How to Annoy Your Cat: Halloween Edition

We put kitty in a little costume as the trick or treaters started showing up. She really didn't like it! Anytime she successfully took it off Joe put it right back on. Poor Kitty! She looks like a Babushka Lady doesn't she? She is an old lady cat, after all.

Our Halloween is going well. We watched Night of the Living Dead and will probably watch another horror movie before the night is over.

The Costumes - X-Files

After all the time and money we spent on our costumes we only got to wear them for the Halloween party at work, in which I spent the entire time making balloon animals. We didn't even have time for a good photo! I am currently suffering through a 24 hour shift which ends in 3 hours. First on the list is sleep, followed by possibly making all the alien cake pops I intended to make for another party that didn't happen. Then we get to light our pumpkin and hand out candy! 

Happy Halloween!

xoxo - Special Agents Dana Scully & Fox Mulder, FBI

The Sweet List - Maternity Style

Now that I'm into the third week of my second trimester I've started thinking of buying some new clothes. I haven't gained any weight yet but I have had to pick up some nursing bras. While we were in the shop I had some fun trying on the "baby bump" pillow and maternity clothes they were selling. I was super excited about it and wanted to go on a shopping spree right then!

I really don't shop for clothes that often. The last time I got a bunch of new clothes was when my friend purged her closet of things that no longer fit her. I don't think I've shopped for clothes for more than a year! Ugh. A girl deserves some new clothes once a season at least! I actually should empty my closet and get rid of the stuff I don't wear anymore, along with picking up some new clothes of better quality. 

These are all from H&M, which isn't in Alaska as far as I know, however it was a favorite place to shop for me in New York.

1. MAMA Jersey Top - 2. Short Necklace - 3. Cardigan in Slub Jersey - 4. Handbag - 5. MAMA Pants - 6. Matte Metal Bracelet - 7. Leather Boots

Pumpkin Carving with Kitty!

One thing about being long distance from your spouse for so long is that you can't celebrate holidays together. Last year Joe came to Alaska for Christmas, and even though I'm not a big Christmas person, I went "all out" as much as I could so we could have a nice first Christmas as a family. This year we actually get to celebrate Halloween together! No flights, no paperwork so I can take leave, no trying to live out of a hotel or house sitting for someone else. Just us and kitty in our little apartment carving pumpkins. I think kitty liked the smell of pumpkin guts because she kept coming over to sniff it. 

This is going to be the only major holiday we can spend together in our little apartment, seeing as we are supposed to be moving by December. We are just waiting for the paperwork to come through so we can know for sure. I hope it works out! I'm tired of Alaska and I want to have our road trip to California because it will be our last trip before the bear cub is born! We will most likely be living in a hotel by Thanksgiving and still on the road by Christmas and New Years.  

I can't wait to have a house of our own in New York so we can host our own Halloween parties! No one around here ever throws any and it depresses me. I can't wait to make glittery decorations and hot cider, donuts, pumpkin martinis and little pumpkin painting stations for the kids! I think this calls for a Pinterest board!

Balloons and Halloween Costumes!

Once again I got to spend my work day figuring out and also teaching everyone else how to make balloon animals. Tomorrow is the Halloween party and I'm excited about dressing up! Joe and I are going as Agent Scully and Mulder from the X-Files. Joe is a big Sci-Fi fan and while we were long distance we watched almost every episode of the X-Files together over Skype. Just not season nine... season nine was terrible. I think we are happy with the costume choice. Maybe I can get him to take some really cheesy photos like this and this!

It was a little difficult to convince Joe to dress up, as he wanted me to make a really elaborate Ludo costume from Labyrinth for him so I could be Sarah. Perhaps in the future we can do Labyrinth and make the bear cub dress as Toby! Of course it would be SO AWESOME if I could make Joe dress like the Goblin King instead, but I think that's asking too much!

I took some little iPhone shots of all the balloons we experimented with since there usually isn't much color happening in the office on a day to day basis. It's usually, you know, green. I was also very proud of my duck which I made especially for my husband.

This is what I did at work today. I literally learned how to make balloon animals. It was actually pretty awesome, since everyone left me alone in the office for most of the day and I got to watch YouTube videos about making cute animals for kids. I assume I have been made the official balloon animal maker for Fridays Halloween party. Aren't you impressed by my pretty flower?

Over the Weekend

(1) Joe won a game of Risk Legacy and wrote his name on the board (I won a game too and named a country "Charlandia" for Charlie the dog. (2) Trying on maternity clothes with the funny pillow "bump" they have in the dressing rooms. I'm SO psyched to wear the leggings! (3) Kitty being curious about what's going on outside. Maybe a squirrel?

Blanket Buddy Knit Project

I finally finished a knitting project! I haven't done any knitting for a long time. I think it was a combination of having a stupid amount of hats, mittens and scarves and also too many failed or unsatisfactory sweaters that made me tired of it. I think baby things will be fun and easier to make. Baby stuff knits up quickly and babies don't complain if the seam of the sweater looks a little funky.
As I was browsing Ravelry for patterns I couldn't really decide what I wanted to make. Stuffed animal? Cardigan? Bunting? Instead of committing to a pattern I thought I should probably check out the yarn situation first. Turns out I don't have much yarn in my stash that is soft enough for a baby! Lame. I headed to Joann Fabric to see my options. Is it just me or are most baby yarn colors hideous? There was the typical blue/pink stuff and the most awful shade of teal I've ever seen. Come on, Joann, get with it. Order the new colorways already. This has to have been from 20 years ago. I finally spotted some Bernat Pipsqueak that looked cute enough. It was a very fuzzy and soft yarn in the color "Chocolate." It looks like the perfect yarn for a bear cub!

I chose a Lion's Brand pattern called Blanket Buddy but I changed the pattern to look like a bear head instead of a bunny. It took less than one ball of yarn to make! I like how it came out and it was an easy pattern. Good for someone who likes instant gratification.

Baby Bump - 13 Weeks

Another baby update! 

We went to our first "Arctic Mamas" group appointment last week and got to talk with a bunch of people who are all due in April of 2014. The doctor took us all individually into a little exam room and listened to the heartbeat. It was interesting and nice to have a group appointment so we could all talk about things we were going through, but I felt like the private "exam" was a little rushed and not as good as it should be. She even opened the door before I got my pants back on! Come on, man. The army just doesn't care very much. We heard that when they do the anatomy scan they don't even tell you the sex of the baby if they don't feel like it! How rude, huh?

We had a second appointment that same day for genetic testing at a place off post. I was so happy that we got to go to a civilian ultrasound place. We got to see the little bear cub wiggle around and we even got to see a 3D picture! It was totally cool. The technician predicted that it might be a girl, even though it's still too early to tell for sure. I was actually really surprised because I keep thinking it will be a boy, but I'm really excited!

Today we went out and did our registry at Babies R Us. We were doing it online and realized that most of our items weren't even available to buy in the store, so we did the thing with the little barcode scanning gun. I also didn't know that if you do it in the store you get goody bags! Score. We even found a diaper bag that doesn't look like a diaper bag! 

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend as much as I did!

The Sweet List - Ugly Christmas Sweaters, Cat Edition

I'm really not a Christmas person, Halloween is my favorite holiday, but there was something today that inspired me to post about the infamous Ugly Christmas Sweater! I think I just love irony. I would love to throw an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, but unfortunately I will be in the middle of an epic road trip during the holidays. Hopefully I will be visiting my grandfather in California by then, in which case I can still wear an ugly sweater!

I especially love the first one on the list, but all are amazingly ugly!

Vintage Ugly Hand Knitted Kitty Sweater

Vintage Cat Intarsia Sweater

Cheap Ugly Christmas Sweater

Ugly Christmas Sweater

September in Review

It's already the 7th of October, but I still wanted to post my September in review. I think I was just trying to forget September ever happened.

Well September, I can't say I'm sad to see you go.
Let's make October better, huh? Even if October is worse I still only have November to deal with before we go on our big road trip! Oh boy, am I counting the days! Unless, of course, the government shut down isn't over. In which case I'll just have a nervous breakdown since we can't leave Alaska.

DIY Cloth Diaper Covers

Ten Week Ultrasound

Letter to Miss Kitty

Spiced Bundt Cake with Whiskey-Coffee Glaze

Pumpkin Bread from Roasted Pumpkins

On a late night run to the grocery store for some emergency Ramen noodles, I discovered that they were selling baking pumpkins! I was so excited I bought two. I ended up with a lot of extra puree, which means I'll probably make pumpkin pancakes, soup or something else with it. 

Don't forget to save the seeds and roast them too, with a little salt!

Scoop out all that goop!

I baked the pumpkins at 350 degrees for an hour and a half, cut side down on a baking sheet.

Toast the pumpkin seeds at 350 for maybe 10 minutes? I took them out once I heard them start popping inside the oven and they came out fine. Check them often to make sure you don't burn them.

I pureed it in the blender. Yum! This is a good idea for baby food.

Recipe for Pumpkin Bread comes from The Joy of Cooking. 

Delicious!

Today.

Enjoying her three story condo.

Dinner with Julia, Ru, Andy and Sylvia

Oct 5: If you could have dinner with any 3 people, living or dead, who would they be?

This was a tough choice, so I'm picking FOUR and you can't stop me! I would love to have a dinner party with Sylvia Plath, RuPaul, Andy Warhol and Julia Child.  Of course there are relatives that are passed away who I would love to have dinner with again, but I don't think that was really the purpose of the question. I picked this little group not only because I love and admire all of them, but also because I think that they would interact well. I'm sure Rupaul and Andy would get along famously right from the start, but I don't want to leave a traditional girl (by our standards) like Sylvia all alone feeling awkward. I think Julia would be just bubbly enough and not as eccentric, keeping Sylvia comfortable. Also for goodness sake, someone has to help me do the cooking!  

Sylvia Plath

RuPaul

Andy Warhol

Julia Child