happy birthday to me

Wow. I am 48 years old today. It's been a great week - my sister, her husband and I started the 'birthday week' tradition many years ago. Basically, it's like Hanukkah, celebrating 7 days of your birthday. You get a present each day, starting out with something small like a candy bar or bookmark, and working your way up to the big present on your birthday. So far I've received an Iowa Hawkeye pencil cup, Iowa Hawkeye socks, the 'Caddyshack' DVD, a flexible little tripod for my cameras, and flash drive for the computer and windshield wiper blades for the car. I wonder what tonight will bring?

My brother John surprised me with a package yesterday - a great selection of Will Ferrell DVDs and a book on design basics. Very, very cool!

Unfortunately, to put a damper on the week, I have spent the better part of the last couple of days at home with a sick little dog. Bailey apparently got into something on a walk the other day that was either poisonous or highly allergic. In any case, her entire face blew up like a balloon from Thursday night to Friday morning and she vomited quite a bit on Thursday and Friday. This morning I made her the hamburger and brown rice bland diet that the vet always recommends and she has managed to keep three very small meals down so far. Thankfully, other than the upset stomach, she is completely fine - drinking and playing normally...

Well, dear readers, as I am now another year closer to being a senior citizen, LOL, I think I will indulge myself with a little nap before the family heads out to dinner at Applebee's (love that place).

{PS: Day 7's present was a gift certificate to my favorite salon / spa!}

Is it just me, or does this season of 'American Idol' suck? I've been sitting here watching the first 40 minutes and I am honestly searching for something else to watch! I know we're not down to the finalists yet, but good lord, these guys are terrible. Maybe they are saving the best for later in the show... Perhaps I'll stick it out.

In other news, well, there's not much going on. I had the day off and could not get motivated to do a thing! Hey, 'Top Chef' is on...

The votes are in! I polled some of my peeps and here are the results:

Yes, leave the music = 3
> Shanda and Rachelle said, "It's yours & you should be able to customize it the way you want to. It's also nice to know a little more about you, music says a lot about a person.

No music, please = 3
> The main reason why people didn't want the music was that they were already listening to their own music while surfing the web.

John, you may be right from a design perspective, but the music stays for now. Besides, who doesn't love a little Madonna, mixed with Fall Out Boy, mixed with Rihanna and Christina? I promise I'll keep the playlist fresh!

I need your opinion! After changing my blog layout and adding music, my brother John (the artist) said:

"My God, you turned it into a big MySpace page! The visual design is alright, but I'd lose the music. I love Madonna and all, but people tend to become annoyed when they navigate to a page and music unexpectedly plays at them (at least I do). Just a suggestion."

So, music or no music? Leave me a comment and let me know. Thanks!

By the way, the piece of advice that little brother gave me that I will carry with me was "A good designer understands that just because they can doesn't mean they should."

And just to give John some exposure, here's a link to his blog:

http://jmpetersen.blogspot.com/

Like the new blog layout? My friend Rachelle pointed me in the direction of a great website - www.thecutestblogontheblock.com . It's super-easy to use and I just fell in love with this layout (for now); I love the pink and black combination. All you do is copy and paste HTML codes into the 'add a gadget section' of the 'customize' your layout part of the dashboard here on Blogger. While I was at it, I added music from www.playlist.com . Snazzy, huh?

Today is a "don't get dressed day" and I want to get busy making some art, but the day is slipping away from me so I'd better get going... More later!

Well, it's been over a month since I've posted. Not the best blogger, I know. I guess I've been in one of those dead-of-winter-not-much-going-on funks... Seriously, it's been just a month of work, eat and sleep; no crafting, no going out, no nothing! But, now that we've had some glimmers of 40-degree weather and the worst holiday of the year (Valentine's Day) is over, I am sure I'll be snapping out of it. Hey, on the bright side, Mardi Gras is right around the corner. I don't think I'll have time to make a traditional King Cake this year, so I've decided to do it the 'monkey bread way':

MONKEY BREAD:

4 cans buttermilk biscuits

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1-1/4 stick butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 large plastic bag

Preheat oven to 350F. Separate biscuits and cut into quarters. Roll quarters into balls. Mix 2/3-cup sugar and 1-tsp cinnamon in plastic bag. Shake biscuit rolls in the plastic bag until evenly coated. Place biscuit rolls in Bundt pan (or shape into an "O" on cookie sheet). Pour extra sugar mixture left over from bag on top. Mix brown sugar, butter, and 1-tsp cinnamon in saucepan. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over biscuits. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

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TO MAKE THIS INTO A KING CAKE, YOU'LL NEED PURPLE, GREEN & GOLD COLORED SUGAR AND A 1" PLASTIC BABY DOLL. When the cake is done, alternate the three colored sugars around your cake. Make the first section purple, second section green, and the third section gold, repeating until the entire cake has about 3 sections of each color. Before you cut your cake, place the baby in one of the pieces where the person eating the cake can easily discover it.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!