Early Valentine's Day

A few weeks back, Brendon insisted that I ask for the 7th off from work, without telling me why. Obviously I knew something was up, but I went with it. So when yesterday finally rolled around, I was ready to find out what was going on. He told me that I should probably fix my hair (the first time I've actually styled my hair since November...SAD). And that's about it. When he got home from school he decided that there was nothing he wanted to eat at home and that we should probably just go out for dinner. And then he gets dressed up all cute and fancy and says I should do the same. He discusses our dinner options of McDonald's or Burger King and we head out. I knew we were going somewhere special, just not where. And I hate not knowing what's going on. We ended up downtown and roll up to the Melting Pot! I love me some fondue. I didn't even know there was one in Austin! We have been going there for anniversaries and Valentine's days for years, it's kind of a little tradition. And it is so good.

So the sneaky husband surprised me with a night of some yummy fondue. And we feasted. We ate entirely too much food. I thought they were going to have to roll me out afterwards. But it was delish. The cheese is my favorite for sure.

Going to town on some cheese. And keeping it classy with a bud light.

Dang look at that cutie! And downtown Austin is so pretty, I'll never get used to living in the city.

We did our V-day celebration early this year because on the actual day Brendon has school all day and a test that evening, and I will be at work all night so we wont see each other. I think Brendon's secretly relieved, he's not a big fan of Valentine's day. He's one of those "it's a made up, greeting card holiday" people. But I love it! Any excuse to celebrate love is fine by me. Plus pink and red hearts are so cute! But beating out the crowds and avoiding the stress of making reservations on Valentine's Day sure is nice.

Cat naps

Here's a bunch of instagram pictures of Sophie and Greg sleeping on the couch. Because that's what they do best, they're cute, and I'm a crazy cat lady. I swear, sometimes those cats don't spend more than 30 minutes awake all day.

Sophie was seriously hell bent on staying in Brendon's lap, no matter what. Even if she was used as an arm rest. What a weirdo.

Weekend wrap up, a couple days late

The past two days I have felt like crap. Literally sick. I'm not sure if I got a stomach bug or if my tummy is just being unusually horrid to me, but it has sucked. I'm leaning towards the latter of the two. As if my stomach problems didn't interfere with my life enough; this was seriously over the line. So I guess it is time for another trip to the doctor. HURRAY. Can they just trade out my insides for someone else's? Please?

But on the bright side, while I was feeling real lame there was something on TV to entertain me. The Superbowl! Can I type that legally? We watched it mostly for the commercials, I didn't even know who was playing until the day before. Football is not our thing. The commercials were okay and the game was pretty good I guess. But I thought half time was wonderful. People are giving Madonna a lot of flack for supposedly "lip-synching" but I couldn't tell if she was and that woman knocked it out of the park. She looked great and was highly entertaining. After last years truly terrible performance by the Black Eyed Pea's (how embarrassing that it was in Dallas too!), I was really impressed. Plus apparently M.I.A. flicked the camera off and we thought we heard her say "shit" so yay for stickin' it to the man. HA. I love me some M.I.A., have you seen her new video? I think it's amazing.

Obviously that's how I drive the Xterra down 35 everyday. Two wheels y'all. Really though, can someone teach me how to drive a car like that? I'm intrigued. Also, I'm not 100% sure what swag is, but I think she has it.

Before I started feeling sick this weekend, I squeezed in some good times. Friday night my momma-in-law and my little bro-in-law came up for a wild night at Gatti Land. Even though the place was packed, we had a blast playing games and winning tickets. Deb got really good at the motorcycle racing game. Like 1st place good. I was seriously impressed. Brendon tried it, got like 7th, then declared that the game was broken. Of course.

Excuse the plethora of phone pics. It's just so handy!

How cute is this? Mother and son, racing the night away.

Mr. H and I played big game hunter a few times. I'm terrible at it and he's great. He kept wanting to play games with me that he knew he'd win. Someone is just a tad competitive I think.

And remember over the summer when I said I was going to build an easel?

 

CHECK THIS PUPPY OUT. So legit. With lots of help from my daddio (who is the grand master of projects, I get it from him you guys), we finally made it happen. We put this beauty together Saturday. This thing is a monster. It's huge. So huge it is still at my dad's house because it wouldn't fit in my car. And everything fits in my car. It is so seriously awesome you guys. Hands down the coolest easel ever. Bask in it's radiance.

For some size comparison, here I am standing next to it. It dwarfs me and I'm a fairly tall girl. I'm about 5'8", so that things gotta be 7+ feet tall. It's beautiful. More details to come when it actually makes it to my apartment. NO idea where it's going to go. Probably the living room. So feng shui (is that still a thing?).

And while I was down in NB building the easel, I got to see my momma as well for a little bit (although at that point I was a sleepy zombie). Family time is so good! If I had seen my sister I would have gotten the whole family into the weekend! 

 

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty dang good weekend. The good parts definitely outweighed the bad.

Hello February & the family plants

I was so excited about my last sewing post that I forgot to welcome February into our lives! Can you believe we're already a month into 2012? Jeeze, time is flying.

There are tons of wonderful things happening this month. Valentine's Day! Then my Daddio's birthday! Then my hubby's birthday! AAAAND my best friend Kristy and her beautiful daughter Kennedy are coming to stay with us for 4 days!

 The Chasaks way back in 2010

Although Ryan won't be able to come, I am so excited to have some girl time with Kristy and Kennedy! I haven't seen them since we moved. That is way too long. I can't wait to see how much Kennedy has grown! We're going to have a blast!

There is also a possibility of a few of my other northern friends venturing down south to visit this month! February you are so good to me and you haven't even started yet.

I wanted to take a minute of your internet time and introduce you to a few members of the Hogan family who have yet to make an appearance on the blog. Our plants. Yes, our plants. Did I just venture into crazy territory?

Meet Spike, Norbert, Teasley, and Herbert! They live on our little kitchen window sill. They are Brendon's babies (he loves plants), but I like them too and I even water them sometimes.

We got Spike this past fall on our first trip to the Round Rock ikea. He just sprouted up his first bloom shoot thingy, we're so proud. He got stuck with a truly unoriginal name, but I like it because it makes me think of Spike in the Land Before Time.  

Norbert is our newest acquisition, we got him last week at ikea (noticing a trend here? Brendon cannot leave that place without a plant). He is a "dragon tree" so Brendon named him Norbert after Hagrid's Norwegian Ridgeback he adopted unknowingly from Voldemort in exchange for info on how to subdue Fluffy the three-headed dog guarding the trap door that led to the sorcerer's stone... Whoa super long sentence and too much HP for you? Get real, there's never too much HP.  

Teasley is our oldest plant. We got her a few years ago at ikea. She is actually huge, but we recently broke her into pieces and replanted her. Don't worry, she's a succulent so she recovered perfectly from the surgery and is thriving. She is named after the street we lived on for 3 wonderful years in Denton. When we moved down to Austin, she rode in a cupholder in my car in between me and Sophie. She is my favorite.  

Herbert is the first plant we got in Austin and the only one not from ikea. We picked him up for a couple bucks at our local HEB over the summer. Hence the name Herbert! He is getting so tall, I'm thinking we need to re-pot him asap.

When I lived in my little one bedroom apartment on Teasley Lane we had a bunch of big porch plants, but they all got freaking HUGE and out of control. Then it froze a bunch over the winter and they died. We're better with house plants.

Entirely too much info on a few plants? Probably. But they're cute right?? It's the little things y'all.

the Woman in Black

Do you guys want to see the Woman in Black? I do. Although it looks spooky as all get out and I am a HUGE baby, my man Daniel Radcliffe is in it and I have to support my Harry Potter alumni. So much love for all the cast. I wish them nothing but great success in their post-hp careers. The movie comes out today so go see it if you feel like getting scared or seeing HP without glasses.

And on that note, guess who finished her recent sewing project that just so happens to coordinate perfectly with today's movie release? Me, obviously.

BOOM, favorite outfit ever. Seriously. I love this outfit. I have wanted a good pencil skirt for SO LONG, but have had the hardest time finding one that fit/wasn't $100+. This skirt cost me $9 (NINE BONE$ Y'ALL, sooo cheap) to make and it fits perfectly. It's black corduroy and so comfy. It was a breeze to make, aside from the fact that I somehow sewed the zipper on the wrong side. Rules about zippers are dumb anyways. I plan on making more of these skirts. It was so easy! I knocked it out last night after work, fabric cutting and everything. I am thinking something like this next.

That shirt on the other hand, was a pain in the ass to make.

This picture is lame, but you can see the detail of the shirt a little better. You can also see Greg coming in from the great bright beyond that is behind our blinds. Obviously it's an entrance to a parallel universe.

Chiffon is easily the most irritating and frustrating fabric I have ever sewn on. Ever. I almost gave up and ripped that shirt to pieces so many times. Cutting the fabric was ridiculous. I had to cut the collars twice because the fabric shifted the first time and the pieces did not match up at all. Chiffon also does not like be pressed. It wouldn't hold a crease for anything (on the bright side, it's pretty much wrinkle free) which made sewing the hems and facings a pain. This shirt took me forever, simply because it was constantly sliding around everywhere and being really stupid.

But I LOVE the finished product. I had to alter the original pattern to take out the bow and switch the button closure from the back to the front. I lengthened the key hole opening in the front to make it a bit... sexier. HA. It is cute wearing unbuttoned as well, it makes it a lot more casual. I also didn't use any interfacing to stiffen up the collar as obviously I was going for something sheer. And sheer it is! It definitely requires wearing a little something underneath. Unless you're going for that whole show off your bra look, which I am not.

As always, a sewing post is not complete without a cat. Or a giant picture of my face.

And this might have happened...

Not sure at all what's going on there. I'm sure my cats found it amusing. Someone needs to take those sunglasses away from me.

Next up on the project list: BUILDING AN EASEL. That's right. It's finally happening. I'm going down to my dads tomorrow after work to hopefully knock it out. Wish me luck and safety near power tools, I would love to come back with all my fingers and limbs intact.