Riot and Frolic

List of Last Week's Labors of Love

- the popsicle box that made me feel dumb.
V and I were eating the last two popsicles of the box picnic-style (anytime you sit on the ground and eat).  V was pointing out the colors on the packaging [that we were about to recycle] and we were talking about the different fruits and what letters were on the box.   Then I noticed the phrase "A Quiescently Frozen Confection."  Holy crap.  Waltz Tango Foxtrot, you know?  That's an awfully fancy way to say popsicle.  

Turns out "quiescent" means "at rest; still."  As in not churned, like ice cream.  After discovering the meaning of the word and thinking a bit about "frozen confections,"  it seems like someone would use that word to A) differentiate it from an ice cream treat (An Agitated Glaciated Delicacy?) or B) have an excuse for ingredients not being completely blended.  But still, aren't newspapers written at an eighth grade level?  I guess popsicles are just for smrt people.  

Yeah, that's right: s-m-r-t.

 

- a hike to the bottom of Minnehaha Falls and splashing in the awesome wading area.

- a lot of crochet to take my mind off my tardy baby.  For example, figuring out how to make a circle into a square…  

- some more homemade popsicles from Everyday Food's big summer issue.  Blueberry and cream.  They're okay!

- my first giveaway.  You can still enter!

- a trip to the Minnesota Zoo with some cool people.  Highlights?  Seeing "more fun farm animals" with V and Mae Cake running into the big water fountain play area.

- more crochet.  And a neat leaf for inspiration.  This is when I created my first pattern (not including the circle-square thing above).  It's for a BA flower.  I will show you sometime.

- another day at the pool.

- Mae Cake figuring out the stairs in the most Kate-terrifying way possible.  (Not only am I taking pictures, I'm also in my catch-the-baby stance.)

Notice she goes back up.

- writing a post as usual: sitting in the chair my great-grandpa made, after the ladies are asleep while the G is out earning some moolah (he is now officially [?] in an Irish band).

Spiderman and the Orchard

 
 
If you can explain the random association between the title and this article, I will send you a dollar.  So, you have the chance to win $1.44 (including postage).  Score!

Here's some fun stuff to check out if you have time to kill on your computer or iPhone:

[Oh, you don't have an iPhone?  Um… maybe we can't be friends…]

I found this new website called Picnik, which is like Photoshop for dummies and cheapskates.  I tried using Mac's Pixelmator recently, but really wanted something where I could create graphics and not just edit photos.

Did I mention Picnik is free?  Oh.  It's free.  You can edit photos, create graphics (here's where I learned how to do it on Homemade by Jill, who has a pretty amazing website), and make picture collages in a very intuitive way.  Gah, I'm so happy with it.  

There's also a premium service you can upgrade to, which gets you some extra editing features (like layering, and I hear that's neat) and fun doodads you can add to your pictures.

Like my new graphic (for the $1 giveaway)?  That was a ten minute project.  I'm pleased with it, but not ecstatic over how it saved to my computer.  Anybody know how to fix that?

I also messed around with some photo editing stuff today and came up with this...

Oh, Mae Cake.

You all know by now that I spend way too much time on Pinterest, but I like to think of it as "the best of the web."  If I just check out some pins, then I don't spend too much time Googling everything under the sun.  It's really saving me time.  Yeah.

Etsy is another fun place to spend seven hours.  Mostly handmade goods from crafty people, Etsy is a great place to support non-commercial products.  I have heard some nasty stories about rip-off vintage pieces and bad service, but if you check out a seller's feedback, and stick to the positive ones, you're pretty safe.  I assume it's about the same risk as eBay.  

My fav stores on the good olde Etsy are:

Sew Fresh Fabrics, selling some great prints and solids at great prices.

SeaPinks, who has the most amazing and adorable pincushions.  Really, you have to go look.

SakuraDancer's Kanzashi Shop, where she makes these mind-blowing folded fabric flower accessories.

NaomiLynn, whose stationary has rocked my world for a year now (she did a special order for me and I adore my flat cards for writing thank yous and hellos on).

Haute Ice Beadwork has beaded jewelry that makes my brain hurt in a good way.  Most craftiness I can figure out, but how she makes the shapes she does with beads is beyond me.

There's so many more, but let's stop.  It's 3am and you need to get some sleep.

For some ambience, I dig Stereomood.  It's a groovy little website where you click on a mood (duh) from a huge list, and it delivers you an appropriate playlist.  I love using it while I'm cooking or putzing around the house.  

Onto my fav iPhone apps (in short form, since you all don't have iPhones and you can't really check them out from here):

- Where: it has a brilliant weather forecast feature and that's basically all I use it for.

- Yelp: like the Yellow Pages, but with reviews.  

- PageOnce: it's a little banking app that tells me when all my bills are due, how much moolah is in (or not in) my accounts, etc.  I really dig the bill due date feature.

- Shazam: you hear a song you like and want to know what it is, you open Shazam and it will listen to it and then tell you what it is.  This was probably the first app I bought.  It is simply neat.  I use it at ballroom competitions a lot, even though it's hit or miss with songs that have been edited (speed-wise for competitions).  

- iWriteWords: this one is making my kid smarter, I swear.  And it's fun if you need to shut off your own brain for a couple minutes.

- Hipstamatic: if you didn't know, almost all the photos on my blog are taken with the Hipstamatic app on my phone, and not a regular camera.  My friend, Nea, got me hooked and I haven't looked back.

Have you found the title/article connection?  To keep you all from cheating, why don't you send me an email with your guess ([email protected]).  I'll keep the giveaway open until next Friday and announce any winners then.  

Dance Me to the End of Love

Are you getting married?  Do you want to dance at your wedding?  I hope your wedding is in 2012.  

*Warning!  Unsolicited advice to follow!*

If you would like to dance (I mean, like Dance with a capital "D") at your wedding, you should do this:

• plan way ahead.  No one learns to dance the week of their wedding.  In fact, no one learns to dance in a week, period.  The couples who have felt the most comfortable dancing at their big celebration have given themselves months of lessons and practice.  
• figure out if you'd like to do a choreographed first dance (check out YouTube for some ridiculous and amazing examples) or if you just want to know how to dance to a variety of songs.  These are very different things... 

Learning a routine:

If you learn a routine to a specific song, you will know that routine and that routine alone.  In other words, you won't be able to lead someone through a tango, or follow someone in a waltz. But it should be really fun to learn and do it.

As cool as it is to dance to a meaningful song for that magical first dance, make sure it is a dance that you can actually dance to.  "At Last" by Etta James?  No.  Pick a different one; it's really over-used and doesn't really say anything original about you as a couple, plus it has a weird [read: lack of] beat.  It is really cool if you can pick out a couple songs that the two of you really like, put them on a playlist and bring it to a dance teacher.  That pro can help you guys pick out a song that will be fun and easy to dance along with.  

Don't feel like you have to dance to the whole song.  On "Dancing With The Stars," the routines are about two minutes long and that is long enough.  Editing music is pretty easy if you're a bit handy on your computer, or maybe your DJ can fade out the song for you.  Even if you repeat some moves, no one will notice (they're just thinking how cute you are and taking pictures), and repeating makes it way easier to learn.  

Your audience will appreciate any dancing you do (they are there to celebrate you), but if you can throw in a dip and a spin, they'll go nuts.  

To accomplish this fun goal for your wedding, you should give yourself at least two months to learn, perfect and feel comfortable with your routine.  Try to perform it in front of people you don't know at least once (if you're at a studio, there's usually supportive and encouraging people around to watch you) and maybe in your reception venue once, also.  It'll help you deal with any nerves you have on your big day.

Lastly, don't drink alcohol before you perform!  That was a funny, yet painful experience to see one of my couples struggle through their first dance because the bride got quite tipsy before they took to the floor.  

If you want to know how to dance:

This is a bit more time-intensive, but a greater pay-off in the end (in my humble opinion).  As fun as it is to have an amazing first dance, knowing how and when to do a foxtrot, rumba, or swing is pretty cool.  

For many couples, dancing is the one time they get to spend one-on-one with each other.  It's a great date night, comes in useful at parties, and is a skill that can last a lifetime.  

If you'd like to be confident in a couple different dances, start taking lessons as soon as possible.  If you're going to group lessons and taking private lessons (and maybe practicing once in awhile) regularly, it usually takes couples at least six months to get comfortable.  

I had one couple start a year before their wedding.  Their outdoor wedding didn't have the greatest "dance floor," so they didn't even dance at their own wedding.  But they had so much fun just dancing, they ended up performing in a studio showcase and I met their first kid!  Cool.

My own wedding:

It would stand to reason to the G and I already knew how to dance since we met… wait for it… dancing.  

Unlike many dancers, we did not do a routine for our first dance.  Routines require practice.  Practice equals work to us, since we have to practice dancing for our careers.  We also don't get along that well when we practice, so it seemed like a bummer just to do it to make other people happy.  

We do, however, like plain old dancing (like lead and follow, I have no idea what he'll do next) together.  So, we did a waltz and it was fun.  We are actually both smiling for real in this picture.  

My dad and I did a father-daughter dance.  I had asked him beforehand if he wanted to practice.

"It's just a waltz?" he asked.  

"Yep."

"Ah, I'm good," he replied.  I believed it, since he and my ma had started dancing before I did.  He's pretty musical, can hear a beat, and always seemed to enjoy the ballroom stuff.

We started out well, but I think he got bored. 

"I know a turn, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, the circle turn.  Start it on your back step."

[Results seen here.] 

I think we stuck to mostly the box and a turn, but we might have moved around the floor a little, too.

It was really impressive, as V would say.

Clearly, I was telling him how to do something at some time during the song, because here is my teaching face...

Lovely.  

The Pinterest Project- Flowers (Doilies)

This week's project comes to us from the most awesome Yvestown blog via Pinterest.  I haven't crocheted for quite awhile and generally disregard it in the summer months, but Miss Yvonne of the wonderful house and projects at Yvestown made me want for a hook.  

I mean, look at them!  They're so pretty!

Part of my effort in this… effort… is to not spend any money on my weekly endeavor (because, as we learned yesterday, I'd rather spend it on a ridiculously expensive purse), so I raided my stash of yarn and started hooking...  With the yarn...   I started crocheting...  Just to be clear.

The pattern is super easy.  My first flower (doily) took me 34 minutes with the distraction of children and having to use the ladies' room several times (remember? I'm quite pregnant).  After that, I memorized the pattern and got down to about 20 minutes per flower (doily).

Yes, my friends, I can read.  And to be specific, I can read crochet patterns.  I have often been asked how I learned to read those crazy things.  A nice example:

4 ch, 1 dc in the closing ss of the previous row; 1 ch *skip 2 st; in the next st: 1 dc, 2 ch, 1 dc; 1 ch* Repeat 7x from *to*. Close row with a ss in the 2nd ch (of 4) of the start.

What?  

Well, here's what I did in the beginning (OK, I still do it): one step at a time.  It's really a great life lesson, too, right?  If I use the example above, I would break it down thusly:

• figure out the abbreviations- ch= chain stitch; dc= double crochet; st= stitch; ss= slip stitch
• if you learned from somebody, you might not know the name of the stitches that you do. If so, I recommend grabbing a neat crochet book or interweb tutorial so you can put a name to that stitch's face.
• do the first thing- 4 chain stitches.  Easy!
• do the next thing- 1 double crochet stitch into the slip stitch of the previous row.  Done!  You now have a loop.
• remember, one thing at a time- 1 chain.  It's so simple!
• then sound it out! Read it out loud, or write it out without abbreviations- skip the next two stitches, then in the third stitch, make 1 double crochet, then 2 chain stitches, another double crochet into the same spot as the first one, then one more little chain stitch (a loop with a tumor).  Whew!  Okay, that was a bit tricky, but then take a look at your work.  
• does it look like something?  If you have a picture of the doodad you're making, compare!
• now you get to repeat that 1 double, 2 chain, 1 double, 1 chain business seven more times 'cause this is the foundation for your petals… of which there are eight.  

I'm not saying it's easy, but once you get past the tediousness of translation and the slightly algebraic feel of a written pattern, they're not so scary.  Plus, then you can make fun things like flowers (doilies)!

I won't take you through all the steps, since you have the great tutorial through Yvestown, but here's the growth of a flower (doily), round by round. 

Back on my tutorial for the rag rug, I briefly explained "blocking."  Or, "how to get your crap to lay* flat."  I find blocking exceptionally rewarding when doing flowers (doilies) or other small things.  Just get your project a little damp and pin it in the shape you want.  I use my ironing board since it has some padding and material on which to pin things.  (There you go, G.)  You can, I hear, make a blocking board (use cardboard, corkboard, foamboard, etc.), but that is for another day. 

Once I got started with these, I really couldn't stop.  I'm not really working right now and the ladies are getting really good at entertaining themselves, so I kept busy all week making these bad boys.

I also have a large stash of yarn and nothing to do with it, so besides making a couple sets of coasters as the Project called for, I'm also going to make an "Amoeba Throw-up Blanket" with my OCD-induced flowers (doilies).  More on that later.

I also tried some variations on the theme...

  

 

And now for the exciting part...

Riot and Frolic's first...

[cue wild applause]

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

I will give away a set of lovely rainbow-flavored flower (doily) coasters to two lucky readers!  Just leave a comment in the comment box down below telling me your favorite cheese (or candy, if you're lactose intolerant) and where you like to walk barefoot.  I'll choose two comments randomly and post the winners in next week's Pinterest Project post.  Comment as many times as you like for more chances to win, but please enter only if you are from the U.S of A, since I can't afford international shipping.  Thanks!

Note: these fun flower (doily) coasters are not quite all the same size.  Since I was dealing with my free and existing yarn, they're not all the same weight/brand/material.  But they're coasters, so maybe that's OK. 

 

*If you ever need to remember how to use "lay" versus "lie," think of the line "Now I lay me down to sleep."  It's actually bad grammar, so use the opposite. People lie down, things are laid down. 

The Outrageous Request

So way back in the day, I wrote about all the cool things you could buy mothers for Mother's Day. Ironically, I never got my mom anything.  I am a terrible daughter.  Now, everytime I go anywhere, I'm looking for something for my dear ma to make up for the fact that I suck.  Costco?  She loves Mocha Frappucinos in the bottle.  Of course, they only have vanilla in stock.  Bath & Body Works? WHAT is that one smell she likes?  Grrr.  Someday, Ma, someday.

Maybe that story will make this next part moot for you (remember when Joey used that word on Friends? oh, no way! I found it on YouTube!), but here it goes..

 

I've been looking for a purse, the perfect purse, for a year now.  With the advent of baby #2, I found myself carrying a bit more stuff (gotta be prepared).  But a diaper bag?  Come on.  Not my style.  I have not bought a purse in over two years.  And you ladies know that is sometimes quite a feat.  So I'd search every store and do comprehensive look-sees on the googles and you know what I came up with?  There is one bag in the entire universe that I would buy now.  It is this bag.

It's the Frankie by MZ Wallace in tin. Here's what MZ Wallace has to say about it:

• "Similar in size to our Signature Jane bag, the Frankie offers a surplus of both interior and exterior pockets [*drool*]. Worn over the shoulder or cross-body [cross-body is the only way to go], the Frankie combines function and style for an everyday, on-the-go look [does it look like it's carrying diapers and a sippy cup for every member of the fam? noooo].
• Eight exterior zip pockets [EIGHT!]
• Six interior pockets: 1 large zip pocket, 4 tech pockets (each wide enough to accommodate a Blackberry, iPhone), 1 metrocard/business card pocket [I don't even know what a metrocard is, but I could have a place for one]
• Detachable Market Purse (5" x 2" x 3.5") [a clutch! for when I go out alone or on a date!]
• Italian leather trim with protective leather feet [I have protective leather feet, why shouldn't my bag?]
• Custom silver hardware, woven Periwinkle logo lining [periwinkle, really?]
• Teflon coated Bedford Nylon for water and stain resistance [hello, it's stain resistant, therefore it is a diaper bag or for people who spill a lot]"

Yes yes, this is the only bag I'll ever buy again.  I even have people out shopping for a similiar purse for me, and they say it doesn't exist.  In fact, my resourceful friend, America, says I should "just ask for money for it on [your] blog."  Note: not my idea, but brilliant if it works.  

So, did you notice the fancy new "donate" button over on the sidebar?  Well, I'm not saving dolphins or rainforests or feeding hungry children.  Nope, I'm wondering if you'll throw some money at me to help me save for the most magnificent purse ever.  

If you enjoy reading and/or are independently wealthy (not if you're eating ramen noodles on top of a cardboard box while trying to hack your neighbor's WI-FI signal to read this without your own internet connection), feel free to click over on that sea-green button on the left and donate whatever you'd like to the Outrageous Request Fund.  

I'll definitely scream for joy at any amount and then maybe the G will only have to chip in $392 when I beg for it non-stop for my birthday and Christmas present.  

Thanks, all.