Amazon, Baseball and Grays

Work continues to dominate my life! The good news is I was recently promoted with a great raise and received my generous bonus on April 1. 

Used some of my extra funds to do some Amazon shopping for things on my wishlist. One of my guilty pleasures is to add items to my Amazon cart for safekeeping then end up removing 90% of the items and purchasing only a few. This routine is in-line with my Goodwill shopping  habits of loading up a cart with possibilities then play the "keep this and leave that" game.

Here are some items from my Amazon splurge:

Eyelid Tape - Have seen these on Pinterest and cosmetic sites to help with hooded eyelids. Just arrived today so will try them this weekend.

Makeup Shields - These are stick on undereye makeup shields that catch the floating bits of powder and shadow and prevent them from ruining the concealer.  Pretty slick tool.

Cross body compact bag which holds my money, cards, and lip gloss with a see-through pouch for my phone.  Love it!

No, this is not your typical Monistat for womanly issues.  Been using this silicone chafing relief cream as a face primer for years.  Awesome product at a fraction of the cost of name brand primers. Amazon had a special so purchased a few.

So inspired by Brendan Fraser's Oscar win, decided to watch The Whale. He definitely deserved that win! Thought provoking movie and a huge sobfest!! Really got the tears and heaving out of my system at the end of that one.

April and May will be a time of baseball.  Decided to grab a couple of Mariners tickets for the CWU Alumni night on April 21, 2023. Will even receive a free CWU jersey!!

Snagged two free work tickets for the May 30, 3023 game against the Yankees. This will be held in a suite with food and drink and under cover so looking forward to it.  

These games take me back to the day when Jordan, Sam, and I attended a Mariner's game in Arizona against the Diamondbacks while on vacation.  We were in the minority as we bellowed "Go Ichi", sported team shirts, and shared a humongous carmel apple. Fun times.

Tuesday night my hair goddess Abbie colored my hair with highlights so the process of growing and blending my grays (or should I say whites) has begun.  So far so good!

Once again tomorrow is Friday, my favorite day of the week! Enjoy your day all!

Sitcom Classics and Oscars

When working, I like to have a show running on my phone in the background. During the last few weeks have been on a classic sitcom kick. Started with The Golden Girls, moved on to The Andy Griffith show, All in The Family, and currently The Mary Tyler Moore show.  Iconic, funny with provocative characters and killer one-liners they've all been entertaining. MASH, Happy Days, and Maude are next up on my list.

Oscars are on tonight!! Sitting here watching the pre-show, red carpet arrivals and looking forward to who wins which award. Definite odds on favorite is Brendan Fraser as best actor for The Whale (can't wait to see), Michelle Yeoh as best actress and Ke Huy Quan as best supporting actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once (which deserves Best Movie.)  

Was having a craving for coconut cream pie so this weekend whipped up one from scratch. Had never made pudding pie filling from scratch with all the eggs and corn starch but happy to say it turned out heavenly. Even sprinkled toasted coconut on the top! 😋

Goodbye February and Hello March

Spring I'm waiting for you as this rain and snow have out worn their welcome!

Last year I painted and mailed the following picture to my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jerry in tribute of their daughter Trina, who had passed a couple of years ago.  This week Jerry made the following comment on Facebook regarding their love of the painting.  Warmed my heart! ❤

Happy 28th Birthday to Sammy on February 17! Knocking on 30's door already!!

Another Happy Birthday to nephew Cole,  who also celebrated his 28th on February 21!

Couldn't help myself! Read about a new cookies and creme flavor of Oreos and had to snag a pack. The big draw was the mega filling, my favorite part. Tasty but the angels weren't singing when I downed a few. 

As stated before, have been so overloaded with work it's been hard to tackle crafts or painting. 

This afternoon fit in a few minutes for a quick bell jar craft, placing a royal birdie and nest atop a sweet cup and saucer. 

Rest in peace Aunt Shelby, who passed away last week. She was my mom's half-sister; she, her husband Rick, and my cousins would visit on occasion when we were kids. To be honest, he kind of scared me. Southern born, full of racist jokes, and required their kids to address them as Yes Sir and Yes M'mam.

Last week celebrated my 5-year anniversary with my company. Received $100 Amazon card so went shopping! Along with a few other items purchased the boots below. Need a replacement for my beat up, old red boots so selected the snazzy ones below. Also picked up a pair of suede Chelsea boots - super comfy.

And that's it! Hello to March this week!!

Ding Dong and Springsteen

Celebrated #59 on Monday, January 30, 2023. Fairly quiet event - made a Ding Dong Cake on Sunday using a recipe from Pinterest. 

Cake involved adding coffee, which made the batter rather thin. Filling, my favorite part, involved creating a thick pasty roux which you then added to creamed butter and sugar until it transformed into a whipped mixture. Final step was to make the icing which, because it was my birthday cake, I snuck in a few shots of Kahlua. Cake was moist, filling was fluffy, and tasty frosting topped it off!

Received birthday flowers from Jay and Linda!

Along with numerous cards, received one from Sam where he actually drew a picture of Wonder Woman. Awesome talent!

Sam, Shelly, and Braxton stopped by for cake.

Recently discovered The Golden Girls, a show which bestie Lynn loved but one that didn't interest me. Manny was watching it so I randomly caught a couple episodes.  It is hilarious! Pretty rare a sitcom makes me laugh but found it happens every time with Golden Girls. 

Tracked down the full seven year series on Hulu, binge watched and finished up the last episode this afternoon.  Because Manny had seen every episode more than once, the worst part was keeping him quiet and not telling me in advance what was going to happen i.e. oh you'll love this part coming up as Dorothy kisses Miles; have you seen the one where Rose gets bypass surgery; and so on. Arrrgggg!! Along with the girls, silence is golden!

During my birthday week I won a work raffle of two tickets and parking pass to see Bruce Springsteen in Seattle on February 27.  As my plus one, Erin will be my partner in crime. A few years back saw him with primo seats and it was a great 3-hour show.

News Flash - I've discovered Hearts of Palm, which are edible interiors of certain palm tress. Heard they are a cross between artichoke hearts and water chestnuts but had never eaten them. Was making an artichoke dip today so grabbed a can to test the taste.

Where have these been all my life? Taste fabulous and could be used in everything. They were a perfect addition to the creamy cheese dip. Ran across a recipe for faux garlic lobster using them as a substitute and that is next on my list.

During my weekly trip to Goodwill, ran across a NYC International fake cheetah with fur collar jacket that called my name. Decided to buy it as a happy birthday to me gift! 

Also picked up a pair of beige, pointed toe ankle boots at Goodwill for half off which will go great while wearing the jacket. 

Long Weekend Means More Jackets!

Couple more jackets made this weekend.  Picked up a tiny Levi's jacket for Hazely that I'll be painting tomorrow during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Flamenco flair

Mosaic on light green jacket

Old Denim to Wearable Art

On to a new craft - painted and embellished jean jackets!

Was browsing Pinterest and stumbled across some killer creative jackets. I have a few jean jackets but rarely wear them because it seems I'm channeling Brittany Spears from the 90's!

Dug out a jean jacket after saving tons of pictures for inspiration. Browsed through my closet looking for velvet, sequin, and satin clothing that was no longer being worn. Had recently picked up some fake leather fabric at Goodwill so grabbed it. Then my meditation began in order to create my denim vision.

In the beginning

Cut and draped fabric on the front, rearranging pieces until they sat just so. Off to the sewing machine! Sewed straps of cloth directly to the jacket. Things were going great until BAM! The needle broke. Had to search to first find my sewing basket then dig deep into its depths to find a replacement needle, all the while telling myself the basket seriously needs some organizing. Finally, lo and behold, uncovered a package with two needles!  Saved myself from having to pause my creative rant to run to the fabric store for necessary supplies!

Playing with fabric

Happy with layout

Replaced the needle then finished sewing the front. Waited until the next day to paint the back with a moon theme, including gold leaf and glitter.

Sewing done

Almost there

Back is finished!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my piece of jacket art. Have already dug out a few more denim shirts and coats to continue this new obsession. May even sell them on Etsy; during my browsing the majority were being sold between $300 and $500!

Happy New Year 2023!

Close the door on 2022 and hello to 2023!

Had a great Christmas with the kids. Only downside was my Amazon gift order didn't show up until after Christmas due to the weather!!  Made from scratch cinnamon rolls, prime rib, hashbrown casserole, spinach dip, and pumpkin dump cake for the holiday. Sent home leftover care packages for each of the boys. 

We all enjoyed our gifts with the exception that the workboots ordered for Sam were too big. Had never returned an item to Amazon and just have to say it was eazy peazy! Besides standing in line at the local shipping drop off shop for 30 minutes, processing the return went quick.  Handed over the package to the clerk, who wrapped it and processed my return quickly, with no charge for return mail. My refund showed up the next day, which really surprised me.

Took a few days off after the holiday to unwind. December 27th (which was actually my one year mark at my duplex) packed away all the decorations, cleaned the living room, and even made pillow covers out of an old Goodwill blanket, which match nicely with the quilts from Lynn that hang over each couch. So comfy!!

New Year's Eve was fairly quiet.  We did go out on the town but returned home before midnight.  Spent New Year's Day trying to beat my boredom by searching Pinterest and YouTube for a DIY cut your hair in a long bob style tutorial. Ended up rubberbanding my hair into a ponytail and chopping a couple inches off to create the style. It's passable but it needs a little, shall we say, refining so a visit to hair goddess Abbie will be in my near future!

Happy New Year's everyone!