Happy Zombie

I’m so passionate about Iraqi Bundles of Love.   My first bundle is already in Iraq, and all I want to do is send more, more, more. There are no words to express my joy when I saw the photos of my bundle in Iraq. IN IRAQ!   Thanks to Art La Flamme (aka IBOL Guy), and with the help of his wife Kristin La Flamme… there’s a new Oprah in town.

Because of IBOL - we’ve been given the opportunity to give big.  To be ambassadors in global kindness.  Little grass roots grow into big beautiful bountiful harvests - and continue to grow and grow.   Bundle by bundle.   My deepest thanks and gratitude to the La Flamme’s for giving me the privilege of Doing Something and Making A Difference. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!  And thank you to all the good people who serve our country… and also to those who are servin’ up the Bundles of Love in Iraq.

And because my creek-bed of curiosity never runs dry, I’d love to know via comments what you’ve sent or plan to send or what you think is a good idea to send.  I’m thinking my next bundle I’m going to name.  It seems only fitting that I name it Stephen.  Stephen Colbert.  And the one after that… I’m calling the next bundle Al Roker. It think we should all name our bundles!

I made myself an IBOL button, and please help yourself to one (or both).   SPREAD THE GOOD WORD!  Two options, 1) download the button, or 2) snag the code, or 3) print it out and pin it to your clothing.  Enjoy!

Yellow & Pink, 130 px wide:

<a href=”http://ibol.wordpress.com”><img src=”http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/cheesezom/ibol_yellow_130.jpg” alt=”Iraqi Bundles of Love” width=”130″ height=”172″ border=”0″></a>

Green & Blue, 130 px wide:

<a href=”http://ibol.wordpress.com”><img src=”http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/cheesezom/ibol_green_130.jpg” alt=”Iraqi Bundles of Love” width=”130″ height=”172″ border=”0″></a>

Lucky me (super lucky me), Jona is visiting the motherland - and I got to be a part of her visit!   Non stop talking and laughing - and even some tweeting thrown in.

Tweet-n-Eat… it’s what happens when two friends meet up for dinner and their iPhones are just as important as their forks and knives!

Then after the tweets come checking the @replies and txt’s…
Me: Pam wishes she was here too! (and we did too!)
Jona: Bari says hi! (Hi back, Bari!)
Me: Patty says it looks like we’re having a great time (we WERE!)
Me: Joanna says no fair… she wants to be here eating fish and chips instead of writing patterns & prepping ads… (us too!)

Some days I shun technology [insert Laure Ingalls fantasy life here], but had it not been for technology and blogging… I never would have met Jona. Well, I think we would have met eventually… but it sure made it faster with the help of technology. Speed friending. AND… we kinda had our friends join us for dinner… three snaps in Z formation for technology!

Before dinner, I give Jona the not so E-ticket tour of Hacienda Happy Z… like making her walk through the golden retriever mine field to show her my secret forest - and show her were I want to park my fantasy camper.

We had so much fun, and it went all to fast. There was never a moment where we weren’t talking. And never ever have I ever seen such attentive service at The Wet Dog. Our twenty something waiter was at our table I think every 5 minutes. But I can see why, when this person is at your table!

Saying good-bye is hard - luckily it was bone chilling cold or we would have stood by our cars for a couple more hours chatting! Good-bye Miss Jona Arizona… hurry back soon - and thank you for making me a part of your trip home!

Come on in.  Right under Pam’s bridge (aka The Astoria-Megler Bridge) is Three Cups Coffee House in the beautifully restored old Finnish Meat Market on W. Marine in Astoria’s Uniontown district.  3CCH shares this space with Columbia River Coffee Roaster, aka the Thundermuck peeps.   Artisan hands and fantastic beans… 3CCH can do great coffee while standing on their heads.  Blindfolded.  Spinning.  While jumping rope. And chewing gum.

But something else has brought me to 3CCH - not just the great coffee and panini’s.  A little voodoomoojoo.
Yup.
Voodoo Doughnuts of Portland.
No way.
YES WAY!
Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday they can be found at 3CCH.

Naturally I’m drawn to the closest doughnut to resemble a zombie.  I’m not quite clear if that pretzel is his belly button… or something else.  I’ve looked at Voodoo Doughnut’s menu and saw the bachelorette party doughnut… so I’m pretty sure it’s something else.  And I do believe he’s happy to see me.

I don’t know that I’d be happy with my guts ooozing out if I were a doughnut. But the fact that I’m eating a doughnut that has guts makes me happy.

So now I have a fantasy… that Voodoo Doughnuts creates a zombie doughnut.  A happy zombie doughnut, with sweet cream cheese and strawberry jam filling (because of course, the zombie just had a full supper of brains).  I dream big. {{Pssst… Cat Daddy and Tres, I have sketches.}} Please tell me that everyone wants a food item/dish named after them. Right? I want to know!

After dessert, it’s time for lunch. T-man had a roast beef panini, and I a Prosciutto and cheese panini with a balsamic chaser. KILLER panini’s.

This just floated my boat. What I also love about 3CCH is that they’re so green.  So here’s the thing. Those aren’t cloth napkins… they’re IKEA dishtowels cut in half and then hemmed on the raw edge. I know this… because I DO THAT TOO! I was destined to be a patron of 3CCH.

They walk the walk.  I love this. I love 3CCH.

Leah and Carly, who welcomed us into their sanctuary and made us feel loved and nourished.

From The Daily Astorian’s Coast Weekend: “The name is based on the book “Three Cups of Tea,” and the new business owners hold strongly to the Middle Eastern proverb: “First cup you’re a visitor, second cup a friend, third cup you’re family.”
Three Cups Coffee House made us feel like family after the first cup.

I teased about it here - that something was up.  A lot of laughing and trunky-business… and now the cat’s out of the bag and our story will be told.  Our day at Alex’s - she interviewing Pam, Elizabeth and me for the Daily Blog at The Quilt Show.   I cringe seeing myself on video.  For certain I thought I looked like Heidi Klum as my parents have told me… only to discover it’s not true… is so very painful.  So, so, so very painful.   Grab some popcorn, Red Vine’s and Milk Duds… and enjoy the six part series of the Blogging Queens Adventure - Part One.

Bonus features…  behind the scenes.  Or more appropriate… behind the screams.

Pam and Alex prepping for production. That’s right.  TV lingo.

Alex and Pam prepping.  More TV lingo… Monica:  When does the craft services truck come?

Pam and Alex get Pam’s quilt hung on the wall.

Elizabeth (and her quilt) gets hung on the wall.  Don’t worry E, those pins should stop hurting in about 5 minutes.

Alex posing for her Al Roker shot.

Elizabeth gets interviewed.

Pam gets interviewed.

Dueling interviews. Alex interviewing Pam who’s interviewing Alex, and so and so forth and they told two friends who told two friends…

No relevance to the story… just a cute shot of Pam.

All three of us getting interviewed. This was my favorite part, as Alex had us place our blogging arsenal in front of us. If only we had had ONE MORE camera to take a photo of it all. Good thing Alex was armed with a video camera. My other favorite part was saying my blog was ad free… and poof, I now have an ad! I should have said my blog has no X-5. POOF.

As it turns out, the entire morning was one big rouse for me to pay up on my TQS membership.

“No, no, no… we don’t take American Express“. Later I was flogged, tarred and feathered.  I’m thinking that entering Pam’s contest might be in order. Or dig out my Visa… because I want full access at TQS.  And besides… these #@$%! feathers hurt.

Behind the screams… Elizabeth & Alex = trunky-business.

How nice… Pam even provides a complementary ¼ full bottle of water for her trunk *quests*. You know you’ve arrived when you’ve landed in Pam’s trunk. You know you’re an A-Lister when you’ve been served a ¼ full bottle of PKM water.

Blogging Queens Adventure:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6 Fin

Twitter… not just for getting traffic updates or reading what Stephen Colbert wants for breakfast. Every now and then Twitter shines in this amazing and powerful way.  Like watching a snowflake turn into a snowball.  I saw Kathy had tweet’d “Iraqi Bundles of Love, a project to distribute sewing supplies before Kristin’s husband departs Iraq” along with a link to here.

I read Kristin’s post, and that led me to her husband’s blog Iraqi Bundles of Love (aka IBOL) with more info.
What to do.
How to do it.
When to do it by.
I’m so in. In. In. IN!

I lovingly wrapped up tons of fat quarters and yardage, and even added one of my Strawberry Delight needlebooks.  My yellow ribbon was intentional and symbolic.

Something magical and wonderful happens when you Give… you immediately Get. Big time. The Get is always bigger then the Give. And an empty shelf in which to buy and store new fat quarters and yardage on… that’s gravy.

Not too long ago I became the caregiver to three new darling books.  Not just darling darling… but vavavavoom DARLING DARLING.   Quilting in No Time, The Perfect Apron and Super-Cute Crochet remind me of Japanese craft books, but with one notable difference… I CAN READ THEM! Either they’re written in English - or I’ve gained a super power over-night and am now fluent in Japanese.

My crocheting history is that of some granny squares I had to try (remember the Granny Along?). I’ve had my eye on amigurumi ever since I discovered it a few years ago. But I didn’t know how, and crochet instructions/patterns might well have been penned by Tutankhamu. Super-Cute Crochet promised me, “Learn the Japanese art of amigurumi or how to crochet cute small animals”. I’m in.

I had the same feeling when I learned to drive a manual transmission - that I had when I learned the mysterious crochet code. The secret handshake known only to crocheters. Euphoria. I learned something I’ve been yearning to learn.  And now I can make eggs.  I feel like the world is my oyster now.  Meh, now I can make oysters if I want to. I’m drunk on empowerment.

But for now, I can’t stop making eggs. Where ever I go… I’m making eggs. I have my little tote that Lisa made me a few years ago - my official hatchery 2-go.  Road delays? No problem.

Come to think of it, I don’t know why I’d want to make snot in a shell oysters… when I have Pickle the puppy at my finger tips.

I think I can.
I think I can.
I think I can!

I discovered I could reinvent myself in the past.  I’m totally diggin’ the ‘54 look for me right now. How cool am I in 1954.  SERIOUSLY.   I can’t stop looking at my ‘54 nerd-self but cool in ‘09 look.  Of course I’d never be able to pull that off now-a-days… one has to be a member in the League of Super Cool People for that look.  But I can pretend.

Me through the years:
1962 - Off to college to get my M.R.S.
1964 - M.R.S. on hold.  I discover fast cars and faster boys.
1984 - I discover that my parents are Sigfried & Roy and a lion.
1996 - Farm reporter on a local Iowa NBC affiliate.
1998 - The year of my gender identity crisis.
2000 - I go on a break with my boyfriend and hang out all day with my friends a the local coffee house.

Thanks to the Triplets for turning me on to YearbookYourself.com!

Going through my iPhoto’s 12,320 photos, I spot many photos I’ve never done anything with. They just sit there - waiting to be seen, waiting to be shared, waiting to be used. Like food that keeps getting shoved further and further to the back of the fridge.

When life gives you ingredients… make casserole.

Rainier Cherries.  Not just delicious… but oh so pretty.  Speaking of cherries… how ’bout that Mary Engleblog!

And one with a little junk in the trunk.

Chaos at dusk (my flash went off).

Less chaos at dusk (and holding my flash pop-up down).

Le Mona de Dollypop on my shelf-o-joy - darling-gasp-cute-gasp-adorable Lemon Dollypop made by Jenny.

PerezHilton-ishy fun with my iPhone app called MyPaint.  A secret known to only a few… Pam is my beverage buddy.  Yup.  We’ve shared hundreds of beverage phone pics between us.  Because this is how we roll.

My lunch at the Daily Cafe at OHSU’s South Waterfront campus in Portland.   A grilled panini with brie, pears, watercress and caramelized onions with a navy bean soup chaser.  And milk.  I always have milk.  This is NOT your grandmother’s hospital food.

Boy’s Day (May 5th) at Uwajimaya in Beaverton.

Girl’s Day (March 3rd) at Kinokuniya Books - every day is Girls Days when I get to shop in the craft section at Kinokuniya.

Goofing around at HomeGoods in Goodyear, Arizona.
THINK FAST, Karen!

Good catch, Karen. Good catch.

My paraphernalia. And I mean that exactly as it sounds.

And now I must nap.

When Kari of ArtsyMama said she was hosting a Blogging For Bliss party to celebrate the official release of Tara Frey’s new book, I honestly had no idea how an online party worked. I still don’t. So I RSVP’d and said I’m makin’ and bringin’ my deviled eggs. I don’t know who else is bringing snacky snacks, but you can visit all the RSVP’d guests on Kari’s sidebar under “BOOK RELEASE PARTY BLOGROLL”. Got to all of their blogs and DEMAND some party food.  I was hoping to have the B4B book from Lark to prize-off by the time I made this post - but it hasn’t arrived yet.  I guess that means another post, and another couple dozen deviled eggs to make.  I may even make Rice Krispy treats for that post.  Stay tuned.

There are 50 bloggers who contributed in Blogging for Bliss, so you KNOW it’s chalk full of great info. A must have book for all bloggers, especially a new blogger or someone jumping into blogland.  I’ve already recommended it to people who’ve asked me about blogging.  I LOVE THAT!  Blogging for Bliss to my rescue!  And thank you Queen of Cuteness Jenny for the adorable allsortsified B4B button!

I’m privileged and honored to be featured in Tara’s book.  The best part - is being featured along with some of my greatest friends…. like my flat mate page mate Happy. I love how Happy Loves Rosie and Happy Zombie were featured on adjoining pages. How happilicious! Now to convince my page mate to ship me her amazing Happy Shabby Vintage Caravan!  The way I look at it,  Happy and I are practically family now - I see no reason for her not to share her caravan with me (other then the Atlantic Ocean being a wee bit of an obstacle).

Mmmm… do I smell beans n weenies???