Minion Goggles!

I LOVE MINIONS. I'm not sure why besides the fact that they're cute... and I find them hilarious.  :oP

This is a clip of Carl doing his BEE-DO.  CRACKS me up.

Anyway, I found out you can print out your very own minion goggles!!!  :D  Now you're all ready to be a minion geek.  However, don't goggle and drive.

 

You can download the original PDFs here.

Modeled by yours truly.  If you love the minions, are single and female... my tip is... find a man who will wear minion goggles with you.  :)

 

Here is another clip of them singing the banana song... which cracks me up as well.  :D

 

 I think I giggle like a 5 year old when I watch this. 

 

Despicable Me 2 is coming out next week, July 3!  Are you going to watch it?

                               

Another whirl in DC

Had a work trip to DC early June for our annual convention!  For a staff of 9 + 2 interns and an events coordinator - it was a smashing event with 250+ attendees!  We pulled some really long days starting at 7am EASTERN TIME (ohmygoodness that is early), plenaries and workshops through 5:30pm,  some kind of reception through the evening, and after parties - so I often didn't get back to the hotel until like 10pm!

Here are some mostly non-work related pics.  :)

 

Full day meeting on a Sunday!

Thomas Circle Plaza from the rooftop of the Donovan Hotel

Our biggest bigshot speaker, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan!

Immigrant rally on the Capitol Lawn

 

That is all to say... I survived our annual convention!  :)  It was a lot of hard work for all our staff, but I think it went well and people really enjoyed it.  I was told they were at one time hosted in Hawaii... but no one showed up to the workshops.  haha.

 

Does your work have conventions or do you go to them for work?  Aren't west coast to east coast mornings the worst?

                                           

Anniversary Adventuring Part II

Anniversary Adventuring Part II: Dinner @ Osteria Coppa

See Part I here!

We had dinner on the night of our actual anniversary at Osteria Coppa in downtown San Mateo.  We've walked by it at night before and it always looked so fancy pants and nice!  So we decided to splurge for our anniversary meal!

Top: Margherita Pizza

Bottom: Raviolo - Ricotta Cheese, Farm Egg, Brown Butter (left), Tagliatelle Bolognese (right)

 

 

The Margherita Pizza was quite delicious.  Super thin crust. 

The Raviolo was unique, but not that awesome (to us).  As you can see, it's one giant ravioli that's filled with ricotta cheese and runny egg in the middle, with brown butter sauce.  Tim actually ordered this one but we ended up swapping since he doesn't like runny eggs.  The ricotta cheese was too much for and the brown butter sauce was way too rich.  :( 

The Bolognese was quite tasty, but nothing to rave about. 

 

All in all, it was a fun experience but sad to say, I don't know that we want to go back.  It does say that many of the dishes are meant to be shared -- so maybe it wasn't meant for one person to eat that whole ravioli and we were doing it all wrong.  {shrug}  But I want to love my food at $18-20/entrée for pasta!  The service was also meh.  The server had a few tables but even when it wasn't that busy he didn't pay much attention to us - always sweeping by.  However, I think it's worth trying at least once.  They also do lunch on weekdays (only weekdays!) that would be a great way to give them a try at a very affordable price.  (Though I think it's sandwiches and not these pasta dishes.  Check their website!)

 

Have you been to Osteria Coppa?  Did you love it?

                                                    

Anniversary Adventuring Part I

Time sure flies!  I can't believe it's been THREE years since we got married.  :)  Our anniversary was end of May but it's been a little busy.  :]

We did some local adventuring since I had a work trip to DC two days after our anniversary, and Memorial Day weekend travel/lodging is so expensive!


Anniversary Adventuring Part I: Pacifica

Pacifica is suuuper close to us but I've (and definitely never Tim) really explored it much.  Not that there is a whole lot to explore... but we got coffee, a hike with a view, and BBQ - what more can you ask for?  :)

First stop - P-Town Coffee!  Recommended by Joe from our small group who lives in Pacifica.  :)  We got a bagel (with way too much cream cheese, but who complains about too much cream cheese) and a coffee for me.  And who doesn't like a train caboose that serves coffee??

 

Pacifica also boasts having a Taco Bell with the best view!  It was indeed a pretty snazzy Taco Bell and I finally got to try a Doritos taco!  We were planning on having better food for lunch, so I only got one.  The nacho cheese didn't taste too unique with the taco.  I will have to try the Cooler Ranch one next time!

 

We hiked Mori Point!  Who knew there was a trail there!  There was a "short route" (if you park by the Moose Lodge), but we took the long route which involved hiking up a very, very steep hill thing.  -_-"

Gorilla BBQ!  Also recommended by Joe --- it was a long line and no seats, so we took it home!  Which was just as well since it started to drizzle/rain.  It was pretty tasty!  The BBQ sauce was a bit too tangy for us, but Tim added some honey and it was magically delicious.

Tim's card for me  :)

This is a terrible picture of the leather Bible he got me!  Since the traditional gift for one's third anniversary is leather.  <3

 

I got him a role playing mat for his table top games (it's got a grid on it and you can draw on it) and a keyboard volume control pedal!  The role playing mat is supposed to be the "leather-like" present.  haha.

 

My cousin sent us a happy anniversary card!  Isn't that cute??  :D  And she even sent a random piece of leather (upper right pic).  HAHAHA.  :)

 

Stay tuned for anniversary adventuring part II!  Or dinner.  On our anniversary.  :)

 

 

Lord of the Rings Inspired Graduation Gifts

My one and only cousin (yes, I only have one!) graduated from college last month!  :)  I made her a two-colored puffy ribbon lei, just like the one I made my brother, but in her school colors.  Turns out Michael's doesn't have a maroon colored ribbon in the same texture/size as the yellow, 50 cents a spool for 3 yards kind.  It was slightly wide, half sheer (WHAT, WHY?!) and $1.50 a spool for like 1.5 yards.  MADNESS.  Which is why I spaced it out the way I did.  I think it turned out okay.  :)

 

And apparently it is not the thing to wear leis at graduations in Minnesota... so she didn't even wear it afterwards!  Though she did bring it and took pictures for OUR SAKES... but... still.   {sniffles}  My mom made her the other spiral lei.

 

My cousin and her mum!

 

For instructions on how to make the puffy ribbon lei, visit Penga's blog and see here for tips from me!

 

 

 My cousin is a huuuuuuge Lord of the Rings buff!  Like seriously, knows all the lines and watches the extended versions of the movie for fun.  Multiple times.  haha.  So while this is sort of Hobbit-y, it's kind of all the same to me.  :)  So I made her a card of Bilbo's house!  I was inspired by this on Pinterest.

 

I don't really have instructions or a tutorial since... I just made everything by hand!  I used the one I saw on Pinterest as a guide, especially since the only thing I knew was that Bilbo has a round door for his house.  I freehand cut the door parts/layers and grass.  The flowers were made with a paper punch I got from Daiso.  :)  Tim helped me draw the woodgrain on the door.  I would've liked to include a fence (as in the one Pinterest had) but I felt like it would've covered up my door too much.  And it would've been more intricate cutting I didn't want to do.  :oP

On the inside... I used a Hobbit-esque font!  It's actually called Bilbo Hand from dafont.com.  On the left I wrote a message and on the right, Tim helped me find this graduation-relevant LOTR quote!  It says:

 

"It's a dangerous business Sharon

Going out your door

You step onto the road

And if you don't keep your feet

There's no knowing

Where you might be swept off to."

On the back I put "Condon Productions" since it was a joint effort.  :)

I couldn't find an envelope big enough for the card, so I just used a brown paper bag I had.  It fit perfectly, actually.  :]

Sealed it up with an owl sticker!

 

I got her this LOTR-inspired "Prince and Lady of Ithilien" necklace from Etsy since Éowyn is her favorite character, I think.  :)  And of course, there was also a monetary gift since... those are the best, right?  ;)

 

 

 Do you ever do themed gifts?  What was your favorite graduation present?