Jenny Doh

Crocheted Rocks for Girls' Night Out

So last night was Girls' Night Out with my friends Pam, Amy, and Heather. Wanted to make a little something something for them to celebrate the holidays and so I decided to crochet them rocks, of course. After all, who doesn't want a crocheted rock these days?

I first gathered rocks and then crochted a cozy for each one using hemp yarn.

Once they were done, I felt they needed something ...

So I reached for my trusty red felt and made little hearts to place on top.

And rather than adhering the felt down, I decided to secure them in place with some Perle cotton in a contrasting color, with a little button, sheet music, and lace.

And then finally, they each got bundled up in a bit of muslin and more hemp yarn. So fun.

PS: So the night was really terrific. Well, almost. We enjoyed a great dinner and then indulged in some anthropologie therapie ... and then we all decided to to see a movie together. You know ... it's such a busy time of year so why not treat yourself, relax, and watch a great movie, right? We decided on The Tourist ... you know, the one with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. How can you go wrong with a movie that has those two in it, right? Well, the movie was SO bad that at a certain point, I thought for sure we had died and gone to movie hell. At a certain point, it got so bad that the four of us were busting up laughing ... absurd plot, melodramatic acting, and worst of all ... Johnny was not hot. It was LOL, OMG, and WTF all rolled into one.

No matter. Even with all this, we had a great time reconnecting and I had a good excuse to create some cute rocks for some great gals. Rock on. ;)

Nailing It :: The Interview

FRO YO (tm)

I love FRO YO. It's one of the few things in life that I am addicted to. And interestingly, I have very strong opinions and peculiar habits about FRO YO ...

• I've tried a lot of different FRO YOs and by far, Golden Spoon is the best.
• I can't stand the fact that Pink Berry weighs my FRO YO in front of me. It's like they want to make sure I don't rip them off by potentially having one of their staff accidentally put an extra .2 ounces in my cup so they're gonna double check the work of their staff by having them weigh it right in front of me. It's rude. I also can't stand that Pink Berry stocks wayward items near the counter ... like I'm gonna order a pint of FRO YO and pick up a neon toothpick holder while I'm at it.
• There are lots of new self-serve places popping up and they all have this eerily common taste that runs through every flavor. It's like their vanilla tastes exactly like their German chocolate cake. And I don't like their wobbly generic cups. And I don't like their florescent spoons.
• Sadly, these new places are the ones closest to my house. In order for me to get to a Golden Spoon, I have to drive all the way across town.
• My favorite flavors are vanilla and peanut butter.
• My favorite topping is granola. (On the side.)
• I like to eat my FRO YO in my car and I like to eat it super fast.
• The reason I like to eat it in my car is because after I'm done, I get so extremely cold that I need to crank up the heater in my car to thaw out.
• And last but not least ... I'm pretty sure I invented the term FRO YO. It was in college one night when I said to my friends, "Let's go get some FRO YO." And ever since then everyone has been saying FRO YO. It was in 1986. I know I can't prove it but I'm just sayin'.

I'll see ya at Golden Spoon. ;)

FLIGHT 79

This is a true story. Really. For real.

On my way back from Squam, I first had to make a connection to New Jersey. And I did. Without incident. And from there, my final flight was flight 79 on United Airlines, which would take me back home to Santa Ana. As I was waiting to board flight 79, there was an announcement from the United staff saying that there would be no bathroom service on the flight because there was no water on the plane. That's right. All the way from New Jersey to California, we could not be able to use the bathroom.

As soon as the announcement was made, we all looked at each other with the same thought bubble hovering over our heads that read, "Is this for real? Are they flippin' kidding us?"

Wait. It gets better.

As we were all looking at each other, a second attendant took the microphone to amend the first announcement to say: "Actually, you will be able to use the toilet but the airplane will not have water. But the plane will have plenty of bottled waters stocked in the bathroom that can help aid all of you with the dry flushes." OMG. The thought bubble then popped as we all started chattering about our disbelief.

So while on the flight, after consuming two whole cans of cranberry juice, I eventually had to use the bathroom. And no lie ... when I got in there, there was a bottled water in there with a sign that said, "use sparingly." 

Before we all got off the plane, the attendant made an announcement that for passengers of flight 79, if we went to their Web site, we'd be given a gift as a token of appreciation for the inconvenience we experienced on the flight. 

So when I went on their site to indicate that I was on Flight 79, I was given a $100 voucher off of my next flight. 

My next flight ... can't wait.

LAUGHTER FOUND

So on the second day after completing my shawl project, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee came up to admire and praise the fine workmanship on my shawl. See? Can you tell she's praising my shawl?

OK. 

Truthfully, as soon as Stephanie saw my shawl, she asked me why it was so small. And of course I had to explain that given the limited class time we had, we all made a mini-version of it so that we could learn the three different motifs contained in the design.

It made for some good laughs ... 

And through the laughter, I was trying to remain calm and cool so that I didn't appear overly geekish ... as I was SO excited to finally meet her and I didn't want to appear too much like one of THOSE overly enthusiastic fans, you know?  

So after being the calm and cool gal showing off her extremely small shawl, there was more laughter to be had later in the evening.

Because later in the evening, when my friend Gail Ellspermann came to visit me at my cabin, I suggested that we go visit our friend Charlotte Lyons in her cabin. "Do you know how to get there?" asked Gail. "Oh yeah, for sure. I know the way," I said.

By the time we stepped out to go find Charlotte's cabin, it had gotten very dark. And we got lost. So there Gail and I were, trying to find Charlotte, only to stumble into different cabins filled with different clusters of people all doing their nighttime bonding. Finally, we were approaching a very well-lit cabin and I assured Gail that this one must be the one. As I enthusiastically approached it, I saw through the door ... Stephanie. OMG. 

I shook my head and waved my arms and mouthed "no, no, no" because I didn't want to be seen. I think I thought that if I waved my arms I could stop what would be running through her head as soon as she saw me ... "Oh, there's that gal with the extremely small shawl ... Oh.My.God ... she's followed me to my cabin." By the time she saw me, it was too late to erase what was happening so I entered the cabin and asked with all my calm and cool, "Is Charlotte here?" Nope. Charlotte was not there.

After visiting many more cabins that were not Charlotte's, Charlotte finally came out and found us and shepherded us into her cabin for a great visit where we laughed about the hilarity of it all. 

I can't stop cracking up about that night.

WORDS IN MOUTH

BIGGER FISH

Active listening and good eye contact go hand in hand.

SNUGGIE SUPER POWERS

We interrupt all this CHA talk to bring you the wonders of the Snuggie!

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM DECONSTRUCTED

THAT'S ALL I NEED