The Vons 2-Hour Turkey

Every year on of my co-workers, Cam, puts on a Thanksgiving party for the Biology department. This year I was asked to bring the turkey, so I decided to try the Vons 2-Hour Turkey.

It was really, really quick and easy. You just pre-heat the oven to 475, rub down the defrosted turkey with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Then in 2 hours or less you'll have a done bird.

It smoked up the house pretty good, but it smelled wonderful while it was cooking. I pulled it out after 2 hours and made some gravy, then I wrapped it up in foil and took it in to work.

I only had a couple bites of it, but I thought it was disgusting. It had a weird, bitter, burnt olive oil taste. So I decided that I'll be making a turkey the old-fashioned way for the actual Thanksgiving day.

But here's a picture of Matt carving it. Everyone else loved it.

Cam's work-study students and other members of the department, brought all kinds of wonderful food from all over the world.

They also made a screen for a slideshow of pictures of previous Thanksgiving parties and someone wrote Happy Thanksgiving beautifully on the board.

And just because my building is going to be torn down soon (after the new one is built) I thought I'd put up a picture of my cold, cement, prison-looking Biology building. It's ugly but it's been my workplace for the last 10 years.

The Bacon family Christmas Angel

I finally finished the Current Treetopper Angel tonight while we watched the disturbing Dexter Thanksgiving episode. I wasn't too sure about the colors I chose at first, but Michael says they're pretty. :)

She'll take her place on top of our little tree in a couple weeks.

It's mine, all mine!

This was my dream wedding dress. Even with help from Erin at Dress A Day

and the lovely ladies at Pattern Rescue, I didn't locate it in time to make my wedding gown.

I LOVED my wedding dress! I was able to come up with something just as wonderful. But Vogue 4743 was never forgotten.

And a couple weeks ago it turned up on eBay!

Now it's mine and I can't wait to make a party dress out of it.

I just need a fabulous party to go to...

The Current Tree Topper Angel Round 3

 

I spent the entire weekend working on one of these angels for our Christmas Tree. This is my 3rd round of making one and it's a LOT of work!

My mom bought two of these kits back in the 80's when they were originally released. Then a few years back I found one on eBay and purchases a 3rd kit.

(Here's another eBay auction)

Her first kit, I put together for her when I was in High School, and she still puts it on the tree every year. A few years later I thought it might be cool to make her second kit for myself and I just glued rainbow-colored feathers all over her. It was a very cheesy 90's rave looking angel. The rainbow feather angel probably spent the remainder of her days in a landfill...

So, this weekend I decided that I should put the 3rd kit together. The kit really just includes the printed fabric and instructions. You have to embroider, stitch, and/or decorate her however you want. I like the embroidered/ribbon look which is what I did for my mom's angel.

This weekend I got as far as finishing most of embroidery on her dress and halo. This week I'll work on her wings and her face and hair. I'm hoping to have her completed by Thanksgiving.

Then we'll have our own hand-crafted Bacon family Tree Topper Angel.

The 8th Annual

What a great weekend! The party never looked better thanks to my wonderful husband and his kick-ass decorating skills in the living room. Plus, we had Lindsey and Cornbread stay with us all weekend. They worked their booties off setting up and I can't thank them enough!

Check out Michael's photos on his blog. I'm such a lucky girl!

My mom brought a super cute arrangement in a pumpkin. It had funny plastic faces all around! How cute! She's the best mom ever!

This was the first year I made creature egg shots. They were really good and I had way too many of them. I felt great after a few of them, but I paid for it in the morning. I guess I just can't party like I used to. :)

The white is cool whip and the yolk is an apricot half that was marinated in triple sec. Yum!

Exorcist Night!

We had an Exorcist inspired dinner tonight. Michael loves split pea soup and I discovered that I love it too! But only if it's totally pureed as if it was spouted out of the mouth of a demon. Yummy!

Now that my mom gave me the greatest hand blender in the whole world making pureed demon vomitus for dinner is easy and so much fun! I love hand blenders!

Homemade Pizza

 

One of our favorites things to do is make pizza at home. It's not just a meal, it's a crafty adventure! I'm a HUGE fan of JIFFY Mixes. And I love their pizza crust mix. Well, actually I've tried most of the mixes and I love them all.

 

 

I've tried other pizza crusts and this is by far the best. All you do is add water and wait 5 minutes for it rise! The fresh dough at Trader Joe's is good too. But for 89 cents you can't beat a box of JIFFY mix.

When we make pizzas with company, we layout a huge spread of different toppings. But for just the two of us, we make a Hawaiian pizza and a pepperoni pizza.

This time I used some dough I had in the freezer for the pepperoni and a fresh batch for the Hawaiian. The frozen dough tasted fine, but it was really flat and not as fresh. So, yeah, you can freeze it, but it's much better fresh.

What a fun homemade treat!

HHHSD is online!

The Halloween website is up and running! My poor little brain is very overworked. But I've learned a lot and most of the Halloween party information is up and working. I still need to do a little tweaking with the photos. (be careful with the 2008 photos, they're HUGE) But, for the most part, it's all up there.

 

www.hhhsd.org

 

It's a work in progress.

 

Getting Ready for the Holidays

I'm really looking forward to the Labor Day Holiday weekend. 3 days off work means lots of time to sew and work on some holiday-related projects. My main project this weekend will be starting some Halloween sewing. But that information is top secret until a later date...

Also, Michael got me set-up for maintaining the Halloween website all by myself. He set-up all my info with Joomla and I've been learning so much my brain is a little tired. I'm very, very slow at it, and I can only work on it a little bit at a time, but I'll get the site up and running soon. As soon as I get it presentable, I'll put a link up for all the party people to go check out the site. But in the process, I got Photoshop on my computer and my wonderful hubby found a really cool fashion design program for me called Virtual Fashion Pro. And I can't wait to play around with it.

Last Christmas, my mom gave me her old nativity set because she got a cool new fancy one. Her old nativity set was the one we had for most of my childhood. It's a ceamic set from Pic N Save, and I love it! I know it seems strange that someone like me who isn't the biggest fan of religion is into the nativity. But for me it's like a fairy tale. At christmas my mom read me the story of the baby jesus just like she read to me about Cinderella and The Princess and the Pea. For me it was just a story. And I had no problem with jesus and santa claus sharing a holiday just like Easter is all about bunnies and eggs. The two don't naturally go hand in hand except at those holidays. Anyway, I used to spend hours when I was a little girl playing with the nativity figures. I would rearrange them and set them up for jesus' birthday as if they were on a stage. Her nativity set didn't come with any kind of a stable so I made one over the summer.

While I was looking around online for stable ideas I learned a lot. I always thought that the manger was the building that they slept in. You know, like the song "Away in a Manger". But the manger is the wooden trough that cows and livestock eat out of. The manger is the little wooden bed that jesus slept in. The building is usually either a stable or barn. Sometimes you'll see the term creche. And I thought maybe creche was another way of saying stable or barn, but I found out that it refers to the whole scene. The figures all arranged in display is called a nativity creche.

Well for our nativity creche, the stable is made out of manila file folders cover in strip paper mache and then textured with paper mache pulp. I used hot glue to add some Sheet Moss (sphagnum moss) to the roof and Spanish Moss (which is not a moss at all) to the inside floor. It's not lit in the picture, but the inside of the stable has a battery-operated light in the ceiling. I did this by putting a battery-operated tea light in the space between the roof and the ceiling with it's little plastic "flame" hanging down through a hole in the celing.

I also found an amazing set of Mars Attacks! string lights on eBay that I can't wait to put on our Christmas tree! I got two sets of them, and I think our Christmas tree will look beautiful with little plastic light up Ack Acks and flying saucers.

It feels good to sew again...

I finally got my sewing room cleaned up and recovered from the wedding and surrounding events and I made Simplicity 2854 from some stash fabric. It's kinda dumpy and frumpy, but it was really easy to make and it felt good to make something without a crazy deadline (like a wedding). :) I added piping (which I made myself) to the button placket for a little interest. It's not a real exciting shirt, but I might wear it to work every once in a while.

Last weekend was Comic Con and we went for a little bit on Saturday. Michael's company SOE, had a booth there and they were giving out Batman and Catwoman masks to promote their DC Universe game. I was also really excited to get passes with our names on them that said "professional". It made me feel kinda important. We also went and visited with Tony Moran (AKA Michael Meyers), and his lovely and charming girlfriend Leandra. Comic Con was really hot and crowded and we didn't want to wait in line for Kevin Smith or Masquerade, especially since they're both already on YouTube. So we didn't stay too long. But it's always a blast to watch all the wonderful costumed freaks. I love all of them.

I'm so glad we stayed up late last night!

 

Michael and I saw the midnight showing of Bruno last night!

OMG!

Sacha Baron Cohen has no fear! Bruno goes places Borat never could. This movie was hilarious! Through the whole movie, we were either laughing hysterically or worried that someone was going to kill him!

The movie starts with a completely over-the-top and shocking "bedroom scene" with his little boyfriend Diesel! And then he trades an ipod for OJ who is the cutest little baby EVER!

This is one of the rare movies that totally does not show all the funny parts in the trailer.

Go see Bruno!

Hooray for the Red White and Blue!

The Saturday after our wedding Lindsey had a really fun Boats N Hoes birthday party at her house. Everyone dressed nautical and she had a DJ and a photographer. She made her very own super cool birthday cake which was delicious. Sorry Cornbread, I know you asked me to "hold" your piece of cake, but Michael and I accidentally ate it instead.

You can see the photo gallery here:

Birthday party for the Lindz

Some of Lindsey's friends made amazing jungle juice with delicious fresh fruit in it, and the DJ played some great 80's music to get people dancing. It was a super fun party!

This past weekend was The 4th of July. Michael and I decided to relax at home and just grill some hamburgers and corn on the cob. Which was a good choice because I'm pretty sure corn is the only veggie that Cornbread will eat. We had him over to celebrate the birth of our nation and play a little guitar. Michael taught him how to shred and then we set off the poppers I got at Dollar Tree. The boys were a little disappointed that you can't get any fireworks that explode in California (legally). But once they started throwing the poppers at the sliding glass door while the cats tried to attack them from inside the house, they started having fun.

I was just excited to get to use our first real-live patio set. My mom gave us a nice bistro set when we got back from our Honeymoon. Our back patio is really small and a full patio table and 4 chairs would take up the whole thing and leave no room for the BBQ and fire pit. I also decorated the back yard with some battery-operated laterns from Dollar Tree. But, I learned that 8 batteries for a dollar is not a good deal. The batteries only lasted about 45 minutes, so next time I want to use our battery lanterns I won't buy the batteries from Dollar Tree. :)

Greetings from Mrs. Bacon

Michael and I had a wonderful wedding. We were so honored to have all of our closest friends and family stay with us for our wedding weekend. All the love and support the whole weekend just blew us away!

Thank you to everyone!

 

The wedding day was exactly everything we wanted and more. Everything flowed perfectly and the reception was a really fun party. The whole weekend was a dream!

(Photos to come)

 

 

We were exhausted by the time we got to Vegas Monday night so we enjoyed some delicious room service in our gorgeous suite at the MGM. Mr. and Mrs. McCabe really hooked us up! Thanks you two!

 

We spent most of the next day floating in The Backlot River. Its a lazy river with a current that will just push you along through waterfalls and little water spitters. There are drink stands and waitresses serving frozen drinks. It's just really fun place for everyone to relax and enjoy the water. We stayed as long as our fair complexions would let us.

 

(Yes, we wore sunscreen)

 

Then we had some lunch and went to see the lions in the lobby of our hotel. I also wanted Michael to see New York, NY so we took the bridge over and checked it out. His favorite thing was the life size Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots.

 

6/17/2009 Wedding Dress update #10

I'm done sewing!!!

(my pattern review)

 

6/12/2009 Wedding Dress update #9

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize"

I finished all my bridal accessories.

I really thought that I wanted a birdcage veil. I had my heart set on it. I scoured eBay for French Netting and I read all kinds of birdcage veil tutorials online. But when I made mine is was a great let down. It looked really stupid on me. I mean really stupid! I guess I just don't have the right head for a birdcage veil. Good thing I bought regular old white tulle as a back-up. I just gathered 3 yards of it, and stitched it onto a comb with some white button twist. Then I stitched a little of the bodice trim onto the front of it. I LOVE it!

I also made a flower for my hair. I'll wear it under my veil, so that when I take the veil off for the reception, I'll still have something pretty in my hair. I used the glitter dot fabric from my Toothfairy costume from Halloween 2003. I just cut out some petal shapes and curled the edges with a candle flame. Then I stitched them together and added 3 of the posey rhinestone buttons that I used on the back of my dress. I used some of the white brida jacquard to make leaves, and stitched the whole thing onto a hair clip with some white button twist.

And, finally, I made myself a little bolero to wear later in the evening. Who knows if I'll really need it, but it was really easy and it's super cute. It's also made from the white bridal jacquard and it's lined with the same fabric that I used to interline the skirt of my dress.

 

 

 

 

5/19/2009 Wedding Dress update #8

 

This is now how my dress has to live. I joined the skirt and petticoat with the bodice and the dress is so heavy it pulls on my dressform and I'm afraid the dress will lose it's shape. So, until I put the hanging loops in, my dress is just draped over my chair. It really is gorgeous, though. The skirt isn't quite as full as the muslin because it's so heavy that it flattens the petticoat a little. But, when I put the horsehair braid in the hem it should get a little fuller. I can't wait to get it hemmed and start putting the trim on the hem of the skirt overlay.

 

I also installed the zipper, snaps and buttons. The zipper is off-center and is the real, functional closure. The buttons are along the center back, and the snaps are in the overlap to keep stress off of the buttons. However the snap right at the waist line seam may not work out. I'll probably replace it with a hook and eye because it's so thick and heavy at that point that the snap won't stay snapped.

 

 

Next, I inserted the bodice lining. The whole lining was already stitched together, I just had to put it in place. I had also stitched in my label and added machine buttonhole-type openings for the waist stay. Then, the entire lining (all 4 sides) is stitched in by hand. I love the clean finish of a hand-stitched lining. No one but the people that help you dress and undress ever see it, but I think it's very decadent to have a nice lining in any dress. I didn't line the skirt because the net from the petticoat doesn't bother my legs, and I feel like there is enough weight in the skirt with the interlining.

 

 

I know it doesn't really seem like lots of progress for a whole weekend's worth of sewing, but it really is. I feel like I have a dress now.

5/8/2009 Wedding Dress update #7

 

I put the two back pieces together and wanted to see how the bodice would look with my buttons and loops. So, I pinned the bodice in approximately the way it will be when the off-center zipper is installed. Then I pinned a few of the rhinestone-posey buttons on the back.

 

 

The two full circles of cotton that I had made the skirt from for my muslin weren't big enough to use as the interlining. Once I finally received Advance 7914, I realized how the big the skirt actually would be! So I had to buy some more fabric to be able to start assembling the skirt. The kitchen island was the only place I was able to lay out the skirt panels (there are 4 of them) to do all the hand basting.

 

 

I got all 4 skirt pieces basted and the pockets attached and I started assembling the whole skirt. I realized quickly that pockets back in the 50's just weren't big enough. But I went ahead and pinned the skirt to my dressform and pinned the bodice on top of it, so I could look at my progress.

 

 

Next I'll be removing the pockets that are too small and replacing them with wider, deeper pockets. Then, I'll tackle the overskirt. I can't wait to join the bodice and skirt!

 

4/27/2009 Wedding Dress update #6

 

I cut out all the pieces Friday night! That was hard work! Between fighting off Judo and her toys and crawling around on my knees I was tired and sweaty after cutting out the giant skirt pieces and all the layers and layers of bodice fabric! But I forgot to cut out the pockets. I'll cut those out when I start assembling the skirt. I have plenty of fabric for both the pockets and a little bolero to keep me warm later in the reception.

 

Sunday afternoon I was able to complete the underbodice front. It's made from just the white bridal jacquard and has no overlay becuase you only see the top edge of it.

 

 

Next I basted all the layers of the overbodice. It has the etched glass overlay and will be lined with the white ambiance rayon lining.

 

 

I completed both bodice pieces and basted them together. After I get the bodice back done, I'll sew them together at the side seams and both bodice fronts will be treated as one.

 

 

I pinned the trim on the top edge just for fun. It so pretty!

3/24/2009 Wedding Dress update #5

Kelly really wanted to see me try on wedding dresses when we went to pick out their bridesmaid dresses, so I humored her. We were giggling the whole time and making fun of the giant ridiculous dresses. The one on the left we called the Doily dress and the one on the right we called the chandelier dress. They were both too hot and too heavy, but I liked the bodice on both of them. I've had to come to terms with the fact that I should make my wedding dress strapless. So I went on a search for new patterns...

And I ended up with McCall's 3399 and Advance 7914. I had the McCall's pattern, but I'm still waiting for the Etsy seller to ship the Advance pattern. I used the bodice from the McCall's pattern and I wanted to use the skirt from the Advance pattern, but I still don't have it. This is the photoshopery I came up with:

I drafted the bodice pattern, grading it from a 1955 size 13 to my size and adding one inch to the length. Then I started the muslin for the bodice while I was waiting for the Advance pattern to ship.

Also, while I was waiting I found the perfect shoes to wear for the reception. I don't think I'll make it all night long in the glorious heels I bought, so I wanted some flats that I could dance all night in. I happened to find the perfect little blue ones in a little ghetto shoe store in the heart of Escondido. I don't remember if I've posted my orginal shoes before, but they're so wonderful, it never hurts to see them again!

A couple days ago, I gave up waiting for the pattern to arrive. I've tried and tried to contact the seller, and if it doesn't get here I'll pursue it with paypal. So I decided to just add a whole other circle to the skirt from my first muslin. Then I gathered them into the bodice.

I love it and it fits perfectly! This is definitely it! I do need to raise the front waist just a little. But other than that, I'm ready to start making the real thing!