Surprise ties

This weekend hubby received a surprise gift from a friend:

Don't you just want to run your hands through these beauties?

Pumpkin play (Part 1)

This past weekend hubby, Baby Chuck, and I were invited to a pumpkin carving party.  We had a lot of fun and I learned a few new carving tips and tricks. 

Here's my finished pumpkin:

My homage to pumpkin pi.  (Get it?  Get it?  Oy vey, I'm too corny. )

Five finished pumpkins sitting in a row.

Let the countdown to Halloween begin!

3223 Wedding bells

Today a college friend is getting married in Chicago.  I wish I could be there, but I can't attend because it's too far away from our doctor.  So I'm sending them all my good thoughts and wishes.

Isn't this quote lovely?

This beautiful photo and card were seen here. 

Strawberry cupcakes

I'm off to attend a baby girl's birthday party.  Luckily I don't have to travel too far because her mom lives in my building.  

6 strawberry cupcakes for 6 months of life.  Happy birthday!

Goodbye, friend!

Our friend left yesterday morning and I miss her.  Here are some photos from our adventures together:

Hubby riding an old bike at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

Light fixture from the haunted Felt Mansion

Grand Haven's musical fountains

Doll display from Grand Rapids Public Museum

Three cheers...

for beaches, sunsets, and good friends!

Note:  Thanks friend for making this .gif for me!

Hand painted onesies

Yesterday, friend and I went to a onesie painting party.  Below are the lovely hand painted goodies that the ladies made for Baby Chuck Norris.

Click to see captions

Crane's Pie Pantry

Luckily today was cooler and we got a chance to take our guest around town.  We stopped by this cute restaurant and had a bite to eat.

Windmill Island

Yesterday hubby, friend, and I ventured out into the 90 degree heat to visit Windmill Island.

We wanted to trek to the windmill, but a wall of heat held us back.

So we took a couple photos and cooled off at nearby Barnes and Nobles.

Today we're going to just stay inside and enjoy the ac.  Stay cool everyone!

Guess who?

Today we picked up a friend from the airport.  She'll be staying with us for a week.  I'm very excited!  Can you guess who she is?

Hint:  These toes have known each other since  the 1st grade!

Independence day images

Hubby and I celebrated 4th of July with some friends. 

We ate a delicious grilled meal. 

Then we sat outside and watched the fireworks. 

Some fireworks were patriotic red, white, and blue.

Others were shot so high, it felt like we were contacting aliens.

These reminded me of funny deep sea creatures.

These look like dandelions set aflame.

I also tried out sparklers for the first time.  I loved them.

Hope you had a wonderful July 4th too!

Cheering up

I found this video on a friend's blog and couldn't stop laughing.  There's something about exaggerated dance movements and hammer pants that brightens my day.  Enjoy!

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...

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...

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...

3223 reunion

During college I lived in a large rickety house with some great friends.  I always look back fondly on those days with my "3223 gals" because we laughed so much, shared so much, grew so much, and threw such great dinner parties.  With everyone now scattered to the four corners of the earth, it's always a special treat to meet up and share what's happening in each others' lives.  This year four of us are meeting in Philly and skyping another gal in Thailand.

Good-bye Michigan.  Hello Philly and gals!

I wonder what Hubby and Charlie will be up to while I'm gone...

       

Guess who?

Hubby and I are entertaining a guest this week.  

New life

The message of Easter is all about new life.  This message seems particularly relevant for hubby and me right now.  We're in the midst of settling into a new life in Michigan and soon we're going to start a new life as mommy and daddy to the new life growing inside my belly.

Last night we invited two friends over to Easter dinner.    

New traditions with some new friends

Congratsusagna

I recently heard some great news from two people.  One good friend recently was offered 2 jobs in California and a cousin just passed the final part of his ordination exam.  I was so happy I baked them a congratsusagna.

What, dear reader?  You've never heard of a congratsusagna?   Well, let me educate you.

Official Pink Stripey Socks definition:

Congratsusagna  (kənˌgrætjʊˈzän'yə) n.
       A dish consisting of layered pasta, tomato sauce, and cheese with the word
       "congratulations" or "congrats" written on it, often shown on websites to
       celebrate accomplishments and hard work

A real live congratsusagna

Congratulations guys.  I'm so happy for you both.  :)

Proposal is a 12 point word

One of my good friends loves playing Scrabble.  If someone were to propose to her, he might do it like this: