What's in a dress?

So my husband's company is having their "holiday" party this weekend. It's at the Top of the Hub in Boston, and it sounds like a good time. Unfortunately, it's "semi-formal" attire, and I have very few dresses to pick from and that look good on me. I have this dress from about three years ago that I was supposed to wear to this same party, but the party got cancelled or something. My worry, though, is it too formal for semi-formal? It's black but comes down to my knees and has a cream colored "opening" in the back. Otherwise it's pretty understated. I guess my worry is if it's too long for the occasion. Although my belief has always been it's better to be overdressed than underdressed. I'll post the quick pictures I took of the dress and I would love your opinions (although quite honestly I'm not sure I have any other option other than this pink/mauve kind of dress that makes me look super pale).

Happy Knit Year!

So I've been knitting up a storm recently. I managed to knit my family some scarves, although I don't expect them to wear them. I just did it as a fun project really.

This first scarf was for my sister-in-law. It's a skinny scarf knitted out of cotton. I realized how unforgiving cotton was once I was done with it. It definitely doesn't hide any mistakes.


I knitted three of these scarves. One for my mom (hi, mom, I know you found this through Lisa's site :) ) one for my grandmother, and one for my mother in law. It uses some Lion Brand Homespun ( a yarn I realize I don't like) and some suede yarn as well as a fun fur. It was fun to experiment with, and it's cool if people don't actually wear it.



This next scarf was knit with Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick. I made two of these, one for my dad and one for my brother. They were quick to knit, but weaving in the ends from all the stripes took almost the same amount of time.



This "Flower Pot" purse I knit and felted for Lisa. I also knit a little flower to go on it. It probably should be lined inside, but I haven't figured out how to do that by hand yet (I don't have a sewing machine). This was really fun to knit, although I'm not sure it's really practical for Lisa. Ha! Oh well, she can hang it on a door knob or something. :)



Once I told my mom that I was knitting a felted bag for Lisa, she said she wanted one too. So I knit this blue one really quickly for her. I think I would have liked to do a different design, but I was sort of crunched for time. My mom said she lined it with some fabric and put a velcro closure inside. I'm interested in seeing how it turned out.






I knitted this fingerless glove with some leftover yarn. I call it my computer glove because it keeps my "mouse hand" warm.



I'm knitting this scarf right now that has a really cool cross hatch design. The picture I took is blurry though, but you get the idea.
I'm also knitting a wrap around sweater with some really cool boucle my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. I ran out of the yarn though and I'm having a touhg time finding the same color.

So when I was talking with my mom about what she was doing with the purse I made, she said she thinks I should make my own purses and sell them. I think that would be really fun, but I would have to come up with my own designs since these are patterns that I followed and therefore copyrighted. So although I wouldn't just start this tomorrow, I think it would be something interesting to try. I've been visiting this website called Craftster
which is now my favorite site ever. Anyways, I found that people haven't had much success selling things on Ebay (and I did a little research myself without much luck either), but I did find this awesome site called Etsy. It seems much less expensive than Ebay. Anyway, I know my brother could design a cool logo or something, and I can also get cheap business cards if need be. Plus I could just get the word out. Anyway, just thoughts going through my head. What do you think?

Numbers Meme

Saw this surfing the net. I was bored so I thought I would do it. Hope some of my friends choose to do it as well. I would love to read their answers.

The Numbers Meme

TEN random things you might not know about me:

1. I get annoyed when the cashier bags my stuff before running my credit card.
2. I am allergic to dogs.
3. I have tactile issues.
4. I always smell something before I taste it.
5. I would love to have a breast reduction.
6. I sleep in the nude.
7. I am against capital punishment.
8. One of my favorite smells is a wood stove.
9. I talk to myself sometimes when I'm in the shower.
10. I think David Letterman is sexy.

NINE places I’ve visited:

1. Ground Zero, New York
   
2. Disney World
   
3. Antigua
   
4. Seattle, Washington
   
5. Many places in New Brunswick, Cananda
   
6. Quebec City
   
7. Montreal
8. Toronto
9. Las Vegas
   

EIGHT ways to win my heart:

1. Be very witty
   
2. Be very candid
   
3. Be honest and sincere
   
4. Be enthusiastic
5. Love drinking coffee and coffeeshops
   
6. Love lying around and talking
   
7. Make me feel like a princess
   
8. Sing, play a musical instrument, or write
   

SEVEN things I want to do before I die:

1. Visit Australia
2. Have two children
   
3. Give my parents grandchildren before they die
   
4. Live in another country
   
5. Meet someone famous
   
6. Make a difference in someone's life
7. Take time off from my life to do something for charity
   

SIX things I’m afraid of:

1. Bees
2. Things that feel weird
3. Heights
4. Getting in a car accident
5. Losing my husband
6. The world never finding peace
   

FIVE things I don't like:

1. Peanuts
2. Guns
3. War
4. Lindsey Lohan
   
5. Britney Spears
   

FOUR ways to turn me off:

1. Be completely self centered
   
2. Laugh at those less fortunate
   
3. Drink and drive
   
4. Smell really awful
   

THREE Things I do every day:

1. Surf on the net
   
2. Drink coffee
   
3. Knit

TWO things that make me happy:

1. My husband
   
2. My cats
   

ONE thing on my mind right now: Will anyone actually read this?

Day Two of Blogging

I'm posting in consecutive days. Woohoo! It's snowing here and I'll try to take some good pictures. It's awesome to live amongst the trees now because it looks so beautiful. I always love the first snow fall.


I wanted to point out this man's christmas lights display. Only a computer geek would take that much time to do something that intricate. It's pretty amazing though. Here's a link to the story behind the house and how it works. And sadly here's the link to the story of him being forced to shut it down.

What the fresh hell is this?!

Can you believe I'm about to post twice in the same day? I know I know, things can't get any better.

Anyway, I was thinking. Throughout the year I always think of things I would love to receive as a gift, yet when I'm asked to make my yearly Christmas list nothing comes to me. Now I don't need anything, and quite honestly now that I'm 30 I shouldn't really expect much. But nonetheless, my parents wanted a list and it took me a good two weeks coming up with something.

So here is my suggestion. I'm gonna post mine in the hopes that maybe others have this same issue and upon seeing mine will get some ideas for their own. THEN, they can post theirs in the hopes that I will be inspired by them. Kinda like a pay it forward thing, but with less charity.

Of course I have a very limited amount of readers (probably about oh... zero,) but I'll do this anyway if for nothing else to humor myself.

Heidi Ellis's Christmas List 2005

Dell DJ Generation 1 car charger (I tend to only listen to my DJ in the car so this is pretty crucial)

Cavallaro B Single w/ Pocket and strap ( Most won't know what this is or care to have one, but it is an outer flute case and you can find it at www.fluteworld.com )

Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely perfume

Gap Curvy jeans size 8 (whiskered wash)

Loose-leaf tea in berry, spice, or peppermint flavors ( I recieved this really cool tea pot last Christmas but I have no teas to put in it)

Yarn and knitting supplies or a gift certificate ( I have become a knitting fanatic and have so many patterns I want to knit. I'll eventually post my projects, but right now some are gifts.)

Stitch & Bitch “The Knitter’s Handbook” (Again, the knitting...)

Crate & Barrel “Dune” silverware and serving set (to add to our silverware)

Cat beds that attach to the windowsill ( Although now I've found out that my cats may be too "big boned" for this lovely feature so this might only be good for the waif-like cats)

Mellamine mixing bowls (colorful bowls, but my chemical engineering husband told me they are not microwave safe unless I like to burn my hands. Which I don't.)

Home Depot gift certificates (New house needs lots of updating)

Old Navy gift certificates

NY & Company gift certificate

Home Goods gift certificate

Victoria’s Secret gift certificate

KMS molding paste hair product (This stuff works great but is quite expensive)

Chinois with pestle (This is great for making apple sauce, yet I know it's cheaper some where other than Wilimas Sonoma. Hello? $84? Uhh yea. No. And why is it called "chinois" which means Chinese in French?)

Memory foam slippers size 8 or 8 ½ (I saw these at Linens N’ Things and they look so comfy)

Pajama bottoms (preferably flannel) at Old Navy

Yea so that's my pretty lame list. I'm pretty certain it will not be much of an inspiration to many, but I thought I would try.

The Usual Update Post

Hello again.

Time to come back from my few months off of posting to do one all-consuming update post. Blah. Oh well, I'll try to post more but I doubt I will. Just like I'm bad with email, I'm bad with posting. I often think of stuff to post, but I'm usually in the shower or the car and that doesn't allow for much convenience. Such is life.

So here are a couple things I can update you on.

1. Way back in October I turned 30. I wasn't the stereotypical freak out person because honestly I was actually looking forward to it. The 20s were great but sometimes challenging and tumultuous times, so I'm ready for a new decade. The only thing I find quite disturbing is I still feel like a kid sometimes or at least a young adult. And well... I'm not. It probably has something to do with me interacting with kids between the ages of 10 and 15 all day. And the trouble with this feeling is that I'm supposed to starting thinking (although I've been technically thinking for 4 years) about having kids, and my mind is still in its young 20s sometimes. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to suck it up at some point and when I do have kids I'll have to go with the flow. Something I'm not very used to doing.

2. Some of you know I have some slight "issues" with Christmas time and traveling between my parents' house and my in-laws. This year my husband was supposed to take care of this and have us go to one place on one day and the other on the next day (we're trying to set it up this way now before we have kids) and unfortunately I've arrived back to the point of traveling between the two houses on BOTH days again. Absolutely ridiculous. I think I might have to go on strike.

3. I've started checking out this blog called Google Video of the Day and I find this specific video both annoying and ridiculously funny.

4. These shirts are frickin' hilarious. I'll try and post some of my favorites.


My favorite is the last one. Too funny.

Ok the amount of time it took to upload those silly pictures was far too draining. That, and the fact that everything I'm typing or clicking is on some 2 second delay. Truly annoying. So I'm gonna leave this for now and will try to post more regularly. If my life gets any more interesting...

Uhhh yea. . . we'll pretend that never happened

So I'm gonna just pretend that I haven't let two months roll by without an update. Why you ask? 'Cuz I gotsta. There is just too much to update people on, and truthfully this is my blog in all its glory and unglory and I'll do whatever I damn well please. Including run-on sentences and general incoherentness. Haha! Freedom!

Ok anyway. . .

It's pretty much craptastic out today. And well . . . it has been for the past three weeks basically. We're caught in some sort of rain/wind/coldness vortex that I sure as hell don't like. We had such gorgeous weather for the whole summer all the way into October, and then BAM! Craptasticness. And the stressful thing about it is I don't know what to wear. I can't fully commit to the sweater yet, but I sure can't wear short sleeves. AND, and, and I bought these great shoes at Payless. (Yes, I shop at payless. Got a problem with BOGO?)

I'll even show you the shoes











So my problem now is wearing these in the rain. Bah, life. Ahh well.

This rain also made our grass grow to about waste deep. And since Mr. Ellis likes to use old jury-rigged lawn mowers, he's the only one who can cut it. So yesterday, I sat him down during a short dry spell and said "Look it's going to rain all the rest of the week, you MUST mow the lawn before neighbors come and demand we move." I felt bad for him, but quite honestly there were moments of dryness where he could have gotten it done. Hopefully it's one of the last times we have to mow it this year.

Hey! Where have you been?!

Hello everyone! Remember me?

So yea, I took a small break from blogging. Not that I was doing a stellar job of it before, but at least I was blogging more than my friend, Laura. But I knew I had to start up again when even she was giving me shit about not blogging enough.

So let's see if I can sum up what's gone on in the past couple months.

Last I left you, I was going camping with Mr. Ellis. He and I had a good time, but unfortunately our type of camping isn't "trailer-ful" enough to really blend in to our campground. We pretty much were one of two tents in a sea of RV's, so needless to say we will not be staying at that campground again. But! We did manage to make a trip to Freeport, ME and go to fabulous outlets where I got many a deal including a cool quilted hammock that is out in my lovely back yard.

After that camping experience we went camping again, but this time at Alexandria Bay in upstate New York (almost Canada) over the 4th of July. We had the best campsite I've ever stayed at. It was on the St. Lawrence river and we camped on a cliff with an area to jump off into the river. Sadly, because of my fear of heights, I did not do that, but Mr. Ellis did. We also went to Boldt Castle on Heart island (which is actually shaped like a heart). Check out the history of the castle, it's a very sad story. Of course, the boys that we went camping with had a competition on who could make the biggest fire, so most nights I spent burning off the first layer of skin on my face from sitting next to a roaring fire. All in all it was a very good time, even though the drive was a bit long.




During my time away, we also got to eat in the .406 club at Fenway and get a tour around the good old park. We were given this priviledge because of my brother's financial advisor. Anyway, I'll include some pictures on the events.




Lisa also graced New England with her presence in July. We went out and about in Boston so she could revisit her old stomping grounds. It was a hot day though, and she and I definitely did not wear appropriate walking apparel, but it was still a lovely day.


And then to the big event of the summer: moving to our new home. I am now officially old. I live in the burbs, I have more than one bedroom, I have a yard, and I can see the stars at night. Ahh well.... I guess life goes on. The moving experience was horrendous though. We moved ourselves and, of course, picked the week that was mid 90's and high humidity. This is a great way to lose weight though, just in case you thought you might try it. Our cats weren't too happy at first, but once they found our screened in porch we can almost never get them to come inside. We also have bird feeders and two bunnies that live in our yard for their enjoyment. Most recently my life has consisted of taking down wallpaper, breaking down walls, putting up sheet rock, sanding, and pretty much living in dust. Very fun. Actually it is quite fun to be so creative with the house and see the results in the end. Although we haven't really gotten to the results yet, just the destruction.

Let's see.... some small things are I highlighted my hair (successfully) with Herbal Essences highlights. It was on sale AND I had a coupon. So bonus all around. I'm also enjoying watching the show Brat Camp. At first I thought it would be ridiculous, but I've enjoyed seeing these kids make strides in becoming more mature and responsible.

I'll have to write my own post about my Honda Element, since there has been quite a discussion about it (and other cars) over on Lisa's blog. I just can't do it right now, since it has taken me an hour and a half to write this along with figuring out Blogger's new way of posting pictures (which I am still on the fence about whether I like it or not).

Pitching a tent

Sorry I haven't updated in so long.

I'll be in a tent this weekend in Maine if you need to find me. And hopefully you don't because the people who happen upon my blog when doing a search, search for words like "candid braless" which is scary. I don't like those people checking out my stuff, so quit it!

I just don't get this

Molester Kept List of Suspected Sex Acts - Yahoo! News

"Police searching the home of a convicted child molester discovered handwritten lists of more than 36,000 children's names — mostly boys — and codes that appear to indicate how he abused them."

"Although police said Schwartzmiller appears to have spent much of the past 30 years in California, he has been arrested on child molestation charges in New York, Arkansas and Washington. He also served prison time in Idaho for child molestation in the late 1970s, and is wanted in Oregon on sexual assault charges involving a minor."

How is a man like this not behind bars forever? This pisses me off. I remember a discussion we had senior year in high school English class about the death penalty. I was the only one in my class that was against it, and even my teacher said "But what about all the child molestors?" Well you wanna know about all the child molestors? There living next door to you! Ugh. 36,000! Disgusting.