X-MAS!

I totally forgot to post about what I got for x-mas!!!

Okay, so I exchanged presents with my friend really early this year because we wouldn't be together for the holidays. So when I went out to Boston I gave him his gifts and he gave me mine. He did a pretty good job, I might say.

The first present I opened was pajamas. Red, Robots, Footsie pajamas. Yes, you read that right. You know the kind. The kind kids wear! So frickin' awesome!!! I also got all three seasons of Arrested Development! Love that show!! After that was a bag of goodies! Vegan items from the store LUSH. Patchouli perfume, patchouli body scrub, Vanilla Frosting cup cake lip balm, and some lotion.
We had a limit of $40 to spend on each other. He went over. Obviously. Jerk.
All my gifts to him were hand made, except for one. I got him the Jaws DVD, which he's watched too many times to count now, since Thanksgiving. I also made him a picture frame with pictures of Woody Guthrie around it, and he's got insomnia so I made him some medicine balls for it. It has feverfew, valerian root and some other herbs. They're pretty similar to the Headache Handys.

Oh! And he made me a red velvet cake in case he wouldn't see me on my birthday. It melted. How you melt a cake is puzzling to me... but he managed to do it. Guy needs to listen to someone who actually bakes quite a bit.

So on X-Mas day I went over to Whitney's parent's house. I do this every year. Desiree, her mom made lots of vegan options for me. Twice baked potatoes with vegan cheese, meatless meatballs, stuffing, and then of course the usual, collard greens and green beans. I was so full afterwards I couldn't stand it.
Our X-Mas was on a diet this year, so we kept it simple with the gifts. I got Whitney a DVD, Sideways. I know, weird. But she asked for it. And she got me a little take-out box filled with goodies. Tiny bottles of Balsamic Vinegrette, Oil, a candle, a tiny chocolate, soap, and something else. I can't remember right now. Anyway, cute gift. Her theme was "keep the party going."

I got my mom the Wicked Soundtrack and a Wizard of Oz figurine of the Tin Man. And I got Desiree a book about the Wizard of Oz.

Ok, now I must go take a shower. I'll post pictures later.

New Items for the New Year

I just posted some new items on the Laura & Jenny Etsy page. So here they are.



happing shopping. I don't know about you, but I hate taking pills for headaches or medicines for colds. So here's your alternative, vegans. Obviously not all vegans are into herbal remedies, but if you are, then these are perfect for you.

The Headache Handy's are made with Valerian Root, Chamomile, Basil, Cocoa Powder, Molasses, Peanut Butter and coated in a hard chocolate shell. Yum! So dee-lish. These ones are for adults only because of the Valerian Root. We also have ones with out it! Those are for children and sensative adults.

The marshmallow lozenges are for kids and adults! Like little bits of hard candy, these are great tasting and great for you! When you put them in your mouth you think, "yum! chocolate cough drops!" but then you realize that there's more flavor inside. The cocoa powder is just the coating to keep them from sticking together in the little box.

And speaking of boxes. All boxes should be re-used. They say they're for decorative purposes only, but since we line them with all natural, recyclable wax paper, they're okay. So if you can't think of what to use them for, here are some ideas:
For Kids: treasure box, micro machines, dress-up jewelry, little ninjas, homies or other small action figures. You could turn it in to a chair for Barbie, etc.
For Adults: If you're like me, you have a lot of chap stick all over the house, collect them all together and keep them in the box next to the door, now you'll never leave the house with out one! You could put a baby food jar in it and fill it with water and use it as a decorative vase. Put your jewelry in it. Keep your bobbins in it, so they don't roll all over the place in your sewing box. Etc.

Now lets talk about the jars if you buy salves or tinctures. We are offering you $2 off your next purchase if you send them back to us. Yes, that's right. If you've got no purpose for them after the stuff is all gone, we'll take them back if you want. Or you can try your hand at making your own remedies at home and re-use them. Either way, it's a great way to recycle.

Also, speaking of tinctures, we had two listed and they were bought up 3 days after listing them. I listed them at $6 each. Well, that was stupid. Laura had actually made these, and I didn't know what it took to make them. After reading about how to make them on my drive to a certain amusement park, I realized I should up the price. Well, by the time I could get to a computer and do that, they were gone. So when Laura gets back we'll have to discuss how much to charge.

We have Cold Sore Liniment, made from pomegranate rind and water, that is not listed yet. I'm trying to figure out how much to put in each bottle and where to get these said bottles. Also, I'd like to find someone to test this out on. I don't get cold sores and I can't think of who does. And it's a pretty weird question to ask someone, "Hey, do you get cold sores?" I don't know, just doesn't roll of the tongue well. Even though they're pretty common. So if you get them and you're local, let me know.

Ok, I think that's it for now. I need to go to the post office today. I hope it's open.... stupid new years eve. In case you didn't know. I hate new years. So I'll be spending it with Whitney and Moya sitting around watching movies.

Moving

So in case you all don't know, I'm moving to Boston. The tentative date is February 22nd. So see ya guys later!

Cat Beds...

Reading a review of an adorable cat bed, made me think of my cats. They're ridiculous. Falcon sleeps under blankets, Mildred sleeps in high places or wriggles her way under falcon, and Kenny likes to sleep where ever someone is sitting. He's huge. And it hurts when he climbs on top of you.
Anyways, this was just a ploy to get people to go to the vegan etsy team blog and read the review on one of my fellow team mates, Angel Cat Beds.

This is exciting for me....

Okay, so, some of you know I make things. I like being crafty. Well, here is a list of links of people acknowledging my love for making things. I'm way excited to be mentioned in other people's blogs. It's crazy! Who would have though it. Not me.

My first mention was on the Resin Obsession blog:

I was then mentioned for making buttons for the Vegan Etsy Team that I'm involved with: Vegan Etsy Team

While looking back at that last link I saw this other post mentioning us being listed in someone's treasury.

Here is the actual page with the treasury.

Because I'm a member of Cruelty Free Etsy, I was interviewed for the blog.

To visit my actual store, go to JennyStench.Etsy.com

I also have another store with my friend Laura at LauraNJenny.etsy.com

Dinner

I haven't posted in awhile, so I guess I'm trying to make up for it with all these in one night.

Dinner tonight consisted of Onions, mushrooms, yellow squash, garlic, and tomatoes on vermicelli pasts. With a dinner roll. So damn good.

I need to buy some eggplant. I make eggplant pasta with two cans diced tomatoes, eggplant, onions, olives and mushrooms, and sometimes green bell peppers. So darn good. And for a cheezy-ness factor I add nutritional yeast.

New future

On a side note, for those of you not in the know, and those I haven't seen in awhile, I'm moving. Moving on to a new location. Starting over.

In previous posts I've mentioned my trips to Boston and how much fun I had. Well, that's where I'm going. I'm going to have a basement!! Yay!!!

But I'm leaving behind my bestest friend! It'll be terrible without her. She's been awfully busy lately. And I don't know if it has to do with me telling her I'm moving or if it's because she's applying for colleges. She'll probably say the second one. But her calm reaction when I told her I was moving, was a little odd.

I'm moving in late January, so for those of you that are interested in seeing me off, there will most likely be a good-bye party on the 2nd or 3rd of January. It'll also be one last joint birthday party between Sam and I. So joins us at Casa de Stench.

Estelle will be coming with me to Boston btw.

I heart kitties

Everyone knows I love kitties. Well, I've had so many kitty companion animals, so many, that I couldn't tell you how many. I lived at the base of the Hollywood Hills for 10 years of my life. And it's no secret that coyotes and other wildlife live there as well. So I've lost a lot of kitties due to these wild creatures coming down, hungry.

These were the first 10 years of my life, so these animals, were unfortunately just pets, and I don't remember many of them. There was the cat with many names. So many, that I can only remember her first name, Fawn. But there were, like, 15 others.

There was another one, but I'm not sure if this was the one just mentioned. I feel like it wasn't in my life for very long. My grandma was visiting and we were going to go on a walk. I'm not sure why my grandma didn't protest on bringing my cat for the walk, but needless to say, the cat came with us, the indoor cat.... So when a dog barked she scratched me and ran off. I was rather young... We never saw the cat again.

The next one I remember was CoCo. This was some years later I believe. He was huge. Hugest cat I'd ever seen. We had him even through the move, when we moved to Burbank. He lived with us here for awhile, but soon lost interest and ran off. I swear he was living with the family down the street, but they deny that's my cat. If Coco is still alive, he's probably very old.

I've had others since Coco. When he was still around, my mom's co-worker/friend came upon a stray mother and her kittens. Apparently the mother had attacked someone in their apartment building was going to be taken in to be put down. He couldn't let this happen so he swooped in and took them all, and found them all homes. Emily and Spike were two of these kittens that came to live with us. Spike was all Gray and Emily was all Black. This is probably when Coco lost interest.

Emily then had kittens. 5 or 6 of them. All named after friends and crushes from camp at that time. I was 11 yrs old. Come on, give me a break.

The kittens wouldn't leave Emily alone. As kittens do, they want to feed off their mother. Emily couldn't be tied down to this! No sir! She didn't ask for any of this, so she bolted. A few weeks later, she was back. But the kittens still wanted milk. So she was out the door again. They were old enough to be okay with this and survived without her.

That's where Kenny came from, one of Emily's kittens. Our huge fluffy Kenny. He's old now. He's 13. And still angry and mean. And heavier than all hell and wants to be on everyone's lap.

At the age of 16 I found Falcon. A stray. I stole him from some tires in an alley while looking for new hubcaps for my... '62 Ford Falcon. He's all black. And stayed looking like a kitten for some time. Up until maybe 2 years ago. He's filled out and fluffier and meaner. He still runs from a room if someone walks in. Doesn't lick noses anymore either. That was how he woke me up in the morning for several years.

All through out the lives of Kenny and Falcon, Spike was sick. He had caught something at a boarding place while we were on vacation. And he never recovered. There were times when he was fine, just sneezed a lot. And times he'd come home with half his nose bloody from scratching at it all night. But through all this, he lived a very long life. Most of it I'd assume and very happy and full life living at our house and being a member of this family.

So when Spike passed, it broke my heart. I needed to fill that hole with a cat as wonderful as he was. He so dependent on my mother. He had a relationship with her like no other. Kenny and Falcon didn't care like that about us. Spike followed when you called him. He answered you when you asked him questions or spoke to him.

On July 25th I was at the store buying some glucosamine dog treats for Pickles, who is an elderly dog. When I saw her. The cutest white kitten. All by herself. White with two black spots on her eyes and a black tail. I put my finger to the cage and she came running over trying to get me to pet her... needless to say, she came home with me. She and her family were rescues and the rest of her family had been adopted. She'd been there for weeks all by herself.

Her name is Estelle. After Estelle Getty. She's incredibly adorable. Cuddles with me. Licks me. Cries when I leave a room. But she's sick.

My point of writing all this, is other than Spike, we've never had a sick kitty. And some how, Estelle got into something early on and gave her a bacterial infection. I thought it was gone. She was doing good the last few weeks. But this weekend, she got worse. Worse than before! She can't walk. She sleeps where I put her. She's having seizures. I can't even explain to her what's going on.

The bacterial infection spread to her brain. Causing her to spasm uncontrollably. She sleeps in my arms at night and all I can do is hold her tight when this happens. She's so damn cute. I'd do anything for her. She's turned into my Spike. Just like my mom had with him.

She looks at me like I'm her mother. She cries for me to hold her. She cries when she's hungry. And how I'm the only thing keeping her alive. He little kitten life depends on me to do everything for her.

She can't die...

Etsy Etsy Etsy!

This was reposted from my myspace blog...

Being happier lately has given me more confidence. Which is good. Going on dates has kept my mind of the reasons I should be sad, ie. losing my a grandmother I will never have the chance to know, and a certain someone changing their phone number and not replying to my message.

How is it, that simply saying, "Why are you being so weird and secretive?" can make someone not reply and ignore you forever? I don't think and explanation is too much to ask for. I'm taking a cue from another friend and being more honest. Being right up front with things. Saying how I feel. This time is backfired on me. I guess it just goes to show, he really was just a weird guy.

Also, is it too much to ask that I meet a guy who doesn't already know my friends? Or know an ex? It makes it sound like I've dated everyone when I really haven't. Serious. I know a lot more girls that have dated way more of my friends than I have.

On another note, Way back when, there was a problem at a job I had. A stupid jerk made my life hell. Told everyone there my business, made lots of people dislike me. Made me look and feel like a pretty terrible person. Was it because he was projecting? Trying to make others feel the way he did inside. Having such a terrible secret. A secret that would ruin him. Put him away for a very long time? People that do those kind of things, don't last very long in prison. Hopefully the next bit of news I hear about him, is that he's been seriously fucked up. Dead or in a coma. It makes me sick just thinking about it. Not because he fucked with me, but with those kids. The kids he said he was protecting from a terrible home life with their stripper/alcoholic mother. But now where do they go? Back to her? Where she'll date low life after low life, that will probably do the same things? I met him when the girls were 12 and 9. It apparently had started when they were 11 and 8. Never had I thought anything was wrong. I hung out with the girls. Was friends with them. It makes me sick. I can't stop thinking about how terrible the whole thing is....