Alien Spouse

Phoning It In.

Today we had afew things to do before going to Jack and Amber's house for dinner and cooing over their preternaturally cute baby son.

First we had to take out the recycling because it was at the falling-on-you stage, and as our preferred recycling center happens to be close to a Verizon shop I decided to upgrade my phone. Well, actually, I did not want to upgrade my phone, because an upgrade to me would mean a smart phone and I do not want to pay for the monthly data plan - In fact I wanted to get the simplest of the basic phones, I'd actually have quite liked to down-grade to something without a camera or an MP3 player, because I never use those features. I tried to explain this to the assistant at the Verizon shop, but I think he'd just taken some cold medication or something else that advises you not to drive or operate heavy machinery, I soon realised I was on my own out there. In the end I grabbed an LG Cosmos 2, which was fairly cheap, had a slide out keyboard and uses a micro USB to charge. When I got home I second guessed myself by checking on-line reviews and it seems to be a good texting phone and have a good battery life. Perfect.

After that we bought a cherry pie and came home to get changed for dinner.

Happy Pink Cloud.

As I mentioned at the time, we went to Asheville this weekend, and I took a photo of this rather cheering mural. Obviously it was the happy pink cloud that caught my attention initially, but I particularly like the black half-cloud at the top left; it's painted on a bit of masonry that's sticking out slightly so there is a pleasing 3D effect.

It's always been my aim to have a photo up every day, but that has definitely been dropping off recently. The main problem I have with downloading and editing my photos at the moment is purely that I have to use the desktop in the study to do that, and it's a temperamental beastie at the best of times.If you plug in a USB before switching it on, then it crashes and Doc C has to physically take it to bits and re-build it. This sort of thing makes me wary of using it.

Anyway, I had read about memory cards that had built in wi-fi and would just automatically upload all your photos when in range of your home network (or any of the 32 other networks you can give it permission to use). So I bought one, and it's all set up and raring to go. So far I've just taken some test shots of an empty cake stand, but once I've got something better than that I'll post them here.

The Stuff Diet.

In the midst of my recent and un-characteristic de-cluttering (Next on my list to get rid of is all of the acrylic yarn I bought when I first started crocheting/knitting, I have no idea why I was keeping this because I really dislike working with it), I find that I'm being offered really good deals on things that I've been wanting for a while. Out of nowhere the fleece lined Doc Martens I've been visiting on-line for two years were suddenly reduced in price by $50, and then this morning BuiltNY sent me an e-voucher for $10 off their super cool Cargo™ Travel Organizer.

It's definitely odd to be simultaneously buying new treasures as I'm clearing out old junk, but I don't think it's entirely contradictory. What I noticed during my purge is that I've been holding onto a lot of cheap things that I didn't care for that much, as opposed to owning a reasonable number of good quality belongings that I love. I'm thinking of it like transitioning from only eating junk food to a diet of healthy but delicious things; so the aim in both instances is not to weigh yourself down with stuff you don't actually need or want but to consciously aim for a good balance.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” William Morris

 

Surprise Finger Monster.

One of the joys of on-line shopping is when you get an unexpected bonus item, and this is all the more true when it's something fun. I received a small box of daft gifts* today and, when I opened the box, a finger monster was on top of a heap of bio-degradable packing peanuts.

I particular appreciate that who ever it was that put him into the box was thoughtful enough to give him a snack; don't worry, the packing peanuts are made from potato starch, so it's probably safe for monsters to nom on.

*Since moving to the US I almost dread the annual office gift exchange, because it is so tricky to gauge what might be a good gift for a colleague. I can't fall back on that standard of impersonal British gift giving - A nice bottle of something.

A Kindle's Journey.

For my birthday Moth gave me some Amazon gift tokens, so I could buy a Kindle! I ordered it on my birthday (along with a olive green leather case, and a book for the Doc) and have been tracking it's progress ever since. Wheeeee!

That's really been the focus of this week for me, so I've found it very hard to write blog posts that weren't just detailing the Kindle's journey from Amazon's mysterious seller facility, the location of which is merely given as "US". The first stop on the trek was Hebron, Kentucky, which gives us a clue as to the seller facility's location because it only took an hour to get to Hebron from there. We can also deduce that Hebron must be delightful, because the Kindle spent 7 hours there. What do you think? Brunch with some of the other parcels, maybe a mini spa day?

Happily refreshed the Kindle spent the next day travelling from Kebron KY to Charlotte NC, where it checked in for the night. Kindle left Charlotte for Alienspouseville at 2 o'clock this morning, and I kept checking the shipment tracker, and when it's arrival was logged I got VERY excited; so I walked to the post office at lunch time.

Did I mention that today has been the first day we've had proper snow? And, naturally, the heaviest flurry was at lunch time, so I walked to and from the post office - in the snow - to get my Kindle and...

...The delivery it was on hadn't been unpacked yet, so I have to go back tomorrow.

It'll probably snow again, and there will be some sort of geological event that will mean I'll have to walk up hill both ways. Actually it was quite a nice walk really, and it wasn't an entirely unfruitful trip, the birthday present I'd ordered for Doc C (and the t-shirt I got at the same time) had arrived, so that was something. Doc's present was an apron in suitably drab colours, the man lives in drab, with the slogan "I (pictogram of a loaf of Bread) Bread"! "I Loaf Bread"! Love it!

New Vintage Chair.

Having tidied and re-organised the mezzanine before the Halloween party (although I'm not really sure why now because it's not like anyone went up there), we had a nice bit of open space that was just begging to be used. Three of my bookshelves are there and it's probably the warmest place in the house, so it made sense to make it into a designated reading area; which obviously required seating.

I fell in love with this chair from Urban Outfitters, not least because it looks like it fell off the set for "Mad Men", and was even more enamored when one of the colour choices was inexplicably reduced in price to $199.99. Stylish and cheap? For me! On pay day I went on-line to order it, and was annoyed to find that despite there being free shipping on anything over $50 that my chair had been tagged with a $35 overweight fee - Well, this threw my very carefully calibrated purchasing budget for the month right out of the window, so I decided to spend Saturday searching the local antiques shops for an alternative.

The very first shop I went to, out of all three in town, had a very plain upholstered rocking chair outside that I liked straight away, but I carried on looking just to be thorough and then came back to it. Then I called Doc C to come and look at it (oddly he hadn't fancied trawling the antiques shops for hours, so he went to his office to write job applications), he haggled a bit on the price because it does need to be reupholstered (I don't think we'll have the spare cash to get it professionally reupholstered and re-sprung any time soon, so I'm probably going to DIY a temporary cover to hide that faded green nobbly fabric) and then we went to lunch to think about it. After lunch I paid $135 for it and stuffed it in the back of the Mini, so now we have a reading chair. Yay!

The cats disagree; they think we have a new cat chair and one or the other has been sitting in it pretty much constantly since we brought it home. I think this is an excellent sign that I chose well, because, as we all know, cats are discerning connoisseurs of comfort.

New Vintage Make-Up Case.

At lunch time yesterday I had a couple of things that I had to do in town, so I walked over from my office and on my way I decided to briefly stop at the large antique shop on the high street. Well, it says antiques over the door, but really it's a flea market and that's actually fine with me because I usually want something vintage and cheap, not appraised and expensive.

I was looking for something to store my make-up in, because proper make-up cases are ludicrously expensive and I really couldn't leave all of that stuff sitting on the side in the bathroom anymore. It was taking up all the space, and there was always the risk something would get splashed with water and ruined. I'd tried organising my cosmetics collection into a vintage thermos lunch tin, but I wasn't 100% happy with that. Anyway, at the antiques shop I found a number of oddly expensive lunch boxes, but none with a print that really spoke to me; a large vinyl doll case full of battered barbies that smelled strongly of stale tobacco smoke and then I found the Ugly Kitten Box.

It's another doll case, this one is designed like a small steamer trunk in tiffany blue enameled metal with white plastic edging, and metal corners. Gorgeous! The enamel is nicely beaten up, and the corners have a charming rusty patina to them.

I'm sure you'll be wondering why I call it the Ugly Kitten box, and I think that's a fair question. Let me show you:

!!!

It really could have been such a tasteful box, but then someone slapped a cartoon kitten with a bunch of daisies on the lid! I love it!

Plus all of my make-up fits inside neatly, but with room for my collection to grow and it was only $10. Happy sigh.

Birds and Other Animals.

This is the bird feeder (that's what it was labelled anyway - but I think it makes a better bird bath than a bird feeder, because surely it's just going to fill up with water when it rains?) I bought in Old Salem yesterday, the shell is about the size of a hand and the little metal bird is probably a little bit smaller than life size.  It was only ten bucks! Score!

So far the birds have totally ignored it, but that's hardly surprising as it has nothing in it.

This is right next to our now empty seed holder, which Doc filled up on Thursday and which was then systematically emptied by the cheeky chipmunk that lives under our house. This morning I saw a squirrel hanging on the empty feeder - Sorry Nutkin, too slow! The chipmunk is quick and efficient!

Being animal-loving softies we are secretly rooting for the chipmunk, and so we didn't chase it away or remove the feeder when we saw what it was up to. Of course that doesn't mean we are going to refill that feeder any time soon, the chipmunk has more than enough to last it for quite some time and the birds won't really need our help until it snows.

 

Sadly, there is a down-side to being animal loving softies.  Apparently when you rescue a mouse from certain death at the jaws of your cat and release it from the front door, what the ungrateful wretch then does is run round to the back of the house and climb back in through the tumble dryer duct. I know this because I saw a mouse sitting in the middle of the downstairs bathroom when I got up this morning, and I am pretty damn certain it was the same mouse from last night.

I called Edith, who naturally ignored me completely, but when I got her and carried her into the bathroom she pretty soon figured out what I was trying, in my moronic human way, to tell her. The mouse slipped away under the washing machine, and Edith so has been on high alert ever since. She has been patrolling downstairs and checking all the likely places a mouse might hide, including a very close examination of under the sofa. She is very thorough.
If I were this mouse I would get the hell out of here, but, seeing as it came right back to where it was caught last night and then just sat in the open where even a dopey human could see it, I'm assuming it's Pinky and not The Brain.

White (Chocolate) Bones.

Today's plans to stay in my pajamas and play "Portal 2" all day were modified slightly when it became clear that I needed to get more baking soda and vinegar to unclog the drain in the bath, so I got dressed and we went into town. Now if we were forced to go into town for boring things, then we were also going to look at Halloween stuff. I know it's barely even September, but the Halloween goods are on display already and I need to get the good stuff before it runs out. I've learnt from previous years that leaving the Halloween shopping until the day before results in a disappointing amount of orange plastic junk, and none of the good chocolate.

This year we are having a cocktail party with the theme of Suburban Nightmare, this only requires a very simple costume for me which I already have pretty much got together, and so now I'm focusing on the menu. I definitely want to make cupcakes with something poking out of them, and I think that something is going to be a miniature bone or two. I bought the mold this afternoon, and have successfully made two white chocolate skeletons.

I also got mini-cookie cutters to make hors d'oeuvres of grave stones crackers and cheese slice ghosts; as well as a baking tray which is supposed to make molded bone-shaped cookies, although I'm thinking of using that to make bone-shaped cheese straws.

Doc C is also getting into our theme, and has had some really good ideas for the decorations and ambiance of the house. This is going to be such a fun project to work on with him!

Hankering for Autumn.

  

This is an approximation of the outfit I am particularly looking forward to wearing as soon as the weather cools down enough. I put this together from the options available to me on Polyvore, and when I totted up the total worth this particular version costs $2292.

Gulp.

Fortunately my Mum gave me a pair of gorgeous red leather gloves a couple of years ago so I don't need to spend $345 to get those. Then my new herringbone jacket is from L.L. Bean rather than D&G, so it cost $50 in the sale rather than $635, and my jeans were $10 not $80. The major saving though is in the boots mine are Doc Martens that were under $200, and the boots in the picture here are Rupert Sanderson riding boots which retail for $1145. Good grief! Who wants riding boots that cost over a grand? That is ludicrous!

The real-life ensemble would therefore be under $300 (if we're including make-up and socks etc), which is roughly $2000 cheaper then the fictional version. I suddenly feel very thrifty indeed.

I don't have a red leather flower brooch though, but at $6 I think I could splurge. 

Up-Beat with a Hint of Mint.

You know what really cheers a girl up on a Monday when there is fricking rioting going on just round the corner from her old house? An 80's music internet radio station and the delivery of her internet purchases.  I think it's the combination of heavy synth and a free lipgloss that is really making all the difference.

It's good to be distracted by something, because otherwise I'd be hitting renew every 30 seconds on Facebook to check my friends in London are all ok. I don't like this one little bit.

Face Paint.

I've recently been updating my make-up collection, in particular I'm adding more colours to my eye-shadows and I have bought actual proper brushes with which to apply the cosmetics once I've got them. Today, as you can see, I've gone with a simple pink wash over the lids with an asphalt grey shadow as an eyeliner and black mascara.

My main problem with every day make-up is that I get raccoon eyes from my mascara, yes even water-proof, but the very nice lady at Sephora in Charlotte (Hi Cindy!) gave me a sample of Urban Decay's All Nighter setting spray and that plus a mascara primer seem to have sorted me out.

I ran out of the sample on Monday, so I ordered a full-size bottle but went with De-Slick in the hopes that will also keep my t-zone in check. When I mentioned that I'd just ordered some more stuff from Sephora, Doc C asked what I'd bought. I hesitated for a moment, then said that I didn't want to tell him because most (straight) men don't understand make-up and he wouldn't get why I needed it. He laughed and admitted that was probably true, and that his question had been prompted by thinking that surely I had enough make-up already.

Ha! Poor fool! Enough Make-Up? There is no such thing as enough!

 

Saturday Shopping - Jeans and Soft Furnishings.

After breakfast (see previous post for details) we fed our friends' cats, which is always nice because they are so very pleased to see someone after a night alone - My Converse got a particular thorough loving from Molly Cat, but they are still cats so as soon as we had fulfilled our function and filled their food bowls we were ignored.

Doc C and I then went shopping, and I confirmed my suspicion that I have indeed gone down an entire size of jeans. This naturally called for trying on jeans in Levi's (even though I can't wear Levi's because my hips untuck the pockets somehow), Gap, J. Crew, Banana Republic and Old Navy. I bought very skinny (and very cheap - $10!) black jeans and wide legged blue jeans. Score.

We also needed stuff for the house, we bought a classic bamboo steamer, a huge stock pot and some nice firm cushions for the sofa.

Doc C and I compromised on these - He chose the floral (Ralph Lauren...) and I wanted the two London monuments (No name designer...). I'm usually skeptical about overtly British design elements, but these stark graphicsare so very fun and they look great; even more importantly they are really comfortable too. 

Charlotte - Wheels, Sofas and Make-Up.

Today the little car was booked in to the Mini dealership in Charlotte to get new wheels, so I took the day off to drive down with Doc C. I'm not mad keen on Charlotte, but spending the day with Doc is always fun.

The trip has will include a few other things, such as a return to Ikea to re-try the sofas, because we forgot which one we thought was actually the most comfortable last time. Doc became overwhelmed by the Ikea experience on his first visit and flaked out half-way round, so I really hope he's better prepared mentally this time and has brought pain killers and protein bars.

I will also be testing his endurance by looking at make-up in Sephora, because I need some way of keeping my mascara from giving me panda-eyes.

Water Features.

Why? Why would anybody want to purchase fountains that looked like various creatures continuously spitting? I am at a loss.

If absolutely forced to chose one, for some totally bizarre hypothetical reason, I would probably go with the gnome.

Model Molecular Starburst Clock.

Our new clock arrived! It looks like a cross between a vintage starburst clock and one of those cool molecular models made from huge beads and dowling rods.

Doc C collected out new clock from the post office this morning and brought it to me at work because he knew I would be super-excited. The packaging was a corrugated cardboard box big enough for me to hide in. Doc had to put both seats down in the car to fit it in!

We both thought, based on the packaging, that the clock was an awful lot bigger than we had expected. Had we mis-read the dimensions and ordered Clock-Zilla by mistake?

Well, no. Inside the huge box was another one which had the dimensions of a large pizza box, and the clock was inside that. It's Clock-Zuki, a much less intimidating time piece all together.

I immediately unpacked it and hung it on my office wall, firstly because it is such a great clock I wanted to bask in it's starbursty goodness. Secondly because the pizza-sized box had been in the me-sized box without any sort of packing materials, and you just know that it must have been tossed around a fair amount on it's way; so frankly I wanted to be sure the clock worked before we took it home and had to move furniture to hang it up.

Long story short, the clock works perfectly and we put it up above the TV as soon as we got home.

It looks great!

 

(We ordered the clock from Modcloth.com by the way, and they have more in stock. Not to mention all the other things I want to buy from them.)

A Clock to Watch.

I slept through my alarm this morning, which made me a bit late for work; it was somewhat ironic then that we bought a clock for the living room today. I really need to be able to see a clock through out my morning routine or I am apt to, as Doc so succinctly puts it, faff around and waste time.

Hopefully it'll be here next week, and I will be on time for everything from then on. Right.

Derby Day.

I was so tired last night, and that translated to me sleeping for something like 14 hours. Ridiculous.

This afternoon we went to watch our local Roller Derby team play their inaugural bout against a team from another city. Our girls were creamed, but it was very entertaining to watch. I may have even wooped once or twice.
Hopefully Doc C and I will be able to go to the next match which is in Charlotte, but Doc has a conference that day so it all depends on the timing.

After the match we went for burritos and then rented some video games from Blockbuster. Doc got "L.A. Noire" and I got "Portal 2", I can never resist rummaging through the ex-rental DVDs so we now own "The Brothers Bloom" and "In The Loop" for 99 cents each. I also got some cardboard speakers for 69 cents that Doc is highly skeptical of, but might do for when I'm workin in the store room at the office and I need some tunes.

All in all, a very successful Saturday.

Eye Shadow Tester

I had another delivery of make-up from Sephora today, I'm experimenting with my day-to-day look. Today was sort of thirties-slash-sixties so it was all about the red lip with my new bob; tomorrow I'm thinking a really bright eyeshadow with a clear lipgloss.

After work I get changed out of my office clothes and take off my make-up before doing some sort of exercise (at least that's what I'm supposed to do, it doesn't always happen. Mostly, but not 100% always.) This evening I kicked gladiator arse for twenty minutes, then I zumba'd for 25 and then I flopped sweatily onto the old yoga mat I keep for just such a purpose. Doc always retreats to the study when I'm exercising, so when it was all quiet he came back out. He came over to congratulate me on my 3 gold stars for beating Giselle, and then he asked "Did you put fresh eye make-up on before you worked out?"

Well yes, actually, I did.

One of the things I ordered was an eye make-up primer, which I was somewhat sceptical about, so I decided to put it through it's paces. I put the primer on my right eye lid, but not on my left, and then I applied stripes of the lime and black eyeshadow on both eyes.
Once I'd finished jumping around like a hyperactive flea, I compared the two eyes and the left eye had practically no lime green left where as the right was still glowing. Clearly the primer works! Hurrah!

Terribly Comfortable.

Today was super exciting because I had been waiting all weekend for the post office to open and release the delivery of make-up that I'd ordered from Sephora. Doc C went to get the post mid-morning and brought it to my office, where I tore open the box in a frenzy and many exclamations of glee.  It is no exaggeration to say I immediately ran to the ladies' loos to put on my new red lipstick.

This might not have been the best of moves, after all I have worn neutral or rosy pink lip-stick for several years now, so it has been quite sometime since I put on a really red lippy. Plus I'd ordered this particular lipstick on-line, without seeing the colour in the real world before hand. Plus it is actually more of a lip stain, that promises to stay put for a long time, and I was going to be at work for another 6 hours, and I don't care how understanding your boss is, having a lipstick emergency is never going to be a good enough reason to leave work early.  Even if you do look like an unfortunate clown lady. These things can happen.

So, all things considered, it was very fortunate that this particular lipstick turned out to be exactly the shade of red that I wanted. I took a photo and posted it as my Facebook profile picture, where it garnered several encouraging and complimentary comments from kind friends and family.

What was really funny was that no-body mentioned the tiara that I was also wearing, because, OF COURSE, I'm wearing a tiara around the office on a Tuesday morning. What is more normal than that?

(Oh, they also didn't mention the black bar because that wasn't there. My super secret blogging identity must be maintained, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill.

An added bonus to the black bar is being able to quote "The Princess Bride" in my post title:

Fezzik: Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?

Man in Black: Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.)

Mini. Tea. Sofa. Cabinet. Focus.

Today we drove to Charlotte because the car needed a check-up at the Mini dealership; so we took the opportunity to test drive a Mini Countryman whilst we were there. Doc C insists on having four wheel drive before next winter.

We then went to World Market to buy tea bags and Hobnobs, before the most exciting part of the day. A trip to Ikea.

Mostly this was so we could test drive sofas, but you know what Ikea is like. Once you are in the labyrinth you must maintain a steely eyed focus, or find yourself packing the car with tea lights and curtains for windows you don't even have. I'm not kidding, I've bought totally unnecessary curtains at Ikea before. The sofa will have to wait until next month, but it was definitely useful to try all the seating options out. An arm chair we had both thought would be great in the living room turned out to be just not what we wanted at all.

This was Doc C's first visit to Ikea, and he got a headache just as we'd started on the second floor. Fortunately I knew what had to be done, so I sent him back to the car and I carried out a solo mission. It was a succesful foray, and I'm very excited to report that we now have a new television stand! It is SO much better than the unbelievably hideous tables that we had been using (they were given to us, and they were better than nothing. Apparently.)

We got home, made a cup of tea and put together the TV cabinet. All in all a most satisfactory day, and worth the headaches we both got.

Table and Chairs.

This is our new dining table! Is it not magnificent?

Doc called me at mid-day and he'd been able to borrow a truck, but we had to go right then. So we did, and there was a parking space right outside the shop, which was remarkable, and very fortunate indeed. It turns out that chrome and laminate dining tables are quite heavy, as are chrome and vinyl chairs, particularly when carried in stacks of two.

 

 

We got the table set up at home and then had to race back to work, so I am really looking forward to playing house when I get home. I may have a tea party with the cats, just so I have an excuse to set a couple of places.

Now I know you'll be looking at the photos and thinking to yourself - "That is an epic dining set for $250, but does it really go with the $50 tartan sofa? Or what about that mustard coloured armchair and ottoman?" I cannot lie, it all clashes horribly.

Fortunately, after three progressively uncomfortable years, we already had plans to change the sofa this summer, so now we can try and find one to co-ordinate with the table. I also loathe the tables that the TV are on, they are beyond hideous and I want them gone, so they are also on the hit list to be replaced with red lockers from Ikea. Whilst we're in Ikea I think we'll try out some armchairs for the living room, and move the current armchair and ottoman to the study or the mezzanine.

In other words, this summer we are not planning to travel anywhere or eat anything other than beans on toast because we are resigned to spending all our money on getting furniture that is actually comfortable and looks co-ordinated.

A Really Great Sunday.

Today has been very exciting, which considering I spent most of yesterday either asleep or washing my clothes, would have been exciting had we only gone out for lunch (Oh, and we also went to see "Thor" in 3D, which looked great, was very well cast and yet was somehow clearly not that memorable. Huh.) However first we went to look at the Radio Flyer I had noticed was sitting outside one of the local antique shops. It was in pretty good condition but it was still a bit rusty; so we thought we may as well explore and started getting excited about the dining tabls they had. I particularly liked the vintage enamel tables, but none really spoke to us.

Then we went to walk dogs at the Humane Society, and, as is becoming somewhat of a habit, I fell deeply in love with the most adorable little puggle (Pug and Beagle mix) called Roxie. She is just so sweet, she loves humans and her ears are the softest things in the whole world. sigh. Doc managed to drag me away somehow, and we went to get lunch. I had heuvos rancheros with a pint of guinness, and it was delicious.

Since we were already in town we went to check the other antique shops, especially a particularly great swivel chair I had seen in a shop window. Which was still there, still great and now I knew it was way out of my price range. We moved on to the next antique shop, and went straight to the basement where they display all the furniture. Doc was examining something or other when I turned a corner and saw the most ridiculously fifties dining set I had ever seen. It was magnificent and had a bakelite tabletop in marbled white with red detailing, plus it came with two leaves and a matching set of six vinyl upholstered chairs in the same colour scheme.  It was just fabulous, and cost $250 for the whole set. After some examination of the table and chairs, we decided it was too much of a bargain and we HAD to buy it. There was no chance of us getting a dining room set in the Mini, so we'll have to borrow a van sometime this week to get it home.

And this means we will be able to have people over for dinner! And board games! And tea parties! And poker! And we can eat breakfast at a table! SO exciting!

Of course now none of our furniture even remotely matches, so I think we still need to go to Ikea and find a sofa that will look good next to a vintage dining set. I'm thinking something in white leather with red cushions and a grey cat or two.

Organisational Shopping and Cat-Walking.

Tomorrow Doc's Mum will be popping in for a visit, so we're scrambling to get the house looking nice. I have been organising the kitchen cupboards, and I also took all of our CDs and DVDs out of their individual cases and consolidated them into albums. Doc's CD collection had started to take over my albums, so he needed a new one of his very own; which meant a trip to Staples which is always fun isn't it? I also bought a file box so I can sort out all those important bits of pape that are currently mixed in with old Lush catalogues and cool knitting patterns I found on-line.

Then we spent an hour walking the cuts on their leads, and I am happy to report that there was a lot of rolling around and eating of grass on the part of Nancy and Edith. Doc and I mostly just stood around, because you don't really walk cats so much as cramp their style. Edith got into a staring match with a goose, and clearly thought that it was really rude of me to interrupt, but as the geese have just hatched goslings it seemed a little foolhardy on her part.

Fractal Chicks

I love packaging. If something comes in a particularly nice box, well I may covet the box more than the content and I'm sure that my love of some brands is purely down to being swept away by their design aesthetic.

This may explain why I spent quite some time on Sunday choosing just the right cardboard cartons to package the cupcakes I intend to take to my hairdresser. I went with classic Chinese takeaway boxes with the little wire handle, except these are tastefully glossy pastel shades of pink, blue and green. I also found some Easter themed cartons, which were for the most part completely hideous, but I did buy one that had rows and rows of yellow chicks, with an occasional hot pink chick facing in the other direction. So cute! So impossible to get a good photo of!

I really tried to get something a little more representational out of the shots I took, and of course I really really wanted one of the hot pink chicks to be prominently featured, but it was not to be. Even with all of those caveats I'm still pleased with how this image turned out, I imagine this is, like, the cutest bad acid trip ever!

Beside the Bed.

I tied the white wooden letters that Mum gave me to my bedside lamp, by way of an experiment and I was pleased with the effect; so I've also embellished Doc C's lampshade (as you can see neither our bedside tables nor lamps match precisely, but I quite like that even if it wasn't exactly a design choice).

His decoration is a badge that I bought for him in Philadelphia.

It says "Handsome" just above a cartoon devil.

I pinned it onto Doc C's bag when he wasn't looking, but it was taken off pretty much the second he noticed it, because he thinks it is inaccurate. I've attached it to the lampshade whilst he's out this evening, so I don't know if it will be suffered to stay there or if this will be a fun new game where I pin it to something and see how long it is before Doc takes it off.

By the way, I attached it to the lampshade by making two pairs of holes, one at the top and one at the bottom, with a light weight paper awl (I had to buy that, how often have you found yourself thinking "Damn it! this awl is far too heavy duty for paper!"?) and then I strung a length of heavy cotton thread through in a loop. The badge just is then pinned around the cords, and can be slid up or down quite easily. I also tried it out with larger badges and that worked too, so I could imagine it would be possible to have a whole column of badges if you so desired.

Philadelphia 2011!

Philadelphia! It took thirteen hours to get here, with one traffic jam, a detour through Washington's rush hour traffic and a flaming eighteen wheeler at a nice safe distance on the other side of the highway (one of the wheels exploded when we went past - which was pretty exciting!)What is with the heavy rain every time I come to visit you? It does not make a girl feel very welcome you know.

However I do appreciate that you are clearly the place for conferences, as my friend Danny was also here and I haven't seen him in years so it was lovely to have lunch and catch up with him.

After lunch, I went to Blick to buy art supplies; Lush to buy moisturiser etc; and then Grocery for a vegan wrap and a cupcake.

Now I'm back at the hotel, hoping to dry off before going for curry with my husband and other philosophers.

Ah Philadelphia! Love you!

Boules, Bocce, Petanque.

Doc C asked me to bring back some biscuits from England, but he really couldn't think of anything else he wanted. Fortunately Ridley's have a range of retro-packaged classic games, including this rather nice Boules set.

This is a particularly great present because it works on so many levels, first of all it's the real life version of a game Doc C enjoys on the PS3, secondly the box is lovely and well worth displaying and, finally, it just happens to be the perfect size to use as a bookend on the cookbook shelf.

So far we've only played a couple of games in the living room, much to the confusion of the cats, but I am really looking forward to playing on the lawn when the weather gets nicer.

Over-Sized Colour Co-Ordinated Tea Cups.

I have a huge cup of green tea with my breakfast every morning, and when I saw that Whitards had the same style of tea cup on sale I asked Mum to buy me a couple more. That was about six months ago, and they travelled back with me in my hand luggage yesterday.

I love how well the new cups co-ordinate with the colours of the original cup's stars. The added bonus is the new Union Jack tea-cosy being in a satisfyingly similarly colour-way.

Gorgeous.

Food Parcel.

I'd packed my bags, and was really quite pleased with myself for keeping them within the weight limit - until I realised I hadn't stocked up on supplies. So when Mum went to Tesco I went too, and filled up a basket with things I needed to take back to North Carolina.

There is at least another stone of awkwardly shaped stuff to wedge into my cases and hand luggage. I am intrigued, and not a little intimidated, by the black label Marmite, it's matured to be even stronger.

Catday.

I am delighted to be able to report that Ruby is fine. The first thing the vet did was check her teeth, and she has gingivitis; so she's probably been avoiding eating because her gums are sore and that has run her down. Poor cat! I thought her breath was terrible, but I didn't realise that was the main thing that was wrong with her. I held Ruby whilst the vet took her temperature, so she wouldn't associate Mum with that indignity. The vet gave her two injections (which she hated), and prescribed some pills for her to be given. I'm already playing the bad guy, what with the trimming of claws yesterday and the holding down at the vets today, so I shall probably give her the pills as well. May was well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, I s'pose.

We dropped Ruby off back at home, and went into Norwich so I could take a skirt back to M&S that I bought in the haze of the fifty percent sale. This time I tried on a white skirt with blue and indigo bird silouhettes on it, and two pairs of lovely shoes embellished with gorgeously shiny beads; they were very tempting but I decided that they weren't really the best use of my limited suitcase space - so I resisted. sigh. Being a grown up is very tedious.

Marks and Spencer's food hall is the stuff of dreams, my actual dreams when I'm back in NC and just a pleasantly euphoric bubble of browsing now I can really truly visit one. For starters they have supplied the Battenberg Cake I've been craving, and that will be sliced up tomorrow to star in a very special photo shoot with a cup of tea. As if that were not enough they have all of the Easter and Mother's Day chocolate and cakes out now, and they are adorable. For example it is simply ridiculous how cute this white chocolate Hello Kitty is -

Her dress is made from SPRINKLES. Look at that! I'm smitten.

After getting sandwiches from M&S (Prawn for me), we went to John Lewis and I spent a good deal of time stroking all of the yarn. It is a magnificent selection of colours and textures at very very reasonable prices. I was most tempted by a gorgeous merino wool in what can only be described as a Bagpuss colourway, maybe that would be fun to make into a fake fox stole? Or would that be weird? Hmmm...

 

A Toaster's Wake Up Call.

This alarm clock is £14 in the Habitat sale, and it is quite clearly a Cylon alarm clock.

I have thus far restrained myself from buying it, because I don't really need it myself, but should Doc C want it he need only say.

Shopping.

I bought two really great sixties style dresses from Next today, I got them in navy blue - So when we have that "Mad Men" party just be sure to get the red or the camel; that way we'll co-ordinate but not match. Perfect! It'll be like that restaurant scene in "Down With Love" (2003) when Barbara and Vikki swan in looking fabulous together.

I also bought pewter ballet pumps, a red patent shoulder bag and a navy duffle coat. My wardrobe for 2011 is shaping up to be navy blue with beige and red.

The Past in Boxes.

This afternoon Mum suggested that I look over the stuff that was put in storage in the attic when Doc C and I left for America. It's all those things I haven't seen for three years, some of which I've missed desperately (all of my earrings!), some of which I frankly had forgotten I owned but have fallen in love with again (a pair of trays decorated with girly playing cards!), then some stuff that could immediately be put in the charity shop pile (I love Calvin and Hobbes, but they are big books to pack and imminently replaceable) and still more stuff that I was bemused by (I found three odd socks carefully packed in a lovely gold box. What was I thinking there?)

It was definitely a good thing that I looked over what I already owned before I went shopping in earnest, because I already have more belongings than I can carry onto the plane, so adding to it seems like a fool's errand. Being an ex-bookseller it is hardly surprising that my biggest problem is my beloved collection of books, some of which I've read and re-read a hundred times since I was a kid, and I've done well to reduce it down to just one medium size box - but in all honesty I can't actually close the lid on that already, and there are more books that I still want to bring. Mum's point about the usefulness of a Kindle is well timed, because I can see the benefit of having everything reduced down to a compact tablet. That still wouldn't be entirely sufficient, because a lot of my books are second-hand copies with great covers, or books that have fallen out of publication, or they've been signed by the author and how can you get that type of thing on a Kindle?

Anyway I have some time to further curate the collection before I go back to North Carolina, so in the mean time I've arranged it around the bedroom; so I can look at it at my leisure and make some difficult decisions. I suspect the framed photo of the 38 bus might just have the edge over the framed photo of seagulls on the Palace Pier, but we shall see.

Two Hours in Norwich.

Mum had a meeting this morning so she took me into Norwich with her, and turned me loose for two hours. It's always disconcerting to realise how much a city has changed, but I could still find my way around without too much difficulty.

One of my first stops was Waterstones, where they had a Dalek plonked next to the escalator apparently browsing the Classics section. He was suitably grumpy, and threatened to exterminate me, which was thrilling. There was a sign taped to the front saying to please be gentle with him because he was very old, but I don't know why he was there or if he was an original cast member or anything really. Still, a DALEK!

Then I went to the bank to see if I could remember what the PIN for my cashcard might be. Now sometimes when one is writing a blog one has to consider the likely audience, and I know this week that Doc C will be reading this, so I'm almost reluctant to blog about this... But I thought it was funny, so bugger it!

I put my card into the ATM, and typed in the PIN that I thought was most likely. The machine happily brought up the screen asking how much money I wanted, I decided on £50, whereupon it told me by card had expired and spat the thing out. Oh. Hmmm. Good thing Doc C gave me his cashcard and PIN before I left, eh? That worked beautifully, so I do have access to British currency whilst I'm here. Hoorah! Iknow that Doc will now fret about what i would have done had he not lent me his card, but I'd have been fine. If necessary I was thinking I could have transfered the money into Mum's account and she could get it out for me. No problem, just a touch more complicated.

Johnny Lu-Lu.

I woke up at 4 this morning, and very strictly told myself to go back to sleep again. So I did, until about 10. Then I got up and had breakfast with my Mum, which included rhubarb yogurt! Oh, rhubarb yogurt how I have missed you!

Then I did some Pilates, before we went into town to have a look around John Lewis.

John. Lewis.

It was fabulous, and everything was so very very lovely. Happy sigh. I didn't buy anything today, because if I had done I would have come home with half a ton of Cath Kidston merchandise, a Union Jack tea cosy and a gorgeous brightly coloured throw. As Mum said it was a fact finding mission, and I shall let all the nice stuff I looked at today percolate for a few days before deciding if I really need any of them. The Union Jack tea cosy is pretty much a given, obviously.

Travel Accessories.

Flying for 8 hours by myself is not my idea of a good time. The problem is that I usually can't sleep on airplanes, and almost inevitably watch all of the in-flight films and cartoons. My plan is to do loads of exercise before we leave for the airport and maybe I'll take a sleeping pill as well.

The engine noise is what usually keeps me awake so I bought a pair of Sennheiser headphones (for under $25 - Score!) to use whilst I'm travelling, and a nifty little converter so that I can plug it into the plane's dual prong sockets. I also have a travel pillow which I bought on our long drive to Boston.

If I can't sleep then I will at least be comfortable and entertained.

 

Geek Love.

I may have mentioned before I love reading, and I'm keeping track of all my books past, present and future, on Goodreads (oh hey, friend me on Goodreads!)

As a child I would read everywhere; whilst eating; when watching TV; as I was walking; Whilst getting dressed; in the car; up trees and even in the shower (it helps to have long arms for that one), but even for a seasoned compulsive reader it is really quite difficult to hold a paperback book and knit at the same time.  And, believe me, I have tried.

So I looked into book holders, and noted down several different designs as being of interest. I eventually decided on the Paperbax, not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive, and with a very utilitarian approach to the problem. There is a rigid shelf from the center of which two spring-loaded arms are attached and these hold the pages back for you. Both the arms and the shelf have a rubberised back to them, so there isn't any slipping. Should you want the book to be free-standing, as in the photo, there are fold out wingy things on the back.

It's very simple but it works really well, and so far even the 737 pages of Sherlock Holmes didn't present it a problem.

I love this thing. Love it.

And I thought I was Looking Quite Slim.

Oh! I forgot to mention another reason for realising I really do need to work on toning or, at the very least, my posture!

When we were in Asheville I wanted to buy needle felting equipment, so I picked up a pack of needles, a pack of wool roving and a block of foam. To double check that was everything I asked the very nice woman in the craft shop if that was everything I needed.

She said yes, and then asked when my baby was due.

I had one of those moments of confusion where I thought maybe I'd picked up a felting kit for baby clothes or perhaps she'd found my blog somehow and therefore knew I'd literally just come off birth control. So I said "Not for a while...", at exactly that moment I realised that what she meant was I had a bit of a tummy, so I added "Well, you know, I'd have to get pregnant first!"

The poor lady was mortified, and I could not stop laughing.

Stick It.

I forgot to show you our new fridge magnets, which are unusually trenchant.

Aren't they great?  I snapped up these Subversive Cross Stitch fridge magnets the moment I saw them in Boston, how could I not?  A fridge magnet that says "Irony is Not Dead" with pink bunnies and yellow duckies?  In framed cross stitch?  Please!

Four of them our on our fridge right now, but I gave the "Kiss My Grits" magnet on the left to my friend Amy at work, because I knew it would make her laugh.  It's on the filing cabinet in her office now.

Neck Ache and New Games.

My neck is cricked, so I woke up feeling achey and horrible today.  Fortunately I'd already put together breakfast before I want to bed last night, so it just needed to go in the oven for half an hour before Doc and I could enjoy baked french toast.  It was delicious, even though we didn't have any pecans, and I will definitely be making that again.

After that I took some pain killers and went to have a long nap in the loft, which Edith joined me for.  That definitely helped but meant that Doc was super bored by the time I woke up.  I'd suggested a while ago that we take our large stack of PS2 games to Gamestop to trade in and exchange for some PS3 games, so that's what we did.  Different games are worth different amounts when you trade them in, based on how likely they are to be re-sold; this meant we got just over a dollar for the PS2 EyeToy and the four games that went with it, whilst Doc's copy of Dark Alliance fetched $19.  We exchanged them for Zumba and Red Dead Redemption (which Doc C is playing right now!), as well as a second Move Controller.  Having two controllers means we'll be able to play table tennis against each other, or I'll be able to have a shield in one hand and a sword in the other when I'm in the gladiator arena.  Hurrah!

Skull Cupcake Tray.

After breakfast this morning I washed up the skull-shaped cupcake baking sheet that I bought in Boston, so I could try it out.  I was hoping they would work out well enough to take to Randy and Laura's when we went over to play "Arkham Asylum".

The snow got worse and worse, so first of all our game day had to be postponed until next weekend, and then we started to think we were going to be snowed in for a while.  I thought I'd make the cupcakes anyway, but then Doc C told me we didn't have any eggs, so I couldn't.

Now this was a worry, because we then realised we didn't have a whole bunch of other stuff we might need if we did get stuck in the house; like toothpaste and cat litter.  Yikes.  Fortunately there was a break in the blizzard for about a couple of hours, and we were able to go shopping.  

Tomorrow there will be skull shaped cakes.

A New Toy.

Damn it! As a "back-to-school" present to me (and let's be honest, to himself as well), Doc snuck out this morning and bought the PS3 Move bundle.  It's got a camera, a controller and the Sports Champions game.

We've been playing Bocce fairly competitively for about two hours now, and it turns out I'm just as wildly inaccurate when hurling a virtual frisbee as I am when it's the real thing.  Also the gladiator game is good, really good, but both of us would love it even more if there was a light saber and some Force involved.

I will, of course, be buying the work out game that goes with the system with my next pay check.  Unlike Kinetic, it's not affiliated to Nike; instead of a totally fictional trainer this time I shall be bossed around by an avatar of Mel B.  It's going to be like I'm on "Dance Your Ass Off", but with more leaping around in my own living room and a lot fewer sequins.

 

 

And Rings On Her Toes.

Doc C's conference is in a pair of hotels which seems to bookend a rabbit-warren of a mall, which has some swanky shops in it including a Tiffany's.

The last time I saw a Tiffany's window display they were promoting their diamond key pendants, which was beautiful timing on their part because I'd just got my key tattoo.  This time they had a window displaying a fairytale village made out of tiffany blue books.  You have got to hand it to them, they know how to tempt a girl.

Yes that is a diamond snowflake hanging from the trail of stars, and there's also a ring in the beak of the bluebird; but for me it was the book village that was particularly enchanting.  Can I live there please?

This is a nice atmospheric shot with no flash, but I wanted to get the detail of all of the text on the stars and house gables, so I got a more harshly lit photo as well.

Isn't that lovely?  I'm not sure what the story is that the pages are taken from, but there was some text on the window with a story about a handsome prince who is turned into a bluebird whilst his lady love is imprisoned in a tower.  Does anyone know that story?  It's sounds like a mash-up of Rapunzel, the Happy Prince and that one about the swans.

Of course I stayed outside Tiffany's and just admired the window, but I still purchased some sparkle today.

Lovely shiny rings!  These were total bargains as they were reduced from $20 each, to a dollar each in the Papyrus sale.  Fabulous.  It's a pity these were the last two in stock, or you know I'd be wearing one on every available digit.

Decorative Pre-Planning.

This is the best time to buy Christmas decorations because they are usually all discounted by a ridiculous amount to get them off the shelves.  I love it!  Shiny things on sale?  For ME!

Of course the only problem then is that you have to wait a whole year before you actually get to use your new treasures. I'll have to make sure I put these fabulously cheesy baubles with the rest of the decorations when I get home, so I don't squirrel them away "somewhere safe" and then forget I bought them for the bargain price of $7.

Are they not deliciously awful?  I feel a childish delight in their glitter encrusted charms I have to say.  These are part of a anniversary release apparently, and are based on vintage designs from when the company first started.

I also bought a box of Halloween decorations by the same company for $6, so I only have to wait ten months to hang these treasures up.

I think my favourite of these is the happy ghost with a pearl sheen, but the cat has really good fangs and the details on all of them are quite charming.  I'm obviously going to have to hang the crossed bones beneath the skull, and I think they will all look great on my mini black tree.  I cannot wait for Halloween!  As ever!

Boxing Day in Boston.

I've always liked Boxing Day, because it's the day when you get to play with all your presents and eat any food that's been left over.  Of course that's a traditional Boxing Day in your own home, so it's slightly different when you are staying in a B&B in Boston; what you do then is get a tattoo and shop for cameras.  It's not a tradition as such, but I really think we ought to consider this as a staple of the holiday period.

I made an appointment with the same tattoo artist that did my key about a week before we came, and I'd already e-mailed him some images to give him an idea of the design I wanted.  It's an open book on my left wrist, and I am particularly tickled to think it was paid for by the Christmas money given to me by my colleagues in the English Department.  That is just dead appropriate, don't you think?

I also had enough money to get a new digital camera, so there has been much on-line researching which finally led me to go to Best Buy and purchase a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5.  Naturally I couldn't remember any specific detail of the information I'd read once I was actually inside the shop (and Best Buy employees are notably lack lustre in the day after Christmas), but I did know what I wanted the camera to do and the sort of price range I was looking for.  In the end I got the shop floor model, so it was on sale and then further discounted which meant I could also afford to buy a 4GB memory card for it.  Nice.  There will be no photo left untaken!

Now it's snowing, with the forecast being for it to be a blizzard; in fact the amount of snow we are expecting is being discussed in feet rather than inches.  Sounds like the perfect time for me to hole up in our room and work my way through the operating manual for my new camera, whilst periodically washing and moisturising the fresh ink on my wrist.

Doc C's Approach to Gift-Wrapping.

The cookie baking marathon is complete!  Yay!  

Today we bought a dozen jam jars with a really cool quilted pattern molded into them, specifically so we can package the cookies and give them to Doc C's family when we see them over Christmas.  When we bought the jars we also bought ribbon, because as Doc C said "Tie ribbon in a bow round the jar, and it's fuckin' Christmassy right?"

That's my Sweetie!

A Blow to the Christmas Spirit.

Today Doc C and I were on somewhat of a mission, we made a list of everything we needed to buy, loaded all the recycling and rubbish into the car and then we went to town.  The list was mainly things that we might need whilst snowed in, which there is not a sign of so far I have to say, and included such necessities as whiskey, apples and draught excluding stuff.

We completed our mission within the alloted time frame and then came home to put up the lights on the veranda before the hotly anticipated arrival of snow.  

Whilst helping Doc to wire the lights through the kitchen window, I managed to hit myself in the head.  If this were a sit-com it would have been something seasonally appropriate, but in real life it was actually a very large wok which I knocked off it's hook and onto my head.  Doc came running in, and made me sit down then he checked me for any signs of concussion, but I think I'm ok.  Bit of a headache, but that's about it.  Edith kissed it better, well, really she just likes the taste of my hair product I think so it was more an affectionate grooming.

We were planning to go to a friend's party this evening, but the wok to the head took the party mood right out of me, so we stayed at home instead.  I put up some of the draught excluders, but I've left the rest to do in the morning.  Oddly putting up insulation is far less fun then putting up decorations, weird that eh?

Christmas is Here, Bringing Good Cheer.

I warned Doc C that I was really grumpy this afternoon, and then demanded we go shopping for Christmas decorations.

On my list were -

    Fake Candles

    A Small Wreath

    A Large Glass Bowl

We were wildly successful in this endeavor.

First I snagged the last one six pack of battery powered fake candles; these have a self timing mechanism, so once you've switched them on they stay on for 8 hours and then turn themselves off for 16 hours.

All of the wreaths I'd seen previously were just too large, and today looked to be turning out the same way until I spotted what was actually supposed to be used to make a pillar candle a bit more festive.  It's a mini wreath of fake greenery, berries and pine cones, and it fits on our front door perfectly behind the glass screen door.

The large glass bowl was Doc C's find, it's the footed trifle bowl on the left.  As you can see I've filled it with Christmas baubles in a range of beautifully shiny colours.

We also bought part of a Christmas present (I'm making the rest of it), an adorable fake tree (I'll post pictures!), a travel mug that can be put in the dishwasher AND the micro-wave (It's the grail of travel mugs), and batteries for the candles.  I was particularly pleased to note that the brand name of the batteries is "DieHard".  How very festive, in a Bruce Willis-ian way.

Snowy Saturday.

It started snowing yesterday, which was fine with me because I had my Coraline coat to bundle up in and besides it was only a light dusting so nothing really built up.  This morning there was some more light snow, which was really pretty; so we picked up some toasted cuban sandwiches and cafe con leche (there is a cuban cafe across the road from our house) and went for a walk around a lake.

On the way back we stopped to buy yarn because I am going to learn how to knit socks and I've got an idea for a crocheted teddy-bear sized amigurumi.

Apart from that I've been curled up in the warmest part of the house, the mezzanine conveniently enough, and reading Chine Mieville's debut novel "King Rat".

It has been a very nice Saturday.