Postcards

If I worked for West Michigan's tourism bureau, here are some postcards that I might consider printing out:

Who is this random couple?

Perhaps this one is stretching it a bit too far.....

Thanks Tito Ric for the postcard quality photos!

Batman

This grandfather transformed his scooter into the Batmobile!

Bad guys beware!  There's a new crime fighter in the retirement community.

 To see this photo and read the accompanying article, click here

MoMath?

A new museum is going to open in 2012:

It's the New York Museum of Mathematics!

Anyone interested in visiting it with me?

To see this photo and read the accompanying Times article, click here

Visitors and Chuck Norris

Some family members drove zillions of miles to visit us this past weekend.  It was so nice seeing everyone and feeling so loved.  Hubby and I were also inundated with TONS of baby clothes and gear from other faraway family members and friends.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We're now officially ready for Baby Chuck Norris's* arrival.  

(*This will be baby's nickname until he arrives.)

Below are some shots from the weekend 

(along with some humorous Chuck Norris facts):

When Chuck Norris crosses the street, the cars have to look both ways.

Chuck Norris doesn't need to swallow while eating food.

Some people get lucky and kill two birds with one stone. Chuck Norris once killed four birds with half a stone.

Mother Nature used to be the boss, until the day Chuck Norris was born.

Should strollers...

wear costumes?

I'm inspired. Halloween is just around the corner...

(Thanks for the link, Esther!)  To see this photo and other rocking strollers, click here.

Her new home

One of our friends recently purchased a new home.  Wanting to give her a small housewarming gift, I made her some fridge magnets.  Oh the joys of Mod Podge and magazine images.

Don't let their cute exteriors fool you-- these magnets are super strong!

Doesn't everything look better with a bow around it?

Hmm, I just realized that I've made more crafts and baked more sweets in these past two weeks than I did all last year.  Is this due to some strange nesting instinct?  Let me ponder this as I clean and rearrange some furniture...

Eating into the new year

We celebrated hubby's birthday with a lot of yummy food.  

Here are some photos documenting our good eats:

Hubby's homemade bbq pulled pork with a basil and garlic potato salad - yum!

I used this recipe to bake hubby a birthday cake.

Chocolate icing + chocolate cake + raspberry filling = decadent eats

For dinner, we visited a nearby Ethiopian restaurant and scarfed down a plate of sour and spicy food (and then ordered two more side dishes- oh my!)

What a delicious way to celebrate hubby's birthday.

Somebody's turning a multiple of 11...

Can you identify this plant?

Sometimes hubby and I bemoan the absence of Asians and Asian cuisine in our area.  However, as much as I miss seeing Asian faces and eating delicious foods (oh steaming bowl of ramen, tender bulgogi, juicy soup dumplings, NY style bubble milk tea, tender kong xin cai, salty nasi lemak, fresh sushi, and piping hot samosas-- how I miss you) we are fortunate to have befriended a few Asian gals.  

So we're not so alone.

One gal is originally from Cambodia and though we often misunderstand each other, we do share the common language of  food.  Most of our talk centers around food: what we enjoy eating, what we've made, and what we want to make some day.

 Recently she brought me this plant to grow in my deck garden:

The stems have to remain in water until roots grow.  Then, I'm supposed to pot them in soil.

Apparently the leaves are (1) tasty with pork, and (2) good for people with bad eyes (I wear glasses.)  Hubby and I are excited to try the leaves out, but there's one problem:  I'd like to know the name of this plant before I put it in my mouth.

So that's where you, dear readers, come into play.  What is this plant called?  I tried googling "Asian plant tastes good with pork leaves Cambodian" and didn't find anything besides kaffir lime leaves.

Here's an up close shot for all you super sleuths...

Bow tie onsies

This weekend I finished sewing bow ties on these onesies:

The ladies are going to find Baby irresistible!

Mini hubby

I may have found my next baby craft.
Isn't this a cute idea for a onesie?

Hmm, who else wears bow ties?.

image taken from here

Elephant mobile

After several trips  to the craft store and the thrift store (and several hours of sewing), we finally completed our mobile:

Hmm, do the elephants resemble dumplings?

Now... onto the next baby craft...

Mobiles on my mind

I'm making a mobile to hang above baby's crib, so  I turned to the internet for some diy inspiration:

These birds are so cute!

Oooh-  I could use embroidery hoops!

I'm drawn to these cheery colorful elephants... hmm...

Ooh- stylized elephants!

Not sure if I'll use this design, but this Calder mobile is AWESOME nonetheless. 

Armed with inspiration, I'm off to the thrift store and craft store to scout out materials!



image sources:  [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Gum-spiration

Ben Wilson, a British artist, uses an unusual medium for his paintings:  used chewing gum squashed on sidewalks.  The process of transforming the flattened gum from litter to artwork usually takes between a couple of hours and a couple of days.       

I  love how his art transforms something ugly into something beautiful.

To see this photo and others (and to read the original NYTimes article), click here

Harvest time

Yesterday marked the first basil harvest. 

RIP basil leaves:  They've gone to that tasty pasta salad heaven in the sky

Strawberries + cheese + chocolate

Last night hubby and I ate a home cooked dinner with some new church friends.  I brought dessert and tried out a new recipe:  strawberry goat cheese brownies. 

They were delicious (and the strawberries made them "healthy.")

50%? Not too shabby.

Awhile back I wrote about my love of the show  Extreme Couponing.  While I will never achieve the ranks of the great ones, I was inspired to try couponing.  A couple of days ago we visited our local supermarket and I had an "extreme moment."  We purchased 5 Lean Cuisine entrees (originally 3.19 each, now on sale for 2.00 each), used my coupon, (buy 4 Lean Cuisines and save $2.25) and then received a box of ice cream for FREE (store deal.)  (Oh yeah, we also bought some fish.  Yum.)

50% savings!  Too extreme.

Q: How does your garden grow?

A:  Slowly.

A couple of days ago, I introduced  you to Tom.  Now *drum roll please* I introduce you to Tom 2.

Tom 1 now has a tiny friend, Tom 2!

I read somewhere that tomatoes take weeks to ripen on the vine.  *sigh*   According to Saint Augustine, "Patience is the companion of wisdom."  So hopefully this patio gardening process will grow some tomatoes for me and some patience and wisdom in me. 

6 bucks

Whenever hubby and I visit the thrift store, we always scope out the baby clothing section.  It's always filled to the brim with rows and rows of baby clothes.  Some items are a bit ratty, but many are in quite good condition!  So, even though baby is only 15 inches right now (and still in my belly), we're picking up some pieces that he'll fit into (one day).  Here are four items that what we scored for only $6.00!

So tiny and cute (I wonder if Charlie could fit in one?)

I think Hubby owns a similar pair of pants

A faux shearling coat with paws?  Too cute to resist.

Baby, we can't wait to meet (and dress) you!

City girl meets country plant

As I watered my two plants earlier this week, I noticed something *gasp* GROWING on the tomato plant.  Wondering what it was, I leaned in for a closer inspection and saw this:

Mercy me, it's a tiny green tomato!  I shall name it Tom.

I can't believe it.  I'm so excited (and hungry)! Oh Tom, how long will it take you to ripen?
 

Can you see the similarities?

Today we spotted some pansies growing in the ground.

Is it just me, or do these flowers look really grouchy? 

Their grumpy flower faces also reminded me of....

Grr-- I'm no pansy!

Is this another instance of art imitating nature?

image 1 taken from here image 2 taken from here

Like daddy

like doggie.

Isn't it funny how dog and owner start looking alike?

I think I grew bigger...

since yesterday!

I'm starting my 27th week.  Time is quickly passing by...

Eat your....whites?

I've always been tempted to buy the white asparagus in the store.  This week they were on sale, so I brought a bunch home to try out.

Hello!  I taste like a milder version of my green brethren.  Also, I'm white because farmers deprived me of sunlight.

Roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper, they were delicious! 

If a kiwi mated with a cucumber....

you'd get a fruit that tasted like a kiwano:

This strange orange and spiky fruit looks like a space pod...

No aliens inside.  Look at this lovely geometric interior.  How beautiful!

Deck farmer

"This is called farming! You kids are gonna grow all kinds of plants! Vegetable plants, pizza plants."  ~ Captain from the movie WALL*E

Inspired by a friend's farm and the good weather, hubby and I visited the local supermarket and purchased some gardening supplies and plants.  Now we have two new additions to our deck:

Meet our new basil plants and tomato plant.

Hopefully my black thumb doesn't kill them and we'll be enjoying fresh mozarella and tomato salad with tomatoes and basil from our mini deck garden.

Farming fantasies

I had a wonderful time seeing my college friends this past weekend.  We laughed, cried, and ate a whole lot.

This weekend I also fell in love...
with my friend's mom's gentleman's farm.  (Gosh, that's a lot of apostrophes.)

*Sigh*  So cute

One of their roosters and his harem of chickens   (I ate their eggs for brunch.  Delicious!)

A bunch of thyme growing in their herb garden

Be still my beating heart- it's a compost pile...

Even though hubby and I live in an apartment now, hopefully one day we'll own a plot of land and I'll get to live out some of my farming fantasies.  For now I'll practice growing plants on the deck...