the night's sky

January 8, 2012: Your sky. Today was an overcast, sleepy day in Houston, so I opted for a picture of my last night in Houston for break. Plus it gave me a chance to check out how my camera performs at night. These were taken on auto with no flash. Not too bad.

favorite game day recipes

Way to go, Texans!!

We had some family over for the game this afternoon, so my mom and I made some of our favorite snacks/appetizers and one of my all-time favorite deserts. Perfect for continuing with the photo challenge! January 6, 2012: favourite (how European of us).

Shrimp and Avocado dip

This is really easy to make and so, so good. My Aunt Shari makes this at almost all family get-togethers and it goes quickly!

What you'll need:

1 package of cooked and frozen small shrimp

1 cup Picante sauce

1 cup Ketchup

Squirt of lemon juice

Squirt of Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp of horseradish

Avocado

Cilantro

1/2 of a jalapeno

Mix it all together in a bowl (avocado right before you serve it to keep it fresh) and serve with tortilla chips. YUM!

During halftime we were ready for a little something sweet. :)

Fruit Pizza 

(These recipes are everywhere, but I couldn't find the one I like on any website, so here ya go!)

1 roll of sugar cookie dough

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

Assorted fruit

Bake one big sugar cookie in a pizza pan according to the directions on the label. You don't have to push the dough all the way to the edge because it expands during cooking. It also doesn't matter it it's super wrinkly (like mine) because it all gets covered up in the end.

Let the cookie cool completely. 

Wash and cut your fruit (we used strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and banana). 

Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl. You can use a mixer to get more of a whipped consistency, but I just stirred it together with a spoon.

Spread the cream cheese icing on the cookie and top with fruit!

Cut into squares or pizza slices and serve!

If you're lucky, you'll have some left over :)

In kitten news, Benson has found a new favorite spot...

Doesn't look that comfortable. Cats are funny.

Happy eating!

sewing success: Sweet Verbena shirt

My first sewing project on my new Brother machine is complete! The tutorial by Sweet Verbena is fairly easy (though I didn't find the fabrics to be the easiest to sew on), and the shirt came out cute. I got both fabrics at Wal-Mart for $2/yard. I have a couple more yards of the knit, so it may be popping up somewhere else. :)

After cooling off a bit, I think most of my sewing woes from a few days ago can be attributed to sewing at night while tired and not in my best mindframe. The sash was the item that was giving me the most trouble, so I started over this morning and everything went smoothly (minus a little mistake that is barely noticeable and easily concealed by the shirt tube). It's long enough to wear as a tunic with leggings, but I may shorten and hem it for summer. 

It's too early to say that sewing (or this project) is my favorite (photo challenge for today), so I'll be back later with some of my favorite game day recipes which are currently in the works for the Texans playoff game this afternoon!

smile like the sun

January 6, 2012: Makes you smile :) I'm going to stray a bit and post several pictures, videos, and cute things that make me smile.

First of all, this guy is responsible for many, many smiles everyday. When I'm down or frustrated, he always turns it around into a joke and has me laughing in minutes. Pictured here with my sunglasses on at Starbucks in Minneapolis. 

My mom showed me this video the other day and it definitely made me smile. You must watch until the end :)

Hanging with my peeps makes me smile. [Hawaii, January, 2011]

This poster made me smile. Clearly this guy has never seen an actual cat. And apparently there was some discrepancy on the sex (rightfully so with those teeth!). [image]

And this poster too...srsly. [image]

These cuddle bugs always make me smile.

Benson made me smile all during Christmas with his love of the tree. [view larger in youtube]

Jimmy Kimmel makes me smile. Especially his Haloween challenge.

What makes you smile? Share the wealth!

clothes woes

Do you guys sew? I got a sewing machine for Christmas this year from my grandma and I've spent most of the day somewhat frustrated figuring it out. I thought since today's photo challenge is "something you wore," I would finally make something super cute I pinned ages ago and everyone would be impressed, inspired, etc. Bah-humbug! I'm not giving up though. The sewing machine will be calling me master soon enough.

Let's move on to a happier story about Texas. There is a special time in Texas that happens on and off from the months of October-March-ish in which the weather is absolutely perfect. During these not-so-rare occurrences, if you so choose, you can pair your favorite long sleeve t-shirt with you favorite pair of workout shorts. Today just happened to be a fabulous example of a long-sleeve-shirt-and-shorts day, my friends (okay, maybe it's not that fabulous). So, that's what I wore. All day. And I captured it just for you :) Behold,

Well, there ya go. Lame? Maybe. But that's okay. I've blogged several days in a row now and that most certainly is not lame. :)

letterboxing?

January 4, 2012: Letterbox. Hmm...not really sure what that is, but how about a modern letterbox of sorts? :)

Actually, according to wiki letterboxing is the type of picture with the black bars above and below, so I snapped a pic of my brother and his friends this evening, edited it in picnik, and voila! The tool in picnik is called cinescope and when you select it there is a check box that says "letterbox my photo." Who knew this photo challenge would be educational??

[Jerome, Corey (brother), and Ben]

:)

January photo-a-day challenge

Nothing like a photo-a-day contest to kick off 2012, right?! I saw a post earlier today on the tichenor family blog about a photo challenge for January and thought I'd play along. My honey surprised me with a Cannon Rebel T3i (oh ya) for Christmas, so this is the perfect excuse to log some face time with it. (I also quit my job in December to focus full-time on my thesis, so I'll have a little more QT with my blog as well). Anyway, straight to business: the guidelines are listed below--easy enough, right? 

January 1, 2012: I didn't actually take any pictures of myself on New Years Day, but I have one from New Year's Eve (does that count?). A few of my high school girlfriends and I went to see my high school principal play in his band at a bingo hall club. I know, we're pretty wild party animals ;)

January 2, 2012: Breakfast? It's not often that I take pictures of my breakfast, folks. Instead, I'll share a super cute pic of a squirrel that lives in my dad's owl box. I wonder what he/she had for breakfast. ?

January 3, 2012: Something you adore. That's easy. I adore a lot of things and people. However, I'm currently at my parent's house...by myself. Well not really by myself. My kitten faces are taking their afternoon nap, so I snapped a picture of them cuddled up together. Did I mention I adore seeing them cuddle? Warms my heart.

All caught up! Did you notice the blog name change? It's time for a little freshening up around here. New name, new year (soon to be new job, new city, eek), new camera, same blog, same page. :)