I'm addicted

So I kept hearing about Pinterest on various blogs. I decided to check it out, and it is cooler than the other image saving site I joined. I signed up to join it and finally got an invite email a week later (last night). I'm addicted. I love how you can create categories and follow people, plus it's always updated. You can find images of everything on here. I've already found/tabbed a few kitchen gadgets I'd like to buy down the road. If you want an invite, let me know! This is one of the folders I created called "my fav colors" :).

Fun Finds: Places to shop in Houston, TX and cute sites to visit online

If you ever find yourself in Houston, Texas, be sure to visit Texas Junk Co. You'll find an assortment of random and original treasures, from cowboy boots to frames and embroidered tea towels. I stopped by yesterday and found all of these photographed items. Texas Junk Company is the place to go if you love experiencing the joy of finding a good deal after really searching for it, as in literally getting your hands dirty. Think grandma's garage -- dust, rust and all :).

For those who prefer a cleaner environment (one that's nicely air conditioned, not dusty and big like Texas -- it is the biggest antique mall in the Lone Star State, after all) visit Market Place Antiques. You're basically paying for them to do the dusting, cleaning and hand-picking. They know what they're selling, so it isn't as easy to find a good deal. What's fun is coming across a sale! The market place is sectioned off into booths, each one operated by a different seller, which means you'll find anything and everything here. Need a 100 year old hand-carved bread box from France? They've got that. Looking for an old Charles Dickens book? They've got you covered there, too. They even have their own little diner, so the whole place smells like a dreamy meatloaf sandwich (dreamy if you like meatloaf sandwiches, that is :).

What if you want eye candy without having to leave the comfort of your own home? What if Texas is just too hot to visit? (It is! :P) Then stay home and check out these lovely sites!:

Lolalina

Pugley Feet - Blog

Gathering Spriggs

Nest Decorating (My favorite jewelry designer!)

Seriously.

Seriously. Just look at that face and...the tiny paws! How can I be bothered?

Yep, that is my new friend Mr. Raccoon, except I think it might be Ms. (oops!). She is very curious.

Yesterday the hubby and I were enjoying hot dogs outside on our porch (because the weather was so so beautiful) when we heard someone barking in the background. Nope, it wasn't a dog, it was a squirrel -- not just any squirrel. Apparently Mr. Squirrel is quite territorial and really (and I mean really) becomes anxious and aggressive whenever he sees Ms. Raccoon anywhere near his tree. He barks up a storm, even his tail twitches to the beat of his barks, for added emphasis. I think he got his point across to Ms. Raccoon, who refused to climb up the tree.

Instead, she made her way to the area surrounding our porch. We made eye contact when she was in the neighbor's yard and she could smell the food, I'm sure. I could hear some rustling nearby and guess who it was? Yep, cute and curious Lady Raccoon.

That picture you're seeing was actually taken today. She was a bit on the shy side yesterday but today she was bold enough to climb onto our porch. I left the sliding door open while I was baking chicken and sewing earlier this afternoon, I'm pretty sure the aroma in the breeze was too much for a hungry raccoon to handle. I opened the curtain and there she was, except, I only caught a glimpse of her furry tail curling around the edge of the porch while she tried to escape. But a minute later she decided to come back and say hello. She literally remained in that pose (in the photos above) for about 5 minutes. :)

As far as sewing goes, I'm working on a few Mother's Day projects. I'm finishing up a tote/beach bag for my mom. I made it really huge :D, I was afraid of making it too small, but I added a few pockets because things are bound to get lost in that big ol' bag. I have to sew the exterior/interior together still, but here's what I have so far:

The new neighbor and more cards

The mysterious new neighbor...

Say hello to my new neighbor. He's a little feisty, always on the prowl and doesn't sleep much. I was thinking of baking him a batch of cupcakes, as a way of saying welcome to the neighborhood, but he needs some time to adjust, I think. Recently, there was some sort of domestic dispute between him and Mr. Squirrel; a few nights ago, I heard strange yelps and cries coming from that very tree he's pictured climbing. Haven't seen much of Mr. Squirrel or his friends since.

If you look closely at the first picture, you'll see a smirk across the new neighbor's face -- I think he knows something I don't...

I think, maybe, he's the real rebel.



When I'm not working undercover for the raccoon paparazzi, this is what I'm up to -- making Mother's Day cards for the Etsy shop I've yet to update:

A 'cute' verse

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
Colossians 4:6

I read this verse and had to laugh a little, being a foodie and all. Salt really does make or break a baked good. I've learned from experience. When I first started baking, I used to do away with the salt in recipes because I saw no point in adding the one little teaspoon or half teaspoon of salt.

I thought, "What can a tiny pinch of salt do to a batch of cookies that sugar and all the other good stuff can't?". Well, when batch after batch of those saltless cookies kept coming up bland and missing 'something', I eventually realized how much their yumminess depends on a smidgen of salt.

God knows my responses are sometimes missing salt, the extra something that makes my words palatable and effective in representing my faith in God. How many times have you heard a sermon or someone (even this blog ;) trying to express God's love and it just sounds impersonal and 'Hallmark'? It really gives a whole new meaning to the phrase Pass the Salt! :D

Ah, memories.

I have no idea why, but I was very obsessed with Peewee's Big Adventure (and this show) when I was little, so much that I even named my first dog Pee Wee. (For laughs, I showed my mom, she said I practically had the whole script memorized.) I watched it over and over and over. This scene was my favorite; I had a love-hate relationship with it, actually. I'd pretend to cover my eyes, then I'd sneak a peak when I was ready to behold the eye-popping ghost of LARGE MARGE! I'm totally Netflixing this tonight :P!



Funny thing is, my mother also had a strange liking for peculiar and semi-traumatizing movies when she was a kiddo. She made me watch this with her when I was about 11, it was an interesting experience :P...

Go ahead, laugh!

It's embarrassing how much I've let myself get sucked into the Twilight series.

In fact, I'm now thinking of songs that fit the books; I'm creating soundtracks in my mind for each of them...

I can't help myself. What's a Girl to Do? by Bat for Lashes has Eclipse (third in the series) written all over it! (I'd have to say that Sad Eyes could also make it onto that soundtrack, and possibly New Moon's.)

...back to work :D.

Weekend Trip

This past Sunday, we took a trip to Gloucester and Rockport. So far, they are the most beautiful East Coast cities I've visited (haven't been to that many places yet!). New York City was fun, but Jose and I both enjoyed this trip a whole lot more. Gloucester and Rockport were peaceful and relaxing; no anxious crowds and noisy city streets.

We went to Halibut Point first then visited the lighthouse featured in The Perfect Storm. We wanted to try some fresh lobster at Roy Moore Lobster Co., but, being complete out-of-towners, it didn't occur to us that it'd be closed for the season. We're definitely going back, though :).

Our trip ended on a sweet note at Nichols Candies, where we loaded up on salt water taffy and tons of chocolate. Nichols chocolate is THE best; I loved their truffles. It's such a cute candy shoppe; the place is divided in two by a wall with a big glass window. The first room consists of the actual store and customers can view the little 'factory' in the adjoining second room through the dividing window. The old candy-making machines they've been using for years are on display there :).

This house (pictured below) is kind of hard to see (click to enlarge), but we both took turns snapping shots of it because we liked it so much (...getting ideas for our future home :).

Yes, please :).

The first, second and fourth.

Can't get enough of these kitchens.

The Dish Ran Away with the Spork???!!!

Preface: Along with the many other things I'd like to do in this life, illustrating a book is one of them. Now I'm trying to choose between wanting to do that and just coming up with a very small greeting card line. (This will not happen until many, many years from now. :) Anyhow, I truly wish I had more time to devote to these poor drawings, but there's bread and dough to be made (I mean that literally and figuratively); someone's gotta cook and bring home the bacon :D. Right now, that's me. So here's my little twisted fairytale comic about the inevitable, the Dish leaving the Spoon so that he can find true happiness with... a spork? Yep! This is the short story that goes with my submission for this week's difficult Illustration Friday theme: Resolve! (Colored Pencil/Pencil/Cartoon)

After years of being tormented by the well-known nursery rhyme that, for decades, paired him with the Spoon, the Dish finally realized he wasn't the Spoonman we thought he was. Despite the fact that there have been various songs depicting him as a Man of the Spoon, he really didn't care for silverware at all. Sure, Forks would literally bend over backwards for him; they'd always gaze at his 'fine china' exterior, but the Dish wanted to be appreciated for more than his looks and the name brand on his back side.

The decision was final. The Dish declared that he was done with spoons and forks; he was left cracked from the stress of failed relationships, after all! It was time to move on, even if others accused him of settling for less. The Dish fell in love with the utensil that's never seen a real dinner table! Made out of plastic and loved by many a cafeteria-eating minor, the Spork won the dish over with her simple ways. She'd had a rough life, being thrown to the bottom of backpacks and withstanding the weight of heavy books; Spork was even chewed on by anxious elementary school students during recess. The truth is, she'd never been with anyone other than sticky Fruit Cup and stinky Tupperware.

And so it goes, the Dish and the Spork were truly meant to be! To this day, neither of them look back to their former lonely days. The Dish really feels he's gotten the best of both worlds and the Spork knows that she finally has a chance to make it into the kitchen utensil drawer some day!