hurricane irene!

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I've never been in a hurricane before.

                                                       

nidhi

Been busy with the in-laws visiting in town!

In the meantime, I'll share something from my mental blog queue.  I think I stumbled upon Nidhi's art stuff just surfing on Etsy and I've been blown. away. by. the. awesomeness.  :-D  Extra 5,000 points is that she's from San Francisco!

"Don't Go" (Source)

This is possibly my favoritest of her pieces even though it's not colored because this is me and Tim every Friday morning (which I have off). :D   AND... they even look like us!  This is definitely going on the birthday present list.

"Pandas"  (Source)

Rolly polly cute pandas.  Need I say more?

You can find more of her amazing work HERE on Etsy.  I'll probably pick out a few other pieces I love and post about them next time I get the chance to blog.  I love that many of the couples are multi-racial.  :) 

My brother and cousin are coming to visit... the day after my in-laws leave.  :-D  I'm really looking forward to it but Tim and I will probably be quite exhausted in terms of having guests in our 1BR apartment and running around the City!
                                   

Also, a belated (it was yesterday) happy birthday to the bestest husband in the world!  :-D

                                  

cityscape

Found some really cool typographic bowls/tumblers at Target for SF and NYC!  I'll have to get 'em off my camera sometime.  But in the meantime, I found these on Target.com.  How cool are they?!  I happen to love cityscapes and skylines a lot, so I think they're extra awesome.  :-D

Cityscape Pillo - Dude, just $10!  (Source)

 Cityscape Shower Curtain - $15 (Source)

I might lobby for the pillow if I saw it in-store but at the same time, it wouldn't be a very need-based purchase!  (Trying not to buy things we don't need?  A good life philosophy.)

                                                        

baby love

I sometimes think I studied the wrong kind of "planning" in school cause party planning is just too. much. fun!  :-D  Themes, color schemes, snacks and drinks, games and presents!  I don't think anyone who would know about this read this blog so I think I can safely say that me and a friend are in the works of planning a surprise baby shower!  The shower will be in October so there is still a bit of time between now and then.

We are thinking of going the Evite route since most of the guests will be young and computer savvy, and this will save a few bucks.  They had one or two cute baby shower designs for girls but I wanted something that would tie in with our theme of pink, brown, and white polka dots!  :-D  I've been working on a simple design and I will share when it is finished!

But in the mean time I went browsing on minted.com and this one just popped out at me off the screen and hugged me:

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I kinda just love it a lot  :]  It's also just so HAPPY.  I like that's it bright, cheery, and really pretty gender neutral.  In fact, I can even see it as a wedding invite!  I love how the bubbles of love are crowding each other because there is just so much love.  :-D
                               

micke desk

Tim thinks I need a desk.  I use the dining table as my desk.  :]

Perhaps this one would be suitable!

Ikea Micke Desk - white/orange (Source)

Kinda modernly artsy fartsy.

                                             

icebox cookies

Had lots of various things I was going to blog about.  But laziness has set in, so you get to see the cutest icebox cookies ever!  That I did not make but feel... if I put my mind and effort to it could accomplish such a baking feat.  :]

According to WiseGeek, icebox cookies are:

"Icebox cookies are cookies which are made from a dough which has been refrigerated or frozen, typically in a log shape. Although many people may associate these cookies with logs of frozen dough in supermarkets, there are a number of home icebox cookie recipes as well. The freezing or cooling makes the dough stiffer, and ideally suited to slicing into thin rounds for baking. There are numerous ways to make icebox cookies, and if you want unusually patterned cookies like pinwheels and checkerboard cookies, a refrigerated dough recipe is the way to go."

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I stumbled across this more adorable lion icebookx cookie on CutestFood.com and after a quick Google search (because cutestfood.com annoyingly doesn't link to original posts), found my way to the original post on Diamonds for Dessert:

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She has these super simple but cute drawings that explain the techniques!  (Source)

You can make Domo cookies!  (Source)

Penguin cookies!  (Source)

Turtles!  (Source)

The turtle ones make me think of green tea cookies.  Mmmmm.  So my baking adventures still involves a box.  :oP  Yesterday I made some Double Chocolate Chip cookies courtesy of dear Abby's recipe.  (Dear Abby, get it?  haha)

-1 box Devil’s Food cake mix (Betty Crocker brand)
-1 stick of butter, softened
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-1 cup chocolate chips

-Cream the butter with half of the cake mix
-Add the vanilla and eggs
-Add the rest of the cake mix and chocolate chips
-Drop spoonfuls of batter onto baking sheets
-Bake at 350 for 10-12 min

Super quick and easy, and the cookies come out thick and soft!  :-D  You can also jazz them up by adding toffee bits, macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips, etc.
                                                

PSSA: Sanuk yoga mat flip flops

Unlike most ladies in the universe, I don't enjoy shoe shopping very much. I like shoes but shopping for them is a huge pain since I have wide feet and only a narrow selection of shoes fit my feet (haha, get it?) :oP Even for running shoes, I really only find Nike and New Balance comfortable. Imagine the difficulties of finding a comfy pair of flats or heels! Maybe it's my feet or just my shoe-discomfort-tolerence level... but I've never owned a comfortable pair of flip flops (that I could withstand walking long distances with). Until now.

A couple weeks ago, Amanda of Kevin [&] Amanda posted about her five favorite summer things.  Number one was Sanuk Yoga Mat Flip Flops.

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I was intrigued. Flip flops with a footbed made from yoga mats. I had contemplated getting some Rainbows since people seem to swear by them and wear them like comfy shoes. But shelling out ~$45 for a pair of flip flops (considering I did not consider myself even remotely a flip flop person) seemed like a lot.

After a quick search online showed these Sanuk flip flops to be about ~$23 ($20-25 depending on color, retails $30) and reading some reviews, I decided to give them a try since I cannot walk with Old Navy ones for more than like 8 minutes (they hurt!) and a more sturdy pair from Target, the footbed was rather not soft.

I found them cheapest on Amazon (esp if you have Prime's free 2-day shipping) and ordered a pair of Sanuk Women's Yoga Mat Flip Flop in brown.  Brown because it was 1) a trial run with a shoe I was ordering online (this has resulted in uncomfortable purchases before), 2) brown was slightly cheaper than the black pair and the top of the straps looked dark enough to be wardrobe compatible.

In Brown!  (Source)

I LOVE THEM.  They don't hurt my feet for the mile walk to the train station!  (Though I've recently developed a small blistering feeling -- it's not one though -- under my right foot on my return walk home, but that's probably just me and not a problem with the flip flop.  Especially since it's only on the right foot.)  After two days of owning them, I sent my mom a pair and she loves them too!  They will probably be everyone's birthday/Christmas present this year.  :oP  They have a men's version which they call Beer Cozy. haha.  I'm sure it's the same material but more manly sounding.  :oP

A note on the size.  They don't come in half sizes.  I'm normally a 7.5 so I decided to order a size 8, since that's what I've been doing for other flip flop purchases and I would've hated for my toes to hang out or touch the ground when walking!  The size 8's are fine and dandy but sometimes there is some excess flip-flop at the top (too long).  (By sometimes I mean if my foot isn't pushed all the way in the "thong" part.)  Next time I might try a size 7.

Sanuk also has other "models" in their yoga mat line.  The strap on the one I've been talking about, the "classic," is kind of thick.  Probably more comfortable but maybe not as delicately pretty for "going out in a pretty dress" (or something).  You can check out all their other kinds of yoga mat flip flops here.  The brand as a whole also makes other non-flip-flop material sandals and "sidewalk surfers" which look like cloth loafers?  Shoelace-less cloth Keds?  I don't know, you can check it out yourself.  :]

Have you tried Sanuk yoga mat flip flops?  Are you going to now?  :D  If you do, let me know how you like them!


Disclaimer: Sanuk has no idea who I am and I just wanted to preach some magical flip flop goodness!  Especially for anyone like me who have yet (until now) to find a pair of comfy flip flops.