Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

Here's a sample of some of the things I'll be making for Valentine's Day. I'm excited! It's one of my favorite holidays. Actually, I like all holidays. It's nice to be festive about something. It makes your day a bit nicer.

Hearts Around Doily by Terri Kroupa

My Neighborhood in Thailand

My friend was asking me about when I was going to go to Thailand. So I did some research and found out where I live in Thailand. The first map is of my neighborhood. This Military Training School is near my house.


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This is a map of Horwang High School. My aunt teaches here. There's a mall called MBK one block south. It's huge and I love going there.


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Maybe I Should Get Some Sleep

It's 3 am on a Monday. Why am I up so late? I dunno. I have trouble sleeping sometimes. Tonight I decided to do some research on laptops. I want to get a new one before the end of the school year. I want something small and portable since I'll be taking it with me when I travel over the summer. I like those mini laptops, but I'm not sure. I kinda want one I can play my Sims 3 game on (should I ever buy it, highly possible). So I might end up buying a gaming laptop instead if it's not too heavy/bulky. I saw on Dell that they sometimes have this offer - you buy their XPS gaming desktop and get a Mini 9 laptop for $99 (normally priced at $379 or so). Hm. The best of both worlds? I'm still looking, so we'll see.

I decided to get reacquainted with knitting. My friend, Jenny, wants me to make a hat for her boyfriend. It's the Jayne Cobb Hat that the main character wears on the TV show Firefly. The pattern she gave me was for circular knitting. I went to AC Moore with my sister today and bought a 10.5 US 29" circular knitting needle - but the wrong length. I was supposed to buy the 16". Eh. So I asked my boyfriend to drive me back there tomorrow so I can do an exchange. I hope I can still keep my discount - 40% off regular priced items. I'm a yarnaholic. This is bad, but not too bad. I only bought 3 skeins for the hat and a bag of random end of the line yarns that was on sale. They had an okay selection but I promised myself to not buy anymore random yarns that are not going to be used in the very near future.

Okay. Ranting done. I need to sleep now. Good night everyone. Happy Monday. =)

Everyday Popular

Check me out on Everyday Popular! www.everydaypopular.com

My friend, Dan, is working for a company that compiles links about people - famous or not. Nice. He asked to use my picture and links on the site. So if you have some time, check it out. It's still in the working stage, so don't judge too critically! =)

How I Spent My Weekend

Last Saturday I went to Happy Hour at McFadden's on State Street in Downtown Boston. Happy Hour was from 8-10 pm and we got there a little later so we were playing catch up. It ended badly for me and I'm thankful that I have such great friends. =)

This weekend will be different. Lesson learned. Last night I went to Jose McIntyre on Milk Street with Sean. He was meeting up with a few friends/old roommates there. The bartender was awesome. I didn't know what to get so he asked me what kind of drinks I liked. My response was something fruity with vodka. He made me a Raspberry Smoothie. Here's what's in it:

Raspberry Smoothie

Splash of: Grenadine, orange juice, and lime juice (or two lime slices)
2 oz sour mix
1.5 oz raspberry vodka
0.5 oz raspberry liqueur

Add all in a glass and shake it up. Add fresh raspberries and enjoy!

New Hat (Because I Lost My Other One)

I finished my hat just now. What do you think?

Divine Hat by Rheatheylia

Is Everything On Sale?

It seems like it. Everyday I get new email telling me what's on sale at my favorite stores. Today I received the Bath and Body Works email and they have their semi-annual sale going on. My favorite scent is Black Raspberry Vanilla. It's just delicious. I stocked up on their body wash and lotion last year when I thought the scent was being taken off the line. It turns out they just made it part of their Signature Collection - complete with perfume and body spray. So check it out here.

Bath and Body Works - Black Raspberry Vanilla

Senioritis

Ah, it's that time of year when I really don't want to do anything but read, crochet, and maybe attempt my art homework. I spent about 13 hours or so yesterday doing nothing aka not doing my work for class. I didn't start on it until 11 pm and finished around 1 am. Something so simple I definitely could have done it any time during the day. Anyways, I'm up early to go to work. I have some things to take care of today that's been on my mind since Saturday.

I started a new hat yesterday and it's coming out really nice. I can't wait to finish it. I have to do some art homework today too. I'll take a picture of my work so far. Sean was pretty impressed with my skills. I think it's the engineer in me wanting the drawings to be perfect... the right angle, the right values. Okay, I have to move away from the computer. =)

Can't Wait To Get My Own Place

After living for 4.5 years on-campus with roommates, I can't wait to have my own place after graduation. There are certain pet peeves that every year at least one roommate does and it drives me a bit batty. I'll list them. If you're living with someone, please be courteous and respectful to them and learn from these pet peeves.

• Not cleaning up after themselves - this includes all shared spaces such as the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. This should just be the topic of this rant.
  
• Leaving personal items in the living room - you have a closet in your bedroom for this purpose and leaving your stuff all over the living room makes it messy. I have to apologize to guests and shove other people's things out of the way to make sitting room.
  
• Putting pots and pans in the dishwasher - yes, using the dishwasher supposedly saves water, but when you're putting huge objects that should be hand washed into it, you're wasting space and not using the dishwasher efficiently.
• Not maximizing the space in the dishwasher - I usually end up going back into the dishwasher and organizing it before running it because people don't understand how to stack thing in it properly.
• Leaving the Brita empty - that's great that you drink a lot of water, but hey, when you are the last to use the Brita and there's about an inch of water left over, just fill it up. It takes about 7 secs, maybe 10.
• Eating my food - it doesn't happen often since I label my things in the refrigerator. I found bread crumbs in my butter the other day and I know for a fact that I never do that. I also never dig gorges into my butter. I like to level it off. Thanks for using my stuff, at least be sneaky about it.
• Using my stuff and not cleaning up right away - I have about one of everything (kitchenware) and when you use things and leave it dirty, I can't use it. Chances are you don't have it too so now I have to clean the mess you left behind just to use something that belongs to me. Not cool.

To sum it up - clean up after yourself and be respectful of other's property. If I use someone else's stuff I make sure I clean up right away so that they can use it when they want. If you have the time to cook, you should have the time to clean. Having your friends or significant other over doesn't mean you can't clean up. When I have my sister and/or my boyfriend over, we clean up right away. Saves the time to clean up later when everything is stuck on and you're aggravating others by leaving a mess behind. That's my rant for now. I should write a book about roommate etiquette. Meh.

Flowers and Hats

Some more crochet projects I've been working on...

Tawashi Flower by Marte Fagervik

More pretty colors. I think I'll use them as coasters.

Ear Flap Hat for Joy

Close up of the pom pom. I love how it came out.
It has light pink yarn on the outside and rose yarn on the inside.

Close up of the flower

Beanie for Jenna and Mittens for Chris

I finally finished Chris's convertible mittens. The second side took less than a day to finish. I was just procrastinating for the longest time (2 months!)

Convertible Mittens by Sue Norrad
I added the button and loop to it.

Palm side.

With the flap up.

Here's one more request from Jenna. She wanted a navy blue beanie with the elephant motif from her Kathy Boatneck Sweater.

Beanie by Azzy

Close up of elephant motif.

A Present for My Mom

I made my mom two hats over winter break. I finally have time to post them!

How cute is this hat? I love flowers!

Beanie with a purple flower.
We had tons of snow on New Year's Eve and I crocheted all week!

Crochet Hats and Scarf

I crocheted this tam hat and matching scarf for my neighbor, Ruth. She loves matching sets. =)

Retro Rings Tam Hat by Jaybird Designs

A scarf I improvised to match the hat.

Pictures from Winter Break

I made this hat for Jenna. It took me a couple of hours. Sweet, right?

Pretty Puffs Slouchy Hat by Jessica Suzanne

Close up of the sunflower.

Not Again...

Okay, so I've been getting this lost feeling for the past year pretty much. I used to have my life planned out, but now, I don't know anymore. I get so frustrated with myself and every now and then little things will just trigger me to breakdown and cry. I'm never like that. I try to refrain from showing a lot of emotions.

I'm just an emotional and confused mess right now. My life (mostly personal, not academic or work life) suffers from it. Sometimes I feel like I'm fooling myself. I paste on a happy face when sometimes I don't want to smile. The stress of not having a job lined up and my Capstone project being behind schedule doesn't help.

I just have to deal with it somehow. I just have to let it out and stop bottling my frustrations and do something about it. Okay. Breathe. Everything will work itself out. It has to.

To Drop or Not To Drop

Okay, so I only needed one elective and my Capstone class to graduate. But to maintain my financial aid I need to take 12 semester hours (3 4-hour classes). Then 3 classes cost as much as 4, so I decided to take another. I was thinking of dropping my CAD/CAM class. It's okay, I guess I'll see how it goes until next Friday.

I'm also taking Capstone, Basic Drawing, and an independent study. My independent study got changed. I'm supposed to redesign the Dynamics and Vibrations labs, but the professors like their old, forgettable labs. I got reassigned to designing new Control Systems labs. They never had a lab class before. This will be a great opportunity for me to create and find cool experiments to perform. I'm working with Jeff Doughty and Professor Rifat Sipahi. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Okay, I'm going to do the in-class assignment for the CAD class before I go to it so I can leave after lecture. Fun.

Monster Mix

What is a Monster Mix? It is a trail mix that you can buy from Target's Archer Farms brand. Sean and Ty picked it up in California and Sean had it in his car. It's amazing. I decided to make my version of it. Here's what's in it:

• Chocolate Chips
• Peanut Butter Chips
• Raisins
• Unsalted Peanuts
• M&Ms (I went with the dark chocolate)

You mix it up in a bowl, in a bag, it doesn't matter. The proportions however does. I bought a bag of Tollhouse Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips, a large bag of M&Ms, a jar of peanuts, and a pound of raisins. Note that each item was less than a pound in weight, but close to it.

When I made it I used 1/2 a bag of Tollhouse chips and 1/2 a bag of M&Ms, 1/3 of the peanuts, and about 1/2 pound of raisins (maybe a little less - it's up to you). I also like my raisins plump and juicy and not totally dried up.

Anyways, experiment with it and happy eating!

First Day of Class

Today is my first day of class in my last semester!!! I'm excited. Very EXCITED!!! I'm working in the school's bookstore from 10-2 and then my first class is at 2:50 pm followed by another class until 5:40 pm. Then I have a Tau Beta Pi meeting at 6 pm. After that's done I'm going grocery shopping - round two - with Sean. We also have to pick up miscellaneous items at Target and Home Depot. Fun!!! Pictures will be posted up later when I have time.

Stash Much?

I spent the morning organizing my yarn stash on Ravelry. Oh geez. I have 100 types of yarns stashed at the moment. There might be more since I haven't updated in a while. Now I'm going to go and be productive. Sitting here eating Chicken Chow Fun is nice, but I'm way behind on my crochet work. Michaels might be in the mix too. Oh yes!

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

Okay, I have to say that Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is taking up all my time. Sean gave me the game for Christmas and I have been playing it for 3-4 hours a day since. Ahh! I should be spending all my free time crocheting, but instead I've been playing this Nintendo DS game like it's my job (but way more fun). What's not to love about a girl who saves and befriends Pokemons then use them during missions and quests? Okay okay. Tomorrow will be my big crochet day. I have two projects lined up already.

My friend Jenna asked me to make her two hats and I have Chris's mittens that I mentioned earlier. That's all I'm doing tomorrow. Well... I think I'll go to Michael's again too (if Sean can find it in his heart to indulge his girlfriend). =)

Good night!!!

Slippah Luggage Tag!!!

Crochet Update:

I finished making my slipper luggage tag. I'm probably going to start Jenna's hat tonight and work on Chris's mittens tomorrow. I've been putting his mittens off because I was frustrated with the yarn (and I messed up quite a bit and hate to frog - undo stitches - my work). Here's pictures of the Slippah Luggage Tag (enjoy the awesome floral background courtesy of Sean's mom's dining room chair and table):

Slippah Luggage Tag

Happy New Year!!!

It's finally 2009. Oh wow! It's a brand new year and a chance to start fresh again. New Year's Eve brought snow in the morning and festivities in the evening.

Last night I attended a party with my boyfriend. It was a party hosted by his brother's friend, John. His house was huge and pretty. I think it's kinda interesting in a weird way that my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend happened to show up with her latest boyfriend. Fun stuff. I can't stand the girl and it's the first and last time we'll ever see each other in person. It's almost symbolic that I ended 2008 with her there and started 2009 oblivious to her presence. I hope it's the last time I ever see her face. She caused a lot of drama the entire time I've been with my boyfriend. It's about time she grew up and get her own life instead of interfering with mine via Sean.

Anyways, on to something else. We're going to Sean's grandparent's house for some New Year's Fondue. I'm excited! I made the guys bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches this morning. Sean and I made the Baked Macaroni and Cheese for his grandparent's and it smells heavenly. =)

The McD's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Serving Size: 6-8 people (maybe more)
Preheat oven to 350 deg F

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Macaroni (we prefer elbows)
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 tbs butter
• 5 tbs flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 cups milk (we use fat free)
• 4 cups cheese (we use 2 cups White Cheddar and 2 cups Monterrey Jack)

To Cook Macaroni:

1. Follow instructions on the package.
2. Drain then rinse in cold water.
   

To Make Sauce While Macaroni Cooks:

1. Melt butter.
2. In a large sauce pan combine flour, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Stir.
3. Add milk slowly and continue to stir until sauce thickens.
4. Add shredded cheese to sauce and stir constantly until cheese has melted.

To Combine Macaroni and Sauce:

1. Place cooked, drained macaroni in casserole dish.
2. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni. Stir to combine.
3. Optional: Dot with butter.
4. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.