I love pasta salad

I needed something fresh the other night.  So after stopping by Trader Joe's to pick up some good bread (and letting the kids find Moto Monkey and get a sucker) we made our way home to cook up some pasta. 

I think I like this salad so much because you can add whatever you want to it.  I think it's fun to add zucchini to things that my husband realizes he enjoys (if you ask him, he says he doesn't like it...but when I hide it he eats it without noticing).  Wa ha ha haaaa...  Okay, so for my ingredients.
Pasta Salad


Rotini Pasta, cooked according to package directions, rinsed in cold water
Italian dressing
Pepperoni, quartered
Ham, small chunks
Cheddar cheese, small chunks
Frozen peas
Red pepper, diced
Broccoli, cut in small pieces
Cauliflower, cut in small pieces
Can of white corn, drained
Zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced

Mix all together and pour at least 1/2 the bottle of dressing over the mixture or more to desired wetness and taste.  Enjoy!

Pink Ruffles

I put this one together a couple of days ago, but finally pinned down my husband to take a picture.  I'm missing some close neighbors to use as models.  (Anyone interested?)

The girly-ness of this apron is very apparent and I love it.  It really can't get much frillier!

Satin Flower Headband

I love these flowers!  You can see how to make them using this tutorial for ribbon flowers.  In our church group I am with the teenage girls and this week was dedicated to flower making.  I was very excited to help them learn how to make felt flowers and the ribbon flowers.  I completely forgot my camera at the activity, otherwise I would show off their creations as well.  They did an awesome job!

I made this flower and then simply hot-glued it onto a little headband.  Wallah!  I really like it, especially with the contrasting headband color to flower color.  You can buy a 5-pack of headbands for a couple dollars and then glue all kinds of flowers onto them.  Have fun!

HeLa Book Review and Homemade Oreo Cookies

So today I'm giving you a book and cookies to munch on while reading!  I'm positive you'll enjoy both.

So for the book.  "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" is so well written!  The author, Rebecca Skloot, is an award winning science writer.  The book talks about HeLa cells that are all over the whole world in different scientific labs.

I had no idea what they were before reading this.  Basically, all of our cells cannot survive forever (I mean forever) if grown outside of our body.  But Henrietta's cells, taken from her cancerous growth in the 1950's, did keep growing.  That was an era where doctors didn't have to ask to use patients or their tissues, etc for research.  The book chronicles the life of Henrietta, the doctors, her family, the science field, and the HeLa cells.  Rebecca Skloot makes the story chronological and finally gives Henrietta the recognition that she deserves.  Rebecca was able to write this book because of her long relationship developed with Henrietta's daughter, Deborah.  It is respectful, it is hard, it is enlightening, and it is incredible what the science field has done.

Deborah and family were most concerned that they never saw any money from their mother's cells.  Mostly, Deborah wanted the future generations to get an education.  Rebecca Skloot has established a scholarship fund for the descendants of Henrietta Lacks.

I thought is was amazing to see a list of things that HeLa cells have aided in development.  For your own enjoyment, here's a short list:
Polio Vaccine
Cell's reaction in Space
Hybrid Research with plants
Cloning research
Human Gene Mapping leading to down syndrome and klinefelter syndrome, etc discoveries
Successful Transportation of cells
The way Herpes, Measles, Mumps, Fowl Pox, Equine Encephalitis viruses attack cells
How to freeze cells without harming or changing them
Radiation/Nuclear Bomb study
Study of Pressure's influence on cells
Steriods
Chemotherapy drugs
Hormones
Vitamins
Environmental stress
Tuberculosis
Salmonella
Other Bacteria
Hemorrhagic Fever
And the list goes on...

So again, I recommend this book.  I really couldn't put it down.  It doesn't have intense science language or is hard to understand, it's written for everyone.  I think it's an important read because the content relates to us now; the scientific world as we know it is largely due to Henrietta.

You'll have to let me know what you think.  Enjoy.

And for some cookies!  I remember my mom making these for an elementary school bike ride with our class.  The class rode by my house where my mom served them out for everyone.  Sweet and delicious and you better have some milk close by.
Homemade Oreo Cookies
from Mama Melanie

COOKIES:
2 boxes Devil's Food Cake
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup Crisco

FROSTING:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cookie ingredients together until blended.  Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake about 9 minutes.  Let cool on the cookie sheet and then transfer to rack.

Mix frosting ingredients together and beat until well combined and smooth.  I find that beating for at about 5 minutes makes a better frosting - letting the powdered sugar really combine with the other ingredients.  Once cookies are completely cool, spread frosting on the bottom of one and sandwich the bottom of another (same size cookie) on top.

Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Open

It's for real.  I have the first thing listed in my etsy store.  For those who have done this, please send me any tips that you can think of!  I am feeling very new to this.  I had planned on more to be up, but the last 2 days my machine is being mean.  Right now I'm ready to throw in the towel and get a new one, but we'll see.

As soon as I get my machine going, I have some quilts from the past to show you.  One of them is a home-made batik quilt from high school and a family quilt with picture transfers on it.  It's kind-of fun to revisit projects that took a lot of time and love to create, even if it was from a while ago.

Little Girl Ruffle Apron

I love these ruffle aprons!  Seriously, can it get much cuter!!  Recently you can see this one I made for my friend in an orange theme.  In that post, there is a link to other past ruffle aprons, if you're interested.

I couldn't resist this adorable ladybug fabric.  And what better than to make a sweet little girl's apron.  It really would be cute as a skirt, but I'm sticking to aprons for now.  I wrapped the long strings around back, front, and then tied in back.  I like the look of the contrasting ties to the front of the apron.

Just FYI - this will be available in my future etsy shop.  Any color request to personalize the order is welcomed.  Won't this be fun!?  I think so.

Would you buy this?  (I really want to know).  And if not, what could I do differently?  Thanks for the feedback. 

A Little View of the Day

Today has been an apron day!  I have 9 aprons in the works by the end of tonight and here's a few pictures to wet your appetite.  I have some more ironing to do to prepare for sewing tomorrow.  I did a lot of cutting and planning today.  Here's to a happy Tuesday night!


Selling News!

This is an exciting post to give you!  I'm doing it, I'm making my own Etsy shop.  It will be up and running on Friday.  It will be simple at first, but I'm excited to see where it goes.  Look forward to the weekend!


(image from Etsy.com)

Happy Birthday Self!

Yes, I've been MIA.  I have good reasons...although they really sound just like excuses.

1) My little buddy started preschool this past week.  We got the picture on the front porch with the sign saying "Preschool 2010."  So cute.  I dropped him off and felt the crying emotion building, but I held it in.  He was going to be okay...and he was.  I left him at school where he knew no one and he came away with a new friend.  This is going to be great!  So we're getting used to a new schedule around here.  Tomorrow marks another day of preschool and little girl starting dancing school.  She is SO excited for ballet.  2-year-olds in leotards cannot get much cuter.  I'm looking forward to taking pictures.

2) My parents were in town last weekend and my sister was in town this weekend.  The later was a surprise.  My bday was yesterday and she decided to come in and join me for the celebration.  I turned 27 - the age I remember my mom turning, the age she's stuck at in my head.  Does your mom have an age in your head, too?

P.S. I had a blast, Nan!  I'm so glad we garage-saled for my bday and we found those halloween costumes for the kids ($5)...and $1 scrapbook paper for you!

3) I'm finally really excited for our house.  When we made the offer and then we had it, we gave them money, and looked at each other...aaahh!  Wow.  We're going to be settled.  I'm very excited.  We are always talking about it now.

4) Honestly I've been hooked to the summer show finales that have been happening.  ie. Psych, Burn Notice, White Collar, and my new favorite Covert Affairs.  Being a lazy bum in the evening seemed easier than sewing...no excuses!  How about you guys, any favorite shows out there?

And I guess that's it.  To make up for it, here's some exciting things:

I got a new camera!  I am so in love right now.  No, I haven't kissed it, but I check on it every so often, just to make sure it's safe and feels loved.  It is a Sony NEX-3.  It has the body of a point-and-shoot but the lens of a DSLR.  So I get crisp pictures with a small body.  There are a billion settings on it too, so I'm having fun reading the manual.  Like I already didn't take enough pictures.  Thank you everyone for birthday money!

I love how this camera shoots food.  Clean pictures.  My sis and I braved an Indian Restaurant Channai Masala and it was excellent.  It is really authentic Indian, so if you're in the mood for it, I would definitely recommend the lunch buffet.

1950's Better Homes Magazine to Wall Art

I was so excited to find this magazine in a "junk and stuff store" that we drove by on the way to Cannon Beach this last weekend.  I will be returning to that one again.  It is packed with lots of good stuff.  I paid 70 cents for this puppy and I'm excited about my new wall art.  There is lots more in there with good potential!
(one background looks grayer than the other...that is not the case, just lighting)

This is what I started with.  The magazine is so funny!  It says things like, "Linoleum laughs at muddy feet," you can completely furnish a living room with "$625.73," and "music in the dining room-why not?"  It's a fun read-through.

A House Buying Week

It has been quite the last week!  But the big news is that my husband and I are buying a house!  It is a new home and the closing date is December 31st.

The fun part about this is that we get to choose the different flooring, countertops, fixtures, colors, etc inside the house.  I've been super giddy about everything.  It a nice sized home of 2500 sq ft, so it's a home we'll be in for quite a while.  I'm planning on setting everything up like we'll live there forever, but then I'll be okay if we decide to move somewhere else in 10ish years.

I just can't wait to see it all put together!

Anyway, I had no idea all the billions of people that you have to talk to and arrange things.  Agents, loans, insurance, flooring people, and design center.  This list might seem short, but there are so many decisions for each of these things.  Deciding to buy a house is HUGE.  We really are going to be settled.  I am excited for this new adventure.

For now, you have me back.  My brain is now clear since everything is figured out now.  I have some fun things in mind for this week.  :)
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