stuffed sushi

another night out with the ladies. tonight we hit up pao! ordered 6 rolls, 2 orders of calamari, 5 salads, 1 gourmet pizza, 1 pao chicken, 2 bottles of wine, 8 strawberry mojitos and 3 different desserts. perhaps the best meal ever! i wish would have started "girls night" sooner. less than 2 weeks and i'll be a north carolinian.

where will be the next two weeks?? let me tell you. tomorrow morning we head to stl to meet up with some of aaron's med school buddies for one last harrah. later we'll head over to matt and kristin's for a fam/friend's going away party. sunday, rest. monday morning aaron wants to teach me how to be a histologist, monday night back to stl for the police concert. tuesday, recover. wednesday cards game with the caraways. thursday, last ortho appt. (nope not getting them off before we move! boo!) friday, another going away party thrown by the langeis/semens for us. saturday, another cards game. sunday-tuesday get house ready for movers. wednesday, movers pack up the house. thursday, movers load our stuff and at 2:30 we close on the springfield house. then we're boone bound. damn, i'm getting tired just thinking about it. or it could be the food settling in. mmmmm.

current river: party of 15

photos from the weekend. new photos added daily.

cole edward toliver

here's cousin david's new addition. a strapping young lad born today at 1:57pm. 8 pounds 6.8 ounces, 20 inches long. congrats dave and jess!!

what i thought was cool was how david sent out an audio announcement via email.

here's the audio link

you've made my wistlist

ever in a pickle and can't figure out what to get someone gift wise? let me introduce you to the wistlist. a convenient way to catalog anything you see on the web that you need to have!! no guessing here. i've started one and it's already come in handy. my swap partner used it to make my pincushion and to gauge my style. i use it for reference. lots of cute, crafty things out there and now i can conveniently keep track of it. check it out.

my wistlist

so ends my public service announcement.

shot in the arm

i finally went in and laid out all my g.i. problems for dr. my symptoms have been getting progressively worse and i'm almost positive it may be one of the causes of my insomnia. my primary dr. told me i have a bad case of heartburn. i think i may have gerd (gastroesophageal reflux disease). this is, of course, is a self diagnosis.

the checklist:

xx Do you suffer from heartburn symptoms more than two or three times a week?

no Do the symptoms feel like a burning under your breastbone?

xx Do your symptoms often get worse after eating?

xx Are you taking antacids after every meal to minimize symptoms? Do they help?

no Do you feel a burning chest pain when exercising?

xx Are your symptoms worse when you lie down?

xx Do you often taste a faint sense of acid in your mouth?

xx Do you have trouble sleeping at night?

no Do you have asthma that is made worse when you're having heartburn?

no Does your voice get scratchy when you have heartburn?

xx Is heartburn interfering with your quality of life?

Answering yes to one or more of these questions might mean you have GERD. *ding, ding*

i pop pepto/pepcid like candy. first it was a few after a night of drinking. now it's 6 or more after anything i eat or drink. i actually went to sleep at a decent time one night this weekend and found myself sitting up in our tent 3 or 4 times fighting off the nausea i've been getting more frequently than not. tomorrow i go on the strong stuff. hopefully i'll find some relief. damn, i'm getting old. who blogs about heartburn?

i did get a tetanus shot during my office visit. can't even remember the last time i had one of those so it was due time. now i'm nursing a head cold (courtesy of the current), upset stomach and sore arm. wheel me to the nursing home now! ;)

rockabilly swap

so here are the spoils from my rockabilly swap partner. yes, my partner absolutely spoiled me. (from left to right) decopaged tattoo journal, elvis tote bag, cross-stitched "sew little time" sign with cherry details, 2 nautical themed duffels, cherry and hearts apron, placemats and a skully pincushion. and two bags of gummi candy...mmmmm!

current---whoa!

here's a little exert of an article i received from amy tonight about our upcoming float weekend.

"Beer bongs of all types are prohibited," Poe said. "It used to be a funnel and tube, now they're coming with bongs made out of PVC pipe with three or four funnels rigged to a central distribution system. Beer kegs of any size are prohibited, and no Jell-O shots.

"If a ranger catches somebody with a big string of Mardi Gras beads, they'll tell them they will be busted if they solicit. If a woman bares her breasts, we're going to cite her for disorderly conduct."

Alcohol will be permitted, but a recommendation will be made that floaters drink no more than six cans of beer or an equivalent amount of hard liquor. "Alcohol is not banned in the park," Poe said. "I am going to try some other measures first."

i guess i better get rid of the beads and the bongs!

oh...and i inspired someone today. "highly influenced and inspired by nosusanfx's wrap skirt" my sewing skills are paying off!

what jesus loves

sunday i wore my "jesus loves me and my tattoos" tee for the first time. yes, a couple of years i broke down and purchased one. i found it quite funny but it's an obnoxious pink and i'm not one to wear shirts with writing sprawled across my chest. i saw this picture today and found it quite ironic. apparently the first baptist church disagrees with me. blasphemy.

boston love

here's some of my recent work. my latest obsession is working with felt. all hand sewn. it's semi-fast and i get to use the kazillion beads i bought years ago to make bracelets. these are day of the dead pins and a nautical star i made for my swap. i'm quite happy with the end results. oh yeah!

bosco represent. this is the beginning of a little pouch/purse i'm gonna make. it was a great way to kill the 12 hour drive to boone earlier this month. i noticed there weren't too many boston crafts on the net so this might be my niche. right now i'm trying to stock pile my crafts so i can create an online shop to eventually sell my handiwork. i'm a little overwhelmed trying to learn new things and i want to dabble in everything. it's fun and i really enjoy making things from scratch. it's so fulfilling to know you had a few pieces of fabric and created a one-of-a-kind item.

tomorrow is graduation for the chiefs with a mega party at floyds afterwards. i'm looking forward to it. it'll probably be the last hoorah for all of us together. such a sad thought. i'm gonna miss everyone tremendously. boo. i'm sure i'll have pictures galore to share. be prepared for tongues, devil horns and sexy side poses. satch is notorious for those.

here's lily modeling an outfit i made last year using one of the outfits aaron's mom made for the boys. i added the hat.

in case you were wondering what our children will look like...lily should give you an accurate indication. she's the product of a half korean man and pale white woman. our doppelgangers! she's simply adorable!!

things that bother me... that show a little of the ocd i harbor. i posted this earlier today and it really bothers me that the photos are not aligned on the left. so i must insert filler copy to bulk up the post so my small photos are aligned. of course it won't matter much, cause it's all dependent on screen settings where the photos fall. at least it'll curb my anxiety.

update your files

right before we left for our week in the nc mountains, i was able to finish the birth announcements for baby ethan. i think i might just have to pat myself on the back cause i love the way they turned out. they were a lot of work, but in the end well worth it. i made moving announcements for the baima clan as well.

all in all, i was happy with the outcome.

yes, we finally closed on our house in boone on monday. we are the proud new owners of 115 martys road. it was a hassle getting all our ducks in a row, but in the end everything worked out and we both are quite happy with our purchase. we stayed there all week, living on air mattresses and the bare minimum, no tv, internet, video games. danny accompanied us on our trip and we had a fun-filled week...hiking, biking and fishing. the weather was perfect and i really don't have any anxiety about moving there. i actually can't wait to get my hands on the house and yard. so many ideas and plans. it's almost overwhelming, but it'll be fun.

i've got a mountain of projects to work on. and an impending move to plan for. kristin wants me to put knock-out material on the back of a shade she bought for baby max's nursery. it's proving to be more difficult than i anticipated. i guess if it functions that's all that really matters. it's not my best work by any means. and yes, we did get to see baby max twice in the last week. once on our way to nc and once on our way back. 10 days old and oh what a handsome little devil!! almost want to have one of my own. in due time my friends.

i was jonesing for my sewing machine while we were away. i get to do a rockabilly/pin-up girl swap this month. it's where i create 4 projects and my partner creates 4 projects and then we swap what we made. i'm looking forward to it cause it pushes me to practice my sewing skills. brian also called me and told me one of the ladies at his church wants me to make her the same handbag i made irina and i had another girl emailed me about swapping for a messenger bag. maybe i can start making an income sewing things i like. oh the possibilities. now to get back to work.