HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

well, they now have katrina headed this way. supposed to arrive some time monday evening/early tuesday morning.....DEEP FUCKIN' SIGH!!!!

i'm not even going to go into all my ranting and raving like the last time.

i'm trying to remain calm (NOTE: my house is becoming the cleanest it has in quite some time due to my stir craziness...lol). today is amy's bday party so i will be getting ready to head over there in a lil bit and then when i come home, i guess i will get me and the kiddos packed so we are ready to head on over to mom's on sunday/monday.



here's my mom with jim cantore from the weather channel down on the beach. if you happen to feel like turning on the weather channel and they show jim and his location, that is where i live. the last time he was on, you could see a "pirate ship" which is the treasure bay casino.

i'll keep everyone posted and this evening i will prolly post what i made for amy and her party.

wish us luck :)

OATMEAL COOKIE BISCOTTI!!!

while over at baking sheet (only one of the best food bloggies i have ever come across), i saw a post for oatmeal cookie biscotti and boy did it look good.

so since i had all the ingredients at home already (cept for the raisins & cardamom, so i used extra cinnamon), i thought i would give biscotti a try (i have never made it before). i must say i am quite impressed with the way it turned out. i did not get 4 dozen outta the recipe, but since i am new to biscotti making, i wasn't sure how big to make the logs and how thick to cut em. so mine are kinda large.

i cannot wait to have one with my morning coffee when i am getting ready tomorrow.

here's the recipe for you guys and for my future reference :)

oatmeal cookie biscotti

2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries


Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat eggs, adding sugar gragually, at medium speed until smooth and light, 1-2 minutes. Stir in flour mixture and raisins.
Drop spoonfuls of batter onto baking sheet and, with well floured hands, form into rectangular logs about 1/2 inch high. Sprinkle a few oats on top for decoration. Length and width are your perogative. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
Slice logs into 1/3-1/2 inch thick slices (1-1.5 cm) and lay flat on baking sheet.
Lower oven temperature to 300F. Bake sliced cookies for 15 minutes, flip them and bake for an additional 15 minutes. If cookies are not firm, depending on how thickly they were sliced, turn again and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 4 dozen

recipe courtesy of bakingsheet

A POST FROM WORK!!!!

I WISH I WAS AT HOME CRAFTING.
I WISH I WAS AT HOME CRAFTING.
I WISH I WAS AT HOME CRAFTING.

these are the things i have to craft this weekend:

*finish a bday scarf (before saturday)
*make a purse (before saturday)
*make a buncha owls for swaps and mail goodies (before saturday)
*make so'more button rings
*go thru fabric and take pics of for flickr group

I WISH I WAS AT HOME CRAFTING.

AHOY YE MATEY!!!

these are the invitations i sent out for mikey's bday party next saturday. we also got a box full of goodies from oriental trading and noticed that i forgot to get the eyepatches. so i also ordered a box full of goodies from dead men tell no tales which is a great website full of pirate-y goodness.

my camera is still battery-less so hopefully tomorrow i can post pictures of all the goodies :)

i got the map design from coolest-kid-birthday-parties and saved it to my pictures folder. i then entered all the text with one of 1000+ fonts i have on the computer. they were printed out on a beige paper and i attempted to burn the edges but that was a big ol disaster. it burned really slow and then when i burned the flame out, it kept on burning. so i then tore the edges and took a black ink pad and blotted the ink pad on the edges. voila!

SELF PORTRAIT TUESDAY PT. 1!!!!

okay, whenever i read other "self portrait tuesday" posts, i think "self, one day you are going to remember this on an actual tuesday and not a thursday or friday". so of course after i posted about the lil vintage purse, i was checking out a few other blogs and i was reminded. again, since the old camera does not have any working batteries tonight, i scanned an older picture.




i love this picture. partly i think b/c of the story that goes with it but mostly b/c of the way that i am looking at him and even though you can't see his face, you know he is looking at me.

it was my birthday about five years ago and a buncha us went out to a bar/club in one of the local casinos. as usual, once i get to drinking, i wanna smoke. at that time, michael didn't really like that that much and of course, an argument ensued. this is partially due to the fact that since i had been drinking and it was my bday, i had a cigarette anyway.

this is us making up. i sat on his lap and had just popped in a piece of gum (note: if you look close enough at the picture, it looks like i had prolly popped in the whole pack) and we were saying our sorry's (and as usual, i prolly said it first ;) after that we had kissed and everything was back to normal again.

the rest of the evening was fabulous. we stayed in a suite in another casino hotel and it was gorgeous. one of the officers (okay lieutenant) that was with us had had chocolate covered strawberries and champagne set to our room. we also had a jacuzzi tub that we definetly enjoyed ;)

it was a good bday!!

THE LIL VINTAGE PURSE!!!

since the batteries are dead in my camera and i am unable to show you pics of the scarf that i made for a friend's upcoming bday or isabella's new cast, i thought i would show you a pic that i took about a week ago for a post that i never got around to.



i bought this purse at the thrift store when i was in highschool and going thru my "wear men's jeans, tshirts, flannel shirts, i don't care about putting on make-up or doing my hair" phase. i love the 70's orange/green combo. i love the flowers and the odd shape of the purse. the only thing i don't love is how small it is. i can't fit all my crap in it. so this purse only makes an appearance on special occasions when i don't have to carry around all that crap.

i can't believe that i have had this purse for about 10 years. glad to see that my style hasn't changed much...well except for the fact that i now wear women's jeans, cute girly tshirts, no flannel shirts, and i do care very much about my hair and make-up ;)


on a side note, i just have to tell ya'll how much i LOVE microsoft access. i love the idea that i am one of two at work that even know how to open it up. i love that i (okay and the other one of two) have designed a database for my office that is very useful. i love that i am almost done with mike's database and that i figured out a whole new part (creating a switchboard) today without anyone's help at all. i even love how stressed out i was last friday (to the point of actual tears) when i thought that i had deleted the whole darn thing (thats three weeks + of work people). i love the accomplishment that it gives me. i love how my boss asks me if i am still in love with access when he hears me swearing on the other side of the wall.

i just love access.

COCONUT CUPCAKES!!

saturday, while i was surfin' around groucy frog i saw some yummy looking coconut cupcakes and i knew i had to try them out.

i used 1 box of white cake mix, followed the amount of eggs and oil on the box and instead of water, used coconut milk. i then frosted them with vanilla frosting (next time i will use a more "white" frosting and maybe add coconut oil to it or just make my own), toasted some shredded coconut and voila!

coconut cupcakes.

they are so friggin' good. the coconut milk does wonders to the cupcake texture. it really didn't add much of a coconut taste, so i think i am going to try it with other cake mixes too!

okay, i'm off to go eat one :)

SNAIL MAIL SWAP PT. 2!!!

yet again, i received a wonderful pkg. of goodies from giao. of course two items are missing...a pack of pina colada bubble gum (yum!) and some post it notes in the shape of an "e". they are currently residing on my desk to use for special occasions (i juse post its like there's no tomorrow). i absolutely cannot wait to get that yarn on some knitting needles and i think that will turn into a scarf for a friend.

thanks again giao!!!

SOME BDAY PARTY PLANNING!!!

i stumbled upon a great website called coolest-kid-birthday-parties while doing a search for pirate party ideas.

they have great ideas, along with free printables, and pictures of members' parties for even more ideas.

i ordered a buncha goodies over at oriental trading including treasure chests that will hold on the goodies such as an eye patch, a telescope, bubblegum "gold coins", a skull sucker, and more!

now the manhunt starts for pirate related gifts :)

TIME TO PLAY A LIL CATCH UP!!!

okay, this post may be long and it may be sporadic, but i am going to try and sum up the past couple of weeks in one post.

all about elizabeth



*i received the most wonderful pkg. from debbie as part of a swap we are doing (again debbie, i apologize even though you don't think i need to ;) she included something for everyone and the kiddos loved their presents. i too am in love with the lil handbag. it was a great pkg. and a great boost for my mood. i do hope that you enjoy your pkg. just as much.

*part of what is contributing to my busy life style right now is physical therapy. i know it mentioned it before that i was having problems with my right knee. it was determined that i have fluid in it due to the muscle by my knee not being strong enough and causing the knee cap to move too much! can you say gross!!! i have been going twice a week and it is kicking my ass. i only have a couple more times to go, but i will have to do some of the exercises 3-times a week foreva...thats right folks, foreva!!! the only good thing about it is, i am seeing muscles in my legs that i didn't even know existed. hell yeah!!!

*i have been so slack on the crafting. oh it sucks. i miss it so much, but i feel like i am so friggin' busy and then by the time i get home, i don't feel like doing anything but watching back to back episodes of law and order until its time to go to bed. i am hoping to get more into things in the next few weekends.

*i currently working on planning mikey's birthday party (his bday is the 31st). he is going to have a pirate party at a local aquarium. i am so excited but this post does remind me that i have to get on the ball with the invitations. fortunately, the party isn't until labor day weekend.

*on top of the physical therapy, i am also trying to walk in my soon to be new neighborhood a few times a week. this sure does make for hectic evenings.

*i am currently awaiting for the fall time to roll around. even with the holidays, it feels like things slow down a bit.

all about mikey

*mikey started his first day of kindergarten on the 4th!!!!! he is having so much fun and loves every minute of it. its so funny to see him in his lil uniform. he looks so much older than he does in "street clothes". he catches the bus to and from school at the daycare and he has a hoot on the bus. he has wanted to ride a school bus since he knew what they were. i can't believe my baby is a kindergartener!!







*mikey's tonsils are also doing so much better and he is back to his normal lil self. thank goodness!!

all about bella

*ahhh, lil bella. she still has the same lil cast on her arm, but it is progressing nicely. the doctor will see her next monday and take this one off and put a smaller one on. i have no idea how long she will have to wear the smaller one, but anything is better. she does so well with it. she still runs around, jumps on furniture, etc. still the same lil bella. nothing gonna slow her down...lol.

*bella too is having fun attending her "school" aka daycare. whenever mikey has stories to tell about his day, she does too. even if i'm not 100% sure what she is saying ;)


all about michael

*on the 2nd of this month, we took the kiddos to the pd for natl. night out. mike had a booth set up and the kiddos got to eat, play games, and see all sorts of cool stuff. i love bringing th kids up to work. all my coworkers are so great with them and love to see them. heck, they've known the kids since i was preggers with em.










well, i guess that is a lil summary for now. i just hate getting behind on the blog. i feel like i miss out on posting about so much. i also have so much blog reading to catch up on. i feel like i have fallen outta the loop and i don't know what is going on with anyone or what crafty inspiration i have missed out on. i have missed everyone and hope that everyone is not as busy as i have been and are still enjoying the lazy days of summer :)

YES, I'M STILL ALIVE!!!

i just wanted to take a quick second to let everyone know that yes, i am still alive and kicking its just the manna's have been SUPER DUPER BUSY the past couple of weeks. tomorrow is mine and mike's anniversary so i am hoping that sunday i will be able to post all the going ons around here.

thanks everyone for the emails/comments of concerns.