#5 - Blue Plastic

Challenge 5: Complete a 365 day photo challenge
Picture 27 - Blue Plastic
(Pic 27/365)

 

 

I love playgrounds. They bring back fond memories of my excellent childhood. Even up to our high school years, we still went and played while parents gave us the evil eye. We'd invent games and run around like maniacs all in innocent fun.

Anyway, I didn't really take many pictures today because it poured. There's good news though - I found a dollar bill at the playground and gave it to my husband because he was such a good sport for going out with me. :-)

Also cooked some pies today. I just love the way it makes the house smell sweet when it bakes. Divine.

 { William Sonoma Pie Cutouts }

Unfortunately, the website doesn't sell the pie cutouts I used above.

My set is the Harvest Fall Set which is probably discontinued

but I went ahead and linked a similar set above. 

Picture 01: Pie being cooked. The crust still raw.

Picture 02: Cooked, bubbling Cherry Pie. Delish!

{ William Sonoma Heart Pie Mold }

Once again it's discontinued, but they have the star mold available

through the website. It's fun to use and I enjoyed making these

little darling pies. The heart pies made were of raspberry filling. 

Very yum!

Was pretty excited when I saw these Star Wars Cookie Cutters.

Good thing there's no William Sonoma store nearby because I'd

spend so much money there. I heart it very much. 

{ Julie's Birthday Gift }
I believe that presentation is everything. A simple gift can 

be made extravagant and special once it's wrapped beautifully. 

For this gift, I crocheted two flowers and then sewed the smaller 

flower to the bigger one. I then added a pearl center. Some people

use buttons. Here's a video link on how to crochet a five petal flower. 

My version is slightly different (easier) but it's all the same in the end. 

Happy gift wrapping!

#5 - Energy

Challenge 5: Complete a 365 day photo challenge
Picture 26 - Energy
(Pic 26/365)

It's such an awesome photo. It's so *DR. It's of my bedside lamp for reading. If I took a picture of this lit light bulb with my digital camera, it would never have come out with such awesomeness. FEEL the POWER of my manual adjusted NIKON!!! RAWR!!! It's just so **DRATW.

Didn't feel like going out today. It's just one of those "home body" type of days - to be creative indoors. Anyway, enjoy some pictures of my everyday life:

{ The Husband & The Pretz }

Went out to do some grocery shopping and got Dre a sandwich.

After I cleaned the kitchen and put the groceries away, I walked in

to this view of my loves on the guest room bed. The happy

life of my husband and the Pretz. Even though I don't like when

there's food on the bed and extra cleaning of another room, I

thought it was pretty cute. lol. I cant get angry at this sight.

 { The Begging Cat }

It seems like I have a household of hungry boys. Jean-the-Cat 

seems to meow 24-7 asking for food. Whenever I go to the kitchen

he races me then meows hysterically. He's a big boy, but he needs

to lose a pound. Hmmm... a few lot more pounds to lose for me as well.

{ Wine Rack }

I LOVE wine racks and shiny wine bottles of different coloures.

It's just so classy. Here's to my first Wine Rack given by

Auntie Melanie. Absolutely love it. Time to fill it with 

non-alcoholic bubbly... or... the good stuff. ;-)

{ Post Cards }

Finally found some post cards from yesterday's trip. I finally can

send and receive post cards from www.postcrossing.com. It's so

difficult to find post cards when one doesn't live in a tourist area. 

Anyway, there's 30 in each book times 2 is 60. Woo Hoo!!!

{ KimmiDoll }

Out of all the Christmas presents I received in 2009, this little
Japanese doll was my favorite (www.kimmidoll.com) given to me by

Auntie Melanie. She has great taste in gift giving. Every time I see

this doll, it puts a smile on my face. I'm going to collect them all.

* Double Rainbow (DR) -  A term expressing something of pure, unrivaled awesome. Used commonly when awesome or spectacular are simply insufficient
** Double Rainbow All the Way (DRATW) - another Nathan Fillion term.

#5 - Tickle My Keys

Challenge 5: Complete a 365 day photo challenge
Picture 25 - Tickle My Keys
(Pic 25/365) - Yesterday's Photo Shoot

Iowa City, Iowa. I love when things are out of place - specifically objects that are placed in odd locations - It's so out of the norm that it catches the eye. As I was about to sit down to tickle the keys to play Chopin's Etude Op 10 no 12, I hesitated. I knew it by heart - but I didn't want a crowd to gather - to encore me. I simply wanted to move along to take more pictures - and that I did.

Hospital. We visited our friend at the University of Iowa Hospital, SICU ward. When we arrived, he had just gotten back from two and a half hours of testing and lab work. He has tubes inserted in his belly to drain the blood from his liver. His arm is in a cast (broken) and his left leg is bandaged up from a wound. His wife was there as well to update us on everything that's going on. He's a strong man. Even though he caught a fever and looked weak, he was in good humor cracking jokes to the hospital staff. The only thing now is the bile spillage from his liver, but that's under control. The doctor's are impressive - the majority of them are very young (late 20s, early 30s) - but answered all of our questions in detail. Sometimes that makes all the difference. He's in good hands and we're still praying for a successful recovery.

Anyway, after visiting him, we walked around to take pictures. There was this unkempt cab driver who sat at the roof of his cab waiting for customers. He was a tan skinny man, wore a raggedy jean shorts, tie dyed t-shirt, long beard, Ozzy Osborne sunglasses, and smoked cigarettes. It was a classic photo op so I asked permission to take his picture - but he denied saying, "No. I don't want you to take my picture. I do mind. No! DO NOT TAKE MY PICTURE." --- Damn! It would have been my photo of the day. It was soooo perfect, but oh well. The above is awesome too.

So, more random pictures from Iowa City, IA...

#5 - Alma Mater Squirrel

Challenge 5: Complete a 365 day photo challenge
Picture 24 - Alma Mater Squirrel
(Pic 24/365)

We were like two idiots chasing after squirrels at my Alma Mater this afternoon. It was fun and nostalgic, but I'm glad that grad school years are over - two years was plenty enough. All I remember was my brutal 600 level econ class - it was a nightmare - and I'll stop right there because there's no point to bring back the horror.

Lots of pictures today. Enjoy:

Classic Date Night

{ My Dream Garden }

From the movie, It's Complicated

Meryl's garden, from the movie, It's Complicated, is AH-MAY-ZING in so many different levels I cant even speak right now. Ok, I overreact, but it's true. Someday we'll move to another house that has has more acreage so I'll be able to build a similar vegetable garden. Which means we must move out of the mid-west on to a summer/fall-all-year-round region.

With veggies in mind, I grilled vegetables from our garden for tonight's date night (Date Night = dinner at home, movie at home, walk the trail in the woods). It's weird though... since I've been cooking, bringing my husband breakfast in bed, and just being a plain domestic diva, he has been super lovey dovey. He's said, "I Love You Sooo Much... My beautiful wife... I have the best wife in the world..." like x > 10 times just today. It is true I guess, a way to a man's heart is through food... delicious food. Although he claims that just because I've been so nice is not the reason he's been saying those sweet words. Mmmm Hmmm!? lol.

.: Veggies from our garden :.

.: Stove top Grilled Zucchini :.

- Marinated in white wine, lemon, garlic salt, pepper, olive oil -

.: Dinner Plate :.

- Tomatoes topped with Basil, Grilled Tilapia, Grilled Zucchini, Rice -

#5 - Gloom

Challenge 5: Complete a 365 day photo challenge
Picture 23 - Gloom
(Pic 23/365)

That's exactly how I feel today. My mobile rang at around 11:30 A.M. bringing forth bad news. Our friend fell off of a roof (on duty) and was rushed to the hospital. He was placed in the ICU for a torn liver, torn organs, and internal bleeding. He was scheduled for surgery but the last thing I heard was that he had to be air lifted to a University Hospital 60 miles west from here. I'm so distraught from it all that it was hard to concentrate for the rest of the day. I keep thinking about his wife all alone in the hospital. Wish I could be there with her... but in times like these, some people want to be left alone. *praying that he'll be all right*