pink glass

Ever since i acquired this striking pink Depression glass center handled server i've been looking for an excuse to use it.
Made in the 30s the pattern is called Mayfair and i think the piece calls out for wee luncheon sandwiches.
I've used it once for cookies, which was lovely, but not really what i envisioned.
On Sunday i had fTM Karen and her MIL Nancy over for lunch and a bit of crafting. I was excited because entertaining is a new thing for me in this apartment because of the woefully inadequate kitchen. I have decide that instead of lamenting the kitchen i simply need to learn to work around it.
When Karen requested my curry chicken salad i knew that i could finally use my pink glass server.
Look at how good it looks with tiny luncheon sandwiches on it.
Perfect  
Exactly what i imagined.
It just fits a dozen mid-sized potato rolls, so i filled half with curry chicken salad and half with shaved honey ham and muenster cheese.
Once the table was set with everything else (i had regular and BBQ chips, mini celery and carrot sticks and cucumber-red onion salad) i felt really elegant and put together pulling my sandwich-covered glass server from the fridge; there might have been some flourish as i set it down in the center of the table.
...sigh... so pretty

Quick Quotes 5

We were talking about hair and TM Megan nearly exploded with
...and I had a horrible perm. My hair was down to here (indicating her waist) and my mom didn't want to deal with it so she just permed it. It was frizzy and poufy and terrible. I hated it. pause OH! A bird once got stuck in my hair.
(apparently it was a friend's parakeet that was flying in the house and his feet got tangled in Megan's hair; she brought in a picture of it today; dang i wish i had a scanner so that you could see the bird perched on top of this little girl's white-man's-fro)

Consider yourself off of the list

To: Entertainment Industry From: Niki RE: Unamused ********************************************************** Sirs and/or Madams- Really? Really?!? First you release my second favorite show - Farscape - on VHS. I did not buy it because i already had some crappy VHS versions that i taped off of Friday Prime when it was originally aired. Then, you released it on DVD, with each season broken into parts. I did not buy it because i did not own a DVD player. Then, you released the Starburst edition DVDs, with more special features. You know i can't resist special features. This time the seasons were packaged differently so even if one owned some of the original DVDs it would be impossible to supplement with the Starburst without missing or doubling episodes. Must you be so sneaky? Still, i only bought one cause they were pricey and i am frugal. Enter my good friend, but sometimes nemesis, EBay, where i could find some used copies in a more reasonable Niki price range. Then, you -oh entertainment industry- discontinued the Starburst editions and prices skyrocketed. The whole series is 12 DVD sets in the Starburst format and on EBay i saw ver1.1 top out at $119! What the hey?!? I can't afford 11 more sets at over $100 per set. Finally, after a year or so the prices settled a little bit. Slowly, but surely, like a giant tortoise i have saved and bid and waited and bid and have managed to get 7 of the 12 sets. At my current pace i am projected to have the whole collection in about 18 months after spending about 80 more dollars. When necessary i can have immense patience. So what the heck is THIS I hate you entertainment industry. Why must you betray me so? I waited and waited and tried to get the whole series as cheaply as possible and only after i am halfway there you release an entire BOX SET?!? It even looks like most of the special features are intact. And it takes up less room. AND it is only $100 at Sam's Club! I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. (foot stomping and general wailing here) I am a firm believer in capitalism and can appreciate the market economy, but must you so obviously be such money-grubbing, bottom feeders? I am happy to pay for your products, but stop offering 10 jillion versions of the same dang thing already. I have 3 versions of Star Wars, for goodness sakes. Just stop it. I am taking you off of the New Year's card list, Entertainment Industry, and i will not be attending your brother's wedding this summer. BTW, i want my Kenny Rogers cassette back and that scarf you borrowed last October. I'm not talking to you anymore.

Pi Day - observed

As March 14th fell on a Sunday this year, we observed Pi Day at work on the following Monday. Though this was the 6th Annual party, it is the first time i have been able to attend since we normally are on the road. There are Pi decorations. In the past there were Pi favors and even the tables in the conference room were rearranged to form the Greek letter, pi. Basically people bring in pies. We eat pie. Then we vote on our favorite pie. It is glorious. The double chocolate peanut butter pie was delicious and cut with perfect strata. The Kentucky bourbon pecan pie was a bit messier, but fabulous. I don't have a picture of my personal favorite, a triple berry jam tart made by TM Sam. It was delectable and i was inspired to vote for it in haiku. The winner of the Most Delicious Pie award was Katherine from the planetarium with Blueberry Pi(e), while fTM Miriam took the second place Very Delicious Pie award with a grapefruit meringue pie. (curiously not pictured) There is nothing a bunch of science geeks like better than a mathematical excuse to consume multiple desserts. TM Elise even had an outfit for the occasion.

It appears to be a series

To make up for the dreary morning post, here is the next in TM Megan's Superlatively Cute Quadrupeds Pretending to Be Bipeds white board drawings:
  He is my favorite so far,
especially his surprised expression.
What could be so astounding to a zebra?
And that mohawk... priceless.
 I wish you could have seen the remorseful monkey she drew for TM Lindsey; crap-on-a-cracker, was it hilarious. I'd like a children's tv show to be made with these characters. wait... i don't get tv anymore. Okay, how about some children's books instead?
It could be the Upright Series.

MVA Monday

Last week i spent Monday morning at jury duty; this week i spent Monday morning at the MVA. It makes me understand why people hate Mondays. The good news is that i didn't have to go to the actual Motor Vehicle Administration offices - i'd rather have a root canal than go there - but instead i went to a satellite office for my car's emission test. It honestly isn't that bad, compared to other bureaucratic nonsense, since generally they can run the test via the car's computer diagnostic and only have to do the 20 minute road test if something looks hinkey, but still on a rainy, grey Monday you don't really want this bleakness staring you in the face. I understand form over function, but do government building really have to look so cheerless? Once it was my turn, the test itself didn't take that much time; in fact, it took longer to find a manager to come verify my VIN number as the computer detected possible fraud (who knows what that means) than to do the whole emissions test. Good news - my car is spewing a state regulated acceptable amount of nastiness into the atmosphere. YEA!

memories etched in silica

I have fTM Karen and her MIL Nancy coming over for lunch and crafting this weekend, which means that my entire apartment needs cleaned, spring linens have to come out, a menu needs written and then grocery shopping needs done. So of course it seemed like a perfect time to unpack 4 boxes of barware - cause nothing makes cleaning easier like adding even more breakables to an already jam-packed area I have collected vintage barware since before i was allowed into bars and often will pick up glassware to commemorate events, so there is a lot of it. Though the bar itself was one of the first 3 things i setup when i moved (do remember how stressful that move was?) i never finished getting out all of the glass. Probably because there isn't room for it. But i was bound and determined to get those boxes out of the sunroom; i mean, next month is my fourth anniversary of living in the apartment, people. There really shouldn't be any moving boxes left. The last box that i did contained all of the sentimental bar ware: glasses from adventures and special times. Look at the flute from my Senior Prom; it has 2 little desiccated roses in it from my wrist corsage. There are shot glasses from bachelor and bachelorette parties, an assortment of glasses from Pat O'Briens in New Orleans (i started ordering drinks of off the menu based on which glass they came in), bright, gaudy glasses from Las Vegas, a hurricane from Phillips on the eastern Shore from the first time you know what - let's skip that story, the Irish coffee mugs from the Christmas party when my best friend at the time and I drank all night on someone else's tab cause the bartender liked us (in fact, we closed the place down and he ended up driving us around the city for hours until we were sober enough to drive ourselves home), my first wine glasses that were bought specifically for a romantic evening, the glass from Ruby Tuesdays where i had a standing date in the same section every Saturday, and the list goes on and on. I love that as i unwrapped each glass I remembered the moment that i got it, the people i was with and why it was important. I've really missed having them and can't wait to start serving beverages to friends in my glass-encased memories.

oh... my head!

If you ever think you're having a bad day, just remember this poor little guy i saw in someone's car the other day
OY! I've got such a pain in my neck.
 Who wedged that poor stuffed animal in there like that?
What message were they trying to convey?
Did they really think it was a good idea?
Why is the poor thing now 3 different colors?
What freaking animal IS that? (TM Mike and I agreed on gorilla, but i'm not so sure)
At least, i says to myself, I'm not a mutant plushie crammed in the back of same lady's window.

my staff is trying to kill me

How else do you explain this level of cuteness? He's looks like a friendly Sleestack with a tail. Just can't stand it.

darling, forgotten Miguel

I totally forgot that i took this picture. When i first started to get the intestinal unfortunateness a few weeks ago I didn't go to work one day. When i called mid-morning to check on things and tell team members about something i'd suddenly remembered in my feverishness, TM Megan said to me, It's okay Miss Niki. I drew a dinosaur with outstretched arms on the board. He'll give you a hug when you get back. Look at that ridiculous cuteness. Could it be any stinkin' cuter? How's he gonna hug me? It's like he has no arms at all - just hands growing out of his chest. And look at his whimsical overbite. Adorable! Miguel stayed on the board for over a week and every day someone would change what he was saying. Just looking at him makes me smile. sigh... i miss you, Miguel.