Meet Dude.

The Dude abides in his twisty slide.

Meet Dude.

He is my black bear hamster.

Yes, I am aware we have 5 cats.

Dude is in my office, away from all felines, on the bookshelf near me so I can enjoy his company while working late. There is no risk of any feline getting in here without strict supervision from me.

Dude has a nice big purple and green cage with a wheel in a tower that he absolutely adores. I know this because he's been running in it for the last 6 hours.

Dude...is made of awesome.

The Dude shows the Monkey what he thinks of her camera.

My Dragon was sweet enough to let me finally have Dude because I've always wanted a hamster. So now, I have one to keep me company on the long nights that I'm up taking calls. I can't wait until he's tamed:)

In other news, we went to the most AMAZING brunch this afternoon. Portage Bay Cafe, for those of you in Seattle, is an organic, fresh, faboo restaurant down off of Roosevelt. I had an amazing Rancher's breakfast with the most delightfully fluffy over-easy eggs, super crispy bacon, tasty chicken/basil sausage, oven roasted potatoes, and THE best challah bread French Toast ever. Dragon had this scrumptious cinnamon french toast with maple syrup and fresh whipped cream.

OMG! So good. So worth the 30m we had to wait for a table. So worth the pricetag. If you live here, and you haven't been? Get yer butts out there and enjoy the organic tastiness that is PBC.

Kratos and Mumbles celebrated their 2nd birthday on the 22nd, although we didn't celebrate it officially until last night. I can't believe that 2 years ago I was helping their momma bring them into this world on my living room floor. My big boys. See how they've grown?

From left, Kratos, Mumbles, Punkin at about 1 month old.

The Birthday Boys...still lovin' each other:)

So they got a nice chicken/fish dinner and some new fuzzy mice to play with! I love my boys!

Aside from that, I'm still forging ahead on my magic scarf, my cabled purse, and my Her Eyes scarf. I swear, if I didn't tell myself to stop, I'd literally have like, 20 projects all going at once. As it is, I need to get started on the Christmas gifts I'm planning. Especially since one of them is all lace.

I was a bad girl, didn't take my vitamins and meds this weekend, but we had so much fun that I didn't even think to take them:) Cordell came over for a while on Saturday (well, over 12 hours) and we had a fun time setting up his character and starting up the game again. Pizza, beanbags, and fun times were had by all!

Later this morning we're taking Bella-car to the mechanic because her oil sensor is finally shot to hell. She's talking more and it's driving me insane. So we're getting her fixed. We'll probably hit the grocery store while she's there. Dragon's going to work a little late so he can hang with me since we have to be there at 8am and he starts work at 9am. He won't be too late, I don't think, and he had an early meeting on Friday. It'll be nice to have him with me at the mechanic:)

I think that'll do for an update for now.

XOXO
~Bella

Weekend Trollings.

This weekend has been a welcome sun-break from the drizzly, snowy week we've had. It's beautiful out there, sunny and warm, and you can really see the mountain ranges when you wander down the street. Another reason to adore this city;)

So we've discovered 3 new places here in the area where we are now fans. If you're here, you should really check these guys out...and if you're not, just you WAIT till you get here because I'm totally going to drag you there;)

We've found the deli we've been looking for (that isn't downtown Seattle), about 15m up the road in Mill Creek. It's called The Fire Station Gourmet Deli. They make some of the tastiest sandwiches and I was really blown away by their Marguerite Panini (fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil, with a hint of garlic ... and the added provolone cheese by yours truly) and Dragon loved his ham/cheddar/bacon on wheat bread.

As we wandered up and down this incredibly Hollywood-back-lot scenic "main street", we also noticed a place called Spotted Cow Cream & Bean. OMG! They have a milkshake called "Mad Cow" which is your choice of gelato (so amazingly creamy with a vast array of tasty flavors!) and 6 shots of fresh espresso, blended together and topped with an uber creamy whipped cream. It was SO GOOD that we went back again today since we were in the area.

And finally, today, we decided to do something we've never had the opportunity to do (because, let's face it, it's hard to find this in San Antonio): we found an authentic french bakery up in the Mill Creek/Everette area. Although everything we tried was so lovely, our favorite, by far, was the lemon tart. Mmm. The coffee eclair, the cream puff, even the chocolate croissant...they were all amazingly tasty. And affordable too! We were very impressed and it WILL be on our regularly scheduled monthly outings. L'Artisan French Bakery...tres yummi!

I have more to say and update you with, but for the moment, I need to devour my most recent creation;) It smells SO good!

XOXO
Bella

Flexitarianism? Whaa?

I received two of the books I'd ordered today. One, which relates to the crafty part of this blog:
I've been enamored with Amigurumi for a while now, but I tend to err on the side of creepy-cute rather than just cute;) So when I saw this book (and I recognized the author from her etsy.com Needle Noodles site) I had to pick it up and see what it was all about.

Omg. Seriously some of the most adorable little ami-dolls I think I've ever laid eyes upon. Very worth it, they make faboo gifts and I think I'm going to sit down in the next week or so and make one of each from the book!

When you've finally decided to quit smoking, you need something, anything to do with your hands. At least in the meantime, right? Quick stats:

1 day, 8 hours, 27 minutes and 48 seconds smoke free. 27 cigarettes not smoked.

Since I'm on a health kick lately too, I snagged this book:
Because, let's face it. Here we are in the Pacific Northwest. We can get fresh fish, but more importantly, some AMAZING veggies and fruits for dirt cheap. Yes, money has been tight, but with the introduction of this new job, there's no excuse anymore. It's time to get serious about our health (Dragon will have to get used to it) and this is a good plan that suits us both. See, I'm a carnivore by nature, Dragon - even more so. I love veggies, but I cannot exist on veggies alone. I know that if I'm going to go in a more....vegan trend with my eating there has to be some way to still incorporate the occasional meat product (I adore fish/chicken, where Dragon is a pork/beef kinda guy).

No guilt. Just healthier eating!

Of course, I'm sure all of this stems from the Doctor's appointment I have tomorrow. Finally, I should get some answers about what's going on with me and get started on being human again.

In the meantime, I will keep you all updated...have no fear! I think I'm going to plunge into this book and start absorbing as much of it as I can so I can circumvent any complaints Dragon might have;)

XOXO
~Bella

Happy New Year!

I've been dealing with a sick Mumbles. Apparently, his brother stole some yarn and HE ate some of it. Cue massive bouts of puking combined with lethargy and non-interest in food or water. It's been going on for about 24 hours, and of course, with the exception of emergency vet clinics, any regular vet is closed today.

*sighs* Why oh why does my problem child have to do this on the holiday?

He's puked up some of it so far, twice, and looking at the pattern repeat (as well as how long I was out of the room) he couldn't have swallowed more than maybe 6 inches, 4 of which is already out of him.

I'm just keeping a really close eye on him right now.

As for everything else, we were up, bright and early, at 7:30am to take Trina her Calorimetry. She was extremely squee about it, even putting it on and running outside for a smoke so she could test it (it was coooold and windy today). To say it made my morning is an understatement. Especially when it was to have a smoke break and I was able to bum one off of her (despite my, erm, quitting this morning *blush*).

How is the new year going for all of you? I'm working on my first swatch from the pattern book of stitches, the twisted stockinette stitch. I skipped regular stockinette and garter stitch because, well, let's face it...I think we're all pretty familiar with them both;) I'll post a picture of the swatch when it's done later today!

I have some Sauerkraut and Kielbasa bubbling away in my oven, our traditional New Year's fare, which we'll chow down on with some molasses bread later. So the house smells pretty wonderful right now.

What are you guys up to? Anything?

XOXO
~Bella