Friendsgiving

SHARP TOOTH!

Yesterday was my first ever Friendsgiving. I've heard of people doing this before but had never been to one myself so this year I asked my friends if they'd want to try it. Everyone was down with it so we all agreed to bring a Thanksgiving-esque dish to the party. My actual Thanksgiving was pretty sucky (majorly sucky) since I had to work that day (and was completely by myself I might add) so it was nice to get a do-over yesterday with my girlfriends.

For my contribution to the potluck I got a Trader Joe's turkey-less roast and it was surprisingly a big hit! Their mock-turkey roast is ONE BILLION times better than Tofurkey's roast and I look forward to it every year now. I wish they carried it year around because it's oh-so-good and super easy to prepare. It's also, quite a bit bigger than Tofurkey's as well. One roast was enough for 4 or 5 of us compared to the Tofurkey which barely feeds 3 (if that). Sorry to rip on Tofurkey so much but TJ's version is far superior. In addition to the roast I also made homemade cranberry sauce. Once you try homemade cranberry sauce you can never go back to the canned stuff and it's SUPER EASY to make. All I used was one 12 ounce bag of cranberries, 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of orange juice, 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of cinnamon and salt. Easy peasey.




Maddie, Jenika, me, Jackie, Heather, and Michelle

I wish I'd taken a picture of the whole spread but we also had a candied yam casserole, a green bean casserole, Pennsylvania Dutch corn, mashed potatoes, biscuits, chocolate pie and apple cider. It was quite the feast! I hadn't eaten so many delicious things all at once in ages! It took me a while but I managed to clean my plate. Sharleen arrived a little late but in time for pie and my favorite party game, Cards Against humanity. It was great to see her and hear her super cute laugh again since she moved to California to go to grad school. This time we decided to throw a random card into each round and it was so funny when the random card would win. I think I'll play with a rando thrown in from now on. :)

Another cool thing that happened this week was when me and Michelle visited the Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ. I had never really been to Tucson before even though I've lived in Arizona most of my life so it was fun to go on a little excursion. If you do happen to find yourself there, I'd highly recommend the Desert Museum. We had so much fun there and it was a beautiful day. We saw a mountain lion, bobcat, fox, river otter, javelina, coati, porcupine, beaver, mule deer, big horn sheep, and countless birds. It was funny when we went in the aviary I knew more about the birds they had than the people who worked there. My dad and I are massive birdwatchers so my bird knowledge is pretty vast to say the least. I don't really have any friends who share my passion for birding but I can say that we birders are an eccentric bunch. I've never met another bird watcher who wasn't quirky ;)

After the museum we went back into town for lunch. We went to a vegan restaurant that I've heard many of my vegan friends rave about called the Lovin' Spoonful. I was pretty impressed by all of the options they had on their menu but the item I chose was a bit of a dud. So that was a bit of a bummer. Next we thought we'd walk around downtown and do some shopping, however, once we'd parked the car we found out that there really isn't any shopping (or anything) to do in Tucson. We kind of walked around in a circle until we found a place that had ice cream called The Hub. The ice cream was reallllly good (I got salted caramel) and for whatever reason all of the boys who worked there were super cute. What the heck?

Other than that I've been SO BUSY with orders this month! It's been my busiest month ever so I'm totally stoked about that. Hopefully, December will follow suit because Mama needs to save money for my upcoming vacation! ^_______^

 

 

Livin' the Craft Life

Puppycat "Flawless" (SOLD)

Today has been one of those rare days where everything seems right with the world. I've gotten so much love for my artwork today and it's put me in a lovely mood. Since I was in a really lazy mood for the majority of October (not to mention being sick for a week and then going on vacation) I decided that November was going to be a super productive month for me and so far it has been. I've been working on new pieces day and night and am really pleased with my most recent work. As an artist, nothing makes us happier than knowing our hard work is appreciated so to everyone who has supported my business or simply said something nice about my art THANK YOU SO MUCH! It means the WORLD to me! I can be a bit insecure about my art and how it's received so when I go through dry spells it really wears down on me (yes, artists need constant validation). But this month has been awesome! I've gotten loads of new fans on Instagram and Tumblr and have had two people ask me if they can feature my work on their blogs! YAY!



Totoro "Brush Your Teeth" Hoop (SOLD)

I think another thing that is adding to the lift in my spirits lately is that I have some neat things to look forward to. First being my upcoming Thailand trip (it's only 2 1/2 months away now), then there's Friendsgiving coming up on the 29th (my friends and I are celebrating Thanksgiving together) and finally my trip to London next October to visit Melissa. As a person who suffers from melancholy, I've noticed that it helps me to get through difficult periods or times of sadness when I have some things to look forward to. I try not to live in the future (or the past) too much but it does give those bad days a boost when you're able to daydream about good times to come. I'm really excited about 2015 and think it's going to be a great year for me. If I'm lucky, maybe it'll be the year that someone special will enter my life (not going to hold my breath, though, haha!)



Jake Ice Cream Hoop

Oh, another thing that made me smile today was my internet friend, Jenny, including a pic of me in her Selfie Project 2014. Jenny is a doll (inside and out) and one of my favorite bloggers. She put a post out on Instagram asking people to send a selfie and a short caption saying something that they love about themselves. If you'd like to see mine and the other lovely ladies who participated in this project, please visit Jenny's website at:

www.shelovesdresses.com

It's just so nice to see so many gorgeous girls loving themselves. I'm all about self-love and positivity these days and encourage everyone to be kind and nurturing to themselves.

Okies, well, I'm going to get back to work but here's a few more of the hoops I've made lately. If you'd like a custom embroidery for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, please contact me on Etsy! www.iggystarpup.com



Stitch "Ohana"
 



Everything's Coming Up Milhouse!


 



 

One Night in Bangkok

Today I went to the doctor to get some vaccinations for Thailand. I got a tetanus booster and a hepatitis A and B shot. Oh, man! My arms are SO sore! I thought they'd at least spread them out across a couple appointments but they were down to do them all today. Surprisingly, the tetanus wasn't nearly as bad at the hepatitis. Those two really took the wind out of my sails. Besides having two practically dead arms I feel really yucky and tired. Bleah! I guess it beats getting super sick on my trip, though. Luckily, I did my research on what shots I would need because I need two round of hep B and you need a month in between shots. Once I get my final shot next month I'll be able to just concentrate on planning the trip itself.

One positive thing about today's doctor visit was that it didn't cost me one red cent. Thanks to our president, my immunizations were 100% covered by my insurance. I didn't have health insurance for the past 6 years so I am so grateful to finally be covered again. Being a starving artist is already stressful enough without having to worry what the heck you're going to do if you get sick. If I hadn't had health insurance my visit today would have cost me about $400 which I really couldn't afford. So say what you will about Barack Obama but I'm think he did a great thing by helping all of us without health benefits. I'm hoping that this country will someday go one step further and mandate universal healthcare to all its citizens. But, hey, I'm a dreamer!

Anywho, I leave for Bangkok on February 1st and will return on February 9th. The journey there is going to be INTENSE to say the least. We leave at 7:15am and won't arrive until 11:15pm THE NEXT DAY! I think it's 26 hours total. We'll have a layover in LA for an hour then another in Tokyo for an hour and a half. This time I used my noggin' and got us both aisle seats the whole way. I learned my lesson when I was trapped next to a sleeping 80  year old Russian lady for 13 hours back in April. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER AGAIN. If the journey there doesn't kill us, I think we're in for a really amazing adventure. Bangkok looks like such an amazing city and Thailand is a beautiful country.

I haven't had too much time to plan out an itinerary yet but the things I know I'd like to do are:

*meet my friend Shong (who I've been online pals with since 2007)
*spend a day at the beach (it'll be summertime there)
*go on a river tour
*visit lots of Buddhist temples
*ride bikes to the markets at night
*rent a scooter
*visit some art galleries
*go dancing
*and eat lots of yummy things

I'm SO EXCITED! OHMYGOSH! And it's sooooo soon too! Only 86 days to go! ACK! It's amazing that a year ago I'd never been out of the USA and now I'm about to scratch another continent off my list.

Halloween

Sadly, another Halloween has come and gone. At least I was able to squeeze in three costumes this year. Last weekend I went to my friend's daughter's party as a skeleton. I'd been planning on being a skeleton for quite sometime and was going to make my costume myself when I realized that oops! I already had everything I needed in my wardrobe. Beneath my breast beats the heart of a goth girl, I guess. However, one thing I didn't plan out too well was my makeup. I had bought some zombie makeup last year (when I was entertaining the idea of going to the zombie walk) and just assumed it would come with some white makeup that I could use this year. About 30 minutes before I'm supposed to leave for the party I get it out and there is NO WHITE MAKEUP. UGH! So I rush over to the drugstore and pick some up but when I put it on it A.) is too sheer and B.) is melting the moment I put it on. It was such a disaster! I had to go to plan B at this point and just used my winter foundation (for my pale vanilla-strawberry skin), black lipstick, eyeliner and dark gray eye shadow. I  guess it turned out alright but it wasn't how I'd wanted it to look so I was a little disappointed. The children thought I looked "too scary" so I suppose my costume was a success. My friend's toddler thought I looked so scary that she ran away from me the whole night :(

My next costume on the other hand came out ABSOLUTELY perfect! About two weeks ago I was making a Puppycat embroidery hoop when I thought, ya know, I'd be perfect as Bee AND I already have a yellow sweater in my closet. All I needed were some pink shorts and then the rest I could make myself. I found the perfect pair at Forever21 (and on sale) then I handmade the bee patch and a peter pan collar. Then I just tied some pink ribbon onto my boots and I was all set. All I needed now was somewhere to go. None of my friends were having a party (no adult parties) and for a long time no one really seemed that jazzed to go out. I had wanted to go dancing and last year I went to Crescent Ballroom so I thought I'd just go there again. A few days before I found some people who wanted to go out--thank the gods. However, when Halloween finally came it was still SUPER hot. I didn't wear my Bee costume to work because I knew no one would know who I was and I definitely wasn't going to be a skeleton since I work at a retirement home and a skeleton would just be too much of a reminder of everyone's mortality. So I opted to wear my new Slytherin tee (it has a detachable cape) and go as Pansy Parkinson. All night at work I debated between which costume I would wear out but wound up sticking with Pansy since I figured it would be hot as heck once I was dancing inside (it was).

Last year we'd gotten to CB around 9:30pm and had no problem getting in so I had planned on arriving again early. Anyone who knows me irl knows that I'm punctual to a fault and being late causes me to go into a bit of a panic so I wanted to get there early rather than risk not getting in at all. However, my friends don't share my planner type personality. By 8:45pm I was ready to roll. My friends had said they'd be ready by 9pm but 9pm quickly came and went. Then 9:15, 9:30 and so on. Long story short, we didn't wind up getting there until nearly 10:30pm. I was one unhappy pappy. On our drive there our friends who were meeting us there texted us saying security was about to cut off the line. Merlin's Pants! When we pulled up Jackie let us out so we could give Maddie her ID and luckily by then they'd made it to the front of the line. The folks who worked there said as soon as people trickled out that they'd let more people in. I was pretty bummed but we only had to wait about 10 minutes before we got in. Classic case of me getting worked up over nothing :/

I was shocked how popular this Costume Ball had gotten compared to last year. It was completely nutzo. There had to have been 500 people there. I had fun dancing minus not knowing any of the songs they played. I don't really know what the dj was thinking by playing music that no one except him had heard of. I enjoy dancing so much more to music I can sing along to. It was fun dancing with my wand, though. I had forgotten to leave it in the car and it kept falling out of my purse so I figured I'd just go with it. People seemed to enjoy it too; I got lots of thumbs up from my fellow Halloweeners. There was this trio dressed as characters from Lord of the Rings who kind of followed me around for  most of the night. Especially Bilbo. Bilbo kept smiling at me and dancing as close to me as possible. I wanted to tell him that witches don't dance with Shire folk, haha. Anywho, we stayed until a little after 1:30am when I abruptly ran out of steam. I went from dancing my face off to ready to be back in my bed in a few seconds.

I was off the next day from work so I took myself on a date to see "Horns". IT WAS SO GOOD! I LOVE LOVE LOVED IT! I personally think it was Daniel Radcliffe's best performance to date. I know it was a horror film but it was more funny than scary. I liked the silliness of the movie. I hope it'll be spreading to more theatres in Phoenix soon so more people will go see it. Today or tomorrow I'm finally going to get to see "Gone Girl" since I finished the book yesterday. I think I'll like it. I was really excited to see "Before I Go to Sleep" since the book was so good but the movie got really crummy reviews so I might just wait to see it on dvd.

Anyway, almost forgot about my BIG NEWS! This February I'm going to THAILAND! I'm sooooo excited! I'm going with my friend Michelle to Bangkok and we're going to stay with her mom who is teaching English there. Last week we bought our plane tickets. The flight will be hell but it'll be great once we get there. I'll tell you more about it when I have more details :)