A Newlywed Wife's Newlywed Life

My Blog Has Moved!

2010-09-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

I've made the switch to Wordpress:
You can now find Newlywed Wife at: http://newlywedwifenewlywedlife.wordpress.com

Hope you all come and check it out there!

Ooh la la...

2010-08-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

French inspired goodies:

Pictures (in order): Dior Oui Ring, Bonjour Necklace from pianobenchdesigns on etsy, Miss Dior Cherie ad, Marie Antoinette silhouette, oui necklace from loleys on etsy, bicycle bag from ikabags on etsy, Eiffel Tower wall art from chuckebyrdwallart on etsy, Eiffel Tower headband from bethnaylorelle on etsy, and Eiffel Tower ring from jerseymaids on etsy.

I am especially partial to the headband, even though I'm not sure I can rock it properly...

Fun Wedding Bands

2010-08-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

I love etsy. Plain and simple. There's so much fantastic handmade stuff of there, it's so much fun to browse through and find fun things that make me smile.

These rings are also known as posey rings. Back in the olden days men used to give them as engagement rings, and they were engraved with all kinds of phrases proclaiming love. I have one (from the Globe Theatre, but that's another story) that reads "Think of me, God willing". You can have these rings stamped with anything that you want (up to about 25 characters I believe). I want to get one made as a sort of class ring for college.

I think these are FREAKING ADORABLE! What a cute way to let the world know that you and your love are taken.

These are growing in popularity very steadily. You make a mold of the fingerprint you want inside (or outside actually) the ring, and you send it in. A few weeks later you get your ring with the fingerprint that you can always have on you. I think that these have beautiful sentiment, always keeping your loved ones print on you, literally next to your skin. It also helps that they're beautiful.

These are just cute. Mine. That little word conveys so much, especially when it's on a wedding band. When I saw this set for the first time the very first thing that crossed my mind was the scene from Finding Nemo when the seagulls are fighting over the food and they keep saying "mine, mine mine..." I love that the inside of the ring says "yours", more than I love that the outside of the ring says "mine" because really that's what marriage is about, belonging with the other person.

Okay, okay, this last one isn't a wedding band, but what girl doesn't dream of opening a little blue box from Tiffany? This (classic) ring is sterling silver and $125 dollars. Probably the least expensive ring from Tiffany!

Oh little blue box... You are beautiful...

My Husband is Amazing

2010-08-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

So, sometimes I get a wild urge to do something that is completely useless.
Yesterday it was going to home depot to get paint chips.
Why? Because I'm designing our future house that we have no idea when we will have and if I will even like the things that I like for it now.

But, my husband is so wonderful that after we took our walk last night he agreed to go to Home Depot with me to get paint chips for me to look at while I design a house that we someday will have.

He thinks that I'm crazy (my word, not his) to be designing something that is far in the future, but I think it's just amazing foresight on my part. Because, when we do get a house we will be completely ready to decorate it. Especially if we slowly start accumulating the things that we want to decorate with.

You hear that honey? Your wife is a genius, and you are amazing. What a duo we make!

Home Office Ideas

2010-08-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Ya know, for when we have the extra room to have one!

I really like this one, because it doesn't take up a huge amount of space, and it also has quite a bit of storage already built in. Plus, I think that this one could be done pretty inexpensively.

I like the curtains on this one, and the openness of it. It's like it was never even a closet, which is really cool.

This one is just beautiful. If I could have it exactly as it is I would be perfectly happy! The color is just gorgeous, and it's set up so well.

Now this one would be a GREAT little craft nook, that I could just close up and have it all be out of sight. Now, the only thing that I don't think would work in here is my sewing machine, but you win some and you lose some. Actually, if I could find a bookcase that had deep shelves then I could convert one of them with a roller track to have a little pull out station for sewing one. That's something to think about.

Well, there's the inspiration for what will be my office/craftspace.

I'm in Love!

2010-08-26T14:53:00.001-07:00

I found an etsy shop that is FULL of different, and adorable, versions of the keep calm and carry on poster from WWII.

www.keepcalmshop.etsy.com

I pretty much would love all of them, but that might be overkill, no?

Kindle, Kindle, Kindle

2010-08-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

I was just doing some online research, and found out that the newest generation of Kindle is only $139!

That's crazy, I remember when they first came out they were way more expensive than that.

So, my idea is to get enough swagbucks gift cards to buy one. I need anywhere in betweeen 13,500 and 18,900 (because you can get different denominations for different amounts of swagbucks, and only five gift cards per month). If I did it with all $25 cards it would cost the higher amount and with $5 cards the lower amount.

The books that I read are all free on the Kindle. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them at least. Plus, it's super light, and smaller now (though still with the same size screen, yay!), so I could take a bunch of books with me EVERYWHERE!

So, this is my new swagbucks goal!

Dear Dishes...

2010-08-24T13:18:00.001-07:00

Dear Dishes,
I really don't like you. You take a long time, you take up space on my kitchen counter, and you have food on you that I don't enjoy cleaning off.

Is there any way that you could possibly just clean and put away yourselves? Because that would be AMAZING.
Okay, thanks, bye.

Love,
Megan

My "Christmas" List...

2010-08-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, it's just a list of things that I really like.

1.Kindle- Most of the books I read are classics, which are FREE on the Kindle! I would love being able to take just one little machine with me and have all kinds of books right there on hand.

2. This pendant from La Papier- I would like to have a pendant done of Nathan. They're beautiful, and in a way it's kind of like a locket, but a little more vintage and yet modern. I love it!

3. Miss Dior Cherie perfume- I love the smell, and the little bottle is so cute!

4. Provence Rose dishes from Cath Kidston- They're beautiful! Plus, I would be able to use them with the white dishes I already have. I love the vintage kitschy-ness of them, and

And on a more practical note:

5. New heads for my Clarisonic- I love that little machine, it cleans my face so well!

And if we were dreaming HUGE:

6. A trip to Europe! London, Paris, Cardiff, Killarney, EVERYWHERE!

Something I Created!

2010-08-23T22:02:00.001-07:00

I love making things.
I love silhouettes.
I love embroidery.

So this project was all kinds of fun for me. I traced the outline of the silhouette that Nathan and I had done when we were at Disney World.
Then I embroidered it onto a piece of cloth. The next part of the project will be to appliqué it on to another piece of fabric, this one patterned, and then frame it. I think it's going to turn out really pretty, and I'm looking forward to being able to hang it up in our apartment, and later on up in our house.

*Don't worry, I'll definitely be ironing it before phase two of the project!*

Day in San Francisco with the Bestie

2010-08-21T20:40:00.001-07:00

On the way home from SF! It was a great day of seeing the sights and hanging out! And I'm looking forward to a fun filled day tomorrow! Church and the Aquarium.

I love having my best friend here!

Clothes, clothes, clothes!

2010-08-20T14:14:00.001-07:00

I reorganized my clothes this morning, and it did take a while, but darn they look good now!

Before: stacks of clothes in cubbies, completely unorganized
Piles of clothes (that I decided not to wear after putting them on) not even folded anymore.
Clothes that I haven't worn in months, some almost a year!

A teacher of mine from college, Dr. Carl Winderl, has a policy: if he hasn't worn something in the past year then it gets donated. He used to wear things specifically to class on Wednesdays that he knew he wouldn't wear otherwise, but that he wanted to keep for sentimental reasons (like a kimono from Japan, shirts from the London terms,etc).

I think it's a really cool thing to do, and I'm considering adopting the same policy. There's a few things that I would definitely have to try to find some time to wear, but mostly just the fancy pants things.

I'll be thinking about it, and for now just getting rid of things when I feel like it.

Clean Up, Clean Up...

2010-08-19T14:54:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a break for a few minutes from cleaning to being you this blog!

But really. I'm cleaning up the apartment because my bestie is coming to visit for the weekend!

And now for something slightly different:
Dear Vaccuum,
I really like using you to clean my carpets. But you have been sucking, or rather have not been sucking anything up! I would really appreciate it if you would work properly again.
Okaythanksbye.

-Megan

Food Failure

2010-08-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

Nathan and I tried to make fried rice and egg drop soup for dinner.

We. Failed.

The fried rice was mushy and the egg drop soup tasted... off.

So now were eating cheeses. Which. Are. Awesome.

Dinner fail turned into goodness!

Crochet + Flowers = Cute Scarf for Megan!

2010-08-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

I have been creating away, thanks to some inspiration from the crocheting book I checked out from the library (The Happy Hooker, if you're wondering).
Without further ado, my scarf:

[Someday my hair will be long enough that it doesn't do that weird flippy thing on the side when I tuck it behind my ear. On a brighter note, I deep conditioned it this morning and man is it soft!]

[A picture of it in a pile, for the heck of it.]

I'm really excited for it to get to be fall so I can wear the scarf without looking like some kind of weirdo who wears scarves in the summer time (even though it does get cold at night here).

I'm also hard at work on a top secret present for my sister's 19th birthday! Let's just say that it's full of red and has touches of white and yellow! I really hope she likes it, and I'm super excited to give it to her when it's done!

Menu For Next Week

2010-08-13T15:19:00.001-07:00

Saturday- Stirfry
Sunday- Artichokes
Monday- Stuffed red peppers
Tuesday- Fried rice and egg drop soup
Wednesday- Month-a-versary dinner out
Thursday- Red pepper pasta
Friday- Refried bean soup

I'm excited about dinners next week!
Lots of stuff that we've never made before and that's pretty darn healthy too!

Ahh, the simple pleasures in life...

2010-08-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

New slippers. :)

When I was deep cleaning the apartment the other day I managed to rip a hole in one of my slippers. Sad day for this slipper wearing wife!

When I told Nathan he said, "Let's go to Target and get you some new ones"

Happy wife.

I just had lunch with Nathan and now I'm sitting here, happily full of yummy soup and brie, wearing my new slippers and writing a blog.

It's a good day.

Thank you honey.

Sleep is fleeting.

2010-08-10T22:46:00.001-07:00

Or, rather, hard to make myself do.
I have the hardest time falling asleep. I've already been laying here for an hour and yet I am not asleep. So I installed an app to blog from my phone.

Maybe someday I'll be able to sleep like a normal person, but until then I'll write blogposts that only my husband will read (you know, the one who's lying next to me and sleeping like a normal person).

Well, time to try again and see if my mind and body will settle into a peaceful slumber.

London Calling...

2010-08-04T13:48:00.000-07:00

The view from my window at our first residence in London, Lee Abbey

Two years ago, to the day, I was on the plane heading to London for four months of unbelievable wonderfulness. There's a new group of Londoner's arriving for the same trip that I took with Ronda and Carl Winderl.

I remember being so excited, and completely scared out of my mind, while I was on the plane. I had never been out of the country before (well, on the cruise to Mexico, but really, it's not comparable) and I had never been away from my family ad from Nathan for so long before.

When we got there, I didn't get culture shock, I thought it was wonderful and I adapted very quickly to the way of life there. I loved being able to hop onto the bus, or the tube, or just walk wherever I was wanting to go. We always saw at least one show a week, sometimes three or four.

If I could go back, I would, in a heartbeat. But, if I could take Nathan with me it would be a million times better than the last time, and that might be more happiness than one person could take ;)

Renegade Craft Fair!

2010-08-02T11:43:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Nathan and I went to San Francisco for the Renegade Craft Fair.
It was at the Fort Mason center, and parking was quite a bother. We ended up driving around in the parking lot for an hour before getting a spot (thank you kind lady who stopped up and told us to back up so we could park in her spot!), but it was the best price for parking we've ever found there, only $10 for the whole day!

There were so many booths inside the building, it was crazy. I found a great many crafts that I would like to try my hand at making for myself. One piece that definitely caught my eye was a silhouette brooch made out of felt. It was beautiful, and it seemed so simple to make!

(created by Violet Swan)

Another piece that caught my eye was this beautiful skirt, I loved the scissors on it! If I were to do this, I think I would embroider the scissors onto it, or maybe even trying my hand at applique...hmm...I'll think about that...

(created by Bossa Nova Baby)

This necklace is gorgeous, and the concept is so simple that it's just completely stunning. I have no desire to create this for myself, but I would definitely wear one of these around my neck.

(created by Ritzy Misfit)

Another simple concept that was very beautiful visually were the rick-rack jewelry that were for sale at one booth. I found it hard to believe that something that simple wasn't thought of by a lot of people!

(Created by Paz Sintes)

One thing that I almost bought was a necklace made from a vintage spool of thread. The thread itself dangled at the end like a charm, and there were beads around it and sometimes a little other charm (like a sewing machine) dangling from underneath the spool. There's no picture online that I can find from the creator of the piece (sweet-n-salty).

My etsy shop is now created, and I will be doing some "decorating" in it before I add items and begin selling. I can't wait to try this out and see if it's something that will work well and make me some money doing something I love! I am so excited to be getting my pieces out into the world!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2010-07-30T16:09:00.001-07:00

I'm having a wonderful and relaxing birthday so far!
I slept in, and then read some fun birthday wishes from friends on my phone, came into the living room to find two birthday cards from my fantastic husband, ate lunch with said fantastic husband, and am now getting ready to head over to our friend's house for game night!

I'm going to leave you with a picture of my latest craft: a red felt poppy.

I was inspired to make this by my memories from London two years ago. Veteran's Day there is known as Remembrance Day and people wear red poppies to remember those who died in the war. It's a beautiful tradition and I hope that my poppy honors it.

Craft Tool Wishlist!

2010-07-29T14:13:00.001-07:00

These are the tools that I would love to have when I have my own crafty space!

1. Hot Marks Tool- I really want to try wood burning, and this seems to be the beginner tool most often recommended. The project that I most want to do when I get this tool is to wood burn a coffee table when we move into our next place. I think I want to see if Joel (a family friend) will refinish the table we have now and before the final varnish (That's the last thing right? Like the sealing part?)I'll burn a design around the edges on the table top.

2. The Cricut- What crafter doesn't want a Cricut? You can do anything (okay, maybe not anything) with this little machine! I see many beautiful cards coming out of the combination of this machine and me!

3. Gocco- This machine caught my eye while I was planning our wedding last year. This little screen printer can print onto pretty much anything. Unfortunately, Riso (the company who produced the Gocco) has stopped production on the Gocco machine. Bummer. So, odds are good that I'll have to try to find something similar from a different company, because the supplies are getting a little difficult to find for the Gocco (from what I can tell). One of the things that I considered doing for our wedding was screen-printing on the vintage handkerchiefs (we passed them out to all of our guests before the ceremony) our names and wedding date. Eventually I decided to not do so, simply because the technology was not easily accessible and it would have taken quite a bit of time and money that we just didn't have.

4.Light Box- These are amazing for tracing. And I do a LOT of tracing for my embroidery. This would make it so much easier to trace things onto fabric and to trace things flipped if I need to. I kind of think that I would like to build one of these into a table. I think it would be pretty easy to do. If I get a glass topped table I could attach two bright lights underneath and voila: awesome amazing light-box-ness!

5. Whiteboard- A HUGE ONE. I want somewhere that I can just kind of draw out my ideas in a way that's easy to modify. I just want to hang this up and be able to go to it as soon as I think of something I want to make.

I already got one of the things that used to be at the top of my craft tool dream list: My sewing machine! I know that I've mentioned it before, but I really love it. It's just right for all the things that I want to do with it. It brought me one step closer to my dream craft space :)

*** Oh,my, goodness. I just found something so cool! There's paint called "IdeaPaint" which is whiteboard paint! I could just paint the whiteboard right onto the wall! I already knew that they made chalkboard paint, but I had no idea that this existed!***

Time To Open Up Shop!

2010-07-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

An Etsy shop I mean!

I think it's time. (Well, doesn't that sound a little omnious?)

I'm going to take a few more weeks to get stuff made and all pulled together, and to create the shop, but I can't wait to get it up and going.

This is something I think could be really good for me. I love making things, and I love it when other people love handmade things!

Hopefully I'll get a lot of inspiration this weekend at the Renegade craft fair in San Francisco.

Right now I have plans for some pincushions, embroideries, ipod/iphone cases, maybe some felt flowers, and button hair pins.

I'm going to create my plan of attack tonight and head on from there! I'm so stinking excited!

Anniversary!

2010-07-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday marked my and Nathan's one year anniversary.
It's crazy to think about this past year, it seems like it flew by so quickly. One year ago today we were on our honeymoon in Hawaii, and now we're living in beautiful Monterey.

We ordered, and ate, some petits fours from Dragonfly Cakes, just like at our wedding.

Tonight we're going to go to Benihana's for our anniversary dinner. Should be a lot of fun. Neither of us have ever been there before, and we're both excited to watch them make the food.

The last year has been wonderful, and I'm so looking forward to the rest of our years together. I cannot wait to see what the future brings us.

Making...

2010-07-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Bread!
Baguettes, specifically.

This is my first attempt at making bread, so I hope it turns out well. I found the recipe in a book, and thought "Why the heck not?"

Right now, the dough is rising, and in about forty five minutes, I'll go in and punch it down again, divide it into four pieces, then let the individual pieces rise for another hour. Then it's baking time!

I'm so excited about this!

Inspiration!

2010-07-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

I love this idea! The use of embroidery for this was a stroke of GENIUS! I'm definitely going to be doing this sometime as the headboard for our bed, but I think I'll do it a little differently.

For one, I think I would back it with plywood, and quilt batting (for a bit of softness). The plywood would keep it flat, since it would be stretched over it.

I may even try to do it in a color, or on a print. I think that might looks pretty cool.

This is going to take a while though, to make design decisions, and then just to make. After all, our bed is king sized, so it's going to have to be way bigger than the one here is (I estimate that the bed this was made for was a full).

I can't wait until we get to move into our next place, where I can do all the things that I imagine and more! I would start doing them all here, but we're going to move in a year (well, less than a year now)and what we have now is good.

Maybe some more inspiration later!

The Things I Like Post

2010-06-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

(that I was supposed to put up two days ago...whoops!)
So right now here are 10 things that I am LOVING! (In no particular order):

1.This "Up" themed engagement shoot. It. Is. Perfect.
http://wildflowersphotos.com/blog/an-up-inspired-engagement-shoot/
http://wildflowersphotos.com/blog/an-up-inspired-engagement-shoot-part-2/

Those are part one and part two.

2. The Diana. Quite possibly the cutest little camera ever. The one from Urban Outfitters is my favorite, it's such an adorable mint green color.

3. Cheese Balls. They totally take me back to childhood. Nathan and I ate them while we watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2. :)

4. Rainbow of Stitches embroidery book. It has AMAZING patterns in it. And thank goodness the library had it for me to borrow.

5. Netflix on the Wii. Need I say more?

6. Fresh flowers. Nathan bought me some for our 11 month-a-versary. I keep putting off throwing them away, even though they're a week old now.

7. Banana Bread instant oatmeal. It might be the best oatmeal I've ever had.

8. Katie and Alyssa are coming to stay with us for a week, starting tonight!

9. Camping with my entire family. Cannot wait!

10. Possibly landing a job as a writer for an internet marketing company.

There you go, ten things I like right now!

Blog Fail.

2010-06-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, that would be me.
I am a BLOG FAIL.

I'll work on it, Blog. I promise.

I've been crafting like crazy. I started crocheting a blanket, which has been a lot of fun. Mom and Dad also gave me my birthday present early, so I've been sewing like a fiend on my... new sewing machine!

I'm currently getting ready for the girls to come and visit for a week. There's so much stuff that we're going to do:
Aquarium
Fisherman's Wharf
Downtown
Library
CRAFTING
Picnic

I have an idea for an "Up" themed embroidery project that I think would be really cute (and possibly a good wedding present for a friend).

Nathan should be home in seven minutes for lunch! :)

I think later today I'll do a post on things I like again... there's so much more that I've found!

Time to talk about books!

2010-06-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't posted in a long time, but I'm going to try to get back on the wagon!

I've been reading a series by Lauren Willig that I really enjoy. They're part guilty pleasure novels and part historical espionage. It's a pretty darn good combination.

I found the first one at the library when the cover caught my eye, and now I've read all the ones that are out!

The next one is called "The Mischief of the Mistletoe" (they all have flower/plant names in the titles) and there's actually a contest for it on her website!

I would highly recommend this series if you like: romance, adventure, espionage, history, or just a good book!

here's the link to her website if you want to check it out!

http://www.laurenwillig.com/index.php

Summertime!

2010-06-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

It's almost here! I can practically feel it.
Tonight we're heading to the farmer's market to get some more fruit (so yummy).

I cannot wait until the Carpinteria camping trip with my family in July, it's going to be so much fun!

All I have left to do for this semester of classes is this costuming project, which I am so close to finishing! I only have three complete drawings to create, and then just add little things onto some of the other ones that I've already done.
I've been having a really good time in the classes that I took this semester, and I feel like I've gained some valuable experience while taking them. Especially in the costuming class, which I had never taken anything like before.

Okay, time for me to finish this project and, in doing so, that class!

I made a little pin!

2010-05-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

I think it turned out pretty darn cute. I did the embroidery, and then I cut it out and hot glued it into the setting.

I had to do the stitching a few times before I was happy with the flower, and the visibility of the petals on it. Then I finger chained the yellow around the outside and glued that on.

Time to do some more stitching.
Hmm, what color should I do next?

All done with the dentist!

2010-05-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today was my last appointment! They finished my fillings and put the crown on my tooth, and now my mouth is finished!

I'm happy to be done, and very happy that I found such a good dentist who made it so easy and comfortable. If there were a mug that said "Worlds Best Dentist" I would get it and give it to him.

I'm doing a embroidery project for the contest on Feeling Stitchy, and it's something that I've wanted to make for a while. It's an embroidery of the word 'pray' for me to put by the bed as a reminder for me to pray. I "gave up" forgetting to pray for Lent, and I've been doing really good at remembering to pray before bed, but I'd like to move that into other parts of my life too.

That's something that I'll definitely keep working on in my life, and maybe someday I'll be one step closer to where I want to be with it.

Dear Blog,

2010-05-18T12:58:00.001-07:00

It's been a while. Things have been a bit busy around here, but I'm back and ready to blog.

The dentist saga continues, but this coming Friday is my LAST appointment! Then everything that needs to be done in my mouth will be all done! Thank goodness.

I need to register for classes for next fall soon, so I should probably look and see what there will be for me to take.

Speaking of classes, I really need to get my butt in gear on my final project for costuming class. I have pretty much NOTHING done, and it's due June 2nd. I know that I'll get it done, I would just rather not do it all the last week before it's due, but I also like to procrastinate. It's too tempting for me when I have the choice of spending time with Nathan or working on a project that is kind of fun (but not nearly as fun as spending time with my husband).

Also, today Nathan and I have been married for ten months! It definitely does not seem like it's almost been a year since we got married, but we're so close! Tonight we're going to get some take out and relax together after the Farmer's Market. It should prove to be a very happy month-a-versary.

Well, I'm off to do some dishes before Nathan comes home, and to get myself ready to go to the Farmer's Market when he gets here!

I learned how to crochet!

2010-05-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

It was a lot of fun, and definitely something that I am going to keep doing. The group of ladies from the church that I do it with are all really amazing. We're knitting and crocheting hats for newborns to donate to local hospitals.

After I learned how to do it I decided to make myself a bag. It turned out really well, especially considering that I just kind of made it up as I went along. I started another bag, and this yarn is self striping, so it's really cool. I'm almost finished with the base for this one, and then I'll work my way up and then do the strap. I also made a potholder, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good for day three of crocheting.

Nathan and I are trying to figure out a solution for where to put all my crafting stuff. I just don't have any place to put it, so it's hard for me to not have stuff out all the time. And my having stuff out all the time bugs Nathan, but he knows that I don't have anywhere to put it so he tries not to let it bother him... We think we're either going to get a three drawer rolling cart, or a couple of baskets to put under the coffee table. I think I'm leaning towards the baskets under the coffee table, because we aren't quite sure where we'd put the rolling cart.
I can't wait until I can have a bookshelf full of crafting stuff, and a desk to go with it!

Time to go work on my bag!

Inspired by Julie and Julia

2010-05-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

I just finished "Julie and Julia" and I loved it! It was such a great read, and it was really involving.

It inspired me to try my hand at one of Julia Child's recipes. I made Lady Fingers!
And the verdict: they were awesome.
They were not quite as pretty as all the pictures you see of them, but darn they were tasty.And they were so simple to make. We ate them for dessert with fresh strawberries.

In the book she references a lot of recipes, and some of them sound so stinking good! Others, however, I will never be eating, let alone making. (This includes brains, and boiling live lobsters. I don't think I could ever boil a live lobster)

The book was so good that I finished it in about three days, and I only read about it for about an hour or so a day. I also got her next book to read! It's called "Cleaved" and if the first book is any indication then this one will be amazing too!

I think that I want to try a new (an maybe even complex) recipe at least once a month. I think it will be a lot of fun, and what can it hurt to try something new every month.

Cooking can be a lot of fun, the more I do it the more I like it!

My Sewing Dream Team

2010-05-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

I was showing Nathan yesterday something that I really want for all my sewing-ness, so I thought that I would post all the things that I want for it! I know it will take me quite some time to accumulate everything, but I think in the end it will totally be worth it!

1. Sewing Machine- Ideally I would like a smaller one, seeing as we have no where to put it, but a regular size one would be awesome too. And someday I will have somewhere to put a full size one (Hopefully!).

2. A Desk- Just for all my crafting and supplies. This would be amazing, and I'm sure Nathan would like it too, because then I won't have to take over the entire coffee table and couch when I'm doing stuff :)

3. Every color DMC embroidery floss- How cool would it be to have every color? I would ALWAYS have the color that I need for a project.

4. Sublime Stitching's Embroidery Scissors (pink)- These are, according to the blog-o-sphere, the best scissors for needlework. Plus, they're adorable and pink!

5. Desk Chair- A pretty white wood one, pretty please.

6. Jenny Harts' Books- Sublime Stitching and Embroidered Effects- They have such cool patterns in them, and they explain how to do all the different kinds of stitches.

7. Pincushion- I want to make myself a really cute one. This is completely doable, I just need to find the right pattern for maximum adorableness.

8. A Sewing Box- This would be for when my sewing would be toted along with me to various locations. I used to have my aunt's old one, but it broke about six years ago.

9. Fabric (A plethora)- While I'm dreaming away here I might as well wish for more fabric than I could ever know what to do with!

10. Shelves- This one is practical. I know all this stuff isn't going to fit on/in one desk, so I'll need some shelves to go with it all!

I feel like sewing is a hobby that I'm going to keep doing until I can't anymore, so maybe someday I'll actually have some of this stuff. I would love the sewing machine first, because I'd really like to try to make some clothes, dresses and such.

Okay, enough dreaming, back to the sewing!

Craftiness!

2010-04-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

I've been crafting like crazy. Luckily, my mom doesn't read my blog, so I can post pictures of the Mother's Day present I made her!
The pattern that I used for it is Sublime Stitching's "I love Veggies" and it's too cute. You can put whatever face you want on each of the veggies (and fruits). So, I made my mom a dish towel with six of them on it, and another dish towel with a bunch of different desserts on it (there's no pictures of that one though, at least not yet). I also am learning how to crochet, which is way more difficult for me then sewing is. I picked up sewing really fast, and crochet seems like it's going to take me a bit of time. I started last night, and it's going okay (as you can see in the picture above). I think in order to really get it I'm going to have to have someone who knows how to really well show me in person.

I've also been doing a bit of stitching for the costume shop at MPC. It's been a lot of fun, I like embroidering, and I'm glad that it can be of use to the theatre.

Time to go see if the Jello is done! (We used 7 up [cherry with antioxidants] in it, and we're really excited to try it!)

I need to clean the apartment, but I'm going to put it off by writing a blog.

2010-04-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

This week has been LONG. I feel bad for poor Nathan because it's been even longer for him. He's been leaving at 5:30 every morning this week for the CDX competition he's doing. But that's all over today, yay! This means that I'll finally get to see my husband again!

I just had a nice exchange with the neighbor that we had dubbed Crazy Lady. The fed ex man had left a package for her with me this morning, and she came over to pick it up. Let me tell you, I was not looking forward to her coming over to get it, because, well, she seems weird. I should really be nicer and not so fast to make assumptions about people. She was very kind today, and seemed like a pretty nice person. Lesson learned. I also found out that her name is Anna, so no more calling her Crazy Lady. Nathan and I were actually discussing yesterday that we think she suffers from insomnia, because she's up at all hours of the night (part of the reason for the name dubbing).

Well, I want to clean up a bit before Nathan gets home, which should be in a half an hour!
Maybe later today I'll post some pictures of the crafts that I've been working on recently, some of them are pretty cool.

I survived my root canal!

2010-04-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

And it wasn't that bad!
They started out by doing a teeth cleaning (which was actually more painful than most of the root canal), while they were waiting for the Novocaine to kick in. Then he did the fillings that were on that side of my mouth (yes, multiple fillings. I know, I know: bad Megan. I hadn't been to the dentist in about ten years until now, so really a couple of fillings isn't that bad. The root canal? Bad, Megan, bad.)
Then he started on the root canal. I didn't feel anything, and then there was suddenly a very sharp pain. Turns out that one of the nerves wasn't dead like they thought. So they had to give me a shot of something else, which hurt like a monkey because it was straight into the nerve. I like this dentist a lot, part of it is because he didn't lie to me. He said "This is going to hurt for about twenty seconds, pretty bad, but then it will feel better" I would much rather know that the pain is coming. It definitely hurt pretty darn badly, but not even for twenty seconds, more like ten. After that I felt absolutely nothing pain wise.
When he was cleaning out the roots it felt really weird, because I could feel it because of the sound (anybody know what I mean by that?)
Then they put medicine in it and capped it temporarily, I'll go back in ten days for the to take out the temporary filling and make it permanent.

Afterward they showed me the nerve that had still been alive, it was CRAZY. It wasn't even the size of an eyelash. It's amazing how something that small can cause so much pain.

The dentist was amazing though, and I would highly recommend him. He was very careful and fast, and also very concerned as to whether or not I was feeling any pain. He really made me not nervous about going to the dentist. Everything he did today took just about an hour, which was awesome.

I went to the dentist...

2010-04-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

and found out that I have to have a root canal.
Fun, no?

It all started, apparently, about a month ago. I was having some pain the lower back right corner of my mouth. I thought that it was because my wisdom tooth was coming through my gums (the tooth was indeed, but it was not the source of the pain), but it turns out it was a darned cavity hitting the nerve in the tooth. Then on Sunday night my tooth broke, which was strange (and weirdly not very painful) and I spent all yesterday morning calling dentists trying to find one that could see me. I found this one and made the appointment for this morning. It was a very nice dentist office, and that was really comforting for me. The dentist took a look in my mouth and poked around a little bit, then the dental assistant took a bunch of x-rays, the dentist then came back and told me what he was going to do. Luckily, the wisdom teeth are not going to be a problem, which is great. They offered to cut the gum off of the top so that they would come in easier, but I told them that that wouldn't be necessary, since apparently they haven't caused me any pain (all the pain was from the other tooth). They think that it will take three appointments to do all the things that they need to do in my mouth, and the first is the root canal this Friday.

Should be a day of fun for my mouth, a party in my mouth (if you will). Probably not a very fun party, but a party of dentist stuff indeed.

Dear Monterey,

2010-04-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you for finally having nice weather.
Thank you also for not being nasty when I was flying home and making all kinds of turbulence.

You're pretty awesome, and I'm glad that we're going to get to spend the summer with you.

Love,
Megan

In San Diego

2010-04-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I never posted pictures of my hair. Mostly because I'm not in love with it. I do not like the cut, but love the color. Let's just say that the stylist did not listen to what I told her to do, or (apparently) even look at the picture I showed her.

I'm flying home tomorrow, after two days of quakes, and I am so excited. I haven't seen Nathan in nine days, and that is just way too long. We didn't even get to talk that much, which was completely my fault, because I was always with people hanging out and visiting. I miss him so much, and I'm so happy that tomorrow I'll get to be at home with him again. I miss him being there next to me when I roll over, talking over dinner, cuddling on the chair to watch tv shows, just being able to see him there.

I need to head off to bed now, so I can get up bright and early (okay, not really early) and go to the airport to fly home to my love!

Glee Open Audtions!

2010-03-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

They were finally announced today (after they started teasing that they would be officially announced and would commence in February)! The auditions are completely on MySpace, which sucks because I just deleted mine about two months ago, and they entail a one minute bio and then a song. You get to choose from ten of the songs they've already performed on the show, which kind of helps because you don't have to stress about searching for the "perfect song"

I need to go and check out the list of songs on their actual website, but I think I'm going to do either "Don't Rain on My Parade", "True Colors", or "Keep Holding On". Those are definitely on the list (as long as the numerous places that I've read it on are telling the truth). I think that those options are going to be the best for my voice. I might try to do the tape while I'm in San Diego, because then I can film it in one of the practice rooms. I don't know where I'd film it in Monterey... Hmm, I should think about that, just in case I'm not ready to film it while I'm in SD.

And tomorrow is hair day! I'm so excited, I can't wait to have new hair (well, just new colored hair...)!

Hair.

2010-03-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

Soon this is what my hair will look like that... hopefully.
I also would not mind that outfit :) How she makes sweater clips look so amazing, I will never know, but she does.
I've never had my hair red before (I had a dark auburn once, but we did it at home, and it turned out really brassy... never doing red at home again) so I'm pretty excited about it.
I'm going to call the salon in the morning and make appointments for me and Mom (I don't think she's going red though).

I'll post a picture when it's all done!

Frustrating.

2010-03-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

Being unemployed is frustrating.

Ideally, this unemployment would end with a job in theatre, but nothing is coming from any direction.

There are people all around me that are hopping from show to show to show, while I couldn't even audition for anything because I didn't know where we would be for the summer. At least I now know that we're going to be in Monterey, so if anything else pops up for the summer I can go for it.

There are things that I can do to further my prospects, I think.

I want to get into better shape, because that would definitely be helpful for acting. I could stand to lose about ten more pounds, and to tone up.

I want to keep taking care of my acne, because it's definitely getting better, and if I keep trying maybe I can get it completely gone.

I want to brush up monologues so that I can have a dramatic and comedic ready.

I want to also have a ballad and an uptempo ready at any time for auditions.

I want to go to every audition possible, even if I don't think I'm right for the part offered, because they might think that I am.

These are all things that I have control over, things that I can do! So, tomorrow morning, the journey begins.

I'm going to do this, and do it good!

In the High Desert for the week.

2010-03-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Been home for a few days, and my allergies are not really acting up (yay!)

I'm probably going to go out and go shopping with my sister in a little while, so she has some clothes when she comes to visit me in Monterey. Hopefully I'll get to do some hanging out with my friends up here during the week. Mom and I went shopping yesterday and I got some cute stuff at Target.
Time to go, so far, a good visit home!

I Love: Cath Kidston

2010-03-24T21:03:00.001-07:00

Cath Kidston has shops all over the U.K. and her stuff is AMAZING.

The first picture is of one of her lines of dishes, called Provence Rose. I would adore having these in my kitchen, they are too cute.

The second picture is of one of her pairs of plimsolls. Plimsolls are, obviously, what they call sneakers (but only the canvas types, at least to my knowledge). These would not really match much, but I would still wear them all the time. Because I just can't resist them!

The third picture is of my absolute favorite item: the London handkerchief. This is such a cool handkerchief! I went to the places on it while I was in London, and would love to have this handkerchief as a reminder of those places that I could also use as a daily practical thing. I love handkerchiefs in general, and this one would be the coolest.

Time for me to go jump in the shower and then head off to bed!

Peach Dump Cake- Not gross at all, despite the name.

2010-03-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

That's what we're having for dessert.
I'm pretty much done packing for my trip to the parentals. I just need to add a few more things in tomorrow.
Over the break I need to start working on my costume ideas for my costuming project. I'm pretty excited about it, I get to completely design a show (I chose "Barefoot in the Park). I'm going to get fabric swatches and everything; I'm going all out for this! It's costumed in the style of the fifties, which is my favorite clothing time period!

Sometimes I like to write about a bunch of different things in my blogs because it drives Nathan nuts.

We love each other like that.

Right now we're just relaxing and watching "The Office" and we're about to eat Peach Dump Cake. It's a good night.

Tomorrow morning I have ballet class, and then I get to make my face into that of a mime for my make-up class, and then we're jumping in the car and heading to visit mi familia!

Oh my goodness, it's been DAYS!

2010-03-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Nathan's parents and siblings were here (except Becca), which I posted about before they came.
We had a great time all weekend with them, especially our afternoon at the aquarium! Nathan's parents even upped our tickets into year passes!

Now Nathan's at work during Enrichment Week, and I'm getting ready for my midterm in costuming tomorrow. I need to study a bit more, but I definitely needed a break for a little while...
I'm studying the Elizabethan time period for my midterm, which I do enjoy a lot. There's just a lot of vocabulary to look at and try to pinpoint exactly what it is. Like, a jerkin, for example is very similar to a waistcoat or a doublet. In fact, it's pretty safe to say that they are the same, just with a different name! During my break, I'm also watching an episode of The Tudors, so it's kind of like I'm studying still :)

I have everything I need (I think) outlined, so hopefully I can just keep looking over that outline and be ready for tomorrow. The most difficult thing is going to be the terminology from the chapter, but hopefully I'm over thinking it, and it will be much easier than I'm thinking it will be.

This coming Thursday we're headed down to visit my family, and then Nathan will come back Sunday and I'll stay for the week and fly back from San Diego the following Tuesday. I think it's going to be a lot of fun, especially if I can keep my allergies at bay.
Well, back to the books, and hopefully tomorrow will go well!

Swaptree is Awesome!

2010-03-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

Nathan and I have been using a website called Swaptree for the last month, and we love it!
What you do is this:
You add all the books that you have and want to get rid of.
You also add a list of all the books that you want.
(You can also do DVD's and CD's, but we mostly do books)
Then Swaptree matches you up with people to trad with.
All you have to pay for is the shipping to send your item out (which generally amounts to about $2.80 with delivery confirmation).

We've only really had one problem with it so far, and that was that we didn't get one of the books that we traded for, but we filed an 'item not received' report, so hopefully that will be taken care of very soon. One of our books also arrived a little mangled, but that was a mail carrier error, not a Swaptree user error.

If you have any books you don't want anymore you should definitely try it out!

Getting ready for the in-laws to come and visit!

2010-03-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

This Thursday my sister-in-law will be flying in to visit us, and then on Saturday my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and brother-in-law will be driving here too! I'm not sure what all we're going to do while they're here. We'll definitely walk down to Fisherman's Wharf and sample all the clam chowders :)

I know for sure that I'm going to make lasagna one night (which makes me super nervous, because Nancy [my mother-in-law] makes AMAZING lasagna and well everything else she makes is equally amazing), and probably peach dump cake for dessert (I got the recipe from KT my sister-in-law). I might make some scones for breakfast one day too!

I'm very excited for them to come and visit.

Then, the next weekend we're driving up to visit my parents for the weekend, and I'm actually going to get to stay for the week! Yay. Dad's going to take me to San Diego the following Friday (where I'll get to spend a couple of days with my Point Loma friends) and then I'll fly back here to Monterey.

Is Very Excited!

2010-03-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be in San Diego over Easter weekend! I get to visit with friends that I haven't seen since we moved here to Monterey!
I'm also going to get to spend a week with my family before that, which is also going to be awesome! I haven't seen them since we came home for Christmas. So it's going to be nice to relax there and just hang out :)

I won a book the other day from the author of my current book series that I'm reading (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation), which is awesome. I had just been getting them from the library to read because they're hardcover, and therefore more money then I should spend on a book. But, because of this contest I will now have a signed copy of the first book of the series! Whoopie!

And I entered in another contest of her (Lauren Willig) website, to name her next book in the Pink series. And if they pick my title I'll win an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book!

Time to have some AMAZING peach dump cake. Good night.

Why I Was Probably Born in the Wrong Era...

2010-03-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

These aren't in any particular order.
1.Suitcases- Old suitcases are way cooler than new ones. The only downside to the old ones is that you can't roll them. Everything else = better. The beautiful lining, and mesh pockets, the hard exterior...
2.Wedgwood engagement ring- I came across a few of these beauts on ebay, and wow. They are gorgeous. They're so feminine, and so beautiful. The few that I've seen have all been the daisies line of Wedgwood (which they recreated in the 70's I believe). Don't get me wrong, I love my engagement ring, these are just so different from what you usually see. Plus, they're Wedgwood which means they are awesome.
3.Aprons- Women used to wear aprons all the time, and it wasn't because they were in the kitchen, it used to be a staple clothing item around the house. And these aprons were gorgeous, they were delicate and floaty. I love me some vintage aprons.
4.Books- Those books that we now call "Classics" how cool would it have been to have them when they were contemporary? I submit that it would have been AMAZING. I would love to read a chapter of "Great Expectations" a week in a periodical!

Am I weird? I think that the answer is yes. I would love it if some of these things came back into "normal" modern society!

Great Day!

2010-03-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

I made blueberry muffins from scratch this morning! (Yummy)
And then we did our weekly cleaning up of the apartment, which went surprisingly quickly.
The library has a book sale every first Saturday of the month, so we headed over to that and bought a couple of books. I found a copy of "Betsy~Tacy", which was one of my favorite books when I was little. I also found a copy of "Angela's Ashes" which I've been wanting to read for a while.
For lunch I had a peanut butter/banana/honey sandwich, a pink lady apple, some carrots, and then some crackers and hummus. It was such a feast! :)
We also found out that you can go into Trader Joe's and get two bottles of water and a banana for less than a dollar! Awesome snack when you're taking a walk around the peninsula.

Now, we're just hanging out and watching How I Met Your Mother. Later, we'll probably read, and then we'll have artichokes for dinner!

I love days like this!

Greasy foods make my stomach feel not so good.

2010-03-05T19:04:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I have been eating really well since we got married, and even more so in the more recent times. So, today we decided that we would go out for a lunch date, and we went to the place that has our favorite clam chowder on the wharf. We got a plate of fish and chips, a plate of shrimp and chips, and two cups of clam chowder. After lunch, I was feeling it, and so was Nathan. We haven't had greasy food in so long that it was hitting our stomachs and making them unhappy.
So tonight dinner consists of fruit smoothies (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apple juice, almond milk, vanilla yogurt, and just a touch of honey) and a great big bowl of edamame.

My tummy says, "Thank you, this makes me much happier!"

Need. Sleep.

2010-03-03T23:31:00.001-08:00

Nathan and I go to bed together every night.
Tonight he's still doing homework, and I am butt tired.
I don't think I'm going to make it past midnight, but darn it I'm going to try to stay awake with him!

I like our ritual of going to bed together, it makes me happy.

You know what else makes me happy? Philosophy Shower Gel in the scent of Fresh Cream. It is lovely. It has just the right amount of scent, and it's perfect. I also have the body butter (Thanks Mom!) and I love the way that they smell, and, even more so, the way that they make my skin feel!

I think I'm O.V. (over-tired).

Time to read until bed.

New Clothes!

2010-03-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I went to Ross today and I got a few new dresses!
I'm applying for a job on NPS's campus, and I needed some stuff to wear to interviews so we went out looking.

At first it was not good. There seemed to be NOTHING. Then finally, I headed over to the clearance. And, lo and behold, that was where all the goods were hiding!

I ended up getting three dresses: one that is black on top and cream and black plaid on the bottom, another that is gray with a thin black belt (and is totally in the fifties style), and the last is a dark blue one with buttons and ruffles (sort of a Victorian neckline).

I love them.

Tomorrow the application will be in, and hopefully I'll have an interview in the next week!

When it's dark outside and it's cold...

2010-03-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

I like to drink hot chocolate! Hot chocolate of the dark chocolate persuasion happens to be the best.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to ballet (as long as it's not raining), come home and eat lunch with the hubby, read my book (another in the Pink Carnation series), go to the farmer's market, come home, make dinner, probably read some more while Nathan does his homework, then hang out with him for a while, and finally head off to bed.

I like knowing what's going to happen, and as long as I stick to the plan in a very general way I'm happy and unstressed.

Time to take a shower and then head off to bed!

Went on a walk last night, and stumbled upon...

2010-03-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

California's first theatre!
How cool is that?
We were walking along the Path of History that goes all over the Peninsula, and decided that we would take a different route then we ever had before. We walked through a beautiful garden, and then when we got out onto the street there it was across from us! The only bummer: it was already closed for the day, so we couldn't go inside of it and see all the cool facts and things they had. So we're definitely going to have to go back over there sometime, when it's open, to check it out. I had heard that Monterey had been been the home of the first theatre in CA, but I had no idea that the building was still standing!

If I could have any wardrobe from a t.v. character it would be...

2010-02-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

Emma Pillsbury from Glee.
I LOVE her clothes. All of them are way out of my price range, but someday (when I get either a. a lot of money or b. a sewing machine) I will have clothes that are as cute as hers!

The all yellow outfit makes me swoon a little (they have an ADORABLE yellow skirt at Target, which is actually now on clearance for $12.98 and should be down to $6 very very soon).

The green coat that she was wearing in the mid-season finale was perfect.

Needless to say, I cannot wait for the show to start back up, and also for the chance to audition when they do the casting call for next season!

God day today.

2010-02-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

We ate breakfast this morning, I had my fake bacon (which Nathan made fun of me for, because they kind of look like those dog biscuits...) and it was good!
Then we finished our grocery shopping this morning, and stocked up on a bunch of stuff.
While doing this, it. was.pouring.
Then we came home from the store and ate lunch.
Then, miraculously, it stopped raining and became nice and sunny out! So we headed over to the library, the post office, and Trader Joe's (to pick up some almond milk).
The library was good, of course. They had the next book of the series that I'm reading (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig) and they also had a biography of Louisa May Alcott (Score!).
Then we headed over to the Post Office, but it had closed today about twenty minutes before we got there (bummer), so we'll have to mail the packages on Monday.
When we got home it rained again, talk about perfect timing!
Dinner was also great: Asparagus and Vegetarian lasagna (meat lasagna for Nathan)

I think it's going to be fun to figure out meals that can have meat and also not have meat in them. A little bit of a challenge, but fun none-the-less.

One more episode of How I Met Your Mother, then dishes, then shower, then reading, and then bed!

My new favorite!

2010-02-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

So, Nathan and I did our grocery shopping today, and we got something AMAZING for our weekly splurge item: Zuberfizz soda (an eight pack) at Cost Plus.
We just tried our first one, Key Lime Cream Soda, and it was sooooo good!

The other flavors in the package are Cream Soda, Orange Cream Soda, and Creamy Root Beer. I can't wait to try the other ones. For $7.19 we got a case of wonderful :)

We're going to finish our grocery shopping tomorrow (some of the things we want are only on sale Saturday and Sunday), go to the library, and mail out another trade for swaptree!

Eating at The Table.

2010-02-25T16:38:00.000-08:00

I did not grow up eating at the table. I'm sure that we did when I was really little, but as we got older (and busier) it stopped happening. Shoot, we were lucky if we all happened to be eating at the same time. Nathan, on the other hand always ate at the table with his family. (Okay, so maybe not always, but a darn lot of the time)
Recently we rearranged our apartment so we could make better use of our little bistro table for two.
And I found something out: I love eating at the table.
This is definitely something that I want to continue doing. Before we used to eat at the coffee table, or over by the desk (so we could watch shows online). We still watch shows during dinner, but it feels more like dinner now than it did before.

Sometimes I feel like a grown up. Eating at the table may be one of the things that makes me feel that way. ;)

In fact, it's almost time for me to go make dinner: pasta with olive oil, feta, and spinach (and chicken for Nathan). I wish that we still had tomato, but we ran out last night, darn it.

Veg: Day 1

2010-02-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

So far so good.
I've decided that the best way for this to work for me is to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian. Which means that I'll still eat dairy and eggs (because, let's face it, I'm not giving up my cheese).
For breakfast I had: a banana in some vanilla yogurt (so yummy)
For lunch I'm about to have: an avocado sharp cheddar grilled cheese with tomato soup.
And for dinner:? As of yet, unknown.

I think that this is going to go pretty well for me. I already don't eat an awful lot of meat, and this way I will definitely be getting more fruits and veggies into my diet. And also more whole grains.

I started preparing our shopping list for the coming week, and I think it's looking pretty good. I found a lot of coupons to use on different things, I do need to print them out still, but there's a good amount of savings to be had with the use of coupons!

Time to go whip together lunch before Nathan gets home from his class!

Thinking about going veg...

2010-02-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

I've considered going vegetarian quite a few times in my life before now, but never gone through with it. It was always easy to find an excuse, "No one else in my family is vegetarian","Eating in the caf would be too hard, half the food isn't edible anyway", etc.
But now I don't really have a good reason, seeing as it's just me and Nathan. Now, Nathan doesn't want to go vegetarian, and I'm not going to make him. Since it's just us two it will be way easier to make meals that can have both non-meat or also meat in them. Then we can just cook the meat separately and add it into the base of the meal.

Sad thing: Probably the only meat I'm going to miss is bacon. I LOVE bacon, but the rest of the meat I can do without.

I'm going to try it, and see how it goes. Who knows?
If I hate it there's no one saying that I can't go back to eating meat, and if I love it then that's just awesome.

I'm really excited to try this out and see what happens!

I've been misted!

2010-02-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

They were doing the H1N1 vaccine for free at Monterey Peninsula College until 1 o'clock, so I headed on over and got vaccinated.
Now I'm just relaxing for the rest of the day, and keeping myself very hydrated. Hopefully I won't get any of the not so fun side affects that they said may happen. (Sore throat, congestion, headache, etc)

I read a really interesting article on MSN yesterday about the Prohibition. It was an article about how the government was putting menthyl alcohol into the products that they knew people were buying to "naturalize" into something to drink. The article said that as many as 10,000 people, maybe even more, were killed by drinking these "naturalized" substances because of the menthyl alcohol. This seems crazy to me, that the government thought it was okay to do this even though they knew that it was going to kill people. I understand that these people were also breaking the laws put forth during the Prohibition, but I don't think that the punishment fits the crime in this case. I don't believe that this was a wise course of action for the government to take, and I cannot believe that I had never heard about it before now. It seems like it should be something that you would read about in history class in high school, or that it would at least be general public knowledge.
This would probably be a pretty good topic for a novel actually. How the choice came about and how it affected normal people and their lives. I believe that it is all the more painful to lose someone you know and love to something that is avoidable, not natural, and not even accidental. How must the families of these people felt when they found out that they lost their loved one because the government decided to play God?
They could have, just as easily (and probably less expensively), put intense bittering agents into the products (which they did do in some cases). Why did the government decide to put in chemicals that they knew would kill?

I think I'm done rambling about this for today, but I may come back to it later. I find it a very interesting subject.

I love Dannon Light n' Fit Vanilla yogurt. (Oh, and silhouettes) [Oh, and Swedish Princess Cake]

2010-02-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. I think that it might, in fact, be the best yogurt I've ever had.
I just mixed it with a bowl of strawberries and bananas and it was pure yum.

I found this amazing website where they make your picture into a silhouette cut out of vinyl. And they can make it as big as you want! (www.vinylsilhouettes.com) This is something that I would definitely love to get to decorate our home with. Also, I would LOVE to have a custom silhouette cookie cutter (www.victortradingco.com). You send in a picture in profile and they make it into a cookie cutter! It's pretty darn cool. If they weren't expensive I would have bought them and made cookies as part of the favors for our wedding.

Someday when I open my own tea shop/used book store I might get some made, just to be able to sell cool silhouette cookies. Ooh, I wonder if there's anywhere that would make a silhouette cake pan...hmmm... I don't know how well that would work.

Today, I found a recipe for a Swedish Princess Cake, which is apparently hard to make, but delicious. I definitely want to try to make it some time, but I need to have a reason to make it, so I'm keeping an eye out for one of those. Maybe our eight month-a-versary will be a good time to make it!

*So, again, yes, the one picture is HUGE. But, ten cool points if you know what famous literary figure the silhouette is!*

Yummy!

2010-02-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I just made Italian Cream Cheese Casserole for dinner (thanks for the recipe Coupon Clipping Cutie!) and it was FANTASTIC.

We changed a little bit about it to better utilize the things we already had in our kitchen, but we will definitely be making this again. Plus, we have enough left over for lunch tomorrow! Hmm, or maybe dinner again. I'm singing at a coffee house night at our church tomorrow night, so I have to be there a bit early for the rehearsal.

Stage makeup class today was a bit remedial for me. We practiced putting on straight make-up, which I've done so many times I can practically do it in my sleep now. Let me put it this way: The class is scheduled from 1:30 to 3:30 and I was out of there at about 2:15. And she lectured on three chapters. I will, however, be bringing my own makeup from now on. The colors that she has just aren't what I'm used to working with and I just generally feel better about using my own stuff. I know that this means I'll have to buy more sooner than if I didn't use it, but that's okay with me.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day, so I'm going to be looking for some coupons and such for the things that we need to get! I am convinced that we can spend less on groceries than we do right now, so it is my next mission!

Dinner last night!

2010-02-17T16:40:00.001-08:00

Was so great.

Nathan and I went to the farmer's market that they have in the downtown area every Tuesday night to walk around (and buy some honey sticks!) and try all the samples from the vendors. We were about to leave when Nathan noticed that the crepe vendor was giving our samples of their "Deluxe" crepe. So, of course, we headed over to try it out. It. Was. Fantastic. Nathan was about to buy one on the spot, but then we realized that we pretty much had everything here at home that we would need to make them, except for a few things and we were planning on hitting Trader Joe's before we went home anyway. So we walked over to Trader Joe's and bought the ingredients that we needed and hightailed it home (Nathan was pretty much running, it was quite funny how excited he was about the crepes).

As soon as we got home we got to work on the crepes. I whipped up the batter (which is super simple, and super yummy) and Nathan got to work on cutting veggies and grating cheese. Before we knew it we were eating the crepes.

This is what was in the crepes:
spinach
tomato chunks
feta cheese
cheddar cheese
lemon juice (except when I forgot it (: )

and I had added a little bit of garlic powder into the crepe batter which gave it a little bit of kick.

I think next time I want to add some onion in there too.

Ooh, another find at the farmer's market: Emily Post's Etiquette from 1969. I got it for free from the free book man! It's hysterical, there's a whole section on how to throw a double wedding, and how a wedding with 200 people should cost (at the top of the range) $4,000. It seems so crazy to me that people are spending the same amount of money for one day that I paid for a YEAR of college. $30,000 is just ridiculous for a wedding. Now, this doesn't mean that we only spent $4,000 for our wedding. I wish. If I could have I would have. But, I am glad that we didn't go over $9,000. And it was all paid for (because my parents [and Nathan's] are fantastic) with no one going into debt.

Time to go make chicken spinach salad for dinner tonight, and then off to church to sing for the Ash Wednesday service.

Look what I found!

2010-02-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

(Okay, so I know that only Rebecca will appreciate it as much as I do, but it was such a good deal!)

Today was an amazing Valentines Day! It started out not so good because I woke up with a really puffy right eye. I think I got some face stuff too close to my eye last night (darn you benzoyl peroxide!) so underneath it was all red and puffy. So I showered and then I iced it for five minutes, and that brought the swelling down and then the make-up covered up the redness. So all I was left with was a little bit of puffiness.
So we headed off to church, and I sang with the worship group today (and had my first solo piece) and that was a lot of fun. Then after church we came home, where I found a lovely bouquet of roses (peach colored, my favorite!), candy, and a card from my wonderful husband.
Then we packed up our annual Valentines Day picnic, and we went to the lake down the street where we had staked out the perfect picnic spot the other day on the walk. We had our picnic and played cards and watched the people who were paddle boating around the lake. We came home after that and then headed over to Dollar Tree (because I needed a wreath form for a project I'm going to make) and I found the Merman book.

It totally made the day even better.

And for dinner we had Chinese food! Yum!

All in all, this was a great Valentines Day.
Time to go read about The Merman!

And the cold is almost.... GONE!

2010-02-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

When I woke up this morning my nose was almost completely unstuffed! Yay!

The weather is finally clearing up, no more rain in the foreseeable future, which means that we can take our normal nightly walks again.

So far the weight loss saga has been going well. I've lost 15 pounds since Christmas, and with my ballet classes twice a week (which are killing my calves) I'm getting a pretty decent amount of exercise in. So I'm going to keep eating well and working out and hope that the progress continues.

Today I made the treats for our valentines picnic tomorrow. We found a perfect spot by the lake today and tomorrow after church we'll come home and pack up the basket and head over to the lake.

Nathan has formed a ridiculous attachment to the bear that I made last week. It's pretty cute, he likes to hold it while we're watching The Office on Netflix.

Well, time to do other things before I head to bed so I can wake up early to go to church!

I may (or may not) be getting sick.

2010-02-11T20:23:00.001-08:00

I'm really hoping for the may not be side of the coin. It could (hopefully) just be my throat reacting to the weather changing.

Crossing my fingers for not getting sick!

I'm trying out a new cleanser (Cetaphil) and some Persa-10 gel. I'm hoping that this combination will work for clearing up my face. The cleanser is supposed to be very good for acne prone skin because it's so gentle.
Plus, I talked to my stage makeup teacher and she told me that there's a chance that I might be allergic to the fragrance than the companies put in the cleansers and make-ups that they make. So I got some cleanser and foundation that are fragrance free, and I'm hoping that my face will be helped by this. The reason that the professor says that I might be allergic is because I've tried so many things to clear up my face and none of them worked, so this is a logical thing to try out to see if it works.

Time to watch How I Met Your Mother with my wonderful husband! (and keeping my fingers crossed for not getting sick!)

Singing...

2010-02-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have rehearsal tonight for the church worship group I sing with, and I absolutely LOVE it.

They're such great people, who make me feel so welcome, and it's a chance for me to do something with my talent (graciously given to me by God). What better to do with my voice then help lead others in praise? I like to feel involved in the church. It's hard for me to go to church when I feel like I don't have any connections there. I feel like an outsider, even after I've been going there a while. Living Hope Church here in Monterey has been a bit of a different experience for me, more like my first church experience at Greentree. And it's been so nice to have that feeling again, that feeling that I belong there and have a purpose there.

We're also singing my favorite song this weekend: Above All.

"Crucified, laid behind the stone,he lived to die rejected and alone. Like a rose, trampled on the ground, he took the fall, and thought of me, above all..."

Makes you think.

February is National Embroidery Month!

2010-02-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

Who knew? I only recently discovered my love of embroidery. I've been cross-stitching for a while, but had never really tried embroidery. Then, in December I believe, I decided (on a whim) to try it.

In a lot of ways it's easier than cross-stitching, you don't have to have a pattern out in front of you because it's already on the fabric (you can buy the fabric printed, or you can trace (or draw) your pattern on yourself), and the colors are completely up to you!

If you enjoy sewing take a whack at it, you never know if you're going to like something until you try it!

*I have no idea why the picture is so stinking HUGE! I made it as small as possible, but for some reason or other this is the size. This is my current bird embroidery, I have four done, and eventually will have enough to quilt a throw blanket! I can't wait!*

Being Still

2010-02-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

We talked about rest today in church, and it took me back to the verse (the pastor mentioned it also) Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"

I have a really hard time being still. I like to know whats happening and how I can do something to further or hinder the situation (only hinder if it's something bad, of course!). It makes me crazy to not know what to do, or how to handle something. But, that's not my job. My job is to leave it up to God, and to go with my gut (could also be referred to as my conscience I suppose).

There used to be all kinds of crazy Sabbath rules, and I'm very glad that those no longer apply. One of them was that you couldn't walk in your garden on the Sabbath! I like my walks, they're very relaxing. They bring me... rest.

So, I'm going to keep working on being still, and leaving things up to God. 22 years down and oh so many more to go before I maybe have a chance at getting this right!

I have my classes all figured out!

2010-02-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

I added my last class today. Yay.

I went in early to talk to the professor, and she told me that I was in luck and someone had just dropped! I'm glad I went in early because SIX (count that, six!) people came in during the class to try to add.

So now my schedule is:
Tues/Thurs: Ballet
Weds: Costuming
Also Thurs: Stage Makeup

All in all, a pretty good schedule to defer my loans.

And, it doesn't seem like any of these is going to be terribly hard. Ballet is difficult physically, but she's grading on attendance so that's not a problem.

Now, onto the job front, hopefully that will also be taken care of soon!

Class Canceled?

2010-02-02T12:49:00.001-08:00

So, it's day one of my "first" semester of college, and one of my classes is completely canceled, which means I have to find something else to take the place of that class. I was hoping to find something that wasn't going to put me over six units, but there's very little in the way of two unit classes...ergh.

Ballet was fun though, and I definitely won't be needing to work out in the morning before I go to that class. I think I'm really going to enjoy it!

Tomorrow costuming starts! That's the one that I'm really looking forward to. It's going to be great to supplement all the things I learned at Point Loma with the classes here that weren't offered at Loma.

Back to the hunt for the ever illusive two unit class.

So I have been sucking at blogging!

2010-02-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'm really going to work on it, I swear.

To recap everything I didn't post about:

Christmas: It was a lot of fun, but there were definitely some stressful times too. Switching back and forth between two different houses was a little more complicated than we hoped it would be. We wanted to make sure that we were able to spend equal time with both of our families, but that meant that it felt like we missed out on a lot with each of them too.
I did, however, get an awesome Christmas present. My parents got me the Clarisonic Mia. Which I absolutely love. It's definitely making the skin on my face healthier, and I'm hoping that, with more time, it will help clear the acne that I just cant seem to get rid of.

Visitors: We've had quite a few visitors since we cam home from Christmas. First Nathan's sister Becca and her boyfriend Zach came to stay with us for a weekend. Unfortunately it rained pretty much the whole time. There was one good morning, so we took a walk (a seven or eight mile walk) all around Monterey to show them the sights. Then this last weekend my girlfriends from home came to stay for the weekend. And we took over the living room with all of our scrapbooking materials. It was a great weekend though, since we don't get to spend tim with each other too often.

And now back to the present:
I made a lunch bag for myself today out of a tea towel! Since I start my new classes tomorrow (Yay for deferring student loans you can't afford to pay!) I needed something to bring my lunch in. The classes that I'm taking are not going to be too difficult (ballet, stage movement, and costuming) but I'm looking forward to having something to do. And to getting a job on the campus to give us a little bit more of an income.

Nathan and I have been married for just over six months now, and I can positively say that these have been the greatest six months of my life. He's wonderful, and I am so excited to love him for the rest of my life. I could not have asked for a better man, I've been utterly blessed.

*An Edit: I just went back to look at my posts, and I am sad to say that I did not complete NaNoWriMo, but there's always next year, and I still am working on my story, just not as quickly as the contest called for!*

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

is taking over my newlywed life! I'm already behind on my word count, which is probably not good since I need to have 50,000 words by the end of the month. Eep.

For those that don't know NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. A group of people started it a few years ago, and the challenge is to write a complete novel (of 50,000 words) in one month. You can come in with outlines and characters, but you can't have any actually writing done on the novel. That, my friends, would be cheating. It's a lot of fun, but it's also completely stressful. I feel like I'm definitely going to have a few nights towards the end of lots of caffeinated tea and late late (or early early) bedtimes.

My story is about a girl who stows away on a plane to London, lives in Hamley's (a toy store) and pickpockets the shoppers for food money.

So far I haven't hit my word goal for any day, but darn it, I will persevere!

Busy Week!

2009-10-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

I let my blog fall to the wayside this last week (bad Megan,bad) because I was BUSY.

I started rehearsals for "A Christmas Carol" which are going very well, and I'm so excited to see where this show will go. Already, just this week, you can see that the cast is playing so well off one another and that the adaptation is fantastic. Dickens' is such a poet, and his word choices are just perfect.

We also, as you can see, carved pumpkins! It was a lot of fun, and it's the one thing that I actually like about Halloween (except the candy, which I am trying very hard not to like so much).

I've also been chugging along on the Christmas presents that I'm making for everyone. So far I have three petty much done, and am working on the fourth. I have a pretty good idea of what everyone's is going to be (they're all petty different) so that's a good thing, because that is definitely the hard part for me. I want to make sure that it's something that they'll actually like and is specifically for them.

Tonight we're headed over to the church for a young adult game night of sorts, which should be a lot of fun (mostly because we're bringing BANG! with us, with the hopes of finding people to teach it to and play it with).

Well, it's time to keep working on Christmas presents! I hope everybody likes them!

Something I Learned Today

2009-10-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

If you eat too much guacamole you will not feel good.
Lesson learned...

Also learned: Peppermint tea will help it feel better.

San Francisco Here We Come (or, there we went!)!

2009-10-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Things to do in San Francisco:
1. See the Golden Gate Bridge (check)
2. See South Pacific at the Golden Gate Theatre (check)
3. See Fisherman's Wharf (check)
4. Buy an I <3 SF shirt (check)
5. Get punched in the head by a crazy lady while walking down the street (check)

Yep, I went to San Francisco and got punched in the head by a crazy lady. She also had some choice words for me, which I don't really care to repeat.

And, to answer the question that everyone seems to ask: Why?
Ya know, because I punched her in the head first.
No, there was seriously no reason. Ask the guy fifteen feet behind me that she punched after me and I bet he'd have the same answer. There was absolutely no reason for her to punch me in the head, but she did.

Anyway, the rest of San Francisco was pretty good. We definitely want to go back so that we can hit Pier 39 and go to Alcatraz.

Oh and to let everyone know, I spent ten days in NYC once, and did not see nearly as many CRAZY people as I did in one day in San Francisco.

The Golden Gate Bridge was pretty impressive, and so was the Bay Bridge (it's two stories) South Pacific was fantastic. The sets were breathtaking and the acting was fantastic. Nothing Like a Dame was definitely the most impressive of all the songs, the men in the show were just spectacular.

We'll go back to San Francisco sometime (and hopefully not get punched in the head again) and visit Nathan's aunt and uncle (I wonder if that lady has ever punched one of them in head before...) and maybe we'll see another musical :)

Why Martha Stewart is fantastic.

2009-10-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

1. She has such great projects (even though some of them are too freaking hard to do).
2. The projects give me something to do to occupy my time while I'm here at home and Nathan is at work.
3. Even if a particular project is un-doable (for me this is a lot of them) there's often pieces of it that I can do, and I create my own projects out of them.
4. She has some great tips on random household things, like getting stains out or un-cluttering a room.
5. Does there even need to be a number five? Yes? Oh, okay, she can help you plan a mean wedding.

I used a lot of stuff from Martha while planning my wedding, and even more things that suddenly have appeared on her website (Either that, or I missed them before).

I love DIY projects because I think that they make any event, or home, more personal and more "you" than something that is purchased.

I'm actually going to go spend a little time on her website and then do a few projects of my own (which will eventually be Christmas presents for family)!

These Newlyweds are a-walking.

2009-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Nathan and I love to take walks at night. In fact that was one of the ways that we got to know one better at the beginning of our relationship. While at Point Loma we went on walks pretty much every night and we would talk for hours about everything we could think of. When we moved into our apartment in San Diego the walking kind of went to the wayside, our neighborhood was not the best for walking in. We probably wouldn't have died, or even been mugged, but still, not favorite.
However, our neighborhood here is much better and we feel pretty safe. We both still try to be vigilant while walking, but it is definitely less shady (shady as in dangerous, not as in nice and cool).
I am very glad that we have taken up this habit again, not only is it fun it's also healthy.

We're also big tea drinkers. A cup of tea is like a cup of happiness. It is rare that my husband or I meet a tea that we don't like. In fact, we have a whole shelf dedicated to our many boxes of tea. We both spent time in London, where you drink tea everyday usually two or three times a day. I was definitely okay with that. I will probably pick that habit right back up when it starts getting colder.

If anyone is wondering "I wonder what her favorite tea is..." the answer is, right now, True Blueberry made by Celestial Seasonings. Try it, you will not regret it, it's like drinking a blueberry muffin.

Our Newlywed Apartment is...

2009-10-15T14:17:00.001-07:00

not done.

But, we love it!

The building is definitely old, and not withouts it's own special little things that are not the loveliest in the world. But now the bathroom faucet works (hot and cold), our kitchen sink doesn't leak into our downstairs neighbor's apartment (Sorry Joe!), and if we shut the bedroom door the crazy lady doesn't come over and complain about the noise when we're watching t.v. :)

We have our little reading nook (with one of the chairs that my Mom recovered for us) and our couch (currently covered with a blanket because we haven't ordered a couch cover yet) for watching t.v.

Every day we make the apartment a little more us, and every day it seems more and more permanent for us. Which, it may or may not be (definitely not permanent as in forever) depending on Nathan's internship coming up this summer.

Soon I'll probably blog a bit about the wedding, because I've got tons of pictures to share!

10 Things You Worry About When Your Husband is Making Dinner

2009-10-15T09:58:00.001-07:00

The ten things I worried about last night while Nathan was making dinner in no particular order:

10. What exactly was that crashing noise? *Just a baking pan*
9. Why does he want to know where the cleaver is? *Because he wants to cut a pork chop? No*
8. Is that smoke? *Just a little*
7. "Oh, shoot" *Not his finger being sliced off by a cleaver, so we're okay*
6. Is he putting the spatula down away from the flame? *The answer is yes*
5. Are they going to put Glee up online soon? *This has nothing to do with him, but that doesn't make it untrue*
4. Is he going to make the peas? *He didn't make the peas, even though he wanted them*
3. I should really vacuum. *I will today*
2. Why is Pushing Daisies so fantastic? *Because it's so intelligent, which is also the reason it failed*
1. How many dishes are there going to be after dinner? *Answer: A lot*

Newlywed Wife's Jobless Life

2009-10-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

Finding a job is not an easy task. When you have a degree in theatre you're not really qualified for anything.
I mean, sure, we can do customer service, but then really what was the point of going to college?
The only job that I have found thus far is at Macy's.

Yes, Macy's. Where they would make me work the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and the day after Christmas. Which would mean: "Dear family, I will never ever, ever see you all again because they make me work all the time that you have off."

So, until I absolutely have to have a job (we're talking we won't make rent have to), I am holding out for something that will actually make me happy.

In a perfect world there would magically be an opening in a theatre.
I take that back, in a perfect world I would be able to make money as an actor, actually acting.

For now, I'll take the community theatre production of "A Christmas Carol" and keep on waiting for that job to open up in a nearby theatre.
Who knows maybe "A Christmas Carol" will lead to something, I sure hope so, but at least I'll have fun doing it!

This newlywed is blogging!

2009-10-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Not that that seems to be anything new on the internet. When you look up newlywed blog on google you get quite a lot of options.

So I figured, why not join up and add my voice to the throng of blogging newlyeds?

Let me introduce myself:
I was married in July to my best friend (no, seriously, he was my best friend for four years before we started dating, and then we dated for four years [okay, okay, it would have been four years a week later] before we got married) and we have now relocated from sunny San Diego to slightly cold and rainy Monterey.

Nathan is now attending grad school here, doing his computer genius stuff, and I am... being a housewife until I can find a job.

We're both excited to be married and starting our lives together and cannot wait to see what the future brings!

*Photo credit to the wonderful Daniel Son of Tae Photography*