This is the last week
to enter my giveaway!
Click HERE to enter.



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{1} What was the last thing you searched for online?
{2} If we visit your home state, what is one MUST we should do before leaving?
{3} What do you think pharmaceutical companies should invent a pill for that isn't on the market yet?
{4} When was your first kiss? Was it good or bad?
{5} What is your guilty pleasure tv show that you can not miss?


{1} What was the last thing you searched for online?
Where to buy the best concealer in the world, My Spots are ConSealed. It's been discontinued (or that's what they said at Sally's Beauty Supply), so now I'm on a mission to stock up on as much as I can like I'm stocking up for the make-up apocalypse or something. Seriously, it's the best. I have this little brown birthmark under my left eye that, if I don't cover it, it looks like I have a black eye. This is the ONLY product that I found that covers it all day, doesn't cake, and it only costs like $9 for a little tube that lasts for a good year or so. I found that it also hides tattoos well enough for stage acting.

{2} If we visit your home state, what is one MUST we should do before leaving?
Go visit the Outer Banks. North Carolina beaches are something of a jewel, unlike West Coast or even Virginia beaches. But watch out for those stupid, evil, bad jellyfish.

{3} What do you think pharmaceutical companies should invent a pill for that isn't on the market yet?
I honestly have no clue. I'd say stupidity, but that makes me sound mean and intolerant. I'd say 'meanness' or 'unkindness' or 'being an asshole' but people who are assholes aren't going to be inclined to take a pill because usually they think they're justified in being assholes (or they don't think they are an asshole, even if multiple people say differently). I could say "being an annoying, pretentious twat who thinks their opinion on politics, movies, music, or _insert_topic_here_" but then almost everyone posting online would be guilty of that (myself included). And I'd probably lose a few friends over that choice because I have a few people online I really want to punch in the face because I don't give a crap about their political views or their (incorrectly) self-assessed witticisms about the latest episode of that TV show no one else watches. Admit it, you know someone like that too.

Maybe I should just ask for Big Pharma to invent a medicine that makes me not want to punch people in the face all the time.

Oh, wait.
That's called 'pot'.
Damn.

{4} When was your first kiss? Was it good or bad?
Freshman year in high school. It was... nice. Dude has since moved to Australia. I wanna go to Australia -- but not for him. I wanna go because it's freakin' Australia.

{5} What is your guilty pleasure tv show that you can not miss?
RuPaul's Drag Race, and by extension, RuPaul's DragU. Drag queens are walking, talking, shade-throwing works of art. Any man who can look that good in a dress deserves my respect and admiration. And RuPaul is made of awesome.
 
Don't forget to enter my giveaway
on this post right here



This week I'm digging out an old recipe we made last September. It got lost along with the Feta Stuffed Chicken recipe, but I was able to find this one pretty easily.

Ingredients



















2 lbs of pears, sliced/diced
1/3 c. maple syrup
1 tbs. lemon juice
2 tbs. grated ginger
pinch of salt

Topping
1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
6 tbs. unsalted butter, melted


These pears came off my mother's pear trees on the farm. There are two kinds of trees next to each other, what looks like an Asian pear and a simple Bosc pear. They must have cross-pollinated because they have physical and taste aspects of both varieties. 


Preheat oven to 350º.
Butter a baking dish

1. Combine pears, lemon juice, maple syrup, grated ginger and pinch of salt. Set aside.

2. Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, spices and Kosher salt. Slowly drizzle in butter, stirring with a fork until mix is crumbly. Break up larger crumbs.



2a. Totally optional step: I had a lot of fresh ginger juice after grating the ginger root. So, being the ginger junkie that I am, I mixed it with enough brown sugar to make a thick syrup and poured it over the pears in the baking dish.




3. Spoon fruit into baking dish. Sprinkle crumble on top. Bake until fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown, about 50 minutes.

 

Mmmmm... pie. 
This is delicious with a simple vanilla ice cream on top, 
with a ginger syrup poured over the whole thing. 
This week's Zentangle® challenge from The Diva prompted us to use 2 specific tangles and ONLY those two tangles -- Dex and Verdigogh. I read a lot of other bloggers who didn't find this challenge very fun, and I have to confess, I had a bit of trouble with it myself.

Not the using only two tangles, but because I have never, ever used either tangle ever before. I hadn't even drawn them in my sampler pages for reference for future use. I was lost.

After adding them to my sampler section, I practiced a few bits, then jumped right in with my newest little sketchbook I bought from World Market. (the camera lost the photo of the outside of the sketchbook, but it's bright fuschia with a gorgeous gold embossed paisley pattern that reminded me of tangles).

Here's my actual attempt at combining Dex and Verdigogh.


Once I started working with Verdigogh, I really liked it. Erin Koetz Olson called it 'Hollibaugh on steroids,' which is an accurate description. Being that Hollibaugh is one of my favorites to fall back on when I have no special plans for a space, I can see Verdigogh coming in when I want to finish out an edge with a nice flourish.

I wasn't too crazy about Dex because I don't really dig grid patterns. For me, boxes just seem anti-Zen because somewhere in there, I don't like being confined to a little box. I don't even like the original boxy version of Cadent, but I love the circular, swirly version.

But aside from a dislike of grid patterns, I had fun with this challenge and I discovered a new favorite pattern that I should have tried out long before now!
Between The Sketchbook Challenge and Tee's wonderful prompts and tutorials over at Green Isle Crafts, I'm always finding inspiration for my sketchbooks and journals.

Well, Tee is giving away a copy of The Artist's Journal Workshop on her blog! Pop over there to enter and try out some of those prompts. Your sketchbook will be more juicy and beautiful for it!
Welcome to We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A hosted by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn




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This week's questions are from Seriously Shawn

{1} What is the best or worst pick up line you have ever been given?
{2} What is your most and least favorite day of the week?
{3} How many hours of sleep do you require each night?
{4} Is there a song that takes you back in time? What song is it & what's the memory attached?
{5} What is your biggest guilty pleasure?


What is the best or worst pick up line you have ever been given?
Honestly, no one's every really tried a pick-up line on me. Either I'm too intimidating, or maybe people realize that I'd see right through them if they were being hokey or contrived.

What is your most and least favorite day of the week?
Most favorite is Saturday because of Doctor Who (currently on hiatus... boooooo) and now Battlestar Galactica on BBCA. Least favorite lately is Friday because that's shopping day and I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant, it's consistently 95º or higher every Friday, and I hate being around people when I have to waddle around with huge swollen ankles and can't curl my fingers around the stupid shopping cart handle most of the time.

How many hours of sleep do you require each night?
Normally 8-9. Since about February, it's been broken up into 1-2 hour naps in between getting up to go pee. Yes, I pee every hour or hour and a half... all day and all night. It's annoying as hell.

Is there a song that takes you back in time? What song is it & what's the memory attached?
The A-Team theme song. It takes me back to a time when the world (for my generation) was simpler, safer and more innocent. Then it makes me miss all the good shows when I was a kid, like V (the original series with Marc Singer), old school Doctor Who and MacGuyver. And Reading Rainbow. I LOVED that show as a kid and even as an adult. Yes, Sesame Street helped teach me how to read, but it was Reading Rainbow that taught me WHY to read.

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
World of Warcraft. I don't get a chance to play much right now because my hands fall asleep while moving the mouse, but I do so love a good dungeon or raid. I'm a geek, I know. I <3 my huntard.

Looking for this month's
fabulous giveaway? Go here!

Welcome to We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A hosted by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn




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{1} You have been asked to give a 10 minute speech to teenage girls. What is it about?
{2} Do you have a pet? Tell us about them. No pets? Why?
{3} What is the biggest inconvenience about the place you’re currently living?
{4} What do you think is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?
{5} What are the THREE "nevers" of your life? (things you would never do or have never done)


You have been asked to give a 10 minute speech to teenage girls. What is it about?
Most likely it would be about anti-bullying and treating others and oneself with kindness. I was bullied mercilessly in grade school and high school, so I am appalled at A) the way children and teens can justify treating another human being with such cruelty, and B) how easy it was for me to believe all their lies about how worthless I was and that I didn't deserve friendship or kindness from them.
From about 6th grade on up, I was told on a daily basis (yes, DAILY) that I was "too ugly to live" and that I should kill myself because no one would ever want to be friends with a dog-faced loser like me. This all came from a few girls who banded together and either the other kids were too afraid of them, or they just wanted to be "popular" and not have the bully gun pointed at them, so almost everyone in our small school joined in.
I grew to where I hated school, I hated the teachers, I hated my classmates and I hated myself when I was there. It's still hard for me to be around crowds of people -- strangers or familiar faces -- because there's still some small scared part of me that thinks that none of them will be nice to me or want to be friends with me. I've come a long way since my school days, but I still have that fear of reaching out and a general mistrust of people considered to be my "peers".


Do you have a pet? Tell us about them. No pets? Why?
Fiery Fame the Magnificent Orange thinks my art supplies are really his.
We have cats, so we're technically the pets to them. Fiery sees my husband as a giant pillow and he sees me as the food dispenser. Feta sees my husband as the food dispenser and she sees me as That Bitch Interloper Who Steals Gavin's Attention.

Bishop
The dogs are much more "pet-like" in that at least 50% of them do what we tell them to do. Bishop is terrified of thunderstorms. And new people. And bees. And moths. And shadows, tree branches, Christmas wreathes (seriously!), new furniture, hats, flags and rugs. I'm sure I'm forgetting something in that list. He's scared of a lot of things, but if someone were trying to break into our house, that dog would put himself between me and anything or anyone coming after me.

Red and Fiery, best friends.
Red is a decrepit Lab we found on the highway in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm one night. No one claimed him and after 6 months, I gave up and said "OK, so he's our dog after all." He recently had a stroke and was in such bad shape for a few weeks, we had scheduled a visit to have him put down. What little doggie therapy I was doing with him must have made it easier on him, because even though he still toddles around and sometimes forgets where the house is or who we are, he's still a generally happy dog who loves rolling in the grass. I still feel bad when he sneezes and falls down because he can't balance very well.

Geordie LaForge
Geordie LaForge and Lt. Bark-ley are the mini-dachshund brothers we adopted last summer. Geordie is completely deaf and 95% blind -- we think he can see bright light and shadow out of one eye. Except for his odd circular walk (he spins in circles as he's walking/running), you wouldn't really know he's blind by watching him. He can follow his nose pretty well, and tends to follow Bishop around in the yard since Bishop is huge and white and light reflects off him enough for Geordie to see him from about 5-10 feet away. His only real issue is that he doesn't care where he is when it comes to potty training. He knows the difference between outside and inside, but he just doesn't care. He'll cop a squat no matter where he is.

Lt. Barkley
Barkley, is mostly well-mannered and acts as Geordie's seeing eye dog. He's also extremely smart and I've taught him so many tricks and he knows his obedience. Unfortunately, he's also stubborn and takes a cue from Bishop where he has selective hearing. Some days he totally ignores me, staring blankly at me as if to say "What's in it for me?" when I call for him. While Bishop may get that same look from time to time, he knows I mean business. Barkley does not and will often give me the equivalent of the doggy middle finger as he trots off in the opposite direction of where I want him to go.


What is the biggest inconvenience about the place you’re currently living?
It's a very old house, so it's got a lot of 'old house' problems (stuff breaks constantly due to age -- everything under the house is 15-20 years or more, and everything inside the house is at least 10 years old), but the biggest issue is the well water -- it's nasty. Full of rust, iron, magnesium and sulfides that no filter can get rid of, I refuse to drink it. I feel bad making my animals drink it, but I've seen the dogs drink nasty, stagnant pond water by choice, so they must not mind too much. The water turns our clothes orangish brown and smells kind of like rotten eggs. We're moving by the end of July, so that will all change.


What do you think is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?
Deciding to meet Gavin in person. I'd been a member of Plenty of Fish for a couple of weeks, and had been on eHarmony for six months (big super fat fail, btw), and I was matched with a crapton of freaks and geeks (and not the cool sexy kind of geek, either). I got over 200 messages in the first two weeks being on POF, I responded to maybe half of them, talked to 3 of them online semi-regularly, and of all of them, Gavin is the only one I decided to meet in person for a real, honest-to-goodness date. Yes, it was a coffee date in the middle of the afternoon, and I had an emergency "save me" plan from a coworker in place should he have turned out as unbearable as all the whackos I had met on eHarmony, but it turned beautifully. So beautifully that we've been married for 2 1/2 years now, and are expecting our first little rugrat in August.

What are the THREE "nevers" of your life? (things you would never do or have never done)
I have never traveled outside of the U.S. This is something I want to do, badly. I don't care if it's going across the border into Canada, I want to travel outside the country one day. My ideal is to tour Italy, France, Spain, England, Scotland and Ireland. I'd also like to go to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Tibet, Russia, and maybe India.

I've never completed my college degree. I've come close, only a few credits shy. This is something I desperately want to do, but every time I reach for it, my dream gets yanked out from under me, either by extreme illness, extreme lack of money, or extreme "boss-being-a-dick-and-won't-let-me-leave-an-hour-early-to-get-to-class-on-time-so-I-fail-because-I'm-tardy-every-week." Yeah, I'm so glad I don't work there anymore. But I really would like to finish my degree. Not that it would help in the job search because it means I'll want more money than $8/hour, but it will make me feel... official.

I never eat at Taco Hell. If I've fallen down a well opening and am trapped for days and days, and your only options of getting food to me is either lowering Taco Hell food down to me, or dropping grubs, earthworms, roots and berries down the hole, I'll take the bugs and berries. Thank you.

I've never had major surgery. This is something I hope to never have, too.
Looking for this month's
fabulous giveaway? Go here!



For this week's Tangle Weekly Challenge, we had an awesome string to fill -- a Zendela (the fusion of a mandala and Zentangle).

Here's my smaller one (3.5"x 3.5"):


I'm still working on the larger one on 8x11 paper, but can only do one little section at a time since my hands fall asleep after holding a pen for 15-20 minutes. I probably won't get it finished by tonight. :(

I did last week's challenge too, where we had to make a string of stripes and tangle those in, but I didn't get around to photographing and posting in time, so here they are:



 
Thank you all for entering my giveaway. This contest is now closed. Good luck to all who entered. I will pick a winner via Random.org and announce it here tomorrow!

In celebration of reaching my 100th fan on Facebook (and surpassing it!), I'm giving away a custom Tree of Life necklace! This will be made specifically for the winner, in the colors they choose, or they may choose the necklace pictured here!


Made with copper artisan wire and genuine peridot, it measures 1.5 inches across (think the size of a silver dollar), and comes with a beige suede corded necklace.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog (no anonymous posters, please -- I can't reply or get back to you if you win) telling me what your favorite color and gemstone are. That's it!

For EXTRA entries, you can do the following:

1. Become a fan of Eccentric Lilithine on Facebook and tell me who you are in a wall post (so I can verify screen names and become your fan too if you have a page) and come back here to leave a comment stating so.

2. Follow my blog and leave another comment. (If you follow me privately, there's no way to verify who you are, so I'm afraid private follows cannot be counted.)

Be sure to leave a comment for each separate thing you do!

On or about June 30th, I will use random.org to select a winner from all the comments and announce the winner here on the blog on (or about) July 1st.  I will then make a custom necklace specifically for them, or they can choose the necklace pictured above.
Every Friday, I'm going to mark one random item from my shop 50% off. From Friday to the following Thursday, that items stays 50% off until it sells, or until I pick another item the next Friday. Every week will be something different (I'll try not to mark down two of the same category in a row) so check back often!

This week, from Friday, June 10 until Thursday, June 16, this little beauty is on sale, marked down from $10 originally to $5!


That's a steal! That's at cost! You'd be silly not to take advantage of this! Go here to purchase this purse.

Note: If this item sells at 50% off on the first day, I'll pick another random item to mark down to 50% off.
I made this recipe last September, then promptly forgot where I put the original written copy, so I couldn't post it here. I searched high and low and tried everything to find this particular recipe online, but Google kept telling me that unless I put spinach and bread crumbs in my ingredient list, this version didn't exist.

Finally after months of specific searching, I found it on Easy Food & Wine Pairing. This wasn't where the original recipe came from, but it's close enough for me!

Greek Stuffed Chicken Breast

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar of marinated roasted red peppers
6 oz feta cheese
2 1/4 cups light cream
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (optional -- I hate olives, so we didn't use them)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh oregano
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil


This was when our herb garden was still flourishing. Oregano and basil galore! The only thing that didn't survive the hot summer was the parsley, so I had to buy that.

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Remove feta cheese from refrigerator 1 hour in advance so it can come to room temperature.
  • Roughly chop olives, basil, oregano and parsley.
  • Put the feta and cream in a small bowl.


No?
  • Mix feta and 1/4 cup of cream until smooth. Mix in olives, parsley, oregano and basil, and add salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.


  • Place chicken breasts in between sheets of plastic wrap, and use a meat mallet to pound to even, 1/4" cutlets.

  • Spread feta mixture over each cutlet, then top with roasted pepper fillet and roll up cutlet with stuffing inside. Sprinkle outside of cutlets with salt and fresh pepper.


OK, so I overfilled them. Shut up.

  • Heat 1 tbsp butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add chicken breasts. Sear for 2 minutes on each side, then move to an oven-safe container. Cook in oven for 10 minutes.
  • To make sauce, heat remaining butter and flour in a pan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently and let cook to a light golden color, about 3 minutes.
  • Slowly whisk 2 cups of light cream into pan, mixing vigorously. Add parsley, remaining basil, and season with salt and fresh pepper to taste.
  • Serve stuffed chicken breast with a drizzle of sauce.


See the toothpicks still sticking out? Yeah, otherwise they would have spilled out all that yummy feta cheese goodness and not looked so good. Next time I won't overstuff them.

We made a nice couscous as a side dish, and Gavin made tzatziki sauce to go with pita bread (it made a nice dipping sauce for the chicken, too).

I've added this to an Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange linky to make it easier to find side dishes and desserts to complete your meal.
I just love, love, LOVE a good carnival or circus. What do I love most? Well, first off, those funnel cakes are to die for. Heart attack on a plate, but man they're delish!

But the main attraction, the thing that will entice me to drop a few bucks for admission, has always been and will always be the sideshow tent.

Call me a freak.
I don't mind.
I'm in good company when I go in that tent. :)

So in keeping with the Treasury Promotion Team's treasury challenge for this month, I decided to *ahem* showcase a few of my favorite carnie-related items.

Again with another meme to keep me on track.
This one comes from Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn



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{1}Everyone seems to have a quirky family situation-- what is something unique about your family dynamic?
I can't think of anything unique about our family dynamic, really. Maybe that in itself is unique?


{2}What is the most stressful aspect to blogging (aside from the network going down)?
Not having enough topics to blog regularly yet. Or maybe just feeling uninspired. Or pressed for time with renovating a house and trying to pack up this house and move, and getting ready for a baby (all three happening before or by August).

{3}We all end up on a blog at some point in our day, but name your top 3 favorite websites you flock to daily (non blog)!
1. Facebook
2. The Sketchbook Challenge
3. My shop on Etsy

{4}What’s your sign? Believe in it or not, does any part ring true to you?
I'm a semi-typical Scorpio. I'm drawn to the darker side of things, but I also appreciate the happier, lighter side of things too. I guess I can see the beauty of the dark side, without letting go of the good things. Other than that, I'm not so sure what applies to me. Guess it depends on the day and the hormones right now. :D


{5} IceCream!! ICECREAM!! We all scream for icecream! Name your favorite flavor/brand!
Hmmm... for straight up ice cream, anything that's real ice cream (none of this low-fat/non-fat stuff) in a chocolatey flavor or a caramel swirl. But for real decadence, I love love LOVE the new Magnum bars in Double Dark Chocolate.

Bonus Questions:

A. Name the blog you credit for linking up with us today?
Dandelion Wishes/Mamarazzi

B. Suggest a question you want to see in future WWTK’s
You're only allowed to listen to one band/musician for the rest of your life -- on the radio, whenever you put a CD in the player, on your iPod -- just one band, forever and ever. What band is it?
I've finally added a Fine Art section to the shop. Four different prints are available at the moment, with smaller sizes being added this week (but don't be afraid to ask for them before I list them -- I love custom orders!). Here's the Dreaming Tree, available as a signed and numbered 8x10 print, limited to 50 prints, for only $8.50!





I've joined up for Money Mondays blog hop.



Play along, visit the shops, follow new blogs and add your own blog or shop!

Starting a new way of blogging to (hopefully) keep me on a regular schedule! Today it's the Friday Confessional, hosted by Mamarazzi.

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I confess that I'm gaining weight ridiculously fast over the last 3 weeks. I leveled off 7 weeks ago, didn't gain anything for a month, then bam! put on 13 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks. The doctor told me to lay off the milk and juice (me with a very sad face) and only one really delicious piece of junk food a day as a treat. Everything else had to go. There are no other signs of preeclampsia; apparently I'm just a fatass who drank entirely too much milk (we're talking at least 4 pint glasses a day). What can I say? I love milk.

I confess that I have fallen way behind on housework. Sweeping up Bishop's fur every day is a huge task in itself, not only because it flies around while I'm sweeping, but because I can't bend over easily to pick it up anymore. Then the next day, it looks like someone took all that dog hair I swept up the day before and dumped it all over the place again. I swear, I could knit another dog out of Bishop fur every single day.

I confess that I hate the useless part of being pregnant. Between carpal tunnel, sciatica and carrying this alien chest burster so low that I can't bend over without doing a sumo squat, I can't do a lot of things that I used to do. Like pick stuff up off the floor. Or wash all the dishes at once (my hands either lock up from pain or go numb and fall asleep). Or draw for more than 15-20 minutes at a time (the whole hands falling asleep thing).

I confess that I trained my blind and deaf mini-dachshund, Geordie, into a very bad habit lately. I have to be able to pick him up, so instead of bending all the way over to lift him, I trained him to jump up on me when he wants to be picked up to go outside.

I confess that I laugh at Geordie when he jumps up against the wall or a tree instead of me because he can't quite tell where I am sometimes.

I confess that I also call for him to come to me, knowing full well he can't hear me. Yet I do it every time.

I confess that I love taking my vitamins. They're gummies and taste like candy. Now if I could only find a good gummy fiber supplement and a good gummy iron supplement. I hate swallowing iron pills. :(