Birthdays Are Great Excuses To Leave Town

The other day at lunch with David J and Courtney we were talking about this girl and her ridiculous drama-filled friendships. I just couldn't wrap my head around the stories Courtney was telling me, and after a particular confusing plot twist David J put it so simply: Heidi Just Doesn't Do Crazy.

Luckily my most favorite person in the world is very far from crazy. So when I looked at the calendar and realized her birthday was coming up, I thought it was a perfect excuse to hop on over to TX and play.

I left on Friday morning and stayed for an entire week! Good thing the Looch didn't fire me.

It was so wonderful to just spend time together doing normal, everyday stuff. We went to the mall, ate at fabulous restaurants, went to a birthday party for Mr. Awesome Himself, and watched a few movies. We also did a terrible job taking pictures together. Here's the only one of us that I snapped the entire week.



We were also able to tackle a project at her house. She was hoping to clean out her garage and transform it into a functional workspace, so of course I was happy to help. It's always fun to watch a space become what you've envisioned...and she has a fantastic eye.

She and her roommate had quite a bit of stuff accumulating that needed to be either donated, stored in the attic, or placed somewhere in the garage.











Once we organized and cleaned everything out we were able to (almost) finish painting the walls and the floor.





And then it was time to decorate and arrange! We were both so thrilled with the way it turned out (thanks wholly to her vision) and I can't wait for them to begin using the space. How great will it be when the weather warms up and they can open the garage doors while working?

The trip ended with CAKE! It was such a treat to share in celebrating her birthday - I miss the years when it was just a given that we'd be together.

So, as always, I had a fantastic time and wish it wasn't so long in between visits. Luckily Sisty is marrying a Texan and his family is throwing her a bridal shower this spring. Score one for the Maid of Honor.

We did a little bit of scheming for the future...and I plan to make sure we get there together. San Francisco, anyone?!

Baby Shower Gifties...Part Deux!

Last weekend I was honored to co-host a baby shower for my dear friend Eva. She and her man are expecting a girl in April, and I am so excited to meet the little one!

We settled on a Fiesta theme (so that the boys in attendance wouldn't be scared off by a pink explosion) and I volunteered to make the diaper cake. It was my first time creating one, and I thought it turned out so cute!

The great thing about diaper cakes is that it doubles as a gift for the parents-to-be. There are over 100 diapers hidden in there!

With all these girls having babies left and right...I'm serious about opening up shop for custom orders! Any takers?

Baby Shower Gifties

I have two baby showers this month, and everyone knows there's nothing cuter than baby gifts.

One is for an old friend from high school who now lives in Charlotte, NC. Unfortunately I can't make it to her shower, but I knew I wanted to give her something girlie and sweet for her little girl's arrival. Something about sugar and spice and everything nice...

So I made her washcloth lollipops!

Putting them together was really quick after I figured out how to fold and roll the "lollys" and pin them so that the safety pin wouldn't show once they were packaged. The trick was to fold each cloth individually, then stack them one on top of the other and stagger them just about 1/2" apart so that as I rolled them, the outside edge turned out smooth (not a big fat stump which wouldn't have balanced on the spoon I used for the base).

After they were all twirled up, I placed each one on a baby spoon and then wrapped them in upturned clear gift bags tied with pretty curling ribbon.

Then I just paired them with a hooded towel and packaged them up to be shipped to NC! I really hope she loves the gift just as much as I loved putting it together.

Up next is a special project for another shower I'm co-hosting with some friends. I can't talk about it just yet because they read the blog. So sneaky...

Making these sweet treats has been so fun, I might have to start up a shop and try to sell them!

You Had Me at Hook 'Em Horns...

A few months ago the Attitude convinced me to read Stephen King's epic Dark Tower series. I was skeptical at first, I mean I had always steered away from the horror/science fiction stacks in the library. But when he told me there were crazy awesome cultural references sprinkled throughout the fantastic tale, I was intrigued.

Mr. King did not disappoint. Here's an excerpt from book 5, The Wolves of the Calla. The Old Fella is from the New York City you and I are familiar with, the Manni are from another world entirely. Check out the second and third lines...

Go Texas is right.

Also?

Pretty standard. Just one best-selling author giving a literary shout out to another, right? Clever, really, with the serial number sneakily disguising J.K. Rowling's initials. The characters in the book later wonder "who this Harry Potter is" and if maybe he's "some sort of wizard or maybe an inventor"?

The nerd in me just squealed a little.