1000 words.

today i'm on 1000words talking about... what else, pirogies. these plump, polish treats have been on my mind (and in my tummy) since we had pirogie day at my mom's house last weekend.

Check it out and comment over there if you'd like!

redbox.

i've seen some pretty odd items in airport vending machines. flowers, ipods, acne medicine... but nothing like my newest addiction - redbox.

it's a vending machine that rents dvd at Wegmans. and quess what, it's in the shape of a red box.

the concept really works for me. a buck a night. no late fees. (just another buck) no people to deal with. a limited supply of vidoes to choose from. (it's a proven fact one makes decisions faster with less choices)

we've hit up the redbox like 6 times now and only had to pay TWICE. i gave them my email address and I get emails with free rentals all the time. new releases come out every Tues and i just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that the website is always up to date with exactly what movies are in my local redbox. it works!

wine cork wreath.

i'm notorious for starting a craft project and then moving on to my next great idea before it's completely finished. case in point -> the wine cork wreath I started ages ago.

I had a legit excuse when I ran out of corks. i just couldn't drink as fast as my lush neighbor. I should have left a note in her recycling bin asking for a weekly donation. but then i scored 2 bags FULL of corks at a garage sale- so I had to finish it.

it's a delicate wreath, but i'm very pleased with it. project pics and instructions are up on my gallery page.

eating.

apples covered in caramel. yuuuummmmmm.

lucy 4th bday.

nov 12th was many reasons to CELEBRATE:
1. it's mc's late Grandma Ross' bday
2. it's Lucy's bday
3. it's Veteran's day / Remembrance Day

to celebrate - we sang 'happy birthday' to lucy and grandma while we wore our red poppies. poppies are a wartime remembrance symbol. we pick 'em up in Canada every year for Remembrance Day.

i really wasn't feeling well on Monday, so I didn't force Lucy to wear a birthday hat. i only had the energy for a BOW. what's even more unfortunate is that I didn't hang streamers or balloons. she barely got a 'happi bday' sign. i'm such a bad mom.


she totally knew it was her bday though. she got LOTS of treat from her dad, who thankfully had more energy than me and picked her up a few gifts (thx babe!). she got a new collar & squeaky cow toy... oh and Frosty Paws. here is a video of her getting introduced to booda. (we can't make this stuff up, it came on the cow just like winslow)

pirogie day.

the pirogie debate of last week is officially over. we opened and then closed the polls and made about 325 pirogies in one day. I chronicled the making of a pirogie on my Gallery page.

this was our YODA pirogie. we waited till the end to eat it.

junk wagon.

i fell off the JUNK wagon the last few weeks. work is crazier than a fish with fur and I just haven't had time! (hey - someone keeps telling me that there is a fur bearing TROUT species - is he fibbing me?)

anywho, i'm happy to report i'm slowly crawling back on the wagon! I've been kickstarting projects that were collecting dust and scooping up junk deals. case in point, last weekend I scored some JUNK from Sue. (my future mom-in-law)

Sue takes the most-junk-in-a girl's-possession prize. all i say is 'i'm looking to do a photo gallery up our hallway stairs' and she takes me to the several of her stashes waiting to be sold at her antique store. (basements, barns, garages... note these are all PLURAL!) before i know it, i have 20+ OLD, antique frames in our trunk waiting to be smuggled over the border! yea for junk! THANK YOU so much Sue - I can't wait to post about the before/after makeover!

some other treasures... a PINK blossom pyrex bowl (this made me squeal), a vintage fan, (she had like 8 to choose from), some kodak film canisters, an OLD meat thermometer (it says Rochester, NY on it!) and a piano bench in desperate need of paint and a new fabric covering.

Let the PROJECTS begin!!

Oh... how could I forget my most FAVORITE treasure of all - a vintage, wooden swivel desk chair for the office upstairs. i know why i forgot - it didn't FIT in our trunk ;-( so it's being delivered on TURKEY day when they come visit. I'm dreaming this chair sat in an old lawyer's office for many moons. the wear on the arm rests tells me they leaned back and rubbed the arms a lot, perhaps when pondering life or very stressed out. this chair is a keeper-for-life treasure!

pirogie polls are open.

ok everyone. there is a HOT pirogie 'flavor' debate email flying around inboxes near some of us. (thank goodness for gmail 'threads' b/c if I logged in to see 34 reply-to-alls I would just log right out)

here's the deal: i'm polish. my family's polish. and we make darn good PIROGIES. twice a year we get a group together and pump out hundreds of the plump, polish treats. this weekend happens to be one of our bi-annual events hosted at my mother's house.

since we are the common people of our pirogie community and live in a world of democracy (not to mention yesterday was voting day for me in the Roch) I've OPENED THE PIROGIE POLLS as the official voting mechanism for this weekend's flavor.

so - grab your mouse and PICK a flavor, darn-it! (ur voting limit is THREE) the poll is in the left column on this page. (who knows, even if you don't come u may be the lucky recipient of our weekend's yummy product.)

to get you in the mood for Saturday... here are pics from last Nov's event at my aunt annette's house and here are pics from last Jan's event at my mom's house.

ps - I'm sorry Brian, but Tuna didn't have enough seats in the house to make the poll as a candidate. maybe next year.

gone truckin.

mcallister's dad has these old trucks that have spent many, many years parked in their back orchard. I like to think of them as FUN vintage, garden art pieces. there are two of them that have been in the same spot since as long as I have known mcallister. (plus a few decades)

his dad has been restoring the 1947 International Truck. since we were in canada this past weekend catching up on some long-overdue family time - we got to see how far it's progressed. I spent some time capturing photographs of it b/c I just like OLD things. i will admit, the orchard looked a bit empty now that this staple is being moved into storage.

while trying to research it, I found this neat website that provides copies of old classic advertisements, including trucks. above is a 1947 ad for another International Truck. looks a little different now that it is 60 years old than it did back then!

a wedding idea crossed my mind when I was photographing it. it reminded me of a story I read about a couple who used the bed of an old truck to serve up appetizers at their fairytale outdoor, country wedding. mcallister wasn't too fond of the idea but maybe it could work!

There are more pics of the truck & our weekend on my Gallery page.

the next firedog.

I got an email from Kodak about a contest with Circuit City to find the next 'firedog'. Firedog is Circuit City's installation and technical support service. Think like the people who come to your house to install or fix your home theater or computer.

Lucy and my ears were PERKED as soon as we heard about the contest. Since I don't work for Kodak anymore, I don't see why we can't enter it. That's where you readers come in... I need some ideas for a 'photo-shoot' theme to take the PERFECT picture of Lucy.

What would best capture her as the perfect mascot for Circuit City's TV commercial for technical repair/installation?

happy halloween.

A decent photo with Lucy couldn't happen w/o MULTIPLE takes.
Takes One and Two

spooky branch.

remember my valentine's day tree? well the tree really isn't so lovey-dovey. it's actually a SPOOKY branch I scored for cheap-cheap at the PBizzle last year.

for it's first halloween debut, i decorated it with orange lights and little skulls to amplify it's spooky effect.



it's crazy how cheap halloween stuff can be the first week of november. i got this FUN batty, table runner with the branches. u forget about it until you pull it out the following season.... it's like CHRISTMAS in October!



i also made a spooky shadow box as a tribute to last year's pumpkin carving contest. go PLAXICO.

lousy headbands.

hey gang, it's lucy here.

now don't PANIC - this is NOT my halloween costume! just a pair of random EARS my mom has been wearing around the house the last few days. now i know what you're thinking. 'how could lucy's cruel mom make her wear silly hats / headbands all the time?!' i ask myself that question a LOT! but as much as I dont like wearing SILLY things on my head - it does make me very HAPPY to see my mom so happy when I'm wearing 'em. (i mean, come 'on - we all know she is a bit of weirdo). and if all i have to do to MAKE her laugh aloud and SMILE from ear-to-ear is wear a silly hat for 5 minutes - I'm IN!! easy-peasey!

don't worry about me. I go back to smiling the minute I can take it off.

lovin the lazy life,
lucy

festive cookies.

yummmm.

crazy corn maize.

the weather didn't keep us from hitting up a CORN maize yesterday. a couple girlfriends and I went to the Zarpentine Farms corn maize. The theme of the maize was Noah's Ark. I wonder how the heck someone 'mowed' the animal shapes into the corn?! I can hardly write my initials with the lawn mower....

anyways - the objective was to find the 10 colored 'sticks' - if you answered each one correctly it gave you a clue to the next one. the maize was a LOT larger than what I expected and tough for a 'totally-bad-with-directions' girl like me. they told us some people take 3+ HOURS to get through it all. it really would be a TON of fun if you brought a large group and broke up into teams.

here are some tips for first-timers:
1. wear crappy clothes n case it is muddy outside
2a. bring a FLASHLIGHT
2b. if u forget ur flashlight, bring ur CAMERA and take a photo of the map to review when lost
2c. if u forget ur flashlight and your CAMERA runs out of batteries - ur out of luck
3. don't be shy to ask for directions from kind strangers

technically - Lanie and I lost Krista & Kimmer. somehow they emerged with all 10 sticks in less than 45 minutes. i'm pretty sure they were yawning during the rules when the race judges said 'no bartering with strangers for sticks'.

garden in transit.

maybe you've heard about the flowers that are ALL over the iconic yellow taxicab in NYC. well those flowers are the product of a project called 'garden in transit'. my girlfriend Marisa works for the Portraits of Hope who sponsored the project to showcase NYC in full BLOOM. it's a public ART project to celebrate the taxi-cab's 100 year anniversary.

in NYC I traveled in flower-power style, hailing two cabs in full BLOOM. the only one that wasn't a groovy cab was the one we hailed from the airport to the office. that cab got a flat tire which made us late when we stopped to put air in the tire. i'm convinced it's because it didn't have FLOWERS.

confused pumpkins.

cam isn't the only one getting a painted pumpkin! i decided to paint our initials on smaller pumpkins to JAZZ up our front porch. well the pumpkins were so darn small they got lost in our HEAPING pile of mums!

despite being overwhelmed with how close christmas is, i solved that by stacking them up like a SNOWMAN. lots of hearty toothpicks are holding them together pretty well.

buffalo bills.

Go Bills (more pics here)!

spooky front door.

i may not be great in the kitchen, but i found a good idea for an old frying pan. bet ya never thought that could decorate your door!

free cards.

who doesn't love something FREE?! remember when I created my own mikwright card on kodak's easyshare gallery? Well now you can try out their card service for FREE! The Kodak EasyShare Gallery is running a 5 free card promotion until early November. So get creative and send some SNAIL MAIL!! (to me, for telling you about this super deal!)

for the record - I'm not sure if it is good for every single one of their card types, but the two I've made so far have qualified. one of them was even a Martha Stewart card!