Fallen for fall

Fall is definatly here in the Northwest - at least at my house...just look at whats happening in the neighborhood - Sammamish Trail next to the Bothell Slough:

See - I wasnt lying about the colors changing, whats weird though is that following the dinner trip to Alligator Soul we were surprised to see the temperature at 80 degrees, thats right - no typo - EIGHTY DEGREES and probably somewhere in the vicinity of seven thousand percent humidity so what more perfect time than to decorate for fall?

Over the weekend I made a little wreath for the front door.  I was inspired by a fellow blogger (thank you ThriftyDecorChick) - luckily because "crafters do it early" all of the fall decor was 50% off so the whole project cost $13.

First I started with a large rectangle of styrofoam and cut out the middle to make a frame

and I picked the blossums and leaves off of the stems and arranged them ready for gluing

and then hot glued the bits and pieces to the frame (and my finger, damn that nozzle of the HGG gets

f-ing hot - and I had the bubble on my index finger to prove it, but I suffer for my decor) and here is the happy result:

then inside we have a couple of little areas - in the den

The little brown flags were simple to make and very inexpensive, a grand total of $2.25 for a piece of brown felt and a couple of dowels and voila, flags

This little silver candy dish was a Goodwill find and only $2.25, ontop is some quartz crystals and left over leaves and flowers from the wreath

This little $8.99 cloched cupcake pedestal was a steal at TJ Maxx (ok, not literally) and I filled the cloche with all kinds of autumnal goodness - its very interesting to look at

Even Tony got an autumal update - I think he looks quite dapper dont you?

This looks alot nicer in the daylight...but hey, its 10:36pm friends, cut me some slack! 

Anyways I have to thank the internet for all the inspiration - Im sure the decorating will continue

long into fall ... its so fun!   If this is your first time visiting Akeeweegirl please leave a sweet comment or join the fun train by clicking follow!

Alligator Soul = Delish eee mo

Last night we left the mother for a short time and headed out on the town (as much as you can in Everett) and headed to one of our favorite restaurants Alligator Soul.  Friends, a little known secret is that if you ask the waiter/waitress on a Monday night for the happy hour menu they'll let you order from it, but only if you ask - and its a terrific, very reasonably priced menu.  I assumed that the portions would be snack sized and they were - snack sized if you are a giant...otherwise they are more than enough for one normal hungry girl! I guess that just reminds me of the saying "assuming makes an ass out of you and me" -  I ordered the fried chicken (yay! It came boneless and perfectly seasoned and breaded) and thick cut waffle fries (you can ask to sub with hush pups or go half and half if you are indecisive!) and I also ordered red beans and rice, a favorite of mine. I think I might have fitted in about 1/3 of this and the rest I had for lunch today with cubie mates looking over the wall wondering what kind of heaven was assaulting their nostrils.  I might have been guilty of fanning my steaming plate of fried goodness in Caitlin's direction once or twice.  Im sure she appreciated it. And in advance, you are welcome Caitlin.

The other wonderful thing about Alligator Soul is that as well as the happy hour menu on Monday nights they also have their happy hour adult frosty beverage menu ALL NIGHT LONG...lemon drops, cosmos and margaritas are only $4 and their domestic beers are all $2.  

Miss Evelyn is much better today - Mr Big is staying home with her this week, taking a couple of vacay days off to care for her.  He's really quite a wonderful man! 

As I write this blog Im listening to Carolin singing peanut butter jelly time at the top of her lungs overtop of Mikki's phone ringing (with renaissance ring tone), and now Hanner is here - I must fly.

Weekend Homecoming

What a busy, but lovely weekend we had....though I have to say, it did'nt start in a great way.  The head of the Allen Family, and all round general wonderful lady Miss Evelyn, took a stumble on Thursday night.  At 85 this lady is an absolute wonder (did I mention she recently started TEXTING??).  She was out with her constant companion Marty and went to "scoop the poop" when she lost her footing and took a tumble outside her home.  Thursday night was spent at the Monroe Emergency Room and the verdict was a broken shoulder!  Anyways Ev is now holed up at Casa Allen while she recovers and its been our delight to have her here.

Same weekend we had a very special "first time" event with Elliott going to Bothell High Homecoming.  He and a friend went out shopping and he came back looking like an ad for menswear.  Our little guy is a little guy no more - behold, Elliott Allen, young man on the prowl!!

Elliott is now of course, a seasoned veteran in posing for photos having been around me for 9 years its almost unimaginable that he would strike a pose on demand. 

But even the most perfect of subjects tires of being a tiger for the camera of his stepmother

and he was the perfect gentleman picking a lovely corsage for his lady friend

and here are some nice snaps of a proud Dad and son - as you can see, though I have always thought of Mr Big as the tallest man on the planet, Elliott is now an inch or two taller - it seemed only fitting that they should arm wrestle?  Elliott's idea...

Sadly no pictures of the date - he would'nt allow it....still, I may ask permission to take a couple from Facebook so watch this space!

New Pages

I don't know why, but suddenly, at 11.55am last night with a scant few moments left in my birthday day I had an epiphany that I should immediatly start two new pages on the blog - you might have already noticed these but if you havent they are headed up Project Oakes which is going to be a running dream book of the redecoration of our lovely abode, The Weekly Dream Destination page is going to have a weekly wonderful place that I would love to travel to some day.

More birthday delights

OK, so no teacup pig this year, but Christmas is a scant few days away.....Here is the wonderful picture that Mr Big got on  Etsy by a New York Artist.  I love his choice - as you know, I'm big on hooters.

may I also commend him on his expert wrapping of the gifts he selected, I think you will agree, he has a seasonal job anytime he wants wrapping strangers gifts at the mall for tips:

After work Mr Big treated me to a night on the town AKA cirriculum night at Canyon Park Junior High.  Of course, going straight from work I stood out like the proverbial in heels and office wear - in fact, I was wearing 5 inch Joan and David snake skin heels.  I say was because I had a little...how should I say..."trip" as I was trying to stand tall (I now know to never stand my full 5ft 2in AGAIN) and step up to the curb in front of a gazzilion parents waiting to get into the gym when somehow I lost my footing.  Friends, when I say lost my footing what I really mean to say is went ass over tea kettle (coach bag in tow) FULL FACE PLANT on the pavement.  I was reminiscent of a jack-in-the box though and immediatly stood up again with a "nothing to see here" look on my face as I hobbled into the gym with a broken heel...haaaaaaaaaa...

All the CPJH teachers were a delight and I think that the kids are in good hands with them.  Mr Big also attended this school when he was a little nipper and Dot now has one of his old teacher's as her teacher! Imagine the chances!!

After coming home we stopped and got a calling card, my Mum had called three times in one day and couldnt get a hold of me, so it was time to call her back to allow her to sing the song ... this time she was joined by hubby Johnnie on keyboards, it was so terrific, it made my night.  It is also my stepsissys birthday today - so Mr Big and I called and gave our best shot at happy birthday.  It was so lovely to talk with you Dee, can't wait till you come to visit in August 2011.  The really weird thing with Dee is that her birthday is actually the 23rd of September which in the US is tomorrow, and my birthday is the 22nd which is today - but because she is in another hemisphere it was her birthday today here ...are you getting this?  What a headache trying to work out such things.  But now that im 39 I can work these things out right?

It only happens once a year!

Yay!!! It's my birthday day finally.  Im so fortunate in so many ways, especially because I am surrounded daily by wonderful human beings - of course it goes without saying Mr Big is a part of this, but also my wonderful friends (I'm not going to name you all...but you know who you are) AND lovely workmates .. and today they all banded together to kick the day off right.

First of all I got to spend the morning before work with Mr Big.  This may seem like an ordinary thing to you reader, but it's a such a rare treat for us - normally Mr Big leaves the house by the early hours while I am still in noddyville, so I wake to a house with just me, Betty and Lucifer.  Anyways, back to today - really lovely to have him home with me and it was almost my favorite present and then.......

Thanks darling! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this teaset and cant wait to serve tea from this.  Thank you honey a million times over.  He also got me the most wonderous picture which I will post a photo of later - its silk screened owls onto vintage paper - a complete delight!

Then, when I thought I was already been spoiled enough I came to work and look was Kirsten had made:

You are viewing this confectional wonderment correctly - OWL CUPCAKES! ,,,,then look what arrived by courier

http://www.proflowers.com/ is the best florist online!  Ive used them many times myself in the past, the flowers look exactly like they do in their photos (the above is from their website). Both the owl cupcakes and flowers came from Kirsten AND she was also resposible to creating the enchanted owl wonderland that was my little cubie!  Thanks to everyone that colored owls and helped decorate and to Kirsten...you're a goddess of a woman! Thanks so much for all you did!!

More to come...

GREEK FEST time!

As my cube mate Caitlin would say OH EMM GEE....so exciting, I was just marking days off the calender and guess what this weekend is??? GREEK FEST

The plan was that this was the week I was going to start eating better (and had even considered *gasp* exercising!) ...but honestly, with Greek Fest mere days away it has to be next Monday that I start because the Kataifi, Calamari and Roast Lamb await me....and I dont think that any of those foods are known for their low calories - god bless each one of their delicious calories actually. 

If you havent been to this festival and you are one of my people here in Seattletown, you should definatly take time to attend.  First - the church itself is a masterpiece of guilded gorgeousness.  The church offers complimentary tours through the church on the hour and its worth going so you can ooh and aaah at the lovely interior.  Second - you can snag some wonderous deals on specialty foods like olives, homemade pita bread etc.  Third - you can learn about the Greek culture through song and dance, the dance of course being useful to join in with when you have a tumtum full of lamb...and speaking of the lamb, thank you lambies for dying of natural causes so that a lovely Greek man could roast your succulent self over coals. 

I'm glad that you had a good life sniffing the flowers in your own beautiful green field, shimmying to your favorite music and smiling when you saw a rainbow or a butterfly till that day when you had had enough of all that and turned up at the Greek Fest.  And fourth - did I mention the food? Oh my goodness its wonderful.  The congruents bake for days leading up to this festival - almost everything is homemade and delectable.

Its a three day event and they are open till 9pm so no excuses.

A birthday gift from RILEY JAMES

HOT DOG!  A spectacular gift arrived today - my first artwork from Master Riley!!  At only 1 1/2 look at his talent...I love you little guy, and I love you Verna and Alex for thinking to include this with my lovely birthday card which arrived today.  It means so much when you get things like this in general, but specially when you live so far away *tear* miss you guys, wish you could be joining me for my birthday.

Buzzy Bees and Red High Heels

Thanks Mollie and Ricky, I love my honey pot!

and thanks Hailey, these are a perfect gift!

Weekend Rounds

I've been up since 4.45am and everytime I keep drifting back to sleep Im woken again so I figure I might as well be up and productive right? And what better place to start than a little blogy time.

First of all I just want to say - I love the little details in life, course, along with this love sometimes is an over-obsession with the details but I will leave that alone for another day... for now let me say that even though you are the only one in our home, I love you crystal doorknob - everytime I touch you I wish you were duplicated all over my house, but instead you are a one of a kind.  Thank you whoever thought to make you into a beautiful knob.  I love you.

Secondly - a little recap on the weekend that was. 

Mr Big, you are the light of my life and I am so fortunate to have such a fantabulous man as my best friend (with benefits) and my husband.  He always always tries his best to delight me and spoils me rotten.  All people should be so lucky!  Anyways as you know, its my birthday month, so this weekend being the closest to my actual birth day, he decided to have a little intimate celebration with some near and dears.

Friday night started it all off - we headed out to The Corner Pub for drinks, dinner and shuffleboard.  It was raining like we are famous for here in the northwest so we very nearly missed one of the things we love about this place...THE WINGS

The lighting in the corner pub isnt really geared up for photographic masterpieces...but this is a good representation of these little greasy (in a good way) delights.  One of the best things is their buffalo sauce which you can see glistening there in the background.  It's made of two ingrediants that should be married for life anyway you look at it and used in place of every other sauce - melted BUTTER and Franks Hot sauce.  Simple, and quite a palatte pleaser I might say.  This dish is best washed down with another healthy item - VODKA...

I know what you are thinking - how could a delicate flower like FeeFee drink straight vodka.  Friends - dont be silly.  This is a vodka and coke you are seeing there....at least thats what I ordered.  I watched him "mix" the other cocktails at the bar and they were all made pretty much the same way, ice, FREEPOUR vodka...then wave the coke bottle over the glass and voila! Vodka and coke essence.  As you can see the coke barely colored the russian elixer.

The other thing that this place is great for is shuffleboard, and it happens to be a favorite with Mr Big and and unnamed friend - I am respecting her request for annonimity in this blog

They also have a strange gambling game here (and at many other taverns) called pull tabs.  Basically they are little bits of paper you tear open to discover your riches...or lack there of as unnamed friend can attest to.  Sorry friend, I really was hoping you would have earned more than $1 in this lot of tabs!!!

We owe knowing about this place to one of our favorite people in the world - please stand up Mr Tad Marks....

Love you Tadpole.  You are one of the best people ever, so kind and sweet hearted, we are so glad you are part of our "family".  Thanks for introducing us to this fun tavern and thanks to you and Ronnie for the awesome gifts

A glow in the dark wand, pretty princess TAMBORINE and pink pearls and feather boa.  Perfect.

Saturday was also a good time.  First stop was Tamarind Tree, my favorite restaurant...

My camera wasnt working so well (maybe operator error?) so sorry some of these are kind of blurry... Tad and Ronnie got me yet more gifts ... a bag of more wonderous glow in the dark goodies INCLUDING drum roll please......

A GLOW IN THE DARK BUTTERFLY MASK

Oh wonderment!!  Tad states these items were from the dollar store but they were priceless to me!

and then quite unexpectedly...the birthday cake of perfect size arrived

I say perfect size because...as you can see, I am currently needing to hold my chins up with both hands...nuf said right!

Unnamed friend and her date Miss Chelsea. 

Lois and Ron looking quite concerned that the cocktail waitress wasnt ever coming back (I think they are in the midst of prayer here)

Thank God you're back.  We loved our waiter, he was a superstar!

and then....we were off for part deux, THE DUSTY 45's! Here are some of the group waiting for the show to start

I know it goes without saying - Jose must be present at all celebrations, and of course he made an appearance here too and was helpful in my dancing attempts with Mr Big.  Poor sir, sorry for probably stepping on your toes a million times - it was so fun dancing with you though!

K.  Thats pretty much all I have time for friends.  Heres to a wonderful week!