Jessie's Baby Shower

Jessie (a friend from graduate school) and her husband Joel are expecting a bundle of joy in April.  They will not find out what they are having until the baby arrives, so yay, surprises!  Last week I purchased a blanket, bib, and burp cloths for them as a gift.  The baby shower was really fun.  I got to meet Jessie's family and Joel, people that I've heard so much about but never met in person.  Her mom finally met her daughter's "chinita" (Asian) friend, ha ha.

The food was amazing: tamales, some sort of marinated pork, rice, chips/salsa, etc.  The cake was even better.  It had a very tres leches feel to it, with cream filling that had fruit inside.  OMG, best thing ever!

Jessie and Joel had some games for people to play, but since there were like 100 people there, not everyone got to play.  Everyone was entertained though.  There was one game where there were two babies and then 2 people per baby and each person could only use one hand to change the doll's diaper.  There was a women vs. men pairing and the men actually won (see the struggle below).

There was a heap of presents for the happy couple.  I would have loved to see what she got and see the excitement on her face, but it would have probably taken the whole time to open all these.

The happy couple...

I was so happy to see a familiar face at the event yesterday.  Jenny, another friend from graduate school, was there so it was nice to chat and catch up.

Oldish Tunes

After finishing up that large office order a few days ago, I just have not been feeling very crafty these past few days.  Sometimes a break from things is not a bad thing.  I'm hoping to feel re-energized after Sunday's craft fair.

My friend Page sent me a picture of these old mix CDs that I made for her back in undergrad.  These CDs are almost 10 years old!  Apparently they are a mood booster for my pharmacy student friend, so I'm glad that I can help in an indirect way.

Beef Noodle Soup

IM conversation with my sister from tonight:
me: i woke up to a cat butt in my face. i was using one pillow and RJ was using the other.
Julie: his and hers
me: HAH yes!

(I know this scene could gross some people out.  I guess I'm used to it and have accepted that it's not going to change.)

Family/Food: My cousin is back in town and my aunt made some beef noodle soup for her homecoming.  My family reaped the benefits from this too since Mom's only 2 doors down.  I zipped to the house after work (didn't even stop at home to check on RJ, heh) so that I could enjoy the yumminess too.

Office Order Update

Office order almost complete.  Between last weekend and today, I made 100 of these cards.  Now all I have to do is wait for the envelopes to come in and then I can turn in my invoice.  Whoo hoo, vacation money!  35 more days until my cruise!

New Baby Card

New Neighbor: I met the new neighbor two houses down. She's been here for a few months, but this is the first time I've seen her.  She seemed nice.  Maybe we can be friends.  (That sounds very Lilo and Stitch.) I hope she didn't judge me on my outfit of yoga pants and a large athletic jacket...I was just stepping out to return my Redbox movie.  Just when you think you won't see anyone, you do. :P

Movie: I watched The Bourne Legacy this afternoon.  Unfortunately, I'm feeling meh about it.  I wouldn't buy it.  I would probably watch it again (hello, it has Jeremy Renner in it).  I guess Matt Damon set the bar high for these Jason Bourne movie.  The motorcycle chase at the end was pretty cool though.

Superbowl: I'm not much of a football fan, but I did watch to watch at least the Superbowl Halftime show with Beyoncé.  The part where the other two members of Destiny's Child popped up, that was great television!

Card: I forgot to mention that I made my friend Jessie's baby shower card yesterday.  I already had a card base where the image didn't stamp 100% on my desk, but I figured I could still use it if I covered up the mistake.  It was nice to work on something other than the office thank you card order.  I'm very close to being done, yay.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red, Charcoal
Stamp: Hero Arts Four Leaf Grid, Inkadinkado- Round Frames
Punch:  We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts Specialty Paper in Pearl
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8
Sticker: Martha Stewart Blue-Green Fabric Rocking Horse Stickers
Other: Brown Ultra Fine Point Sharpie

Busy Bee Saturday

Shopping: I was out and about for most of today.  I wanted to swing by Michaels because I've seen lots of haul videos on YouTube talking about 90% selected clearance items.  My friend Jessie's baby shower is next week, so I wanted to buy the gift today.  Michaels and Kohl's are right next to each other so (gasp!) how convenient.  I had some empty ink cartriges that needed to be recycled at Staples and (gasp!) CVS is next door.  That was so convenient because I just so happened to have some coupons to use.

At Michaels, I bought 2 stamps: Hero Arts Lace Frame (original price= $11.99, clearance price= $1.79) and Hero Arts Decorative Lamps (original price= $14.99, clearance price= 2.09).  Whoo hoo!

Jessie and her husband decided not to find out the sex of the baby until the delivery so I had to find something gender neutral.  I decided that jungle animals were gender neutral, so I ended up with a blanket and bib/burp cloth set from Kohl's (both items were on sale). 

Nail Polish: At CVS, I walked out with 2 more Revlon Lip Butters (Red Velvet and Lollipop) and 3 Sally Hansen nail polishes.  I bought Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum last Saturday from Target and really liked it, so I wanted to get some more colors.  The Revlon stuff was buy 1, get one 50% off and the nail polishes were 50% off and I was armed with $8 worth of coupons.  By the way, the Cover Girl nail polish I bought last week lasted quite a long time.  I was very pleased with its performance. I had to try out one of the new polishes when I got home.  This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen's I Pink I Can.

It was definitely a good shopping day. :D

Recipe #2 of 2013: When I came home, I tried a new recipe: Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake.  I added some green beans on the side.  As a rule, anything with cheese is automatically awesome.

Family Dinner: I went over to my aunt's house for a family dinner to celebrate another aunt's birthday.  The blueberry cheesecake that I made last night was met with enthusiasm. :)

This is out of chronological order, but this was RJ this morning.  Spoiled lazy cat.

Blueberry Cheesecake

We are having a family dinner on Saturday to celebrate my aunt's birthday.  I asked what I could contribute, and the answer I got was a cheesecake.  I decided on a blueberry one.  Julie and I made this 2 Thanksgivings ago, but this is the first one that I've made all by myself.  We'll see how it turns out tomorrow!

Crust and blueberry topping from Martha Stewart
Cheesecake from Smitten Kitchen (without the brownies)