i adore living in the great state of minnesota. i honestly do. so much to do, so many places to go, and pretty pretty snow! the only thing i hated about snow is driving in it. perhaps it's because my lil' civic couldn't handle the slippery road conditions, causing white knuckles and migraines. sure sliding around corners is fun when no cars are present. in fact, i'll admit, i secretly would make my car slide around corners for the fun of it! however, i don't enjoy the sliding around corners when other cars are present. or, oh, i don't know, trying my hardest to get up a slightly snowy hill to find my tires just spinning spinning spinning, until 10 minutes later, i'm finally up that small hill with a long line of traffic behind me, cursing at me, and God knows what other sorts of gestures!
for the past couple winters, my husband and i have talked about buying snow tires. "they'll make such a big difference!" he says. yea right. i was skeptical. extremely skeptical. my solution was to sell the lil' black beauty and get a big SUV with 4-wheel drive. unfortunately, the budget says no go on the new car. so finally this winter, we ordered the snow tires.
i drove with them for the first time today. oh. my. God. i have been missing out! what a huge difference! still a little slidey at parts, but not nearly as bad as it had been! in fact, driving in snow is no longer a terrifying experience for me! sure the commute this morning was long and slow, but i didn't have to worry about spinning out or not being able to make it up that hill or sliding around a corner into the cars stopped ahead!
my advice to those in snowy climates: SNOW TIRES!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
lessons learned in ice resin
i decided to play with a new medium today for making necklaces: ice resin!! the wonderful thing about ice resin is that i can create those beautiful dome necklaces that i adore so much. today was the first trial using ice resin and here's what i learned:
1) mix a smaller amount! i had to throw away too much unused product. next time i'm mixing half of what i did today! (1/4 of a cup next time...)
2) mix gently! otherwise, lots and lots of bubbles to get out. no fun.
3) thoroughly seal the paper before pouring the ice resin. oh yea, and allow adequate dry time for the sealed paper.
the most important lesson learned today is lesson 3. if the paper isn't sealed (and dried) thoroughly, the ice resin seeps through the paper causing a dark, discolored look. which = not pretty!
next time i'll take my time and not be so anxious to play with the resin and hopefully my necklace will turn out fabulous! wait. not hopefully. it WILL turn out fabulous!
p.s. as soon as i have fabulous necklaces made, i'll sell them on etsy.com and i'll post a link to my online store at that time.
1) mix a smaller amount! i had to throw away too much unused product. next time i'm mixing half of what i did today! (1/4 of a cup next time...)
2) mix gently! otherwise, lots and lots of bubbles to get out. no fun.
3) thoroughly seal the paper before pouring the ice resin. oh yea, and allow adequate dry time for the sealed paper.
the most important lesson learned today is lesson 3. if the paper isn't sealed (and dried) thoroughly, the ice resin seeps through the paper causing a dark, discolored look. which = not pretty!
next time i'll take my time and not be so anxious to play with the resin and hopefully my necklace will turn out fabulous! wait. not hopefully. it WILL turn out fabulous!
p.s. as soon as i have fabulous necklaces made, i'll sell them on etsy.com and i'll post a link to my online store at that time.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
it's the most wonderful time of the year...
so i just got done with the 1st annual cookie baking/mimosa drinking/movie watching day. what a success! we made super yummy cookies, drank super yummy mimosas, and then watched one of the best christmas movies ever: elf! the only thing that would've made today even better is if my az ladies could've been here :) days like these make me so happy yet so homesick at the same time. strange how that works!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
wheat thins...
wheat thins are my crack. i can't leave any wheat thins in my line of sight or I will eat them all. seriously. all of them. i'm addicted. i have to hide them from myself or i'll eat an entire box! damn you, wheat thins, for being so tasty!!
and i digress.
and i digress.
Open Letter to AZ Weather
Dear AZ Weather-
While I appreciate your desire to remind those in the great warm state of AZ what cold weather feels like, I do have one concern. I will be visiting AZ for Christmas and have but one request. Please please please bring back the warm weather Arizonans have come to know and love, if only for the week of 12/23/09 - 12/29/09. You see, living in the frozen tundra known as South Central Canada AKA Minneapolis, MN, I already remember what cold weather feels like. In fact, the current temperature is -5 degrees. There is no need to punish the already punished. So it is with great respect and admiration that I ask you, AZ Weather, to please warm up to at least mid-70's while I am visiting.
Sincerely,
Me
While I appreciate your desire to remind those in the great warm state of AZ what cold weather feels like, I do have one concern. I will be visiting AZ for Christmas and have but one request. Please please please bring back the warm weather Arizonans have come to know and love, if only for the week of 12/23/09 - 12/29/09. You see, living in the frozen tundra known as South Central Canada AKA Minneapolis, MN, I already remember what cold weather feels like. In fact, the current temperature is -5 degrees. There is no need to punish the already punished. So it is with great respect and admiration that I ask you, AZ Weather, to please warm up to at least mid-70's while I am visiting.
Sincerely,
Me
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