Snowed In

DH, Olive, and I are sort of snowed into my parents so it will be a few days before I can post something substantial.

The boots kept sliding down in the back, five minutes later I yanked them off.

Shakshuka aka "Pretty Much Eggs in Purgatory"

I have most of a real sewing post ready but the shirt itself isn't finished so that will wait until things from the holiday settle. So here is a meal that fits well with the winter weather-  shakshuka....

Chop your parsley smaller, this one of those DH-is-out-of-town-and-I'm-lazy jobs.

Costume Wishlist

I'm taking a break from studying (or something, more like having a Disney and cheesy late 90s/early 00s movie marathon with some notes open with my legal primer staring me down giving me a guilt trip) and wanted to make a costume wishlist. I have a sewing wishlist somewhere for "real" clothes (I have a shirt planned for the week between the end of the semester and Christmas) but nothing really for costumes except for a vague "costume closet" pinterest board. So here goes:

Kaylee Frye (Planning)
Ms Frizzle (Planning)
Fairy Godmother from Cinderella (I really just want a glitter wand)*
Jane from (Disney version) Tarzan
TARDIS (original)
DubDub from Middleman (a mix between the show and the GN)
Weeping Angel (I think this is mostly making up for the mistakes I made in high school musical tech doing set and makeup for Cats)**
Margo from Despicable Me 
Lady Adventurer (not quite steampunk but something not quite accurate either, with a vest. I need a reason to draft a custom vest since I know I wouldn't wear it in real life, but I want a vest!)***
Charlotte La Bouff from Princess and the Frog
This list subject to change and updates as I remember



*Also, the caftan/robe looks like I could wear sneakers underneath or whatever and that's just a win in my book. I'm always looking for a costume that allows for me to wear comfortable shoes.
** Here's a winner from when we were trying to figure out Old Griz's makeup. I was test monkey- someone else got to wear Jennyanydots that night. Her eyebrows got higher with each application.

***I may have mentioned this before but in high school and part of college I worked for Hershey. Part of the uniform in my area for a time was a hideous vest. Not even sure if it was an improvement over the previously hyperfitted ringmaster coats.Wearing both the coat and the vest, I was mistaken for a "nice, young man". Ruined menswear for me forever.

Our First Christmas (Tree)

DH and I finally got a tree. Last year we were pretty much gone for the month with visiting both sides and the Alamo Bowl (we better be representing the Big 12 in the Military Bowl next year, that would be so incredibly convenient). So we didn't get a tree. This year, we have a little more random living space so we ordered a fake little (they say 4.5' but really more like 3.75' with a tall center bit) prelit tree.

 Olive is going through a teenage phase

It has a bit of an identity crisis. We received this set from my godparents for the wedding. I was so confused when I opened it because, well, pinecone for motherhood and fruitfulness? Anywho. They're sparkley. And for our tree, right now, that's all that matters.

Then we bought this ornament on our honeymoon:

 

The only major souvenir from our Honeymoon, seriously

And when ThinkGeek had a end of season sale we bought a set of Giant Microbe ornaments (you can see the red amoeba in the first picture above Ms. Prissy Pant's right ear and the festive cold a little farther up from her left ear).

Finally, when we decided we wanted a tree this year, we thought about the parts of us that haven't been represented yet on the tree. And then the Firefly reunion special was on Science. Big alligator tears and a lot of seal clapping, let me tell you. More seal clapping than tears, much more. So we knew we needed Serenity or at least something show related. Cue Modcloth advertising dinosaurs with wreaths around their necks (at least I think that's how it happened, might been on a blog). And we needed a stegosaurus (not in the correct color sadly) to compliment it.

Curse your sudden, but inevitable, betrayal! *

Finally, we needed the TARDIS. BBC America to the rescue!

 

DooWeeDoo (Dugadada, Dugadada) 

We're still in a debate about what to put on the top. I want something traditional, DH wants something scifi-y. A while back I suggested a wheeping angel (it's kind of traditional, right?) but DH reasoned we would never sleep at night- he was probably right. Then he said a Death Star instead of a regular star (I love the look of Moravian Stars, personally) but I shot that down. So now we're stuck.

Also, I want a pickle ornament.**


*Joss!***
**I have a list of ornaments for next year: a flute, a pickle, a treble clef, and maybe even a Texas flag for DH
***Just realized this could be considered foreshadowing...

Pink Lady Cake- or the Disaster that Sat in a Fridge Until Thrown Out

This is one of those recipes I really can't recommend in good faith. I bet it worked for a lot of people but this disaster was so bad I didn't want to try it again. And I have honestly no idea where the cream cheese recipe came from, mostly likely I dumped powdered sugar and cream cheese in the mixer and called it a day. But it was supposedly based off of this Smitten Kitchen Recipe

Friend R and I started a writing project together in spring 2006*. It’s been a pet project of ours, that hasn't got much attention these last few years as we were finishing college and R is now working and I'm writing papers that vaguely relate to sustainable collections practices.** To see how the script was received by people who weren’t us and how well it read in general, we gathered just under two dozen (I think, it seemed like it anyway, we took up R's living room) of our hometown friends together for food (translation: bribes) and a reading in the summer of 2009. It was hilarious and rather well received, people did say it was very “us” (I’m taking that as a compliment, I think we can be quite hilarious).

That's a crown... with a sad middle point-jewel-thing.
Hurray for R's facebook albums or there would be no record of this cake***