Yesterday was a fun day, filled with lots of exciting things.
First, we took Mark’s NEW CAR for a long drive to Eastern Iowa.
[brand new mazda 3 hatch in graphite]
He got a new car last week after his poor Rav4 blew a tire. It was on it’s last leg and he was pretty much ready to get a new car, so he went for it. And he is REALLY happy about it.
[it's a manual, of course]
Its got bluetooth, which is really cool because not only can he have handsfree phone convos, but we can hook up my iPod without physically plugging it into anything. This makes ME happy because my iPod Touch is having issues with the headphone jack, and the less i plug things into it, the better off it seems.
Our first stop was in Cedar Rapids to get my hair colored. I’m growing it back out (for now) and it’s starting to look entirely too much like my mom’s hair at this length with my natural color … so time for an unnatural color.
It’s supposed to be the dark brown color that I had a couple years back, but we added a bit of red to it … and my hair sucked up ALL the red. So it’s a dark red/brown. I LOVE being a redhead, so I’m cool with it.
Next, we stopped at my Grandpa’s house in Anamosa. He sent us on our merry way with a BUNCH of tomatoes. I wish I took a photo of his bounty of tomatoes. It covered an entire dining room table. He said he was giving all his visitors a bag of tomatoes because he’s not going to eat them all.
Not sure what we’re going to do with the tomatoes … salsa? marinara? Either way, they are getting eaten!
We headed further north and went to the Shot Tower Inn in Dubuque and met my friend Seth (aka @nerdboner) for some late lunch/early dinner. Got some amazing taco and BLT pizza (super naughty! But way delicious). He had just gotten back from Wizard World in Chicago and apparently had picked me up some pretty sweet swag. He totally underestimated my idea of “sweet swag”.
[all the doctors and the tardis — print by kurt wood]
[limited edition #1 of 25 print of Buffy by kurt wood]
… and the icing on the cake? The heavy metal pixie <======== that’s me.
[check it out on kurt's blog with all the other superhero sketchies]
AND he got me the hardcover collection of the Metalocalypse comic … which will be my nightly read this week.
After a few hours of pure nerd bonding between Seth and Mark (Seth now swears they were separated at birth), we headed back to my hometown of Monticello to pick up Mr. Barnabus Stinson, II and bring him to his new (and hopefully final for a while) home.
And Mr. Barney acclimated quickly and is now enjoying spending every minute with his best friend Mark.
We were pretty exhausted after a long day of driving and our adventures in Eastern Iowa. All in all, a pretty good day!
(chicken strips with honey mustard and sweet corn)
(kung pao chicken)
(stovetop creamy mac and cheese made with REAL cheese)
(chicken, broccoli and mushroom alfredo with pappardelle’s tomato cracked pepper pasta)
(tomato, basil and chevré pizza)
so hopefully I will have some time to share these experiences with you! And of course all the recipes. I will also try to start sharing points plus numbers with you at the suggestion of Kelly.
Happy birthday, USA! I’m using my national holiday today to enjoy some cancer-inducing sunshine while blogging.
I also decided to do something funky with my nails. I had a gift card for Target from work from our “appreciation day” a couple weeks back. So I spent about a half hour in the fingernail polish section picking out something fun that I could use on my nails. I ended up getting a black nail art pen from Sally Hansen. LOVE. Why? It’s like drawing on ceramics but on my fingers!
I used OPI fireflies as a base coat and went to town. But quickly remembered I’m right-handed … So photos are all of my left hand.
Oh and Mr. Barnabus Stinson was visiting this weekend. My parents wanted to do a weekend vacay, so we took him for a couple of days. Less than 30 days until we move somewhere pet friendly so we can have him FULLtime.
My mom posted a bunch of pictures of my niece on Facebook today, and as usual, they were frighteningly cute. I had to share this one with you — it’s Emee reading to my dog, Barney. He intently listened apparently for quite a while.
I don’t think I’m going to get my dog back. Mom said that Emee said, “Calee just visit. Barney stay here.”
Barney went home with my parents a couple weeks ago when I moved into Mark’s non-dog-friendly place.
I miss the little bastard and his cute fluffy fur coat, which was especially fluffy after a bath.
Did I mention he doesn’t like the blow dryer? His coat got so long that I started to have to blow dry his hair. He hides out in his kennel to avoid it.
This week’s Humpday Blog Love goes to Domestica, a lovely shop in Des Moines that holds such fabulous art, design and accessories.
Domestica is always on the cutting edge of fun and funky handmade items. They carry June Craft, from Cedar Rapids, who just a bit ago was unknown, but has exploded all over the internet with their goods — such as the long dog (below).
After a recent visit to Domestica, I’ve become smitten with Felix and Jayne. Their pieces are so unique and fit my style perfectly. I’m in love.
So if you have a hankering for good taste, go check out Domestica and tell them that chimes sent you.
… here’s my local Christmas wishlist (click on the images to go to the etsy listing):
