Stitch and Beach

I got this in my email this morning: http://www.stitchnbeach.com/

Thinking forward to another winter in Iowa, this sounds like heaven. Of course, going anywhere where there's sun in February sounds good to me.

A Link to Marriage Tips

Joanna Goddard of the blog A Cup of Jo just got married and is taking a two-week honeymoon. While she's out, she has guest bloggers posting marriage tips. The tips are great, but I'm really enjoying the photographs that accompany each post. It would be great if she'd continue with these after she gets back!

Here's one of my favorites so far, to get you started.

Martha Stewart Eats Babies

Or, at least, she likes to dress babies up like food. This was in my inbox from the Martha Stewart Craft of the Day Newsletter today:

 

I clicked on the link to the site and was relieved to find comments like this:

"Is it just me, or is this creepy???"

"I think it's bizarre."

Then I noticed Martha has a whole line of babies-as-food costumes. The horror, the horror:

 

 

 

That's supposed to be a pie...I think the baby's trying to escape!

There were also instructions on making your baby look like a salad, but there was no accompanying picture. This is a letdown for me, for one because I can't see how that would work, and number two because it sounds delicious!

Martha, I've seen Anne Geddes pictures, and you, Madam, are no Anne Geddes. Behold:

 

See, THIS is how it's done! I don't find anything remotely creepy about this, except I do worry about their exposure to pesticides and whether they're getting watered enough.

 

10 Tips for Traveling to London

Here I am posing with the statue of Paddington Bear at Paddington Station with the bear I bought there.

I just got back from a week in London। It was my first overseas trip, and I did weeks of research to prepare for it. Most of my research really prepared me well, but there were a few things I wish I'd known before going. Combining everything I read with my own experience, here's a list of my tips for traveling to London:

1. If you are planning on using the tube a lot, including getting to and from the airport, don't use a wheeled suitcase. Only a few tube stops are handicapped-accessible, which means you're going to have to use a lot of stairs. Also, my suitcase got stuck in every turnstile at every Tube and train station. Take a tip from the Amazing Race contestants and get a carry on-sized backpack to use as your suitcase.

2. Pack light, carry on all of your luggage, but bring a spare carry-on bag. Here’s what we did, and it worked really well: Pack a flat, lightweight, carry-on bag in your suitcase/backpack. Carry on all of your luggage on the flights to London. On the way back, pack all of your souvenirs and valuables in the spare carry-on bag, and check your other suitacase/backpack. You won’t have to worry about lost luggage while you’re in London, and when you get back, you will make sure you have all of your souvenirs with you when you arrive. If the checked bag gets lost, at least you’re home. By the way, as far as what to wear, don’t worry about looking like a tourist, because unless you’re wearing a suit, speak with a British accent, and never look at the sights around you, you already look like one.

*A note on the whole liquid law: since you can only carry on so much liquid, I packed as much as I could in the little quart ziplock and bought the rest when I got there at Superdrug. You can either abandon what you bought when you leave or pack it in your checked luggage.

3. Bring two pairs of comfortable shoes. If a pair gives you blisters one day, you’ll have an alternate. Also, if you wear running shoes, they take at least 24 hours to dry out and bounce back to their original shape after wearing.

4. Be prepared to walk up a lot of stairs. If you hate climbing stairs, you’re going to HATE taking the Tube. Yes, there are escalators, but you have to take some stairs to get to them. Only a few Tube stops are handicapped-accessible. Work out on a Stairmaster for a few weeks before you leave, and you’ll be good to go.

5. Bring a bottle of reliable water with you everywhere. Rick Steves pointed out that even if the local water is safe to drink, it may contain minerals and bacteria that your body is not used to, so you can still get sick. I was fine drinking the London tap water, but one bottle of Welsh water made me sick. I stuck with tap water or Evian the rest of the trip and was fine. With all the walking you'll do, you will need to stay hydrated, especially if it gets warm (most places do not have air conditioning, including the tube). Don’t depend on vendors at the tourist sites for water, as it will be more expensive and some of them only take cash.

6. Bring a coin purse. Most of the money you'll use in London will be coins, and they get bulky and heavy.

7. Don't bother exchanging money, just go to an ATM when you get there. The service charge at the ATM will be lower than what a money exchanging service will charge you, and there are ATM's everywhere.

8. Make a list before you go of all the things you'll need to buy for others and yourself. My family told me what they'd like me to bring back, so it made souvenir shopping easier and I didn't forget anyone. I forgot to put down a charm for my charm bracelet, which I always get on every trip, so I didn't get one. I luckily was able to order one online from a London shop, but it just isn't the same.

9. Leave one day on your itinerary with nothing planned at the end of your stay. You may find you didn't get to do all the things you scheduled, so this can be a catch-up day. Also, you won't want to do anything to stressful the day before you go, as traveling home will be exhausting enough, so this can be a good day to rest up. We had a pretty physically-demanding last day, and it made it even more tiring to run through the train stations and airports the next day.

10. Use the Oyster Card. It’s cheaper, it’s easier, and you’ll use it like crazy. You can even register it so if it gets lost, you won’t lose all the money you’ve put on it.


If I could put an 11th tip on here, it would be to go there only when you are really wealthy, because everything is so expensive, but what can you do about that?

Finally, a wedding and honeymoon post!

It took a couple of hours and some tears, but I finally uploaded all the wedding and reception pictures to flickr. There were so many pictures that Flickr Uploader actually crashed twice in the process. I didn't put descriptions on all the photos because I needed time to eat and sleep, and it was either the pictures or my health and sanity, so I chose the latter.

Here's a picture of the wedding party:

From Left: my dad, middle sister Leslie, youngest sister Kendal, me, Sean (the groom), his best man Erin, friend Lane, and his younger brother Lee, in front of the Polk County Court House in Des Moines, where we got hitched.


The reception was at the Walnut Woods Lodge in West Des Moines. I was so busy getting ready that morning that I went with wet hair. It was crazy, but we pulled it off:


The Location



Interior


We bought all the flowers that morning and Leslie frantically arranged them. The ones on this table are actually the bride's and bridesmaids' bouquets. I baked the cake and cupcakes myself because they needed to be gluten-free for my sister and father. My sister Kendal decorated the cake and Leslie decorated the cupcakes. We ordered the sheet cake and all the food from HyVee. We had TONS left over.


We provided these fruit and veg plates, plus a meat and cheese trays and sammich-making stuff.



Bought these metal tubs at Lowes. Unfortunately they were leaking melting ice like crazy.



Bought these personalized fans for everyone, thinking we'd have a typical mid-July day in Iowa (hot and humid). The weather turned out to be so unbelievably cool that we now have $100 worth of personalized fans sitting in our kitchen. Any takers???


Leslie brought her amp and mic, so we used that for the toasts. Here., the best man salutes me for putting up with Sean.



Here, Leslie sings my requested song, "Grow Old With Me" by John Lennon. She was a hit, and did an encore.


Eating. Drinking.


After the speeches, we all went outside for some non-dancing entertainment.



Sean brought his mini soccer nets and hockey gear. He said it was for the kids, but I think we all know better:



After the wedding, we went out for Karaoke, which I pooped out on early. After the reception, the groom and his friends went out to the BBQ and Blues fest downtown, but I was too tired for that, too. They all eventually came back to our place and played with our Wii, and if that sounds dirty, it's probably because it is. I fell asleep, so I have no idea what other shenanigans went on.

So, the next step is our honeymoon trip to London, which starts August 17th. I am feverishly preparing for that now in advance, packing, planning, etc. I don't travel well, and I anticipate the jet lag will not be much fun for me. Still, this is a trip of a lifetime for me, so I will try to suck it up.

For more exciting photos, feel free to peruse my flickr uploads in the Wedding collection.

This is a great idea!

This could be great for folks with kids.


Anti-Boredom pocket kit - More DIY How To Projects

Oh, yea, and I got married last week. More info forthcoming.

How to get a lot of free (and reduced-price) stuff on your Birthday

Today I celebrated my 34th Birthday with a free caramel soy latte for breakfast and free sandwich for lunch, and no one had to open their wallet. These were all perks I received because I signed up for email updates from Caribou Coffee and Planet Sub.

If you have an email address, a printer, and the ability to leave the house, you too can enjoy free stuff and discounts on your birthday. All you have to do is put up with a bit of clutter in your in-box. (Planet Sub, by the way, doesn't send me email except on my Birthday.)

This year was an all-time record for freebies and discounts on my Birthday. Here's what I got:

A free Birthday Burger of my choice at Red Robin.
A free drink of my choice at Caribou Coffee.
A free six-inch sub of my choice at Planet Sub.
25% off one item at Borders Books and Music. (I also have a $5 Borders Bucks coupon to use with it.)
$10 off a pair of shoes at DSW. (I combined this with a $5 coupon I already had, getting my wedding shoes for 35 bucks!)

Doing a little research in the bloggersphere, there are websites and blogs devoted to finding where you can sign up for free stuff on your birthday. Here's a top ten list on about.com. This website is dedicated to Free Birthday Treats. This writer for the Star-Tribune has discovered the joy of free Birthday stuff, too.

See? Now your friends don't have to shell out any bucks for your Birthday dinner. Hell, you don't even NEED friends at all! (This blog does not endorse friendlessness, however).

Whenever your birthday is, have a good one, and a free Blizzard on me.

Funny and True

Michael Jackson

When I was in the third grade, a friend came up to me and told me about this musician she was "in love with." His name was Michael Jackson, and she showed me a picture. I had never heard of him, and I couldn't understand why she liked him. I would have been 8 at the time, I'm guessing, so I wasn't really into boys yet. Apparently, she was.

A couple of years later, I went over to a friends house after school and saw "The Making of Thriller" on MTV. I had grown up watching shows about the making of movies, but this one was different for me. I remember vividly watching Rick Baker make the werewolf mask for Michael Jackson and thought, "I want to do that!" I think it was the first time I wanted to do something behind the camera rather than in front of it. I credit this show as one of the reasons I studied film in college.

Even though I bought my first and only Michael Jackson album last year (the 25th Anniversary release of Thriller), you could not grow up in the 1980's and early 90's without being inundated with Michael Jackson music, videos, and, sadly, the tabloid news about him. It seems strange that he's gone, but almost fitting that it was so fast and unexpected, kind of like his solo career.

Roald Dahl's Writing Hut

I have always been interested in the workspaces of artists. We Love You So posted an excerpt from an article about whether it was better to write standing, sitting, or lying down, according to several writers, but they also posted this wonderful link to a virtual tour of Roald Dahl's writing hut, which includes clippings and artifacts. It makes me wish I had my own little writing hut, though I'd probably never want to come out of it some days!

If you, too, are interested in workspaces, check out the On My Desk blog for some inspiration.

Another really good tea to try

I bought this tea for myself at the Gateway Market, even though I'm in my thirties and have no kids. I am wary of buying herbal teas, as I've had quite a few that tasted like they were mixed with battery acid or some maple syrup that had gone bad, but I figured if this was aimed at kids, it must be pretty mild. I was right, and it's really good! It smells really sweet, like Strawberry gum, but it tastes very mellow. I think this would be great to give to kids instead of pop or juice, even if you had to add a little honey to it. This is just another reason I love Republic of Tea teas...they should pay me to say that!

The Republic of Tea will donate a dollar for every cannister of their Little Citizens line of tea purchased to Room to Read, an organization promoting education for the children of the world, so it's worth trying.

This video tutorial is inspiring me today

This is a how-to video, but it's actually artistic itself. You're watching someone create something that is then used to create something else. I wish I could draw better.


Stamp Carving from Geninne D. Zlatkis on Vimeo.

C/O Geninne's Art Blog

Is anyone else Tumblr-ing?

I discovered this new service today called Tumblr. It's kind of a hybrid between Twitter and blogging. I found it through another blog, and thought it would be handy to use it like she does, as a place to post things you found on the 'net, stuff that's not worth a whole blog post. I don't know how long I'll stick with it, as I could probably do something on Blogger that's similar. lookieloo.tumblr.com

Has anyone else tried this service? So far, I'm not totally digging the interface.

Wedding Accomplishment: Dress Purchased

As I was running out of time to attempt to make my own dress, and the one I wanted was sold out in white at JCrew, I decided to go shopping with my sisters/bridesmaids on Saturday. I set my deadline as June 1st for choosing something. I walked into the White House/Black Market store and found my dress in about 5 minutes. Leslie picked out the winning number:

Here's a link to it on their website.

The amazing thing is, at this store I was two sizes smaller than predicted. Scary! I'm so relieved to have found something, and so quickly.

Links: Homemade Bubble Bath, "Wild" Blog, Grilled Cheese

I haven't done a links post in a while, but I found a few inspiring/interesting things today, so what the hell...

Some recipes for homemade bubble bath at Real Simple: http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/ask-real-simple/ask-real-simple-make-own-bubble-bath...

 I'm very excited about the movie Where the Wild Things Are, and I really like the new blog set up to explore the things that inspired the movie: http://weloveyouso.com/blog/

After reading this, I wanted to run out and make myself a grilled cheese sandwich, and it was 9 o'clock in the morning: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104057146

The case of the missing bacon...

see more pwn and owned pictures

If Mike Nelson wasn't already married to the lovely Bridget, I think we've found his perfect match in Grand Rapids.

Twitter really IS blogging for people with ADD, plus updates on life

...or short attention spans.

I find it so much easier to "tweet" because you don't have to type a whole meaningful paragraph. I don't think in paragraphs. I think in fragments. Short ones. Some people complain about the 140 character limit. It is rarely a problem for me. I also don't worry about what I'm saying being meaningful or insightful, as it seems to be released into the internet heavens, impermanently. Someone might read it, someone might not, but everyone moves on. A blog is a commitment. It takes more than a second to read. It's more permanent. A blog is like a journal, whereas a tweet is like a random phrase scribbled on a wall. I know you could go and read my twitter page and see all the stupid/profound things I've tweeted, and that they aren't anonymous or ephemeral, but with the feed readers most people use, it just feels that way to me.

For those who are following me on Facebook and were wondering, I'm still sick, though I'm getting better. I had a cold and strep throat in the same week, and that just made my sinus infection insanely bad. I'm on antibiotics for both the strep and sinus infection, but I've still had a 99-100 degree temperature since Tuesday, so I'm healing very slowly. The sore throat went away after less than a day on the drugs, but the sinus infection continues to kick my ass. I'm no longer bedridden, but I'm still a bit dizzy and stuffy. I remarked the other night that I've become a real-life Liz Lemon, going to bed with my humidifier and a heating pad. Glamourous!

I'm behind on my knitting. I was too sick to knit, which really stinks, as knitting is a great sick-bed activity. I've been trying to finish projects that were started long ago, rather than buy more yarn and start new ones. I'm working on a really fun raspberry-red lace shawl (you can see it on my Ravelry page) and the second sock of a pair I started last summer. I've been terribly bad about updating that darn Ravelry page with info and photos, but there's only so much time in the day, what with wedding planning, illnesses, and excessive Twittering...excuses, excuses.

The invitations are supposed to be going out today. That was the first big hurdle to overcome. I'll have to take a snapshot of one, as they're pretty nice. We used a couple of Martha Stewart invitation kits, which cost me less than 200 bucks, including the stamps and paper punches we bought to decorate them. Not too bad. Still need to buy a dress, which I've already picked out, get rings, get the license...yes, the important things. At least we've got the registries pretty much done! Gotta get something out of all this planning, right?

I just started reading French Milk by Lucy Knisley. I'm really enjoying it. I'm surprised at all the negative reviews on Good Reads...I guess "to each his own." It's a lovely little real-time illustrated journal of the 22-year-old author's month with her mother in Paris. The cartoons make me wish I were better at drawing! I already have a journal purchased for my trip to London in August, and I hope I can make time to write in it while I'm there.

A Little Monday Morning Inspiration

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Bacon

Mike Nelson (my second favorite MST3K host, though it's a close race) has been eating nothing but Bacon all month. Someone was finally crazy enough to interview him on TV about it:



Is it just me, or did the uncooked bacon in the pan look really gross, and yet the cooked version very tasty? That is a magic frying pan.

Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie

Taken by my sister, Leslie, on January 19, 2009

It's REALLY, REALLY, REALLY cold here.

As I type this, it is -16 degrees Farenheit. That's right, NEGATIVE 16 degrees. I think I might be in the 9th circle of Dante's hell. I haven't seen Satan yet, but he might be hiding under several feet of snow.

My sister is flying in today from Sacramento, where it will be a high of 66 F. Welcome back to Iowa! She's interviewing for a job here, so I hope this weather doesn't put her off too much.She was born and raised in the Midwest, so it will just take her some time to acclimate.

It is so cold here, even the dogs are refusing to go out. Beau is the toughest, since he's a labrador and built for colder temps, so he'll go out for a couple of minutes before racing back into the house. Buddy, on the other hand, is smart enough to refuse to go out unless I put a sweater on him (which requires me to chase him around the house just to get it on), and then he usually just relieves himself on a pile of snow on the deck and comes back in. It's delightful! Cabin fever has turned to doggie depression, as they realize they are prisoners in the house until it warms up. Luckily, the weather should be warming up to above-freezing next week.

I've added a link under "Me Elsewhere" on the sidebar if anyone wants to be my "friend" on Netflix. That way we can compare what we're Netflixing, which helps me decide what to put in the queue.

I hope everyone out there is keeping warm!

A Video For Book Lovers

This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

They even mangaged to use a Spike Milligan book!
(I found this at Craftzine.)