I am cross stitcher, hear me roar

Victory! My first cross stitch project has been successfully completed. Some mistakes were made but overall I'm very pleased with how well it turned out considering I've never done it before. I really hope the intended recipients like them even if they're not that exciting. I already ordered my next project (a personalized counted cross stitch stocking for my "son" as I like to think of him). If that goes well, I'll make a set for his parents as well. Every family should have coordinating personalized stockings for Christmas. I have hopes it'll get here today but who knows since USPS apparently doesn't want to actually track my package -.-

And now it's time for some pictures so I can show off my accomplishment.
Monkey and Giraffe hanging out in jungle! I like how the giraffe came out better but that's probably because I did that one after learning from a lot of mistakes. A closer look....


So cute!

Eric and I went to the Ultimate Cocktails, Spirits & Wine Blast in midtown last night. It was so exciting to try all the different liquors and cocktails they had available. My favorite of the night was probably RumChata which is a sort of creamy rum. Absolutely divine with espresso vodka to make a Tiramisu Martini.

Still working on a good makeup post, the world is conspiring against me getting decent pictures of the eyeshadows. It's especially hard to take sunlight pictures being on the 30th floor with no balcony. It also seems like every time I think about doing it the sun is blocked by the office building across from us. Eventually I will prevail.

Monkey Madness

With any luck I'll have a post ready with swatches from Aromaleigh's farewell collections (Spells, Wonderstruck, and Mythos) ready to go sometime soon but the camera is not cooperating with me today. I have pictures of Spells but they don't do the colors justice at all. I need to figure out how to be a better photographer.

That said, I've been working on another project lately. I randomly decided I wanted to learn how to cross stitch so I got two stamped bibs to learn on. It's actually been going pretty well and it's very relaxing. Now that I've got the hang of the stitches I'm going to try counted cross stitch next. I just finished the monkey bib this afternoon so it's still drying but here's a preview picture from when I just started.


Isn't that just adorable? Tonight I'll start work on the giraffe. My eventual goal is to make personalized stockings since I saw some nice looking kits. I am indeed an old lady on the inside.

Blog Fail

Like many things in my life, I have been neglecting this for lack of direction. Now that I'm stuck on the couch recovering from surgery I find myself with time to ponder this.

One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog was to collect my thoughts and interests once again. Naturally, this backfired horribly and made me realize I am all over the place. I find myself wanting to do make up reviews, cooking and crafting posts, pet posts, etc and getting too overwhelmed to do any. I think the first step is going to be making peace with the fact that I'm too all over the place to ever have a truly focused blog.

On the cooking note, I have been improving there. Still using a lot of packets but the boy's parents gave me some spices for my birthday that have really expanded what I can do. The deep fryer has also helped with this. My goals continue to be making more things from scratch and working on presentation. Last year I tried to take a cake decorating class but that fell through. I should really try to find one here or suck it up and try to learn on my own.

As far as crafting goes, it's time to break out the sewing machine again. We just got a new slipcover for the sofa and I'm getting really tired of the complete lack of style in this apartment. I found some fabric online that reminds me of the dishtowels a friend just gave me so I'm going to make some new pillow covers to jazz up the couch. I've also had this weird desire to learn how to cross stitch.

Makeup has been on the backburner since I haven't been feeling as well. Aromaleigh is closing which is sad and until now I've been able to resist the sparkly. I did cave and order sample sets of Ciao Italia, Spells, Mythos, and Wonderstruck though. I have a feeling I'll be ordering full sizes of Spells because I'm a dork and can't resist the Harry Potter.

Mixers, Food Processors, and Spices! Oh my!

One of my current goals/hobbies is to become a respectable cook. I've only been really cooking for myself since the summer so I still have a lot to learn. I like to think that for a beginner I'm doing pretty well though I really want to start making more things from scratch and as well as more elaborate dishes. Right now we eat a lot of meals that start life as seasoning packets or boxes which is fine but I know we can do better. However, it's been harder than I expected to try to new recipes due to food prices and a lack of time on my part. After shopping in Knoxville it's been quite a shock adapting to the prices and selection at the stores here.

I think one of my goals for this semester is to trim our food budget while increasing the variety and quality of our meals. This might be overambitious but I think it can be done. One way we're planning to improve our diet is to make more things from scratch. Hummus, bread, and other things will be a lot easier to make with a processor/mixer. Not only is it cheaper for us to make these things ourselves but will give us greater control over the ingredients. The boy used to make bread at a bakery so I'm looking forward to some of his creations. Hopefully these ambitions will be facilitated by the toys that should be coming in the mail soon.

A food processor

and a hand mixer.

I think one of the first things I'm going to do with my new toy is either make a cake and frosting or hummus.

Cooking goals for the next month:

Make bread at least once
Make at least one of the "usual" dishes from scratch.
Add two new spices to the spice rack and use them