Starry Night Dress for sale

Starry Night Dress is for sale!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/65825695/hand-painted-starry-night-strapless

Quick update

On the fight front - I've been to the gym 3 times in the last week or so. Each time working harder and longer focusing on cardio. I also bought a new stabilization ball I am thinking of bringing the office to try to sit on for a few hours a day.

Current weight Calc = -5lbs. I know most of it is water, but it's still nice to see the number go down :)

I had money in hand to go to the vending machine and turned around to get my carrots and hummus out of the fridge. If you haven't had Trader Joe's Horseradish hummus it is kind of amazing! i want to try to make roast beef wraps with sharp Cheddar cheese and this stuff as the spread. Maybe I can get the supplies this weekend.

Testing- other than about an hour spent studying while waiting for my car at the shop I have been slacking on this regard. I'm waiting to see how some deadlines play out but plan on hitting the books soon.

Etsy fun - I sold my first set of cards the other day. I got so excited I immediately put them in the mail. It wasn't until I was laying in bed last night that I realized that I had forgotten to include the envelopes. I put them in the mail this morning along with an apology note and email. Fingers are crossed for an ok review from the buyer. I also hope to have my Halloween dress up for sale soon. I'm having trouble photographing it but have a few ideas in mind.

Etsy Shop is open for business!

Etsy shop is open for business so come take a look!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Caterwauled

So far lots of photo cards, they make great gifts!

New Year’s Resolutions 2011

2010 was a year of fun, food, and friends. It was so much fun that I am now forced to ground myself for the entire year of 2011….no more fun, food, and studying will most likely keep me from friends. Sad I know. It sounds worse than it is. Pretty much, last year I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and now I need to deal with the consequences.

Fun: Trips to Vegas, NYC twice, Home, London, and Scotland along with the purchasing of two new cameras and three new designer chairs has pretty much drained all of my funds. I am starting the New Year with a little over $30 in my savings account and more credit card debt than I care to mention. All is not lost, but it is just time for me to take care of things. As a reward for being good this next year I want to take a trip the next summer to either Greece or Ireland, or maybe both J. That is if I can get my financials under control. Today I made an appointment to take my car in for its 15,000 mile checkup. I will be using the money my dad gave me for Christmas for this instead of the printer I have been stalking online. Boo for being a grown up L

Food: as you may have noticed I have gained approximately 42lbs since college and 53lbs since high school. I know I will never be back to what I was when I was 17 (or do I really want to) but this year is time for a lifestyle change. I have to stop eating what I want, when I want it, and start using my gym membership that I pay for each month. I am not promising to get up at 5am everyday and run 5 miles, but my goal is to go at least 3 to 4 times a week. This coupled with a healthy diet consisting of reduced proportions and less baking should help me get my weight to a more manageable number. I’m not saying I’m going to stop experimenting the kitchen all together, more that I’m going to try to limit it to people’s birthdays and the weekends. No more baking just for the house, if it is coming out of the oven it needs to be going out the door! Sorry roomies.

Friends: Although I am always looking for new friends and always up for a goodtime, this year must be a year of discipline. I have been approved to start taking my ARE’s (architectural licensing exams) and I am giving myself this year to take 6 of the 7. There is a structures class only offered in January that I will wait until next year to take. Each test will cost almost $300 and I am only reimbursed if I pass, so this kind of goes hand and hand with my money goals.

This post is stating my goals out loud and on paper therefore if I don’t meet them I will have to face not only myself but all of you at the end of the year! Hopefully most of the following posts will be me writing in triumph, not whining about how it's too hard. Wish me luck, 2011 here I come!

A Very Puppy Christmas

As many of you know we decided to stay in Daphne this year for Christmas. I missed seeing everyone in Indiana but it was nice to come home. It has been over a year since I had make it home, which is way too long. The holiday itself self was really relaxed, some friends came over for dinner and we all just kind of hung out. One of the best parts was all the puppies. My parents have three: Payton the Great Dane, Boo the black lab, Hali the min-pin; my sister just inherited their newest boxer mix rescue Layla and I brought hope. So in total we have five dogs ranging from about 5lbs-135lbs. So needless to say it was a very puppy Christmas. I had to post a few pics because they are all just so cute.

Other than laying around and eating amazing food all day I have been able to spend some time with good friends and see some long lost high school classmates. All in all, a pretty great and relaxing vacation. Tomorrow is New Years Eve, then Saturday I start my trek back to VA. But until then, I’ll enjoy a few more hours on the being lazy with the pups, and maybe another amazing sunset before I head home.

Christmas gifts 2010

This year I decided to make presents. It started because of my tight budget but also because I enjoy doing it. This year I made a couple things. For my dad’s side of the family I made ornaments and garlands out of an old book my dad’s grandmother had given me years ago. The binding was broken and I thought it would be fun to share. I started by buying a circle cutter (about $15 and can be found in the scrap booking isle of your local Wal-Mart) and cutting 3” circles. I also mutilated one of my antrhopologie catalogs to give it a bit of color. I love their ads and use of color and patterns so I thought it was a good choice. After you have a stack of circles cut group them into stacks of about 4-6 circles each. Then begin to sew a strip together skipping about 2” in-between each. To make ornaments just sew one stack together. I think these came out well and slipped nicely into a card.

With the cards I included a stack of my homemade photo cards showcasing my trip to the UK this September… post to follow soon. I hope to start selling these on Etsy.

Also inside the cards was a cd with a .pdf of a book I put together of all the recipes I tried this year, with lessons learned for each. I will start posting them one at a time after the New Year, so keep checking back for updates.

On the baking front I made the white chocolate macadamia tart from thanksgiving, the spiced cake balls and homemade peppermint patties, see below

Peppermint Patties:

Ingredients

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

4 cups confectioners' sugar

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoons shortening

Directions

-In a large mixing bowl, combine condensed milk and peppermint extract.

-Beat in enough confectioners' sugar, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough that is no longer sticky.

-Form into 1 inch balls, then place on waxed paper and flatten with fingers to form patties. Let patties dry at room temperature two hours, turning once. Or put in freezer for about 15 min

-In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate with shortening, stirring often. (This also works in the microwave stirring every 30 sec.)

-Remove from heat. Dip patties, one at a time, into chocolate by laying them on the tines of a fork and lowering the fork into the liquid. Let cool on waxed paper until set. (Make sure to use fresh wax paper so you don’t get the excess sugar mixture stuck to the outside of the chocolates)

original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peppermint-Patties/Detail.aspx

Amazing weekend...the fun part!

Good things that happened this weekend:

-got to see M2, who i miss terribly

-got to eat creme brule donuts

-got to see Betsy for a few min and hear about all the wedding plans

-got to see our thesis project featured at MOMA

-bought the book for the exhibit

-saw my favorite painting in the entire world first hand

-ate an amazing 3 course greek meal with my favorite greek

-saw a really big christmas tree and amazing window displays

-hung out in a really cool loft with nice people and danced in a beauty shop

-nice french boys to dance with

-brunch with old friends, 2 years is too long, but it was like we all never left

-wondering aimlessly through central park and finding Madonna's bench

-peppermint hot chocolate

Pictures are up on fb

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2549633&id=7001589&l=f9b8a85caa