Breakneck Book Review

     Promised there'd be a book review on this book. Can't write now.  Got a big social studies test tomorrow.  Loved the book.  Hope you read it too. Wish me luck!!!

The Wish List Grows

     My friends' favorite stores are Forever 21, Tilly's, and Hot Topic. I've never really had a chance to go to any of those stores. I do have a favorite store though; it is Williams Sonoma. I love going into WS, especially the one in Union Square. The store has three stories and an elevator! I like looking at the utensils, the pots, the pans, the bakeware, even the napkin rings. My current Birthday-Christmas-Memorial-Day-Arbor-Day-Fourth-of-July-and-Every-Other-Holiday wish list consists of the Viking Emerald sewing machine, a MacBook, and a serger. But now I have added this awesome, pink, Kitchen Aid mixer. My mom has the blue one, but I want this pink one. Anyone out there listening? Anyone at all? Papa? Grandma? Santa Claus?

Sisters

     Sisters can be pests.  Believe me, I know.  But she's the only one I've got.  And I love her.

Namaste

     I just got home from a yoga lesson with my mom.  The yoga was pretty challenging, especially the downward facing dog and the breathing while your posing.  (The breathing is harder than it sounds.) At the end of the class, Faith, the instructor, had a little raffle.  I won the second prize: a Gaiam water bottle, mat bag, and yoga strap.  Faith also gave us homemade meditation eye pillows made of brocade and lavender seeds.  They smell so soothing.  She also gave us Namaste t-shirts and a little notebook to record your progress in yoga.  I'll let you know how I'm progressing because tonight . . . my body was actually shaking! 

I've Got a Hollow Leg

     I went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner last night.  The restaurant was on the second floor of this really cool city center, and it was only my mom and I.  The boys were at a baseball game, and my sister had a birthday party.   When it's just us, we get sushi because no one else appreciates it.  My mom and I ordered California rolls and shrimp tempura California rolls. California rolls usually have seaweed, rice, crab, cucumber, and avocado, and in the shrimp tempura California rolls, the seaweed was deep fried. They were both soooo delicious.  I also got a meal of beef teriyaki, tempura, fruit, rice, and salad.  I ate my weight in Japanese food. Yeah, I really can do that.

     When we got home, my mom and I ate my first blueberry pie.  We got it yesterday at the farmer's market, and we loved it.   

To Market, To Market

     It was a perfect day.  There was a cool breeze to complement the warm sun.  As the mom drove into the parking lot where the farmer's market was held, the girl squirmed with anxiousness.  This was the first farmer's market the girl had been to since she moved from Minnesota.  When they walked down to the market, they saw tents that shaded the sellers' faces.

     The girl and her mom walked up to a fudge stand, and the girl tried some cookies and creme fudge.  It was too sweet, and it hurt her stomach.  Right next to the homemade fudge stand was a salsa and mustard tent.  The two sauces were delicious, but they didn't buy any.  At another tent, a vendor sold the best hummus that the girl had ever had in her short life. The mom and the girl tried a jalapeno and a garlic hummus.  They bought the garlic hummus and some rosemary pita chips.  Delicious!  The mom also bought her the cutest little blueberry pie.

     From the fresh produce tent, the mom bought ripe tomatoes.  They left the farmer's market and took a walk around the grassy knoll because it was so nice outside.  When the mom drove them back to their house, the girl found herself wishing for the next beautiful market day.

My Kind of Math

     [(1 girl + 1 sewing machine) x 

(1 towel + 5/8 yard fabric)] - sweat = 

1 wicked beach towel tote bag 

that I can take to the pool and to camp!

Acrostic Monkey

Sewn by me

Once was a tube sock

Cuter than all other sock monkeys

Keeps me company

Mistakenly, I sewed your tail on your arm

Oddly, you don't seem to mind

Never talks

Kind-hearted

Eats very little

Yearns for attention

         

Simple Sewing Sentences

     I go to my sewing class once a week.  Yesterday, I made these awesome pajama pants.   Two weeks ago, I made a green, polka dot, drawstring bag.  (Check it out on one of my earlier posts.) The pants are an adult size extra small.  Surprisingly, they fit me fine.  They were really easy to make.  I want to make a lot more of them.  I wish I had a serger.  I'll have to add that to my wish list.      

     Whew!  I didn't use a single compound, complex, or compound complex sentence in this entire post. Read it aloud and you'll sound just like a robot.

Greek Tragedy

     Last year, my family and I moved to a different state and had to say goodbye to our favorite Greek restaurant, The Fat Greek.  We used to go there a lot, because it had really good food.  I especially liked Gyros and Greek salad.  When we thought that all was lost, my parents found a delicious, fast food, Greek place near our house.  It quickly became one of our new favorite restaurants.  But then it closed down because of the crumbling economy.  Now, I'll have to make due by putting feta cheese on anything I can.  Feta brownies?  Peanut butter and feta? Feta smoothie? 

Adam x2

Adam Kump

Adam Watts Band

     When I went to Project Book Babe, these two Adams sang.  They both sing an alternative type of music.  The Adam in the first picture sang, played the guitar, and played the harmonica. He sort of reminded me of the hit singer Jason Mraz.  If you want to check out Adam's site, click here.  He was really good and really nice.  He even spelled my name correctly without asking!

     In the second picture, the Adam Watts Band members are signing complimentary CD's.  They played several songs that were all awesome.  If you want to check out their site, click here.  

     Seeing both Adams play live was a cool experience for a tween.  Even more cool was getting their autographs. 

What's Your VORP Today?

     VORP stands for "Value Over Replacement Player." VORP is used for baseball players, and it compares them to an average player that plays the same position.  If a player has a low VORP, an average player would be an improvement, and if they have a high VORP, they are better than an average player.

     Papa gave me a low VORP today because I stayed in my pajamas until noon, and the only way to get a higher VORP was to make him an M.O.A.S.  An M.O.A.S. is the "Mother of All Sandwiches," and it is really a sandwich that starts with a "B," but I can't remember the name. It is on dark rye with pastrami, spicy mustard, egg salad, and cabbage.  I made him his sandwich, and my VORP went very high.  I hope it keeps up.

Good Book With a Good Breakfast

     This morning, I woke up earlier than usual to read a book I got at my local library, A Great and Terrible Beauty on which I'll soon do a book review. (I finished the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society and I'll review that one too.)  But instead of reading, my mom wanted to know if I'd like to make breakfast.  Of course!  I made scrambled eggs and some delicious scones.  Even though I used a dozen eggs, my small family of five ate them all.  The scones were cranberry orange scones, and they tasted a ton better than they actually sound. This was a lot of fun especially because Papa did the dishes.  I also got to get back to my book which had a very good ending.

How Now Brown Cow, No.2

     This is the new cow that I got for Easter that was mentioned in my Easter day post.  As most of you know (and some of you don't know), this is only my second brown cow out of about 25.  I name my cows, and I named this one Mocha.  It's a Webkinz, like Bamboo (see post from seven days ago), and it's one of the cuter Webkinz.  Welcome home, Mocha.

Eat Two and Call Me in the Morning

     Today my little sister is sick.  She isn't barfing, fortunately, but she does have a very high temperature.  My mom asked me to make some muffins for her because it's one of her favorite foods.  We found a recipe for Magic Muffins on the side panel of the Malt-O-Meal box, and they were super easy. My sister loves Malt-O-Meal; me, not so much.  

     After I followed the recipe, I put the batter in the little cupcake holders and my mom put some butter and cinnamon sugar on top of the unbaked muffins. They baked to a golden brown, and they were really good.  I think I'll make this a tradition every time my sister gets sick.

Too Bad I Left My Heart Here

     This is a picture of Lombard Street in San Francisco, my favorite city.  I love Lombard Street, the most crooked road in the U.S. (in case you didn't know) and someday I hope to live in one of those adorable houses right off the street.  Of course, it's going to take forever to save enough money to actually buy one of them.  I learned that from "The Real Game" (see posts from two days ago). Do you have a favorite city?  Dallas?  New York City? Paris?  Hot Chocolate, Missouri?     

Another Good Read

     This is one of my new favorite books, and I absolutely love it.  My mom came across it and bought it at Marshall's for me a few weeks ago.  It is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. There are four main characters: Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance. They go on a mission for the enigmatic Mr. Benedict.  Together they have to save the world from Mr. Curtain and his machine, the Whisperer.  He is a villain who plans to take over the world through television and radio, and the four children are the only ones who can stop him.  I'm sure you can find this book at your local library to find out what happens to the four kids.  If you've read it already, leave me a comment and tell me what you think! 

     I'm reading the sequel to this book called The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey. I'll let you know how it goes!

It's Almost April 15th

Minneapolis Skyline

     My science/technology teacher is letting us play "The Real Game" at school.  It's not as fun as it sounds because it's just like pretending you're grown up with bills and more bills and taxes.  You randomly select a job.  Then you get your gross monthly income and you have to subtract your apartment costs, transportation costs, groceries, clothing, leisure items, activities, miscellaneous costs, and taxes.       I'm a parole officer living in the District on Delaware Apartments in Minneapolis, and after all of the deductions, I'm making $512.20.  I'm not doing so well compared to nearly everyone else in the class. (One boy in my class is a trucker and is making more than I am!)

     Well, this game is really hard with all of the finances and what not.  I can't believe that I'm going to have to do this in real life in about ten years.  I am not looking forward to it.

Egg-stra Special Day

     It's Easter!  Easter is one of my favorite holidays, not for the commercial and material things (although the bunny decorations are soooo cute), but for the spending time with my family thing.  Today my siblings and I woke up to find Easter baskets on our table filled with many types of candy including Peeps (my favorite) and different items like hair doo-dads and stuffed animals.  (Stay tuned for my newest cow addition.)  I got this marvelous Chick-fil-A PEZ dispenser in my basket, too.  Check it out.  You know you want one.  Maybe the Easter Bunny will leave you one next year . . . if you're good.

Finally, Rain!

     Today it was raining on and off all day.  It felt really nice after all the heat that we had for the last few weeks.  My mom wanted to go for a walk while it was raining so we walked down a trail near our house.  There were these cute little plants that you can see in the picture that collected a ton of water.  Whenever you flicked one of the plants, the water went everywhere. On the trail we saw about six rabbits which was cute since Easter is tomorrow, ten chipmunks, four quail, and a bajillion ants.  The ants were gigantic, and soon I'll post a picture of them. Imagine having those ants in your bedroom!

Innocent 'til Proven Guilty

     A few weeks ago, my sister lost her Bamboo, a Webkinz panda.  When my sister realized she had lost her, she put up reward posters all over the house.  A few days later, I found Bamboo buried in my room.  My entire family accused me of hiding Bamboo because there was a $20.00 reward for her return.  How dumb is that?  Very dumb.  So tonight we went to Panda Express to have a panda recovery party for my sister and her stuffed panda.  I ate twice my weight in Chinese food, and afterwards, I still had room for a fortune cookie and a bowl of ice cream.  

What did my fortune cookie say?  Believe it or not, it said, "You have been wrongly accused."   

Cowabunga!

     I am a cow maniac.  I love collecting cows, and I have quite a collection of them if I do say so myself.  I got my first cow several years ago from my cousin Ethan when he went to an arcade. There was one of those claw machines, and he won a brown Jersey cow.   He let me have it, and it is my only non-Holstein cow. Can you spot it near the middle of the picture?  I have 22 cows total, not including my stuffed manatee which actually is a sea cow.  My hope is to add four more to my collection before Christmas.  What do you collect? Are you a cow maniac too? 

Needing Some Hikin' Boots

 Photo Taken on My Cell Phone 

     

     Today at six I went on a hike with some of my friends.  Nearly everyone in our group had done the hike many times before, but I had never set foot on the trail.  The mountain was really rocky and slippery, especially when we were going downhill. Everyone survived with all of their limbs intact. Thankfully, we didn't see rattlesnakes, or any snakes for that matter, going up or down the mountain.  Even though there was a clear path, you had to be careful where you were going because you might follow a smaller path and end up on the wrong side of the mountain.  I'm hoping next time I'll be better prepared for the slopes.

If I Can Do It, You Can Too

    Today I went to a sewing class and made this awesome polka dot green drawstring bag.  It was really simple, and anyone could do it if they had the time, a needle, and thread (or more conveniently a sewing machine).  You can use the bag to carry sewing notions or your pajamas for a sleep-over or a towel for swimming or just about anything else.  And  you can make it even cuter by adding appliques or rickrack.  The possibilities are endless!  I'll be making another one for my mom for Mother's Day, and I hope to make it super adorable.

Thanks for Nothing, Purdue

     Every year for six years my family and I have filled in the March Madness brackets that Papa gets for us.  In case you didn't know, March Madness refers to the college basketball tournament. There are 64 teams that compete, then 32, then 16, and so on until there is one final champion. We predict the outcome of the 64 teams and whoever guesses most correctly wins something. The prizes vary every year, but for the last two years, the winner has gotten to choose dinner at a restaurant of their choice.  A couple of years ago, the prize was money which thankfully I won.  My mom and my sister have never won before.  This year, I was hoping to get sushi because I LOVE California rolls and because we don't get it very often.  But, it looks like I'm getting hamburgers from Fuddruckers because my brother won.   And that is just heartbreaking.  

Itchin' for a Stitchin'

     I love to embroider.  It is really fun and really simple.  My favorite thing to embroider is a pineapple pattern, which you can see in the picture. I first got an embroidery kit for Christmas from my Grandma who is exceptionally good at embroidery. After embroidering a cheesecloth with four designs on it, I made a onesie with my baby cousin's name and a picture of a bone on it.  Even though there are many different stitches to learn, it is really rather easy, and I hope you will try it.

Hey Twilight Fans

     

     Today I went to "Project Book Babe," a cool book event created to support Faith, a children's book promoter who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ten authors and two bands entertained an audience of about 600 people.  The authors were Chris Gall, P.J. Haarsma, Shannon Hale, J.S. Lewis, Dean Lorey, Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Mull, James A. Owen, Janette Rallison, and Laini Taylor; the two bands were Adam Kump and the Adam Watts Band.

     What was my favorite part?  I enjoyed the authors' panel where the writers talked about their writing process.  The raffle was suspenseful because we came very close, but we didn't win anything.  Some of the prizes were a signed box set of all the Twilight books, art pieces by one of the authors, and various signed books.  The live auction winners took home Stephenie Meyer's prom dress, various manuscripts, an awesome skateboard, and a future lunch with Stephenie Meyer.  The highest bid was for the lunch which went for $6,500.  Oh, my gosh!

     I really liked the bands, and I got to meet them while they signed my CD's.  I'll post pictures of the bands too in the very near future.  

     I wish all my friends who love books as much as I do could have been there.  Oh, and best wishes to Faith.

My Very Miserable Morning

***Spoiler Alert***

     Yesterday night I saw Les Miserables on a class field trip with my mom.  It was the best musical that I have ever seen on stage live. (My absolute favorite is Into the Woods, but I saw that on DVD.)

     I love the songs "Castle on a Cloud" sung by little Cosette and "A Little Drop of Rain" sung by Eponine.  All of the other songs were great, and the actors were extremely talented.  My favorite character was Eponine, and I don't see why she had to die.  Her death was unnecessary.       

     This morning I was feeling pretty . . . well, miserable. I was really hungry after the play last night even though I had an M&M cookie and a lemonade at intermission.  My mom got me an In-N-Out burger for a late night meal.   I got to bed at around 1:00 a.m., then woke up at 6:45 a.m. to go to school.

     Was Les Miserables worth skipping about four hours of sleep?  Yep.  And I would do it all again if I could.

Have You Ever Tried . . .

     . . . Korean food?  I LOVE Korean food. Especially the spicy stuff you put on nearly everything.  My favorite food is Bibim Neng Myun, which is a buckwheat pasta doused (and I mean DOUSED) in hot sauce.  It is usually served with a few slices of Asian pear (which is also delicious) and a few slices of cucumber.

     You may think that it sounds really gross, but trust me.  It is awesome.  The noodles are cold and they are "burn your face off" spicy, which is a good thing.  I only get to eat this dish about two times a year, but it is worth the wait.

Happy April Fool's Day!

     My family loves to watch The Office.  I am not allowed to watch it until I'm in high school, which is just ridiculous.  But I have seen a few episodes on Netflix when I snuck into the computer room while my parents were watching.

     In the first American episode of The Office (with Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fisher, and Rainn Wilson), Jim encases Dwight's stapler in Jell-O.  For a funny April Fool's joke, my mom put a broken stapler in Jell-O last night.  Then she put it in Papa's desk drawer at his work.  Papa was only slightly amused, but I thought it was hilarious.  I wonder what my mom will do next year. I hope she won't prank me.