Applejacks

Yesterday I decided to try new wines. My requirements: <$10 and I had to like the name or label.

Finally done!

Art studio- progress, but still in progress

Andi

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Who wants cookies?

This month has been nuts. I'm wondering how it is the 20th?! I don't have presents for many people and I'm not setting foot into a kitchen until the 26th (which then ill be working on valentines day stuff). I was fortunate enough to have my sister come out for 4 days!! It was so fun. It was nice to have someone to hang out who was enthusiastic about work (apparently anything looks better than finals). We decided to tackle my project of redoing my office space/art room. Will post pics soon! We pieced together a little paint outfit for her out of old scrubs. It looks lovely, Beezer.

Almost done!

Thanks for hanging in there! The blogging drought is almost over. The Christmas season was much busier than anticipated. I didn't know what to really expect, but, I'm nearing the 5,000 chocolate mark. Wow! It's a lot of chocolate. It's a lot of paper, and boxes, and bows, and volunteer help. Thank you volunteers! You will most definitely be getting extras in your stockings this year.

Other exciting news! Today my sister, Beezer schnitzel arrives and stays until thurs morning! It will be so much fun! (And so nice to have fresh blood in here- some that isn't sick of chocolate)

new background monday!

This is fritz's first Christmas. Thinking the ornaments are going tot have to be a bit higher this year!

Progress. Thank you volunteers!

new background monday!

hello virtual friends!  please excuse the tardiness of blogs this past weekend and this week.  i'm in the process of getting my corporate orders out and it's been a doozie.

do mark on your calendars this weekend!  

saturday 1-3:  tasting at cured (18th & pearl in boulder)

saturday 6-8:  tasting at the steinwaypiano store (santa fe & hampden with concert!)

African fish eagles

these birds are pretty awesome.  they're a bit smaller than the bald eagle and mate for life.  when one of them dies the other will starve itself until it dies too. 

friendly reminder!

last call!

order chocolates by Dec 1 and get 25% off your order!

want a menu?

email me at:

andi@the-escapeartist.com

Progress

We are making a lot of progress with the furry members of the house. Ever since we lost gretta fritz has, well, been on the fritz and misses his snuggle buddy. Ez made it quite clear that he was not a suitable replacement. Fritz has a way of wearing on you until you give in.

Also to report--- he is mentally doing much better in terms of neediness after he locked himself in my art room over thanksgiving break. He went bizirk and the room was trashed- shredded to pieces. Our house has finally found equilibrium.

do you know.....

how to tell if a elephant is full grown?

watch how it sleeps. 

 if it sleeps laying down it's still growing.  mature elephants are unable to sleep laying down and instead a) rest their trunk across their tusks or b) rest their head against a tree.

Happy 5th birthday Ezra!!

new background day!

a happy belated thanksgiving to everyone!  i didn't blog a single thing (obviously, sorry).  it was great to go home and not worry about work or anything here.

today's picture comes from rothenburg, germany.  although it's considered more a tourist town, it has quaint cobblestone streets and is one of the last walled cities.  it is also home of the Christmas ornament store.

Cool... Like the other side of the pillow

That's right. Only cool kids...er, cats hang out in random concrete rain gutters.

horns vs antlers

jeffry (the giraffe above) lost his horn in a fight.  it will never grow back because it is a horn.  none of the animals in south africa have antlers.  they all have horns like this.

US examples:  deer-antlers.  big horn sheep- horns.

new background day!

this picture comes to us from the great plains of kansas.  i have to say....i'm rather excited to be heading home for thanksgiving to see everyone (and also get free labor for chocolate boxes--although maybe i shouldn't post it as everyone going to be there doesn't know of my plan yet). 

Thanks, mom!

Tonight I had a tasting at the boulder bookstore. It was super great, especially since I had my awesome apron and towels my mom made for me!

chocolate sale!

You better watch out, you better not cry,

andi chocolates are on sale to buy!

Pre-order Christmas sweets today!

Pre-order Christmas sweets today!

That’s right chocolate lovers!  Whether you’re buying to sweeten up Scrooge or one for yourself… pre-ordering chocolates is the best way to make your entire list happy.  Bundles are perfect for that boss (who has everything) and your child’s teacher (… whether your child has been naughty or nice) or as stocking stuffers… the possibilities are endless!

The deal:

want the menu?

email me at:  andi@the-escapeartist.com

Order by December 1 and take 25% off your order!

Chocolates will be delivered/mailed between December 12-14.

(deliveries in the Denver metro area)

If you need your chocolates sooner, just let me know!  I’d be happy to accommodate any Christmas schedule you have.

Payment options accepted:  cash, check, credit card.

did you know?

cheetah cubs are born with black bellies and extra fuzzy hair on their necks.  in this way they are to resemble a honey badger (yes, i'm sure you're thinking of the youtube video).  the honey badger is one of the nastiest creatures in the savannah and even the lions won't mess with them.  the cubs will keep their fuzzy hair until they're about 6 months old.  

the cubs above are about 4 mo old.

new screensaver

 this photo is for everyone who likes baboons

this photo is for everyone who is a rock star on the weekend and roots for state (who, may i add, is #1 in BCS standings!  YAHOO!!!!)

Ez is hopeful for a #1 spot!!!

what's black & white and lives in africa?

did you know?  the zebra will give birth away from the herd and stay away as long as 4 months with it's baby.  this is so the baby has time to memorize the mom's stripes and recognize her when they return to the herd (zebras are like snowflakes--no 2 are alike)

elephant graveyards: fact or fiction?

FICTION!  

many people think that elephant graveyards are made because elephants know theyr'e going to die and they go to their grave.  on the other hand, elephants have 5 sets of molars throughout their lifetime.  once their last set falls out they have to eat mushy food so they head to the swampy grounds where the plant life is softer and they can eat without teeth. 

i don't know....maybe we could use one more sticker on the right, just in case the audio jack isn't obvious enough

new desktop background day!

Home

I finally got to go home! (It is my birthday month after all). Somehow I am always "fortunate" enough to be a tulip trooper, in which I help my mom plant 380 tulip bulbs. This is a yearly thing here and it looks like holland in spring. My dad is such a thinker and hooked the drill up. I drill holes and my mom sticks bulbs in. Yay tulip troopers!

One of my favorites

Happy mo-vember!

did you know?

the heart of the giraffe weighs about 46 lbs.  

it has to be large because it takes so much force to pump blood all the way up the neck to their head. 

monday = new desktop backdrop!

what's more peaceful than this carnivorous kitty?  

New level of "pit"-tiful

Ezra has definitely been soaking up every extra ounce of attention. Yesterday he got to go to the p-e-t s-t-o-r-e and get a new toy. While we were there we noticed a giant dog bed sized heating pad. It was of course, a fortune, and I wasn't going to buy it unless he liked ours at home first.

love/hate relationship

i love facebook.

it is the only way i am able to communicate with some of my friends

i hate facebook.

what a waste of time

i love facebook especially today, because,

the following picture was posted and

 it was the first time i laughed out loud all week.  

some kid's halloween costume.

 don't know who this is?  

 shame on you.  

watch more college gameday.

some ksu parents pretty much nailed it on the head

 

why did the elephant cross the road?

el-if-i-know

ha ha ha!

ok.  lame joke.  i did actually say that to one of our fellow safari-ians.  :)  

meet rambo.  he's about 30 years old

elephants have 2 noses.  one is their trunk.  the other is right where the guy is pointing in the 2nd picture.  it's called the jacobson's olfactory.  so elephants will sniff something with their trunk, "hold the smell there" and then blow it into their jacobson's in order to determine what it is. 

cheetahs

did you know?  the black "tear drops" under a cheetah's eyes are similar to that of black under a football player's eyes.  it is there to absorb light so nothing is reflected back up. 

princesses and castles

i'll pretend to be the princess and here is my castle. 

normally this is surrounded by the alps.  instead, we got fog.

 this is Neuschwanstein Castle built in the late 1800s by king Ludwick II.  He was nuts and would regularly walk around the castle dressed like the swan king.  He only lived here 174 days when the townspeople he was taking taxes from decided to have a doctor check out his mental status.  He was raided in his bedroom and told he was no longer able to be king because he was declared insane.  A few days later both he and the doctor were found dead in a lake.  6 weeks later the castle opened up as a museum and has 1.3M people visit regularly.

this was one of kim's ideas.  kim is my awesome friend who lives in germany and was kind (& patient enough) to hang out with us a couple days as our tour guide.

 

hippos, part II

did you know?  hippos can open their mouth up to 150 degrees.

this week's screensaver

i'm very sure these have a scientific name.  at our house dallas would call them splineball ionizers (chelsie- you know what this is!) and i call them bad hair days.... and i'm very sure that neither of those are their actual name. 

click on the image so it's bigger, right click (for my fellow non-mac users) and choose as desktop background.

today i ordered our vacation book.  my only saving grace was that it was >50% off otherwise i would have never been able to afford it.  basically i have sorted through our 2600 pics (collective between dallas and i) and narrowed it down to 351.  phew.  this will make it much easier to show everyone our trip, in the small case that you are interested in seeing that many pictures!

Happy things

One of my major highlights from the trip was seeing the African penguins. I took video on my iPad (like dorky tourist) and Dallas told me to watch it whenever I was sad. It definitely helps but still a somber weekend here. 

Did you know? They have pink glands above their eyes, which are used for thermoregulation. The hotter the penguin gets, the more blood is sent to these glands so it may be cooled by the surrounding air, thus making the glands more pink

Gretta Jean. 2008-oct 2012

Tonight we made a generous donation to heaven. Our poor gretta lost a heroic battle to aggressive cancer. She was a lover, loyal friend and faithful kitchen shadow. She will leave a hole in my heart but I know she's much better off now. It makes me feel better knowing all dogs go to heaven. Go get your squirrel Gi-Gi!

i saw the sign.....

while driving around simonstown on our cape town tour we saw these signs, in this order.  i find it so funny....

those golfers are a breed of their own!