CHANGING GEARS

My friend and I started 'Whiskey for Breakfast' a couple of years ago to share our love for fun fashion, costumes, beauty, and diy projects. We didn't do the best job of keeping up with the blog...

I've always had so much fun playing with my makeup, dressing in a way that gets a lot of 'I love it, but I wouldn't wear it...'s, and generally injecting a sense of humor into my daily style. Costumes aren't just for Halloween, dramatic makeup isn't just for the evening, and it can be fun to clash a little! If I don't have a project going (clothing, decor, or art), I feel lost!

I love spending time playing with my hair, clothing, and makeup. I am my own life-size doll! Experimentation is everything.

I am also going to embark on a 'beauty safari.' I'm pale, basically translucent. Face makeup, mainly foundation, never seems to match my skin tone. There's not much yellow in my skin, but I have some pink and a lot of freckles. I have acne (more than when I was a teen!) and some big ol' pores I like to cover up. It's time to try until I find the right one! Join me on my journey to find the perfect foundation that won't kill my bank account!

ON A MISSION

I'm making it a new goal to eat healthier lunches at work from now on.

I don't get too bad in the winter when I'm craving soup, but that doesn't last long and I go back to the fast food, random meals from Albertson's or Winco, or a soy chai latte with vanilla. Sound full of nutrients to you? Yeah, me neither.

That's why I'm setting myself on this new path. I'm making a list of my favorite (healthy) snacks and foods that will be easy to make ahead or in the morning and pack to work. I ordered a sweet bento box and little condiment containers for salad dressing from Amazon.



If I do a good job of taking lunch to work, I get a Kiki's delivery service bento with Jiji on it!

I love fruit,  hummus, dried fruit and some veggies for snacks. As it is, I've been having grape tomatoes and raspberries for snacks between meals, dessert, boredom grazing... but it's the main course that I have issues with.

Sammiches are my favorite. But I always have to assemble them at work. I like my bread toasted most of the time and avocado doesn't hold up well for long. This little box should help me contain all the ingredients with plenty of room to hold some salad mix with a bit of salad dressing on the side as well as some snacks.

Some wraps and lettuce wraps seem as though they may hold up in the hours between making and eating. But again, I LOVE AVOCADO. On everything. So it is either find a substitute, or unwrap and add it at work. Maybe make a paste and smear it on the outside?

We also get these amazingly delicious little flatbreads at Costco that are perfect for making little pizzas. So again, toast the bread, then add cheese and toppings to melt. What isn't going to be assembly required?! So much to plan!

I'll add updates on what works for me and how I like my boxes. If you have any meal ideas for me, I'm so ready to hear them!

Planning for the future

Warning - lots of rambling and bad iphone photos ahead!

Lately I feel like I do way more planning than doing.  

- Planning for decorating/furniture/art projects/building projects/gardening for the new house without getting to implement a lot of it. This, of course, includes many hours of online window shopping and journeying through shops.

- Dreaming about getting a new car since we pretty much have one vehicle (a classic truck is not good for a daily driver) and sometime in the next couple years I'll need 4 doors. I think we've decided on a Versa Note. I love little hatchbacks, what can I say?
- Coming up with new template and logo ideas for the etsy shop.
- Thinking about when we might want to try for kids and ALL OF THE THINGS that come with that. I'm actually thinking about getting this really cute dress from modcloth because I know I could wear it well into the pregnancy. I'M NOT TRYING TO GET PREGNANT. Who plans ahead like this? On the flip side, the last two dresses I bought would probably not fit if I even gained 5 points...

I couldn't get a rug or any accessories for the living room until the couch we ordered arrived. Now I can't because the color of the couch they delivered is SO far off it's not even close (we ordered dark gray, got light beige, lighter than our carpet). We ordered a dark gray to match the cat's fur better... this one isn't quite right for that.



But RC Willey was great about it. We just took in a cushion to prove it was wrong, they ordered us a new one, and we use the wrong one until it's ready. It wasn't even their fault, they put in the order right... it was just made wrong somehow.



I assembled this sweet shelf the other night while the husband slept. Not much on the shelf in this photo as I snapped it just after midnight when I finished it, but It's a bit better now. Some photo frames, flowers, and it's a good place to store our fermenting crock! I think I'll look for some baskets for the bottom shelf. It is also more gray than this picture shows, I love the color!

I have not found one single dining table I like. Add that my husband wants some huge ornate monstrosity (we do NOT live in a castle, honey!). So we are borrowing my parents' old table they no longer need. It's not bad. If I was willing to paint it and recolor the chair seats I would probably love it, but that project would be at least a year out with all the other ones I've got going.



My art room is up and running well! I have a great HUGE storage unit I got at the Youth Ranch (thrift store) months back for $40 that I need to paint and get in there. Until that happens I've got all sorts of furniture cast offs lining the walls and painted fun colors.

Organization: I've got a gold tray for my yarns, purple storage for embroidery thread, a yellow rack and a blue/gray shelf for paints, fabric paints, and paint pens. The white/blue plastic drawer holds felt. Frames, canvases, pads of paper, and things waiting to be hung are in three piles leaning on the walls. The yellow rolling cart (formerly the home of so much booze) is a good wrangler for my fabric bins. The woodgrain box holds clothes that need repaired.
Drawers in the desk hold cutting tool, taping & pasting tools, and other various sewing things. The rainbow drawers hold my drawing pencils & pens, prismacolor pencils, prismacolor markers, and various bits of sketches and random things. Books, scrapbooking supplies, and photos are held on the big black entertainment unit.



See?! So much random furniture. I'll have to keep the pink and silver shelf though. So sweet! I also need to make a few more pinatas to keep my tiny orange one company. It looks so lonely, and I have so much crepe paper left over from the wedding.



And I love my little window bench! I just have a blanket on it until I find time to make a cushion. But I do love that peach blanket. I got it at a yard sale for less than $5, and I always love a deal! And it matches my hair!



See ya next time!

Dreaming of decorating

Cam and I are buying a house!! Kind of... we're buying a lot, and a floor plan, and then it's getting built. So we have until around January or February before we have an ACTUAL house.

I'm so excited!

And this gives me months of knowing basically what my house will look like to plan out how I want it to be arranged, to be decorated, etc. So happy! I'm sure I will have a lot of inspiration posts in the future - I have so much to think about!

Updates

So I've been absent for awhile... wedding things caught up with me (my own, and my sister's which is in a few weeks), work has been crazy busy, and I actually started designing some invitation/stationery.



The past few weeks I have been making these kinds of things in my non-work hours.
Before that all of my non-work hours were devoted to wedding crap making. So I guess I could share a few wedding pictures! I love our photographer, she did such an amazing job. I have about 700 pictures and I absolutely love about 95% of them (the rest I had a ridiculous expression on my face, usually this is 100% of my pictures)


I needed a rest || all wedding photos by Mustard Seed Photography

The wedding was really fun. It was warm (but not too hot), I got a nice strappy back sunburn that morning, and Cam's parent's showed up until about three hours late. Because they stayed up until about 5 drinking. Other than those two things it was super great!


How cute are they?

 
I love the cake topper I made! I also tried to cake smash his face while running, didn't work.



In less exciting news, I had to take my engagement ring in for it's bi-annual inspection (for the warranty, you see) and there was a teeny tiny diamond missing. So now I don't get it back for about two months. That's so freaking long! I miss you, pretty ring :(


Come back to me!

Wedding Details: Giving in

I have strong opinions, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I know what I want and I will push to get it. I have a different style than the rest of my family (understatement...), so throughout the planning process I've had a lot of my choices questioned. And questioned, again and again. I always defend my opinions and don't let others change my mind when I want something.

But sometimes its worth it to just give in. Sometimes, I don't really care that much and I let go.

I'm not going to let someone tell me what to wear, or dictate things that are important to me. But sometimes, I just don't care enough about certain details to really put my opinion in.

Similar in style to this, via

- There was a beautiful birch four-post structure I wanted to use for an altar. It wasn't very expensive, but for 15 minutes of use it seemed too much. So now my dad will be making me one out of wood. All I care about is how I decorate it, I'm not too invested in the structure itself...

- Bouquets... have been a problem for me. I finally gave in and my mom will be making the actual bouquets out of real flowers. I don't care enough, and she really seems to want them. All the other flowers will still be made out of crepe paper!

We didn't even order turquoise - but teal works for me... via

- Envelopes?! Apparently my mom really wanted pretty colored envelopes for the invitations. I just wanted opaque ones. We had to order them in at a paper shop, and they cost just over $50. My invitations were under $200 for the whole suite!!!

Similar, but white boxes with colored ribbon and pewter charms, via

- I couldn't think of anything for favors. My mom really wanted to use these cute little white boxes she found at Michael's and tie them up with ribbon and little charms. We picked out cute little assorted feather and bird charms to tie on them. Something chocolate or cookie will go inside, she just hasn't decided what she wants to make.

- The cake has been up to my mother the whole time. She's making it, and as long as it tastes good she has free reign. This will be covered in scattered little edible flowers she's ordering.

There have been little things along the way. Small details in the decor that I don't care about, things that were too expensive or time consuming the way I want to do them. But there have been things I won't budge on, like making my cake topper. My feather garlands on the altar. My veil and accessories. The guy's outfits. Custom designing my own invitations. And all the hand-made decorations.

I just have to learn to let go of some things if I'm going to be able to accomplish the things that are really important to me!

Wedding details - February already?!

So we're halfway through February... and I'm starting to stress a little bit! So much left to do.

Good news - got bridesmaid's dresses picked out and ordered this weekend - we're going with these pretty dresses from Target:

All the girls are going to wear gray, but I'm hoping I'll have some time to make a pretty floral sash to replace the gray one. Each girl will wear a different color of tights (yellow orange and turquoise) and I don't really care what they do with their shoes... they're big girls, they can decide!

I'm just happy this detail is out of the way, hopefully they all fit!

My mom and I started playing around with centerpiece stuff on Saturday afternoon - so that is getting started. I've been making flowers here and there also. Not many done yet, but I've still got time.

My cousin is going to make a pretty tree branch altar for us, and I'm going to make hanging garlands of feathers and maybe lace (I have a bunch of lace ribbon from the auction this summer) to blow in the wind and look pretty.

I think I also have the invitation design finally finished!

This month we need to:

- Finish map/direction cards. Order invitations - maybe smartpress.com for printing? Has anyone used them?
- Rent chairs, tables, sound system, etc
- Figure out what food to serve
- Get my dress altered (just the neckline, it fits great!)
- Maybe try on suits for the guys? Is this too soon? Or am I late on this? Who knows!
- Order a crapload of feathers. White mostly for the aisle and altar, but also turquoise, yellow, orange, and gray for decorations, bouts, everything. Anyone know a good place? There are tons on Amazon, but most have huge shipping costs.
- Figure out how our ceremony is actually going to go. Our friend is officiating for us.
- More flowers!

A lot to do! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I'm trying to limit things that need to get done each week so I don't go crazy.

Honestly, this wouldn't be so bad if work would ever slow down even a little... but that's not going to happen. We just don't have enough people half the time - I am literally doing so many things each day I don't know if anything will get done in time.

Busy times

I've kind of fallen off the face of the 'net lately. I've been so busy and stressed at work, and it feels like I don't get a lot of time at home with my Camcam. So... I've definitely been neglecting some things... blogs, instagrams (I still look at it, I just haven't been taking pictures), you know, things.

Anyway, quick updates:
- Last night I watched the premier of The Americans, looks like it's gonna be a really good show!
- I've fallen in love with the Vine app. I'm 'Katie Sims' if you wanna look me up. I've only taken one video, but I love watching all the others. So many cute babies!
- I wore a curler mohawk for Cameron's 'old man' birthday party. That sucker is 30 now!

- I'm going to start doing things for my wedding. I promise. I really NEED to, only 121 days left. The photo above is of my parents (left) and Cameron's parents (right).
- I won a few pairs of sweet shoes in a contest (hint: I will have one pair of shoes from my recent 'Saturday Shoes' posts soon!). I'm so excited to get them!

- I've been trying to expand my design portfolio for Sour Fawn. Currently I'm doing free blog banners or buttons (no coding) for a select few people, email me if you are interested!
- I got addicted to the doors&rooms game on my phone. This is a blast!

And don't forget to enter to win an iPad mini on Kaelah's blog!

Winter Goals: handmade gifts

This December I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before the end of the season.This time I thought I'd share my goals as I complete them, rather than all at the end.

Every year I give some people hand made presents. How many people depends on what I'm making that year (I usually stick to one kind of object and make personalized versions). Last year I only made one, a big applique quilt for Cameron. The year before, pillows (my uncle's had his el camino painted on it, my dad's looked like the back of a Packer's jersey, etc). Before that, it was paintings. You get the idea.

This year my sister really wanted an apron, so the type of object was easy. I decided to make one for my sister, Cameron's grandma, a friend, and my niece. I also made two little stuffed animals, one for Cameron's brother's soon-to-be step-son and one for a friend.

My sister picked out the fabrics for the turquoise trimmed apron I made her. The bottom corners of the bottom have pot holders on the lining. The fox was for the little boy and the piggy face for my friend. The cow print and red for Cameron's grandma and the apron with the felt Hello Kitty face was for my niece.

Last is the half apron for my friend.

Another new year

Yes, yes, this will be kind of a 'year in review' post, but mostly looking forward to the next one! 

It can be cathartic to look back to see how much has changed in our lives. I can say with 100% confidence that I have had a good year. Of course there were some terrible things that happened, like my aunt dying, but there was so much good, including:

- I started a new job last January and have done so many things there beyond what I expected
- I (officially) moved in with the love of my life - we unofficially lived together for quite awhile before that
- I got my cat back from my mom!
- Cameron and I got engaged

- I went on a couple of road trips and camping trips

- I met so many new, great people!
- I got to spend a bit more time with my PIC, Hailey this summer (also pictured, Britney & LadyBits)

- I started this blog - a new adventure in itself
- My sister and I have grown closer
- I found a wedding dress!
- Reinstated game nights after a year or so without 
- I learned to knit
- I made a bunch of new things, and that always makes me happy

This year is shaping up to be a good one! I can't wait to embark on so many new adventures:
- A wedding, which will include soooo much DIY fun!
- I'm going to actually open an etsy shop full of my handmade goodies
- Seriously going to make another quilt and so many other projects
- More PIC fun
- So many decorating projects
- Also getting all the random furniture out of the garage!!
(seriously there is a full sized couch, a chair, an end table, a filing cabinet, a huge computer desk, a computer chair, 2 small dining tables, a fridge that we use, a sewing table Cameron bought for $2, my beloved steamer trunk, 2 table lamps, & a floor lamp along with all of our camping things, storage things, a lawnmower, tools, and two bikes. Oh, and a folding beirut table. GAH!!)
- I'm going to make my own board game (modeled after an existing one)
- I'm determined to make (and finish) a dress, I never finish them
- More blogging fun & more DIY projects
- New tattoos coming up!
- My 365 day project
- House hunting
- Something I really want to share but can't tell anyone at all yet!

Oh, 2013, I have such high hopes for your greatness! Sorry I'm so giddy right now, I just can't help it. Tonight we're going to ring in the new year with a small gathering of friends, booze, and 80's attire. I'm wearing a neon yellow, pink, and aqua sweater right now. It's going to be amazing (trust me!).

365 Day --wait for it-- Challenge

I'm trying something new! A 365 day challenge.

I really wanted to push myself to do a 365 day challenge this year. As much as I love crafty things, I knew I wouldn't be able to make something each and every day... it just wouldn't work out with me.

So I've decided to do something to help solve a problem I've had with outfit posts here: I don't usually wear makeup to work. Sometimes I just put my hair up and I think it looks less than fabulous, and even if my outfit is outstanding... I'm just not confident enough to put up 'naked' face pictures of myself.

This brings me to my challenge decision:
Everyday, for 365 days, I will take a self-portrait first thing in the morning. No makeup unless I forgot to wash it off, no brush, no mirror, no digital retouching (none. Ah!).

I need to get past my insecurity issues :) This is a bit nerve-wracking for me. I'm going to document my progress over at 365 Sleepy Days. I just created this in the last hour, so hopefully I'll have time to really design it later. Right now you can visit it to read more about what led me to this conclusion, and as of January 1st I'll be posting my sleepy self-portraits!

Is anyone else doing a 365 project? Ever attempted or completed one? I'd love to hear about it!

Post-Holiday Disaster Zone!

As amazing as Christmas was (which it was - I hope you enjoyed your holiday as well!), MY HOUSE IS A MESS!! AH!

- My previously perfectly spotless art room was hit by a tornado of fabric scraps, tissue paper, thread, straight pins (I can never manage to get them all put back in their case), and tools. And I still have two little projects to finish (two for Christmas and one for a birthday). It drives me crazy!

- The kitchen is... cluttered. One counter has a bunch of booze on it. We got a good amount of alcohol and beer from Cameron's family. There are all the new kitchen fun gadgets and doo-dads that aren't put away yet. So tonight will definitely not be a cooking night... the stove has a box full of things on it, and every other surface has goodies too! (edit: it's improving after last night's quick tidying)

- The bedroom is covered in laundry. Formerly perfectly sorted dirty laundry. I did the majority of my washing Saturday, but all of the 'special wash' clothes are still waiting. That's like 6 more tiny individual loads. And I can't get to my treadmill! Because I've been so good at using it lately... (edit: smokey clothes from family visits are clean and only two more special loads left.)

- The spare bathroom is full of dried laundry. I hang my no-dryer clothes on the shower rod in there. It's Wednesday now. I did laundry Saturday. A bit of a delay, yeah? (bathroom has a whole new set of laundry drying, Saturday's clothes are put away!)

So... work now, clean later!

Seasonal Winter Goals!

It's that time again! I just finished the wrap-up of my fall 2012 goals, so it's time to start a new list! Behold, 8 goals that I would like to accomplish in the next three months!

1. Cook 5 'new to me' meals for the two of us
This is a roll-over goal from the fall. I never even started last time, so I bumped the number from 10 to 5. Baby steps!

2. Build archway for the wedding ceremony
The wedding isn't until June... but I'm a last-minute Martha. Weddings require too much work to leave things to the last minute, so I'm trying to plan a little early. This goal is important to me because I want to get something done way in advance, and that's hard for me!

3. Finish designing my tattoo & get it
I have three tattoos, but I haven't gotten a new one in years! I've got the itch!

4. Give beautiful gifts made by hand
Every year I make a few gifts by hand. Last year I made Cameron a quilt, the year before people go pillows (some were like scrabble tiles, some were like little periodic table of elements squares, some looked like the back of a football jersey, and some were painted. One had a painting of my uncles El Camino!), the year before were paintings... you get the idea. This year I'm going aprons!

5. Make yummy holiday treats
I'm sure I'll make at least one Dutch Apple Pie, but I'm thinking I need to try some new treats. Anyone have any ideas for good non-dairy treats? I'm getting more lactose intolerant by the day!

6. Guest list!!!!!
Yup, 6 months away and still haven't finalized a guest list. Go us!

7. Read 5 'new to me' books
Smaller goal than last season, although I finished the previous goal of 12 books. I've even started one already! I want to spend more time making, planning, and enjoying Cameron.

8. Wedding flowers
My biggest dilemma to date. I need to decide on what I'm doing here! Read more about my flower issues.

Fall Goals: Two incomplete?!

This September I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before the end of the season. There were two goals on the list that I didn't even attempt! I was so busy this season that I never got around to trying to reach these goals... this means that they need to in some way carry over to my seasonal winter goals!

Sell something I've made by hand
This is so difficult for me because I make things for specific people... and then I don't make more of the cool things I've made. Does anyone want a sweet unicorn eye patch? Too bad, I only made one of them! I get complimented on things I make and wear all the time - but they're always one of a kind. I'm really going to get on this soon!

Cook 10 'new to me' dishes
This was actually a rather large goal for me. I probably only cooked 10 dinners this fall (Cameron does most of the cooking), and I tend to just cook things I know how to make. It's so much quicker to make one of my go-to chicken or pasta dishes than to bust out a new recipe! I really want to broaden my cooking range, anyone have any good recipes I should try out?

Stay tuned for my winter seasonal goals! Hint: there's a good chance they will be more wedding planning-oriented than the previous ones.

Fall Goals: 4 Easy Completions!

This September I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before the end of the season. I haven't managed to reach them all, but here are four that weren't too difficult to achieve with a passive amount of effort!
 

Spend more time with my niece and nephews
So this was actually a pretty easy goal for the fall. Birthdays, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving eve dinner and swimming, and various quick trips to my sister's house (she lives about 30 minutes away) definitely allowed for more time than I usually get with them.

Love my life 
I have been making an effort to truly appreciate the amazing people and things that make me happy. November is an especially easy month for this!

Make my Halloween costume (again)
Unfortunately I was sick most of October, but I still managed to throw together a last minute costume. I didn't make it all, but it was still fun!

Take a trip with Cameron
We did take a weekend roadtrip excursion for our anniversary. It was short but definitely sweet!

Fall Goal: Bake often

This September I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before the end of the season. I haven't managed to reach them all, but I'd like to share with you what I have gotten through!

Bake my pumpkin break, dutch apple pie, and peach kuchen often:
I chose these because I enjoy making them, and they are Cameron's favorites. He's not a cake or frosting person, so pasties and breads are the best bet to please his taste buds.

I didn't bake as much as I would have liked (I was sick so often, I am right now!), but I did it enough to fatten us up a little extra! Pumpkin bread was great as usual, but I haven't gotten to the Dutch Apple Pie yet. I think that will be for Christmas time.

I use a recipe from my great grandmother's church recipe book for my kuchen. But this time, I decided I wanted to make CupKuchen. Soooo good. And I didn't limit myself to peach - no, I branched out for real! I did peach, apple, blueberry, cranberry, blueberry peach, cran-apple, and cran-blueberry. I was so excited about the cranberries, I got them to taste like craisins before I baked them into the kuchen. I even got lucky and guessed the perfect baking time on my test cuppies!

They're so much prettier before they bake, but so much better with all the creamy yumminess!

Fall Goal: Read 12 New-to-me Books

This September I made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve before the end of the season. I haven't managed to reach them all, but I'd like to share with you what I have gotten through!

Read 12 'new to me' books:

I never wanted Ready Player One to end. It is amazing and nerdy and fun. It made me want to draw, and reminded me of how awesome everything 80's is (not that I needed much reminding with Hailey around). It centers around a competition created by an eccentric millionaire. This man created a game which almost everyone in the world participates. People play for entertainment, they attend school virtually, and even work in this game. When the game's creator dies, he sets forth a competition - find the easter eggs in this massive virtual world and you get his entire estate. You follow one young, poor boy on his journey. There's good and evil, reflection on society, suspense, a little bit of teenage romance.  Oh yeah, and real trailer parks stacked up at least 9 trailers high.

The Dog Stars was another future-y story. You follow one man in a world after devastating plagues killed nearly everyone. The book essentially takes place in the main character's head, so dialogue isn't as easily discernible, things happen in his head and then don't happen for real... It started slow, I didn't know what to expect really. I kept waiting for the 'story' to start. And then it did. And I liked it. And it suddenly ended.

The Night Circus is spectacular. Don't read another word of this blog post, just read this book. I fell in love with the world in this book, with the circus, with the characters. Everything is so charming.

One day I was listening to NPR and one of the sponsorship messages happened to say something along the lines of 'Son by Lois Lowry, a sequel to the Giver.' Commence double-take. A SEQUEL? I remember reading the Giver in 4th grade. It was amazing. I still remember how I felt at certain parts of the book (some books really pull me in). So when I heard that I IMMEDIATELY went online to Amazon... and found three more books! Gathering Blue and Messenger aren't exactly sequels. They take place in the same world, but in other places. They focus on people who didn't necessarily fit in for some reason in their respective societies, but accomplish great things. They're all quick reads and I do recommend them.

I love memoirs. Yakuza Moon is a great story about a very different world. It's inspiring. A Piece of Cake is one I cheated on - I've read it before! But it was so long ago, and I've been dying to read it again. The sheer number of things that Cupcake (the name that was put on her birth certificate, though it was changed later) overcame in her life. Read this book, it might make you cry.

I love the shopaholic books. I hate the shopaholic movie. It was awful. I somehow hadn't gotten around to picking this one up yet (I own all the others except for Shopaholic & Sister). It is adorable. It's fun to follow the same character through so much of her life. From getting out of a job she was not suited for, to finding the right man, moving to the US with him, getting married (spoiler: twice!), finding out she had a sister, to being pregnant, and now her daughter is a few years old and a total spoiled brat. These books always have the most ridiculous things she gets herself into, but they are so fun. A little chick lit never hurt anyone.

Yes, I decided to read the Hunger Games books. I watched the movie when it came out (Cameron was eager after having read the first years ago), and really liked it. They did a good job following the book, but obviously some relationships were cut down for screen time. I'm excited to see Catching Fire, it was a great book this arena would be so cool to see. I also really want to see how they portray the different districts. I am less enthusiastic about Mockingjay. It was a good conclusion to the series, but it was my least favorite of the three. Maybe because for once you are more familiar with all the characters that are dying?

Anyway, next time I'll share with you how my baking goal went!

Insta-gratification:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! Anyone doing the crazy Friday shopping thing? It's not Thanksgiving yet as I'm writing this, so I still have so much excitement pent up! I can't wait for Thanksgiving eve (Mexican food and hot springs) with my family and Thanksgiving day (turkey dinner as traditional) with Cameron's. I'll be sure to get some fun action shots to share.

Here are some Instagram photo moments from the past week or so. As always, you can find me @katiopeia!

Inertia likes to wake me up on the weekends for her breakfast. And she's a box kitty for sure.

She stealthily got into this photo of my 'lunch.'  Fortune cookies are sometimes amusing, but not quite what they used to be.

To and from work one day this week - via my windshield.

My nephews love Minecraft. One had a birthday on Saturday, hence Minecraft cake (half finished here. I had to leave my sister to finish it. I'm also going to mention that when I showed up to help she had already cut out about 200 squares from the uncolored fondant. Then we had to paint them. This is why they look glassy, but the Creeper and piggy don't).

Puppies want photo-love too! And a nice relaxing bubbly bath feels nice when you're sick and your back is sore.

Insta-gratification: October Details

It's been awhile since I've done one of these - I've been so busy with work and Halloween that I've been neglecting to take pictures along the way! We've gone through about 6 different ideas for costumes before we got where we are now, with costumes almost complete for Saturday.

1. Beautiful fall day by my work.
2. I was so hungry.
3. Then we went to this sweet bar that had a bunch of old arcade games. Cameron used all the quarters in my car (I had a TON hahah) to play. We also played a three-way game of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker - you fight with lightning and DANCE!
4. One of my friends is going to be Flash Gordon. I tried so hard to convince him to be old homeless Flash Gordon (complete with 'will save the world for food/cocaine/booze' cardboard sign). Honestly, if Flash Gordon and all these other super heroes were really around today Flash Gordon would be washed up and homeless. Against revamped Avengers, X-men, Spiderman, Batman? Who would ask for Flash Gordon? No one. Exactly. He just didn't see the light... but at least he's got a ridiculous blond wig!
5. Cameron is going to be a circus fire-eater... does this look like a fire-eater stick? blah, I don't know if I'm going to attach the feathers or not.
6. We got our wedding bands on Sunday (the yellow diamond band) and have been wearing them ever since. We won't get married until June, but Cam was really jealous that I had a ring to wear.
7. Adorable Inertia, just hanging out

I can't wait for Halloween guys!!! It's my favorite holiday. It won't be the same this year, though. My aunt passed away this last year - she was the one that got us all into it so much. The first Halloween without her around will be very sad. I think that's why we've had such apathy toward our costumes and decorations for the first time. I know we will have fun though, and I'm looking forward to crazy hair, crazy makeup, and playing with a whip all night!

Instagra-tification Friday: Trip Edition

None of these photos are actually from Instagram this week - these are just random pictures from the trip Cam and I took last weekend.

Hanging out in front of the river.

Random shots from different locations: Cool houses in Pendleton, traveling in the car, at a pub for dinner, and through hotel curtains.

The bed at the Grand Hotel in Baker City. The rooms were cool and the bathrooms were huge.

Different fun flooring patterns, street view, and the morning light glowing on the wall.

We didn't go very far this trip, it was fun to just stop at all of the little towns between Boise and Pendleton, walk around, go into little shops, play some shuffleboard, have a few beers, and eat yummy foods. We did have the best finger steaks at the Rainbow Cafe/Bar in Pendleton (also way strong drinks).