Is that straw clean?

Okay - lots to catch up on.

First - a card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I always do kind of a liberal interpretation of the sketches, because for some reason her sketches make me feel very creative. So this one is a spooky little mummy from the Doodle Factory, which I stamped in craft white ink and highlighted with a pale blue pencil. The card base is Stampin' Up! DSP, which I punched a Top Note out of. See the beauty of double sided DSP now? It rocks. I just tied some Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon on the top and added some boogly eyes to my mummy and VOILA - ADMIT UR SKRD. EEK!

I really like the black and Kiwi BTW. And I have a very cool technique to show you if I am feeling better tomorrow. I made it up in the emergency room. So you know it's good. Plus, you pretty much know that no trip to the emergency room is complete in under 7 hours so I had plenty of time to think about stamping.

MADDIE SAYS WAIT - DON'T GO - THERE ARE CUPCAKES LATER IN THIS POST!!

But first, a few observations.

1) Geraldo is so out of control dramatic when there's a hurricane. It's to the point where he's a cult figure on our local talk radio afternoon show. Stories about his hair blowing around abound. Right now he's on TV talking about the tragic destruction of a Hooters in Galveston with his weird yelling monotone. Forgive me if I don't think it's a tragedy. He actually (I'm gagging) said last night "Something wicked this way comes" in a dramatic yelly monotone. Puh-lease. Save it for some bad talk show Geraldo. And how bout a hair and moustache cut? I'm just sayin'.
2) Have you seen this blog? Nancy Ward compiles amazing coupons, tutorials, templates and more all in one place! Somehow she thought my crayon rubbing tutorial was feature worthy too!! Add this blog to your reader!
3) Is that straw clean? One of my favorite restaurants is Chick-Fil-A. It's clean, the service is great, their employees are nice and I think you all know how fabulous their chicken is. And don't even get me started on the chicken biscuit for breakfast or the polynesian sauce that comes with the chicken strips. It's absolutely the world's best fast food. However, they do something very odd that I don't really understand. They rip off the straw paper on half the straw and stick it in your drink. So when they hand you your drink, the straw has its little half straw paper hat on, which you remove so that you can happily drink your gallon of tea, presumably thinking you've been protected from Dengue Fever, Ebola, Giardia, Shigella and other thing that might be lurking on the end of the straw that you put in your mouth. So here's my question.

Couldn't you still have dipped the business end of the straw - the one that goes into my drink - into the toilet before you put it in there? Because I, for one, am not reassured by the half paper. Just an observation.

4) Jerry's Artarama is my favorite art store in the whole world. I went there today to get my mom some Koh-I-Noor pencils for her birthday and it is unbelievable. AND - the people in there know the products, which is super rare in art retail. The girl that helped me was friendly and knew everything I asked for. Jerry's enters the blue list! They do have a website (click above), and stores in other states, AND great prices on Copics as well as a discount card.

5) Speaking of blue list, HOLY COW SUGAR MAMA'S BAKESHOP CUPCAKES!! I heard about this site from a friend by way of a funny story on their website. Always on the hunt for cupcake nirvana as you know, I thought it would make a nice non-traditional dessert for my mom's b-day party. So I headed over. Despite several attempts on my life by vehicularly retarded Austinites, I made it to the store - spic & span, incredibly adorable interior and smelling like what I'm positive heaven smells like. The owners are a couple with the world's most adorable baby and they were both working. The mom/wife is the creative genius behind their recipes. Since Tony Bourdain advises never to eat in an establishment where the owner/operator is not present, I was very excited to meet them. They are extremely nice, bright and friendly people. I ordered an assortment, three of which I couldn't wait to try. First - Banana Puddin' "Moist banana cake filled with banana pastry cream, topped with fresh whipped cream and a miniature vanilla wafer." OMG - this is the best cupcake I've ever had. First, it's not too sweet because it's topped with whipped cream, not frosting. The banana cake was insanely good, as was the banana pastry cream. Note the teeny Nilla Wafer perched on top. Perfection. The joy of this place is the three frostings - whipped cream for people like me, cream cheese frostings for people like my sis, and buttercream for folks who like the classics. THEN - the Hemingway - Key Lime with Key Lime frosting - OOOOOOOOOMG. Even better than I thought it would be, and I already had high hopes. At the point that I ate half of the peanut butter cup I really had a sugar buzz, but it was worth the risk. The creamy peanut butter frosting was bliss. Their cake is perfect. I am not sure this place can be topped. Sorry Jenn! :) Now, let's not forget their INGENIOUS box. See the thumbholes on either side of the cupcakes? That is brilliant!!! I've been to a lot of cupcake shops, and you usually have to ruin both the cupcake and your nails prying the yummy cakes out of the box. My hat is off, Sugar Mama's!!

If you live in or near Austin, this is a MUST.

I have still not forgiven the vehicularly retarded chap in a Mustang who almost very dramatically killed me shortly after I left Sugar Mama's, causing one box of these beauties to go flying forward so hard all their lovely toppings shot off them and lodged on one side of the box. If I find you....

Now check out the next two pics - one is the napkins at my mom's party. Adorable. Next is my sister's version of Martha's Brick Pressed Sandwich. This sandwich is what got me quoted in Martha Stewart Living Magazine, by the way. It's in my top 10 recipes of all time, but my sis makes the best one. If you don't want to wrap them and press them with a brick - do what my sis does. Put the whole uncut sandwich in a FoodSaver back and suck all the air out until it smooshes the sandwich like a brick would. Leave em for a few hours, release them from captivity and slice. Then everything is all blended and yummy. We use roast beef or turkey, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, some fabby cheeses and today, prosciutto. Nicely done, C-diggety!

Finally tonight - I guess it was only a matter of time before someone accidentally threw teeny little Maddie Bat away!

G'night all.