Underbite: Fall

Happy Thanksgiving!

8:43 PM

I know this post comes a day late, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! I hope that everyone got to enjoy some time with their loved ones and enjoy a potluck of delicious thanksgiving foods!!! Also, I hope everyone got at least one food-induced coma. As gross as it is to think about passing out from all of the food you've just stuffed down, I swear it's the best nap of the year, and if you're going to get that one nap a year, then I say take it... cause it's amazing!

This year I made apple spice cake for our two families, Joey made deviled eggs, and we both made that boilo (Hard Apple Cider) that I was wanting to make a while back. It was delicious and was perfect for a cold, rainy day.

My favorite food out of the whole Thanksgiving feast has to be the dressing. Never mind the turkey accompanying the dressing (although that's delicious too), just give me the dressing. Joey's family has a tradition of making home-made ravioli (this is a serious under-taking!) and serves that as their Thanksgiving feast on his mom's side. It's delicious and OH HOW I LOVE RAVIOLI!!! So, how was your Thanksgiving and what's your favorite Thanksgiving food? If you're having a low-key break this year, then are you doing anything exciting?

I got into the holiday spirit during a thesis break and pulled out some pretty glasses, arranged them with candles, and folded some magazines to look like trees. The candles and one of our throw blankets definitely help to make the room feel warmer when it's cold indoors.

Since it is that time of year, then I figured I would post some items that my be fun for all different sorts of folks for the holidays. Let me know what you think of them!

For the lady who wants to send a subtle message...

And, for the lady that always needs a fun accessory (this is a DIY).

If you run out of or need another bow to slap on a gift, don't run to the store, just run to the pantry...

Holiday manicure... End of the semester gift to myself? Hmmm, yes I think so :)

For the smallest of folks... children's books and their characters as plush toys!

Nerd Boyfriend... and his clothes.

Although not always the most affordable option, J.Crew's gift guides offer awesome items as well as inspiration if your drawing a blank for someone special.

Not to leave the boys out on this list, here's askmen.com's "Top 10" gifts for Christmas.

Etsy's gift guide's are always fun, especially when they help to personalize each guide to themes!

And, last but not least, if you're still having a bit of trouble, here is a neat "Santa's list" that feels much more reflective and appreciative of the years events, instead of just a list of wants.

And, here are two animal videos that make me happy...

and, for the hell of it (I was going through my itunes and songs I haven't visited in a while)...

Have a great weekend and love to all!

Art

Weekend Love

7:29 PM

This week flew by! It seems like everyday there was something going on so that by the time I made it home it was time to go to bed and do it again. That does not mean, however, that I didn't enjoy the week. The beginning of this week was pretty rough with a few classes that decided to act like CERTIFIED LUNATICS instead of actual human children who sometimes act endearingly looney. After Tuesday, though, the week began to look up and good times and lots of productive art-making began to happen.

The "napkin box" for "P.F. Chains" was actually made out of tissue paper.

Some of the kids "Restaurant Noodles" artworks. The restaurant above must have some seriously high demands for Dr. Pepper as opposed to sweet tea, diet dr. pepper, and coke :). And, below, the bulletin board plus the door to my classroom.

On top of working on the C-STEM Challenge, an extra-curricular program that a few of the teachers and I are participating in with the kids, I've been working on an art contest with the kids where the grand prize is a 75 gallon living coral reef aquarium!!! Fingers crossed we'll win, however, if we don't, then that's one 75 gallon aquarium that I won't be maintaining and one beautiful piece of artwork made by the fantastic 5th graders at Oakhaven to hang up for everyone to see. The C-STEM Challenge is pretty exciting as well. It's a set of 6 challenges that the kids will have to complete and compete against other schools (mainly schools based out of Houston, which is where we will finally be competing in April). We're the only school in Tennessee participating and knock-on-wood Memphis makes a name for themselves while competing in Houston, TX.

Besides school stuff and constantly keeping up with how the educational environment is changing or trying to change, life has been very good. Joey and I enjoyed a semi-disappointing opening game with the Grizzlies game with our friends Zach and Sara. Great company and a fun team to watch, Joey swears that when they stink it up during their first game of the season, the Grizzlies always do well during the rest of the season. We shall see, won't we :)

I still need to work more on my thesis and hopefully, sooner rather than later, I will blink and find myself with a master's degree. In the meantime, I need to find more self-motivation.

As for today, however, it's Friday; a much needed Friday for many, so therefore, we shall proceed with fun non-work-related distractions and goodies!!!

First off, Fall has finally decided to settle in with cooler weather, so Joey and I are bundled up in our duplex wondering when it's appropriate to turn the heat on; now... or are we just being babies? So, while we ponder when to turn the radiators on or not, I'm thinking I'm going to try to make some of this delicious sounding hard apple cider (Apple Pie Boilo) which I'm sure will do the trick and warm us up.

I love enchiladas, and a mexican dinner night sounds awesome!

This piggy bank is simply too awesome.

Fun pumpkin decorating ideas.

Awww, man, check out this stringed-instrument shop! Although the apple ukulele is awesome, I think I'd want the banjolele, so I could rock out like this: