<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569</id><updated>2011-07-07T19:38:01.591-05:00</updated><category term='crafty goodness'/><category term='Max'/><category term='timesuck'/><category term='tutorials'/><category term='promo items'/><category term='DIY'/><category term='twitter'/><category term='rantsnraves'/><category term='DD'/><category term='recipes'/><category term='the things I do to me'/><category term='Baxter'/><category term='etsy'/><title type='text'>meritmarket</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>36</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-8824456857453599292</id><published>2010-04-08T08:53:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2010-04-08T17:17:30.205-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DIY'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='crafty goodness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DD'/><title type='text'>Remember when I said I was going to sew some spring tops for my girl?</title><content type='html'>I actually did it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S73gN7RgIaI/AAAAAAAAANw/5-5jE5LCCvw/s1600/004.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S73gN7RgIaI/AAAAAAAAANw/5-5jE5LCCvw/s400/004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457764853296931234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-4696-misses-knit-tops.aspx"&gt;New Look 6940&lt;/a&gt;  Cotton knit print with black knit trim.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S73gNuRJzjI/AAAAAAAAANo/gcdmy8KmPHs/s1600/001.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S73gNuRJzjI/AAAAAAAAANo/gcdmy8KmPHs/s400/001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457764849805807154" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Variation of &lt;a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-2561-misses-tops.aspx"&gt; New Look 6891&lt;/a&gt;  Silky-ish poly from Hancock's, black satin band.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And check out the smiles!  She likes them!  AND her friend asked her if she got the blue top at Charlotte Russe!  Pretty much the greatest compliment I could have received from a 14 year old girl, yes?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-8824456857453599292?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/8824456857453599292/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/04/remember-when-i-said-i-was-going-to-sew.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/8824456857453599292'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/8824456857453599292'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/04/remember-when-i-said-i-was-going-to-sew.html' title='Remember when I said I was going to sew some spring tops for my girl?'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S73gN7RgIaI/AAAAAAAAANw/5-5jE5LCCvw/s72-c/004.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-8738991953170258563</id><published>2010-04-07T11:47:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-04-08T17:18:06.611-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='rantsnraves'/><title type='text'>Dear Office Depot,</title><content type='html'>I went into your lovely establishment today to buy a box of envelopes.  I was paying with cash.  Seems simple, yes?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier:  Hi!  Are you purchasing these for business or personal use?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  Uh, personal?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier:  What is your zip code?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  You need my zip code?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier:  Yes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  (gives zip code, like a good little monkey)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier:  Ok, what is your phone number?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  (sigh)  (gives phone number)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier:  Do you have one of our Rewards cards?  You can save..&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  (interrupting)  NO.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier rings up purchase.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  (because I just can't help myself)  Why do I have to give you all of that information just to buy a box of envelopes?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cashier:  I'm sorry, but our registers won't even ring up a purchase unless we ask all of that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, Office Depot, even though you are convenient for me, I will be finding another place to fill my various and sundry office supply needs.  You are simply too damn nosy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yours affectionately,&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-8738991953170258563?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/8738991953170258563/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/04/dear-office-depot.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/8738991953170258563'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/8738991953170258563'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/04/dear-office-depot.html' title='Dear Office Depot,'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-7116485355702661853</id><published>2010-03-27T15:34:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-03-27T15:48:07.903-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Is it just me?</title><content type='html'>Just saw an ad for Viagra.  A middle aged man is walking down an urban street.  His reflection in the shop window begins&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt; talking to him&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Reflection says, "Going to the Dr?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Actual living/breathing Man answers, "Yes."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"So, are you going to ask?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And the man continues to have a conversation with his reflection about his shyness about talking to the Dr. about Viagra while walking down a city street.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Personally, I'm guessing that if you are having an out-loud-and-in-public conversation with your reflection, your biggest problem is not ED.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Really, the voices and hallucinations should be mentioned first.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-7116485355702661853?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/7116485355702661853/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-it-just-me.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/7116485355702661853'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/7116485355702661853'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-it-just-me.html' title='Is it just me?'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6032473243402598473</id><published>2010-03-25T10:15:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-03-25T10:51:17.069-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DIY'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the things I do to me'/><title type='text'>The Weather Report</title><content type='html'>Tomorrow, the sun is supposed to shine.  Which would be a really welcome event, since it has snowed and rained and generally been cloudy and moody around here (both me and the weather).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I re-read (reread?  looks weird) my post from yesterday, my whiny, whiny post.  I'm embarrassed for me.    I hate feeling that sorry for myself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I'm not going to anymore.  No more whining.  No more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's talk about something fun, shall we?  My daughter needs some spring tops, and so I've decided during her spring break this week to try and make her some new ones.  I haven't sewn any clothes in a while, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6uEllxNCGI/AAAAAAAAANg/10i9b0FwJoU/s1600/6891.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6uEllxNCGI/AAAAAAAAANg/10i9b0FwJoU/s400/6891.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452597555190630498" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first one is a super-super simple top, &lt;a href="http://www.simplicity.com/p-2561-misses-tops.aspx"&gt;New Look 6891&lt;/a&gt;.  For some reason, this is supposed to have a front seam and back seam, but I see no reason for this so I'm just going to cut it on the fold.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If it comes out well, I'll take pictures.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6032473243402598473?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6032473243402598473/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/weather-report.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6032473243402598473'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6032473243402598473'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/weather-report.html' title='The Weather Report'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6uEllxNCGI/AAAAAAAAANg/10i9b0FwJoU/s72-c/6891.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-4733716537726084373</id><published>2010-03-24T10:09:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-03-24T11:16:19.594-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the things I do to me'/><title type='text'>A post  in which I blather on about the daily hiccups of my life...</title><content type='html'>Hiccup #1 - Tension Headaches.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Actually, as I've learned from my massive research on Dr. Google (which involved exactly one article on webmd), they are now referred to as Tension-&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;type&lt;/span&gt; Headaches, as they are no longer considered to be caused by tense muscles, but by some sort of brain chemical thingie. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've progressed (really wrong word) from having some sort of life-altering-holy-hell-my-head-is-going-to-explode-and-then-burst-into-flames event once every month or so to having an ongoing-seemingly-never-ending-low-to-mid-to-extreme-headache-all-the-time-every-day-omg-will-it-ever-end.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Which really puts a wrench in the creative works. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hiccup #2 - Uh....Hmmmmm....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OK, I've just realized that all of my hiccups are basically ALL ABOUT THE HEADACHES.  Headaches made me feel bad.  Headache medicine makes me feel weird and woozy.  Creativity sucks when your head hurts.  Productivity sucks even worse.  The fact that I'm less creative and productive than I want to be makes me tense.  Tense makes the headaches worse. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The downward spiral is both maddening and cliche. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aren't you glad you asked?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have tried peppermint tea, relaxation techniques, hot baths and showers.  I've cut out alcohol and aspartame as possible triggers.  I need to do yoga or add in some exercise. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hiccup #3 - Bieber Fever?  UGH!&lt;br /&gt;___________&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In good news, I've discovered Greek yogurt.  Delish.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-4733716537726084373?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/4733716537726084373/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/post-in-which-i-blather-on-about-daily.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4733716537726084373'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4733716537726084373'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/post-in-which-i-blather-on-about-daily.html' title='A post  in which I blather on about the daily hiccups of my life...'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-5728665716586340548</id><published>2010-03-23T08:37:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2010-03-23T08:51:14.575-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Happy Freakin' Spring!</title><content type='html'>We woke up on March 21st, the official first day of spring!!!, to find this...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6jEa4-hPMI/AAAAAAAAANQ/8_m69WovTE8/s1600-h/002.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6jEa4-hPMI/AAAAAAAAANQ/8_m69WovTE8/s400/002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451823315182238914" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6jEbL-E1BI/AAAAAAAAANY/rllSOzvhrOk/s1600-h/004.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6jEbL-E1BI/AAAAAAAAANY/rllSOzvhrOk/s400/004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451823320280650770" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These were taken in the morning.  It snowed all day.  ALL DAY.  Official totals were at 12 inches.  To put this in perspective, we are not in Minnesota.  This is Arkansas.  This is the most snow we've had all year.  Or for several years for that matter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We just kept looking outside all day going, "This is so WEIRD!"  (Ok, it was mostly me.  But it was!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today, the high is 70. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm guessing the the forecast for next weekend will include either locusts or frogs.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-5728665716586340548?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/5728665716586340548/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/happy-freakin-spring.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5728665716586340548'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5728665716586340548'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/03/happy-freakin-spring.html' title='Happy Freakin&apos; Spring!'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S6jEa4-hPMI/AAAAAAAAANQ/8_m69WovTE8/s72-c/002.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-4139749386750340259</id><published>2010-02-04T10:06:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-04T10:32:50.049-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the things I do to me'/><title type='text'>Waahhhhhh.....</title><content type='html'>I had planned on having lots of progress made.  Pictures of headbands!  Listings of headbands!  Bloggy goodness in the form of new buttons and navigation bars and more pictures! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Instead, I'm parked on the sofa, in painnnnnnn from a root canal/wisdom tooth pull combo, feeling sorry for myself because I had really not expected for this procedure to lay me out.  At least Project Runway is on tonight.  (please, PR, be good this season.)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-4139749386750340259?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/4139749386750340259/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/02/waahhhhhh.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4139749386750340259'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4139749386750340259'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/02/waahhhhhh.html' title='Waahhhhhh.....'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-2091406865534728111</id><published>2010-02-02T08:05:00.005-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-02T08:10:52.706-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='crafty goodness'/><title type='text'>Coming soon to my shop...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S2gxpcWGynI/AAAAAAAAANI/KbJ662sd1gc/s1600-h/001.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S2gxpcWGynI/AAAAAAAAANI/KbJ662sd1gc/s400/001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433647538475813490" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;As soon as I can get my model to let me take some pictures, these new headbands will be added to my etsy shop.  The flowers are made of organza with just a few beads in the center for added interest.   Right now I have purple (shown), dark blue, black, silver, pale gold, and chocolate brown.  I'm looking for some new spring-ish colors of organza to make some more - searching for the perfect ballet pink.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-2091406865534728111?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/2091406865534728111/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/02/coming-soon-to-my-shop.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2091406865534728111'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2091406865534728111'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/02/coming-soon-to-my-shop.html' title='Coming soon to my shop...'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S2gxpcWGynI/AAAAAAAAANI/KbJ662sd1gc/s72-c/001.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-3197376396902672215</id><published>2010-02-01T16:03:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-01T16:05:33.160-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DIY'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='tutorials'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='crafty goodness'/><title type='text'>DIY Tutorial - Boyfriend Jeans</title><content type='html'>Really, aren't they just a basic 5-pocket jean with a roll at the bottom? Do I seriously need to go purchase new jeans to participate in this trend?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Absolutely not.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 1. &lt;/span&gt; Locate a pair of basic, 5 pocket jeans, either from your own closet or thrifted.  Perfect use of thrifted jeans!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 2.&lt;/span&gt;  Put on your jeans.  Using chalk or pins, mark how long your want your jeans to be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 3.  &lt;/span&gt;Take off your jeans.  Lay flat.  Add about 3-4 inches to your mark (this will accomodate the roll at the bottom).  Whack off the bottom of the jeans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Why cut them?  Why not just roll them from the bottom?  This makes for a really bulky roll.  Cutting them off makes a smaller, cuter cuff.&lt;/span&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 4.&lt;/span&gt;  Zig zag around to finish.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsF0VxlI/AAAAAAAAAKg/83arEMBUO08/s1600-h/P8250033.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsF0VxlI/AAAAAAAAAKg/83arEMBUO08/s320/P8250033.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375074400533333586" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 5&lt;/span&gt;.  Roll up the jeans.  Use a few well placed stitches to hold the roll in place, if you wish.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsjGk1uI/AAAAAAAAAKo/MTjWJ4kDFGQ/s1600-h/P8250034.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsjGk1uI/AAAAAAAAAKo/MTjWJ4kDFGQ/s320/P8250034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375074408394446562" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 6.  &lt;/span&gt;Distress in well chosen places, if you wish.  I did this with a cheese-grater-looking-pedicure-thingie-found-at-Dollar-Tree.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 7&lt;/span&gt;.  Enjoy, smug in the knowledge that you got the look without buying new jeans.  You have beat the system.  Congrats!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-3197376396902672215?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/3197376396902672215/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-tutorial-boyfriend-jeans.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/3197376396902672215'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/3197376396902672215'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-tutorial-boyfriend-jeans.html' title='DIY Tutorial - Boyfriend Jeans'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsF0VxlI/AAAAAAAAAKg/83arEMBUO08/s72-c/P8250033.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6384639668804984806</id><published>2010-01-30T09:13:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-30T09:48:56.408-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Gorgeous, yet confining</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S2RMwjXMnuI/AAAAAAAAAM4/zCmCKvqx-v4/s1600-h/008.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S2RMwjXMnuI/AAAAAAAAAM4/zCmCKvqx-v4/s400/008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432551447525629666" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;While we didn't lose power, we got a lot of frozen stuff in varying forms.  I've made quite a dent in the large plate of chocolate chip cookies.   I spent an unusual amount of time watching The Weather Channel, which has dramatically named this storm "Winter's Triple Threat!!!"  (Seriously.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I'm dying to get out of the house.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6384639668804984806?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6384639668804984806/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/gorgeous-yet-confining.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6384639668804984806'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6384639668804984806'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/gorgeous-yet-confining.html' title='Gorgeous, yet confining'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S2RMwjXMnuI/AAAAAAAAAM4/zCmCKvqx-v4/s72-c/008.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6612657253283054965</id><published>2010-01-28T10:27:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-28T10:41:53.116-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Making chocolate chip cookies, charging my phone...</title><content type='html'>digging out the bags of tea light candles ... these are a few of the things I'm doing this morning.  We are in the path of a large winter storm with a high chance of ice, which probably means power outage.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last year we had a huge ice storm and were without power for about 3-4 days.  We made it fine.  We moved a mattress into the living room and slept by the gas log fireplace.  The hardest thing to deal with was the overwhelming BOREDOM - no TV, no interwebs, no sewing machine. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just sudoku.   I did a buttload of sudoku. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the Weather Channel, looks like I'm going to be facing the boredom again.  At least I'll have lots of chocolate chip cookies to keep me entertained.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6612657253283054965?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6612657253283054965/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/making-chocolate-chip-cookies-charging.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6612657253283054965'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6612657253283054965'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/making-chocolate-chip-cookies-charging.html' title='Making chocolate chip cookies, charging my phone...'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-4790240350047163217</id><published>2010-01-26T10:19:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-26T10:21:28.223-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Dear NBC,</title><content type='html'>I know I'm a little late to this rally, but I just watched the Freebird portion of Conan's last Tonight Show, and for the record, you suck.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Affectionately yours&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-4790240350047163217?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/4790240350047163217/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/dear-nbc.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4790240350047163217'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4790240350047163217'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/dear-nbc.html' title='Dear NBC,'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-1925619484596437475</id><published>2010-01-18T18:46:00.004-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-18T18:58:28.541-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Baxter'/><title type='text'>Hello again!</title><content type='html'>Since the beginning of the year, I've been working on getting myself back on etsy and back in the bloggin' groove.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Progress has been made.  A new product line is in the works, different from anything I've done before.  I got a brand spankin' new computer for Christmas and I'm attacking the learning curve of new software.  NEW is the word of the day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And to complete another task on my list, I'm doing a blog post.  Granted, not a very exciting blog post, but none the less, here it is. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and Baxter wants to wish  you a happy new year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S1UDDB-HStI/AAAAAAAAAMw/oRKLjL6tk0M/s1600-h/Baxter+008.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S1UDDB-HStI/AAAAAAAAAMw/oRKLjL6tk0M/s400/Baxter+008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428248276468452050" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-1925619484596437475?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/1925619484596437475/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/hello-again.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1925619484596437475'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1925619484596437475'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2010/01/hello-again.html' title='Hello again!'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/S1UDDB-HStI/AAAAAAAAAMw/oRKLjL6tk0M/s72-c/Baxter+008.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-3225156812803868648</id><published>2009-09-10T18:19:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-10T18:36:26.381-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Got any Pepto?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqmNZvRHUoI/AAAAAAAAAMo/Ns_3r1ZyYXg/s1600-h/P8020035.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqmNZvRHUoI/AAAAAAAAAMo/Ns_3r1ZyYXg/s400/P8020035.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379986703195263618" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm really terrible at checking my analytics on my etsy shop.  What happened today may or may not have changed my habits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I checked my stats, just to see if I could sort of kind of maybe understand what they are saying.  It just really looks like a whole lot of math to me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I did notice that I had a few hits a while back that came from a referral from &lt;a href="http://www.geeksugar.com/4114536"&gt;www.geeksugar.com&lt;/a&gt;.  I'm not really familiar with the site, but I figured it had something to do with my Reboot and Escape coasters, so I gave it a look.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was one of their "&lt;a href="http://www.geeksugar.com/4114536"&gt;Totally Geeky or Geek Chic&lt;/a&gt;?" picks.  Which also means that they put up a poll asking for people's opinions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A POLL!  The HORROR!  I literally wanted to throw up.  Thankfully, only one person had commented, and it was favorable.  I didn't even look at the poll results, if there were any.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know I seem a little bit insecure, but this totally took me by surprise.   I wasn't expecting a "&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Hey?  Got a minute?  See this here?  Do you think this sucks?  Let us know!!&lt;/span&gt;"  kinda thing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The lesson?  My skin has got to get a little tougher.  I really can't let something like this bother me.  My stuff is not going to please everyone, and the interweb is full of, well... everyone.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-3225156812803868648?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/3225156812803868648/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/got-any-pepto.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/3225156812803868648'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/3225156812803868648'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/got-any-pepto.html' title='Got any Pepto?'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqmNZvRHUoI/AAAAAAAAAMo/Ns_3r1ZyYXg/s72-c/P8020035.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-369973671446680358</id><published>2009-09-08T08:50:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-08T09:13:44.816-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DIY'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='crafty goodness'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DD'/><title type='text'>Gearing up for Halloween</title><content type='html'>Every year, one of the most fun projects is to work on a Halloween costume for my daughter. She's 13, so we have had lots of different ones. Thankfully, she hasn't outgrown the desire to dress up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZirUOS89I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/UXTpyxCVqoQ/s1600-h/PA120102.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZirUOS89I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/UXTpyxCVqoQ/s400/PA120102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379095301243204562" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Last year, she was Lucy. This was ridiculously fun to do. She's an "I Love Lucy" fanatic - has all the DVDs - and so this choice for her was an easy one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We started with some of her favorite looks from Lucy episodes (&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"I like that collar."  "See the cuffs?  Could we do that?"&lt;/span&gt;) and YARDS of black and white polka dot fabric.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZiANEjgyI/AAAAAAAAAMI/WGkF41BoUNA/s1600-h/PA120101.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZiANEjgyI/AAAAAAAAAMI/WGkF41BoUNA/s400/PA120101.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379094560588923682" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I found the shoes at a yard sale, unworn, for $3.  They had a very retro vibe that she loved.  We bought the wig at Target (I think?) in the Halloween section, but it was just a red wig.  It had to be "Lucy-fied."  We even made a stole at the last minute from some fake fur that I had, left over from another project.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZkveuTRhI/AAAAAAAAAMg/ky6EbV1gX0c/s1600-h/PA120094.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZkveuTRhI/AAAAAAAAAMg/ky6EbV1gX0c/s400/PA120094.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379097571804530194" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;This year, she wants to be a flapper.  I am sooooo excited to start work on this ensemble!  Right now I'm assembling the raw materials - fringe, shiny bobs and baubles, maybe a feather or two - and looking for inspiration.  I'll post more as the project progresses.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZir9ul9aI/AAAAAAAAAMY/Jo0qKIjtphs/s1600-h/PA120094.JPG"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-369973671446680358?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/369973671446680358/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/gearing-up-for-halloween.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/369973671446680358'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/369973671446680358'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/gearing-up-for-halloween.html' title='Gearing up for Halloween'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SqZirUOS89I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/UXTpyxCVqoQ/s72-c/PA120102.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-5046197439713502337</id><published>2009-09-03T11:34:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-03T11:56:32.845-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Baxter'/><title type='text'>The Baxter Adventures</title><content type='html'>In lieu of crafty goodness, COASTERS!, personal thoughts, or angry rants, here are some pictures of my widdle doggie, Baxter (a West Highland White Terrier, or Westie) enjoying his favorite time of the day - time for a ride in the car.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xIviPtRI/AAAAAAAAALY/DC3LLzutX1c/s1600-h/P9020058.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xIviPtRI/AAAAAAAAALY/DC3LLzutX1c/s320/P9020058.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377281612605011218" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Going to the post office is the most fun thing EVAR!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_yZu0lurI/AAAAAAAAAMA/FC3js2a4fHE/s1600-h/P9020064.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_yZu0lurI/AAAAAAAAAMA/FC3js2a4fHE/s320/P9020064.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377283003982920370" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Hanging over my shoulder from the back seat.  Must. not. miss. anything.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xJ-p0ISI/AAAAAAAAALw/pWq80sR-ZK0/s1600-h/P9020053.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xJ-p0ISI/AAAAAAAAALw/pWq80sR-ZK0/s320/P9020053.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377281633843159330" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Waiting at school for my daughter to appear.  Or really, anyone who might come by the car and give him some attention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xJo5F_jI/AAAAAAAAALo/NcHQDQlEbl8/s1600-h/P9020051.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xJo5F_jI/AAAAAAAAALo/NcHQDQlEbl8/s320/P9020051.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377281628001664562" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Wind in his face = supreme happiness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xJF7XKHI/AAAAAAAAALg/pm0FJNKSd4c/s1600-h/P9020054.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xJF7XKHI/AAAAAAAAALg/pm0FJNKSd4c/s320/P9020054.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377281618615937138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Although it might appear as if he is in deep thought, pondering some philosophical question, I'm guessing no.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-5046197439713502337?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/5046197439713502337/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/baxter-adventures.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5046197439713502337'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5046197439713502337'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/baxter-adventures.html' title='The Baxter Adventures'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp_xIviPtRI/AAAAAAAAALY/DC3LLzutX1c/s72-c/P9020058.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-7999558143859129446</id><published>2009-09-02T13:35:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-02T13:42:42.904-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><title type='text'>Gift Guide Love!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29572547"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp67Iv80GsI/AAAAAAAAALQ/o3N5mVXhEM8/s320/P8020034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376940764111837890" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After trying to make heads or tails out of Google Analytics, I finally figured out that my &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29572547"&gt;Reboot and Escape coasters&lt;/a&gt; were featured in an &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/gift-guides/geek-chic/100"&gt;Etsy Gift Guide - Geek Chic&lt;/a&gt;! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks Etsy!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-7999558143859129446?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/7999558143859129446/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/gift-guide-love.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/7999558143859129446'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/7999558143859129446'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/gift-guide-love.html' title='Gift Guide Love!'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/Sp67Iv80GsI/AAAAAAAAALQ/o3N5mVXhEM8/s72-c/P8020034.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-8534816251629532536</id><published>2009-09-01T11:47:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-01T11:57:44.500-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='recipes'/><title type='text'>September - Month of Mojo</title><content type='html'>Blogging mojo, that is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week while I was on Twitter, someone (I wish I could remember whom)  tweeted that they were going to post on their blog everyday in September in an attempt to recapture some blogging mojo.  I thought it was a great idea, and much needed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, here goes.  I'm going to post EVERY DAY in September. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And since I have not much to offer in the way of pictures or fun stuff or anything, I'm taking this opportunity to share my favorite afternoon pick-me-up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Blueberry Smoothie&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1 cup frozen blueberries&lt;br /&gt;1 cup plain yogurt&lt;br /&gt;1/4 cup milk&lt;br /&gt;a couple of packs of sweetener (to taste)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Combine in a blender and blend.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-8534816251629532536?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/8534816251629532536/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/september-month-of-mojo.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/8534816251629532536'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/8534816251629532536'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/09/september-month-of-mojo.html' title='September - Month of Mojo'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6225856570460677936</id><published>2009-08-28T11:23:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-08-28T13:26:31.856-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DIY'/><title type='text'>DIY - Boyfriend Jeans</title><content type='html'>Really, aren't they just a basic 5-pocket jean with a roll at the bottom? Do I seriously need to go purchase new jeans to participate in this trend?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Absolutely not.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 1. &lt;/span&gt; Locate a pair of basic, 5 pocket jeans, either from your own closet or thrifted.  Perfect use of thrifted jeans!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 2.&lt;/span&gt;  Put on your jeans.  Using chalk or pins, mark how long your want your jeans to be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 3.  &lt;/span&gt;Take off your jeans.  Lay flat.  Add about 3-4 inches to your mark (this will accomodate the roll at the bottom).  Whack off the bottom of the jeans.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Why cut them?  Why not just roll them from the bottom?  This makes for a really bulky roll.  Cutting them off makes a smaller, cuter cuff.&lt;/span&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 4.&lt;/span&gt;  Zig zag around to finish.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsF0VxlI/AAAAAAAAAKg/83arEMBUO08/s1600-h/P8250033.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsF0VxlI/AAAAAAAAAKg/83arEMBUO08/s320/P8250033.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375074400533333586" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 5&lt;/span&gt;.  Roll up the jeans.  Use a few well placed stitches to hold the roll in place, if you wish.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsjGk1uI/AAAAAAAAAKo/MTjWJ4kDFGQ/s1600-h/P8250034.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsjGk1uI/AAAAAAAAAKo/MTjWJ4kDFGQ/s320/P8250034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375074408394446562" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 6.  &lt;/span&gt;Distress in well chosen places, if you wish.  I did this with a cheese-grater-looking-pedicure-thingie-found-at-Dollar-Tree.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Step 7&lt;/span&gt;.  Enjoy, smug in the knowledge that you got the look without buying new jeans.  You have beat the system.  Congrats!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6225856570460677936?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6225856570460677936/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/08/diy-boyfriend-jeans.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6225856570460677936'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6225856570460677936'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/08/diy-boyfriend-jeans.html' title='DIY - Boyfriend Jeans'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SpgZsF0VxlI/AAAAAAAAAKg/83arEMBUO08/s72-c/P8250033.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-4986867905261527143</id><published>2009-08-06T23:02:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-08-06T23:28:54.864-05:00</updated><title type='text'>My favorite new lunch spot</title><content type='html'>My mom took me for a birthday lunch to the &lt;a href="http://greenhousegrille.com"&gt;Greenhouse Grille&lt;/a&gt; in Fayetteville, AR.  So very delicious!  I had the Greek Quesadilla  (with organic spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, organic garbanzo beans, mozzarella and feta cheeses topped with a goat cheese cream sauce).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnuqGRXeV6I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hCk9ybfDu1A/s1600-h/P8060001.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnuqGRXeV6I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hCk9ybfDu1A/s320/P8060001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367070405659875234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Mom had the Greenhouse salad (organic greens) with grilled shrimp.  Isn't it gorgeous?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnuqG1xe6MI/AAAAAAAAAKY/61Em-9xyEeg/s1600-h/P8060002.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnuqG1xe6MI/AAAAAAAAAKY/61Em-9xyEeg/s320/P8060002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367070415432640706" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;It's a teeny little place, it would maybe seat 50 if a shoehorn was involved.  Very simple interior, cute little bar, great service, and the menu was overloaded with things that I wanted to try.   I can't wait to find another excuse to go again!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-4986867905261527143?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/4986867905261527143/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-favorite-new-lunch-spot.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4986867905261527143'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4986867905261527143'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-favorite-new-lunch-spot.html' title='My favorite new lunch spot'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnuqGRXeV6I/AAAAAAAAAKQ/hCk9ybfDu1A/s72-c/P8060001.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-2451304696921718017</id><published>2009-08-03T11:55:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-08-03T12:05:39.205-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='promo items'/><title type='text'>You sell your stuff where?  How do you spell it?</title><content type='html'>OK, today my goal is to come up with some sort of business card/etsy card kind of thingie. Something that doesn't just promote me, but promotes etsy, too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week, I found myself being repeately asked about where did I sell my stuff? How do you spell "Etsy"? (Just like Betsy, no "B") What kind of stuff do they sell there? You get the idea.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Each time, because I had no biz card or handout, the poor soul had to find a piece of scratch paper or old receipt and scribble down the name, only to be lost in the laundry later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I get it. I suck at the promotions thing. I especially suck at the "tooting my own horn" thing. I'm much more comfortable talking about Etsy than I am my own little shop.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So. Goal. Come up with something to give people. Print many of them. Put them in my purse.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SncYbuJdvzI/AAAAAAAAAKI/WsjIZIlmLvI/s1600-h/P8020034.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SncYbuJdvzI/AAAAAAAAAKI/WsjIZIlmLvI/s320/P8020034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365784345558499122" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In other news, new coasters!  For the Geek who needs COASTERS!  Or, basically anyone who uses a keyboard.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-2451304696921718017?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/2451304696921718017/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/08/you-sell-your-stuff-where-how-do-you.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2451304696921718017'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2451304696921718017'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/08/you-sell-your-stuff-where-how-do-you.html' title='You sell your stuff where?  How do you spell it?'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SncYbuJdvzI/AAAAAAAAAKI/WsjIZIlmLvI/s72-c/P8020034.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6346768934185083911</id><published>2009-07-29T15:54:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-07-29T15:57:55.425-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='timesuck'/><title type='text'>You know you want to</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.madmenyourself.com"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnC3ZHfu0WI/AAAAAAAAAKA/dULtEoAv1d4/s320/madmen_standard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363988798335013218" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Make yourself into a Mad Men inspired character &lt;a href="http://www.madmenyourself.com"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6346768934185083911?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6346768934185083911/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/07/you-know-you-want-to.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6346768934185083911'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6346768934185083911'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/07/you-know-you-want-to.html' title='You know you want to'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnC3ZHfu0WI/AAAAAAAAAKA/dULtEoAv1d4/s72-c/madmen_standard.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-2534787250226869972</id><published>2009-07-29T10:29:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-07-29T10:35:16.977-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><title type='text'>Groovy Shrooms, baby</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28470077"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnBrH-Hk27I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/Rmn4iP8s8Lw/s320/P7280031.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363904940876290994" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is my&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28470077"&gt; newest offering&lt;/a&gt; to the exciting world of coasters.  I've been toying with the idea of mushrooms for a while, but just couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do.  Finally, I got inspired.  I'm kinda loving how they turned out, and I'm thinking about doing some in different colors - maybe a deep plum?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-2534787250226869972?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/2534787250226869972/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/07/groovy-shrooms-baby.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2534787250226869972'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2534787250226869972'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/07/groovy-shrooms-baby.html' title='Groovy Shrooms, baby'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SnBrH-Hk27I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/Rmn4iP8s8Lw/s72-c/P7280031.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-1996637227205931502</id><published>2009-07-28T09:41:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-07-28T09:45:22.227-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><title type='text'>Hello? (Tap! Tap!)  Is this thing on?</title><content type='html'>Wow, I knew I hadn't blogged in a while.  I had no idea I hadn't blogged since May. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not much to report.  Getting ready for back to school (my daughter).  Making some coasters. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wow, these blogging muscles are really weak.  Will blog more later.  Water....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-1996637227205931502?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/1996637227205931502/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/07/hello-tap-tap-is-this-thing-on.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1996637227205931502'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1996637227205931502'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/07/hello-tap-tap-is-this-thing-on.html' title='Hello? (Tap! Tap!)  Is this thing on?'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-1106169453019640134</id><published>2009-05-19T16:50:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-19T17:02:37.708-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DD'/><title type='text'>DD and I discussing New Moon</title><content type='html'>Me:  Hey, I saw the poster for New Moon today, but I don't understand.  I thought Bella was with Edward?  On the poster she is hugged up to some other guy and Edward has his back to them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  That's Jacob.  He's a werewolf.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  What?  She leaves Edward for a werewolf?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  No, actually Edward left her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me: ???&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  Yeah, well he thought she would be better off without him.  So he just disappeared.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  He just left town?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  Yeah.  His whole family did.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  Why did his entire family leave?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  Well, one of the other vampires went crazy when Bella got a paper cut, so they thought it would be better if they all left.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  So she managed to find a werewolf for her next boyfriend?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  Well, he wasn't a werewolf when she met him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  He became a werewolf?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  Yeah.  Bella had known him since they were kids.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  What the hell is going on in Oregon?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DD:  Washington.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Me:  Whatever.  What is up with Bella that she attracts all these supernatural beings?  First a vampire, then a werewolf?  I mean, really, what are the odds?  Are we going to find out in the end that Bella was really a troll or something?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At this point, my daughter just gave up and left me.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-1106169453019640134?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/1106169453019640134/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/dd-and-i-discussing-new-moon.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1106169453019640134'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1106169453019640134'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/dd-and-i-discussing-new-moon.html' title='DD and I discussing New Moon'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-3571946683703205540</id><published>2009-05-18T18:30:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-18T21:21:16.332-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><title type='text'>Found searching "Big Ring" on etsy</title><content type='html'>I'm really wanting a big ol' ginormous ring for this summer.  Here are some interesting finds on etsy. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25047775"&gt;Gardenia Ring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWmE2U3cI/AAAAAAAAAJw/_0xREvLXpg8/s1600-h/il_430xN.70722838.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWmE2U3cI/AAAAAAAAAJw/_0xREvLXpg8/s320/il_430xN.70722838.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353351779900866" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24954184&amp;amp;ref=sr_gallery_20&amp;amp;&amp;amp;ga_search_query=Big+ring&amp;amp;ga_search_type=handmade&amp;amp;ga_page=11&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=tags&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=title"&gt;Blue Brown Spotty Ring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWaIdeReI/AAAAAAAAAJo/AAuTFX9U5wk/s1600-h/il_430xN.70407792.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWaIdeReI/AAAAAAAAAJo/AAuTFX9U5wk/s320/il_430xN.70407792.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353146590971362" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24036433&amp;amp;ref=sr_gallery_10&amp;amp;&amp;amp;ga_search_query=Big+ring&amp;amp;ga_search_type=handmade&amp;amp;ga_page=31&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=tags&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=title"&gt;Big Black Swarovski Crystal Ring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWZ7YmmhI/AAAAAAAAAJg/ja9k_C9ggP0/s1600-h/il_430xN.67327259.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 307px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWZ7YmmhI/AAAAAAAAAJg/ja9k_C9ggP0/s320/il_430xN.67327259.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353143080884754" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17880558&amp;amp;ref=sr_gallery_15&amp;amp;&amp;amp;ga_search_query=Big+ring&amp;amp;ga_search_type=handmade&amp;amp;ga_page=13&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=tags&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=title"&gt;Juicy Orange Sakura Ring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWZqWnTkI/AAAAAAAAAJY/s-wXoO75KME/s1600-h/il_430xN.46754994.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWZqWnTkI/AAAAAAAAAJY/s-wXoO75KME/s320/il_430xN.46754994.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353138509139522" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18581676&amp;amp;ref=sr_gallery_8&amp;amp;&amp;amp;ga_search_query=Big+ring&amp;amp;ga_search_type=handmade&amp;amp;ga_page=15&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=tags&amp;amp;includes%5B%5D=title"&gt;Big &amp;amp; Beautiful Hemimorphite Ring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWZQgyh9I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/JKgoTxpuUQQ/s1600-h/il_430xN.49096533.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWZQgyh9I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/JKgoTxpuUQQ/s320/il_430xN.49096533.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353131572496338" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21184836"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-3571946683703205540?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/3571946683703205540/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/found-searching-big-ring-on-etsy.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/3571946683703205540'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/3571946683703205540'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/found-searching-big-ring-on-etsy.html' title='Found searching &quot;Big Ring&quot; on etsy'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/ShIWmE2U3cI/AAAAAAAAAJw/_0xREvLXpg8/s72-c/il_430xN.70722838.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-9061374863574935865</id><published>2009-05-14T15:35:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-14T16:02:52.893-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Baxter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Max'/><title type='text'>Blah, blah. bloggity, blah...</title><content type='html'>or... "No good reason for a blog post, but whatever"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yeah, I wish I had something sparkling and witty and clever to say, but no.  So, in lieu of actual content, craftiness, information, or even links to things of that sort, please enjoy pictures of my pets, Baxter and Max.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Don't lie to me, woman.  We both know that there is bacon on that counter.  I can sit here all day and peer into your dark soul with these pitiful eyes.  How long do you think you can take it? " &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdoG-l6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/BGZOuaRkGj0/s1600-h/P3100236.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdoG-l6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/BGZOuaRkGj0/s400/P3100236.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335783104021698466" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Seriously.  Get your roots done."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdVRwg9I/AAAAAAAAAIw/G8VtMSlnO3g/s1600-h/P3150238.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdVRwg9I/AAAAAAAAAIw/G8VtMSlnO3g/s400/P3150238.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335783098966639570" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Alas, poor Santa Bo-Bo, I knew him well..."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdd9iSQI/AAAAAAAAAIo/cnHLVXhJPJk/s1600-h/P1120202.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdd9iSQI/AAAAAAAAAIo/cnHLVXhJPJk/s400/P1120202.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335783101297740034" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"Da Rubs, dey go here.&lt;/span&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCd8AXazI/AAAAAAAAAJA/0l4C6vNE67Q/s1600-h/P4150051.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCd8AXazI/AAAAAAAAAJA/0l4C6vNE67Q/s400/P4150051.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335783109362674482" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-9061374863574935865?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/9061374863574935865/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/blah-blah-bloggity-blah.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/9061374863574935865'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/9061374863574935865'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/blah-blah-bloggity-blah.html' title='Blah, blah. bloggity, blah...'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://lh5.ggpht.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SgyCdoG-l6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/BGZOuaRkGj0/s72-c/P3100236.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-2451189094300868664</id><published>2009-05-11T17:11:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-12T08:47:23.174-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the things I do to me'/><title type='text'>It's all good.</title><content type='html'>My whole day has been one lonnnnnnnnng struggling-to-be-productive-but-ha!-no-way ball of frustration.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Woke up in the middle of the night.  WIDE AWAKE.  Went into the living room and watched The Fashion Show  (thank heavens for Tivo).  (Ps. Merlin is crazy.)  Then watched it again.   Fell asleep sometime during the second viewing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DEEPLY.  Very much asleep.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When my daughter woke me up to take her to school, I felt like I had been hit by a truck - a truck filled with Ambien and soft pillows and down comforters and maybe a bottle or two of wine.  OMG, the sleepy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Came home, found something for breakfast, ate on the couch while moaning to the dog about how tired I was.  He didn't really care.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally got in the shower and began to shake the cobwebs.  In sheer desperation, turned the water on COLD for the last 15 seconds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm AWAKE!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Got dressed and ran some errands.  Waited in &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;the longest line ever seen at a fabric store&lt;/span&gt; for one solitary woman to cut fabric, as I waited behind a woman with at least 12 bolts of fabric, a crying, cranky infant, and an adorable 3 year old who was trying to climb out of the shopping cart and kept asking everyone who passed for gum.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Waited &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;again&lt;/span&gt; in the checkout line for someone to get a price check and a manager and a clarification about the pricing situation on something she was buying.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sigh...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Had planned to use my Oprah-KFC-coupon for some free chicken for lunch, but didn't have any time left for such luxuries as lunch.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ran by the grocery store to pick up some much needed essentials, including Froot Loops.  The store clerk guy noticed the Star Trek promo on the cereal box and took the opportunity to tell me that he had already been to the new Star Trek movie.  I volunteered that I had seen it, too.  Had trekkie discussion about time line discrepancies and humorous movie lines and how disappointed he had been in Star Trek Nemesis.  I proudly held my own, for although I don't speak Kingon or anything, I am well versed in the Trek.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have just enough time to run home and take out the dog (don't worry - he's not named Tiberius)  and put away the frozen foods before going to pick up daughter at school.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Daughter informs me that talent show tryouts are today.  Immediately after school.  As in, NOW.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Heavy sigh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We run home and she gets some music to sing with.  We hop back in the car and book it back to school.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tryouts went well.  And thankfully, daughter didn't pick a Taylor Swift song, because EVERY OTHER GIRL we heard did.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After tryouts, daughter wants to get a treat from Sonic, and frankly, I could use a little something.  The Diet Mango Limeade was delish.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Came home and realized that tonight is homemade-pizza-and-House night.  (And since House and Cuddy slept together at the end of the last episode OMG this is not to be missed.)  So I'm getting ready to put the pizza dough stuffs in the bread machine and the pizza sauce stuffs in a saucepan on the stove.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Big. freakin'. sigh..........&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile, important etsy-business-type things went completely undone.  I've hardly been on Twitter!  I haven't convo'd anyone.  Listed anything.  Taken pictures.  Nope.  Nada.  Nothing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, as my daughter was thanking me for taking her back for tryouts, I told her that was one of the great things about working at home and for yourself.  It allows me the freedom to take her to tryouts or pick her up when she's sick without asking a boss first.  And trust me, I've had some bosses in my former work life that wouldn't have been very flexible - and the frustration would have been much worse than anything I encountered today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, after House and pizza, I can come upstairs and Twitter and convo and relist and sew. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's all good.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-2451189094300868664?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/2451189094300868664/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-whole-day-has-been-one-lonnnnnnnnng.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2451189094300868664'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2451189094300868664'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-whole-day-has-been-one-lonnnnnnnnng.html' title='It&apos;s all good.'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-1640705548678949744</id><published>2009-05-05T08:23:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-05-05T08:29:49.963-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the things I do to me'/><title type='text'>Owwww........</title><content type='html'>I recently discovered that in our OnDemand Freezone (cable company DVR thingie) we have some exercise videos, and one of them is the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  So yesterday I tried it out. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn't know I had abs, but apparently I do.  The only reason that I know this is because this morning they huuuuurrrrrrt.  Also my butt, my arms, pretty much everything is sore. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And so, not wanting to put this seemingly-forward-progress to waste (no pain no gain, right?) I'm going for Day 2.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tomorrow morning I may need a cane.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-1640705548678949744?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/1640705548678949744/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/owwww.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1640705548678949744'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/1640705548678949744'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/05/owwww.html' title='Owwww........'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6782134086737976418</id><published>2009-04-30T10:59:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-30T17:18:39.349-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='promo items'/><title type='text'>Brainstorming for Promos</title><content type='html'>I've been thinking about promo items lately.  I like the idea of giving your customer just a little something extra to say "Thank You", but it's hard to find things that won't get tossed in the trash or break the bank.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, there are tons of great sellers on etsy that do a fantastic business making cool promos, such as buttons, magnets, etc...  But, as a DIYer with crafty tendencies, I like to find things that I can make.  The most recent thing I made were&lt;a href="http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/etsy-day-promo-items-and-twitter.html"&gt; magnets&lt;/a&gt;.  I'm also in the process of making some matchbook notepads.  If anyone would like a tutorial on these, just let me know.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfojRj_pO1I/AAAAAAAAAIg/UmAe2iOJkeQ/s1600-h/P4220014.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfojRj_pO1I/AAAAAAAAAIg/UmAe2iOJkeQ/s400/P4220014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330611893573335890" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think the best thing is to try and be creative and keep in mind what the customer is buying.  Are you selling aprons?  How about printing out your grandmother's famous oatmeal cookie recipe on cardstock and enclosing it?  Is it Springtime?  How about picking up some flower seed packets at the dollar store and putting your own printed label on the package?  My next plan for a promo to go with my Market Totes is to do a grocery list with a magnet on the back to stick on the fridge.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I looked through the etsy forums on this subject, and here are some of the other popular ideas...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;bookmarks&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;silver cleaning cloths&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;soap samples&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;stickers&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;key ring charms&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;I found a few articles as well -&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Matchbook notebooks and&lt;a href="http://blissbyheather.blogspot.com/2009/02/diy-promotional-items.html"&gt; gift tags&lt;/a&gt; at Bliss by Heather.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hellocraft.com/2008/10/24/great-pictures-make-great-promos/"&gt;Using pictures&lt;/a&gt; to customize your promo items at Hello Craft.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Storque article on &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/dont-order-another-1000-business-cards-1484/"&gt;finding creative ideas&lt;/a&gt; for promo items.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.moo.com/en/"&gt;Moo Cards&lt;/a&gt; - always popular.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;If you have any other ideas for thoughtful promo items, please leave a comment.  I would love to gather more ideas on this subject.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6782134086737976418?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6782134086737976418/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/brainstorming-for-promos.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6782134086737976418'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6782134086737976418'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/brainstorming-for-promos.html' title='Brainstorming for Promos'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfojRj_pO1I/AAAAAAAAAIg/UmAe2iOJkeQ/s72-c/P4220014.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-5452038906074278847</id><published>2009-04-28T17:27:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-28T17:33:21.769-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='DIY'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='crafty goodness'/><title type='text'>I think I can do this.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bhg.com/decorating/makeovers/furniture-makeovers/furniture-makeovers/"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 360px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfeEE81pRrI/AAAAAAAAAIY/dz5_ryDFwwg/s400/p_SIP932464.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329873904601745074" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love this modern &lt;a href="http://www.bhg.com/decorating/makeovers/furniture-makeovers/furniture-makeovers/"&gt;bookcase makeover&lt;/a&gt; at BHG.  I know exactly where it will go in my living room. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(My husband will be so excited that I have yet another project planned.)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-5452038906074278847?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/5452038906074278847/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-think-i-can-do-this.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5452038906074278847'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5452038906074278847'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-think-i-can-do-this.html' title='I think I can do this.'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfeEE81pRrI/AAAAAAAAAIY/dz5_ryDFwwg/s72-c/p_SIP932464.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6598678670694740476</id><published>2009-04-28T09:02:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-28T09:07:08.563-05:00</updated><title type='text'>As seen on whipup.net this morning...</title><content type='html'>"warning more knitted penises after the jump"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://whipup.net/2009/04/28/knitted-mr-peen/"&gt;link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's just one of those sentences that you realize you have never heard before, and probably never again.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6598678670694740476?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6598678670694740476/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/as-seen-on-whipupnet-this-morning.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6598678670694740476'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6598678670694740476'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/as-seen-on-whipupnet-this-morning.html' title='As seen on whipup.net this morning...'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-5395713606366964469</id><published>2009-04-27T08:01:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-27T08:23:31.944-05:00</updated><title type='text'>New Iced Coffee method - cold drip</title><content type='html'>Yesterday I picked up the new &lt;a href="http://instyle.com/"&gt;In Style magazine&lt;/a&gt; (the one with Jennifer Garner on the cover) and in the very, very back was a smart idea about a new way to make iced coffee using a chilled method.  I tried it and it worked so well, I had to share.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfWxDkqvo7I/AAAAAAAAAII/nHwmwq0QaCw/s1600-h/iced-coffee.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 341px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfWxDkqvo7I/AAAAAAAAAII/nHwmwq0QaCw/s400/iced-coffee.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329360409003533234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This uses a "&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;cold drip&lt;/span&gt;" method.  Basically, you pour 8 cups of cold water into 3/4 lb. of ground coffee and place in the fridge overnight.   Then strain (I simply poured it into my coffee maker, which was turned off,  and let it drip through).  You will then have a very concentrated cold coffee, which according to the article, can be stored in your fridge for &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;up to two weeks&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To make your iced coffee, they say "&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Pour into a tall, narrow glass of ice, filling it 2 to 3 inches from the bottom, and top with milk or water&lt;/span&gt;."  I also added some refrigerated creamer with Hazelnut flavor and a packet of Sweet-n-Low.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn't have 3/4 lb., but closer to 1/3 lb, so I just sort of halved the recipe.  They also recommend using filtered water, not tap, so I used bottled.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Very, very good.  Every time I try to make iced coffee, one of the following usually happens:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;I forget and half a pot of coffee cooks for about 3 hours.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I pour some of the coffee into a cup and put it in the freezer to chill, only to find a CoffeePop waiting for me later.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I pour too-warm coffee over ice and, ew....&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Basically, I have some timing issues.  But this method solves all my probs!  It's ready when I am ready!  And it tastes really, really good.  I think it would be great for using for blended coffee drinks as well.  Might have to try that this afternoon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-5395713606366964469?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/5395713606366964469/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-iced-coffee-method-cold-drip.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5395713606366964469'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/5395713606366964469'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-iced-coffee-method-cold-drip.html' title='New Iced Coffee method - cold drip'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfWxDkqvo7I/AAAAAAAAAII/nHwmwq0QaCw/s72-c/iced-coffee.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-4329325585841794791</id><published>2009-04-24T07:12:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-24T07:18:47.558-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='twitter'/><title type='text'>Tweet?</title><content type='html'>I've spent so much time in the last 24 hours reading about &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Twitter&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;How to best use Twitter&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Here are all the applications you need to know about for Twitter&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Here is the meaning for all those weird punctuation thingies on Twitter&lt;/span&gt; that actually tweeting has taken on the feeling of doing the dishes. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today will be all about having FUN WITH TWITTER!!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FUN FRIDAY TWEETS! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WHEEE!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(It is supposed to be fun, right?)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-4329325585841794791?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/4329325585841794791/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/tweet.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4329325585841794791'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/4329325585841794791'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/tweet.html' title='Tweet?'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-2752553459961719145</id><published>2009-04-23T14:40:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-23T14:41:51.472-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='etsy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='promo items'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='twitter'/><title type='text'>Etsy day, promo items, and Twitter</title><content type='html'>Tomorrow is Etsy Day! However, since I'm going to be the gal about town today, yet homebound tomorrow, I decided that Etsy day would be today for me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0OcB4HBI/AAAAAAAAAG0/HW78TynyqwY/s1600-h/3423438941_75983b84e5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 376px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0OcB4HBI/AAAAAAAAAG0/HW78TynyqwY/s400/3423438941_75983b84e5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327886150570351634" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I decided to print the sign that was made by &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6111003"&gt;shugirl &lt;/a&gt;    for &lt;a href="http://www.etsy.com/storque/events/etsy-sellers-unite-for-etsy-day-join-in-3821/"&gt;this special day&lt;/a&gt;, but I didn't want to drain my color printer cartridge with all the orange, so I made a black and white version to print on some colored cardstock.  Feel free to take it and make your own.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB2HoDPbdI/AAAAAAAAAHc/XgUt-YYeQ44/s1600-h/etsydaysign.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 376px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB2HoDPbdI/AAAAAAAAAHc/XgUt-YYeQ44/s400/etsydaysign.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327888232561470930" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I think it came out pretty good!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0OlcigLI/AAAAAAAAAG8/x_3nJXrYVCc/s1600-h/etsydaysign.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0OpEdgnI/AAAAAAAAAHE/v8lVlVR06ms/s1600-h/P4220019.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0OpEdgnI/AAAAAAAAAHE/v8lVlVR06ms/s400/P4220019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327886154070852210" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I happened to have some extra cardstock because I've been making promo magnets.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0PL0rmiI/AAAAAAAAAHM/FR7CF3niSK0/s1600-h/P4220016.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0PL0rmiI/AAAAAAAAAHM/FR7CF3niSK0/s400/P4220016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327886163399907874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If anyone hasn't made these before, they are super simple.  You need flat back glass marbles (found in the floral dept. for cheap!), cardstock, Mod Podge, round craft magnets (available everywhere) and E6000 adhesive (craft dept, comes in a gray squeeze tube with a pointed nozzle).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The rest is time consuming, but easy.  Print your business name or whatever you wish on the cardstock.  Use plain paper the first few times to make sure the size is right before you use your beautiful cardstock.  The design will need to be just a touch smaller than the glass marble.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Print your designs and cut to size.  Apply Mod Podge to the back of the marble, put the design in place, and Mod Podge again over the entire back.  Let dry.  Glue the magnets to the back using E-6000.  Let dry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;TADA!!!  Promo items!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yesterday, I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to make my blog &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;bloggier&lt;/span&gt;.  It's getting there, but I'm not totally satisfied.  The picture for the header is still a little fuzzy.  And I am going to start on Flickr soon, because, well, everyone else is?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also made a button for my sidebar for Twitter.  Once again, if you would like to use this for your own blog, feel free to take it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0PPbPqrI/AAAAAAAAAHU/UT3AZexzvlk/s1600-h/twitterbutton1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 79px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0PPbPqrI/AAAAAAAAAHU/UT3AZexzvlk/s400/twitterbutton1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327886164366961330" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-2752553459961719145?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/2752553459961719145/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/etsy-day-promo-items-and-twitter.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2752553459961719145'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/2752553459961719145'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/etsy-day-promo-items-and-twitter.html' title='Etsy day, promo items, and Twitter'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jylDmkmuLHY/SfB0OcB4HBI/AAAAAAAAAG0/HW78TynyqwY/s72-c/3423438941_75983b84e5.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1487978645882934569.post-6293840494541884325</id><published>2009-04-23T14:37:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-04-23T14:39:44.924-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I broke Blogger.</title><content type='html'>I actually broke my old blog (serves me right for thinking I could tweak the html) and so I moved to this one.  You can find my &lt;a href="http://meritmade.blogspot.com"&gt;old blog here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1487978645882934569-6293840494541884325?l=meritmarket.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/feeds/6293840494541884325/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-broke-blogger.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6293840494541884325'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1487978645882934569/posts/default/6293840494541884325'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://meritmarket.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-broke-blogger.html' title='I broke Blogger.'/><author><name>Mendy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01567864006200427615</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
