He said sweatshop, I said workshop

I've had a bloggeriffic post ready for quite some time, but it was part of a surprise, so I've had to be hush-hush.  The surprise was for my mom and mother-in-law, and since my mom and dad are both fans of this blog (hi!!!), I couldn't mention what was taking place at our house on a nightly basis.

First, the all important background information...

When I was younger, my mom taught me how to crochet.  I never really followed any patterns, I would just make things up and work on little projects here and there.  Fast forward to my mid-twenties when I rediscovered crocheting and in the process I developed a love for Lion Brand Yarn.  It was more a love based on the comprehensive information found on the Lion Brand Yarn website--tutorials, free patterns, project ideas and did I mention, FREE PATTERNS?  Anyway, I began a folder of wish list patterns, mostly easy ones that would allow me to watch trash TV and work on my various projects at the same time.  I prefer these types of patterns as they require little to no thought or counting as trash TV watching can be a strenuous task, you know.

My recent projects have been baby blankets as gifts for my group of fertile friends.  During my search for mindless, yet meaningful patterns, I also rediscovered granny squares.  Nick thinks that they look like coasters.  What you do is make a bunch of these little coasters, sew them together, add a border and voila, you have yourself a blanket.  As I was working my fingers to the bone for the spawn of my very deserving friends, I thought that it might be nice to make a couple of homemade Christmas gifts as well.  I actually wanted an excuse to buy the latest yarn, Holiday Homespun, which is available in luscious holiday greens, reds and whites, all laced with some sparkle for added cheer.

When I searched for available patterns, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a holiday blanket, made up of granny squares.  Since I had just completed two baby blankets for September arrivals, using this same technique, I was confident that I could get two more finished in time for Christmas.  I mentioned the idea to Nick, who agreed that it was an excellent gift idea for two mothers who have everything.  His one concern was how the gift could truly be from both of us, if he wasn't able to crochet anything.  I asked if he'd help me to prepare the yarn, by making "yarn balls" out of each skein.  Doing this before the project makes crocheting easier by avoiding the inevitable tangles at the end of a skein.  For most husbands, this would have been enough, but not for mine.  He wanted to really contribute.  So, in addition to "yarn balling", I suggested that he help sew the squares the strips together to assemble the blankets.  He was up for the challenge and after a quick lesson and a trip to Michael's, for his own scissors and needles, he was off.

This picture was of the beginning of the process,  strip number one or two of 22 (for two blankets).  About halfway through this strip, he declared himself to be "one mean whipstitcher" and rightfully so.  By the end of 2-3 strips, he was ready for this project to be done.  By the end of his first 11, I had realized that in his haste, he had forgotten securely tie the ends of the yarn to secure the strips together.  Whipstitcher extraordinaire, yes, but end tier?  Not so much.  Never fear, I was here, and we were able to make some quick repairs to the squares that were trying to detach themselves from blanket number one.

By blanket number two, we were both pros.  I was cranking out the squares in batches, ready to be whip stitched into strips.  Nick was whipping and stitching, making sure to securely tie the knots at the end of the strips to avoid the fiasco of blanket number one.  Admittedly, this wasn't his favorite project, but I'm so proud of him for not giving up and leaving me with 110 squares to make into two blankets.  We finished two days before Christmas and as expected, the mothers were thrilled with their homemade gifts,  and impressed that we had both contributed to the project.

Yes, I know that this blog is about my life, his life and a dog named Chino, so it wouldn't be fair to exclude him from this project, or this post, now would it?  No, of course not.

Ok, well he tried to exclude himself from this whole project, but we all know that he can't escape my clutches.

I would like to give him a special shout out for his outstanding behavior, consuming no yarn and chewing on zero crochet hooks during the making of the two Christmas blankets.  This is no small feat for a dog who has eaten knitting needles and has run through the house, leaving a wake of slobbery, tangled yarn in his path.

My boys

Before you look at this picture and say '"awwww", you should know that Chino is probably trying to push Nick off the couch.  Real men don't cuddle, you know.

"Seasons Eatings"

Even though this photo is an inaccurate representation of my seasonal eating, I still love it.  It was the front of a Christmas card, sent by a photography studio in Cleveland who works with us on food shots.  As you can tell, they're a pretty creative bunch.

I love social media...

...almost as much as I love coffee and free stuff.  Add those things together and  you've got a tri-fecta of happiness.  It all started last week when I saw that Dunkin_Columbus was granting "holiday wishes" on Twitter.  The message went out to the followers, like this:

I responded to this tweet, thinking that it was a joke or way to generate dialoge among Dunkin's followers:

Before I knew it, I received this response from Dunkin_Columbus:

How cool is that?  Dunkin' Donuts is on top of its social media game, using Twitter to generate conversations with its followers and to provide a bit of Christmas cheer on the side.  Its not the first time that I've mentioned Dunkin' Donuts as a company who "gets it".  The company (or the twitterer) is very responsive to tweets about Dunkin', as well as photos of the product or its consumers.  The account is buzzing all day with different re-tweets about how America (or in this case, Columbus) is running on Dunkin'.  All of the wish granting and goodwill towards customer is keeping the brand top of mind in the increasingly cluttered realm of social media. 

Bottom line?  I'm running on Dunkin' and you should be to.

A pretty picture

I use this blog to make fun of Nick and to tell stories about my doggie, but right now, I have a doozy for ya.  Let me paint you a picture....

After a hot date at the Delaware Pizza Hut, where we sprung for stuffed crust with TWO toppings, Nick and I headed to Kroger to pick up some additional Chex Mix making materials.  For a great recipe - click here (I modified it to be Christmas appropriate)- the consensus among my coworkers is that its similar to crack.  The thought behind eating first was that one should NEVER go into a grocery store hungry.  Under any circumstances.  Ever.

So preventative, stuffed-crust pizza measures taken, off we went.  Up and down the aisles we walked, collecting more ingredients.  That is, until we reached the bakery section.  I stopped in front of all of the cases, admiring the giant cupcakes, staring at the whoopie pies and pondering the cookies.  Somehow, we walked past and into the dairy section, to pick up the last item on the list.  On our way back to the registers, we passed the bakery section once more.  In a hormone induced haze, I went back again to visit my "friends".  Nick tried to pep talk me through it and keep me focused on the cash registers, but I saw the sign for free samples and was drawn away.

Nick kept walking to the registers, I walked toward the samples, oblivious to him talking to me.  Before I knew it, I had a box of Whoopie Pies in one hand and a free donut sample in the other.  I turned to see my husband, staring at me, shaking his head slightly.  He didn't laugh, he barely reacted, he just stood there and in a calm voice said, "Honey, get out of the bakery."  I had no recollection of picking up the whoopie pie, mind you.  I took a second to ponder what I looked like; dumpy and frumpy on a Saturday night at Kroger, donut in one hand, whoopie pies in the other.  Then I took a mini-laughing fit that lasted the length of the freezer aisle.

Bah Humbug

It appears that Chino is a little disgruntled over the fact that the live tree in the great room is for decoration and is not in fact an upgrade to "indoor plumbing".  Since Nick an I weren't home, he grabbed the closest thing that he could and took immediate action.

The scene:  Frosty the snowman, face down on the couch.  It appears innocent enough, a Christmas decoration moved from its original spot and onto CHINO'S spot.  No worries, he's a good boy who we can trust with our stuff like shoes and clothes and purses.  He usually leaves things alone.  So far, nothing seems out of the ordinary here.  It just looks like Chino needed a friend to keep him company until his humans came home.  Right???

WRONG!!!!!!  Nick went to retrieve Frosty to put him back where he belongs and discovered that something far more sinister had happened during the day.  WARNING:  The image you're about to see is graphic and is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Poor Frosty.  One minute, he's just sitting in a box of decorations, waiting to be deployed into a house to provide Christmas cheer, and the next, he's in the clutches of a 70lb mutt, having his two eyes made out of coal removed from their sockets along with his cute carrot nose.

Since his two eyes made out of coal and his carrot nose are still in tact, Frosty is headed for surgery tonight and into rehab this weekend.  He will be assigned to decoration duty, high above the counter tops, out of Chino's reach in order to enjoy the Christmas season in peace.  You earned it, Frosty, you earned it.

'Tis the Season

And you thought that I was obsessed with grocery coupons?  Well this has been on my counter since BEFORE Thanksgiving and before any other holiday decorations.  The giant green tree is not only festive, but it also serves as beacon of savings on my otherwise cluttered counter-top.