Dainty Kitty

Danger Cake

Ravelry is good for more than just yarny goodness.  I was just perusing the forums and found this thread with this recipe:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons cake flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tsp oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional)
a small splash of vanilla essence
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake  will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

Swap Softly - Frankie

I was a day late in sending out my Swap Softly package but I think she was worth the tardiness.  Frankie is the epitome of Thinking Green (the theme for this year) - not only is she the color green but, seeing as how she's Frankenstein's monster's daughter, she's also made of recycled parts. 

This was really a pretty hard project for me.  I procrastinated much more than I should, thinking that grand ideas are always executed right the first time and without a single broken sewing machine needle (I managed to break three).  Not the case!  There were many failed prototypes, stitches ripped, horrid finished dolls flung across the dining room and crochet creatures ripped or left incomplete.   

I guess that makes me that mad scientist.  Rather apropos. 

The fact that this is one day late is just an example of how I feel.  Late.  Running behind.  Lots of blogs to catch up on, emails to send, housework to do, about four loads of laundry and a nearly empty underthings drawer.  Luckily, I can throw on a headscarf and my iPod and play catch up.  I'm adding the headscarf to my cleaning repertoire because Squeezleknits has taught me that a headscarf - tied in the front - and a vivid imagination can make cleaning fun.  That's a theory I'm willing to try out....

Note: I did not knit the sweater.  It was recycled from a thrifted rabbit.  I'm thrifty, not crazy!

Making the Best of It

August 11th isn't supposed to include so much frustration and bouts of tears but it did.   My allergies were off the charts and it, unfortunately, was a really rough Asshole day.  I was trying to describe it and came up with, "If I only had one kidney, I think he wouldn't have any problem asking for it." 

After a good cry I had to finally just leave the apartment.  I bought a cup of tea and drove over to the park.  Just moments after I spread my blanket, spilled my tea on my toes and unpacked my knitting, the phone rang.  So instead of knitting and losing myself in angry/sad thoughts, I spent an hour laughing with Matt which was really just perfect.  

Tomorrow promises to be better than the majority of today.  The ladies at my Sunday night knitting group brilliantly suggested that I come down to the Tuesday night knitting group since I'm taking the day off.  Cheesecake, a (couple) glasses of red wine, and friends.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Tonight, though, I'm building a nest in my bed.  The cats are giving off needy vibes and there's some pretty neanderthal noises coming from downstairs where Asshole is watching football - a good reason to put on some pajamas and finish up one of the projects I'm behind on.  And eat Double Chocolate Milano cookies because, as Matt said, the day before your birthday deserves cookies.  I know, it didn't make much sense to me either but...it's cookies so I'm not going to complain. 

It's Not Going to Be That Kind of Blog But

I talked to Matt on the phone early this afternoon for nearly an hour.  It was amazing.  He's just as sweet and kind and interesting as he is in his emails only now there's the added bonus of a rather sexy Hugh Grant-ish voice.  We were both so nervous and just ridiculously goofy and I giggled way more than I normally do but...it was just really great.  And he's going to "ring me" again later this weekend.  

Sigh.  

It's Borderline Obscene

I had cake for breakfast and am taking next Monday and Tuesday off - thank goodness for four day birthday weekends.  Tomorrow night I'm going to dinner with my parents and then, even though they live fifteen to twenty minutes from my apartment, I'm going to spend the night.  My mom knows that the best birthday gift is not being at home.  Plus there's the added bonus of breakfast at Youngs Golden Jersey Inn the following morning....

Happy Friday!

A Very Lovely Early Birthday Package

I spotted the note on my door the moment I pulled in.  A package was waiting for me at my post office!  Hooray - my package from Matt!  Wait, there's no address on the note...which office do I go to?  I did some very brief Internet searching to no avail and just decided to go to the one that was closest.  

Halfway there I realized my ID was in my other bag so I had to turn around.  Blurg.  Once I got there, though, I found out it was indeed the wrong post office.  The package was actually at the post office by my office...I'd driven by it to get home, for Pete's sake!  "They're not open late, are they?" I asked, tentatively.  

The magic words, "Until seven."

Thank goodness!  

I somehow managed to hit every single light red but I got there with plenty of time to spare.  After standing in line, barely able to stand still, I handed over the card and my ID and the postman went back to find my package...and came back empty handed!  Thankfully, he didn't give up and eventually found it.  

I thought about making myself wait until I got home to open the package but its size and weight and my insane curiosity made me go at it with my keys in the post office parking lot with my car door hanging open because I couldn't even take the time to close it.

I could hardly believe what was inside.

 

A leather Cross pen and leather journals that smell divine.

 And, of course, scads of lovely alpaca yarn....

Can you believe it?  I actually had tears in my eyes as I opened it, I was so stunned by his thoughtfulness and generosity.  It's really just lovely.  And to think we exchanged our first emails less than a month ago.  Amazing.

I'm one very lucky pen pal, that's for sure....

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for

- 44 oz. fountain diet Cokes (is there anything better for a hangover?)

- having the house to myself - even if it's just for an hour

- and, as always, my friends

Who Knew!

Who knew I would come running back to TypePad so quickly?

Unfortunately, squarepace became a bit uppity.  In fact, it's the computer version of the terrible employee I dealt with at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago who was so rude and condescending that he actually brought tears to my eyes.  Here's part of the message I got when I tried to log in: "Internet Explorer 6 is not supprted.  Squarepace is an advanced web application that can not be deployed to web browsers that were released almost seven years ago.  Please insall any modern web browser..."  I almost expected the little grey box to get up and walk away with its nose in the air.  So you can only update if you have the latest and greatest edition of Explorer which my office doesn't have and - let's face it - isn't going to be installed any time soon. 

Some times you can't wait to get home to post something.  And I'm not fond of posting using the laptop at night.  So back to TypePad.

It looks like TypePad has finished making things glossy and there's a note at the top of the screen saying that more bugs were fixed so...here's hoping.

Art & The Great Cake Mistake

This weekend I crossed a couple of things off my 101 in 1001 list.  I decided to get out of the apartment early and drive over to The Dayton Art Institute to write with the Monet...

On the way there, though, I decided that I would just go ahead and join the museum as a little birthday gift to myself.  As a member I get to go to all of the exhibits for free so I checked out the Ken Butler exhibit...

The museum was deserted so I got to play with the Projection Grand Piano without people pushing or making noise.  With each key you pressed, it projected light and shadows on the wall of objects and mirrors (including a small disco ball) that were inside.  It was pretty much silent and rather interesting but the effect wouldn't be the same if there were people around.

Matt suggested that I treat myself to a little picnic which I thought was a perfect idea so after I walked around and did a little writing, I found a nice shady spot on the grounds of the museum.   Peaches are so tasty right now...

Speaking of food - I'll wrap this up with another episode of Cooking Disasters with Emily.   Yesterday I attempted to bake the Orange Dreamsicle cake from a cookbook from a restaurant called The Grit in Athens, GA that Kim sent me.   Key word: attempted.  This is what happens when you get the recipe for the icing and the cake mixed up and end up putting two sticks of butter in both even though the icing calls for only one...