Workin' Hard

Fully entering my upswing, I have updated the Sweet Lady Shop on Etsy, so if you are in the market for my gothy goods, go get 'em.

I'm also writing, hoping to turn in another chapter on Monday. Which would leave me with only 2 chapters and some revisions. Wish me freaking luck ok. Like miracle worker, one in a million, against all odds kinds of luck. I want to enjoy Halloween without having any chapters left to write. Is it possible? Let's hope.

In addition to all this stuff, I am still reading random paranormal fiction, doodling in my sketchbook project book, and enjoying my adopted city. Good times.

My in-laws surprised us with a very cool gift: a mini-fridge. For those of you who haven't taken a look at my apartment pics on Flickr (or don't remember), we have a tiny refrigerator. I am pretty sure it's the kind they put in RVs. Which is citified, but cumbersome. I haven't had a cold Coke from the can in forever. They got us a small fridge, which we've managed to squeeze into the kitchen by force, and now our sodas are cold, ice gets made on the regular, and fruits and veggies are easy to find.

Also, I entered a chance to purchase this Let the Right One In 24x36 screen print poster:

The artist only had 250 prints available, so I had to enter a lottery to get a chance to buy one. And I won! I just got it today and it's so much more beautiful in real life! These things happen in 3s, right? I should play the lottery. I totally should.

Mi Vida Loca

Don't get me wrong, I love my life, but it's super crazy right now!

This picture encapsulates the schizophrenic nature of my existence. Who reads all of these things at once?

Of course I'm working on the dissertation like a madwoman. Writing always takes longer than I think it will, and bibliographic referencing is the devil's work, so when I take a break from it, I try to do things that sooth me. Thinking about the Sweet Lady Shop is doing that for me.

I'm trying not to work on the shop too much, since, um, I have like a thousand things to do, but it's such an awesome plan that I have a hard time leaving it be. Especially since it depends on my having creative products, so when creativity strikes, I try not to push it away every time. Check out my latest entry, where I break two of my pre-moving rules: buying books and accumulating art supplies. Sorry!

Did I mention that it's almost finals time and I've got Mother's Day this weekend? Jeepers.


Oh, and I got another tattoo....can't stop...

Martha Stewart Halloween!

It's getting started people, and I couldn't be happier. I don't even have an "inner Halloween freak." My freakery is totally on the outside year-round. So, of course, Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine is one of my favorite things. It heralds the coming season. I dutifully wait until October 1st to crack open my Halloween decorations bin and set our apartment ablaze (out of respect for my husband's sanity), but until then, I look at all the new stuff. I'm gonna loose my shit at Target when their Halloween goodies come out, I just know it. Anyway...

Martha loves Halloween as much as I do. She dresses up on her show, for her magazine, and to go to Halloween parties, like this picture from Bette Midler's party a few years ago:

A more recent costume is her Medusa costume, which I LOVE.

One year her covers were Bad & Good:
Her Halloween magazines have been really good the past couple of years. She still has a lot of kid-friendly decorations, but it's the adult, creepy and classy stuff that I like best. Here are a few from years past that I was into:


She sells these pompoms ready-made, but they are super easy to make yourself with tissue paper and scissors. Visit her site to learn how to make them yourself: DIY Pom Poms

These lab specimen party invitations sold out super early last year. I was going to buy some just to have in case I ever have an apartment big enough to have a decent party, but they were already gone.

These severed finger invitations are also totally amazing:


For any kind of decent party, liquor bottles are everywhere. In true Martha fashion, these labels make everything part of the theme:


A lot of this stuff was available on her online craft store, but there's not really much there. Her website has templates and instructions for some of her projects.

This year's magazine has some good stuff too!



Pumpkin punch bowl with little mini-pumpkin cups.

Plenty of black cats and spiders, but also owls. Here's a baby owl costume that's too cute. Love the mask.
And a way to make mishappen pumpkins owly.
Buying cheap plastic skulls and bones and covering them in green glitter does class up the joint.
I'm actually into the idea of these chocolate caramel apples with stick handles. I may make them. She provides the recipe in the latest issue.

So, like, obviously, this isn't the last Halloween post. But you knew that, right?

Friday Finds - Home Improvement

This one's for the renters. I'm at the age where I don't want to have a bunch of college mismatched furniture. I want a nice home. Most people want to make their place look nice, but don't want to do any major home improvement projects because a) you are leaving one day and why should your landlord get off so easy, and b) you might lose your security deposit if you make major changes. So these decorating tips are for people living on the cheap, living temporarily, but also living with an adult sense of style.

Oh my god I spent sooo much time trying to track down these tiles online. I had heard about them on some blog's discussion and had to do a thousand google searches before I found them. But you will be happy that I did.

SmartTiles are as resistant to humidity and oil spatter as ceramic tile, can go right over existing tile or any other surface, and are a great alternative to spending tons on a tile job. They are especially good for renters who don't want to spend money on someone else's property, but still have a home improvement jones. You can even grout them. I think they are basically sturdy puffy stickers. You can get four standard sized tiles for about $7 on the Home Depot website. Don't know how they look in real life, but the pics are very nice:


I want these mosaic ones for a backsplash in my kitchen:


I thought this rubber dipped chandelier by Tobias Wang was really cool looking.


But at $4500, I am probably never going to own one. Besides, wouldn't it be more fun to make one yourself? You can buy a crappy looking chandelier at a flea market, tape off the bulb area so that it can actually work when you are finished, and then use spray on rubber!

You can generally find spray on rubber (in white and clear) at marine supply shops, as boaters like to keep all of their stuff waterproof. You could also go crazy and rubberize a lot of things in your house, like doorknobs, handles, ugly vases and gaudy decanters.

Wallpaper isn't really my thing, mostly because it is a pain. But some genius invented temporary wallpaper that self-sticks and comes off in large sheets when you are over it:

Crate and Barrel carries this design:

Tempaper specializes in temporary wallpaper. It's a vinyl coated paper you can reposition and remove. At $75 a roll, it's kinda steep, but similar styles go for well over $100/roll


I would think this would also be useful for shelves, cabinets, and behind a sheet of glass or plastic as a backsplash in a kitchen. I like the black and white brocade for the side of the fridge that peeks above the counter. In my house that side always gets cluttered with magnets.

Merry X-Mas!

Happy Holidays folks!

M. and I are going to have the most delicious leftovers in the world for dinner. Cubans generally do what is called "Noche Buena" on Christmas Eve. It's our big food party. Most Cuban parties could be called food parties, but this one reigns supreme. Amazing pork fried so that the outside is crispy and the inside is soft, white rice with black beans, yuca with lots of garlic and olive oil. It could be the single biggest reason I stopped being a vegetarian. If my leftovers look pretty, I will post pics. I forgot to bring my camera last night. Every year since I was little, I was the one who baked the cookies and other desserts for Noche Buena. This year was no different. Check it out:




These are plain old sugar cookies that I dipped half in melted chocolate. I then frosted the other half in a peppermint frosting. My holiday version of the black and white cookie. They were very tasty! So tasty that I forgot to photograph the finished product. Sorry about that....


I got a cupcake carrier as a wedding gift this year and it made the trip to my mom's for Christmas Eve dinner so much easier! Each little cupcake has its own place to be and none of them got ruined by foil smashing their heads.

The top half of the carrier had chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting sprinkled with coconut. The bottom half was chocolate with peppermint frosting.

We had a great time at home, and so far have netted a pretty nice bounty of presents, most of which are books that I have been wanting for a while. And M. got me a Bamboo digital pen tablet so I could draw digitally. I am very excited about using that little guy.

The office is almost done. Just a few edges to make straight and some stuff to take down to the garage. It's raining here, so I think I will put that off for a couple days. Here's a sneak peek at the curtains and paint.



I never posted my stockings, which I finished a while back. Here's the final product:


I also promised I'd post images from the Vegas trip. I took hundreds of pictures, but I only posted a few. If you are wondering about any of it, please feel free to ask.

We ventured north in Las Vegas to photograph what's left of the Moulin Rouge Casino. I was actually able to walk around on the property and take pictures of the back of the building (or what's left of it anyway). Before I got caught trespassing, I was able to get a few good images.






Just a couple images from the Boneyard tour, which was so worth it. And to do it during the winter at noon on a sunny day was a great idea. No sweating and great images. The guide was also very knowledgeable about the history of the signs and the casinos they used to blink in front of. See the rest of them over at my Flickr site.



Well, I am looking forward to watching our new Blu Ray copy of The Dark Knight and relaxing with some hot chocolate and my guys. Hope everyone stays warm and wards of bad family vibes!

Office Space

Oooh, I just got so crafty this past weekend. I bought those wall decals from Ikea and got set to printing out some pics on Berneice (my trusty all-in-one printer). Since I'm going to be in this office for another semester, I decided to create a Vampire Wall. The decals were all Victorian style frames, so I figured I'd pick a theme. It was going to be all infamous historical Victorian figures, but I got bored of them as I started collecting, and decided to go a different direction. My vampire obsession has now been put to work. I have an extra week next semester that needs a topic to fill it, so I will probably do vampire tv. We'll see. Either way, it will kind of freak out students who stop by the office hour. I am going to dig up my posters and have at it on Weds, so this is not the only focal point. I always loved professors whose offices said something about what they were into.



Click here for info on what everything is. Just scroll over the pic at Flickr and you should be able to see a note for each frame.

I made a tasty steak dinner last night on a whim.

Grilled steaks with a mushroom gravy. Plus, I roasted Yukon Gold potatoes, some mushrooms, and asparagus in the oven for 25 minutes at 450 degrees. Just dusted some salt and pepper on them and sprinkled with olive oil and they were delicious.

The Christmas Tree/Chanukkah Bush is done

I got some pretty cool ornaments this year. I always do a pop-culture themed tree. This year I found these beauties:

If you press a button on the machine it makes the Pac-Man noises!


I couldn't help myself when I saw this ornament in Philadelphia. Mini sneaker!


And of course I have a few Chanukkah themed things, plus a respectable Snoopy collection.


My mom got me this one, in honor of us being degenerate gamblers.
Did I mention we are going to Las Vegas again? Can't leave it alone for more than a few months, I guess. Is it wrong to be super excited every time?

Don't judge me.

I'm looking forward to relaxing, taking cabs, buying cheap gas to get there, spending very little on the room (seriously, you could stay at Caesar's Palace for a decent price, it's ridiculous), and ignoring all the layoffs, dissertation, and other forms of stress. We hope to be able to got the Neon Boneyard. Cross your fingers for us that it doesn't rain!

Friday Finds

I have lately become obsessed with Starbucks' Peppermint Mocha Twist, which, in addition to being incredibly tasty, is also one of their (RED) drinks that contribute money to the Global Fund. I have a limited income thing happening now, so I don't buy them that often, but I recently found Coffee Mate's Peppermint Mocha creamer at my grocery store! It's in no way the same, but a good replacement for a cheapo broke person like myself.

Today's Friday Finds are all craft-related:

The Mayberry Sparrow is a great Etsy shop with hand-made rubber stamps like this:
She even makes custom stamps with your name or whatever you want! If you aren't into carving or don't have the patience, it is worth it to have a hand made stamp of your own.

After working with felt and fleece to make our Chrismukkah stockings, I have a newfound love of the fuzzy stuff. Here's a couple of good options for the holidays:

From Joshua Stone

Cute heart ornament by Sarah Kladyzk:

Looking for something a little more interesting to serve at your holiday party? Check out DrinkoftheWeek.com's Holiday Drink Recipes. The Midori Sparkle sounds like a headache maker, but I'm sure you look very classy while drinking it. Stick to one or two if you want to stay classy throughout the evening. Remember people: drink water on occasion or you'll be a mess the next day.

I'm getting crafty this evening, as I have stockings to finish (will post pics soon), holiday cards to make and stuff into envelopes, and M.'s birthday is tomorrow. I do cupcakes a lot, and it's not very special anymore, so I was going to make a birthday cake, but I decided to make 2 mini-cakes instead. Hopefully I will post how it comes out tomorrow. And my friend Brande and I are going to go out to dinner (Tsunami Sushi again! Yum.) Got to get moving!

Friday Finds/Update

Hi, I've been gone for days! What's up with that?

Friday Finds today will not be so hot for those of you who can't make it to Long Beach, but I had to post about Frosted Cupcakery because it just opened on 2nd street (I think it moved from a different location in the Belmont Shore area, but I never visited the old place) and it has regular sized cupcakes. That's right, not colossal, big as your own head, cupcakes, but regular ones. I don't really drive through the Belmont Shore too much, but the other day I noticed it and M. and I made it a mission this afternoon to see what's up. Pics below:

I dig their color scheme!

Cute displays


Tasty cupcakes. I got the mint chocolate for M. and the chocolate coconut for me. Good frosting to cake ratio. A lot of what I see out there has a heap of frosting that doubles the cupcake in size. This was like a gourmet version of what someone would make at home. Recommended highly!


They even have a blog. Not everyone wants to make a dozen cupcakes and have them lying around the house forever, so having the option of buying one or two and calling it a day is nice.

I went to my local JoAnn's Fabrics yesterday and picked up some nice stuff for my holiday decor. I'm making stockings and a tree skirt. Here's a sneak peek at my color scheme.

I only started doing Christmas decorating last year. M. is Jewish, and I didn't want to make our house all Christmasy because I know this culture is on total X-mas overload every year. If I want Christmas decorations, I can just go outside from November 1st until January 3rd, is my rationale. It's not like I'm missing it by not having a tree. But he was kinda fascinated by the Christmas tree, so last year we got one and made it up all pretty using ornaments my mom wanted me to have and a few cheap target finds. I like the idea of the tree, just not the upkeep of a tree, the vacuuming up pine needles, the dying tree/fire hazard. It just doesn't fit in with my OCD, so I got a very nice looking fake tree this year. All white, kind of like the vintage ones from the 60s, but without vintage stranger germs (in honor of M.'s um, problem). It's only about four feet tall, so the menorah shouldn't get too overshadowed. Chrismukkah fever starts up soon, so I thought I'd take care of crafty things before the semester winds down and I get all high strung. Crafts completed while high-strung are, well, ugly. Almost every time.

I will keep you updated on the stockings. I have been watching Etsy videos on YouTube. Great stuff there. Lots of step-by-step instructions for crafts and baking projects.