Midwest Tour

Last week Mark and I went on a little vacation to the Midwest. Neither of us had been to Chicago or to Minnesota so we booked a flight, told our friends we were crashing at their houses and decided to conquer the Midwest. We had yummy hot dogs at Hot Doug's Sausage Superstore, Yummy Mexican and Cuban food, deep dish pizza-it was pretty much an eating frenzy. We also had yummy drinks at a Psycho Suzie's pizza and tiki bar(More pictures to follow). I was also amazed that you could bring your own beer to restaurants in Chicago. Crazy!
We also got a behind the scenes tour of the bird department of the Field Museum (thanks Casey!)The Maori hut was also amazing. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The story behind it brought tears to our eyes.

St. Paul and Minneapolis reminding us of Portland. I loved all the Victorian houses and the cute little shops.

Thanks Casey, Rey and Lori for showing us such a good time.


1. Casey, Rey, Mark, 2. statue at Field Museum, 3. prehistoric deer, 4. prehistoric sloth bear animal sort of thing, 5. freaky dino bird, 6. Casey and Rey, 7. Field museum, 8. Sue, 9. Maori house, 10. Man catcher, 11. Mark and Rey, 12. Mask, 13. Mask, 14. Dino


1. Milou, 2. Milou in doggy jail, 3. Mark at pyscho suzie's, 4. Mark at pyscho suzies, 5. Mark and Rey, 6. Lori and Phillipe, 7. Casey, 8. Lori, 9. Rey, 10. Casey, 11. Mark, 12. Me!, 13. Casey and Rey, 14. Lori and Mark, 15. My Cubano sandwich, 16. Grumpy old men, 17. Grumpy old men, 18. Real Grumpy old men, 19. bird building nest, 20. silly dog, 21. Me and my true love, 22. Snoopy Snow Cone Maker!, 23. Rats in alley, 24. abandon hospital, 25. abandoned hospital, 26. abandoned hospital, 27. abandoned hospital, 28. Examine table, 29. abandoned hospital, 30. creepy hospital, 31. abandoned hospital, 32. Felix, 33. Mark, 34. Mark, 35. Rainy Chicago downtown

A tribute

I wanted to thank everyone for all of the warm thoughts after Kato passing away. The cards, emails and posts really helped us through a rough time. I wanted to share a beautiful pillow that some of the moderators from Craftster had made for Mark and I. Here's the picture that inspired the pillow.



And here is the pillow.


Can you believe how amazing it is? Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. I also want to acknowledge the person that made it. The person is mybonnie on etsy and her store is called Handmade by Bonnie. She does beautiful work. Go check her out-you will not be disappointed.

I have been having lots of adventures lately as well as getting some stitching done, so stay tune for the details.

Good Night Sweet Prince

It has been forever since I have posted and so much has been going on but I'm not going to go into that right now. It's just too much. Today is a very sad day in the Pedersen house. Our wonderful old Man, Kato passed away today. As many of you know, we have three amazing Jack Russells. Kato was the old man of the bunch. He had congestive heart failure and was getting worse. This morning he was not moving around like his normal self. We took him to the vet and said goodbye. I miss my little old man. Our house just isn't the same without the tapping of his feet walking on the floors. He was a cranky old man who constantly battled wits with Mark but he was our cranky old man.

I don't really know what to say. I am too sad. Maybe I can later, but today I just want to sit with my family and think about my little old man.

Out of the loop

Wow! Has it really been since March 11th that I posted something. I kinda suck (that's what she said). I really need to get back into the swing of things. I feel like I've been in haze for awhile. In my own little bubble. There are a couple of pots on the stove. I'm going to Chicago and Minnepolis in May to visit my friends. I can't wait! It's gonna be so much fun! I got my taxes done-Whew! and I'm in a few swaps that I'm super excited about. Oh yeah and I started a new group on Flickr that I'm thinking I might expand on even more-The Scrappy Dog Society. I love Scrappy Dogs-the crazier the fur-the better. So, I started a group where people can post their pictures of their scrappy dogs. Even if your dog doesn't have scrappy fur but is scrappy at heart-you should go over and join. Maybe I'll even make patches and buttons for the SDC.

Another good thing-Spring is in the air. The trees are blooming and they are beautiful. I love the pink cherry blosoms against the grey of the NW. It reminds me that even in the dark and the rain, color and beauty shine through (could I be any more hallmark)

One last thing-I have new stuff to put up on my etsy! I haven't had a chance to write up all the details but if you want to get a sneak peek, you can check out my flickr account and get an idea.

I think that about sums it up, just day in and day out. Maybe I'll pick up writing again. I kinda miss it.

Hot Diggity Dog Diggity!

I know! I know! I've been MIA but I've been busy lately, See!




Also in some good stitchy news, I've been featured on Mr. XStitch's website. You should go over there and check it out. www.mrxstitch.com

So, I'm totally brain dead but I promise that there will be more to come soon. Right now, I'm gonna go love my puppies and my hubby and go to bed.

10 things I'm Diggin'

I feel like it's been forever that I have connected with people. I've been living in my own little bubble. I want to give another shout out to all the awesome peeps that have been sending good vibes and just being awesome friends.

Anyhoo, enough of the "Wind Beneath My Wings" crap (look it up if you don't get the reference-I promise you, you will laugh.)Here are some things that I'm diggin' right now.

1. My new "do". I am so loving my hair right now and the best thing about it. I don't have to do anything to it. I just wake up and the curls are there. They have to be tamed a little but otherwise, it's good to go.

2. I've said it before and I will say it again. Busby Berkeley movies. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! Go to Netflix and put it in your queue. You will thank me for it.

3. Craftster! I have so much going on there right now. I was just made a Global Mod and I am excited to jump in and see what adventures come up. I also have a new Needlework Challenge going on (one pattern, many stitches) Go check it out now! That's an order!

4. Figuring out which bands/musicians have the most meaning through my life. So far, I have:
a-MC5. Thank you for coming along and smashing hippie crappy music. Kick out the Jams is awesome.
b-Edith Piaf-tragic and beautiful. If I could sing half as well as you, little sparrow, I will die a happy woman.
c-The Ramones-Antique Knives! That's what I'm into!
d-Willie Nelson-wonderful songwriter, amazing humanitarian and just damn hell of a guy. How can you not love Willie?
e-The Replacements-Paul Westerberg, I don't care if you are a drunk bastard, you still know how to write one hell of a song and make being screwed up very catchy.
f-The Hives-this is pretty much the only new band that I can listen to every day, for the rest of my life and not get tired of. Yes Mark, I know, I didn't care about them when we first started dating.
Good Lord, this list could go on and on....Buck Owens, Patsy Cline, Social D, The Jam, Run DMC, Bob Wills.....

5. Mark's blog: OMP's world. You just thought you knew the OMP.

6. And speaking of blogs, check out Mr.XStitch and he's new accomplice, Beefrnk. www.mrxstitch.com. You can win prizes! Yeah for that!

7. Don't forget to pick up your patterns at Sewitsforyou. Check out her etsy site for cute patterns.

8. The beginning of March Madness. The only time, EVER I will pay attention to sports. The ACC tournament is really the only one to watch and UNC is the only team to care about.

9. Girl Scout cookies. Thin Mints+Freezer=Heaven

10. And last but not least, Life. It's pretty rad.

The Tinted Lady

I kinda forgot I started this piece, put it on the back burner and then finally came back to it. I did a "reverse" tint to her. Instead of tinting her, I decided to tint the rest of the pillow. The pattern vintage. I am really pleased how it turned it out. One is the pillow flat and the other is with the pillow stuffin'