<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" version="2.0"><channel><atom:link rel="hub" href="http://tumblr.superfeedr.com/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"/><description>Chicago cat-mom, trying to nurture my creativity and live gratefully.</description><title>Nelly Peg</title><generator>Tumblr (3.0; @nellypeg)</generator><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/</link><item><title>Out of respect for your dead turkey</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8230;make soup! &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Millions of turkeys are murdered every year for Thanksgiving dinners. The least we could do is respectfully use as much of the turkey as we can. So after it&amp;#8217;s been carved and the leftovers have been stored for the next week&amp;#8217;s meals, use the carcass and make soup. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv19wyV6L31qf7xog.jpg"/&gt; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#8217;s what you&amp;#8217;ll need:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Lots of water&lt;br/&gt;Turkey carcass&lt;br/&gt;3-6 carrots&lt;br/&gt;4-8 celery stalks&lt;br/&gt;2 russet potatoes&lt;br/&gt;1-2 onions&lt;br/&gt;2-4 garlic cloves (optional)&lt;br/&gt;A couple bay leaves&lt;br/&gt;~2 tsp thyme&lt;br/&gt;~1 tsp sage&lt;br/&gt;~1&amp;#160;T dried parsley (or ~3&amp;#160;T fresh)&lt;br/&gt;salt &amp;amp; pepper to taste&lt;br/&gt;whatever other herbs/spices you like &lt;br/&gt;1-2 c dry noodles or pasta (or 1/2 c uncooked rice) &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Put the turkey carcass (no I will not stop calling it a carcass, that&amp;#8217;s what it is) in a bigass stock pot and cover it with water. Add your bay leaves. Bring the pot to a boil, and then reduce heat &amp;amp; simmer. Now would be a good time to chop the carrots, celery, &amp;amp; onion to whatever size and shape you like. If you&amp;#8217;re using fresh garlic, grate it or chop it finely. Peel the potatoes but leave them whole. Now would also be a good time to dance around your kitchen like an idiot to Christmas music.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;After the carcass has simmered for about an hour, remove it from the pot and set it aside until cool enough to handle. Congratulations, you just made turkey stock. Taste it and add salt as needed. When the carcass has cooled a bit, carefully separate all meat that&amp;#8217;s left on it from the tiny, skin, fat, cartilage, and other mysterious bits. Take your time, haste really does make waste. Honor this once-living being by not wasting him. You can probably get at least a couple cups of meat. Obviously the amount you get will vary, but just do your best and don&amp;#8217;t be afraid to get a little messy. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Chop or shred the meat. This makes it go farther and also helps find any lingering bones and bits.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Skim any fat off the surface of the stock and put the turkey meat and vegetables in. Cook about a half hour or until potatoes are cooked through. Taste again and add herbs/spices, more salt if needed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Take out the potatoes and cut them into whatever size you want. If you&amp;#8217;re serving with rice, cook it separately before combining with the soup. If you&amp;#8217;re adding noodles or pasta (I like no-yolk egg noodles best for soup), add them to the stock and cook for about 10 minutes or until al dente. Skim broth again &amp;amp; remove bay leaves before serving.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Keep some in the fridge now and freeze the rest in containers filled to the top.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Best serve with a shake of seasoned salt and a side of bread &amp;amp; butter. Yum.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;P.S. If you really want to use every bit of the turkey and have a dog and/or a garden, google how to pressure cook down the bones for dogs to eat or how to effectively fertilize with them. Do NOT give your pets poultry bones unless it is absolutely impossible for the bones to get caught in their throats and/or pierce their organs.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/13130257915</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/13130257915</guid><pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:15:00 -0600</pubDate><category>cooking/baking</category><category>recipes</category></item><item><title>Nelly Peg Namesake</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;#8220;Nelly Peg&amp;#8221; is not my real name. If you can believe that. Nell (Ellen) and Peg (Margaret) are my grandmothers. Grandma Peg passed when I was 10, and Grandma Nell when I was 16, 7 years ago almost to the hour.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Grandma Nell was a WWII bride. She married my grandfather, a New Yorker from a Sicilian family, while he was stationed in England. He had already returned to the states when she had their first child. She and my aunt came by boat when all the war brides were finally able to cross the pond after the war. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Grandma Nell had so many stories and talents. She was so sweet and hated for the family to fight. She was half Swiss, after all. She was supportive and funny in her way. The last conversation I remember having with her was the day I got my driver&amp;#8217;s license, about a month and a half before she died. I called her and told her, &amp;#8220;Grandma I just took my driver&amp;#8217;s test and got my license!&amp;#8221; and she said, &amp;#8220;jolly good!&amp;#8221; &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve lived in the Midwest pretty much my whole life while my extended family is all out east. We would drive out once or twice almost every year until Grandma Nell died. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sometimes when I think about my grandmas, I feel cheated because they both died before I was old enough or mature enough to fully appreciate them and what they had to offer. They were both crafters and both introduced me to foods that other kids probably would&amp;#8217;ve hated (cooked spinach, okra, curry, etc.). My heart aches with loss, probably more now than when they passed because the more I learn about them from my family, the more I understand the depth of losing them. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#8217;re lucky enough to have a grandmother in your life, call her up and don&amp;#8217;t just tell her about your life and that you love her, learn about her life. If you wish you&amp;#8217;d gotten more of a chance to do that, get to know her through your family. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I miss you so much, Grandmas.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Love,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;M&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12917425261</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12917425261</guid><pubDate>Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:31:00 -0600</pubDate></item><item><title>Happy Thanksboozeing!</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Need a great drink for your Thanksgiving celebration? I came up with this seasonally appropriate &lt;strong&gt;toasted spice cider punch&lt;/strong&gt; for a Halloween party and it was a hit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lurhwhhVpW1qf7xog.jpg"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You&amp;#8217;ll need:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;8 oz bourbon&lt;br/&gt;20-24 oz apple cider&lt;br/&gt;Brown sugar simple syrup (process below)&lt;br/&gt;2 cinnamon sticks&lt;br/&gt;8-10 whole cloves&lt;br/&gt;6-8 allspice berries&lt;br/&gt;2 star aniseeds&lt;br/&gt;~1&amp;#160;L club soda or seltzer&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;coffee filter or 5&amp;#8221;x5&amp;#8221; cheesecloth&lt;br/&gt;kitchen twine&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Yield: Depends one your serving size, but enough for a group.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For the simple syrup: Combine 1/2 c brown sugar and 1/2 c water in a pot. Bring to a boil over medium low heat and cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until all the sugar is dissolved. Let cool completely.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In a dry pan over medium low heat, toast spices just until you can smell them. They burn easily so toast with care to avoid bitterness.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Put spices in a coffee filter or in the center of a 5x5 square of cheese cloth. Gather the edges/corners and tie with kitchen twine. Drop the spice bag in a large container and add bourbon, cider, and syrup. Chill for at least a few hours, overnight is best to let the flavors come together. Discard the spice bag and add club soda, a 1:1 ratio of club soda to cider mixture works well. Serve in a punch bowl or in individual glasses over ice. Garnish with thin apple slices and just a tiny love tap of ground cinnamon. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You can leave out the bourbon for kids/non-drinkers, just let the spices hang out in the cider mixture longer since it won&amp;#8217;t have the alcohol to help extract the flavors. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Also, you can store the cider mixture in your fridge for a couple weeks if you just want to have it around for a glass here and there. Just leave out the club soda and add it to each individual glass.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12884161040</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12884161040</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:22:00 -0600</pubDate><category>cooking/baking</category><category>drinks</category><category>recipes</category></item><item><title>my mountain goat, my fluffernutter, my brave goofy ozzie</title><description>&lt;img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lup3gzmsYU1qg1soyo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;my mountain goat, my fluffernutter, my brave goofy ozzie&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12830817312</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12830817312</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:24:35 -0600</pubDate><category>kittens</category><category>ozzie</category></item><item><title>whitewives:

Here are the dates to our first FULL US TOUR!
(All...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lu3u9syOhG1qc4hmto1_r1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://whitewives.tumblr.com/post/12298289432/reblog-this-to-enter-to-win-merchandise-from-white"&gt;whitewives&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here are the dates to our first &lt;strong&gt;FULL US TOUR&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;(All ticket links coming soon! Dates are Facebook Events, please RSVP!)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=308288985863911"&gt;11/19&lt;/a&gt; - SNEAKY DEE’S - TORONTO, ON (19+) w/ !Attention!, Brutal Youth, Dead Weights&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=236831593041860"&gt;12/01&lt;/a&gt; - BEAT KITCHEN - CHICAGO, IL (17+) w/ KOJI - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&amp;eventId=4035805&amp;pl=bk&amp;REFID=bkcal"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=242226575823123"&gt;12/02&lt;/a&gt; - THE COMMONS - OMAHA, NB w/ KOJI, Farewell To Freeway, Brighter Than A Thousand&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=192632814146749"&gt;12/03&lt;/a&gt; - MARQUIS THEATER - DENVER, CO w/ KOJI - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&amp;eventId=4061105&amp;REFERRAL_ID=tmfeed&amp;crosssite=TM_US:1514804:337806"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=252920864758483"&gt;12/04&lt;/a&gt; - KILBY COURT - SALT LAKE CITY, UT w/ KOJI - &lt;a href="http://smithstix.com/events/item/root/white-wives"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180967115319924"&gt;12/05&lt;/a&gt; - SHREDDER - BOISE, ID w/ KOJI, Red Hands Black Feet, The Green &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Zoo, Michael Limbert - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/74449?utm_medium=bks"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166357340121856"&gt;12/06&lt;/a&gt; - HIGH DIVE - SEATTLE, WA (21+) w/ KOJI &amp; MANSIONS - &lt;a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/207951"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=271489676225334"&gt;12/07&lt;/a&gt; - ROTTURE - PORTLAND, OR (21+) w/ KOJI, Lost City - &lt;a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/209276"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=271913299519356&amp;context=create"&gt;12/08&lt;/a&gt; - **VENUE CHANGE** FORT RYLAND 2000 - RENO, NV w/ KOJI, Our Devices, Codex Red&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158529587576135"&gt;12/09&lt;/a&gt; - SUB-MISSION ART SPACE - SAN FRANCISCO w/ KOJI - &lt;a href="http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/210292"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;12/10 - TBA w/ KOJI&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208461939227365"&gt;12/11&lt;/a&gt; - THE ECHO - LOS ANGELES, CA w/ KOJI - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&amp;eventId=4071915&amp;pl=echo"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235869599804421"&gt;12/12&lt;/a&gt; - SODA BAR - SAN DIEGO, CA (21+) w/ KOJI -&lt;a href="http://sodabarmusic.frontgatetickets.com/choose.php?lid=60729"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=247931601926108"&gt;12/13&lt;/a&gt; - GASWORKS - ALBUQUERQUE, NM&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184256251653180"&gt;12/14&lt;/a&gt; - CONSERVATORY - OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketstorm.com/event/whitewives/theconservatory/oklahomacity/7876/"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=305518832795326"&gt;12/15&lt;/a&gt; - DOWNTOWN MUSIC - LITTLE ROCK, AR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=247051605343897"&gt;12/16&lt;/a&gt; - ESCAPE ALLEY SUNDRY - MEMPHIS, TN&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208585489212465"&gt;12/17&lt;/a&gt; - THE FIREHOUSE - BIRMINGHAM, AL w/Truth Inside, Frames, The Fourth Estate&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166337983455808"&gt;12/18&lt;/a&gt; - THE PIT - JACKSONVILLE, FL w/ Rebels &amp; Rogues, Destin For Florida, The Pinz - &lt;a href="https://kapiro.com/events/7391"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175111892573538"&gt;12/19&lt;/a&gt; - THE DRUNKEN UNICORN - ATLANTA, GA (18+) - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketalternative.com/Events/16286.aspx"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179207788826950"&gt;12/20&lt;/a&gt; - SOAPBOX LAUNDRO-LOUNGE - WILMINGTON, NC - &lt;a href="http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1575042"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=102940873151571"&gt;12/21&lt;/a&gt; - DC9 - WASHINGTON DC - &lt;a href="http://www.ticketalternative.com/Events/16303.aspx"&gt;TICKETS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ORDER WHITE WIVES CD/LP “HAPPENERS”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://store.adelinerecords.net/products/white-wives-winter-tour-bundle"&gt;Adeline Records Bundle&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=193794&amp;"&gt;Interpunk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shopradiocast.com/products/White-Wives-%252d-Happeners.html"&gt;Vinyl Collective Bundle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://store.adelinerecords.net/products/ww-indian-summer"&gt;Indian Summer 7”&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/happeners/id441607271"&gt;iTunes&lt;/a&gt; (includes &lt;strong&gt;UNRELEASED TRACK!&lt;/strong&gt;)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Write to: &lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="mailto:whitewives@gmail.com"&gt;WHITEWIVES@GMAIL.COM&lt;/a&gt; with any questions or comments.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wearewhitewives.com"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wearewhitewives.com"&gt;www.wearewhitewives.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/whitewives"&gt;WHITE WIVES on FACEBOOK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.twitter.com/whitewives"&gt;WHITE WIVES on TWITTER&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whitewives.tumblr.com/"&gt;WHITE WIVES on TUMBLR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12797903851</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12797903851</guid><pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:17:19 -0600</pubDate></item><item><title>cup o' jo...y</title><description>&lt;p&gt;1 packet of hot chocolate mix + 1 peppermint teabag = mint chocolate bliss&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12478654168</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/12478654168</guid><pubDate>Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:41:04 -0600</pubDate><category>one good thing</category></item><item><title>lots of Good Things</title><description>&lt;p&gt;- just came back from a brief visit with dear friends in Detroit. they are getting married soooo soon!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- i have chocolate Silk in the fridge&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- i got a bunch of free green tomatoes from someone on my friend&amp;#8217;s block&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- i have season premieres of good shows on the dvr waiting for me&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- i have an amazing new candle that smells like actual apple cider &amp;amp; makes fire noise&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- made it home safely to my snugglefaces!&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/10492390720</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/10492390720</guid><pubDate>Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:23:35 -0500</pubDate><category>one good thing</category></item><item><title>Madam Librarian</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Good things:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Went to the fitness center. Shooting to go at least 15 times this month. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Was semi-productive workwise.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Started taking baby steps towards actually using the recording equipment I invested in a long time ago. Can&amp;#8217;t wait for someone else to help me with it anymore, lest it gather another inch of dust. It is scary and frustrating but hopefully it&amp;#8217;ll pay off in the long run.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Made a dent in the muchi curry that&amp;#8217;s been sitting unused on my spice rack. I really want to get rid of it and use the jar for some other spice that I actually use.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Made up a song and a video concept for it that makes me laugh a lot.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7Wp2wq3B8&amp;amp;feature=channel_video_title"&gt;Threadbanger is back!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9695219789</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9695219789</guid><pubDate>Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:13:44 -0500</pubDate><category>one good thing</category></item><item><title>Don't make me light my butt!</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Good things for the past couple days:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Hung out with my friend Kevin today, whom I hadn&amp;#8217;t seen in a couple weeks. We watched The Princess and the Frog. (see post title!)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Registered to try out a park district gym for September. While I dread it, it is a good thing&amp;#8230;I guess. I really could use some help in the motivation/accountability department, ha.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Our still unnamed new fishy survived a cat terrorist attack today when Ozzie somehow knocked his bowl down and it shattered. I thought the cats had eaten him since I didn&amp;#8217;t see him in the wreckage the cats were really interested in, but he was lying still (looking dead) and ignored 2 feet away. Now he lives in a 2 quart mason jar fortress with a screen lid. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- My kitchen floor is the cleanest it&amp;#8217;s been since we moved in last year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What are your good things?&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9653357191</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9653357191</guid><pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:57:00 -0500</pubDate><category>one good thing</category></item><item><title>Thee Fish Bowl</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Ha, already slacking!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Been busy with relatives who were in town but now they&amp;#8217;ve gone home to a slightly damp (thanks to Irene) Boston. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Good things from the past few days:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Spent time with family.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Learned a little bit about my exciting geneology.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Free stuff from the conference my aunt was in town for.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Watched some hilarious hamsters (they didn&amp;#8217;t even look real, they were so funny) at a pet store today, where I got a &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;- Beautiful new betta fishy. Not sure what we&amp;#8217;ll name him. Oh the possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9574200114</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9574200114</guid><pubDate>Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:33:53 -0500</pubDate><category>one good thing</category></item><item><title>One Good Thing</title><description>&lt;p&gt;So, clearly, Create 365&amp;#160;2011 was a swing and a miss. Same goes for Project 365&amp;#160;2011. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I lost momentum on blogging the projects when Spring started to show up. I think Create 365 was more demanding than I was prepared for and then, of course, my camera stopped working in March so I was without one for a month &amp;#8212;after I promised myself I wouldn&amp;#8217;t let camera malfunctions stop me!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But as the confusing and wonderful Chicago summer gives way to crisp and comfy fall, I think it&amp;#8217;ll be easier to nurture my creative impulses rather than ignore them to laze around at the beach (or let&amp;#8217;s be honest, stay in and watch cat videos). Man I love Midwestern seasons. I really love each one, even though sometimes they&amp;#8217;re really hard to get through. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I also want to start focusing more on the good things than the bad. It&amp;#8217;s so much easier to look back on a day and dwell on the 1 or 2 bad things that happened than it is to remember the hundreds of little good things. Apparently this is a primitive human instinct - for basic survival you have to remember bad experiences. But we&amp;#8217;re not living in a hunter-gatherer, nomadic everyone-for-herself world anymore, so the negative experiences we remember are stupid things like traffic and the Emergency Alert System interrupting the rerun of a show you&amp;#8217;re mildly interested in. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve noticed a lot of negativity in myself lately and I need to be better at remember the good in life and letting the bad go. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I&amp;#8217;m going to try daily (or as close to daily as possible) to post at least &lt;strong&gt;one good thing&lt;/strong&gt; that happened to me today and be grateful for it. I&amp;#8217;m constantly relearning that life is too short to waste it holding on to anger and resentment. I will always be a proponent of feeling your feelings, but I need to be better at letting them go when they&amp;#8217;ve expired.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Here are some good things that happened today:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;1. My aunt and cousin (who I don&amp;#8217;t see very often) got into town safely and I got to have a lovely dinner with my aunt, mom, sister, and boyfriend.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;2. While en route to the airport to pick up our relatives, my mom and I were in a minor parking lot car accident where no one was hurt, everyone had insurance, the guy who hit us was polite and respectful, and we still made it to the airport in time to pick up Auntie and cousin. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;3. A CTA miracle - I was running late to meet my mom to go to the airport and when I got to the corner, a bus was just pulling up for me to hop on. I ran off as soon as it got to the L station, up the escalator, and onto the train. As soon as I sat down, the doors closed. That never happens! A CTA miracle!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For these things and for my life, I am grateful.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4&gt;What good things happened to you today?&lt;/h4&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9366173787</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/9366173787</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:35:00 -0500</pubDate><category>one good thing</category><category>positivity</category><category>gratitude</category></item><item><title>Typical Phone Call from my Dad</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;[cell phone rings]&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Me: &lt;/strong&gt;Hello?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dad: &lt;/strong&gt;Hi, do you have a minute?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Me: &lt;/strong&gt;Yeah.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dad: &lt;/strong&gt;I have a question for you.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Me: &lt;/strong&gt;Okay.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;em&gt;[phone ringing in Dad&amp;#8217;s background]&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dad: &lt;/strong&gt;Can you hold on a second?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Me: &lt;/strong&gt;Um, okay&amp;#8230;&lt;em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3860757269</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3860757269</guid><pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:30:16 -0500</pubDate><category>conversations</category></item><item><title>Remember when we decided to get rich and buy a recording studio?  How did the rest of that bit go?  And when I used to sleep at my desk and hide behind my hair?  I wish that worked now...</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Haha well we haven’t gotten rich yet so that’s where the rest of that bit went. Have you tried? How do you know that doesn’t still work?&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3612384797</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3612384797</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:30:54 -0600</pubDate></item><item><title>Create 61/365
Photographs - Rihanna feat. Will.i.am, covered by...</title><description>&lt;iframe class="tumblr_audio_player tumblr_audio_player_3611902584" src="http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3611902584/audio_player_iframe/nellypeg/tumblr_lhglw8EoxB1qg1soy?audio_file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Faudio_file%2Fnellypeg%2F3611902584%2Ftumblr_lhglw8EoxB1qg1soy" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" scrolling="no" width="500" height="85"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 61/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Photographs - Rihanna feat. Will.i.am, covered by me feat. m.e&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You have to understand that it’s kind of embarrassing for me to post recordings online because the quality is so bad. Even if I refined my playing and singing to a T, the recording quality would still be bad. My current set-up is a Logitech USB microphone (which is sold as a microphone for a playstation…) that I plug directly into my laptop. I record with Sony ACID Music Studio which I don’t know everything about and is also very user unfriendly (bad combination). Also, somewhere in the process if I try to record in multiple tracks, a delay of a few infuriating milliseconds happens. To avoid this, I have to record all in one track. However, the speakers on my keyboard are nowhere near my mouth. So I used the record function on my keyboard to record the piano, then I hold the microphone about 2/3s of the way to my mouth from the keyboard speaker and hunch over and sing into it while the recording plays. I’m not telling you this so you pity me or anything, I’m just explaining why the quality of my recordings sucks. In the future I hope to get better equipment (which will cost lots of money) and learn to use said equipment. In the hopefully nearer future though, I hope to re-record some things with a dear friend who is studying music production and has a good set-up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Check out his band, &lt;a title="the bearing" href="http://www.wethebearing.com/Home.html"&gt;The Bearing&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3611902584</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3611902584</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:07:00 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>music</category><category>cover</category><category>piano</category></item><item><title>Create 46/365 - 60/365</title><description>&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve been really slow on projects lately. Can&amp;#8217;t really explain why. I&amp;#8217;ve been slightly busier recently than before because I started a new job, but it&amp;#8217;s part time, it really shouldn&amp;#8217;t be so complicated. Anyway.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 46/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 15, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhelblUdRt1qf7xog.jpg" width="349" height="232"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Haiku: Stomach&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My stomach has gotten a lot more sensitive over the past couple years than it ever was. It&amp;#8217;s partially due to anxiety and partially something else. It&amp;#8217;s super annoying, though.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 47/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;February 16, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhelk5f5AV1qf7xog.jpg"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Wa Wa Wa Emimimo/Come Holy Ghost, for SATB and piano accompaniment&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As I said before, I started a new job recently. It&amp;#8217;s a music director gig at a church and pretty much right away I had to organize the music for the Confirmation mass. And apparently there&amp;#8217;s some function in me that says &amp;#8220;There is no music available here that sounds good for this occasion. Compose or arrange new music.&amp;#8221; So I made a mash-up (I guess) of &amp;#8220;Wa Wa Wa Emimimo&amp;#8221; and &amp;#8220;Come Holy Ghost.&amp;#8221; &amp;#8220;Wa Wa&amp;#8221; is a song in Swahili that essentially means the same thing as &amp;#8220;Come Holy Ghost,&amp;#8221; which is a moldy oldy hymn. So I made a more modern arrangement that features both. It was only okay in execution; the group was not confident and we only had one rehearsal. With more practice it could be totally awesome.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 48/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 17, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Lame news: I spent the morning getting fingerprinted and then worked the rest of the day and had our first rehearsal. So honestly, I didn&amp;#8217;t have time or energy to create anything besides the kajillion copies of music for the choir. But that was priority. So technically I did make &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt;, even if it was just copies&amp;#8230;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 49/365 - 60/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 18, 2011&lt;strong&gt; - &lt;/strong&gt;March 1, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhem5ecmCA1qf7xog.jpg" width="183" height="211"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve been working on a cover of a Rihanna song little bit by little bit. If I can get my recording mess to work out today I&amp;#8217;ll post it later.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 50/365 -&amp;#160;?&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 19, 2011 - present and future&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhemcp3Brb1qf7xog.jpg" width="323" height="242"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is a long-term project. It&amp;#8217;s an afghan I&amp;#8217;ve been working on for our living room and it is taking me forever. I work on it for 5 minutes if I&amp;#8217;m really lacking motivation, or 3 hours if I don&amp;#8217;t get bored with it and something good-but-doesn&amp;#8217;t-require-a-lot-of-attention is on tv. So I try to do a little bit most days. Hopefully I finish it before the season is over and we don&amp;#8217;t need it anymore&amp;#8230;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 53/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 22, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhemk1lyXw1qf7xog.jpg" width="314" height="235"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spinach &amp;amp; tofu casserole&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It was really one of those nights when I was trying to make something out of nothing, but I actually thought this was delicious. We were kind of low on groceries so this was made almost exclusively with pantry/freezer staples. It was inspired by the flavors in Spanakopita except for the fact that I didn&amp;#8217;t have any Feta(!!!), so I improvised. A testament to the versatility of tofu, I guess. I&amp;#8217;ll post the recipe soon, when I post the recipe for that &lt;a title="orange cake" href="http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/2998833330/create-20-365-28-365"&gt;orange cake&lt;/a&gt; from exactly one month before. I should get on that.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 54/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 23, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhemvsFHBo1qf7xog.jpg" width="138" height="184"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My new &amp;#8220;office&amp;#8221; is pretty drab and unexciting. It has a mish-mosh of purposes and is only my office one day a week, but I wanted to put a couple small touches in just to brighten it when I am there. So I crocheted this little cozy for a pencil cup with some bright yarn left over from some project. It&amp;#8217;s just a seed stitch with a G hook. Modeled by a half-pint canning jar.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 55/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 24, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhen0zh0lw1qf7xog.jpg" width="231" height="149"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Go Now In Peace, for SA, flute, and piano accompaniment&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another result of not wanting to make due with what the church has for a certain rite. I wrote this for the dismissal of RCIA Catechumens, but apparently the church only has one candidate, so they don&amp;#8217;t want/need any music. Ah well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 58/365&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;February 27, 2011&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhen8dz96y1qf7xog.jpg" width="198" height="148"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Haiku: therapy&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Pretty self-explanatory. Written on my phone because pen and paper were out of reach.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;___________________&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And now we&amp;#8217;re caught up. Still working on that afghan and Rihanna cover.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3591155556</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3591155556</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:45:52 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>crocheting</category><category>music</category><category>cover</category><category>haiku</category><category>poem</category><category>cooking/baking</category></item><item><title>Create 34/365 - 45/365</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 34/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo1jqwi9P1qf7xog.jpg" width="400" height="291"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Oil paint practice, oil paint on &amp;#8220;canvas paper&amp;#8221;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#8217;ve never used oil paints before, so I really had no idea what I was doing. I&amp;#8217;ve mentioned before that I really like mixing colors more than I actually like painting. So that&amp;#8217;s how this happened. I can&amp;#8217;t believe how long oil paints take to dry. And even when they&amp;#8217;re &amp;#8220;dry&amp;#8221; it still feels like I could smush it with very little effort. I&amp;#8217;m sure it didn&amp;#8217;t help that the oil paints I used were really cheap. It could be a fun thing to play with, but I&amp;#8217;m not sure how I feel about it taking forever to dry.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 35/365 - 43/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo1s4Zt1z1qf7xog.jpg" width="406" height="234"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Knitted legwarmers, acrylic yarn on size 9 needles&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I would have modeled these, but they&amp;#8217;re for someone much smaller than I so they don&amp;#8217;t fit me. Knitted in the round, simple pattern. They&amp;#8217;re nice and long so they&amp;#8217;ll go up to the knee, however with the recent thaw I&amp;#8217;m not sure how much use my friend will get out of them this season. I worked on them every day for a week and a day, some days only for 5 minutes, once for about 5 hours in a waiting room at a hospital. It&amp;#8217;s embarrassing how long it took me to finish this project.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 44/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo20qIC7j1qf7xog.jpg" width="340" height="258"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Treble clef, Lumocolor marker on sketch paper&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Made this while watching the Grammys. Those are 2.5 hours I&amp;#8217;m never getting back.&lt;em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 45/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo28tPutd1qf7xog.jpg" width="424" height="267"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Valentine No. 4, tax form &amp;amp; cardstock&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This was our fourth Valentine&amp;#8217;s day together, and every year I&amp;#8217;ve given Shawn a handmade Valentine. He&amp;#8217;s an accountant and it&amp;#8217;s his busy time of year. Cheese factor: 8/10.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3310299758</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3310299758</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:13:53 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>drawing</category><category>marker</category><category>knitting</category><category>oil paint</category><category>painting</category><category>greeting card</category><category>Paper Crafts</category><category>card</category></item><item><title>Create 33/365</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lg162agdjw1qf7xog.jpg"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Seeds and trees, Lumocolor marker on drawing paper&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The scanner cut off the right edge of the paper, but you get the point.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Inspired by the heartbreaking violence in Egypt.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I was really involved with my university&amp;#8217;s anti-war organization and related groups in college. In terms of global issues, specifically war, poverty, and their related injustices (since injustices are all related), my conscience started to develop when I was in high school and the current war On Iraq was just beginning. However, there was little for a high school student to do in the suburbs, so when I got to college I jumped right into the activist groups that were finally available. In my participation I found myself nurturing the activism that nurtured me. It was in that work that I really began to understand that peace is not just the absence of war, but the &lt;strong&gt;active construction &lt;/strong&gt;of justice and love.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So when we&amp;#8217;re instructed in church and in general to &amp;#8220;pray for peace,&amp;#8221; we can&amp;#8217;t expect to get peace; peace has to be built. It has to replace injustice and violence. We have the opportunities to start building it, and it our choice to sow the seeds of opportunity. We can&amp;#8217;t blame God for our inaction.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3083944818</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3083944818</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:46:00 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>marker</category><category>text</category><category>justice</category></item><item><title>Create 30/365 - 32/365</title><description>&lt;p&gt;The end of January means the end of the Create 365 Number ___/365 isn&amp;#8217;t just the date anymore. Snowballs. Ah well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 30/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lg11bkuUo61qf7xog.jpg" width="411" height="299"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lou mess, watercolor&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;More playing around with my budget watercolors. I really really like them a lot. Even if the things I paint with them come out totally crazy, I still love playing with them. I&amp;#8217;ve always liked the process of mixing colors with paint more than making &amp;#8220;art&amp;#8221; with them. And I think I captured almost every color that Lou has in her fur in this painting. She has such subtle variation in her coloring&amp;#8230;I think she is just stunning.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 31/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lg11vqpC7Z1qf7xog.jpg" width="463" height="299"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Snowpocalypse greeting card, scrapbook paper and cardstock&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I live in Chicago which, as you may know, just experienced its 3rd most severe snowstorm in recorded history. So in addition to the 5&amp;#8217; snowdrifts that trapped Shawn&amp;#8217;s car and gave us a lovely setting for a really weird interaction with our parking neighbor, we got to use totally awesome made-up words to describe the storm:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Snowpocalypse&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Snowmaggedon&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Snowtastrophe&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Snowtorious B.I.G.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;These are just a few. I made a greeting card to celebrate the occasion. Silver sharpie + scrapbook paper + cardstock + Martha Stewart snowflake paper punch.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 32/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lg1293BjWP1qf7xog.jpg" width="240" height="320"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#8217;s the tiny creepy snowman I made on our back porch handrail. His (Its?) eyes are black beans; smile, hair, and nose are (homemade) strawberry jam. Arms are grape stems. Notice the cars in the background, this was barely the beginning of the storm and cars were already getting stuck.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3082989833</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3082989833</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:09:00 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>kittens</category><category>painting</category><category>paper crafts</category><category>snow</category><category>watercolor</category><category>card</category></item><item><title>Create 29/365</title><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfuziioeNJ1qf7xog.jpg" width="446" height="376"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ozzie, five-minute sketch, Staedtler Lumocolor marker on sketch paper&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To try something different, I took a shot at a 5-minute sketch. I know this is something that actual art students do for a number of reasons, I was mainly trying it for something different. I did some googling and one thing I read recommended squinting at the object you&amp;#8217;re trying to draw to help you get a sense of the rough outline rather than focusing on the shapes you think are supposed to make up the object. So I tried that. Clearly I need work on that. Also, on proportions. In reality, the tabletop Ozzie was sitting on is barely bigger than her, but clearly it looks bigger in the drawing. So, boo. What tips for quick sketches can you suggest?&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3020233597</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/3020233597</guid><pubDate>Sun, 30 Jan 2011 17:28:00 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>drawing</category><category>sketch</category><category>marker</category><category>kittens</category></item><item><title>Create 20/365 - 28/365</title><description>&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#8217;s another giant post of stuff. Way too long. I prefer doing daily  posts, but this past week has been really busy. My mom had a birthday, I  had meetings, Shawn had surgery&amp;#8230;crazy stuff. Also, exciting (to me), I  finally brought my printer/scanner/copier from my parents&amp;#8217; house and  installed it on my computer. So I don&amp;#8217;t have to fiddle around with  lighting to take pictures of drawings and whatnot. But let&amp;#8217;s get caught  up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 20/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsvg56vn01qf7xog.jpg" width="427" height="332"/&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Flowerbomb #2, Watercolor on watercolor paper&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I got some inexpensive tubey watercolors and wanted to try them out. So I blew up and photocopied my drawing for &lt;a title="Flowerbomb" href="http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/2837942211/create-14-365-19-365"&gt;Day 18&lt;/a&gt; on  watercolor paper. I only used one hue and tried to play with different  shades, so that&amp;#8217;s how I ended up with this. I really liked the  watercolors, I think that&amp;#8217;s something I&amp;#8217;ll have a lot more fun with  through the year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 21/365 &amp;amp;  22/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfswaag2eX1qf7xog.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Dreamsicle swirl cake &amp;amp; buttercream frosting&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My  mom turned 52 on the 22nd. I made the cake on the 21st, the frosting on  the 22nd. She loves Orange Slices (the gummy sugared candy on top) so,  inspired by that, I invented an orange and vanilla swirl cake. The words  and flower are actually Jimmies I put on the cake with tweezers; I&amp;#8217;m  terrible with icing. I find myself &amp;#8220;inventing&amp;#8221; baked goods a lot. I like  challenging the &amp;#8220;baking is an exact science&amp;#8221; mentality because I hate  when people say they can&amp;#8217;t bake! If you want to make the same thing  twice, then yes, you have to follow a recipe. But as long as you&amp;#8217;re  willing to take some risks* you can come up with some really beautiful,  tasty treats! Recipe to come.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;*This is actually the 2nd attempt on  this cake. The first one was a messy, but still very tasty, flop. It  turned out a couple different textures. What stayed inside the  pan was the texture of blondies; the overflow was more like a cookie. Yummy, but unpresentable as a birthday cake. So I made a  quick trip to the grocery store for more oranges and cake flour, and  ended up with this.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 23/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsx2eMvG61qf7xog.jpg" width="343" height="249"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Big flower, crayon on drawing paper&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My  hope for this one was to color with whatever  crayon I grabbed out of the tin to create something semi-interesting.  But I kept grabbing really &amp;#8220;normal&amp;#8221; colors. Oh well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 24/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsxbskhdg1qf7xog.jpg" width="375" height="234"/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Here&amp;#8217;s  a fun one. I&amp;#8217;ve been pursuing a certain job, but the people I&amp;#8217;ve been  meeting with hadn&amp;#8217;t given me much to work with in terms of a job  description, so I took my dad&amp;#8217;s advice and created my own for us to  start with. It went over well in the meeting, so it was worth the time  it took to make it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 25/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsy9bjTgb1qf7xog.jpg" width="484" height="202"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Haiku: Jacuzzi&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Late  night, drove to Shawn&amp;#8217;s parents house in the south suburbs so we could  get to his surgery bright and early the next morning. I wrote a quick  ode to the jacuzzi tub I got to take a steep in. And steep I did - I&amp;#8217;m not used to the water staying hot for so long. I think I overcooked myself.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 26/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsyv8b02Q1qf7xog.jpg" width="386" height="289"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Knitted twisty cowl scarf, acrylic chunky yarn on size 13 needles&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Similar to the &lt;a title="cowl neck scarf" href="http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/2717108105/create-9-365-11-365"&gt;other cowl neck scarf&lt;/a&gt; I did, but this one came out kind of wonky. I like the twist, but I made it too wide so it&amp;#8217;d be ineffective against the cold. I&amp;#8217;ll take it apart and try again.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 27/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsyiqbSBh1qf7xog.jpg" width="420" height="187"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Haiku: Parks and Recreation&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Another haiku. I don&amp;#8217;t want to make a habit of doing haikus this often, but I was taking care of Shawn after his surgery for most of the day so I didn&amp;#8217;t have a whole lot of time/energy to put into something more elaborate.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create 28/365&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfsym9BrJN1qf7xog.jpg" width="328" height="541"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gnome, ballpoint pen on drawing paper&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I really like gnomes, as long as they&amp;#8217;re not too creepy. That&amp;#8217;s all there is to it.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/2998833330</link><guid>http://nellypeg.tumblr.com/post/2998833330</guid><pubDate>Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:08:00 -0600</pubDate><category>create 365</category><category>drawing</category><category>pen</category><category>watercolor</category><category>painting</category><category>haiku</category><category>poem</category><category>knitting</category><category>cooking/baking</category><category>crayons</category></item></channel></rss>
