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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fog So Dense It Reminds Me of a Scene From True Blood

My newest TV addiction is True Blood. Although I'm not typically a fan of horror/vampire shows, I love the combination of dark and evil right along side the sexy and beautiful (I mean, come on ladies, have you ever seen such hot vampires!? Sweet, conflicted Bill Compton = swoon. Evil yet pretty Sheriff Eric Northman = rrawr). The aesthetic is gloomy and hangs heavy, much like the photos I took in my backyard the other night during a particularly humid evening. My lens immediately fogged up making the scene much more gloomy than it was, but I love the mood they effect. I didn't edit these at all - they simply fogged by nature.

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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 11:42 AM
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Rhubarb Cruncher & The Hand Appliqued Shirt

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This is Claire.

See what she does with a fresh basket of CSA produce without any prompting from us.

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I don't know, but I think someone likes rhubarb!

I decided to get my crafty on and make Claire a t-shirt. It was a simple, cheap project and I'm thrilled with the results.

Ingredients:

t-shirt from Babies R Us for 50% off = $3
white embroidery thread from Michael's = $0.35
embrodery hoop (cuz I used them all up for her room) = $1.99
leftover fabric scraps = free
time it took = 3-4 hours

Results:

CUSTOMIZED CUTENESS!

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We interrupt this photo shoot to have a temper tauntrum.

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Okay. We're better now.

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(In my defense, I have to tell you how hard it is to photograph the constantly moving target that is my daughter Claire. That's why none of these are in focus!)

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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 1:07 PM
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Old Headers

In doing a few template changes over at my CSA blog (I added a lot more pictures on the sidebar, instead of the usual category list) , I came across some old headers I created for this here blog.

They all made me smile.




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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 10:36 PM
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Monday, June 29, 2009

Ping Feelings

Huz and I went to the "Toddler's Expressions" art show at Claire's daycare classroom on Friday. It included a full art show and a potluck with all the parents and kiddos. It was delightful, actually. It was the first time I've experienced the "that's MY kid" feeling in a room full of people. The teachers had worked with the kids for 2 months on building individual projects and group projects (from paintings done with painted branches, to paintings done Jackson Pollock style, to paintings done upside down underneath the tables, etc.). I have to say that on some of them, Claire's was clearly the best. I know, I know, biased much? No, not really. I genuinely feel that some of hers were superior. I swear!

Anyway, it was interesting to see all the parents with a child my daughter's age - interesting also that about half of them were clearly expecting another. I felt like I was out of place by not being pregnant and, while Huz has mentioned seeing babies at coffee shops and feeling his heart "ping," I generally haven't felt the desire to have another one. Everyone seems to get that heart ping when their first is around one, but I hadn't felt it. Until last Friday. I guess it was seeing all the pregnant mothers and remembering the excitement and wonder of having a child inside of you, as well as knowing that these toddlers would soon have a sibling to befriend. I want Claire to have a sibling to play with and be friends with; she enjoys being with other children so much that it's sorely tempting to try again now. But, no. We can't. First, I had radiation therapy 4 months ago and my Dr. wants me to wait 9 months to a year before trying again. Also, Huz is no longer funded and has to finish his dissertation and get a job. We don't want to fall into the trap of feeling like we have to have everything perfect and ALL of our ducks in a row (well-paying jobs for both of us, a house to live in, general stability) before expanding our family, but we really need those ducks in a row before we can expand our family.

Don't we? Tell me your story of deciding when to have more than one. I'd appreciate the advice.

In the meantime, *PING!*

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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 12:35 PM
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

When it rains, it lightnings

I'm writing to you from a dark office on day seven of a migraine. I think it's a hormone-related headache because it started on the first day of my period last week and because I stopped taking the pill the same day. I decided to go off of it because I didn't like how I was feeling (emotional, etc.), even though I took it for 11 years before having Claire with no problems. Perhaps it's because it's a different brand; perhaps because my body just isn't the same after having my thyroid removed. I don't know. I just hope the headaches stop and that the new birth control method gets to the Drs. office soon (it's one that has to be ordered) and that it causes me no problems. What a pain it is being a woman! Why can't men take a pill and deal with the repercussions!? NOT FAIR.

Anyway. I haven't told you the TV story. We came back from our trip to Colorado to find several clocks blinking around the house and to a TV that was dead. Wouldn't turn on and the little red light on the front didn't shine anymore. We took it into a local Radio Shack to have it evaluated because, although a nice new HDTV would be awesome (no, we don't have a nice new TV in our house - ours was a flat screen TUBE tv - can you believe it!? It was only 6 years old though!), it's not an economically smart thing to do right now as we are living on my income alone. The repair guy called me back and said it was "uneconomical to repair and that it was hit hard by lightening." Lovely.

So, having no choice - 'cuz I ain't gonna live with no entertainment, yo - we went to Best Buy to find a TV that would fit in our entertainment center. This left us with few options, so we bought a 26" HDTV that, when placed in the center and viewed from across the room, looked absolutely T-I-N-Y. So, we took it back, took the top half of the entertainment center off, and bought a 37" LG HDTV instead. It was only $100 more than the tiny 26" and it looks awesome.

Last week we had more thunderstorms come through. Guess what? Our wireless router and desktop aren't working - can't get the internet on them. So we're back to the phone checking on warranties and homeowner's insurance for all of this. When it rains, it lightenings. When it lightenings, it hits our stuff (which were both on surge protectors, by the way!).

Some good news: I researched Comcast and, lo and behold, I discovered that if I switched to digital cable I could get a 12 month special (WITH HBO!!) for $25/mo LESS than what we've been paying for cable. Awesome. So, as of Saturday, we have HBO. And do you know something? I haven't found a thing to watch yet! Of course it doesn't help that our Tivo isn't working since there is no wireless in our house for who knows how long. Oy. Guess I need to find out when So You Think You Can Dance is on and actually watch it live. What a concept - live TV!?

Here are the innards of our dead TV before we took it to Radio Shack. We'll miss you Toshiba (but not that much).

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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 2:14 PM
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Cooking

New post up at CSA blog, including a new kick ass turtle ice cream recipe I tried.

Sorry for the lack of posting - I've been dealing with a week-long headache. Going to bed now.

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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 12:18 PM
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Monday, June 15, 2009

Cooking Girl

New post over at Cooking CSA-Style.

I made an awesome new drink and discovered an ice cream topper in the process.

Also, check out the most adorable kitchen helper of all time.

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Posted by Victoria Winters @ 8:16 PM
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Watching

Weeds
Nurse Jackie
Dexter
United States of Tara
So You Think You Can Dance
True Blood
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Lost

Book Reading

Am


Was

Julie and Julia
Caramelo
Thirteenth Tale
Kite Runner
No Country For Old Men
The Road
What To Expect When You're Expecting
Water for Elephants
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Baby Wise
Norwegian Wood
Rabbit Redux
Rabbit, Run
Middlesex
On Beauty
Cement Garden
Eat, Pray, Love
Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic: The Aesthetics of Consumerism
The History of Love
Pure Style Living
All The Names
Collage Discovery Workshop
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World
Fugitive Pieces
Couples
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
A 90 Day Guide...
The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy
Fast Food Nation
The Reader
Angel's World
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Black Dogs
Enduring Love
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Atonement
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Postcards

Blog Reading


Blissful
Blue Poppy
Bookish Bent
The Burkerts 3
Colors of My Mind
Cool Hunter
The Craziness We Call Life
Creative Musings
Doahleigh
Dooce
Fickle Feline
Finslippy
The Forth Clan
Geek's Pensieve
Greeblemonkey
Green Genes
Holly Needs a Hobby
I Pretty Much Hate Everything
Inevitably Keely
Isoglossia
Jenski
Just Jenn
Mighty Girl
Mimi Smartypants
Modern Cottage
Mothers of Invention
My Head is Full of Stuffing
Nienie Dialogues
Pandlabroad
Possum Holler Press
Quarter Life Crisis
Sarcomical
Say It, Don't Spray It
Schmutzie
Self Passage
So Not Cool
Super Hero Journal
Tea and Brie
Three Girls and a Guy
Unfogged
Waiter Rant
Who Knew?
Whoorl
Wise Craft
Work It, Mom
You Go Grrrl

Kid Related


Baby Cheapskate
Cool Mom Picks
Green Mom Finds
Project Nursery/
Rookie Moms
The Soft Landing

Home Style


Apartment Therapy
Design Sponge
Shelterrific

Art/Photography


Amy Ruppel
Boho Photography
Chromasia
Daily Dose of Imagery
Deceptive Media
Decor 8
Little Purple Cow Photography
Non dairy Diary
Not Martha
Photo Junkie
Piddleloop
Three Potato Four
Shutter Sisters
STC Craft
Tiny Showcase

Food


101 Cookbooks
Becks & Posh
Bitten
Chocolate and Zucchini
Chow
David Lebovitz
Delicious Days
The Domestic Goddess
Food Beam
My Vintage Kitchen
Orangette
The Perfect Pantry
The Post Punk Kitchen
Serious Eats
Smitten Kitchen
Vegan Yum Yum