I've been tagged with horrible spelling!

The hilarious Sarah has tagged me with the Kreativ Blogger graphic. I am now forced to get out of my blogging slump and actually write something! Damn you, Sarah, damn yoooou! *shakes fist!*

Ok, enough of that drama, on the the thankfullness:

1. I'm thankful to have a house with central heating and running water. It's amazing what you'll put up with when you are growing up.
2. Even though it's sucking balls right now and I don't like it, I'm thankful to have a well paying job in a market I (think) is pretty recession proof.
3. My cats. I'm not going to lie. They are pretty 'effin awesome.
4. My husband. Man, did I luck out or what. It's like I married a handyman, therapist, and lover all in one.
5. Sushi. I can not stand seafood, but give me a spicy tuna roll and I'm your best friend!
6. NPR. Because I feel smarter after listening to it.

Ok, the rules are that I'm supposed to tag 6 peeps to keep this ball of thanksgiving rolling. Well, Thanksgiving is over, Santa is on his way to town, and hell, I can't think of 6 people to send this to.

I read back over some of my older blog posts and realized that I have promised pictures of stuff and I never delivered. I will try my damndest to get some of that stuff up here in the next few weeks.

Hope everyone had a good T-day. Between two dinners, I stuffed myself stupid as usual.

My poor fuzz boy has the sniffles. He's been laying around the house all day sleeping. But then again, that's what he always does so I'm not too worried.

Aya was snuggled up on the couch with me today while I watched the What Not to Wear Marathon on TLC. He only sneezed and sprayed snot on me once so, Aya 1, Me 0.

Sooo....I got busy and then I got to run around in a big poofy dress a few Satuday's ago. I'll post more when things settle down. :)

Have you seen that new movie?

It's rated ARRRR!* It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I hope everyone got out of Hurricane Ike unscathed. We had a bit of fun this past Sunday morning with a small flood in our neighborhood. We got about 1/2" of water in the house. We could have used a pirate ship, come to think of it. Arrrrr!

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awesome_sauce/sets/72157607294259595/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fInvOtrixUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nllkn7hXveM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fT1quKJsto

More on how the invites were done next, promise! I also have my shower this weekend so I hope to get some good pictures from that.

* I freakin' love that joke.

Invitations!

To save money, we decided to make our own invitations. I honestly don't know if we saved any money since I haven't worked out the numbers yet, but I get such a kick outta telling people that we made them ourselves. It was a lot of work and a lot of nights of me shreking "I hate them! It's a horrible design and no one will come because they are so 'effin ugly!". A little dramatic, but that's how my creative mind works. I go through these stages whenever I make something:



Mmm, Krispy Kremes....Well, without further ado, here are the invites:


I don't know if you can see, but on the RSVP card there is a box that has above it: "Please draw us a bird!" It's fun getting RSVP's back to begin with, but now it's exciting to see what they've drawn. We've had some party poopers who've left the box blank or wrote in, "I can't draw". That's not the point people! I'll post some of the birds we've gotten in a later post.

I couldn't get a good picture of the printing, but all the letters on the invite part (not the map or RSVP) are raised, like it is Thermography printing. This was achived using my Gocco machine and embossing powder. I'll post pics of us making them in the next post!

I've got a bunch of crafty DIY stuff I've done (and doing) that I'll try to get around to posting sometime this week.

I think I have a cold. And a sunburn. And the wedding is 5 weeks away.

Whee.

I think I'm going to go hurl.

Ha ha! I like how they put in two dudes in my "look alike" spread. I don't think I look like them, but we do have excellent taste in glasses. I should probably try this some other time with my contacts in and see what I get.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Dancing!

This is probably the best thing I've seen in a long time:

http://www.vimeo.com/1211060

This really made my Monday and it's only 8:45.

I'm not one to get excited about celebrity fashion lines, but this caught my attention:

Sheryl Crow plans eco-chic clothing line

I think it is interesting that she's named the line "Bootheel Trading Co." We are both from that area and honestly, I couldn't get outta there fast enough. I don't know if I could wear that logo on my butt. That being said, I am interested in the "eco" part and also that the jeans will be manufactured by Western Glove Works. WGW also make Silver jeans which I LOVE. I think everyone has a brand of jeans that just works for them, and mine is Silver.

It will be interesting what the price point will be whenever the line comes out.

Indiana Jones and the "Spielburg needs to stop making moves"

Found this abridged script that someone put together for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.

Spoiler alert, but it's damn funny.

My favorite (slightly non-spoiler) lines are:

HARRISON teaches his film class entitled “How To Ruin Millions Of Childhoods In 2 Hours” when he is interrupted by the DEAN, JIM BROADBENT.

and this one:

HARRISON FORD

What are we doing in the Amazon?

KAREN ALLEN

Cate wants to return the Crystal MacGuffin to the ancient City of Gold.

HARRISON FORD

City of Gold? Isn’t that what Nicolas Cage was looking for in National Treasure 2? Are we seriously getting the plot for our shitty sequel to Indiana Jones by ripping off the plot of a shitty sequel to a shitty knock-off of Indiana Jones? I feel like that should unravel the space-time continuum or something.

Buahahaha! Seriously, that movie sucked the life outta me. I'll just pretend it never happened just like Star Wars Episodes I-III.

I thought this was an interesting article:

Why Women Quit Technology Careers

I work in a technology field that is male dominated and I feel very lucky where I am. Everything in that article was my biggest fear when I was job hunting. I really didn't want to get stuck working with an old cranky engineer that thought women should be barefoot and pregnant (I've heard some horror stories). I've only been in this field for two and a half years now and I've never felt like I was inferior because I wasn't toting a sausage and peas.

The Steve (TS) and I were working out tonight and we were both on the ellipticals with the individual T.V.'s. Being the dorks that we are, we were both watching a History Channel show about magnets. On the show, they explained how they make magnets out of plastic and how different colored light beams can either raise or lower the magnetism. A blue light increased the capacity by 150% while green light decreased it by that much.

At a commercial break, I tapped TS on the shoulder and proceeded to tell him a theory that had popped up in my head:

Me: Hey, did you see what that green light did to the magnet?
TS: Yeah, why?
Me: Well, Kryptonite is green right? And it glows right?
TS: Yeah....
Me: So that's how it affected Superman!
TS: You're saying Superman is a magnet?
Me: YES!
TS: *Shakes head*

It makes sense though doesn't it? I mean, Superman wasn't human. If he had some sort of magnetic properties then that could explain how he is able to fly. Ha ha. I'm such a nerd, I love it. Ok, I'll get off my nerd soapbox now.

Anyway, I hope everyone of the Orthodox persuasion had a happy Easter (two weekends ago, I know, but better late than never). Christos Anesti! I drug TS to a Greek Orthodox midnight service this year so I could have him experience it just once, since I never go anymore. I managed to not catch my hair on fire*, so over all it was a good time. Here we are before we left:

*you have to hold a lit candle during the ceremony, and by 1:30 am I started falling asleep, but then would wake up realizing I had fire mere inches from some old lady's hair spray laden updo.

Bleh...

I have an unwritten rule to myself to not blog at work. When I get home, writing here sometimes isn't a big priority for me. I'll try to post more often in the future, but I'm just posting now to let everyone know I'm still alive. :)

Oh, and my fiance looked at the photos of me in my blue shirt/dress thing and said "Wow, that looks really good!" and I replied, "Aw, thanks honey!". To that he said, "Oh, I meant the house looks cool in that photo...but uh...you look nice too."

He's lucky he's cute.

DIY Lamp #2

Thanks for all the comments on the outfit everyone! I'll take a picture next time I wear it once I figure out what I'm going to do and post it.

So a while ago, I posted about my experience with rehabbing a lamp I got off eBay. Well, after that one I got the bug, so I decided to try it again. I love pretty much anything Asian, so I searched for "geisha lamp". Here are the pictures from the auction:


I don't remember how much it cost...something around $100. That may sound expensive, but look at it! Isn't it gorgeous? It was one of those "I have to have it or I'll DIE" kinda things. I've never heard of someone dying from 'lack of lamp', but I'm sure it's happened. Please note that it is in one piece and in pretty solid condition except for a few places where the paint has chipped.

I think when FedEx or UPS sees a box labeled "Fragile", it means "Smash the bejebus outta me" in their language. The lamp was packaged pretty well, it just looked like it had been hit with a Mack truck. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it when it first came in, but I do have pics of it after I had spackled it back together. There is a metal rod that runs down the length of the statue and that was bent right at the neck. It must have taken a LOT of force to get it to bend like that.

Here you can see where her bun was cracked (the red stuff is the Bondo that I used). Also, this is after I had removed all the existing paint that was on it. It looked like it had been gold leafed sometime in it's past life! It took forever to get that paint off though. There is so much detail in the statue I had to dig paint out of every crease.

This is her neck from the front. That gray bit you see in the middle is part of the steel rod poking through. If the statue wasn't molded to that rod her poor little head would have fallen off.

Now, this is where I wish I had taken a before photo. The back of the base was all smashed up and in about 10 or so pieces. I put it back together like a puzzle using super glue and then Bondo'd all the cracks. I think this is the part I'm most proud of.


Here is the whole statue before I applied primer and painted it.


Action shot! I think I'm applying the primer here. I know this is off topic, but I love our backyard. You would never know from this picture that I live in a subdivision.

Cheese!


Here is the finished head all painted up. I liked the color that it was, but I wanted it to have more texture. I decided on a stone finish for the statue and a cream color (like the original color) on the stand.


The non-shattered base.


Here's the whole shebang. The first photo shows the colors well, but the flash picked up all the light spots on the lamp and makes it look splotchy. This is a good shot of the detail:


It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. I think whenever we move, this bad boy is sitting in my lap for the move. I'm not going to risk it getting damaged again!

Fashion, Smashion...

I need some advice from the ladies. I bought a dress on eBay and I couldn't wait until it came in. It came in the mail....and it didn't fit. The seller sold it as is so I couldn't return it (that's eBay for ya) but I liked the way it looked so much that I just stuffed it in my closet hoping I could figure some way to wear it. It is labeled a size 12 (my size) and I guess I didn't see any length dimension on the auction but it is WAY too short. Like, it shows my hoo-ha short. I have no interest in showing everyone my lady bits, so I thought I'd try to wear it over jeans. The Steve said it looked fine, but I need a woman's opinion.

Front view:


Side view:
Part of me feels like this looks really good and is trendy, and another part of me thinks I'm crazy. Plus, I've got some wide child-bearing hips I've got to work with and I don't know if this works. What do you think?

Tagged!

I was tagged by Jen and Nicole! You are supposed to write seven facts or interesting tidbits about yourself and then tag seven other people. Since I got tagged twice, it's only fair that I list 14 things.

1. My full name is Marguerita. And, no, that wasn't my mother's favorite drink! She prefers Mudslides anyway. I think the root of it is French, but it's a traditional Greek name. I'm named after my Aunt Rita and it means pearl.

2. I built my computer from the ground up. I hate having to take my computer to a repair shop because you have no idea if they are snooping around in your stuff. I used to work in a small computer store and, while I never did it, some of the techs liked to poke around other people's computers to see what kinda of goodies they could find (music, movies, pr0n).

3. I like to draw, but I never have time for it.

4. My BFF/MOH and I have been friends since Kindergarten. She just needs to move up here now so we can hang out more often!

5. I'm left handed.

6. I have an insane amount of earrings.

7. I have two cats, Aya and Fargo. If you listen carefully, you can hear Aya meow at the end of my voicemail message.

8. I used to have a Chihuahua, named Honey, but she passed away a few years ago. It still hurts to talk about her.

9. I graduated with a degree in Architectural Engineering from UMR in '05. It's a lot like a Civil Engineering degree, only I took more building centric classes and no highway or storm water classes.

10. Despite my engineering degree, I can't do math in my head. I can solve all sorts of complex equations, but if you ask me to add in my head I'm screwed.

11. I am the third child of four. My sister is 10 years older then me and my older brother is 8 years older and my younger brother is two years younger. I'm the last one to get married.

12. My mom is a twin (fraternal, my uncle is her twin) so that increases the likelihood that I'll have twins.

13. I have an obsession with all things Japanese. For example, I have 7 books on Geisha.

14. I love to go camping. I can't wait until it gets warm again!

Whew! That was harder than I thought it was going to be! I won't tag anyone else since I think everyone I know on the blogosphere has been tagged (oh yes, I said 'blogosphere').

Dress Shopping

I went dress shopping for my wedding dress a month ago and ended up ordering one that same day. This was probably the one thing about wedding planning I dreaded the most. I'm not a dress person (I am slowly becoming one though) and I didn't think any of that frilly crap would appeal to me. The dress I ended up with is so far on the opposite end of the spectrum that I thought I would be, but I love it. It's hard not to go in and peek at it everyday.

My dress came in last week due to the magic that is David's Bridal so I thought I would post pictures of all the dresses that I tried on. Sort of like an homage to the dress that never was.

The Wedding Shoppe in Troy

I had such great service here, I felt bad I didn't purchase a dress here. Here are a few I tried on there.

I think this is the very first one I tried on. Sparkly boobs!

These next two are more like what I was looking for, but when I tried them on the lace hit in the wrong spots on my hips and weren't very flattering.

I wanted to try on one with sleeves so I put this one on. The sleeves wouldn't stay up, but I kinda liked it better this way.

This was one of my top two and if David's didn't have anything I liked I was leaning toward coming back and getting this one. It was discontinued and it was only $200!

This one was my favorite when I got it out of the magazine, but when I tried it on I was torn. It had the lace that I wanted and it was form fitting giving it a modern look. But the TULLE! So much tulle. The magazine copy showed the dress only from the waist up.

The back:

David's Bridal

I had heard mostly bad things about David's, so I went in a little wary of my sales lady. She ended up being super friendly and helpful and never really pushed anything on me. She did the required DB thing where they bring you a bra, shoes and veil, hoping you would see the whole package and just HAVE to have everything. I showed restraint though and only got the dress. I snagged the veil I tried on later (Thanks Amber!).

I tried this one on because I love blue. I don't love this gown as you can tell from my expression.

This one was pretty humorous. The back of the dress had these wings that came out the sides...They seriously looked like butt flaps. It was like I could finish with the ceremony and just fly away to the reception.

I can't believe I'm going to post such and unflattering photo of me, but I do it for you guys. I LOVED this on the mannequin. It looked so sleek and modern. On me, it looked like a sausage stuffed in a casing. Also, it was a wee bit too low cut for me. I could do a deep v-neck like that to the bar maybe, but to my wedding? Nah.

This was my favorite from the magazine cut outs I had brought. They didn't have a larger size but even if they did I don't think this one would have been the one for me. I just had to tell myself that these form fitting gowns aren't for girls with booty. I probably would have been really self-conscious all night instead of just enjoying myself.

I really liked the top on this one. Made my boobs look HUGE. I wasn't a fan of the bottom and the train was very plain. I did like the color though. So shiny!

Below is the dress I ultimately chose. I actually walked by this when we were pulling dresses and just dismissed it as too froofy. At the end of the day I was starting to give up since I hadn't had that "aha!" moment. My MOH talked me into trying on more dresses and I'm glad I listened to her (Go Leslie!). I heart this dress.

I can't post the photo's here or talk about it more because my FI reads this blog so you'll have to click the following links.

STEVE NO CLICKY!!!
I MEAN IT MAN!

Some people get chocolate and roses for Valentine's Day. Me? I get great stuff like this:


That is page one from "The Pop-Up Book of Phobias". Don't have dentophobia? How about coulrophobia?


Seriously, *swoon*. This is why I love The Steve. I hope everyone else had a great Valentine's Day!

P.S.: I did get roses also. I know people will go on and on how this is a holiday made up by corporations that forces men to buy stuff for their significant others, but hell, I love getting flowers so you won't see me hatin' on the holiday.

Eyeglasses

I've worn glasses for forever it seems like. When I first got glasses in grade school, I thought my life was over. Of course this was the late 80's, early 90's when all you could get cheaply were the dorky plastic glasses that were too big for your face. Now I can't see myself without my glasses. They seem to have become a statement piece of mine and I feel naked without them. I do wear contacts from time to time, but my eyes tend to dry out pretty fast - especially at work where I'm under flouresent lighting and my face is glued to a computer screen.

When I first got my job after graduating, I decided I could finally get the glasses I've always wanted. It's a dangerous thing to give a girl an engineers salary after she's been poor most of her life. Anyway, I waltzed into Lenscrafters (first bad move) and got glasses off the designer wall (bad move #2). I obviously had money burning a hole in my pocket because I dropped 800 duckets on two pairs of glasses. A black and silver DKNY pair and a green Prada pair which I love.

Now that I've been working a while and I have a wedding to pay for I'm not too keen on spending that much money on another pair or even getting the lenses changed in my old ones. That's when I ran across glassyeyes.com. It's a webblog started by a guy who got fed up with the high markup by the eyeglass retailers. He outlines how to purchase eyeglasses online and gives reviews on different online retailers. I figured I would give it a try and get a cheap pair just in case it turns out to be a bust. Guess how much I paid for prescription glasses?

Fourteen fucking dollars. Boo. Yeah. I even got prescription sunglasses for the hell of it and I think those were probably $20. So now I am a convert to online eyeglass shopping. And, hell, at those prices I can afford to get several different colors too.

My super cheap glasses. I've gotten more compliments on these than any other pair I've owned. It's a bad pic, but they are black and red. I ordered the blue and black pair as well. If you wear glasses I highly suggest checking out glassyeyes.com.

Rings

I went out with the ladies from STLWed last night and I had a blast. It's been a long time since I've been out with a group of girls so it was very refreshing. I mean, where else can you talk about nips and peens in public?? Those girls are great, I can't wait until the next outing next month.

I'm writing a post about my mega-cheap eyeglasses I got off the internets and I suspect it's going to take a while. So in the meantime, here's a picture I took at work:


The light wasn't very good, but I thought the background for the rings was pretty nifty. The top one is my engagement ring and the bottom band is a ring my fiance made out of scrap titanium at work. The scrap metal came from the wing hinges for a F18. So cool!

History

Here is something I wrote a long time ago when I was living alone and bored. Amazing what boredom can bring huh?

PART 1

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

22 January, in the Year of Our Lord 2003:

The village has been under siege for three weeks now. The enemy has taken out our food supply in order to force us out with starvation, but we will endure. We don't know how they get past the stone walls, but they have left behind their trademark after every strike. This enemy is no ordinary foe, for they are the Ninjas of the Mausu. They move only when darkness falls and their attack is as silent as the wind.

We have surprisingly caught 5 of their numbers, but true to their code, they would not talk. Being a peaceful village, we let them go with a warning...but this is proving to be our downfall. They strike back with even more ferocity than if we had killed in cold blood.

The council members have come to a decision today. Outside help must be brought in. Normally we detest the hiring of mercenaries, but we are left with no choice. The survival of our clan is at stake and we can no longer fend off the attacks.

Here is a photo of the merc, named Kamisu, who arrived this morning. He has a slight problem with keeping saliva in his mouth and tends to stare off with a blank look, but he is the only one close enough that has the skills necessary. Let us pray that he can deliver us from this evil.

God save us. - Councilwoman Seberu

Yep. I have a mouse problem. The little buggers broke into my brand new loaf of bread, chewed up one of my chopsticks (just one! why not both??), and pooed on my computer desk. Since the live traps aren't working and I can't bring myself to set up the spring-loaded traps, additional action had to be taken. So, I called up my sister and I am borrowing Kami The Mad Mouser until my situation is under control. Seeing as he is a bit...um...slow, aggravates my brother-in-law to no end, and hates to have his tail touched (a favorite target of my nephew) we both figured it was in Kami's and my best interest to have him at my house for a while. I figure him catching mice is a bit more natural than the death-traps and even if he doesn't catch any, just his presence in the house should keep them at bay.

He also has a slight drool problem - it's better than it used to be though. Due to a mouth ulcer, he's lost most of his teeth so he tends to leak from time to time. I think he's picky about his tail because, when he was at his sickest that was the only place that didn't hurt, so he's a might bit protective of it.

I'm just happy I have a roommate now (an invited one, the mice don't count), even if it is temporary.

PART 2

Thursday, January 30, 2003

Listen to me young ones, as I tell a tale. A Tale that took place very recently - A Tale about Samurai Kamisu, the defender of our village. Though slow witted and hygienically-challenged, he single pawedly fought off one of the Seven Demons of Rodenticus. The Ninja of the Mausu had sent One of the Seven, the one they call Hamtaro. Here is the story, told by Councilwoman Seberu as she recorded the event: From the safety of the surrounding brush, I was able to record the Demon Hamtaro in his evil act. He was attempting to cut the telephone wires so all communication between the village and the outside world would be severed. Despite my best efforts to stay hidden, the Keen Eyes and Sharp Ears of the Demon could not be deceived. Damn our traditional garb and it's decorative bells! With a single leap, Hamtaro covered the ground between himself and the ledge I was perched upon. I attempted escape, but he was too fast for me. I was afraid for my life. Just when things were looking bleak and I had resigned my fate to hamster food, Kamisu the Savior leaped from the trees! Ever the cautious warrior, Kamisu scoped out his enemy before engaging. And the battle begins! The two fighters moved with such speed, I could barely keep up with their whereabouts. Just as fast as the battle began, it was over. Kamisu successfully drove the limping Hamtaro back into the forests and away from our village. My Hero.