happy halloween

tonight is our neighborhood's trick-or-treat night. with any luck we won't run out of candy (it's been known to happen). we do have a bulk-size pack of atomic fireballs to fall back on, just in case. they are predicting good (as in not 28 degrees and snowy) weather for tonight, so it should be fun! i'm especially looking forward to seeing the nieces and nephew (the ones that live within walking distance) all dressed up. i'm hoping that pictures of the out-of-towners will be forthcoming. (hint hint)

today was my pumpkin carving day. here's my gutted pumpkin (poor pumpkin).

and here's my finished pumpkin. i'm not very good at making things scary. so i opted for the much easier to obtain "weird-looking" pumpkin. i think he looks appropriately grumpy for someone who just got his guts ripped out with an ice cream scoop.

i also decorated a couple of candle holders. i saw the idea here and decided it would be fun and/or festive. i might as well do this kind of thing while i can, eh? fire and glass will need to be kept well out of reach next year.

double-digits

my countdown ticker went to two-digit numbers today! is it too weird to be excited about reaching double-digits? if so, i guess i'm too weird... of course, i was also excited when we bought pizza cheese this past saturday and the expiration date (2/13/09) was after my due date.

meetings & monkeys

we had our staff meeting today, so of course there was doodling. i nearly walked in there without my sketchbook (trauma!)
i don't seem to be doing quite enough doodling lately. maybe i need to set up a doodle-a-day challenge for myself...

fall back

it's hard to believe that we're almost done with october. where has the time gone? i was looking at the calendar this morning and found that we will be turning back the clocks this sunday (huzzah for an extra hour of sleep!) and there have been emails circulating about plans for the holidays (hooray for the holidays and visiting with family!)

important note to self: buy november bus pass, the october pass will get you nowhere fast next monday morning

hats

i purchased this pattern ages ago with the intention of trying to make a hat or two out of some of the fabric inhabiting the third floor. i still have yet to get beyond looking longingly at the photos and taking out the pieces for a cursory examination. one of these hats would've been lovely on the wet walk from the train this evening. i should probably finish off a few other projects (like painting that room) before i start on something else.

catching up

i'm trying to catch up on things i meant to post this week while i was not posting.

first, these images. aren't they lovely? found here.

the second is this image, found here. i just thought it was really cute and funny.

eye candy at this website (can't remember where i found the link. sorry!) and this resource (found via here and linked from here).

just too cute

i just couldn't resist these. they're just too cute. i don't know that i would make teeny cookies, but thought they might be fun for decorating a pie (hello, farmers' market apples!) last year i passed up the football shaped cookie cutters, and now i'm thinking they would've been a good purchase, so when i spotted these, i grabbed them!

getting ready

last week we picked up candy. today we stopped at the farmers' market and got our apples (this is now required weekly) and this pumpkin. i've been designated as the pumpkin carver, so stay tuned for some photos of the final outcome.

another week, another photo

dressed in "go bucks" red. i don't think this photo does justice to the size of the belly.

it feels quite a bit larger!

juggling some freelance work

i had a fun job to work on this past weekend. it's an oversize postcard advertising financial planning to parents. the toughest part was understanding what the client needed without really talking to her in person. my first layout was a complete miss (she wanted happy, not harried)—but after we emailed back and forth a few times (and i found out what the restrictions were on the use of the logo), this is what we've come up with. i'm really happy with the outcome.

feeling blue

i went the other day to pick up paint swatches for the boy's room. i was looking for a faded denim color. i'm leaning toward "poolhouse" (the swatch on top), but also like "leisure blue" (the one underneath that). so far there hasn't been much of a rush to get this done, but i'm starting to think that it would be easier to do this soon, before the boy starts really getting in the way.

24 weeks

this is probably getting a bit overly repetitive, but here we are (still in pjs) at 24 weeks.

promotions and logo

i'm working on a promotional piece for an event in early november and was having fun disassembling my logo and stacking it in strange ways.

the other side of the piece will show a few examples of my work. i'm hoping it will be effective enough to get my name out there.

a day for painting

i had scheduled a day off today, and decided it would be good to get some of these little painting projects out of the way. the frames were first on the list, but this little step stool was item #2.

painted frames

here are the finished pictures in their frames. the color looks a lot more acurate in these photos.

more football

on the theme of football, we are going to the monday night football game tonight—the browns vs. the giants. the weather is supposed to be lovely (no blizzard like the last game we attended—where they were using leaf blowers to clear enough snow off the field so that they could see the yard lines!) mike's already got one game—and one win—under his belt for the week (he was at the OSU vs. purdue game saturday), so we're hoping he can bring some good luck to the browns. of course, as long as i get my hot pretzel, i'll feel like i've gotten a win anyway.

update: not only did the browns show us a good time and a spectacular win (against the superbowl champs, no less!), but the weather was stellar and the hot pretzels were big and salty and PERFECT!! huzzah!!

a football alphabet

this is what i've been working on to fill those frames in the boy's room. i was inspired by a guest dad post on design mom. i chose "t is for touchdown," "s is for safety," and "h is for holding."

i still need to paint the frames white to match the trim in the room. a project for another day.

more fall

the leaves are really starting to turn and fall. we've already raked the yard once, and it's on the agenda for tomorrow again. i think it's one of my favorite chores and i look forward to it every year.

wreath refurbishing

i decided to pull out the old vine wreath and give it a colorful update for fall while watching today's football game. i suppose i should've taken a before photo, but i'm sure you can imagine it in its stripped-down state. it looks much more cheerful now, as does our front door. i feel almost justified in spending my time in front of the tv. (click image for larger view)

the boy and me - week 23

at missy's request, here we are in week 23.

artwork and a trip to the dollar store

yesterday we managed to remove one more piece of extraneous furniture from the room where we plan to put the boy. huzzah! progress! one of these days we might actually buy paint. but until then, i can entertain myself by looking at other people's wonderful rooms (especially here and here), and inspired by all the kid friendly artwork (like the above).
i did get to the dollar store today to pick up a few cheap frames. stay tuned to see the results.
(image Synesthesia print via)

snap happy

we debated between the gingersnaps and an apple pie. in the end, the snaps won. it's time consuming to make the full recipe, but they freeze well, so we've got some profits for weeks to come.

gingersnaps

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp ginger
• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp cloves

directions:

1. cream shortening and sugars
2. add molasses and eggs; beat well
3. sift together dry ingredients; add
4. mix well
5. roll dough into small balls; roll balls in sugar
6. place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets
7. bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees

makes bunches, so after "taste testers" have performed their job, there will be plenty to share or freeze

i wish i had a firepit

as if i wasn't already jealous of missy for being able to squeeze in a camping trip last weekend.

if i could drop everything and go camping this weekend, i would definitely stop by the grocery and pick up the ingredients for these gooey treats. i guess all i REALLY need is a firepit, but alas, our postage-stamp of a yard probably doesn't have the necessary space. (in reality, i could probably use the oven, but that just seems like cheating!)
on the upside, we have plans to visit mike's brother and his family, and they DO have a firepit...

get the recipe here. found via here.

pattern envy

i'm really loving the looks from the marimekko A/W 08 collection—especially that center dress. the prints are fantastic and the shapes are super cute.
found via oh joy.