Thrifting in Austin

Okay, so you know Austin. It's weird, it's "hip", and retro is in. Naturally there are a ton of vintage/thrift stores everywhere. We ventured out to a few pretty cool ones today. I've recently became interested in collecting old pyrex, so I've been on the look out for places that might carry it.

First we went to Hogwild. They have a bunch of vintage furniture, homegoods, and some fabulous clothing from the 50's-70's. This is where I found one of the cutest and sweetest dresses ever. It was beautiful. It was white with thin vertical baby blue embroidered stripes, I should have taken a picture. It was the perfect length, not too short but not so long it looked frumpy. The perfect summer dress. I was IN love with this dress. And it fit me perfectly... except in my.. chest area. I couldn't get the zipper to shut and I was in danger of busting off the adorable cute oversized button it had in the front. I was seriously devastated and had a little minor melt down in the dressing room. I thought maaaybe I could alter it to fit, but there was no way. So if there is some tiny little lady out there in need of a fabulously fun wardrobe addition, this dress is waiting for you, go get it. Or I will buy it and just stare at it in my closet. My dream dress not fitting got me a little down, but I did find these FANTASTIC shoes:

They are the best. Little baby oxfords! I don't know a lot about shoes but I think they're vintage and they're Salvatore Ferragamo. And they say "Made in Italy" on them. Fancy! They are incredibly comfortable (like the softest leather I've ever felt on shoes) and fit me like a glove. And they say if the shoe fits... obviously wear that nonsense. The only problem with them is the insole is not attached so it comes out every time you take them off. I feel like that is easily fixable (super glue?) and if you have any ideas on the best way to do so, please share! I am sooo excited for fall to come so I can wear these and not have my feet sweat to death. Until then, I may or may not be wearing them around the house.

Next we went to Ermine Vintage which was more 80's-90's styling. I'm not really a fan of that kind of stuff, but it was definitely very entertaining to look at. They had some crazy dresses in there, puffed sleeves was only the beginning.

Our last stop, and original destination, was Room Service Vintage. This place was super cool. It was a lot like the first place but way bigger with way more stuff. They had a TON of awesome furniture (think velvet everything) that was in great shape. They also had pyrex! Mostly overpriced and damaged pyrex, but they had a couple pieces that were in good shape. I got the cutest little bowl. We probably paid too much for it, but it was calling my name.

Look at those stripes! Too cute. Yes I am calling a bowl cute. Don't judge me. I foresee eating guacamole out of this little baby.

On the way home Brendon and I discussed this new interest of mine (he's not too thrilled) and decided that our best bet would be garage and estate sales. Pyrex is a pretty common household staple in America and I'm out to find it on the cheap. Antique and vintage stores tend to mark it up like crazy because it's collectable, I saw some seriously gnarly bowls at that place for like $25. Get outa here with that! Garage/estate sales are probably our best bet. People who just want to get rid of their stuff and quick, I'm coming for your pyrex!

Brendon got a little tie clip while on our expedition. We found a bunch of neat ones (like one with a wellsfargo wagon on it!) but they were all gold and Brendon just can't pull off gold. A lot of people can't pull of gold actually. Including me. I think he may have been a little down about just getting a tie clip. There were tons of cool guys shoes but he has sasquatch feet so none of them seemed to be his size. Plus I made him look at pyrex. Poor baby! Next time we'll find more boy things. I did see him eying a bunch of vintage Playboys...

Baby Greg

Forgive me while I have a crazy cat lady moment, but isn't little Greg the sweetest?! I have never met a more affectionate, or weirder, cat. He LOVES to be pet, held, cuddled, kissed, and he will nuzzle and rub on you until the end of time. This is his happy place, curled up in my arms, purring/hyperventilating like no ones business. He's so sweet! Unfortunately he has dual personalities and turns into a little wiener whenever unfamiliar folks are around. However lately he's been getting pretty brave and coming out to investigate after only a few minutes of hiding. He can't stay away from potential petters! This is not the case with children though, especially those who are loud, which most children are. Greg can't hang with the kiddos. Sophie on the other hand is a champ. I think the only thing she's scared of is the vacuum.

In non-cat lady news, it is still a million degrees outside. September is just a few days away and I'm hoping it brings cooler weather at some point. Puh-puh-puh-lease Texas? Just let us get out of the 100+ degree days and back down to the 90's at least.

Pen Pals

Doctors visit wasn't so bad. My new doctor seems down to earth and very interested in my situation. We talked for a good while about everything which was nice, since usually I feel like doctors want you in and out as quickly as possible. I've got a new medicine to try and another appointment in 3 weeks. Hopefully we are making progress!

No joke, last night we went to bed at 8:30. Poor Brendon was such a sleepy baby! It's been such a long and stressful week for both of us, although way more so for him than me. He has so much on his plate right now, it's insane. We got a good 12 hours of sleep and then this morning we got up and went to eat at Magnolia Cafe on South Congress. And it was amazing. I'm a sucker for good breakfast food. My dad and step mom had recommended this place and it definitely delivered. And on the weekends they have brunch mimosa specials. I'm so there.

Sooooo lets be pen pals y'all. Are you in?

A big thanks to my iPhone and the hipstamatic ap for making my supplies look all vintagey and cool. 

My sweet friend Christine got me this cute stationary as a going away present! She is the best. I received a letter from her this week, I was sooo excited. Remember when you were younger and writing letters to your friends was the norm? Let's bring it back! Seriously, lets be pen pals! Let me know if you're interested and I will write you! And you can write me! And maybe I'll draw you a picture too (no promises on anything fantastic though). Lets make it happen!

Sick and tired

Jeeze I am beat. Between my body attempting to commit mutiny and consistently getting up before the butt crack of dawn, I am physically and mentally exhausted. I love me some morning shifts but damn, I can't wait to sleep in this weekend. I open the store tomorrow and then it's sleep fest 2011 for the next few days.

Actually before I can get my sleep on, I have a doctors appointment after work tomorrow. Have I told you that I'm not a huge fan of doctors? Seriously y'all. I'm nervous. It's a new doctor and I have to give my schpeel on what's wrong with me. Again. And Brendon is not going with me. He usually accompanies me to the doctor because I'm a weenie and he's a sweetheart. He's also good at saying what I wont. He says I have a tendency to make things seem like not a big deal when they are. So tomorrow I've got to man up and tell this new doc whats up. And hopefully she'll fix me, or at least make an honest effort. And be nice to me. My last stomach specialist seemed to not give an eff about what was wrong with me, which was not cool because she was not cheap. In an effort to save moola I'm just seeing a family doctor tomorrow. I don't really have high hopes. I've been on a gazillion medicines and had bunches of tests, I seem to be unfixable. Where's Dr. House when you need him? But, let's be optimistic. Maybe she'll have the answer. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow y'all, I'm tired of feeling like poo. I want to have a normal functioning body, what's that like?

Also, I have a feeling I'm not going to see my husband much until December. Pharmacy school = your whole life. Buh. This week has been rough. I need to keep thinking positive.

Pharm life

How cute are these shelves/cabinets in the pharmacy building at UT? This beauty is just chillin' in the hallway between classrooms and offices. There are tons of old shelves and displays like these around the building, this is the biggest I've seen. They have all kinds of old apothecary jars and such all over them and are made out of the most beautiful wood. I love it! They started the pharmacy school in 1893, so neat! It is ranked as the 4th best pharmacy school in the nation by some important source, but I forgot who. Newsweek? I donno. Obviously I am living vicariously through Brendon and am pretending that I am also a student at UT. We went to a mixer thingy tonight and I got to meet some of his many friends he's already made. They are all so sweet! He knows everyone, he's such a charmer.

I am sleepy. I am tired. I am worn out. I've been having some (understatement) health issues. I'm not going to go into it (if you know me well enough you're aware of most of it) but I've been having stomach pain problems for the past few years. And today was the worst it's ever been. It's getting to the point where it is GREATLY effecting my quality of life so I guess it's time to see a doctor again. Hopefully this time it will be a bit more successful and less expensive. I seriously dislike doctors. Pharmacists are much better.

White coated!

 

My sweet husband is now officially in pharmacy school! He received his white coat yesterday. Our families and I went to a family orientation beforehand. It was incredibly informative, and all I can say is he has his work cut out for him! These next four years are not going to be easy, but I have no doubt he will be successful and I'll be here by his side for tons of support.

I love this man so much. After we got home last night after all the festivities he surprised me with a trip to the spa to get a mani-pedi. What?! Presents for me when he's the one working so hard and being a badass on the daily?? How did I land this fantastic man? I do not deserve him but I am so glad I've got him and I'm never letting go. LOVE LOVE LOVE him. We've been apart all day, for the longest time in a while, I worked at 5:30 this morning and he wont be done with school stuff until 10 tonight. So today I'm having a girls day. After I got off work I took a nice little nap, then went to get my nails did, stopped by sonic to get a yummy blue powerade, came home and made myself some pasta, and am now curled up on the couch watching the Sound of Music with a beer. Pretty good day if you ask me! Brendon is definitely missing out.

So while I was at the spa today the lady doing my nails saw my rings and says, "Oh! You married?! I thought you very young!" I laughed and told her I am pretty young and that I'm 23. She then says, "Oh I thought you like 17!". Say what girlfriend? I enjoy looking young and all but 17? Jeeze. I'm sure I'd love to hear that 10 years from now, but I'm a little sad that I give the impression of a high school aged girl.

Now, lets talk about the Sound of Music. This movie is so legit. One of my all time favorite (maybe THE favorite) movies. I know every song by heart and have watched it probably hundreds of times. When I was little I used to spin around in the little field below our house pretending I was Maria singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music". Sound of Music for life y'all. Those shots of Austria and Salzburg at the beginning? TAKE ME THERE NOW. Captain von Trapp? You can whistle at me anytime. And Julie Andrews is such a boss. That voice! You go girl. Also I may or may not have seriously thought of naming my children (if I were to have any) after the von Trapp kids. Brigitta, Liesl, Marta and Gretl, SO CUTE! Is that weird? Yes. It is.

The candle experiment

I made candles! It was an interesting experience for sure, and luckily for you guys I documented it all in case you're ever in the mood to make your own. I briefly googled making candles but for the most part I just guessed and hoped for the best. I think I was fairly successful!

 This is the stuff I used: white wax crystals, assorted jars that I had (you probably have great ones in your fridge! We have an awesome pickle jar I was eying, but it's currently occupied by pickles), crayons to dye the wax (I was going for a warmer color scheme), scented oil if you'd like (I used "gingerbread and maple syrup" yummy!), and wicks with the metal things on the bottom. I got the wax, oil, and wicks from Hobby Lobby.

 You'll also need a double boiler set up. This is my ghetto arrangement. Pot on top of pot and it was definitely not level but it worked... until it came to pouring the wax. At Hobby Lobby they have little canisters with a spout/pouring thing made for making candles. If I ever got serious I'd get one because the wax went everywhere when I tried to pour it out of the pan. But messy is a lifestyle, and I'm living it, so no biggie for me. Oh! DEFINITELY put some wax paper down to catch the drips, spills, etc. And then you can peel off the extra wax to use again later!

At this point I was like, "omg they lied, this is clear wax!" because it becomes literally colorless as it melts, but it definitely cools white. I would have rather used colorless wax because this it gave my candles as pastel-milky look which is fine, but I was going for something brighter.

Here's the wax after I added the crayons. It looks like tomato soup! I used half a red orange crayon, half a yellow, and half a violet red. Then I added the scent, I used about 60 drops of oil. Not sure how much you're supposed to add but I'm all about fragrance, so I loaded up.

Unfortunately there is no documentation of me pouring the wax because that was a hot mess, wax everywhere. These are the candles after pouring the wax in. They go through a few color changes; at first the wax is brighter when it's liquid, then white-ish, then it darkens a bit as it cools. I used straws to help hold the wicks in place. Originally I had the wicks in first before pouring the wax in but I found it was easier to just add them after the wax is in the candle. With one bag of the white crystals I got these two candles. It didn't go quite as far as I thought.

 This was my next round, I used the left over spilled wax from the first round, half a yellow crayon and a whole dandelion crayon. Don't you love crayon names! Remember robin's egg blue?? I love crayons.

 This big candle used up the whole batch. Hopefully it burns slowly. You can really see the color change here!

All finished! They did the weirdest thing as they cooled, they kind of sunk in around the wick. I'm guessing it's from air in the wax or something. I don't know how you'd avoid that problem, I'm sure candle making pros have a solution.

All in all I'd call it a learning experience, it was fun but messy. It cost me $12 for the supplies from Hobby Lobby, so I'm not sure if it was worth it cost-wise since I only got three candles out of it and two of them are small. I'm sure you can buy wax in bulk for a better deal though if you got super serious. We'll see how they burn, if they smell really amazing I might keep this up.

In other un-candle news, today is a pool day! When Brendon gets home from work we're blowing up some floaties and lounging in the pool. Hopefully we don't die of heat exhaustion!

Lets talk about the weather

IT'S EFFING HOT. I know I'm stating the over stated obvious but damn. I just got back from running an errand and the back of my shirt is wet with sweat. So sexy. I think we've broken some record of the most days over 100 degrees in a row, plus zero rain. It's ridiculous. I never remember summer being so terribly hot. Cooler weather, I need you. Supposedly it's supposed to rain on Wednesday, the first day of school, but I wont believe it until I see it.

Anywho, when I was on previously mentioned errand, I was going to Hobby Lobby and HEB to get supplies to make candles. This was actually Brendon's idea. For a while now I've collected glass jars, bottles, anything glass really until I started running out of things to do with/places to put them. Brendon had the genius idea to make candles in them! I love candles, I love glass jars, and I love making things. Perfect combo! So I went to HEB to get a tin of coffee, I really just needed the metal coffee tin to melt the wax in, double boiler style without ruining a pot. So I find one and head home. I open it up, pour the coffee into a baggie for later, rip of the label and lo and behold, it's cardboard painted silver! The bottom of the tin was metal but the sides were cardboard. I was so pissed I actually screamed. It's my fault for not being more thorough in my coffee tin selection, but still. JEEZE. I know this is extremely uninteresting but I am uber-frustrated and really want to get my candle making on, so I had to vent. I think I'll just use a pot and hope I can clean it out.

On another note, while at Hobby Lobby, somehow I ended up in (actually I think I just gravitated towards it) the holiday section. Dangerous games people. I am a holiday freak, especially when it comes to Christmas. My favorite time of the year is just around the corner! The holiday season basically begins for me in October, because it's time for Halloween, which leads to Thanksgiving, which leads to Christmas. I cannot state enough how much I love the holidays. I love the music, the decorations (!!!), the sounds, the food, the spirit, I love it all. Just a couple months and it's on like donkey kong. Bring it on.

So since I am in the holiday spirit, I'll leave you with this:

 

Our sweet Christmas tree from last year. It's a fake, and only decorated from the middle up due to a certain couple of cats who think ornaments are toys. This was our poor tree's last year, Sophie had completely ruined the bottom branches by being fat and trying to sit on them so we decided to trash it as it was looking a little like Charlie Brown's tree. So this year we are getting a real tree! I'm so excited!

Okay okay, I'll stop with the holiday stuff. Just preparing you for whats to come. Think of all the crafting opportunities! This blogs gonna get festive.

Champion muffins

These are the best blueberry muffins ever. I'm just going to go ahead and say it. And I made them. And I don't even like blueberries. The recipe is here, aptly called The Best Blueberry Muffins Recipe. The only thing I'd change would be the amount of blueberries. It calls for 2 and a half cups, I only used 2 cups because it was all I had, but it was also two cups of the biggest blueberries ever. But that's from someone who doesn't like blueberries, so you can disregard that statement. Oh and I only used a pinch of nutmeg in the topping, because I don't care too much for nutmeg. Disregard this also if you love nutmeg. Brendon is a fan.

 

My delish breakfast this morning. Check out those massive blueberries! HEB, your produce is impressive.

Also this morning Sophie has been insane. She has her crazy pants on for sure. She's been following me around the house, meowing, rolling around, and getting onto every surface she shouldn't be. She careened onto the bathroom counter this morning knocking down all my beauty supplies (aka deoderant and toothpaste), and she also was all over the kitchen counter investigating my breakfast photoshoot. Evidence:

What a freak! She's probably all riled up because this is the latest I've slept in ages. I got up at 10:27 y'all! That's a big accomplishment. Usually on my days off I get up at 8 something, and that's after a lot of tossing and turning. Today I forced myself to sleep in and thus, Sophie was bored.

Brendon starts pharmacy school in less than a week!!! Craziness. After all these years, it's finally happening! It seems like just yesterday we were researching schools that have pharmacy programs. And Brendon, the silly boy, put UT at the bottom of the list because he thought he couldn't get in. Obviously I convinced him otherwise, he applied and how wrong was he?! Can I brag for a second? Have I mentioned that he got into every school he applied to?! BAAAAHHH I'm so proud. And I am so excited for him to start school, but I think he's a little nervous. He has no reason to be, he's such a badass and a charmer and a genius. He's going to wreck shop and UT wont know what hit them. I am really super duper excited about him being close to me at work. Now we can hang out on breaks and after work/class on campus and I can pretend I'm a longhorn! Jk y'all. You know I'm a mean green eagle all the way. Speaking of which I want to check out that new stadium at UNT but I've heard the tickets are ridiculous. Guess they have to pay for it somehow. I think we're going to try to go to a longhorn game this fall. Hook 'em?

SoCo, book reports, and puke

I have been a negligent blogger! I was hoping to be posting everyday, or at least every other, but I have not been diligent in my blogging. That's okay though because there's only like 6 people who read this and I married one of them.

This weekend my daddio and my step momma came up to visit. We had a night on the town in Austin! We went over to South Congress (they call it SoCo, how cute is that?) where's there are a ton of shops, restaurants, and one of those food trailer parks, Lynne was excited about those. It was really neat! We went to Uncommon Objects which is a very well organized antique store. It is also very over priced. Denton's Antique Mall on the square probably had the same stuff for half the price, but it was a hot unorganized mess. I love antique stores!

I apologize for the terrible grainy quality, I iphoned it up. There was a time in my life when I used to keep an actual camera on me at all times. I should get back into that.

 At the food trailer park! You can see down town in the background, it was such a pretty night. And not too unbearably hot either. Check out those people hula hoopin' on the left, they were selling hula hoops for $4. I feel like that's a little steep for hula hoops covered in duct tape.

Lynne is the cupcake queen so of course we had to check out the cupcake truck. They were pretty good, but super rich and I was stuffed from dinner so I could barely get through half of mine.

I love seeing my family! Even though we're so much closer it doesn't happen as often as I'd like. Gas is killer!

I've been a reading machine recently. I've read Brave New World, 1984, Wuthering Heights, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm just starting the Girl who Played with Fire. Book review time! 

Brave New World and 1984 were very similar, you guys know the premise. They were both depressing and a little creepy to see how accurate they ended up especially since they were written so long ago. 1984 was actually a bit of a tough read after all my usual easy reading (Harry Potter...). It felt good to exercise the old brain a bit. Wuthering Heights was legit, that's such a good story! And it has a happy ending which was very welcomed after the previous two. I took a break from classic literature and read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo next. Brendon's mom let us borrow the series, the movie is coming out this December (yay Daniel Craig!) so I figured I better read it before I saw the movie. It was good, nice and long, but a lot more background info than plot. But it was an enjoyable read and it sucked me in. How nerdy am I?! I love me some books.

Okay, so today. My boss called me at 6:20 this morning asking me if I could come in to work and I was pretty much like "hell yeah!" because mo' hours = mo' money. I get there, have a breakfast taco, make some drinks, and then I feel like death. Super nauseous. I end up puking at work twice (sorry if that's gross), and getting sick at work is the PITS man. So I spent the last half of my shift feeling like I was going to die but tried to save some face and keep my cool in front of customers. And coworkers. My sweet boss let me go home early, but that drive home was intense. I didn't know if I was going to make it! But I did, obviously, and crashed on the couch and ate some rice crispies dry out of the box. Dry cereal seems like my go-to for feeling pukey. I'm feeling better now, just a little weak. I guess maybe it was the taco? And I just needed to get it out of my system? Regardless it sucked and getting sick at work is super embarrassing. The end.

The Xterra

Sunday the Xterra and I hit a big milestone, 150,000 miles. Since this is kind of a big deal for a car, and driver, I thought we'd take a walk down memory lane and look back on some of the great times the Xterra and I have had.

Looking very pretty on our old property back in NB.

I had always wanted an xterra. I remember seeing them on TV when they first came out and saying, "I'm going to get one of those!". Little did I know. It was the third car I test drove, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. I got my xterra when I was 15, I turned 16 the next month so I had to continue to catch rides with my momma while my dream car was sitting in the garage begging to be driven. Once I was legal to drive, we drove EVERYWHERE. I jumped at any excuse to drive anywhere, and when you live out in the woods like we did these were not short drives. But back in the day it took me like $25 to fill my tank (now it takes somewhere around $65) so I wasn't worried.

I was obsessed with my car. It was and still is my baby. I didn't let anyone else drive it for the longest time. Brendon was one of the lucky few.

Us going to prom. I definitely put bows and ribbons on the front of the car, she had to be dressed up too.

Me and this baby have driven A LOT together. We've been all over Texas and COUNTLESS times back and forth from Denton to NB. The summer after we graduated high school Brendon, the Xterra, and I took a road trip to California. Probably the craziest and most unsafe thing I've ever done (I was a wild little teenager), but it was also one of the most fun. And the Xterra was a champ.

Relaxing by the grand canyon.

The Xterra has also kept me very safe. We've never gotten into an accident (knocking on wood!!!), although we did slide down a back road on an oil slick. We ended up in a little ditch with two wheels off the ground facing up the hill, but all without a scratch to me or the Xterra, our scariest moment together no doubt.

We've had tons of fun driving though rain, hail, and snow. The winter weather got the best of us though this year, after a serious ice storm and days of snow on top of that, my poor baby couldn't get out of the parking lot. It might look like it has 4-wheel drive, but it most definitely does not.

Poor frozen baby, stuck in our parking lot for a week.

The only work I've had done was replacing the brake pads, a tune up, and an ac line or something. Unfortunately, she's feeling her age these days. Something makes a terrible grinding noise when I make sharp turns, my ac is barely hanging in there, and the cruise control died. I wish we could afford to take her in to see what's wrong and get her all fixed up. And she's all dirty from parking under trees, bird poop and berries all over. But she starts and runs everyday. And although it may take a minute or two to get to 60mph, she gets me where I need to go and I hope so very much that she continues to do so for many years to come. Because not only can we definitely not afford a new car right now, she's my baby and I want to keep her for as long as possible. She's my dream car.

Recent life in the Hogan world

What a busy past few days it's been! This weekend my sweet sister-in-law Lisa and her daughter Gracelyn came up to visit. Sunday Brendon's mom and his little bro AJ came up as well to join the festivities. It was a fun weekend!

Sunday we all went to Build-a-Bear workshop. Gracelyn is a pro at building those babies and AJ had never been, it was good fun all around. Brendon and I even made one.

 Bevo the longhorn, Violet the cat, and Boo-Boo Jr. the weenie dog. AJ's weenie dog was too cute, he's a chef! I think he may have been my fav.

 Brendon and Bevo the jedi longhorn (we're so weird). I like to call him Bevo-Wan Kenobi. How cute are those horns sticking out of the hood!? Also, I want to mention that more than once I've caught Brendon cuddling with Bevo on the couch.

Gracelyn was pretty sneaky with those bunny ears. Also, I am super jealous of G's tan.

 Can you tell they're all related? They look so much alike!

 Such a cute picture. They love him to death.

There are about 5 versions of this photo and in each one of us is making a weird face. This was the best of the group.

 Greg may or may not be in love with Bevo.

 
AND I FINISHED THE BLANKET! This project turned out to be a little more expensive than I would have liked (never pay full price for anything at Joann's), but I love it all the same. I have no idea if this is how you're really supposed to make a blanket/quilt/whatever, but I just used what I knew about sewing and how I thought blankets worked. And it turned out pretty good if I say so myself!

 And it's super comfy! We'll see how it survives the first encounter with the washing machine.

 Please don't mind the fact that it matches absolutely nothing in our bedroom. I don't think that blanket matches anything in existance actually.

And of course I had to date this bad boy so when Brendon and I are 94 we can look back on our younger days and laugh about how weird I was for making a blanket. Oh yeah and we got married this year.

AAANNNDDD remember when I said our oven was ridiculous? Well we had maintenance come look at it a week or so ago and this is what we came home to today:

A BRAND NEW OVEN!!!!!!!! BRAND NEW OVEN Y'ALL. AHHHHHHH IT'S LIKE FREAKING CHRISTMAS! Two big burners! And a window to look into the oven! And it's white and not 70's cream color! And a towel bar! And I'm sure it doesn't burn everything! I'm beyond excited if you can't tell. Our apartment just redeemed itself quite a bit.

All in all it's been a pretty good few days. I also found out some good news yesterday. I'm too nervous about jinxing my luck so I wont spill until things are finalized. But I am excited! Sorry this was such a long post! Not blogging for 5 days = a lot to summarize.

Book worms

Yesterday we ventured to Half Price Books to get a couple movies (Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2) and some books. I'd been hankering for some Wuthering Heights, and on that note we decided to walk down memory lane and purchase some required reading from high school. Since I hated life in high school and did absolutely as little work as I could get away with, which wasn't hard, I didn't really "read" these books (except for Wuthering Heights, even my angsty teen self enjoyed it), I just skimmed them for what I needed for quizzes etc. So Brendon and I decided to re-read these classics, I feel like we owe it to them now that we're older and less stupid.  And we got them all for just a few dollars, Huckleberry Finn was 25 cents! Obviously Sophie is planning on reading them as well.

I thought I'd leave you with some photos of little Gregory. I tried to snap some of Sophie (aside from just her feet) but she is so hard to photograph. Not only does she turn her head JUST as you take the photo, her fur is ridiculously soft and weird and catches light in the strangest way. It's more like feathers than fur. Photos never do her justice.

Is Greg not the most photogenic cat ever? He is adorable and he knows it, look at him work it for the camera. He's lucky he's cute too because sometimes (a lot of times) he's a little asshole, like when he screams in the bathroom at 6am. But he's the sweetest cat I've ever met and certainly one of the prettiest. LOOK AT THOSE BLUE EYES! GAHHH.

Making stuff

First and foremost, I am effing sleepy. Getting off work before noon is lovely but getting up at 4 something in the AM is intense. Naps are a vital part of my life these days, I plan on taking one after this.

Moving on. I've been on a cooking spree lately. I really enjoy cooking, especially new recipes. Bread has been my latest endeavor.

Oatmeal bread, yum! This was my first and only successful attempt at bread. It came out pretty dang good. Now let me lay down some info for you. Our oven is ridiculous. It sucks so bad. I guess the temperature is super off or something because it cooks things way too fast and way too hot. I've tried setting the temp lower than recipes call for and it still cooks things fast and hot. I have to watch things bake like a hawk and just pray they don't burn. On my second attempt at bread I made white sandwich bread, which took 4.5 HOURS (!!!) to rise. After a third of the cook time the outside was almost burnt and the inside was still all doughy. SWEET. So I guess we're going to have to get a thermometer and figure out what's really going on in there. It's gotta be like 100 degrees off. Add this to the list of things I love about this apartment.

As well as liking to cook, I like to sew (how female of me). Actually I think I just like making things in general. Anything. But I have always enjoyed sewing and am so glad I learned how at an early age, thank you Mom! So I've got a new project going. IT'S A SECRET.

Jk y'all, it's a blanket. Or as Brendon calls it, a blankie. It's actually kind of a quilt-blanket combo. I have no idea what inspired me to make a blanket, but once I get an idea into my head I become a 5 year old and have to make it happen or someone (usually Brendon) gets it. So I went to Joann's yesterday and picked out 8 of the most random colors (Brendon and I both agree the colors remind us of Harry Potter, we're such weirdos) I could find, as seen above, to make this bad boy. And I spent a good 5 hours yesterday on it. I cut out 64 squares of fabric and sewed them all together. Now all I need to do is line it with some batting and sew a back onto it and we'll be in blanket business.

Can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands? I should sell these things.