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.

what's your poison?

i've literally been on the phone for 2 days straight. apparently there's been a failure to communicate as far as closing on the house goes and now we're scrambling to get things in order by tomorrow. ugh! banks, lawyers, real estate agents, utilities, insurance companies, builders. buying a house from afar sucks. seriously, why do we have to be the middleman on everything.

example: the real estate agent calls me, "i just talked to the insurance company and the bank only sent half of the appraisal and they need the other half to finish off the paperwork." okay. why didn't the insurance company just call the bank to tell them they only got half? and why did the bank only send half? and why didn't the insurance company call me to let me know the situation immediately so if they're not going to call, i can?

and why are we waiting this long to get insurance? state farm tells us tuesday they can't/won't insure the house. we filed a claim with our current company to get a new roof in 2005 (wind damage) so now they won't insure us. no ifs, ands or buts. we even told them we'd take our car insurance elsewhere...still no love. now we're scrambling to get insurance in time for closing. and i'm forced to keep on top of things so we don't have another failure to communicate. apparently state farm won't insure anyone that's made a claim. becky told me yesterday that they won't cover anyone in new orleans after hurricane katrina. they even denied oprah!!

now to get back to phone calls. i'll have a virtual tour of our new home up shortly.

oh, i almost forgot the reason for my headline. i think i may have gotten a small case of food poisoning two nights ago.

old and tattooed

just got home from visiting the fam in md/dc. did a lot of sightseeing tuesday. walked about 8 miles in a pair of target flip-flops. while touring the sites, i was avoiding the sun and standing under a shade tree. simple enough. an old man with a camera decides to do the same and literally stands 5 inches in front of me, facing me. there's not a single soul under this mass expanse of tree and he decides to stand right there. of course i'm thinking he wants me to take a picture. so i ask, "would you like me to take a photo?" he starts scrolling through his photos saying nothing. not moving. i'm thinking he's checking to see if the last lady did a good job taking the photo. so i just stand there. waiting. he finally looks up and says, "why'd you go and do that?" pointing to my tattoos which were half covered. "uhh...cause i like them." was all i could muster. he then proceeds to give me the "tsk, tsk" look and walks away. seriously. what the hell just happened?! and to top things off. when we get around the monument he's standing there and tells me "have a nice day." and walks off. of course, i heard "happy birthday." and thought the old man was crazy and gave my dad the wtf face. apparently really old people don't think women should have tattoos and they're not afraid to tell you to your face.

sometimes i make mistakes

yeah, the starbucks downtown had grande fraps for $3.88. that, by far, is the cheapest in the city of springfield. i wonder if being located in a hotel holds some significance in the price. i'll have to ask next time.

gotta pack and get ready for my trip out east. tomorrow i'm gonna do a little wine in the woods with brian and irina and hopefully some old classmates. sorta like the herman wine festivals in missouri but this one looks like it's got more associated with it. you can't really compete with people on stilts. sunday is jessica and david's baby shower, which my whole family will be attending. rest of the time will be spent hanging out with family. for awhile there we were seeing everyone once a month. now it's been 4. we need to get married more often, so people will come visit! ;)

i've made a few handbags and a few coin purses. if i have time today i'll make a headband. my dress is almost done. only thing left to do is insert the zipper. i've been avoiding it like the plague. i'll attempt it when i get a few more projects under my belt. i'd post pictures but my computer is on the fritz. i took it in wednesday, couldn't get the darn thing to boot. of course it's 2 months past the warranty date, so it'll probably cost me a pretty penny to get fixed. hopefully the hard drive isn't fried. that's my only fear... losing everything i had on there. yeah. good thing i backed everything up...yeah right. luckily adrian let me borrow his laptop while it's in the shop. so i'm still connected to life and all things important like craftster and myspace! j/k.

i should have photos to post when i get back. gotta get this party started.

garage sale freak

friday and saturday we bucked up and participated in our neigborhood garage sale. got rid of a lot of unecessary things we didn't want to haul to boone. all told we made about $400 between four fams. the stealeys made out like bandits almost taking in half. anyways, when you're manning one of these sales you get to see some wiry characters. people who just laugh uncontrollably at nothing, people who want to divulge their life stories in 2 minutes, and the classic cubs jerk.

this guy comes up wearing a wrigley field shirt and immediately says to aaron, "i hate your hat." then proceeds to browse through some cds. we all look at each other. wtf?? aaron being the nice guy he is says, "i'm not a cubs fan but i like wrigley field." to which jerk replies, "i fucking hate cardinal fans." and walks away. whoa...seriously...wtf? sorry the cubs haven't won since 1908 but is it really something to get your panties in a wad about!

i really wished i had been wearing my new tee. this is my latest project. i wanted an old school looking cardinals tee. i'm still reconstructing the front, but this is what i have on the back. i'm probably gonna make one for aaron too with a thrift store find. it's all stretched out so i'm going to have to do some sewing on it to make it a little more form fitting.

baby westphal lives in style

matt and kristin are having a baby and they're not finding out the sex beforehand. kristin picked out this somewhat gender neutral fabric and asked if i'd make a window valance for the nursery. first time, pattern-free project. not too difficult, no zippers involved. i also made a matching pillow. luckily our bedroom is close to the same color as the nursery so you can get a general idea of what it's going to look like in place. i'm running rampant with the sewing machine and i'm addicted to craftster.

hardcore addict

my addiction to coffee hasn't dwindled in the slightest. i guess i really shouldn't call it coffee cause that's what you pay 50 cents for at the local gas station. i'll call it "the heaven blended coffee drink." today i christened the new starbucks located in our local target. yeah, the one across the street from the freestanding starbucks. which is located down the block from barnes and noble which also sells starbucks coffee. of course none of these places are conveniently located on the southend of town where i dwell.

i thought by overindulging in this HBCD i'd soon tire of it, not the case. when i make plans, i decide what route i need to take in order to patronize one. when i get lunch out i'll spend a $1 on a burger and $4 on the drink. when i babysit i'm paid in HBCDs or gift cards. i've even considered working there so i can get my daily fix. basically starbucks runs my life.

i even find myself justifying why spending $4 on a drink is okay. i don't smoke or do drugs, no money spent there. i rarely drink, especially out. i don't like much chocolate. and if i wanted to make my own drinks, i'd have to buy a coffee maker, buy coffee, chocolate and whatever other ingredients so more money spent there.

but alas...boone does not have a starbucks. it doesn't have one "coming soon" either. (i checked their website.) the closest one would be 40 miles away in johnson city. yes i am fretting about this. looking for recipes online. pondering if i should stockpile them in a freezer we doen't have at home. already wondering if i need to mapquest the johnson city locations to have in my car.

springfield has 3 freestanding starbucks ($4.15=grande, no whip mocha), 1 located in target ($4.04), 1 located in the hilton downtown ($4.08) and 1 located in barnes and noble ($4.15). yes, i am an addict.

tell me about your boston

so i posted to a "group" for the first time tonight. gay is me.

question:
what has your boston ate?

my reply:
we've got two bostons, bosco (7) and marley (2). bosco shreds any stuffed toy we give him, especially when there's a sqeaker inside. marley, on the other hand, could care less about dog toys, she goes after the big stuff. she's pulled my backpacks and purses off counters countless times. once she devoured a bag of gummi bears. another time she consumed a bottle of advil (which required an emergency trip to the vet and a very expensive bill). they both tag-teamed and got an entire pizza minus a slice off the kitchen counter. got the pantry door open and punctured and dragged a full bottle of crangrape juice through the kitchen and into the carpeted living room. red lipstick. chapstick. any plant part...dirt, leaves, branches. shoes, especially flip-flops. a whole box of dog biscuits. rope toys. underwear. hardcover books. cds. we've learned to puppy-proof the house on a daily basis, invested in locks for the pantry and we move everything a foot away from the edge of the counters. they still seem to find something.

i'm mommy's little monster

aaron's been in florida the past few days at a mohs meeting and i've been home nursing some painful tooth aches. i don't know how teenagers deal with braces. they absolutely suck. i think my main problem is i got both wires changed this time around and it's only been one or the other the past few appointments. i finally ate solid food with the help of some tylenol w/codeine. popping them like candy.

with my new sewing obsession i've been scouring websites looking for inspiration. i am having a difficult time staying motivated. main reason: i'm a bit of a perfectionist. and since i'm so new at this i'm getting frustrated more often than not. i know i have to keep practicing, find inspiration, just work harder. hopefully i'll have some wearable pieces. my dress is coming along. i'll proably get it done by the end of the weekend. here's some fashion and sewing websites i've been visiting on a daily basis: stylebytes, craftster, craftgrrl, sew_hip, diy girls, and this is a great site to buy and sell hand-made objects etsy. i'll probably head back there after this.

tomorrow i'm heading to stl to see social d!! it's carrie's birthday as well so it's gonna be double fun! can't wait. should have tons of pics after this weekend. yeah!

got rubber?

i just got them tightened today and added a pesky rubber band. yes, i'm in pain and perhaps i'll have them off before we move. fingers crossed.

serge this

i just bought one and am about to go and pick it up. i'm gonna try and get better at this sewing thing. i've been working on a top this past weekend. (in between camping and lawn work) it's a skirt i made last year but had problems with the zipper. freaking hate those things. it looks way better now. i did improve on the gather technique and am getting a tad bit better at reading patterns. i like to skim and thus i seem to read over some important steps. my next project is a dress with some silver detail. gotta make an outfit for my new ballet flats. i'll post some pics when i get both completely done.