Happy Zombie

… 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?

The T-man and I met on Valentines Day. We were both young and skinny. And this is my story.

We met at bar.
You did not have a car…
but you did have a big white boat.
I watched you from afar,
no you did not have a scar…
I liked what I saw under that dark blue coat.

With my girlfriends we all danced,
no men for us to prance.
I took the big chance,
and asked you to our dance.

My oh my you were a little shy,
and I fibbed a little lie…
and pretended to be shy.

This dancing was not so bad,
oh the fun that we had.
We were getting into the groove…
[brown - chicken - brown - cow]
and then I made my move…

Smack - you’re mine!
ILYMC!

It’s so hard to write this post without saying OHMYGOSH… but seriously… OHMYGOSH did I come across THE cutest pattern ever. Ever. EVER. I said EVER.

I saw this post on Craft: about a Bob Ross embroidery and went all goo-goo-Mc-drool-drool over it (who didn’t love Bob Ross and that little chipmunk he kept in his pocket?). Thinking how much I loved this style of art/embroidery… I instantly knew it was from the Doodle Stitching author, Aimee Ray.

So that lead to a click here, a click there… and then. And then. And then… (sorry, bad Dude Where’s My Car humor - I couldn’t resist)… and then… I found Aimee’s pattern for her ADORABLE felt Matryoshka nesting dolls. OHMYGOSH are they cute. Seriously, seriously, seriously cute. I swear I heard a harp playing when I first saw the photo. [Aimee’s flickr photo used with permission]

With Aimee’s permission, I enlarged the largest doll by 175% - and this is what I made:

Don’t ya just want to squeeze it? Sorry, but I won’t allow it. You’ll just have to make your own. I put the jar there for size reference. When I go big… I go BIG.

I didn’t give my doll a mouth… mine of course is a distant cousin of Hello Kitty and Mimi… so no mouth. I think her eyes are smiling. I did give my doll a name… Natasha. I’m giving her the option of joining the staff - I’m leaving it up to her. I think if the staff gets any bigger I’m gonna have a Dunder Mifflin on my hands before I can say dwight schrute three times, really fast. I know Natasha would like to be a cozy to something… but we just can’t figure out to what yet. We tried the iron, but the iron is too big. Tried my imac/monitor… but it’s too wide. So for now, Natasha is my giant water bottle cozy. Not really workin’ for me - or Natasha. Thinking. Thinking. Thinking…

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.

I’ve gotten emails asking for a pattern… so I made one and you can get the PDF pattern in my shop or at my Craftsy shop.

Though I didn’t make a sample, Jackie gave me a great idea to make one dipped in chocolate - so the pattern has a template for chocolate too. Zero fat… zero calories, enjoy!

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!

As a Californian, a snow day used to mean driving for hours up to the Sierra’s. After almost 9 years now of living on the Oregon coast… a single snowflake AT MY HOUSE sends me into a giddy childlike state. I will NEVER, EVER get tired of snow falling AT MY HOUSE. My HOUSE. Not a weekend trip to Tahoe or Big Bear… but at MY HOUSE. I realize people in Minnesota or Wisconsin might laugh at me, but this was my morning paradise on Monday…

The girls had even more fun then I did. Though I’m not too sure.

I see sno-cones.

Driving down my street I had an epiphany… I don’t know how the eff to drive in snow!

Plenty of this goin’ in the fireplace!

At least I’m not in flip-flops. A sure sign that I live in a Scandinavian community… if I tilt my head to the left - my shadow looks like a Dala horse.

A little sprinkle of “magic”, and it’s a red & aqua morning.

Cabbage-ishy. Kinda reminds me of the dress Chris & Christian designed on Project Runway.

First there’s laughter - then there’s tears. Good-bye snow. I will always love you. I’m not bitter that you’ve left me for some higher elevation. Just sad. I’ll be here waiting for you should you ever come back to me.

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

No blah, blah, blah… I’ll get right to the point! One contest, two winners. And the winners are…
Comment #32 - Tami of Lemon Tree Tails
and
Comment #126 - Mindy of Mindy Said! Yeah Tami and Mindy!

So now the blah, blah, blah. Going back in time (insert wavy tv magic trick going back in time, rubbing my chin and looking up and squinting)… to lunch on a beautiful sunny day at the Bridgewater Bistro in Astoria… Karen and me yackin’ it up and having a fab, fab, fab lunch and time together.

Columbia River traffic - watching the ships go by. Well, not us. But these people are watching. We were watching the people.

The ultimate place I want to cocoon in with the T-man on a stormy weekend. The Cannery Pier Hotel.

Lunch at the Bridgewater was great - dessert was divine. I’ve been on a Bread Pudding World Tour to find the best. My journey is now over - and right here in my own backyard. Bread pudding from fresh baked bread (from scratch) with Cremé Frech, Cognac and dried cranberries. TO DIE FOR!

Karen’s dessert - Carrot Cake with candied carrots and Cardamon. Karen said it tasted like Sweden. I can honestly say we had a healthy lunch. Karen had veggies - carrots. I had fruit - cranberries. No carbs, no calories, and certainly no twisted rationalization. Sorta kinda honestly.

Even the HZ staff got to go today. Here’s the staff validating the winning comment numbers. Mimi, PA Bob, St. Joe-Joe and the newest member of the staff… Heinzelmännchen Hans-Olaf (he’s half German half Swedish, don’t ya know). I have to keep an eye on naughtly little Hans-Olaf… he’s always hiding my stuff behind his back. One time he even took the entire month of December and hid it from me. But on most days, he just likes to eff with me and hide my glasses, my keys, important receipts, my car in the Safeway parking lot, and so on. I’m really concerned about what he’s hiding back there today.

Our draw-er was Mr. Bridgewater Cafe himself… Tony Kischner. Tony’s put many a meal in front of me here, here and now here. Great guy, great sense of humor… and great food! Here Tony draws Mindy’s comment number.

Here Tony draws Tami’s comment number. Thank you Tony! BTW… Mimi’s got herself a new cause - and sporting her new bracelette… WristStrong. Go Mimi, go!

Karen signing her book as the staff watches on. Hans-Olaf reminding Karen it’s Tami with an “i” and one “m”. I have a sneaky suspicion he’s got Tami’s other “m” behind his back.

Thank you all for playing and leaving the sweet comments for Karen. [whispering] I think she really got the message to get a blog [/whispering]. ;)
And now I must nap.