7 Quick Takes Friday

Thank you to our lovely hostess, Jen!

1. I've been working on these quick takes since yesterday afternoon.  I've been frustrated by how long it's taken me to finish them, but as of about 4 pm on Friday, I am delighted that they are not finished yet, because now I get to talk about awesomeness.  Remember my Secret Sister?  Oh yeah, she totally struck again!  She sent me a Mothers' Day gift, which arrived in the mail today!  It came in this adorable bag, which is a gift in and of itself:

 Wanna know what it was?

My tremendous photography skills at work.  I do weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Isn't it a gorgeous pendant?  I love it!  And thanks to her sweet note, I finally know what to call this beautiful ocean-y looking material: abalone (ah-baloney, or ah-balogna, if you will).  I bought an abalone ring at a craft show when I was 11 and wore it until the band broke.  I still have the ring, though, because I thought it was so pretty and I wanted to find more jewelry like it someday.  Secret Sister, how did you know this?

2. It gets even better!  My parents-in-law brought me back some beautiful abalone earrings from a vacation they took last year.  I'm pretty sure they and this pendant were made for each other:

Like that glow from the flash on my kitchen counter?  Talk about professional.

I wear these earrings frequently 'cause I'm crazy about them, and now I have a beautiful abalone and pearl pendant to wear with them!  Thank you, Secret Sister!

3. Secret Sister mentioned in her letter that she shared my previous blog post about her with friends, which includes some people in Syracuse.  I wonder if Secret Sister is from Syracuse?  (Like my Cathsorority sister Kate!)  I admit I have never been to Syracuse myself, but it has long been dear to my heart, because of this fellow pictured with a very young Elise:

Yeah, she was 1.5 months here. Wow.

I don't call him Otto, because I named him Orangie when I got him in 1990 (which apparently was the same year SU settled on the name "Otto"...but he's my Orangie, just as my OSU plush is Mr. Buckeye, not "Brutus").  My dad went to a seminar on autism that year at SU, and he brought back the plush orange for me and an SU ballcap for my brother.  Orangie has been my most beloved stuffie for a very long time now.  So, Secret Sister, I'm not sure if you're from Syracuse, or if you just happen to know some people there, but just thinking about Syracuse always brings a smile to my face!

4. It's been a busy spring here.  Starting last month, every weekend has been notable: we traveled to Ohio for Easter, my sister-in-law visited us from Virginia, we sold my craptastic car because it wasn't worth paying for repairs anymore, Colin went to a martial arts tournament in Columbus, and my parents-in-law visited us for Colin's graduation.  Last weekend, Elise and I traveled to Ohio again for Mothers' Day, and this weekend, my college roommate and her boyfriend are visiting us.  The following weekend is Memorial Day, and it remains to be seen whether we'll be doing anything for that.  The weekend after that is my friend Tracy's baby shower.  The good times keep on rollin'!  (Except for the car thing.  Oh well, I hated that bucket-o'-bolts.)

5. Yesterday I got the notion in my noggin' that we should host a Memorial Day cookout.  I've been itching to invite people over for some kind of get-together.  Just to provide some context, my husband and I are a pair of classic introverts who basically live as hermits.  I am beyond awkward and terrified of social situations.  We hardly ever have anybody over.  But I really want to.  Do I dare?

6. After months of making exclusively brown rice (when I make rice, I mean...it's not the only thing we eat, don't worry), I picked up some jasmine white rice for a Thai dish I made.  The Thai dish was terrible (courtesy of the horrible sauce), but the rice was awesome.  And it cooked super fast!  Yay jasmine rice!  On the other hand...

DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP.

7. Elise is a lot bigger now.

I love her.

Happy weekend!