense, ya know?) and since i was hand quilting the entire thing, it took freakin' forever. 

six months, give or take.

but totally worth it, don't ya think?

and i chose to use this rainbow palette because it's gender neutral (for babies, anyway) so that my daughter  can pass it down to her children someday.

close up of stitches

i just love it.  and truth be told, i'm so damn glad it's done.

next up?  i'm trying my hand at hand tying quilts.  i'm using my husband's grandmother(who passed away last september)'s old clothes and housecoats to make memory quilts for all of her great-grandchildren.

knock knock!

who's there?

turtle.

turtle who?

no, really...

this guy (or gal, i'm not into sexing turtles so i have no idea how to tell) was trying to get into my house the other day.  some friends were leaving after a playdate, they opened the door and there he was, strong arming his way into my house. 

seriously. 

as soon as the door opened, he wedged himself between the door and the thing on the floor that keeps drafts out.

he wanted in.  bad.

and ya know why?  

cause it's effing hot out there. 

after i put him outside, he felt the white hot heat of the sun on my sidewalk and made his way to cooler grounds.

and then he burrowed under one of my plants, where he remained for several hours.

he finally left sometime after 4:30 in the afternoon.  i like to think he went pool hopping around the neighborhood and had himself some big fun. 

just not my pool.  cause ew.

oh and guess what?

turtle butt!

foodies, chefs, wannabes of either...

come check me out!  i've got a new blogging gig that i think you'll enjoy. 

starting this week, i'll be posting regularly over at The Junior League of Tampa's Cookbook Blog - i get to make recipes from the oodles of wonderful cookbooks produced by the JLT and post about how they turned out (or, in some cases, how they didn't turn out).

so if you're into cooking, or eating, or reading about other people cooking and eating, stop by.

or don't.  i'll never know.

oh and p.s. we got a new computer :)  no more updates from the iTouch!

i am so not a summer kind of girl

they say that insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

like going to busch gardens when it's 824 degrees outside, thinking "it won't be as bad as last time."

it must be january

right.  because going anywhere outside, away from the sweet, sweet joy of air conditioning in the middle of summer in central florida is a great idea. 

so great, in fact, that we've decided to do it again tomorrow.  this time?  it's sea world.

they're begging the dolphins to yank them over the edge

and into the cool, cool water, drowning be damned

ah but fear not curious onlookers!  i am going PRE. PARED. this time.  hand-held battery operated fans for everyone!  and my husband has been instructed that when peanut starts throwing her inevitable i-refuse-to-nap-in-this-god-forsaken-heat tantrum, i'm running for cover. 

air conditioned, daiquiri flavored cover.

if you don't hear from me for a few days, do a google search for "mom goes crazy in orlando theme park" and you'll likely have an accurate update on my whereabouts.

time out

computer issues...be back eventually!

let's get physical, physical

in 1984, this is what "fit" looked like:

jane fonda

(love the over-the-heel AND knee leg warmers)

and this is how "fit" looks today:

Super Perky Fit Girl

and here's about where i'm at on the fitness scale (third from the right, the blonde girl):

what? post a picture of myself? so not happening.

i'm a size 10 (down from a 14 about six months ago) and weigh in at about 150 lbs.so at 5'5", i'm just slightly overweight.  i don't need to look like Super Perky Fit Girl up there, but it'd be flippin' awesome if i could squeeze back into my size 4/6 wardrobe. 

but i can't.

so i'm friggin' irritated. 

especially when i go to the gym and get stuck behind Super Perky Fit Girl like i did this morning.  not only does she have a better body than i do, but she's also able to do all of the high impact, high intensity versions of every cardio move we do.  

sometimes i can get past the fact that the Super Perky Fit Girl in the class looks better than me, so long as i can school her during the workout - cause that happens sometimes, right?  you get to class, see her standing there in her tiny little sports bra that would barely cover your nipples, you roll your eyes to the other fat chicks in class as a sign of solidarity, and then class starts and Super Perky Fit Girl can barely keep up and ends up leaving after an hour.

i've seen it happen.  and it's fabulous.

but when she looks better and is in better shape, i just wanna get her in a headlock and give her a really good noogie.  i mean, where does she get off?  she probably carries a bag of carrot sticks to nosh on everywhere she goes. (Super Perky Fit Girls don't snack, they nosh. now you know).

so irritating.

anyway, having once been a thin girl and now being a not-so-thin girl, i'm trying really hard to get back to that thin place again.  it's so much nicer there-the clothes are prettier, the hair is prettier, and people even treat you better...just the other day, the guy at dunkin' donuts gave me 8 munchinks when i only ordered 4.

that totally wouldn't have happened when i was a size 14.

p.s. go read my title again.  enjoy the earworm :)

hey there!

welcome to my new blog! 

here i'll be posting with frustrating irregularity about general stuff going on in my life that will hopefully make you laugh a little.  i'll be focusing (as often as i can, anyway) on how i'm fumbling my way through local society and all that goes along with that.

stay tuned...

oh, and p.s. if you're easily offended by curse words or parents bitching about their kids, just move right on along.