Happy Zombie

Going to Doe’s blog really should come with a warning for protection. That’s right. She knocked me up.  Knocked me up with cute stuff. Again. Looks like Wren, Sophia and Devon will soon have a little cousin.

… and only if that universe is inside my house.

Sluuuuurp. [insert tongue swiping drool sound here]

Sit Liberty. Sit Madison. Goooood girls.

Looking for a magic jar that gets DH’s and DS’s to pick up their clothes up off of the floor.
I fear there is no such jar.

I got tagged by Connie, Kris and Emily with a Seven Weird Things about me meme. At least I think it was supposed to be “weird”. Regardless… all things about me are weird - so weird it is. If I had to do a list of just 7 things about me, it would look like this:

1. Umm.
2. Hmmm.
3. I know! Wait. That’s weird.
4. Umm.
5. Ummm.
6. I’ve got something! No, that’s weird too.
7. Umm.

Anyhoo… Seven Weird Things about me:

1. I love clocks. Clocks. Clocks. Clocks. I have them everywhere. There are at least three clocks in every room of my house. Even the garage. I’m not obsessed with time, and I’m usually either early or late - but rarely on time. Go figure.

2. My wardrobe consists of about a dozen white Hane’s beefy pocket t’s. So while it looks like I wear the same t-shirt every day… I’m actually on a rotation cycle. White t, jeans and flip-flops - my daily uniform. Sometimes I mix things up and don a yellow t. The irony in my wardrobe is that I love color so much - I’m passionate about color. Go figure. Again.

BTW… I was THRILLED when Michael Kors was asked about his black t and jeans wardrobe on the reunion episode of Project Runway. So now in my realm of unreality… I AM a fashionista.

3. I’m picky about what I drink my coffee and tea out of. I like delicate china mugs - something with a thin lip. My cup cupboard is divided by his & hers… my girly-cups on one side, DH’s clunky man-mugs on the other side.

4. I have a serious addiction for pens and pencils. What I’m showing is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s more in drawers and baskets. And I can never find just the right one.

5. I love bags, purses, and totes. When I’m oogling fabric my first thought is not what quilt to make… but what kind of bag to make with it (to put the quilt in of course!). A few years ago my mom gave me some of my late grandmother’s old purses, and I was thrilled beyond belief when I discovered an old lipstick that was my Omi’s. It was an ugly shade of 60’s orange (which actually was from the 60’s) - but it brought me to tears when I put some on. It was like my Omi giving me a big fat kiss from heaven.

6. As I said in #2, these are the shoes I wear about 10 months out of the year. If I could go barefoot, I would. And they can’t be ordinary flip-flops… they have to be the el-cheapo Locals brand rubbah-slippas from Hawaii. When we moved to Oregon I packed up about a dozen pairs for a stash. Last year Karen went to Hawaii and I asked her to help me replenish my stash. And we still call them slippers, though I have trained myslef to say flip-flops here on the Mainland.

7. I’ve got a thing for kitchen windows. I love taking photos from my kitchen window… I love seeing photos taken from a kitchen window. I need to search for a flickr group of kitchen window addicts. The sink at our first house in Hawaii had nothing but a big ugly cinder-block wall behind my sink. Our second house had a window with a view of the Ko’olau’s - something I never tired of looking at and washing dishes was actually a treat. My kitchen window now HAD a view of the forest - and then after our big storm last December… I now have a new view of the Coast Range. And sunrises. Fair trade… but I do miss the forest. And I don’t have a photo. Go figure. Again.

So now according to meme law, I must tag 7 bloggers. I hate tagging because I feel like I can’t pick everyone to play on my kickball team. I’ve decided to tag by a theme, so I came up with 7 blogs I don’t need to read to enjoy (even though I do read them). My theme is Eye Candy - Allsorts, Cinderberry Stitches, Grand Revival Designs, Prairie Mouse, Rose Hip, That silly lil’ Doe and Wishful Stitches. Please no pressure to these seven to play along… I tagged you all because I love nibbling on your eye candy!

Thank you Connie, Kris and Emily for tagging me… I had way too much fun with this. Is that weird?

Congratulations Lisa of Dorky Homemade Quilts! It’s going to be tough to mail the needlebook… I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY would much rather hand deliver it!

Meet KiwiGirl… the newest member of the HZ staff. KiwiGirl was born from the super duper talented hands of my sweet peep gal pal Louise of Prairie Mouse. Isn’t she adorable! Seriously adorable! I could just squeeze her - wait… I DO! It’s a typical rainy dark Oregon day, so my photos are dark and funky - even though KiwiGirl lights up the room. KiwiGirl used a random number generator at random.org. First number on the list… #1!

KiwiGirl came to me for Christmas from Louise. Talk about loud squeals when I retrieved my mail! But I waited until Christmas morning to free her from her darling gift wrap. It was difficult… but so worth the wait! Mimi is a teeny weeny bit jealous, so KiwiGirl sits right by computer near me. She’s pretty good with the mouse too (I think Lisa will agree). I don’t know if Mimi’s worried KiwiGirl will steal PA Bob’s heart… or that because KiwiGirl has the dexterity to use the mouse.

Inspiried by some slippers I saw in yesterday’s Target ad… up for grabs is a little strawberry needle book I made along with a pack of my favorite, favorite, favorite brand of embroidery needles. Blah, blah, blah… you know how it works. Leave a comment on this post by 10am PST, Friday Feb 8th., and the newest member of my staff will draw a comment number (who’s been too shy to come out up to this point - until now. But not until Friday).  Pattern available here.

For no reason other then I love playing with macro!

I heard about this on Adam Carolla this morning… and I think I have a crush on Mark.

UPDATED 1/21/08, 10pm PST:
Comments are now closed. Tomorrow Karen and I will have 2 names drawn while we lunch (because this is how we roll). Our mystery drawer is being fiercely guarded. Stay tuned!
xo,
Monica

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I missed my 200th post (this post marks an obscure #225). I’m too lazy to look at how many comments I have. My blogaversary is in some-other month. I’ve got nuttin. Just a really cool giveaway - complements of my sistah-friend Karen Snyder.

Hmmm… what should I celebrate. Thinking. Thinking. Oh, I know! I’ll make a big to-do-ha-ha over the fact that my flickr photo of my studio has had more views then of my photo of Karen’s studio. Monica -vs- Karen. No, no, no. I can’t do that. That would just be mean of me (moo ahh haa haa). And besides - now everyone is going to go look… and there goes Karen’s view count back up again.

This blogebration is about Karen. Not because she’s such a great friend (even though she claims that MY parents think SHE’S their favorite “long-lost” daughter). No. This blogebration is because even with all that talent of hers - she has no stinkin’ blog! I’m sorry Karen, but your newsletter is just not enough!

So here’s the deal. Leave a comment telling Karen to GET A BLOG - and win this wonderful Fat Quarter Fun book by Karen (and signed just for you)! Giveaway ends 10pm PST on January 21st, 2008 and a name will be drawn the following day.

Ok… enough about Karen. [begin Jan Brady whine] Karen, Karen, Karen! [/end Jan Brady whine]…

I have my favorite part in Bundles of Fun, and that’s on page 17 - with shots of some of my quilt labels, and one of them couldn’t thrill me more. The label is of my “Basilisa’s Garden” quilt that I named after my late paternal grandmother - the beautiful Basilisa Solorio. OHMYGOSH. My grandmother. In a book. A book I tell you… A BOOK! My dad read it and I thought he was going to cry. Hard to explain… but it means so much to me to have that label in Karen’s book… and for the whole world to see it! So because I’m feelin’ all warm and fuzzy… I’m sweetening the pot with a copy of Fat Quarter Fun from me too.

Two books = two winners! One from Karen, and one from The Favorite Daughter (that’s me, regardless of what Karen says).

Get a blog Karen. Get a blog. :)

My super-sweet, super-fun and super-awesome friend Raesha tagged me with this meme. I was reading it and thought it was so neat - I had actually planned on swiping it. But no crime was committed since I saw that she tagged me at the end. I’m not going to tag anyone, but rather make an open-tag. So if you wanna play on your blog - leave a comment saying you’re playing.

8 Passions in my life:
My family
My friends
Living a good life
Quilting - sewing - embroidery
Crafting
Eating food other people cooked
Color
Being cozy at home surrounded by family

8 Things to do before I die:
Own a huge piece of land and live in my own village with everyone in my family.
Go to Paris, London, Spain and the Iowa State Fair (really)
Go back to Germany
Build a big studio
Learn to read music and play the piano
Lower my cholesterol
Get a de-boob job
To witness and live on a planet with no war

8 things I often say:
I love you
Holy crap
Shit, no shit and oh shit
The F word (sparingly though - I hope)
WTF, OMG and BTW
I’m pretty sure I was doing 55, officer.
Where do you want to go to dinner?
I’d like 2 yards please.

8 books I’ve read recently:
Books? How ’bout what I’ve just plain read lately…
The Target ad
Instructions on the Ikea chive sauce mix (WTF??? I need 1.77 oz of butter?)
Crate & Barrel catalog
FEMA forms, contractor bids and insurance papers
Debbie McComber’s “street books” series (I’m up to #3)
The Daily Astorian
The Oregonian
My latest cholesterol results (which have improved)

8 Songs that mean something to me:
Where You Lead - Carole King
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Dear Mr. President - Pink
Not Ready to Make Nice - The Dixie Chicks
Candle in the Wind (the Dianna version) - Elton John
All Kinds of People - Big Mountain
Oh Bla Di Oh Bla Da - The Beatles
Hawai‘i Pono‘i - written by King David Kalakaua

8 Qualities I look for in a friend:
This is Raesha’s list… but it’s exactly what I would say.
Honesty
Compassion
Humor
Charity
Loyalty
Uniqueness
Silly
Loving

8 TV shows I never miss:
Lost
Amazing Race
Nip / Tuck
Big Love
Entourage (oh yeah, oh yeah)
Project Runway
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
Jimmy Kimmel
Survivor

8 Radio shows I listen to:
Adam Carolla (and Teresa Strasser) - KLSX
Heidi, Frank and Frosty - KLSX
Daria and Mitch - KRSK
Fresh Air with Terry Gross - NPR
Car Talk - NPR
BBC World News - NPR
Ooops. That’s six

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Thank you Rae-Rae!

Edited in:
I noticed there were SIX things on my EIGHT things list. So I added two of my own after the six from Raesha’s. Not very creative on my part - but it’s something I like to read about from everyone else.

If fabric is my food, and patterns are my recipes… then why is my cholesterol so high? I know why - because I can’t cook. Recipes perplex me, food combinations bewilder me, and ideas escape me. I wish I had the same enthusiasm for creating dinner as I do my sewing and quilting projects. I should just rewrite my few recipe cards with more alluring terms:

2⅔ yd. fresh salmon
1½ x 3½” of cilantro
1” butter
3¼” wine
1 fat quarter sliced avocado
2 spools of lime juice
¼” salt and pepper to taste
Cut, sew, press. Heat on high steam setting. Embellish with avocado.

But that’s not gonna happen. So I’ll just keep focused on sewing & quilting - and continue to support my local dining establishments. And this is what I’ve been focused on for the last few days. Gawd I love this fabric! One of my all time faves. It’s one of Darlene Zimmerman’s from her Little Darlings 5 for Robert Kaufman. Not much of a shot… but it’s still a prototype.

A tease? I danno. Unlike this tease… as soon as the Better Homes & Gardens Quilts and More Spring issue hits the newsstand… it will no longer be a tease. I’m not the only tease… there’s is a nice shot of my Secret Project #1 near the back of the Q&M Winter issue on the “coming soon” page.

I’m preparing my neck with vitamins, exercise and a strict strengthening work-out - for my head is sure to snap off next week from all the added growth and weight. ESPECIALLY since my head had already stated swelling soon after I heard from Caren at HGTV.com - that she wanted to put my little “ironing center” pic in her newsletter. Oh yeah… my head’s REALLY close to snapping off after I saw this.

Aside from the fun of having my little ironing center on HGTV.com, I got to e-meet the super sweet Caren and learn that there is soooo much more then I ever imagined at HGTV.com. I know, I sound like an blogomercial… but I was really amazed to learn of all the good stuff at their site. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one on the planet who doesn’t know about cool places and stuff. One-stop click… just check out Caren’s fabo blog Design Happens - and that will lead you to all the goodies. Comment and say hello… then check out all of her HGTV links. Seriously… you could be there for hours reading. Seeing. Drooling. Absorbing. If there is just one link you click on from this post (even though I hope you click them all)… check out this photo of Caren’s. Get a towel first. You’re gonna need it to mop up your drool.

I’m on my second towel.

I have a Euro-pass aboard this train - and I just can’t seem to hop off the Sidetrack Express. Trying to catch up with everyone, write a pattern that’s due, mountains of laundry, get out of my jammies, blah, blah, blah… and up pops the greatest little toot on June’s blog. I couldn’t just try this later when I had more time. No. I had to do this now. Right now. And now the bee is flying up my butt again, as I’m already fusing fabric to cardstock in my head! Must get off the train. Must get off the train. Must get off the train. What’s really scaring me is if I go here, here and here… I know all three of those fabric-pimpettes are going to send me to another project I’ll want to start RIGHT NOW.

I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s on the train with me. Click if you dare.

Sweet and innocent Mr. Mochiko…
Watching.
Waiting.
This purse strap is MINE! At least I can say my sewing is done. ~WHEW! Ha. For now at least. But I do so love to sew.

And now Mamacita Naturita has it in for me too. It’s snowing! Doesn’t she know I have a deadline???