I apologize for the lack of posting lately. Finals are coming up and I don’t have as much time to sit around on my computer and look at DumbStuff let alone blog about it. Also this weekend was beautiful, so I spent a lot of my time out of doors and away from the Internet.

The Boy and I grilled some burgers and enjoyed the warm weather even if most everyone was out of town and couldn’t join us. It seems the only time that The Boy ever gets excited about cooking is when it’s done over his Weber, so maybe I’ll use this to my advantage and have him grill things other than burgers (even though he does an excellent job with burgers). Hmmm…this will call for a recipe search…maybe some grilled peaches or pork chops. Maybe I’ll wait for the Market at the Square to inspire me. Can’t wait for May 12th!

P.S. Spring! (hopefully for good!)

As of today, I am officially granted the authority to purchase and consume alcohol. What changed since yesterday? Nothing, other than I turned another year older and that arbitrary year somehow makes you responsible enough to handle alcohol. So I went to the DMV, payed my $10, and got my picture taken for my shiny new 21+ license. I thought I would have to wait in line for awhile, but I was in and out in under 10 minutes. The only thing I had to wait for was the printing of my new card.

I ran around the rest of the day trying to get things in order for a party with a few people of quality, but the most important person of quality (read: my boyfriend) became terribly sick. So I brought over to him some chicken soup and ginger tea, but I could see he was in no shape to be at a party. So I canceled the celebration and took care of The Boy instead. He kept apologizing for being sick on my birthday, and I guess I didn’t have to cancel everything. However, there was no way I would be able to have a good time while The Boy was feeling so miserable. I too was feeling a bit run down, but I think it was mostly due to lack of sleep and feeling stressed about having everything ready in time for the party. After a nap and some Vicks, The Boy was feeling a little better and so I drove him over to my place across town along with the birthday cake he labored over the night before. He sang “Happy Birthday”, I blew out the candles and that’s the story of my 21st birthday.

The News-Gazette has confirmed all the rumors concerning the opening of a Banana Republic in the Market Place Mall. Now if we could only get a J. Crew…

Story here

Cookies aren’t the only thing that I make, honest! My sweet tooth has just been acting up lately, which is not easy to ignore. But since I want to be able to fit into all those cute summer dresses hitting the stores, I decided to look around for some “lighter” recipes. I found this one thanks to the wonderful blog Nosh With Me. If you haven’t been there, you should go and take a look. There are some great baking recipes. This recipe was discovered in an issue of Cooking Light, so I’m fairly confident that they are better for you than the average snickerdoodle. As an added bonus, your home will smell so good while these are baking!

Cooking Light’s Cinnamon & Sugar Cookie More »

I’m always looking for new stationary in hopes that it will inspire me to write more letters and actually send out those thank you notes. Well, I think I’ve found some that would do the trick. Simply Serra has a nice selection of stationary, invitations and holiday cards. Like the name suggests, the common theme for all the letterpress is simplicity. My personal favorite is the skull motif, even if it is pink. Does the pink make the skull less edgy or does the skull make the girly pink more edgy? Well either way, it’s the best piece of stationary I’ve found so far.

Simply Serra notecards: $25.00 for 18 cards and 18 envelopes

Easter is coming up for those who celebrate. While I’m no longer the practicing Catholic I was in grade school (read: when I had no choice), I still enjoy the tradition of dying eggs. Every year my mom and I would lay out the newspaper and hard boil a dozen eggs. My brother would always create The Grey Egg by dipping one egg into every color. It was always super hard to find outside in the yard so if you did find it, you were given a special treat (usually a couple of dollars). One year, The Grey Egg was never found until the next Easter!

While looking around the many crafty blogs out there, I found this site which features natural easter egg dyes. Using ingredients you may already have in your kitchen, you can create some really nice organic colors. The deep indigos and rich cinnabars created from ordinary vegetables, spices and teas can’t hold a candle to the Paas pallet. While you need to let the eggs sit in the dye overnight, it’s definitely worth it. I think my brother would even approve of the warm grey made from the Rosehip tea.

ninja edit: These natural dyes can also be used for yarn, paper or fabric!

Are you wondering if you should hold off a little longer before buying that new iMac or Apple Cinema Display? Well if you’re like me, you probably are. This handy guide takes into account how long each Apple product has been on the market along with the average number of days each product’s predecessor had been on the market before it was updated. Since the guide is provided by MacRumors.com the information is based on Internet speculation. Still it’s nice to see the information complied in one place. I think I may wait on a new Mac. I’m banking on Leopard being released in the somewhat near future!

MacRumors Buyer’s Guide

You can now buy FLOR carpet tiles at the best big box store in town. FLOR tiles come in a variety of colors, textures and patterns. You can lay down a whole wall-to-wall carpet or just create a fun rug or runner. The best thing about FLOR is if something gets spilled on a tile, just rip it up, wash it out and put it back (or if it’s really destroyed just replace with a brand new tile!). Each tile measures 19.7Lx19.7W”. $59.99 for a pack of 6 tiles

The Illini Apple Center is offering the 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook for only $899. The normal student (education) price is $1049 and full retail price is $1099. This is the entry level white MacBook, but it’s still a pretty good laptop. Make your way down to the IAC before the offer expires (which their site says is soon).

Ninja Edit: Do you think they are making room for new Mac goodies?

I was in Chicago on Saturday and it was really foggy.