Me! MaDonna!: September 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Instagram Roundup: Food Edition

Looking through my pictures on my phone, I can separate them into three distinct categories: my cats, my face, and my food. What does that say about me? I don't know. SO - here are a handful of pictures of what I've been eating and drinking lately. So lovely.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

What I've Been Looking At Lately!

Well, today was kind of a bust. The good news is that it's almost over! I did have a little lucky break and had my Game Boy gloves mentioned on a decent-sized website, so I've gotten way more traffic today than usual! So, with that said - I wanted to be sure to write today! Here are some sites and videos that I've been enjoying recently. I hope you like them, too!

This morning! Zzzzzz....

♥ Ever wanted to know what it's like to be married to a Russian ballroom dancer? Read Like the Vodka and you'll find out!

♥ If you need inspiration for your costume this year, here's a photo gallery of a ton of celebrity Halloween looks.

♥ Evolution of the Geek infographic. Which are you? I think I fit in somewhere with the Pop Culture geeks.

♥ No Marios, an awesome art tumblr featuring portraits of all your favorite video game characters that don't get enough attention. AND she drew Arino from Game Center CX, as seen above, so .. that's where I fall in love.

♥ Tutorial: How to Bat-ify your House -- a sweet tutorial (with awesome pictures!) of an easy way to decorate for Halloween. Now .. off to buy a ream of black construction paper.

♥ Are your shorts too short or do you just want to add a cute detail to your cut-offs? Take a peeksie at this: DIY Vintage Lace Trimmed Shorts. How cute would it be over some bright colored tights?! (I'm thinking merlot-toned. Yummmm...)

♥ How to Sew a Lining into a Crochet Bag. Can you tell I've been feeling very crafty lately?

♥ A recipe! Fried Olives Stuffed with Cheese and Herbs. Oh, alright - if you insist! - I'll eat a million.

♥ Cute Japanese promo video for Solatorobo on DS. Includes cute cat. Obviously.

How to curl your hair just using a sock! No heat. Hmmm .. I think I'll try this tonight.

I finished watching Breaking Bad season one last night. Here they are on The Soup, back in 2009. "My nana, she's got mad connections!" A happier moment with Walt & Jessie :')

Monday, September 26, 2011

Ramen with Pork Chops: Delicious!

Something that I love is eating. I think about food, I draw food, (thanks to Twinkie) I crochet food -- I dream up suppers and restaurants, snacks and treats. Unfortunately, I'm not the richest at the moment, so I can't try to make everything I want. Lucky for me, my boyfriend is a great cook and loves to food-experiment. Sometimes things turn out weird (curry + tator tots?), but usually it turns out delicious (homemade white pasta sauce). Tonight was a fun, an inexpensive, night.

4 packs of ramen (22 cents each), 1 pack of thin cut pork chops ($5), 1 pack of green onions (59 cents). Not so bad! Mark is the king of pork chops, so he cooked those up with lots of onion powder and pepper while I chopped -- and ate -- the green onions. After the chops were cooked, he cut them into strips and let them hang out with the onions for a bit in a bowl. He added water to the pan where the pork chops were, and cooked the ramen up! Added it all together and supper is ready! Perfect with a can of Coke, I say.

Admittedly not the most healthy supper, but it was cheap & filling - which is great for a Monday night. What do you put in your ramen? Another trick I have with the noodles is to add a big spoonful of peanut butter. Trust me, it's great.

Alright, I'm outta here. I have some more Breaking Bad to watch. I'm on the fifth episode of season one. It's got me, it really has. I'm stuck in another show. These people I love, why? Terminally ill meth-cooker. Undead southern asshole. Emotionless serial killer. What else!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Belly Dance at the Renaissance Festival

My Renaissance Festival post! Here are some pictures I took, some on my iPod and some on my camera, and a few from Lyra's camera and my mom's camera. My belly dance troupe, RakStar Fusion, has gone every year during Silk Road, the Middle Eastern themed weekend at the MN Ren Fest. This is my second year with the troupe, so it is my second time working Silk Road! All belly dancers who are in the Guild of Oriental Dance get in for free. (I think because they know how much all of us will spend at the vendors they bring in. I got two skirts, a small tribal belt, a pack of bindis, and a coin belt! And that was just at Dahlal, the belly dance shop set up.) This is also the second year that we were invited to dance on the Pavillion Stage as a showcase for the volunteer dancers. Afterward, we get to stay at the fair after hours and eat some yummy grilled food, drink some yummy cold beer, and sneak around the campgrounds in the pitch dark! Eek!

Ren Fest is such a fun time in the troupe. We get to hang out, walk around and shop and eat together, and just be silly! We have two dances that we perform out and about in a grassy area - one is our stick dance, Saidi, and the other is our finger cymbal dance, which we just call Zill. Both of them can be done with just a drum beat, not music, so that makes it perfect for the Renaissance.

I love eating big turkey legs!

Beautifuly Lyra. She made her top and head piece!

Getting ready to go perform in the grass.

Lyra & me, featuring my (1 of 5) bone necklaces.

View of the Dahlal vendor tent .. So many treasures.

After we perform, it is our tradition to make our own RakStar picnic by our car in the parking lot. We all change out of our layers and layers of belly dance clothes and into cute, comfy (and in this weekend's case, WARM) clothes and relax on a blanket with snacks and wine. I love dancing and walking around all day, but our picnic time might be my favorite part of Renaissance.

Stopped at a bar on the way home the first night & they gave us samples of their homemade jalapeno vodka in little, baby Bloody Marys! Yum! :9

Day 2.

One of our favorite shops! They have $3 mugs!

And there is a tree growing in the middle of it.

I bought two more for my mug collection!

Liz's necklace! The other side is a sweet smile.

Beautiful Channa shopping for gypsy wares.

People fencing at the after-hours party. So "Role Models."

Lunch on day three. Another turkey leg!

Enjoying some mead, listening to pub songs.

Me & Lyra, relaxing on the last day. I love this picture!

Kelly <3

RakStars dancing in the grass.I framed this picture! (Is that vain?)

So many snacks!

With one of our drummers; we named him Aladdin One.

Another one of our favorite shops! This is why I get my gypsy perfume oils.

Incense! (At the same shop as the oils.) They gave us ten for $1, so I bought 100 sticks. Whoops!

The stage we danced on!

RakStar Fusion Bellydancers.

When is the last time that you've been to a Renaissance Festival? Do you like them or are they not your thing? I love them! I love the smells, the food, the shops -- pretty much everything. And I get to go again next weekend for Channa's bachelorette party!