token january entry

Hey guys.

sooooooo even though I'm uber-bad at blogging, I can't have a whole month not show up at all on the little dealie on the side there so here ya go.

This month has been alright so far; our team only lost the month-long trivia tournament by five points (and several of us were out for two weeks in a row, plus the other team may or may not haev cheated), I got to go skiing, and go on another fantastic weekend to Seabrook. And today I found a bolt in my tea. Serious. Check it out.

love,

mcnabbs

new year, new start

So I've been busy crafting and baking over the holidays, but for some reason I have this huge problem transferring pictures from my camera so you can see them. So you'll get pictures soon of the over-one-thousand-cookies I baked for friends and coworkers near and far. But until then, since it is the last day of 2007, I shall write a list of new year's resolutions, since I have a jillion this year. Apparently my free-and-easy three b.s. resolutions last year didn't cut it for me, so I've got to be more serious about this.

1) don't overdraft. my bank must love me since i spent an absurd amount of money on overdraft fees last year. yes, i actually went through my bank records and added it up. no, i'm not going to share it. it's frightening and obscene. i'm going to avoid that this year and have extra money for:

2) weekend trips to at least LA and NY. i've been promising tatum for years that i'm going to come out to NY but so far have failed miserably. it's been a while since i've been there, and it's a good excuse to get in an H&M trip before we get one here in Seattle. also, i had so much fun hanging out with michela and brian and their beautiful friends last summer that i miss them terribly. i'd also like to spend more time in SF because i have beautiful friends there too.

3) i'd like to fit comfortably into a size 8, and like the way i look. i fit a smidgen snugly into an 8 these days and don't like the way it looks, so it's just a little extra effort at the gym i already signed up for to stay fit and trim. plus monica and i are going to do all the fun runs in the city, so if i have a goal like running to keep me motivated that will be great. i'd like to run one 5k all the way through without stopping.

4) last year one of my resolutions was to buy a new art/architecture book every paycheck but unfortunately i was too broke. i hope to resurrect this idea this year, especially since i got new bookshelves and actually have the real estate to house fancy books.

5) i'd like to pay off my debts - a small one to my visa, and a slightly larger one to my parents, which i've been adding to since i was seventeen or so. it's only a few thousand dollars but i know i'll feel better when i pay it off. also once i actually have little or no debt i'll feel better about planning much needed vacations.

6) get to work earlier. especially in the last few months i've been getting in later and later - usually between 9 and 930. i feel really bad getting in that late, and i don't like staying late to make it up, so if i spent less time hitting the snooze button and slacking off in the mornings i can get to work earlier and leave earlier and have more productive time in my day. i started putting my alarm clock across the room so i actually have to get UP to turn it off. good start. it worked today because i got in at 8.08. too bad no one is here to notice...

7) finish quilting projects so i feel good about starting new ones. this is a continuing problem. ]

8) actually get a cookbook together. this is a project i've been thinking about for a few months but didn't have enough time to actually do it this christmas, but hopefully having a year to do it will be enough.

a lot of these resolutions flow together - going to the gym will help me sleep better so i can get up earlier; also if i am a little sleeker i'll feel better in my clothes and not have to change outfits twelve times before i rush out the door, so i get to work at a reasonable hour. not overdrafting gives me extra money for paying off debts, going on trips, and buying books. getting to work earlier means i can leave earlier and have more time for finishing projects and make my cookbook - and makes me look like i work even harder than i already do, giving me more leverage for a raise in october which will help pay off debts! these are more lifestyle decisions - where i can redirect energy from timewasters and things that aren't important to things that ARE important, making my life more fun and successful. good stuff.

plus i want a red ipod nano, a black/silver tivoli model two, and a new car stereo. and an engine flush and full tune-up for my poor car. sigh. and a new smart car. as long as i'm dreaming...

love,
mcnabbs

coasters.

so I was up until 1 am last night baking a red velvet cake for my project architect. umm. just realized I got zero pictures. good job, abby. at least it was delicious and I have the precious memories.

ANYWAY. I got up at 6.30 to frost it and get to work at a quasi-reasonable hour (still didn't make it until 915), and was sleepy all afternoon so I didn't get much done, but Monica and Kate and I did work out a quilt block exchange which I'm SUPER excited about. and we talked about sewing and stuff, but I ended up not calling Monica because I worked late to make up for all the work I didn't do at what should have been naptime, and then by the time I finished dinner it was 9 pm and of course that's too late. but I was amped up about sewing so I couldn't go to bed until I made something, so I whipped out some wee quilted coasters in teal mini Hawaiian prints. it's a pretty cute set of 4, I think it would be a good Christmas gift for someone lucky, so I think I'll put it up on etsy for kicks. sets of 4 run about $10 which sounds good to me. it's funny how you can look stuff up on there, and some things are all almost exactly the same price, except a few grandmas who are totally underselling themselves and some egotistical thirtysomethings who have way overpriced their "art". hello, a quilted coaster is a craft, like a third grader might do, or a grandma, only classier. don't try to sell it as an art piece, Dali. yeah, you have amy butler fabrics. so does everyone else. notice how SHE is the one making the big bucks because SHE is the one with actual creative vision.


...ahem. I digress.


the point of this story is to tell you that I'm such an idiot that I'm up past midnight again, just because I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad to make something. I have serious sleep issues. ugh.


anyway, here's a crappy phone-camera picture of the coasters because they're kinda cute but I can't be bothered to go dig out the camera and the cable and blah blah blah. Here. I'm going to bed.

good night.

love, mcnabbs

p.s. mine are better than everyone else's because I at least made a little effort to make the corners square. most everyone else left their corners all lumpy. losers.

grrrr

it's midnight on a tuesday and i've been doing nothing since 9 pm (when i told myself to go to bed for the first time) but knitting and drinking tea. nothing i need to be awake for. this is like the 1000th night in a row, why can't i just go to bed?

midnight. rrrrgh.

fuh-riiiiii-day!

gosh, i'm excited. another weekend where i'm broke and have a zillion projects but no plans and i can just kick it around the house and then get mad at myself on monday.

haha, wait. ok. so that's probably what's going to happen, but i'm not going to be mad about it. i'm having a good life.

this morning i was upstairs getting coffee in the breakroom and my dad walked in so i said hello - and he was with the CUTEST older Indian gentleman ever. my pops introduces me and says this is Kumar, and Kumar, five feet nothin, coke bottle glasses, grabs my hand with both of his and says "You are as beautiful as your father!" with a warm smile. it's that sort of thing that really makes life great. wonnnnnderful people.

i've found a couple of new websites recently:
http://www.roseandradish.com/
http://www.outblush.com/ and its brother site http://www.uncrate.com/
http://www.branchhome.com/
http://www.dwr.com/

check em out. do it.

i am crushing hardcore on felted stuff this season. check out etsy soon to see if i got my shit together and put felted stuff on there. like felted bowls! i made this one for myself and it's glorious, and it's home to my safety pins for quilting. there are a ton of them on etsy for $20 or so, but on roseandradish.com they have some for like $95. i think i can find the happy medium.

speaking of etsy, i sold a bag today! yaaaayyyy!

current wishes:
-red ipod nano now $50 less AND with video
-flor carpet tiles instead of that shit i have now
-stickers for my bakery boxes (gotta design those)
-brown shoes. any kind of brown shoes, period. really.

so today i get to have lunch with my SAM peeps AND go out to the jobsite for a tour AND go to a cocktail party. GOOD DAY.

love,
mcnabbs

Things I Love

Hey guys.

Time is going REALLY fast this year. OH NO I AM GETTING OLD. Whatever. Anyway, sorry it's been a month since I blogged. Not that anyone reads this.


I've been thinking of stuff I love:

-My red KitchenAid mixer. It's just plain awesome. I only wish I had better dishwashing skillz or a thousand bowls and paddle attachments so I don't have to wash it every day.

-Madagascar bourbon vanilla extract. Makes everything better.

-Nutmeg also makes everything better. It's my secret ingredient. Shh.

-Scrabulous via facebook. I'm addicted.

-Christmas. You already know I love it but I'm getting SO EXCITED.

-the pink bakery boxes I just got. You know the kind I'm talking about, like Remo Borrachini's has, or every other awesome bakery, you just know you're going to get something good when you open it.

-a clean house, not that this ever happens. I wish I wasn't such a slob.

-Finishing projects. Again, this doesn't happen, I'm not a finisher - but when I do, it's awesome.

-Monica's new wardrobe. We shopped for a solid six hours yesterday and she got a glorious assortment of fantastic basics - mostly sweaters and pants, and a dress and a skirt. She's going to look so hot all winter (not that she didn't before, but this is all class).

Things I don't love:

-my adult intermittent-acne problem. NOT AWESOME. I was going to wear something nice today but I got up and had a huge red zit on my forehead and was all bloated and my cheek is puffy from some undetermined-but-likely-expensive dental problem, so I'm in jeans and sneakers. greeeat.

-the free internet I was stealing from someone nearby with an unsecured wireless connection suddenly pooped out yesterday. I tried rebooting to no avail - and the network still says it's unsecured and has five bars, and the device says it's working properly. Clearly there is some miscommunication because it actually ISN'T working properly.

-traffic in this town. I could say so much about it, but I take public transportation when I can, and when I do have to drive BECAUSE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION WON'T GET ME WHERE I WANT TO GO the roads are packed. Don't think I don't vote for this shit, because I sure do. I'm happy to pay extra taxes to save time in the car. I'm just pissed at everyone else in this goddamned town.

-having spent all weekend slumming when I could have been productive. Boooo.

-how blogger says "remember me on this computer" and then it doesn't remember me. Am I the only one this happens to?

So other than that, I'm doing fine. Still trying to finish up some quilting projects before Christmas, and maybe get my house cleaned once or twice... work is fine, money is tight, love life is nonexistent. The usz.

love,

mcnabbs

pot, kettle.

so i've been a little bored at work today - i've got what seems like thousands of rfis to log and it's soooooo tedious. i was checking a couple of friends' blogs and started getting annoyed that they haven't updated them... but see, i haven't either, so i can't talk.

when blogger switched over to "new blogger" and linked to google, i added a different gmail address than the one i use now - which i basically have open all day to talk to friends and get instant gratification when i actually get emails (not often). but in order to log in to blogspot, i have to log in with the old email address and it logs me out of my new one - big pain in the ass, so i don't blog as much as i might because of the hassle factor. so i just surfed a thousand blogspot "help" blogs (not helpful) and finally found one that said i could add another person as a contributor and delete the old one. i haven't gotten around to deleting the old one yet (more logouts and logins and logouts and logins) but this works for now.

i'm having a great day. tonight is the monthly wine night chez monica, which is guaranteed to be a good time. yesterday i was over on the microsoft campus doing punchlists for new offices, and had lunch with my brother and my coworker. i kind of knew already but it hadn't really hit me in person - microsoft is total nerd central. i mean, god bless nerds, but dang. i had never seen that many all at once before. but then again, i've never been to a halo convention or anything either.

hope y'all are fantastic. in exactly one week i will be in the middle of wedding blitz. i'm stoked.
love,
abby

crafty.

So my friend Folpmer's birthday is on Monday, and I didn't have any cards around, so I thought I'd make one. I originally thought I would stitch a little fabric birthday cake on the front of a piece of paper, write a jolly message inside, and be on my merry way. While looking for appropriate birthday cake style fabrics, however, I happened upon a piece with cowgirls on it (the border for my bedroom curtains. So festive) and thought that maybe a cowgirl could wish him a pleasant day. I thought Ginny was the most fetching, and then there were some other cute fabrics that went with her coloring, and then I got carried away - so he gets a birthday quilt-card. I'm thinking about making some of these for etsy - it only took me a little over an hour to complete and it's so freakin' cute!

Enjoy.
Love,
A

never gonna give you up

A very dear friend of mine just sent a really neat website link containing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video on loop. It took me a long time to try and figure out his last name, I knew it was Rick somebody. I had to look it up. Thanks, internet!

(update 6.3.08: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/cht/654534964.html)

Now I've got Snoop on to try and wash the 80s out of my brain. He's got a living room full of fine dime brizzles. Are they "dimes" because they are a ten on a scale of one to ten? I want to know.

KF is coming to town tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited! She and Monica and I are going to have a super quilty weekend, and it's going to be so much fun!

I have a large bruise on the back of my right calf. It's pretty ugly and I have no idea where it came from (though drunken camping might have had something to do with it...)

I have nothing but vignettes today. enjoy!
Love,
McNabbs

hey hey hey!

i'm hand quilting a pillow! yay. look for it on etsy soon.