Are You Kidding Me??  

Saturday, May 30, 2009

We both work on Sundays so we always look forward to Saturday night geekdom with a series of old British Comedies on PBS.  The night usually looks something like this:  As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, Waiting For God, The Vicar of Dibley.  Sometimes we follow it up with a British mystery rented for when there is nothing else on.


So today I was especially looking forward to this Brit fest as I have been sick with a cold all three days of our weekend.  Sore throat, stuffy nose, ears popping, sneezing - the works.  What could be more comforting than curling up on the couch with elderly British folk ready to make me laugh on TV?  

I turn to the channel ready to hunker and what do I see??  LAWRENCE FREAKIN' WELK!  Who watches that anyway?  I suppose many could say the same thing about British comedies.  Touche.  But I need to whine!  I need my BritComs!!!

~ Denise

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Check Out the Changes!  

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Take a moment and absorb all of the changes in the blog design.  Wish I could take credit for it but we had a fabulous graphic designer do the work.  Check out Rowan Tree Design.  Amazing work and we could not have asked for an easier person to work with.  Took our ideas and ran with them.


And she totally new the way to our hearts with the images of our two cats sitting together!

She also designed our shop banner and lots of other stuff, including this beautiful business card that we are dying to get from the printer.

We finally have the shop looking the way we want and are so excited.  We feel like things are actually moving ahead so quickly and well now.  Even had our first out of country sale the other day!  We'll get to the country in no time!

~ Denise

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Rewards  

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Well, we are trying to motivate ourselves to get healthy and fit. Let's face it, we aren't getting any younger. Denise tells me I was like a 65 year-old when she met me over 12 years ago. For the record, I'm still not 65. Nor is Denise.


 So, how do we do it? We bribe ourselves, that's how. We sat down, had a bit of a round table, and decided that if we eat clean all week we will have one 'treat' meal on the weekend. This is my big, huge hurdle to overcome. I love food. I always have.  I took over cooking from my mom when I was 13. Not having sugar is not going to be easy for me, but I'll try. Yikes.
 The second part of our 'motivation marathon' is the working out. It's hard to fit it in, as it is for everyone. We made a chart, and everytime we workout we get a star. If we get 60 stars before September, we will reward ourselves with a new Matt & Nat bag. MMMMMmmmmmm. Lovely vegan bags. This is why I love to make bags. Like candy that you don't eat. 
 Wish us luck.  

  _ Melina.    

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A Visit  

Saturday, May 23, 2009




 We had a fun day today, as Denise and I went to visit our friend Kerry from Effiehandmade. She did the coolest thing, she bought a house. How super awesome is that??? She works super hard, and is one of the most capable people I know.


 The house is really nice, all the rooms are really bright and pleasant. I love the original features of the house, like the door knobs and bannister.
 
 Don't even get me started on the land. Yes, that's right, she's got a fair chunk (technical term, meaning lots o' land) of property. There are apple trees that were actually in bloom today, and smelled amazing. Oh, and blooming lilacs too. We looked at all the plants on the plot. I didn't want to leave. It was awesome, and you didn't even feel like you were in the city anymore.

 I'm so pleased she's got a lil' slice of heaven. I'd be jealous if I wasn't so darn pleased for her, and if I didn't know how hard it was to get here.  It was a great day. 
                 - Melina.  : )

And I'd just like to add that this totally reminded both of us about how much we want to move to the country.  Made it easier to get to work.  Woo hoo!
  
  ~ Denise

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Dreamin'  

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I like to dream big and I refuse to apologize.  When did it become a virtue to aim low?  Because for some reason people seem to get their backs up over my attitude.  "Be realistic", "Why do you think you should have that" they ask with the tone that tells me what they are really thinking; "Well she sure thinks she's something special!"


Why should I not have BIG success, HUGE achievements in my life?  I got a late start moving forward because of a mid-twenties diagnosis of bi-polar disorder.  Now that I can work consistently and I have control over my life, I want to turn the tables on people.  I want to show them that being mediocre is not a badge of pride.  I can want what I want; it doesn't make me selfish or self-centered.  I also want to help people in a BIG way.  I want to start charities that benefit animals, not just donate to ones that exist.  I want to make a difference.

"Prove to me I DON'T deserve it" is what I'll say in my head next time someone gets an attitude with me.   So there!!

~ Denise

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Lunch With the Parents  

Sunday, May 17, 2009



That's my mom and dad in the pic flanking my gorgeous, opera singing niece Carol.  They are fabulous, amazing people; the kind that would give you the shirt off their backs and never shame you by telling anyone that you'd needed help.  Honestly, if they weren't my parents I would be proud to have them as friends.

So, they are in town for the weekend and are taking Melina and I out to lunch.  This may seem like a simple enough outing, but trust me when I say that it involves the kind of planning that would normally go into launching invasions of small nations, not to mention patience the likes of which is not a genetic trait.

We recognize that we are hard to accommodate by times.  Being vegan can make it hard to eat out.  Left to our own devices we would usually opt for some kind of ethnic cuisine (Indian or Mexican) as there are more options.  But this brings us to the first rule of LeBlanc Lunching:

1-  FOOD CAN'T BE SPICY
Keeping this in mind, garlic is 'hot' and oregano can be considered spice-like.  For example, when eating a focaccia cracker over the holidays Lorraine was heard to say "Those have some spice on them!"  Um, that would be green onion and oregano.

2- FOOD CAN NEVER BE HOT ENOUGH
Every time we go to a restaurant the words are uttered "Well, this isn't very hot."  Having grown up in a house where I don't recall things being served at an unusually high temperature I find this confusing.  Do things taste cooler when eaten outside the home?  As you get older do you require more heat to digest?  I think I'll ask Dr.Oz.

3- WHILE LUNCHING THERE WILL INVARIABLY BE AN EVENT OF HUGE CONCERN TO MY PARENTS THOUGH IT INVOLVES ONLY ME
Example:  I may lose my $5.00 sunglasses.  I don't care because they were cheap, and I tell them so repeatedly.  Nevertheless, Bob will not rest until he has turned over every stone, looked under car seats and backtracked to every locale visited that day in order to track down those "Jesus glasses"!

Tomorrow promises to be a fun day!

~ Denise

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I Love Jamie Fraser  

Friday, May 15, 2009




 Yeah, so I'll admit it. I love him. I just finished "A Breath of Snow and Ashes", the 6th book in the Outlander series. And I love Jamie even more now. He is awesome. Possibly better than Edward Cullen, it's close. Yes, I love him THAT much.

Don't look at me like that, I know he's not real, I'm not crazy. Really. He is just so great. Why, you may ask? Well, he loves his wife passionately and is loyal to her, and he kicks ass really well. He works hard and can do stuff, is smart and I love the warrior part of him. LOVE it.

Wow, sounds like I like neanderthals. Hmmmmm. 
Oh, did I mention that he's over 6 feet tall and strong and has flaming red hair and deep, dark blue eyes.... Yeah. Jamie Fraser. Love.

I so want the next book to have Jamie Fraser time travel (oh, yeah, that's what the books are supposed to be about, not just inducing ladies to love a fictional character, but time-travel) to the future, as I think that would be amazing. He'd love cars. Oh, he's from the eighteenth century, so he's not seen them.

If you've not read the Outlander series, this post may not mean anything to you, but if you have, I'm sure you know of what I speak. The next book is out in September. YAY!!!
   -  Melina
   

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Stuff I Like  

Thursday, May 7, 2009


                                                               TopsyCurvyDesigns


 Having a huge urge to shop, but have no extra $$$ to do any, so I'll window shop. Or blog shop. Hmmmm, need a new term for shopping on-line. Surf shopping? Line shopping? Arse shopping ( as in your sitting on it)???
                                                         Effiehandmade

 And it's not just one thing I want to buy. I'd love to buy fabric. Ok, I've a problem with fabric. I love fabric. My stash (real term for a stack of unused fabric) is growing out of it's now several containers... As well as patterns. Yes, bigger stack than I can possibly deal with anytime soon. Yikes.
                                                        Pinkpandafabrics

                            - Melina.

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Working Vacation  

Saturday, May 2, 2009



 I love vacation, it's better than almost everything. Normally I spend a whole day cleaning the kitchen, moving the appliances and discovering the missing cat toys and scrubbing the inside of said appliances. Also, I would wash the inside of the cupboards. *Sigh*


We would also go to the valley and down to the south shore. Take pictures of the baby lambs and the pretty beaches. Lunch. Is there anything better than lunching? Is it ok to want to be a lady who lunches? I say, yes, it is ok, as I brown bag my lunch every 
effin' day. I feel very strongly about this issue. 

This vacay is different. Denise and I are working our arses off, and loving it! We've been working all day everyday. It's so awesome, and we are getting so much done. Yeah, we'll take breaks for 'Inspector Morse' and naps, er, food. 

In a very short time, the store will be totally re-vamped, and we are too thrilled. Ok, gotta get back to work. EEEeee!!!   

~ Melina

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