For all those who come to this happy place, Welcome!

http://www.parkwayreststop.com/archives/2937 This link will take you to a wedding video that will either, make you cry or pee your pants... take your pick. It's hilarious.

this is the survey for my thesis, the first part is a disclaimer... yada, yada, yada  if you didn't email me but are interested in taking the survey perusing it over - I will love you forever & your childrens children - Please copy & paste it into an email and send it to: maren_buchanan at yahoo {dot} com Survey for SSC Thesis Paper Maren Buchanan 3/21/2009 Thank you for volunteering for this survey. Your answers will help me to get a better understanding/feel for the relationship that you have with blogs, online/offline relationships, and your creative outlet (ie sewing, scrapbooking, etc.). Any information that I obtain will be used for academic purposes. Please complete the survey as well as you can. If you have any comments, do not understand what I am getting at, or need further clarification, you can email me or respond to that effect on your survey. If there is anything you don’t want to answer just state that, please don’t leave any blanks. Completion of this surve...

So I just posted this on the SSC , but I'm posting it here as well. As many of you know, (or not know) I'm in my last semester of grad school at ASU. Right now I'm working on my thesis, the title is "Those who stitch together, stay together; the modern June Cleaver's Relationship with online group blogging and an offline social sewing community"...  So basically I'm examining a women's community's relationship between blogging online and offline social connections. I'm focusing on the SSC , but I'm also looking for some other outside perspectives. SO this is where you come in. I'm looking for willing blog readers, stalkers, lurkers, friends, or relatives (like they read my blog by choice) who will fill out a survey for me in the next few days and have it back to me in a week or so. You just need to be a wife, mother, grandmother with a creative outlet (sewing, scrapbooking, cleaning, etc.) and a blog. Are you up for it? If your in just ...

I've decided to join the ' Pay it Forward' bloggers on the blogosphere. I signed up under Jeanie . What it basically is, just sharing the love, doing something, making something, giving of yourself... to 3 people and you have a ridiculously long amount of time to do it in, 365 days to be exact. So what I need is 3 people to leave a comment to me so I know who to spread the love to, and by doing so you agree to Pay it Forward on your own blog & find your own 3 people to spread the Love forward...  You ready to be loved by me? Just so you know. My deadline is the end of summer . If your one of my peeps, you'll be feeling it long before 365 is up (Christmas gets too busy and I will forget by then - so bonus for you) So are you up for it? You ready to pay it forward?

I still wonder where she got those pouty lips? She just gets cuter everyday.

So last night at Bunko we were all laughing at each other for our not so secret crushes. My friends names have been changed to save them some embarrassment, but to give you an idea:  Pretty Skin Girl is obsessed with Christian Bale, but I can't say I blame her. He has a great smile and his lips are pretty sexy.  Tall Blondie is in love with Shia Lebouf - we keep giving her a hard time because we still see him as the little Disney boy that he's been all these years. When you think of Blondie in love with the star of Holes, it's more yuck then ohhh, but he is getting cuter (did you see the last Indiana Jones) - So Blondies choice isn't that bad. But Shortie Brunette does have a thing for Billy Bob Thornton, which rivals my weird obsession with David Bowie (not the hundred year old man he is today, but the Goblin King, Lord of the Labrynth from my youth)... I can't deny my love for the Goblin King. Maybe it was the big hair or lots of makeup, he had the best shimmer li...

My little sister Meg, emailed me these pictures yesterday from her marriage that took place in November. I just thought I would share them. Look how tiny Abbey was. These beautiful ladies are my sisters. Maren, Sunny, Allison, Megan, Kelly, Leslie These are all my siblings. Isn't this view of the temple amazing! I love the palm tree in the shot. Who knew I would love the desert so much. St. George is really pretty. Maren, Joey, Leslie, Dad, Josh Megan, Jake, Mom, Sunny, Allison, Kelly, Jared. 

- My name is not Chris, I borrowed all images from flkr, because how can you possibly read a story without pictures in it (Alice) (This is an actual email I wrote to my friend Sammy, we did MCC & our undergrads together at ASU, she likes my dumb library stories. I thought I would share this one with you.) These guys talk so stinkin’ loud. Okay so maybe the music here at Starbucks is a little loud. But I kind of like that because it’s all foreign music and I can’t sing along so it feels more like white noise, its not hard for me to concentrate if I can’t sing along. Plus it’s good for concealing other peoples private (or just annoying) conversations. Except the three monkeys who just walked in feel that they are in competition with it. Okay maybe it’s a culture thing or a guy thing, but seriously – it’s a Saturday night 9pm in Arizona (wonderful weather outside) please tell me you have some zoo lights party to attend or can enjoy swinging from trees and all your screeching ways ou...

So we are hosting our first FREE giveaway on the SSC (Secret Stitch Club) site, which I am a proud member of. The author of the book featured below gave us a free copy to give away... (she's kind of a celeb in the apron blogosphere subculture). Anyway, what I'm more excited about is the stink'n cute apron I made to giveaway with the book. This is our first combined project and launching point for Christie, Jill & I, (we will hopefully be opening an Etsy site next month to sell these suckers for actual money)   Okay so one reason I love this apron is that it is green . Let me hug a tree for a minute and tell you how cool this apron is. The book is about vintage kitchen linens, and this apron is made from r epurposed household linens . The main white section came from a laundry room curtain , it has the sweetest white on white flowers along the bottom. The red gingham ties and bottom ruffle are a repurposed bed sheet . How cool is that? This apron has a generous fit (I...

Calling all apron lovers (aka dorks)! Get you Apron Pride t-shirts.  Aren't these t-shirts so much fun? My friend Christie designed them. And people have actually asked us if they could buy one (weird, I know. If you want one click on the link at the right side of this screen, if you can't find the link - you've spent too much time on the internet and should probably put down your mouse and go read a book)  I have to explain where the name ( Apron Dorks ) originated from: My sister-in-law invited me to a "come-buy-stuff-so-I-can-get-free-junk" kickback party at her house a couple years ago and I took my friend Rachel with me, when Ashley first saw Rachel she didn't offer the usual (Hi. Nice to meet you, bla , bla , bla ) - she said, "Are you one of those apron dorks?" Well, we embraced the term and if you've spent any late nights sewing with us, you would know we proudly own the term. It doesn't get much more slap happy or dorkier the...

I really can't justify spending 5$ on my favorite drink more then once or twice a month... but thanks to the wonderful world of the Internet , I can make one at home - let me share my fav . Jamba Juice recipe. Orange Berry Blitz 8oz. orange juice 2 scoops pineapple sherbet (I got at Wal -Mart) 2 scoops frozen strawberries 1 scoop frozen blueberries 2 scoops crushed ice (you can buy it at Sonic by the bag) pour orange juice in your blender, add sherbet , strawberries, blueberries, and crushed ice. Blend until smooth.  I used a ice cream scoop for all my measurements, (only about 2 frozen strawberries can fit in the scoop, and the sherbet I made on the smaller size. my verdict for homemade jjuice : It was yummers . Probably just mess with the scoop size a little and it will hit perfection.

anything with this much butter has got to be good right? Seriously, this gut takes a lot of work. It doesn't look like this for nothing. My glucose intake has to be maintained while my lean fat stays low. I'm looking to see how close to clogging my arties I can get, I refer to my mantra as 'modern day housewife living on the edge...' pretty hard core if you know what I mean. This stuff will kill you, but you will die happy.  Coconut Chex "HC" Party Mix (hard core) Ingredients: 2 cubes of butter 1 cup lite Karo syrup 1 cup sugar 3 tsp. coconut extract 1 cup coconut 1/2 cup slivered almonds 1 reg. box of corn or rice Chex Melt the butter in a sauce pan, stir in syrup, and sugar. Get it to a rolling boil. Boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly. Take off the heat, add coconut extract. Dump over the Chex, almonds, and shredded coconut. Mix really well. Wait till it cools or you'll burn your fingers and mouth while shoveling it in.

I came acr oss this recipe on the good old interbay (how my dad says Internet), and it looks so good and incredibly fattening at the same time. 2 sticks o' butter... why not call for two pounds of lard added to both of my thighs? it's about the same thing right? So I'm making it for FHE treat for tomorrow night... I'll let you know how it tastes when it will no longer burn my fat tongue (just out of the oven) Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies I ngredients: 2 sticks (1 cup) butter 1/2 po und semisweet chocolate chips 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate baking squares (3) 3 eggs 2 Tbs. instant Pero (or coffee granules) 1 Tbs. vanilla 1 cup + 2 Tbs. sugar 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs. flour 1/2 Tbs.  baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 2 cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies (25 cookies) Preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9"x13" baking pan. In a glass medium bowl add butter, chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate. Microwave on high at 30 sec intervals stirring well in between each until m...