where the crafty ladies be at...who knew?

i love the world of crafty blogging. i could spend hours reading what these folks have to say about crafting and baby tending and crafting some more (amanda soule is my new hero). and honestly, this year has brought about for me a new interest and love in learning and finally doing. just doing. the doing has been a little slow, especially when i don't know how to properly use my sewing machine or when i feel overwhelmed to the point of giving up. but the inspiration keeps me going.

so back to that doing. well, i recently discovered a facet of the world of crafty blogging--one that i really knew existed, but perhaps wasn't ready to journey into until i had figured out how to use that ol' machine. that would be the one where they actually show you how to do it...so that you can do it now and stop not doing. duh, that's what the crafty bloggers are supposed to do, no?

craftapple is such a site. the owner not only posts her love of the craft, but shouts, in bright colors "hey, i can do make this and that and here's how, sister". the owner (ms. apple?) posts tutorials and patterns made with delish fabrics (joel dewberry, amy butler) in addition to maintaining an etsy site. so you can buy, but also learn, make and do. three cheers for the spirit of sharin! hip-hip-hooray!

baked orange FINGERTIP!

I'm guessing that these came out in 2003, which is the pretty much when I fell off of the face of the earth, because I had no idea that Baked Cheetos existed until today. And apparently they taste exactly the same as the old regular kind--cheese breath and unhealthy food coloring included. I'm quite excited and plan to use it in my celebration of "end-of-poison-ivy-coming-out-of-my-body, beware of the 'roids" week.

Baked Cheetos!!! You know, though that this means that there will be double the amount of orange filament on my fingertips--yet with half of the fat. Now for the collective "eeeew"...you know you love it!

conversions and the mr. t

i had to convert inches to yards for my non-numbers self today and found this handy site along the way:
http://web.telia.com/~u54504162/javascript/convert/

this tool helps you convert basically anything you need to, from money to measurements to volume for cooking, and weights and area (all up in your area!). i had to calculate how many yards of divine amy butler fabric i'd need for some curtains. i'm off to order.

oh, another note: steroids that help treat poison ivy (bitch!) also make you INSANE. seriously. i feel like mr. t. today, only slightly less mr. and a little more bi-polaroid. just wanted to share that. stay away from the 'roids!!! eek.

have a lovely day.

lyrics for my new poison ivy song, entitled "poison ivy: bitch, 2007"

poison ivy
in my yard
BITCH!

dormant in silence
"it's just a bug bite"--NO
BITCH!

on my legs
for a week
BITCH!

poison ivy
she is mean
BITCH!

crappy medication
looks like bad foundation
BITCH!

urgent care
to repair
BITCH!

looks like i've
got fried turkey legs
BITCH!

fasting 2 days
to make it go away
BITCH!

cephalexin
and prednisone
to heal my wounds
BITCH!

i'll never wear shorts
when i do yard work
BITCH!

If this woman were on Top Chef, she would take down Tom Colicchio and then cook him up with a nice risotto.

If you live in or stop by Columbus, Ohio, you must get yourself to Alana's Food and Wine. Meet Alana Shock. This woman is a force for good food, a lover of fine wine and magician of tasty morsels. And the language she speaks is food--all food. My husband and I had our wedding reception at her restaurant and gave her full control over the menu. As a chef she is trustworthy and the food is always impeccable.

I had a special opportunity to eat at her home the other night--something I will always be grateful for. For her, it was a simple BBQ with some friends. However, for me, it was an opportunity to transport myself to another land where Morningstar Farms and frozen peas don't exist and the the honor and love of cooking reign.

She served up a fabulous spread of food, including ribs slathered in tasty BBQ sauce and flank steak that I probably could have been buried with. "Oh, no problem being dead now. As long as I have this steak...we'll be okay." I ate so much food that I think I hit the brim of my throat. Now, I know that this is really not what you do when you are eating such fucking incredible food ("savor it!"), but when you are me and you need to hold on to a little to save for the rest of the bland vegetarian week, you take all that you can. I seriously ate so much meat, that I won't have to eat meat until Thanksgiving 2008.

Have I been inspired to get off my ass and make good food? You bet. There's no need not to ever, ever. So I have to hit the books and get myself learned up! Thank goodness Fall will keep me indoors where I can take my time practicing. Get me the risotto!!!

carb tuesday

i can not believe how many bread products i have consumed today. here's the list:

2 slices of bread (for a turkey sandwich)
2 ginormous bob evan's biscuits*
2 ginormous slices of banana nut bread*

my oh my. and now for the sugar crash.

*given to me by a coworker who can not consume gluten

tomorrow will be an all lettuce wednesday. and tomorrow, i will turn into a carbutterfly.

a peek goodbye at summer

http://flickr.com/photos/bellabluebell/967550659/