the color of our lives

Color of the wall in my current room

I have paint chips picked out. I can't decide if one of the colors is going to be too dark, so I think I'm gonna see if I can get a few of those little samples tomorrow after work. Then I'm gonna go to the house, slap some (neatly) on the walls, and see what I like. I know the color I'm going to have on three of the walls, it's the accent wall I don't know about. I have the accent wall narrowed down to two colors of purple. I would go with a red wall again, but I have a red wall in my bedroom now, and though I love it completely to death, I think, new house, new color.

Things I realized today

I could have a cat!

Or rats! And my rats can have ittle teddys!

I can make my own curtains!

I can make silk flower arrangements!

And since I work at a craft store, I would get discounts of half of this list!

:D

Fresh paint

The change is near, I can see the light and I don't think it's a train! There is an open window, and it's not to throw myself out of but to let the fresh wonderful air of change in. Now I just need to get that job and I'm home free for a while. Hope along with me people! Because either way, I'm gone! (And I really need the money)

And after that:

Guess what I ate last night

I had a piece of Sushi last night. A friend and I went out to Azia in Minneapolis. It was really nice. Great atmosphere, cool building, and really good food. I wasn't that hungry, so I got the cranberry puffs of the starters menu and a glass of red Zinfandel. He got the sushi, and I tried a piece of his. It was a crunchy roll, and I'm not sure what was in it, but I don't think it had any fish. The thing I could taste the most was the sea weed. It was weird, and next time I eat sushi (because now I need to try one with fish), I'll be prepared for it.

It's nice to get out of the house part 2

I went dancing last night! It was much of the fun. Mandy and I went out at like midnight, went to one club, danced for a while, then went to another one and continued. And damn does that girl need some cock blocking! Holy God! First off, this girl is taller than me anyway (not hard when you're 5'2"), and then she was in like 4" heels! So she tall, this, has a large ass, and blond. Of course she's going to get creeped on. Me? Not so much. I am the champion cock blocker. I think she had to move me away from someone once or twice, but who's going to creep on me when I'm standing next to the Amazon. Bitch. Love her to death, but I always forget that going out with her is bad for my self esteem until I get to her house and see her. Anyway, it was fun times, got to dance to some good music, and I'm gonna have to hit up both clubs again some time.

Quilting, and other domesticities

I'm starting a new quilt! I've made 4 already, two that required piecing according to a pattern, and two that were made out of 4" flannel squares sewn together in a pattern. I am now making a log cabin quilt. I have one more round to put on all the squares (the last light and the last dark), and then I will be done making the squares. The I need to square them up, and sew them together. The comes bored #1 and border #2, then backing and batting, binding, and finally quilting. Each of the squares should end up about 14" square, and it's going to be 4 blocks by 6 blocks. This is going to be a pretty big quilt. We'll see how my machine manages that. I don't have a long arm or anything, so I don;t know if all the fabric will roll up to fit under my quilt arm.

I am terribly domestic. I sew, quilt, knit, bake, cook, clean. I will make someone a great little housewife someday. Ugh, gag me with a spoon! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but at this stage of my life, that is like the last thing I want. What I want, is a great job (or hell, a job that pays!) and to get out of my parents house. We're all going a little crazy. Well, when I get the latest quilt done, I'll post pictures. I should take pics of my last quilt too. It turned out pretty cool.

Kira wants big boom

I recently found some pics from this summer. These are from the 4th of July while I was in Oregon. It was a good display.

Woe

my love of blow pops is warring with my love of my tongue piercing. It's more convenient to take it out when enjoying a blow pop, but then I miss it.

...

So pathetic.

...

Woe

It's Poppy Seed Bread Time!!

Dear interwebs, I give you... POPPY SEED BREAD!!!


So, we have finally come to the anticipated portion of this Easter season. I am going to devote an entire post to the wonder that is my grandma's home made poppy seed bread. This lively first picture is a cut loaf of poppy seed bread. See all that black stuff? Yeah, that's formerly dried and now gooey and slightly sugary slightly bitter poppy seed.

Grandma did a great job this year. The bread was soft, and there was a ton of poppy seed. Just look at it all! There's so much that it can't stay together and just had to fall out as soon as you pic up a slice. That's when you know it's perfect. By the time I took this series of pics, I was on piece three of the day.
That's not counting the four pieces I had last night after my aunts go back from church. Yes, I am a pig.
But is sooo good and we only get it this one time of year!
It is, unfortunately, possible to over do it. Combined with all the other food I stuffed into my face today, I got a nasty case of acid reflux for a bit there.
But it's gone now, and I refuse to learn my lesson! Tomorrow I will be right back at that poppy seed bread.
I just hope no one needs me to take a drug test any time soon. :/

Food, Glorious Food!

Food, food is glorious, and I feel sorry for people who don't get to experience much of it. Easter lunch/dinner is probably the best holiday food all year. We have ham, sausage, eggs, home made bread, poppy seed bread, potato salad, jello (with fruit), and cake. Really, it doesn't get much better. I love ham, and bread, and love love love poppy seed bread.

This is our spread from today. Tasty tasty!


Next up, and entire post, mostly photos, devoted to poppy seed bread. It's gonna be great!

Oh, and BTW

My pops for last Sunday turned out really cute!

And tomorrow, after I steal my moms camera and take pics of the food we eat, I will be posting an ode to poppy seed bread. Just thought you should know. And this way, you have something to look forward to!

Easter Easter

My Grandma's Easter is different than mine. She is Orthodox, so they celebrate on a different calendar. Her Easter is tomorrow, the service was tonight starting at 11:30pm. I went over to her house to hang out for a bit before my aunts left for the service, because I wanted to say HI and give my aunt her basket cover that I made. I had intended to stay for a bit, then come home and get some stuff done while waiting for my aunts to get back home. You see, it's tradition that after the service, we have a little snack of the food that got blessed at the service. A bit of ham, sausage, home made bread and poppy seed bread, and hard boiled eggs. Its pretty much what we will have for lunch tomorrow as well, though there is more stuff tomorrow.

Anyway, I was going to go home and wait for them, but Grandma has Direct TV, and I got pulled in by the programming, and then there didn't seem a point to going home (home is all of three houses down and one house over) so I watched Mythbusters, The Chronicles of Riddick/Dirty Jobs, this program on History Channel about the Dust Bowl, and some of the Matrix. The my aunts got back, we had some foods, and one of my aunts drove me home. And this year I DIDN'T fall down! And now I need to go to bed, so I can get up and go to church, the spend a large portion of the day with my family, which requires more sleep than I'm going to get tonight. Happy Holidays all!
Kira Out

I'm so boring

Today, I did nothing interesting. I got up absurdly early (8am), showered, dressed, ate, and went to work. On my way to work, I stopped by a gas station for a coffee, since I was so tired I almost fell down. I burnt my tongue. Work was uneventful. I stocked stuff, was at the registers for a big, and went to lunch with a coworker. Lunch was good at least. Had Leann Chin and nice conversation.

The I came home. I checked the internets, changed, and went to the Campership Dinner at my church. It's a dinner you buy tickets to, and the kids do most of the work serving and setting up and whatnot. It's to raise money for kids to go to camp if they so choose. I had Chicken Kiev and ate till I was stuffed. Now I am sitting in front of my computer, eating dark cocoa candy melts, and checking up in the Internets again. I really need to stop eating these things, it's starting to make me sick. Gotta go drink some water.

After I press Publish Post, I am going to go over to my grandmas in my pj's and see her and my aunts off to church. I would go, but I will just fall asleep. The I will finish Emily's apron, and wait for them to get back to chuch so I can go over and have a little snack. I will be glorious, providing I don't fall and kill my knee like I did last year.

In the middle there, I might talk to some people and try to fine some good The Host fanfic to placate me until I can get my book back. It's currently living with someone else. I miss my book. *sad face*

Well, I'm off now. Laters!

Too much sugar!

I have no will power! It's true! I am powerless to resist my will!

This pathetic post comes to to courtesy of eating too much candy.

Work is a four letter word

I applied for five jobs yesterday and today. Four of them were application bu email, which is nice. The other I had to send in. I will be compiling another and sending that as well in the next day or two (probably tomorrow).

Of these 5, now 6, jobs, none of them is in Minnesota. For those of you reading this who don't know (unlikely that there are any) I live in Minnesota. I applied for two jobs in Ohio, one in Colorado, another in Iowa, and the last in Texas. The one I will apply for tomorrow is also in Ohio. These are all zoo jobs. They are at the zoos to follow:

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo , Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Toledo Zoo, Toledo, Ohio. (And seriously, that giraffe pic on the home page? CUTE!!)

Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines, Iowa.

Houston Zoo, Huston, Texas.

Any of these would be fine, I'm sure, but I'm rooting the hardest for Colorado an d Iowa. Iowa because it's close to home, and Colorado because it's pretty. And I think I would like Colorado. I liked it when we drove through. You may not think so, but you can get a pretty good general feel for a place simply by driving through it. There are places I know I would never like to live. Houston would be crazy hot and humid and full of giant bugs, and Ohio is...Ohio. Ohio is probably fine, but one of me Ex's is from there, which instantly turns me off of it. But we'll see. Hope and pray for me guys, I need a job!!!

Sometimes it's nice to get out of the house

It gives you a chance to see a drunk guy who told some ugly girl that you were less cute than she in the back of a squad car after a concert!

Raise your hand if you understood that.

Anyone...anyone? Bueller? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Let me clarify. I went to a concert yesterday with a friend from work. It was fun, had a great time. It was the All American Rejects, and they were great. The band right before them (Shiny Toy Guns) not a fan of. So Em and I were sitting down trying to ignore STG, and this rather drunk couple was stumbling around and grabbing each other and generally being gross. And they walk over toward us and she says "How about her?" while looking at me. I have no patience for drunk creeps, so I get up and walk, and Em heard him tell her (the woman he was with), that I was not as cute as she was. Not, let me tell you something. This woman: short, fatter than me, spiral permed bleach blond roots showing BIG hair. I am SOOOO cuter than her! I am totally cute sometimes! I'm the blond in the pic, over on the right. Sadly, this is like the most recent pic I have of me. I am about 7 pounds lighter now, and looked a lot better last night. And when the concert was over, EM and I saw the guy ins the back of a squad car. It was great.

Anyway, the concert was fab, and I had a great time! Ta!

More putzy shit

Yesterday, I bought something. I got an Ukrainian Easter egg dying kit. I got it from the Ukrainian Gift Shop. They have a website, but I got it from their actual store. I made the dyes today and currently I'm just waiting for them to cool so I can get my egg dying on! Hoo boy! This is gonna be fun!! :D

candy is dandy

But the gum inside is annoying. I have a tongue ring, the top ball is acrylic, or whatever plastic it is that they use. The gum inside Blow Pops is really sticky, so I currently have gum stuck to my tongue ring. It is annoying. Note to anyone who wants to get a tongue piercing: be prepared for stuff to stick to it.

that bittesweet feeling

I both love and hate finishing books, especially good/great books. I love it because I got through the book, I know the ending, and the curiosity is over (sorta). I hate it for pretty much the same reasons, I got through it and now it's over. The only problem is, the curiosity, it pretty much just sticks around! I want to know what happens after the book is over, and I want to know NOW! I can just make things up, or read fanfiction, but it's never as good as the books. Well, there is some REALLY good Harry Potter fanfic out there, stuff that I would rather read than the books. But when your book's fan base is mostly crazy teens flowing over from the authors other teen based books, the fanfic tend to be bad. A lot of little girls writing poorly about romanticized versions of things they've never before experienced. AKA, really BAD sex scenes!

Anyway, this post does have a purpose besides the bad fanfic rant I was starting. I finished The Host last night. It was a really fantastically great book! Amazing story, fantastic characters, plot twists, some violence, a bunch of love, some understanding and changing of ways, and a superb ending! Really, I recommend it, even if you tried to read Twilight and gave up, read this. It's not in the Twilight universe, it's characters and stories all it's own. And it will make you want to go to Arizona really bad! At least id did for me, since I've been there before. So really, GO READ!

Them, after you read The Host, go give Twilight another turn. You don't have to let anyone know that you're reading it. You can read it in seret under your covers at night. But give it a chance. They might be a little silly or unbelivable at times, but it's FICTION people! It's not supposed to mesh with this world perfectly. Things are supposed to be a little fantastical, so give Bella and Edward and everyone else another chance. It might just turn out to be a guilty pleasure!

Hoppity hop hop

So Easter was good. My immediate family doesn't do a whole lot for Christian Easter. My grandma celebrates Orthodox Easter, so that's more or less what we celebrate. We go to church for this Easter, and usually do something involving dinner and candy. Today was also the birthday of our pianist, and he doesn't have a whole lot of family around, so we had a combination surprise birthday party/Easter dinner after social hour after church today. It was nice. There was good food, good people, and I made awesome cake pop centerpieces. The pics are on my mom's camera, I will post them when I can get them off. The I came home and I have been doing absolutely nothing of significance all afternoon. It's been GLORIOUS!! Now I'm gonna suck on my Blow Pop and continue doing nothing!

Kira Out

Um...ouch!

My feet are killing me. That is all.

Little Obsessions

I have a confession. I love kitchen stuff. Mixing bowls especially. Nesting mixing bowls extra especially! Not counting Tupperware, I have two sets already. I also have a big yearning love for clear glass. I don't know what it is, I just love the stuff!

Today while I was at a thrift store by my house looking for a book, I happened across these. This is a set of 11 clear glass nesting mixing bowls. I have wanted a set like this for some time now. I saw them and was instantly in love! I HAD to have them!
So I got them. The best part? Only $12.99!! If you were to buy this set new, it would cost you at least $35 for 10 bowls. I have 11! They range in size from big enough to raise bread in, to this tiny little pinch bowl. I am in love with that tiny bowl. The other great thing about this set? They are tons of fun to take pictures of! So many aperture options, so little time.
This here is my other set of nested mixing bowls. If you were around in the 60's and 70's, or know someone who was and kept their kitchen stuff, you may recognize these ones. My mom got them for me as a graduation present. I found them in an antique store in the town where I went to college. I miss that antique store, it was small, but not too, and it had the most amazing stuff.
Like, for example, these lovely bowls! There is actually a fourth, bigger, one. It is also blue with white flowers, but it's in a box somewhere. I'll find it when I move out. If you think you should recognize them, but don't, that could be because they are blue. The olive green and mustard yellow were more popular, and many had the little farmers on the side.
Well, many of the ones I've seen match that description anyway. I think this might be the only blue set I've ever seen. I showed them to my mom when she came to visit one time. I told her how I loved them. The next time I went back, they were no longer there. Unbeknownst to me, she had gone back to the shop before she left and bought them! I'm pretty sure I called to tell her they were gone too!!
I love my mixing bowls. And old latch top Ball jars, but that's a post for a different time.

The entrepreneurial spirit

A little back story. Over the Christmas holidays, I made ans sold cookies. They went over like gang busters, especially at church. They also sold well among the few outside people to get my flier. Well, then I started making cake bites and cake pops. So I made another flier and am selling those as well. The egg and chick ones are selling great! Since my job pays crap, and I can't seem to get a job in my field of study, I've taking to making and selling things. So far just my food has been selling, but that's also the most advertised. I also have been making purses and stuff, which can be found at my other blog, Sassafras Handicrafts, and at my Etsy page.

Anyway, that making stuff has much to do with my day today. This morning, I got up at 7am. For those of you who know me, you know this is not something I do voluntarily! I had to get ready and drive some cake pops downtown. I'm nice and I deliver, as long as it's relatively close. I remember after I get in my car, that I have little gas left. Well, oh well, no time to stop. So I make it to Minneapolis (which isn't far, I can see the skyline from my house), and there's traffic. Oi. Made is to the building where the woman worked, gave her her pops, and got my money. Then I need to figure out how to get out! But that went pretty good too. Got turned around, but figured it out, and managed to make it to a gas station!

Whenever I have to be up that early, and don't have to work, I like to go to Panera for breakfast. Their baked egg souffles, are divine! I brought a book along that I wanted to start, and just needed to be sitting somewhere without distractions to get around to it. SO I got my breakfast, curled up in a booth, and read for like two hours. It was positively blissful!! And now I am like 170 pages into The Host. Great book!

I found gold dust today

And I made my cake bites pretty with it!! I'm so excited, this is so much fun!!

I made some tasties

So, thanks to Bakerella and Pioneer Woman, I am now obsessed with making cake bites and cake pops. I made these yesterday.

What goes around

The only good thing about snow in April, is that it's usually gone by about noon the next day. It took until about 2 or 3 today, but it's all gone now!

Will winter ever just go away??

At about 8pm or so tonight, possibly before, it started raining. By the time I got off at 9:30pm, it was slushing. Emily and I went to Perkins because we felt like it, and it started snowing around 10-ish. We left at 11:30 and there was snow everywhere! It was still really slushy on the roast, but every surface that wasn't paved was white. Grrr! Will winter ever just leave! This better not be a repeat of last year when we had a snow storm in April.

My all time favorite picture

And yeah, these are my three best college friends. The one behind me in the cap is the girl I lived with for 3 years. The guy is probably the only guy I've ever been completely at ease around, and the girl with the half blue hair and the red jacket is someone who has been one of my best friends since high school; whom I've known since elementary school. This is my favorite picture of all time. This will be the one that I look at when I am old and gray, and will reminisce about the old days over.

All about me, part 5

I graduated college, and came home after Oregon, and now I am here, working retail and trying to find a better job. It's not going so well. Oh, yeah! I also have 2 younger brothers and still married parents, with whom I currently live. And that's life!

All about me, part 4

So, somewhere in there I also got my tongue, nose, and lip pierced. Just saying. Also, I interned at two zoos. The first one was the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls, SD. That was the summer after my junior year. It was really fun, and really awesome, and at times kinda scary. Grizzly bears, even behind bars, are FREAKY! I love them, but really, they are NOT to be messed with! The cats were awesome. Less scary than the bears, and I loved them to death.
I could post about all the animals all day! But on to the next place. This last summer, after graduating, I interned at the Wildlife Safari Park, in Winston OR. Great place, horrible weather. I'm used to rain and thunderstorms in the summer. There is it HOT and dry all summer. Oi! But I got to work with all of the animals, including giraffes! And this little guy. He's a prehensile tail porcupine, and I think he's about the cutest thing ever!

All about me, part 3

I started at UMM. It was a good 2 1/2 hours from home. Now, I like home. I like my mom, and I get stressed at big changes. College is a BIG change! Classes were fine, but I was stuck in dinky little Morris, MN, with no car, and with people I didn't know, and didn't like all that much once I did know! I seriously considered transferring somewhere closer to home. But over the summer I got a car, and I had a boyfriend in Morris, and a few roomies expecting me to hold up my share of the on campus apartment rent. The car helped, I could get off that blasted campus! And I got glasses, and a few new good friends! And gained weight, but oh well.

I also got a job, that I wish so much I could go back to! That was the best job I ever had. It was on campus and I loved it. I loved my boss and the work I did, it was so much fun! And I got free food! I found a roomie I liked and lived with here the last three years of school. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in biology with a minor in psychology. And now I need a job!